《In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter》 Chapter 1: Jon Green Chapter 1: Jon Green The quality of the air in London in 1991 was quite average. Even though he had been in this world for almost a year, Jon was still not used to the slightly grey sky even in the summer season. In this world, his identity is that of an orphan who has been brought up in an orphanage. But in fact, like thousands of fantasy stories, Jon, who on the surface looks like an ordinary 11-year-old boy, has a soul from the 21st century. In his previous life, Jon was a newly hired employee who had just entered the workce. One day on his way to work, he witnessed a motorbike ident in which two young men about his age, who were riding the bike together were hit, and tragically fell into the river by the road. Instead of standing by and watching on the sidelines with indifference, Jon who had considered himself a good swimmer took off his jacket and jumped into the water to help. He had just grabbed a young man who had fallen into the stream and was about to swim towards the shore when unfortunately the water weed caught his ankle and caused his calf to cramp up when he struggled, and he ended up not only failing to save the man but also getting himself killed. Luckily for him, God has not closed his eyespletely, and by the time Jon, who had lost consciousness underwater, reopened his eyes, he was in a British hospital as a nine-year-old boy named Jon Green, who was abandoned by his parents when he was born andter found and raised in an orphanage. The doctors diagnosed that he had suffered a violent blow on the head, causing a concussion. And the Jon who woke up had not inherited any semnce of memory except the gift of speech that had be instinctive within the original owner''s body. Luckily, a diagnosis like a concussion became the perfect excuse for his memory loss; after all, the human brain was something that hadn''t been thoroughly researched even in the 21st century, let alone right now in thete 20th century. After being brought back to the orphanage from the hospital, Jon had basically figured out the situation of the body he had been reborn into. The original owner had always been a silent, withdrawn, timid and self-absorbed character in the orphanage, and he seemed quite unremarkable among all the children except for his outstanding looks, and because of all this, he had be the lowest of the bunch. During a spring outing, some boys took the opportunity to force the original owner to the edge of a dirt slope. Afterwards, the original owner hit the back of his head on a raised rock as he rolled down, which led Jon, whoter crossed over (transmigrated), to possess the poor boy. But ording to the children, Jon was not forced by them to fall down, rather, as they were forcing him, he suddenly flew up, knocking everyone else around him, then fell from the sky and finally rolled down from the top of the dirt slope before hitting the rock. Of course, the adults would not believe such an obvious lie, which only a child could make up, and they just considered it as an excuse the children made up to get away with it. But Jon, who had just crossed over and had already experienced an unscientific event, became suspicious of it. But no matter what he tried to do, he was unable to detect anything special in his body, so he gave up the illusion that he had actually gained superpowers after crossing over. After all, no matter how he looked at it, he had only crossed over from the year 2020 to 1991 and judging from both history and the current state of affairs, it lookedpletely identical to his world, only with a difference in the timeline. After clearly understanding the situation, Jon, for whom the time-travel had be an established fact, took the mindset that he would just ept what he was given. Although he was not an orphan in his previous life, his parents divorced when he was very young, and both of them never bothered about him at all, other than giving birth to him. Later, they both started their own new families. Jon, who had been brought up by his grandmother, also lost her, his only family, when he went to university, and since then he had lived on his own, without a care in the world. Since he had nothing to worry about, he could live his life anywhere, not to mention the fact that he has the advantage of foresight brought by time-travelling back to the 20th century. So even in unfamiliar Ennd, he doesn''t think he will lead a bad life with such a good deck of cards in his hand. However, as a child, it is not easy to go out and do certain things, so Jon can only stay in the orphanage where he was raised for the time being. Now of course Jon''s situation in the orphanage ispletely different from that of the original owner. It''s not that he has done anything, but after the incident on the spring outing, the other children all see him as a freak through word of mouth, and the verbal and physical bullying has turned into cold violence. He really liked this, and from whatever point of view, he didn''t want to get involved with a group of big kids who has a habit of bullying 9-year-old and would mostly end up causing more problems in society. Sitting on the yard swing, Jon was looking up at the bright green yew tree that towered in the middle of the yard. A few children around him, who are all slightly older than him, looked at him with a peculiar look and then moved away from him as if they were avoiding the gue. Jon didn''t notice their expressions, as all his attention was drawn to one ce at the moment. At the entrance to the orphanage, Mrs Chris, who acted as the matron, is leading a young man in. There was nothing peculiar about such an action; although this orphanage he is living in is small, every now and then, there will be people from London who would drop by to volunteer. What really struck Jon as odd was the young man''s clothes. He wore a long ck robe with a snake crest embroidered on his chest. This did not look like modern clothing but rather resembled the illustrations of medieval wizards featured in the orphanage folklore books that Jon had read through. The young man did not appear to be very old, probably under thirty. Hisplexion was pale as if he hadn''t been exposed to the sun for years, his yellowish hair was neatly groomed, and he walked alongside Mrs Chris with a light smile on his face, looking like a rtively easy person to get along with. As if noticing Jon''s gaze, the young man in the ck robe looked over at him. As they met, Jon looked into his eyes and for some reason, he felt a bone-chilling coldness in them and shivered as he slightly averted his gaze. And it was at that moment Mrs Chris said something to that man, and together they came closer to Jon. "Jon Green?" The young man asked gently. Jon was obviously a little taken aback by the situation, and with this gesture, the other man seemed to havee specifically to see him. "Yes, sir." Hearing Jon''s words, the young man did not introduce himself, but turned his head to Mrs Chris and said. "I need to talk to this boy alone." Surprisingly, Mrs Chris, in contrast to her usual mean and sarcastic nature, did not hesitate or ask any more questions in the face of the young man''s tone of voice that was unmistakably an order, and simply turned around to give them privacy. The expression on Jon''s face did not change, but in his heart, he had a vague feeling that something is not quite right. Just as he was feeling uneasy, a yellowed parchment and a feather quill flew out of the youth''s pocket, defyingmon sense, and hovered in front of Jon''s body! "Congrattions, Mr Jon Green, because of your unique talent, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has opened its doors to you. Just by simply signing this letter of eptance, you will be a soon-to-be Junior Wizard." --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 2: Hogwarts and Hogwarts Chapter 2: Hogwarts and Hogwarts "Hog, Hogwarts?" After hearing the words of the young man in front of him, Jon''s face showedplete shock. The parchment that floated in front of him contained a bolded English title "Notice of eptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" at the top. The letter of eptance is too long, but apart from the title, the text below is written in anguage that Jon has never seen before, and at the bottom of the letter, there is a school crest. It is not the crest with four animals, a lion, eagle, badger and snake, surrounding an H, as he recalls it. Rather, it consisted of a dark green, tongue-spitting snake coiled around an H. Jon had certainly seen the Harry Potter books and films in his previous life, and only a week before he crossed over, he had rewatched the first four films and remembered this whole magical story very well. What he had never anticipated was that the world he had arrived in is actually the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! The parchment that is currently floating in front of him, and the quill that approached his hand as if it couldn''t wait for him to hold it, is definitely not a magic trick. At such a close distance, Jon is certain that the parchment and the quill are not manipted by any transparent threads or any other blindfold tricks, but are just floating in the air in front of him! The way the young man is dressed, the era he is in, the name of Hogwarts and the magic on disy all ascertain Jon that he has indeed arrived in the world of Harry Potter! But not only he didn''t feel any excitement, but he was getting calmer and calmer, and the feeling that something wasn''t right just kept building up in his heart. Why did the Hogwarts crest no longer match the one he remembered? Why this method of recruiting new students for admission is so different from the one in the original? Why this eptance letter is written in anguage he could not understand, shouldn''t this be in English? Who is this young man in ck robes that is recruiting him? Which one of the Hogwarts professors is he? The first two questions he simply could not ask at this time, and just as Jon hesitantly thought of asking the name of the young man, the other man had spoken before him. "I inquired about your life here, Mr Green." His voice sounded very gentle, and he seemed to have enough patience to exin to Jon about this school of magic. "A year or so ago, something happened to you that the muggles around you had no way to understand; it is a sign that the gift of magic has manifested itself in you, and these people at the orphanage had no way of epting the existence of magic, which is why they rejected you like this." "But in Hogwarts, it is very different, it is where all your kind is, you have the same kind of origin as them, along with the same abilities, you don''t have to suffer the same exclusion as you do here, and the professors at the school will teach you magic exclusively." "There will be a wee dinner for you when you enter the school, there will be a warmmon room, a variety of food that will vary from day to day, the professors will be kind, the students will be friendly, Hogwarts Castle is the best ce for you to belong." The young man''s words were unhurried, but Jon always felt he seemed hurried, so hurried that he had forgotten to even introduce himself. "Sir, you-" "Just sign your name on this notice, Mr Green. Or do you have any doubts about what I''ve said?" He asked with a smile. It is easy to gain the trust of a young child with that smile, but his eyes didn''t match the smile at all. There is an extremely deep hidden coldness and boredom that Jon caught keenly at the very beginning of their meeting. Precisely this contrast made Jon feel alienated to the core. "No, I have no doubts sir, it''s just that you..." "Since you have no doubts, sign the eptance notice, we have other things to do next, like getting you a wand and buying a school uniform or something." Again he interrupted Jon''s question with a smile on his face, urging him to sign the notice. The quill had squeezed hard in Jon''s hand, and he raised it, pulled up by the quill in his hand to ce it on top of the piece of parchment, but refused to sign as he still wanted to know just who this young man in front of him who hade to recruit him for admission really is, and the true situation. "Sir, you haven''t made a self ..." "Sign!" The youth interrupted his question with a sudden shout as if he could no longer bear it! And just at the same time, a dazzling red light suddenly shot out from behind the young man, spanning a distance of more than ten metres in the blink of an eye, and struck him in the back! A transparent light shield, which seemed to be tainted by the red light, lit up around the young man, sessfully counteracting the spell, but at the same time, the shield itself began to break apart! The gentle smile on the youth''s face faded, and his expression turned cold and loathsome. He pulled his small wooden stick-like wand from his left sleeve and without hesitation,unched a counterattack in the direction the red light hade from. "Stupefy!" An identical red light shot out from the tip of his wand, but the spell didn''t hit its target, instead, it hit the grass in front of the sneak attacker, stirring up arge patch of dirt. The sneak attacker is a woman with long, beautiful crimson hair and bright green eyes. She dressed in tattered grey robes and looked ragged and dusty, and after dodging the youth''s counterattack, she sprinted through the billowing dust in the direction of Jon! Yet just as she was less than three metres away from Jon, she stopped abruptly and aimed the wand in her hand at the ck-robed youth who had at some point lit up the tip of his wand with a dark green glow! "Lily Potter! Did you really think I wouldn''t dare to use a Killing Curse on you!" The youth looked at her with cold eyes and slurred under his breath. As if giving up on her intention of trying to take Jon away by force, Lily held up the wand in her hand and confronted the youth, as a voice dripping with icy coldness sounded. "Surely you wouldn''t dare to disobey the orders of the master who you treat as if he is your own father, but against this boy, you would dare to use it." While speaking, Lily extended the hand that did not hold the wand in the direction of where Jon stood. "Come with me, Jon, I''ll take you to the real Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." "Jon Green! She is a wanted criminal whom the Ministry of Magic offers a bounty for! " The youth''s grip on his wand did not rx in the slightest, the green light that glinted at the tip of his wand acted more like a deterrent, one that maintained the bnce of the scene. "Go with her, and you too will be put on the Ministry of Magic''s most wanted list and be a terrorist. If you sign the notice child, you will be a student at Hogwarts, the only recognized wizarding school in the British wizarding world, not the fake terrorist group that is impersonating us. I will take you to the world where you belong, without having to be isted and living an exiled life with this woman''s gang." He directed his words at Jon, and Lily, who is standing opposite the man, made no attempt to refute his words, but simply said calmly to Jon once more. "Take my hand." "Sign it, Green!" The situation had strangely reached a stalemate, and one thing that even Jon hadn''t expected was that the only person who could break the stalemate would be the one who held no power at all! In the short span of less than ten minutes, Jon, whose mind had been bombarded with countless pieces of information, did not plunge into confusion at this point. Or rather, he sobered up a little more after hearing the name of the witch who had suddenly attacked and rushed up to him, also intending to take him to Hogwarts. Lily Potter. Both the name and the family name seemed incredibly familiar to Jon, but if he really had crossed over into the world of Harry Potter, then the owner of that name shouldn''t even be here at this time! So he did not, at first, give his trust to the woman known as Lily. If she really is the same Lily from the story, then she is credible, but who can prove that the person in front of him is the same witch who should have died 10 years ago? So instead of making a choice right away, Jon looked over at the young man in ck robes, with the quill in his hand, he took a deep breath and finally this time he managed to ask the question that he had been repeatedly interrupted from asking three times. "Sir, what I''ve actually been trying to say is that you haven''t introduced yourself to me as who you are?" Such a question was obviously very out of ce in such a situation, because in the perception of the other two, even if Jon knew the youth''s identity it would be meaningless to his next choice. The youth suppressed the annoyance and impatience in his mind and simply dismissed it as a childish fit of temper on Jon''s part, his face reverting to the gentle, patient smile he had worn before. "I''m sorry, Mr Green, I just forgot to introduce myself to you. My identity is that of a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Magic stationed at Hogwarts and also a Professor of Charms ss at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - Barty Crouch" The moment he heard the young man''s name, Jon''s entire body froze, and the first thing that came to his mind was the image of a serious and old-fashioned Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation, who is already in his old age. Barty Crouch. Wait! Not that Barty Crouch! It should be. Barty Crouch Jr! Jon didn''t hesitate any longer after his realization, now even a ghost knows who to choose! He pped away the eptance notice that was floating in front of him, threw away the quill and without hesitation ced his hand in Lily''s! Lily was obviously a little taken aback by Jon''s reaction, but she moved with unparalleled swiftness, waving the wand in her hand with a fluid motion. ''Apparition!'' The bodies of the two were instantly distorted into a swirl, and then in the next second, theypletely disappeared from the spot! And it was at that point that the young man, who should more precisely be called Barty Crouch Jr, spoke out the enticement he prepared to give to Jon earlier. "- I can give you plenty of care when we get to Hogwarts-" Before Barty Crouch Jr could finish his sentence, Lily had taken Jon away in front of him. He stared nkly at the yard that had reduced to just him ying a one-man show, the disguise on his face finally unable to maintain anymore. His pale face became incredibly grim and hideous, his fury made the veins on his forehead bulge, and then he yelled out the boy''s name word by word. "Jo! En! Gre! En! Damn it! Lowlife mudbloods!!!" --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 3: Lily Potter Chapter 3: Lily Potter A crushing sensation as if his entire body had been run over by a roller, took over all of Jon''s senses. Nausea and pain as if he was being crushed t caused his stomach to turn over and just after stepping on solid ground again after less than a second in flight, Jon finally couldn''t hold back and bowed covering his stomach and dry heaving. "The first time you Apparate it''s inevitable that you will be less ustomed to the sensation, so sit down and have a cup of hot chocte, it might make you feel better." Lily''s voice, a cold yet clearly caring tone, rang out beside him. Jon took a slow breath and epted the cup of warm chocte from her hand. He looked down as if he had taken a sip, but in fact, he didn''t let his lips touch the liquid in the cup at all and forced himself to hold back his difort, focusing all his attention on the surrounding environment. It looked like a simple wooden hut with only a firece, two old single sofas and a dirty wooden table, serving as a shelter for temporary rest. Through the poorly fitted windows, one could see lush woond outside, clearly somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Holding the cup of hot chocte in his hands, Jon looked over at Lily, who was flicking her wand at the firece, making the faint mes on it grow lively, and only now he was able to take a closer look at the witch who should have been dead ten years ago. She is certainly a beautiful woman, though her crimson hair is slightly dishevelled, her face somewhat pale as if she has not been resting well, her eye sockets deep, and her wide grey robes made her look extremely thin. Lily noticed his gaze and met Jon''s with the same pair of blue-green eyes that had been missed to death by a certain Potions ss professor in the original story. Jon took a deep breath and asked the first question after they reached a safe ce with a serious look on his face. "Will Mrs Chris and the guys by any chance be in danger now that I''ve escaped with you?" Although he didn''t feel much sense of belonging to that orphanage, the dean, Mrs Chris, had after all fed him and taken care of him for well over a year. From the bottom of his heart, Jon didn''t want to see the people who had supported him get implicated because of him. Lily nced at him and her eyes, which had been as calm as stagnant water, visibly grew a little softer. "Those people who want to take you away with them used to be nothing but evil, but after they havepletely seized control of the magical world, their lord no longer allows them to kill people that readily. They will only erase the memories associated with you from the minds of everyone in the orphanage, destroy all traces of you ever existing in this world, and will not harm anyone associated with you." At her words, Jon breathed a sigh of relief, and the hand clutching the teacup rxed slightly. "You seem a lot more mature than your peers, not like an eleven-year-old." Lily didn''t take her eyes off Jon. By the tone of her voice, it was obvious she sensed something, to which Jon didn''t show much of a panic and said with a blink. "A child living in an orphanage always has to know more things, don''t we? Although I don''t think it''s something to boast about." Lily fell silent, it was not clear what things had crossed her mind as her mood seemed to have suddenly be subdued. But such a silence did notst long, and her face returned to its calm and indifference as she spoke to Jon. "You''ve already been told about your general situation by Crouch just now at the orphanage, at least he didn''t lie about you having magical talent and being a wizard, and there''s no need for me to repeat that to you again. I know there are many questions in your mind besides that, and the good thing is that we have time until nightfall to have them answered next." "But before I proceed with your formal orientation, you''ll have to answer one of my doubts as well." Lily''s expression didn''t change much, only her tone became slightly more serious. "Why at the end, did you be so decisive in choosing toe with me when you heard the name, Barty Crouch? Did you know him before?" Jon''s face remained unchanged, he had already expected this question to be asked sooner orter if this Lily decided they are safe after arriving at this safe house, so he had mentally nned ahead from the start. Judging from Lily''s attitude now, she is not too wary of himself because of this matter, which also made Jon quietly relieved. He wasn''t sure if this Lily in front of him would be skilled in magic like Legilimency. Although decent wizards, even if they did, usually rarely used it on people in secret, especially a child who is only 11 years old, but even decent wizards wouldn''t be pedantic enough to hold back on suspicious elements if the situation is dangerous to a certain extent. And the way Jon behaved now, it was clear that he is nowhere remotely close to that, but first, he needs to justify his actions properly in a reasonable context as well. "I don''t know him, but from the moment I first met him I got the impression that he wasn''t actually as friendly as he appeared to be." Jon locked eyes with Lily without the slightest intention of avoiding her gaze, "He disliked and loathed me, I could feel it from the first moment he saw me." "The more he painted a rosy picture of that magic school to me with his words, the more I felt it was bogus. And I couldn''t understand a word of that letter of eptance he asked me to sign, except for the title on it, and after I signed it, who knew if I would actually be attending a magic school or if I had sold myself out? I hadn''t thought about signing and going with him even before you appeared. It was just that he was an adult who knew magic, and I am a child who had no way to resist directly. Your presence gave me more options, and although that option was also unknown and dangerous, it was better than going with another person of greater suspicion, right? That''s why I asked his name to distract him at the time of your confrontation, and then followed you to escape." Jon was telling the truth, about 90% of it, and only thest sentence was false, so unless one peeked inside his mind, one would never notice anything wrong with it. And while Lily certainly didn''t try to " break" into his mind, her eyes still remained fixed on Jon with a scrutinizing look. There was a silence in the room, and it was only when Jon''s body trembled under her stare that she finally spoke. "I''ve never seen any eleven-year-old like you." She looked like she was stumped on what words to use and Jon duly reminded her, sensing her dilemma. "Smart?" "No, it''s something like a ghost who looks young but is actually a good hundred years old, with so many twists and turns in mind." Jon''s face instantly soured. We had only known each other for a short time, and neither of us knew each other well, so there is no need to call him an old man in such a roundabout way. ------------------ Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 4: Elf Education Chapter 4: Elf Education Jon''s maturity and mentality that is beyond that of his peers surprised Lily, but that is pretty much everything. It wasn''t as if she had never seen a mature kid, even if it is rare, she knew a kid like that, the Longbottom boy who had lost his mother when he was a child, had always acted much more sensible than others of his age. Jon''s exnation allowed the only trace of wariness she had of him to drop in Lily''s mind, and then, as she had promised earlier, she started to answer Jon''s questions now. "Is that guy Barty Crouch really a professor at a magic school?" Even though the situation felt safe for the time being, Jon still felt a sense of incredulity over what had happened today. Crossing over to a world of magic that only existed in fantasy is indeed shocking, but not to the point where Jon couldn''t ept it. But judging from everything that had happened today, this might be the same magic world from the novel, but it is definitely more than simply that. ording to that plot he knew by heart, Lily Potter in front of him should have died with her husband 10 years ago, and her son Harry Potter who would have survived in the hands of the biggest viin in the story, Voldemort, wouldter be the only hope of the whole wizarding world to defeat the Dark Lord. As for Barty Crouch Jr, the male wizard who found him first, he is a diehard loyalist of Voldemort, the kind of diehard who will kill his own mother and father for Voldemort. In the original fourth book, he impersonated the professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts ss and plotted in Hogwarts for Voldemort''s resurrection n, and although he eventually seeded, he was also captured by the Ministry of Magic and had his soul sucked out by a Dementor. Before that, he had been imprisoned in his home by his father, the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, who is also called Barty Crouch, by using an Imperius Curse, so how did he now be a professor of charms ss at Hogwarts? Would Dumbledore employ such a former Death Eater, and nominally deceased person, as a professor at Hogwarts? Or is it possible that Dumbledore is no longer the headmaster at Hogwarts at all? There were many questions on Jon''s mind and the conversation that had just taken ce between Lily and Crouch, though brief, had revealed many things. Wanted, Real Hogwarts, Fake Terrorist Group, exile None of these striking words slipped Jon''s mind. The wizarding world is certainly still the same, but something significant must have changed in it beyond his knowledge. For example, if this Lily in front of him is really the one he thinks she is. What about Harry Potter? Of course, Jon couldn''t just ask "Do you have a son named Harry" out of the blue, so he decided to find out more about the current state of the wizarding world. When she heard Jon''s question, Lily''s face turned somewhat gloomy, like the sea on a dark night, seemingly calm, but in reality, it contained waves that would erupt at some point. "If we go by the current official Ministry of Magic announcement, ny percent of what he said to you is true." "He is indeed a professor of charms ss at that ''Hogwarts'' and he approached you in order to bring you in, and the notice that you were asked to sign was a real notice of eptance to a wizarding school. But kind professor, friendly ssmate, hehe" Her blue-green eyes met Jon''s, and the gloom and anger in them looked like they would overflow from their sockets. "Do you know about ve owners in the Middle Ages?" The way she was acting made Jon feel inexplicably nervous, and he swallowed and nodded slightly. "For that school, students like you, who came from Muggle society and whose parents are both Muggles, are considered ves for them to train. For pureblood students, it is indeed a school, but for muggle students, it is a domestication camp!" "The so-called muggles are ordinary people in the normal world who don''t know about magic and don''t have the means to use it." "That notice of eptance, written in the Ancient Runenguage, only requires the signature of the muggle students for them to enrol. Because that notice has another name - ''Elf Education Contract''!" Jon''s pupils flinched slightly and his heart shook. The name elf is not the name of some beautiful, pretty, noble creature in the world of Harry Potter. A house elf, a magical creature domesticated by a wizard into a ve, whose entire value from birth is to pride themselves on their unconditional servitude to the wizard and to bepletely controlled by the wizard both mentally and physically! Lily''s voice was cold, as cold as an iceberg that would not melt for a thousand years. "You may not understand what an elf education means, but by signing that contract, you will be bound by that ''Hogwarts'' in all aspects to be educated to be a ve after entering the school, without even the right to obtain a wand, and never be recognised as a wizard, the only official title that is given to them is one word - ''Mudblood''!" Jon stood silent. Never had he expected this world to have changed to such an extent. In the original story, although bloodline discrimination is a kind of social problem in the magical world, but it would never reach the point where the sses are sopletely separated, and the muggle-born wizards are no longer considered human. There can only be one possibility for such a situation to arise, and for a former Death Eater like Barty to be a professor at a magic school. Voldemort, the Dark Lord who, in the original story, a terrorist at best, has taken full control over the wizardingmunity and brought his reign and ideological domination over the whole ind of Great Britain! But is he really capable of such a thing, the madman whose mind could only think of torturing and killing people using unforgivable curses? And what was Dumbledore doing? Did he just stand by and watch the wizarding world change hands? With the little information he had now, Jon couldn''t figure out what kind of changes had urred to make the otherwise good wizarding world what it is today. Jon raised his head and looked at Lily once again. "And what about you Mrs Potter." "You can address me as Professor Potter." Lily''s face remained expressionless, making it impossible to tell just how her mood had changed after hearing the title Mrs. A small test, which didn''t yield much result, Jon took a deep breath. "Well Professor Potter, just now at the orphanage I remember you mentioning to me that you wanted to take me to the real Hogwarts. Is that also a wizarding school?" "No, and yes, I''m taking you to the only wizarding school in Britain. That castle as it now has no qualifications to be called a school." Lily frowned and revised Jon''s mistake in speech, then continued. "Seven years ago, the wizarding world was not what it is now. Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore failed to resist that man''s oppressive rule over the wizarding world, nevertheless, we never stopped resisting under his leadership till now." "The real Hogwarts is never bound to the ancient castle, and in the constant struggle to overthrow oppression and reim the equality of Muggle wizards, we have never given up on educating the next generation of young wizards properly and fairly. So even after leaving that castle, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which has been passed down for close to a thousand years, has never disappeared, and I am the Potions ss professor responsible for taking you to school." A silence fell over the wooden hut as Lily''s words fell. The bouncing fire reflected on Jon''s seemingly calm face. After figuring out the current gloomy situation, he sighed helplessly and finished off the cup of hot chocte that had be slightly cold and sticky. --------------- #Mathias Zink, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 5: Half-bloods Chapter 5: Half-bloods After spending the afternoon in the wooden hut, Lily pulled a pocket watch out of her robe pocket, checked the time on it, then stood up and led Jon out of the safe house. The area outside is densely packed with trees, and it seems like a very secluded ce in the middle of some off-the-beaten-track mountain range. "Are we going to Hogwarts now?" Even though Lily had deliberately slowed her pace, Jon, whose body that is still in a rapid growth spurt, needed to pick up his pace to keep up with her. "Yeah." "Then why don''t we just go over there with that magic you used to bring me to escape?" "The Ministry of Magic can tell where the Apparition will descend through the starting point of the Apparition. This safe house will help us conceal the location of the drop point for a short time, but we won''t be able to use that kind of magic when we travel to Hogwarts." Jon looked up puzzledly and continued to ask. "So are we going to walk to Hogwarts like this? Or have you prepared some sort of transport?" Lily said with a calm face "We just need to walk a little further first, then Hogwarts wille to us on its own." Just half an hour after they had left, Barty Crouch Jr. arrived at this safe house in the woods with a group of Aurors. As he looked inside at the extinguished fire and the teacups with chocte traces in them, the Professor of another Hogwarts charms ss flushed furiously. "Very well, it happens, quite literally, every year, again and again. Once again we let that woman slip away with a mudblood right under our noses." The Aurors bowed their heads submissively, no one daring to meet the eyes of the young man in front of them who is favoured by that man. Barty Jr.''s eyes went icy cold, a far cry from his previous gentle disy in front of Jon. "I would love to know why, after all this time, the Auror office has not yet studied a way to deal with this safe house magic!" A young male wizard among the Aurors gulped, his voice trembling, as he gritted his teeth and exined. "Professor Crouch, arge part of the manpower inmand has been put into cracking this magic, if it had been the kind of magic these fugitives used a year ago we would have been able to crack it at the first opportunity, but the concealment magic they cast on the safe houses keeps changing, and this one this year has a new spell being put on it, that''s why all the previous research went to nought." Barty Jr. stared at the male wizard who had spoken, the coldness in his face fading and the corners of his mouth rising into a smile. "What''s your name?" The young male wizard acted as if he sensed friendliness in his smile, without noticing how the old Aurors around him all secretly looked at him with pitying eyes. With a smile on his face, he stammered. "I... My name is Andrew Williams, Professor. I also took your charms ss during, during myst two years at Hogwarts." Barty Jr. gently twirled the wand in his hand with three fingers, his voice sounding gentle. "I don''t seem to recall the family name Williams in pureblood families, and the Ministry of Magic would never recruit a mudblood as an employee, so, you''re a half-blood?" "Yes, yes, Professor." "Crucio!" That gentle smiling face one second before transformed into an iparably hideous one the next moment. The young male wizard''s body curled up like a boiled prawn and wriggled violently on the ground under the tip of Barty''s wand, the pain from the depths of his soul came out of his mouth with a wail that startled arge flock of birds in the woods. "Ah!!!" "What are you, some bastard with dirty and impure blood in the body!" He stomped his leather boot heavily on the young Auror''s body again and again, as if he was venting the anger that he had been holding all day long today. "The only person in the entire Aurormand who is qualified to give me these words of exnation is your Head Lucius Malfoy, do you understand that?! Son of a whore!" Half of the sun had already set below the horizon, and the afterglow of the setting sun draped the surrounding houses with a thin orange veil. Lily led Jon out of the woods, and they soon arrived at a nearby muggle town. After leaving the woods, she took off the grey robe she was wearing, a in top and jeans worn inside, the dark red hair also turned dark brown with her spell. The two walked together in the streets of the town, just like a pair of mother and son out for a walk, without drawing any attention to themselves. Jon has been walking for two or three hours after following Lily out of the safe house. He is now, after all, still in a child''s body, after walking for so long, the body has long felt exhausted. The good thing is that aftering to this town, Lily did not intend to continue walking, and led Jon on a secluded path to find a bench to sit and rest. Jon is still very curious about the sentence "Hogwarts wille to us". The castle, which was built by the four founders, has apparently been taken over by Voldemort. So, under the state of being wanted at all times, what kind of ce will Hogwarts led by Dumbledore for teaching would be like? He didn''t rush to ask Lily, it wouldn''t take long for him to know the answer to that question on his own anyway, but he raised a question on something different. "Professor Potter, am I the only oneing to Hogwarts today?" Lily''s right hand remained in her jeans pocket at all times, as a way to hide her wand while also being able to make a counter-move at the first sign of an unforeseen situation. "I am not the only professor who heads out from the school to guide Muggle students through their initial orientation. And you weren''t the only student I was responsible to bring back today." When she said that, her face became visibly a bit dull. "Before I went to meet you, I also went to the home of another girl named Hermione Granger, and by the time I got there, the girl''s parents could no longer remember that they had a daughter." Jon froze on the spot. Hermione Granger, this name is naturally more than familiar to him as a person who has read the original story! This is also the first time he heard about the situation of the people in the protagonist''s team, but the implication of Lily''s words. Jon took a deep breath and looked at the witch beside him with aplicated face. "You said that if a student like me got taken to another Hogwarts, those people would erase the memories of all those who knew them. This girl named Hermione Granger." Lily''s voice was calm, but the anger, remorse and powerlessness hidden under that calmness could not be hidden at all. "That''s right, she signed the eptance notice and was taken away by a professor like Barty Crouch Jr., to another Hogwarts." -------------- #Mathias Zink, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 6: Hogwarts on the Wagon Chapter 6: Hogwarts on the Wagon No words can even describe theplexity in Jon''s heart. Facing this familiar and unfamiliar world, the thing that could bring him a slight sense of security most would be the news of the main protagonist group in the original story. But now that Lily, who was supposed to have died protecting her son, is about to lead him to Hogwarts, the odds of Harry Potter, the prophesied saviour, being doomed are likely high. Now there is news that Hermione Granger has been taken to Hogwarts, the "domestication camp" as Lily calls it. The original golden trio seemed to bepletely destroyed, and Voldemort''s dark forces are many times more powerful than in the story. Thispletely shattered Jon''s initial illusion that the Plot-armour of the fated protagonists would still be there, and the world would still be saved. His mood also sank to the bottom like the sun that is sinking in the west. The sky gradually becamepletely dark, and both sides of the road, were illuminated by dim streetmps, and the secluded road lit up. Lily suddenly stood up from the bench, unclenching the hand that had been holding her wand in her trouser pocket and pulling a silver, lighter-like object from her jacket pocket. She pressed the button on the lighter and the next moment all the street lights on both sides of the road went out. Once the light went out, it becamepletely dark. When Lily pulled out her lighter, Jon stood up with her, his arm held by Lily, and it wasn''t long before a sound of hoof beats could be heard faintly in the darkness. "Hogwarts ising." The windows of the house in the distance shed bright light. As if it came to life, it jumped abruptly to one side and then jumped all the way back, as if to make way for something. The sound of horses'' hooves grew louder, almost close to his ears, and soon in the darkness, Jon could faintly see a huge wagon! The wagon loomed about the same size as the safe house he had been to during the day, two or three metres high and five or six metres long, but the odd thing about it is that there is not a single shadow of a horse in front of the wagon, as if there is no creature pulling it at all, yet the clear sound of hoof beats sounded so real. The wagon, which was pulled by nothing, came to a halt in front of Jon and Lily, and there is a man sitting in front of the wagon. He looked like a gigantic and stout man, so well-proportioned for a wagon as big as a small house. In his hands, he held two reins that connected to the air ahead of him, and in the darkness, Jon could not see his face, but he felt the caring gaze that was directed toward him. "Hello there boy, nice to meet you for the first time, I''m a Hogwarts coachman, you can call me Hagrid." Rubeus Hagrid, the original keeper of the grounds and keys of the Hogwarts castle, is a half-blood giant, as well as a good man with a gentle disposition. The information about Hagrid rose in Jon''s mind, and he didn''t forget to open his mouth and introduce himself. "Hello Hagrid, my name is Jon Green." "Ah, it''s nice to meet you Jon and nice to see that you are safe Lily." "Thank you, Hagrid, but this isn''t exactly a safe ce, I''m going to take him up there." Lily said softly. Hagrid raised the reins in his hand happily. "Go on, Professor McGonagall has already returned with a child in the middle of the afternoon, Dumbledore told me about a great ce, we''ll be having our wee dinner thereter!" Lily led Jon to the rear of the wagon, she then drew her wand and tapped it against the wooden railings at the side of the wagon and the wooden steps extended down from it. Jon followed Lily behind and walked up the steps with her as she opened the door and stepped into the wagon known as Hogwarts. Just as they entered the wagon, they found themselves in a wide entrance hall. The space alone is more than enough to fit in a wagon the size of a small house on the outside; some sort of magic must have been applied to the interior to expand the space. Inside the entrance hall, an elderly witch with a straight back, wearing dark green robes, with dark hair curled and tied into a high bun, and sporting square-shaped sses on her face, stood to greet them. "Professor McGonagall, I''m sorry, I only brought back one child." Lily said guiltily as she saw the older witch and moved forward to give her a gentle hug. Professor McGonagall''s otherwise serious and stern face softened, and she patted Lily''s back with her hand. "Don''t say those words, it''s good to be back safely. Go and get some rest, there''s a dinner banquetter, leave the boy to me." Lily nodded and handed Jon over, and then left through the entrance hall. After sending Lily away, Professor McGonagall''s expression turned back to one of seriousness, and she looked at Jon. "Mr Green, I am Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts and also your Professor of Transfiguration as well as your Professor of Herbology, I believe Lilypleted the initial orientation to you when she brought you in. Next, you need toe with me and I will take you to meet up with the other new students and receive your Wand." Jon is no stranger to the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, who featured quite a bit in the original story, but he still visibly froze for a moment when he heard Professor McGonagall''s self-introduction. Noticing his reaction, Professor McGonagall asked with a slight frown. "Do you have a question?" Jon took a deep breath and shook his head. "I don''t have a question, Professor, I''m just a little nervous about being here for the first time." Professor McGonagall looked at him, her serious face easing up a lot. "Strange surroundings do make it hard to adjust at first, Green, but the professors and students at Hogwarts are easy to get along with, well a life in exile is something that basically no one will like, but this is a ce where you could make friends." Jon nodded with a serious look on his face and then followed Professor McGonagall towards the long corridor at the end of the entrance hall. In fact, all he could think about now is a position that Professor McGonagall had just mentioned that she held on top of her original one. Professor of Herbology. After walking out of the entrance hall and not more than a few metres into the long corridor, Professor McGonagall pushed open a door on her left and led Jon in with her. As they entered, a total of four pairs of eyes looked at them from the room behind the door in unison. All of them are children about Jon''s age, three boys and one girl, sitting on a bench in the middle of the room, and before they entered they did not look quite honest, each one talking to the other and exchanging ideas, but when they saw Professor McGonagall, they all became well-behaved and sat upright. Professor McGonagall nced at the children with a sharp gaze while gesturing for Jon to go and sit on thest empty seat on the bench. "Wait here for a moment and I will take you all to obtain your wandster." -------------- #Mathias Zink, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 7: Freshmen Chapter 7: Freshmen "Why does it have to be a sad thing to be separated from your family? Think of it differently, it might be a good opportunity to gain some freedom." The boy with a few freckles on his face and bright red hair said casually. "I''m not just being separated from my family!" The dark-haired boy with red eyes, who had obviously just been crying, screamed, "They''ve all forgotten about me! They''ve forgotten that I''m their son!" Tears streamed from his eyes once again. "It was only yesterday that Dad and Mum were celebrating with me for getting my eptance letter to Eton, but today they ended up looking at me like I am a stranger." The boy with a round face, blonde hair and a firm gaze different from the other kids, patted him on the shoulder to reassure him. "There''s no way around it Justin, Professor McGonagall is doing this not only to protect you but your parents as well. If those people find out they have a son like you who can do magic, then maybe they will be in a danger in the future." He obviously had to act a lot more maturely than the other children, and his reassuring words made the boy named Justin stop crying, and he looked at the blond boy with misty eyes. "So will I ever get to see my mum and dad again?" The blond boy fell silent, obviously knowing that the chances of that happening would be low, very low. "Yes, you will! Justin!" The only girl in the room said firmly and loudly. "My mum and dad have always told me that good will triumph over evil! The day when Professor Dumbledore leads us back to reiming what was rightfully ours with our equal status! You''ll be reunited with your parents!" Jon had listened to the conversation between the four children without saying a word since he had been sent to this room by Professor McGonagall. He had already rudimentary recognized two of them just by their appearance and the information in their words. The red-haired boy who had spoken at the beginning had obvious external characteristics; only the Weasleys had such bright red hair in the wizarding world. It is only natural that this boy is Ron Weasley, the youngest son of the Pureblood Weasley family, one of the original protagonist''s golden trio. The fact that he showed up here meant that the Weasleys stood firm as they did in the original, willing to be "blood traitors" and to betray their own ss in order to support Dumbledore for the sake of justice. The weeping, dark-haired boy known as Justin is Justin Finch-Fletchley, the Hufflepuff student who was petrified by the Basilisk in the second part of the series. He, just like Jon, is also a Muggle student whose parents are of Muggle origin. As for the other blonde boy and the girl Just as Jon turned his gaze to Neville, Neville also turned his head to meet his eyes simrly. With a smile on his face, Neville extended his hand. "Hello, my name is Neville Longbottom, and I''m also a new student at Hogwarts this year. Sorry, Justine was in a bit of a bad mood just now, and we wereforting him." Jon felt a slight pang in his heart, but on the surface, he calmly extended his hand and shook Neville''s. "That''s fine, my name is Jon Green, just call me Jon." "This is Justin Finch-Fletchley, this is Ron Weasley, and that girl is Lavender Brown, I guess there will be just the five of us going to be this year''s freshmen at Hogwarts." As Neville and Jon introduced each other, Ron and the rest of the group greeted Jon in turn, even Justin, who is still in a downbeat mood, greeted him with a "Nice to meet you." "Are you brought in by Professor Potter?" Ron asked curiously. Jon nodded. "Yes, she''s the one who brought me here." "Well, then it doesn''t look like they''ve managed to nab many students from the other Hogwarts this year." Ron shrugged and said, "Justine was brought in by Professor McGonagall this afternoon, and they only brought back the two of you." Jon looked at Ron, and although he could guess the reason as to why he still asked with an air of curiosity. "What about the three of you?" "Me and Neville''s family are members of the Order of the Phoenix and have always been with Dumbledore." Ron said with a wide grin, "ording to the Ministry of Magic out there, the whole of our two families are wanted criminals, and from a young age we are destined to attend this Hogwarts at the age of eleven. Because there is no other wizarding school that could possibly even consider enrolling us." "I am here because my father insisted on sending me here." Lavender said proudly, "He firmly believed that I could only get the best education here, and for that reason he even went as far as to take my mum with him and fled to d, abandoning the family business in Britain!" The name Lavender also rang a few bells in Jon''s mind. In the original story, she happened to be Ron''s first girlfriend, but unfortunately, she didn''t end up with a happy ending, dying in the mouth of the werewolf Fenrir Greyback at the Final Battle. As for her bloodline, there is no way he would remember that much of a detail of a cannon fodder character, but from what she said, he could tell that at least her father is a wizard. Jon felt at once that thebination of the four freshmen he had enrolled with is quite interesting. He and Justin are muggle students brought back from the outside by their professors, Ron and Neville are both purebloods by root, and Lavender is most likely a half-blood. There are only five freshmen here, but they have gathered all the various sses of the magicalmunity together at the moment. And Justin, who clearly sensed that Jon is the one with the most simr experience to his, blinked and asked. "Were you also brought here after your mum and dad had their memories wiped?" Jon could quite understand his desire to find someone in this strange ce who shared a simr circumstance to his own so that it would be somewhat of a psychological boost, but unfortunately, they didn''t share the same circumstances. "I was taken from an orphanage by Professor Potter and grew up without parents, so I don''t really feel that bad about it." The way Justine looked at him turned pitiful all of a sudden. After all, he still has had a family once before he lost it today, while Jon has never had one since he was a baby, and he is obviously worse off than he is. "Look at it like this, there''s nothing wrong with being an orphan, at least it''s not sad and hard at a time like thi..." Before Ron could finish his sentence, Neville pped him on the back and interrupted his bbering, all the while looking over at Jon with an apologetic face. "Sorry Jon, he always talks like that without paying attention, Ron''s intention was not to mock you." Ron, after Neville''s reminder, realised at this point that what he had said without thinking about it was pretty vague and immediately apologised with an embarrassed smile as well. "I''m sorry Jon, I didn''t mean it that way." Of course, Jon didn''t care much about this matter, he shook his head with a smile and said "it''s okay", and Lavender opened her mouth with gusto and redirected the conversation elsewhere. It was only while they were talking that Jon without drawing any attention from anyone else, looked deeply at Neville. The polite, generous, attentive and gentle boy in front of him seemed a far cry from the timid and cowardly Gryffindor from the original story. --------------- #Mathias Zink, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 8: Dumbledore Chapter 8: Dumbledore But when you seriously think about it, it''s also arguably inevitable that the current Neville character is a world away from the original story. Arge part of the reason why Neville in the story became as timid and cowardly as he did was because of the fact that his parents were tortured into insanity by a Cruciatus Curse when he was a baby, and he was constantly subjected to his strict grandmother''s high-handed upbringing on his own, which made his character wed from the start. And the main reason the Longbottoms were captured and tortured by the Death Eaters was because Voldemort''s followers wanted to find clues about their lord from the couple after the disappearance of Voldemort, who intended to kill Harry Potter only to have his own killing curse backfire on him. Judging from the current situation, Neville''s parents most likely did not fall into such a miserable situation, and Neville was thus taught well by them. "I have always wanted a wand of my own, and I used to steal Percy''s wand and y with it at home, which I one day almost dropped into the firece. My mum and dad threw a huge fit when they found out about it, and I''ve never seen them that angry before." When he said that, Ron still had a palpitating look on his face. "They locked me up in the attic for two whole days to make me reflect on my mistake, during which I was only given a ss of water and two slices of bread. I really didn''t understand why they reacted that violently when it is only a wand, I went to ask George and Fred about it and they both criticised me with a serious face without telling me why, even though they enjoyed ying tricks on Percy with me before." Justin asked curiously. "Is that little wooden stick that Professor McGonagall had in her hand a wand?" Neville exined to him. "Yes, that''s the tool that wizards use to cast their magic. Maybe all the adults are very attached to their wands and that''s why they punished Ron like that." "How will the professors distribute the wands to uster? Just straight up give us one each?" Lavender asked. Neville said hesitantly. "I suppose so, we certainly won''t be able to just choose our own here like how it is in the wand shop." Jon, who hadn''t been much involved in their conversation for a while now, apart from speaking a few words, felt certain that the wand thing isn''t that simple. To the wizards of this world, a wand is undoubtedly a very important thing. In the history of wizardry, after the goblin rebellion was sessfully suppressed, the greatest punishment imposed on them was depriving them of the right to use wands, as illustrated in the historical record. This does not mean that without a wand, a wizard ispletely deprived of the ability to use magic, but a wand''splimentary effect on casting magic spells of all kinds is undoubtedly enormous. The vast majority of wizards would struggle to even cast a proper spell without their wands, and the power of the spell would naturally be greatly diminished. Even Jon could see that the wand is a vital strategic resource, and he couldn''t believe that people on Voldemort''s side are too stupid to realise its importance. After all, there are only a few people in the wizarding world who are capable of making wands, apart from the three most famous wand-making families. By controlling every source to prevent any new wands from being sold to Dumbledore''s people, and by making itpulsory to record all existing wands in the hands of other wizards at the Ministry of Magic, it would be extremely difficult for Dumbledore to get new students their own wands. It wouldn''t be impossible to buy one, but it would inevitably cost a very high price, and it is unlikely that the quantity avable would exceed more than three in a short period of time respectively. So Jon is now curious about the source of the wands they will getter. Just as the few newly enrolled children were chatting and getting to know each other, Professor McGonagall, who had been away for about ten minutes, reappeared. "All of youe along with me." Regardless of whether it is Justin, who was recently brought here, or Ron and Neville, who seem to be somewhat familiar with the ce already, looked at Professor McGonagall with great respect. They rose nervously from their chairs and followed Professor McGonagall out of the room together. No one spoke on the way, and they kept walking along the long corridor deeper inside, for about twenty metres or so, moving past dozens of room doors before they eventually made their way to the end. At the end of the long corridor, there is also a door, on which Professor McGonagall knocked gently and addressed the person inside. "Albus, I''ve brought the new students to collect their wands." "Come in." A gentle, elderly voice came from inside. Jon followed the four of them at the back of the line after Neville and walked into the room. It is a modest office, in which only an old man with a head full of white hair sitting in a chair, with a golden perch by his side, on which a bird with golden-red feathers stood, and dozens of portraits behind him, in which every wizard looked old, and each one of them was dozing with their heads down and eyes closed. And above those portraits, Jon finally saw the familiar school crest. A lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake, and these four animals surround a capital ''H''. The identity of the old man in the office is obvious. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. A legendary figure whose achievements shone brilliantly through the wizarding world and whose strength reached the upper level of the wizarding world, he is a figure considered to be the greatest wizard of the twentieth century. There is nothing special about his appearance, wearing half-moon-shaped sses, his hair and beard are both dusty white and his face is full of wrinkles left by the passing years, and his smile is just so affable that everyone who sees him smiles can''t help but let go of the tension and stress in their hearts. "I love to see the arrival of new children to this wagon." Dumbledore rose to wee them, "It means that the cause we are taking on is not one that will be lost after us. I am your Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore." He didn''t look like he was saying that as a polite gesture and acted genuinely happy, pulling arge variety of sweets out of his drawer and gesturing for Jon and the rest of the group to help themselves as much as they wanted. It was only when Professor McGonagall coughed lightly in the background that he remembered the main business. "A good working wand is, of course, essential to have before you can actually be a student at a wizarding school." The smile on Dumbledore''s face slowly faded, and his face turned solemn for some reason. "But for you all, the wand would certainly be more than simply essential; it would be a representation of your, and another''s beliefs." His voice trailed softly as if he was reciting some eulogy that evoked nostalgia. And then, under the nk stare of Jon, as well as Neville and the rest of the children with him, the old man pulled open the door of a wooden cab to the right of his desk. Inside the cab, a dozen wooden boxes were neatly arranged and cushioned on top of white velvet, each of the wands lying quietly inside the wooden box, looked ancient and worn. --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 9: Old Wands Chapter 9: Old Wands "Regardless of how and by whom you were brought to this Hogwarts, I''m sure you all can understand the current situation of the school. The Ministry of Magic has blocked and controlled all wand trading, leaving us with no means of being able to take you to the wand shop with a straight face and pick out the wand of your choice." Dumbledore''s blue eyes were constantly focused on Jon and the gang as he spoke, his gaze was very serious, and his tone became unmistakably solemn in contrast to when he had greeted Jon and the gang with candies earlier. "These wands before you, have all been used for a lifetime, it is true that they do not have the shine of those new wands in the wand shop, but each of thest owners who held them fought to the end for what they stood by. For me, seeing these wands is like seeing the people who used them, so I hope you won''t dislike them just because they are old." "If at some point in the future you have the opportunity to get your hands on the wand that you would like better and more, then please return the one that you took from here today, there will be other children who will need it in the future to truly enter the world of magic." Dumbledore''s words caused everyone in the room to hold their breath. Professor McGonagall looked at the old wands on the wooden box with an unconcealed sadness. Neville clenched his fists as soon as Dumbledore began to speak, his whitening knuckles enough to reveal his inner turmoil. Ron, who had been jumpy from the moment they first met, was also silent with a solemn look on his face. Justin and Lavender, both infected by the atmosphere in the office, looked down at the wooden boxes, each representing a wizard who had died in the fight against pure-blood oppression. Jon was also looking at the wands, and unlike the others, he associated more with the words that came out of Dumbledore''s mouth. Every year new children were enrolled at Hogwarts, and ording to what Ron had said beforeing to the Headmaster''s office, only two Muggle students, Jon and Justin, had been brought back this year, a very small numberpared to previous years, which meant that the minimum number of students enrolled in previous years was estimated to be no less than five. That meant that five wands were imed from here every year. But now the cupboard remained full, with more than ten wands. This meant that the Order of the Phoenix, led by Dumbledore''s men, were killed much more each year, far more than the number of new students joining! For any organisation to be in such a situation could be considered fatal, with fewer new students than the depleted force, there is simply no future in sight. "Who''s first?" Dumbledore suddenly said aloud just when the entire office went so quiet that only the sound of breathing could be heard. Almost the moment the words fell from his lips, Neville, who was standing in front of Jon, already moved physically. Without hesitation, he stepped in front of everyone and came to Dumbledore''s side, and spoke in a firm voice. "I''ve been waiting for this day, Professor Dumbledore." Dumbledore looked at the round-faced blond boy and a smile returned to his face. "You will be a source of pride for everyone in the Longbottom family, Neville, no one will doubt that." Neville''s eyes fixed on one of the wands, he seemed to have been looking at it since Dumbledore had opened the cupboard, and right now, without any hesitation, he reached straight out and took the slightly curved wand in his hand. "I agreed to your father''s request three years ago and never took it out before, only today, I put it here." Dumbledore said calmly. "Your mother, Alice Longbottom, used this same wand during her lifetime, the same cherry wood as your father, with a unicorn hair wand core, only slightly shorter by two inches, measuring eleven inches long. She died after being struck with three killing curses to protect the students on the Hogwarts wagon whose whereabouts were discovered at the time, and thest words she spoke in her life are considered a legacy to us all" Neville''s hand trembled as he gripped the wand, and at the tip, a silver stream of light glinted as he gritted his teeth and spoke one word at a time. "These children, and my son, they will surely walk in the sunlight of equality, of justice, in the future!" Dumbledore patted him gently on the shoulder. "Each and every one of us have never forgotten that statement, and that is why this Hogwarts exists." Neville nodded silently as he took the wand he had inherited from his mother and returned to the group of new students. The second person toe forward was Lavender. There was no wand left behind by her kin in it, yet she nevertheless maintained great respect for each one of them inside and eventually selected one from it. Jon keenly noticed a moment of lost remembrance on the face of Professor McGonagall, who stood beside him, as Lavender reached for that wand. Lavender looked at Dumbledore nervously, as if she was afraid that the old man would next say, "This wand carries too much meaning for you to have it." But Dumbledore met her eyes with nothing but a gentle smile on his face. "Aspen wood with unicorn hair, 12 inches long. I am honoured that you would be able to wield it, Miss Brown, it once belonged to my colleague, Pomona Sprout, Professor of Herbology at Hogwarts and thest Head of Hufflepuff. She died in the battle that marked the fall of Hogwarts Castle seven years ago, choosing to hold off dozens of Death Eaters and Aurors alone in order to allow Minerva to retreat from the castle with the students, ultimately leaving only this wand behind." Lavender stammered as she became even more nervous. "Profess- Professor, my father always talked to me about her, she was his Head and the best possible mentor to him, should I put it back? She is a great witch and I don''t deserve it." "If you put it back, then Pomona would only be disappointed, Miss Brown." Dumbledore''s voice sounded serious, "She died for the students in this school, then everyone who is a student of this school has the right and the responsibility to take this wand of hers out. I am sure that it will receive no less glory in your hands than it did in the hands of its previous wielder." Lavender turned red, shy and excited at Dumbledore''s words, and finally nodded with a solemn look on her face and took a deep breath as she promised. "I will! Professor!" She rejoined the group of new students, and the next to walk forward was Ron, who picked an Elm wood wand from the wooden cab. --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 10: Is this pickable? Chapter 10: Is this pickable? "Abination of Elm wood with Dragon heartstrings, you would have met the owner of this wand when you were a child, Ron. Mundungus Fletcher, the short stocky man with the beard and the two short crooked legs, do you remember him?" Dumbledore''s mouth couldn''t help but curl up with a slight curve as he spoke of that man. Ron obviously still remembered that man as well. "The thief who came to my house as a guest once when I was six years old and tried to take my family''s only silver goblet passed down through the generations and ended up getting caught by my mother?" Dumbledoreughed heartily. "Mundungus was indeed very prone to stealing and your father and mother never liked him much before either." Ron couldn''t help but grimace at his words and showed an involuntary look of disgust as he looked at the wand he currently held. And this gaze was obviously perceived by Dumbledore. But instead of giving a lecture or reprimanding Ron, he simply asked. "And do you know why your parents, who never liked him, still personally erected a tombstone for him at his funeral?" Ron shook his head with a bewildered look on his face like he didn''t know about it. "He was besieged by the Ministry of Magic''s Aurors during an operation of the Order of the Phoenix, and in order to keep his memories from being read or being fed a Truth Serum that would lead him to reveal information about us, he made the most fearless decision of his life by not letting himself be captured - he used this wand in your hand to end his own life." Dumbledore''s voice was t, but Ron''s mouth widened; he would have never imagined that the wizard, who looked short and cowardly to him, who had no sense of style at all, who had no other pursuits than to steal things to sell for money, would end up ending his own life in such a manner. Ron looked back down at the wand in his hand with a very mixed gaze. "I''ll keep it safe for him, Professor." "That''s for sure." It was only after Ron had stepped back that Justin stepped forward with a nervous flush; the boy had received a lot of stimtion today, learning about the existence of magic and wizards, being taken away from his parents, anding to this wagon that is supposed to be a school of magic, and now he needed to get the wand that would belong to him. He wasn''t in much of a mood to pick one over the others, and he hurriedly took hold of one of the shorter wands. Dumbledore remained patient and introduced it to him. "Abination of Cedar wood with Dragon heartstrings, it was owned by Sturgis Podmore, an early member of the Order of the Phoenix, a reliable male wizard who also died in that battle of the fall of Hogwarts Castle." "He was a mediocre guy, wasn''t he, Professor?" Justin asked hesitantly. Dumbledore blinked. "He may not have died as tragically as the others, and never did anything outstanding, but in this day and age, to dare to stand up against that other suffocating power would have been the greatest feat of all, Finch-Fletchley. As we look up at the stars, we too find most of them ordinary, but they are the only ones who shine in the darkness of the night, aren''t they?" Justin''s gaze brightened and he nodded vigorously. "Yes, Professor." The other four got their own wands, and finally, only Jon remained, and he too, walked up to Dumbledore as all the other eyes focused on him. To be honest, he didn''t care about what kind of wand he would get, as long as it would be working one, then there would be no problem. But these four wands in front of him, representing four different people''s deaths, made his heart feel quite heavy. Neville''s mother, who had been tortured into insanity by the Cruciatus Curse in the original story, had not escaped her bad fate in this world either, dying under the Death Eater''s Killing Curse. Hufflepuff''s Head, Professor Sprout, who is portrayed in the book as a kind and gentle witch who cared for each of her students, died seven years ago. He was not familiar with thetter two wizards, but they still added pressure to this heaviness in his heart. He knew with unmistakable rity that this world is definitely not the children''s story as it was in the original one. The students would no longer be able to spend happy hours learning in the castle, and the magical world is no longer a magical world full of novelty and fun. There are oppression and very everywhere, muggle wizards can''t even insure their own lives, and the righteous side has be bereaved and left to roam around in a wagon. Many of the original characters he is familiar with and the protagonist with thick luck (plot armour) was killed in this story (world), and he simply has no choice in this matter either. Although he was raised in an orphanage, Jon''s parents in this world are well documented and verified by both Hogwarts as purely muggle-born. He didn''t want to enter the Hogwarts castle known as the ''Domestication Field'', which means he was destined to join Dumbledore''s side against Voldemort, who was already firmly established his authority in this world. Jon didn''t know if he had it in him, he didn''t have any systems or golden fingers that usually came with protagonists he read about on the inte, and for wizards, magic talent is crucial, and those who have it are destined to achieve much more than those who don''t. But it is useless for him to think so much right now, the only thing he can do right now is to hold a wand in his hand first. After a quick nce at the remaining wands in the cab, Jon stretched out his hand, intending to pick up one of them, when the corner of his eye suddenly caught a glimpse of the innermost part of the wooden cab. This is a wooden cab with sliding doors, and Dumbledore had only opened half of the cab, and under the cover of the other half of the door, there is still a wooden box hidden away, which under normal circumstances would hardly attract anyone''s attention. Jon was positioned exactly on the far side of the cab, which gave him just the right angle to spot it. His outstretched hand paused slightly. That wooden box obviously kept a wand as well, only he wasn''t sure if Dumbledore had put it here for the new students to pick out that wand. If it was, then there was no real need to hide it behind the cupboard door on the other side, but if it wasn''t, why not just simply store it away without putting it in the cupboard altogether? Jon hesitated for a moment in his mind, but something inexplicable made him unconsciously reach his hand in and take hold of the wand''s sleek body from the wooden box behind the cupboard door and take it out. "Professor, is this wand pickable?" He asked Dumbledore as soon as he held the wand in his hand, but just as Dumbledore was about to answer his question, a brilliant cluster of silver sparks suddenly erupted from the wand''s tip! --------------- #Hunayn Abbas, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 11: The Shore of the Sea Chapter 11: The Shore of the Sea The cluster of silver sparks caught the eyes of everyone present. Neville and the others looked bewildered, Professor McGonagall showed a surprised look on her face, while Dumbledore stood frozen looking at the wand in Jon''s hand. It is a wand that is roughly 14 inches long, with a straight body and a very smooth surface, as if its previous owner had taken great care of it, and although there are obvious signs of use, you can tell it has been well cared for. The silvery sparks sprayed cheerfully for a good three or four seconds before slowlying to a halt. Jon looked a little overwhelmed by the situation, unable to figure out why the wand had actually reacted so much in his hands. "It likes you a lot." Dumbledore snapped out of that nostalgic state of thought after the sparks had stopped, and looked at Jon with an emotional andplex look. "A wand made of chestnut wood with a phoenix tail feather core, an umonbination. With the exception of the current one who is not worthy of that title, the three consecutive Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot High Court have all used wands made of chestnut wood, only their wands had unicorn hair as the core, abination that is extremely righteous, but when it is reced with a phoenix tail feather, it bes versatile." He seemed very familiar with the information about the wand in Jon''s hand, yet he merely described about the wand itself, not saying a word about the person who had used it. Jon looked hesitantly at the wand in his hand, his instincts telling him that there must be a big story behind this wand. "And the person who had used this wand was?" Dumbledore smiled and rubbed Jon''s hair. "I''ve told enough sad stories for the day, so let''s call it a day son, and whoever once used this wand, I''m sure you''ll use it well, won''t you?" "Is it mine now?" "Why not?" Jon dropped the doubt in his mind, and since Dumbledore didn''t want to talk about it, he wasn''t going to pursue it. In this wizarding world, apart from the Elder Wand, one of the Three Deathly Hallows, the other wands do not distinguish in terms of their power and might, it mainly depends on the person using the magic themselves. Even if this wand had more stories, they all belonged to its previous owner, and now all it could bring to Jon would be the opportunity for him to start experiencing the world of magic. After all the new students had received their wands, Dumbledore did not let them leave immediately and gave them a final message in front of them all. "The wands in your hands are engraved with the Turning Spell, each of the professors at Hogwarts and the wizards in the Order of the Phoenix will do their best to keep you safe, but if at some point something bad happens to you, and you lose all signs of life in your body, the Turning Spell will transport the wands back to me on its own. This is just an insurance measure, wands are the scarcest resource for us, but again, I would very much not want to find at some point in the future that this cupboard in which the wands are stored to have an additional wand that you have already taken with you." All five freshmen walked out of the Headmaster''s office in a heavy mood, and Professor McGonagall, who is leading the way, sensed what looked like ack of interest in all of them and said as they walked. "I''ll first take you to the dormitory room where you would live, by the time when you are all settled there, I believe Hagrid will also be able to find a suitable ce, and although we are now on a wagon, the tradition of the Hogwarts orientation party has not been lost, and everyone will be celebrating your admission tonight, so let''s just rx until then." Just as Professor McGonagall''s words fell, the ground beneath them, which had been faintly bumpy, suddenly trembled for a moment and then calmed downpletely again. Jon''s heart instantly rose, since he gained a clear perception of the dangers of this world, he constantly remained on guard. Even though he had not learned a single magic spell yet, he still gripped the wand he had just been given in his hand. The other freshmen, Neville, Ron and the rest of them also had panicked expressions on their faces, but soon a loud, thick voice rang out through the wagon, calming their nervespletely. "Ladies and gentlemen, we''ve arrived at the ce where we can get out of the coach to prepare for the orientation dinner." It was Hagrid''s voice, and just as his voice echoed, there was a sudden disturbance in some of the rooms around the long corridor. The doors of each room were opened and students of all ages came running out of them with cheers, most of them stopped their jubtion when they saw Professor McGonagall, Jon and the gang standing on the Long Corridor. One student asked cautiously. "Professor McGonagall, can we go out now?" When she looked at their expectant faces, Professor McGonagall, who had originally straightened her face up, could not help but ease her face again, and she sighed and waved her hand. "Since Hagrid said it''s fine, that means it''s safe out there, so all go down and get ready." "Hooray for the Professor!" The students cheered and gathered in groups on the long corridor, before heading in the direction of the entrance hall, and in the midst of them, Jon saw a pair of twin brothers, also with red hair, who winked at Ron. In just a few seconds, like monkeys returning to the mountain, the long corridor, which had been swarming with people pouring out of the rooms, emptied once again. All that was left behind were the new students who had only arrived today, who looked at Professor McGonagall with nk stares. Of course, Professor McGonagall knew the little things in their minds and seeing that they had no luggage to put down in their hands except the wands they had just received, she could only say helplessly. "Then you will follow along, remember not to wander outside and stay with the older children, and make sure you don''t leave the area twenty metres away from the wagon." "We promise to do as we''re told, Professor!" Ron was the first to scramble outside, and the others followed his lead towards the outside of the wagon. They had felt enough heaviness and pressure for the day, and now they couldn''t help but have smiles on their faces at the sight of the energetic upperssmen. Professor McGonagall stood in the long corridor, watching their young backs fade away, and the aged face, which looked stern all the time, could not help but break into a gentle smile. Jon walked past the long corridor and through the entrance hall with the four of them and stepped out of the wagon. When Lily had brought him to the wagon, it had already got dark outside, and at this point, the night sky has long been filled with stars. The ce they are now in is no longer the muggle town beneath the safe house hill, instead, it is a wide expanse of sandy beach. A gentle evening breeze ruffled the waves, carrying the echoing sound of the waves to their ears as the wagon bearing the Hogwarts school name docked on the shore of the ocean. -------------- #Hunayn Abbas, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 12: Orientation Dinner on the Coast Chapter 12: Orientation Dinner on the Coast The beach is very wide, and on the outskirts of the beach there is a rocky shore, with a ragged path crookedly splitting the rocky shore into two halves, it looks like a ce rarely visited by people. Hagrid has long ago stepped off the wagon, he found a suitable open space near the sea and set up a firewood and iron frame to light a campfire. In such a high summer, the night sea breeze blowing made people feel veryfortable, and the seniors who ran out early on gathered together in groups, looking for some entertainment on the beach. "Hogwarts will find a ce with a great view to hosting dinner on the night of orientation and Christmas." Ron, who knew more about the school on the wagon than the others, exined to Jon and the group. "My three older brothers all went here, and they told me that Hagrid always surprises people when he picks a dinner party location. They once had an orientation banquet on the top of Mount Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in the British Isles) and also spent Christmas Eve together on the Isle of Man. We also got a nice orientation dinner this year, it is surprisingly on the beach." His voice held a note of excitement, and everyone else also shared a look of curiosity and excitement on their faces, even Justin, who had been sullen, had an obvious look of rxation on his face. While Ron, Justin, and Lavender couldn''t resist walking toward the beach, Jon noticed the door of the wagon being opened from the inside once again, and a short, childlike old man came down from the wagon. He is wearing a well-fitting wizard''s robe, his hair is meticulously groomed, and as he steps off the wagon, he shouted at the two crab-catching boys in the distance. "Don''t run too far, Lee Jordan, and be careful when you use the Full Body-Bind Curse on the crabs! Your pronunciation is always wrong, try not to burn yourself to a crisp again!" The dark-skinned boy in the distance agreed loudly and then went on to poke the crab with the wand he held. The short old man''s attention shifted back to the students who were chasing the waves barefoot on the beach, and he admonished them to be careful not to fall and got swept into the sea for real as he walked toward Hagrid, who is raising a few bonfires. "That is Professor Flitwick." Neville, who noticed Jon''s gaze, introduced him, "He''s our Professor of Charms and part-time Astronomy ss, and he was thest Head of Ravenw House before Hogwarts Castle fell." Neville thought of Jon as a muggle who had never been exposed to magic and prepared to enthusiastically go over the four previous Hogwarts Houses in detail when he suddenly noticed that his attention had actually been on Professor Flitwick''s empty right arm sleeve. "How did Professor Flitwick''s right hand gone?" Jon asked quietly. The rxed expression on Neville''s face tightened, and he said in a low voice. "It was severed by a spell from one of the Dark Lord''s men. When the professor was young, he won Dueling Championships by wielding his wand with his right hand before." "Is there no solution in magic to put his severed arm back together?" "From what my father said, the battle at that time took too long, moreover, he didn''t get his arm back after it was cut off. If it didn''t take too long, magic could help you to connect the limb that was severed once again, but there is no way to help you to grow a new one." Jon remained silent. He looked at the short old man who is helping Hagrid to set up the campfire, his heart for some reason flooded with a heaviness. This heaviness is not just due to the one-armed old man in front of him, but also due to the Hufflepuff Head Sprout who had sacrificed her life, Alice, the mother of Neville who died under the Killing Curse, and the people who had sacrificed their lives for this Hogwarts. As if sensing Jon''s change in mood, Neville patted him on the shoulderfortingly and said with a smile. "But actually Professor Flitwick didn''t think much of it, after learning about the permanent loss of his right arm, he wasughing and said to Dumbledore, ''Luckily I still have my left arm to use'', my father told me this. It turns out he was right, he can still cast spells with his left arm and be our best Charms ss professor." Jon let out a long breath as he turned his head to look at Neville and smiled at the boy who is truly a child in every sense. "It''s okay, I''m just sighing a little. So what can we do now?" Neville looked at Jon and smiled back. He had actually sensed the difference between Jon and the other guys when he first saw him, he was acting much more mature than Ron, Justin and the rest, giving Neville a hunch that they could be friends. It''s not that he and Ron couldn''t be friends, after losing his mother when he was young, he has always been more mature and understanding than his peers, and when facing Ron and the gang, he always subconsciously has a mentality of helping adults to take care of their children. Whereas when interacting with Jon, there is obviously no such feeling. "We can go to help the senior students to clean up the food ingredients to eat tonight, Hogwarts daily meals are prepared by the students themselves, and when we are officially started, a senior student will specifically teach us how to cook. In this wagon, the professor and the others usually have a very rough schedule already, so we should try to take care of ourselves and give them less stress." Neville said briskly as he led Jon towards a group of senior girls who gathered at the side. There they were handling crabs and fish that the boys had just caught, as well as some ingredients that had been prepared in advance on the wagon. Jon exchanged a lot with Neville, in fact, there was some deliberate-hidden intention behind it. The round-faced blond boy obviously knows a lot about the current Hogwarts, and Jon wants to get along with him to get more information from him after their rtionship gets familiar. For example, whether the Potions ss professor Lilly Potter has a son. Although his purpose is not pure enough, Jon is willing to be sincere when he gets along with him. Jon is doomed to be bound to this load on the Hogwarts wagon, this ce brought together thest group of people who firmly cling to the righteousness and light in their hearts throughout the whole British wizarding world, so when getting along with these people, he could not and did not want to keep a hypocritical faade all the time. When he and Neville were helping the sisters with the fish and seafood, Jon suddenly saw Lily, who he hadn''t seen since she brought him to the wagon, she walked towards them along the path from the rocky shore at some point, leading a chubby, elderly male wizard with a walrus-like moustache. Jon wasn''t the only one who spotted this sight, there were also other students who saw the fat old man. "It''s Professor Slughorn!" -------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 13: Hogwarts ~ Hogwarts ~ Chapter 13: Hogwarts ~ Hogwarts ~ "And this is?" It wasn''t Jon who asked the question, but Neville. He looked like he didn''t know the smiling old man Lily had brought back, who looked like a fat walrus, and turned to the girl who had just called out "Professor Slughorn". The senior girl introduced him to Neville. "He''s Professor Horace Slughorn, he taught us Defence Against the Dark Arts and History of Magicst year, but during thest term, he left Hogwarts because he had something important to do, and Professor Dumbledore substituted him for our Defence Against the Dark Arts and History of Magic sses. But I didn''t expect Professor Slughorn to be back this year, he should be done with his business." Neville listened to her exnation and then a look of realization dawned on his face. "Wasn''t he also the head of Slytherin House when Hogwarts Castle hadn''t fallen? I think my dad mentioned him to me." Jon listened to their conversation in silence on the side. He naturally knew Slughorn, the most memorable thing about this man was that he was the one who told Voldemort about the Horcrux in the original story, and he was also someone who cherished his life and was very afraid of death, but in the end, he still stood on the side of justice. In this world, his position didn''t seem to have changed either, and even though Hogwarts had reached its current state under the leadership of Dumbledore, he still came here to be a professor that would be wanted by the Ministry of Magic. As the night deepened, the group of students worked together to prepare a sumptuous meal. With a wave of his wand, Dumbledore conjured up a long table and benches on the beach that isrge enough to amodate everyone, and the students and professors took their ces. By now, basically, everyone on this wagon was gathered together and Jon had a chance to count all the students in this exiled school. The academic system at Hogwarts still consisted of seven years, something that hadn''t changed, and there are only five new students this year, even if the numbers in the other years are slightlyrger, it''s not that different. There are only ten students in a year at maximum, and there are also five or six in a year like Jon''s. Altogether, there are only forty or fifty students in the whole school of wizardry. This is a pitiful figure even in a society like Wizarding Community, where the poption is not that great. As for the professors in the school, they could be counted on one hand Lily Potter, who teaches Potions as well as some of the senior ss electives; Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress, who also teaches Transfiguration and Herbology; Filius Flitwick, who teaches Charms and Astronomy; Horace Slughorn, who has just returned today and will probably continue with his previous role, of teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts and History of Magic. These four are all the professors who now have teaching positions at the wagon. The other ones are the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, the coachman, Rupert Hagrid, and the coach keeper, Argus Filch. The number of professors is of course nowhere near as many as in the original Hogwarts castle, so both Lily and Professor McGonagall hold several posts. But again, because there are fewer students, their workload is actually pretty good, and they are not so busy that they can''t keep their feet on the ground. The beach was lit up by the dancing bonfires around them, and the soothing sound of the waves was like a symphony orchestra ying soft ssical music, adding elegance to the dinner that otherwise would not have been found. What the students loved most about Dumbledore as headmaster was that he never gave a boring speech in a happy setting. The old man, who is now over 100 years old and has white hair and a beard, raised his goblet in his hand and said aloud, without a long speech or anything touching. "Thank you for the delicacies you have prepared, and with that, please enjoy them happily too." The humid, salty sea air did not obscure the aromas emanating from the food itself. Although it is in Ennd, the food at the dinner certainly wasn''t just potato and fried fish, Jon hadn''t tasted the handiwork of the house elves, but he thought the vours of the onion soup, baked fish and mashed potatoes made by the seniors tasted pretty delicious too. "I have constantly heard George and Fred saying that Filch is the most annoying person on the wagon." The freshers naturally sat down together at the long table, and Ron gave them a quiet nce, as he ate his roast sausage, to indicate to them where the coach keeper with an unpleasant expression sitting. "He always likes to treat people like animals or livestock, and never treats them well, as if he can''t wait to hang up and whip those who have made the slightest mistake!" Ron has three older brothers who all went to this Hogwarts, so he obviously knows a lot more about this school than Neville does. Throughout the meal, he had been the one telling the other new students about the various interesting stories he had heard from his brothers about the wagon. The dinner tables were full ofughter, and even though they were all now a group of fugitives wanted by the Ministry of Magic, there was not much depression or dullness in the group of teenage kids who deserved to be energetic. It proved that Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix under hismand had really protected them well, keeping the seeds of hope alive even when times became difficult. The old wands stained with blood and faith would be found in the wooden cab in the Headmaster''s office, but their existence in the world is far from fading with the deceased. Instead, they were picked up again by tender hands and taken forward on a path full of thorns and no future in sight with great hope. When the dinner was over, Dumbledore addressed the students about some of the changes for this new term. "I am delighted that five new students have joined us, as well as our old friend Professor Slughorn who has finished dealing with some personal matters of his own, returned to continue his position as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts together with his position as Professor of the History of Magic." "Tonight will mark another new beginning for us, and there will never be a time to celebrate more than this." He held the wand covered in wooden knots in his right hand and raised it high into the sky, a cluster of festive ribbons bursting from its tip, his bright blue eyes looking at the students at the long tables, with a happy smile on his age-stained face. "So why don''t we all sing a song?" The words were like a code word known to all but Jon and the other freshmen. Every single person on either side of the long tables, whether they were professors or students, stood up from their seats, and the freshmen followed suit with bewildered looks on their faces. "Hogwarts~ Hogwarts~" The elderly Headmaster started with his bright voice, while the students below sang the song in a neat and unison tune. "Hoggy Warty~ Hogwarts~, Teach us something, please~, Whether we be old and bald Or young with scabby knees, Our heads could do with filling With some interesting stuff~, For now, they''re bare and full of air~, Dead flies and bits of fluff~, So teach us things worth knowing, Bring back what we''ve forgot~, Just do your best, we''ll do the rest, And learn until our brains all rot!~ " Jon had never heard Hogwarts school song in this version of the tune before; it was neither sad nor cheerful, like a seagull sadly circling the shore when the beach is taken over and there is no ce tond to perch. The song was so mellifluous that he could not help but join in the chorus. He looked up into the infinite sparkling night sky and his mind wondered for no reason. There was no ancient castle here, no warm great hall, no other-expected sorting ceremony, no mystical ghosts, there was nothing that one would expect of Magical Hogwarts here. But there is a sea, there is a starry sky, there is a wagon, and there is also a group of caring people like a family from fairy tales. And it seemed... Not too bad. ''Grandma'' -------------- #TheBerryMan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 14: The Great Sir Chapter 14: The Great Sir There is no shortage of rooms on the wagon. There are just under sixty students and professorsbined at Hogwarts, so the dormitories are divided into spacious double rooms instead of quadruple or quintuple rooms. There was no coincidence that Jon and Neville had been assigned to the same dormitory, as Professor McGonagall had done so on purpose. Of the new students, apart from the only girl, Lavender, counting Jon, there are four boys in total, of which there are exactly two brought back from the outside, and the other two are family members of the Order of the Phoenix members, so they already have basic knowledge about the wizarding world. Whether to allow Jon and Justine to settle into their wizard identity more quickly, or to make them get over the sadness and grief of being separated from their familiar family and surroundings as quickly as possible, separating the two of them into different amodations would certainly be the best option. The student dormitory is not that big, but there is more than enough space for two people, and it is furnished with two four-poster beds, two desks and chairs, and a window that cannot be opened. The beds had already been tidied up before they came in, and the daily necessities and a few brand-new robes were neatly ced on them. Jon sat by the window and his eyes nced right out of the wagon window. After the dinner on the beach, they boarded the wagon and continued their journey. All one could see when looking out through the window was the darkness outside, with an asional glimpse of what vaguely looked like something passing by, the ground slightly trembling with a shudder as they passed. "I''ve heard this wagon is improved based on the enchantments on the Knight''s Bus, we can go almost anywhere in Europe on it, but it seems Professor Dumbledore has never let this wagon travel out of Ennd." Neville sat on the bed just across from Jon, and he blinked as he recounted the history of the wagon. Jon retracted his gaze from the window as he looked over at the round-faced boy opposite him. "Did your family teach you magic before you came to Hogwarts?" Neville said with a nod. "Of course, we are living a dangerous life together as a family even if it wasn''t at Hogwarts, both the Longbottoms and the Weasleys where Ron is from are wanted by the Ministry of Magic, so my dad taught me a few spells specifically with his wand beforeing to school at Hogwarts, but they were minor spells used for help, I don''t have a wand myself and I don''t get to practice much, I don''t know any spells that are too advanced." Jon''s interest rose at once; magic held the greatest appeal to him, whether in times of peace or now when it is full of danger. "Can you give me a demonstration?" Neville didn''t refuse as he raised his wand in his hand, and he gripped it like he hadn''t held it in a long while, feeling it in his hand, and then he gave it a gentle upward plus horizontal swing. "Lumos." A faint glow lit up at the tip of Neville''s wand, the glow was not dazzling, but it did illuminate the space in the dormitory. Jon''s eyes glowed as he watched the light glow, and he raised the chestnut wand he held. "A flick and a horizontal stroke as you recite the incantation, is that right?" "Yes, it''s a very simple spell, and if used skilfully you can even omit the wand gesture and cast it if your wand is nearby while you don''t have it in your hand, as a way to make it easier for the wizard to find the wand you''ve just lost and forgotten where it is." As he watched the way Jon leapt to his feet, Neville couldn''t resist the urge to speak up and remind. "I wouldn''t advise you to try it on your own right now, although this spell is simple, a beginner could easily ignite the tip of the wand if they made a mistake while learning it, which might cause irreversible damage to the wand itself." Jon stopped moving his hands at once, he was impatient to try the magic of this world, but if there is a risk of harming this wand in his hands, then he could suppress his curiosity. After all, to him and this Hogwarts, this isn''t just a wand that could be easily reced if damaged. "Anyway, we''re in a wizarding school now, there''s really no rush to learn magic." Jon slid the wand in his hand back into the pocket of his long robe on his bed, "What sses do we have tomorrow?" The ss schedules had been handed out by Professor McGonagall after the dinner, and Jon and Neville both received a copy together. "The first ss in the morning is Professor Slughorn''s History of Magic, then Professor McGonagall''s Herbology ss, there''s another ss in the afternoon which is taught by Professor Flitwick on Charms, and finally in the early evening we''re scheduled to give a hand to our fifth-year seniors who are preparing dinner." As he spoke they both changed into their pyjamas andy down on the soft bed, both of them didn''t feel very sleepy, so they talked about other things as theyy in bed. "That Dark Lord you speak of does he have a name?" "Of course he does, it''s not like he''s a real demon who crawled out of hell, but his name is something that no one dares to say before, people in the wizarding world called him ''The You-know-who''." "Isn''t he now the First Lord of the Ministry of Magic and that Hogwarts castle? People wouldn''t still call him like that would they?" "You guessed right, from what my father said, after the Dark Lord consolidated his hold on authority throughout the wizarding world, he seems to have had a personality change and isn''t as cruel and crazy as he used to be. He has given all wizards a different hierarchy of status ording to their bloodlines, withoutpletely removing or imprisoning the muggle wizards he used to hate and wanted to kill. No one dared to call him something like ''You-know-who'' or ''The Dark Lord'' in the outside world and apart from his inner circle, who still calls him ''Lord'', the rest of the wizardingmunity address him as ''The Great Sir!''" "Great sir haha." "What are youughing at?" "If he came up with this title on his own, it''s too boastful, and if the others deliberately spread the word to call him that, then that''s pretty much a straightforward prostration." "Actually,e to think of it, those people are also trying to stay alive." "Yeah, nobody wants to die." "But for some people, there are things that are more important than life and death." When the first rays of the morning sun shone through the window, Jon opened his eyes from his sleep. Neville joined him and washed up before leaving the dormitory and heading to the dining room on the wagon for breakfast. All three meals of the day here were prepared by the students themselves, and breakfast is no exception. In addition to the ss schedule, Professor McGonagall had also arranged a cooking schedule, with a different year in charge of breakfast, lunch and dinner each day, and if the number of students in the year is rtively few, then some of the younger students would also be assigned to give them a hand. Both Ron and Justin, as well as Lavender who stayed in the girls'' dormitory side, joined them at the table; after all, they are all freshmen in the same year, attending sses together and with the highest chance of interacting and getting in touch with each other. Once the five had finished their breakfast, they walked together towards the History of Magic ssroom, ready to begin their first ss since arriving at Hogwarts. -------------- #TheBerryMan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 15: Classroom Chapter 15: ssroom "There is always someone who says that history is useless, and if at some point you are around that someone who says this same thing to you, then I suggest you better stay away from that person because the odds that this person is hopelessly stupid are high." In the ssroom, the chubby, elderly teacher with a walrus-like moustache spoke wittily from the podium as he started the History of Magic ss, with only five children sitting below to listen. The ground trembled slightly, which meant that the wagon did not stop, and unless there were special circumstances, it would always be moving everywhere around Ennd with this school. "I''ve met many such fools before, who ridicule the study of history saying that it is not even as significant as the study of how to make a slug clean, and called the historians a bunch of idle people with nothing better to do." "But history is far more meaningful than any kind of magic just by existing, and what it records is about who we are ourselves because we will always exist in history. And in the other Hogwarts, one of the most notable ways they erase the human rights of Muggle students is by erasing all the various historical mentions of Muggle wizards from the history of magic." Slughorn tapped the ckboard with the wand in his hand and the white letters slowly emerged on the ck panel. "This being your first ss at Hogwarts today, we won''t start with those boring chronicles,pared to that, I think ''The History of the Creation of Hogwarts'' might hold your interest better." The textbooks Jon and the ss using were second-hand, it''s not that Hogwarts couldn''t afford to buy them new ones, but the regr history of magic textbooks were probably not even sold in bookshops in the wizardingmunity anymore. The textbooks that the students used seven years ago have been prohibited, and the Ministry of Magic has restricted every publisher from printing them, so the books they currently have are those left over from the previous year''s students. The former Head of Slytherin was not a dull lecturer, and even the history of magic, which seemed to be boring, became interesting under his tongue. He recounted how wizards suffered endless persecution nearly ten centuries ago when young wizards with magic in their bodies were too afraid to reveal their uniqueness and no one taught them how to channel it, causing the magic in their bodies to be constantly suppressed, which eventually turned them into terrible monsters. It was in this era that four great wizards gathered together to build a castle by a mountain and ake to establish the first school of magic in Europe. Originally, this school was founded so that every child who possessed magic in his or her body could have the opportunity to understand it. The hour and a half of ss time passed quickly, and the next Herbology ss was still indoors. A door opened from the corridor and inside was a room with two rows of wooden shelves filled with dragon hide gloves and protective clothing, and on the wall opposite the entrance door were five doors with thebel "Greenhouse 1 to 5". Greenhouse 1 is a room with a transparent ceiling that provides an unobstructed view of the blue sky outside and lets in the sunlight. Professor McGonagall had been waiting for them before they arrived. "I''m not specialized in herbology, and as far as my knowledge pool on this subject is concerned, I''m nowhere near as good as my predecessor, thete Professor Sprout. But the basics of magical nts are not too profound, and if any of you are extremely gifted in this area in the future, I can be a guide, and you cane to me with any ideas or doubts you may have on herbology. But even so, I will not rx my demands on you, and may even be much stricter than the Transfiguration ss." In the lush greenhouse, Professor McGonagall''s face was serious as she taught them about the role and habits of the magical nts and taught them hands-on how to cultivate them. As she said, perhaps because she is recing her best friend as a Herbology professor, Professor McGonagall is much more strict in the greenhouse ssroom. Ron, who was a bit careless and made a lot of mistakes, received a lot of reprimands from her and became increasingly cautious and afraid in the second half of the ss, even when he touched a leaf with his dragon skin gloves. After the morning session, lunch was served in the same room as breakfast. As there was no sorting, the students on the wagon sat together by grade, and the food at each table was the same, cooked by the senior students who had no sses for the second half of the morning, as arranged by the ss schedule. "I heard that George and Fred and their grade cooked the lunch today." At the table, Ron looked at a sausage on his te with a disgusted look on his face. "It must be Fred''s work, he fries sausages like this at home, they''re all mushy, and he always justifies it by saying that''s how he likes them whenever Ginny reprimands him loudly." Jon didn''t think much of it, the only thing that tasted a bit stale in lunch was the fried sausage, but the rest of it, like the pumpkin gravy, the fried egg and the fried steak, all tasted fine. Despite living in exile, the food at Hogwarts was not shabby, with all the meat and vegetables avable to meet the nutritional needs of the growing children on the wagon. Later in the afternoon, it was Professor Flitwick''s Charms ss. Professor Flitwick did not intend to teach them any specific spells for the first few sses and taught them how to pronounce incantations, how to wield a wand, and what to do when casting a spell. These are the basics for learning a spell, and they are essential to learn if they want to avoid making serious mistakester on when they formally start learning the spell. The Charms ss was theirst ss of the day. After packing up their bags and leaving the ssroom, Jon and the ss agreed to meet at the kitchen door in 10 minutes, as they had been assigned to help the fourth year with dinner today. After cing their bags back in the dormitory and changing their clothes, the five of them knocked on the kitchen door promptly. The person who opened the door for them was a boy with equally red hair as Ron, he had sses on his face and his expression looked unsmiling. "The first years are helping with dinner today?" After seeing Jon and the group, the boy visibly frowned, "Actually, I''ve been meaning to mention to Professor McGonagall that the first years are still too young to offer much help in the kitchen other than adding a mess." "Why don''t you guys head over to the storage room and bring in two bags of potatoes and a basket of onions, I hope you won''t mess up even this little thing." -------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 16: The forbidden doors Chapter 16: The forbidden doors Jon didn''t care about the rudeness of the boy who is obviously also one of Ron''s brothers, he was still thinking in his head about some of the wand gestures that Professor Flitwick had just taught in the charms ss. Magic in this world is undoubtedly a powerrgely centred around the mind, and the key to spellcasting is the wielder himself, and things like incantations, wands and wand-wielding gestures would all be considered aids. The absence of these things would not mean that a wizard would lose the ability to use magic, but it would certainly increase the difficulty of learning and mastering a particr spell by making it more chaotic. The reason why incantations, wands and wand-wielding gestures were created was to enable wizards to master specific spells in a more precise and orderly manner. Instead of lighting a fire, we should think of using Lumos to illuminate our surroundings to use it. These are all crucial elements that serve as the foundation. So naturally, Jon understands that mastering them all will only ensure that the wizard can cast the spell properly. There are differences between strength and weakness, regardless of what kind of magic it is, what distinguishes the power of magic is undoubtedly the most fundamental elements that wizards required to cast a spell - belief (intent) and magic power. While the basics can be mastered with practice and skill, belief and magic power cannot be strengthened just by diligence. This is where a wizard''s talent for magices into y, and it is something that is so elusive that even the Professor who teaches magic has no way of exining it in words. "Percy is really the worst, did you guys see that look on his face, ''I hope you won''t mess up even this little thing'', what does he take us for? Some troll that only knows how to eat and sleep, and spends the rest of the time goofing off, barking and swinging a wooden club?" Ronined almost all the way to the door. The red-haired boy just now was his third brother, Percy Weasley, who didn''t look much like any of the other Weasley children and clearlycked a sense of humour inparison. "This is the storage room?" Justin pushed open the door of the room with thebel, and the interior of the room looked simr to the greenhouse in Herbology ss, a room designed to serve as an entrance room. Instead of wooden shelves, there were several wooden barrels tossed in one corner, and on the opposite wall from the entrance door, there are seven doors marked "Meat", "Vegetables", "Liquor", etc. With these clear signs, the five of them could easily finish their work. The job was indeed simple and the five of them easily found potatoes and onions in the storage room marked "vegetables", but as they were about to carry them to the kitchen, Lavender''s attention was suddenly drawn to a room with an unmarked door. "What''s this room for?" The rest of the group looked over towards where she was pointing; the door didn''t look any different from the rest of the room, except for the fact that it wasn''t specifically marked. "It''s probably a pile of other misceneous supplies that aren''t being used, let''s just take these food ingredients to the kitchen first." Neville was clearly able to restrain his curiosity as he and Jon exchanged a nce, and together the two lifted the heaviest box of onions. "It''s best not to dy dinner." Jon agreed, he felt it would be best not to be too curious in a magic school like this, or who knew what kind of idents might happen. But both Ron and Lavender were already hooked, and as Jon and Neville spoke they both already walked together to the door. "Just a quick look won''t waste much time. Don''t worry, if there is a problem behind this door, George and Fred would have scared me with it a long time ago when they were home." As Ron spoke, he ced his hand on the door, and then with a gentle push, opened the door to the room without difficulty. Behind the door was quite empty, just a few wooden boxes simply stacked up, looking like an ordinary unused store room. "I thought there would be some kind of fun hidden magic item or something like that in there." Ron looked disappointed. And the very next second after his words sounded, a gloomy and hoarse voice suddenly boomed from outside the storage room door. "Who told you to casually open that door!" Everyone except Jon, who had noticed the personing through the door from the very start, was taken aback by the sudden voice. The owner of the voice was Filch, the wagon caretaker, who is responsible for maintaining and cleaning the facilities on the wagon, as well as assisting Professor McGonagall in monitoring student discipline. With eyes that looked like dead fish, he strode into the storage room, his gaze menacingly focused on Ron. "Professor McGonagall should have probably stressed to you freshmen that in the wagon, you are only allowed to open the doors of the rooms that are marked with door signs, don''t you remember that!" Ron argued as he hurriedly mmed the door back shut. "But it''s just an empty room." "Spare me the useless exnations, you will be cleaning the boys'' toilets for the next week, this will teach you a lesson!" After giving Ron his punishment, Filch didn''t give him a chance to say anything else, muttering something like "I would have deducted 20 points from your House seven years ago" as he turned and left the storage room. Ron''s face grimaced and Justin looked on with sympathy as he picked up a bag of potatoes from the floor and walked out of the store room with Jon and the others with the ingredients. "George and the others were right, this old man is a pain in the arse, even more than Percy, there''s obviously nothing in that room!" Neville spoke up tofort Ron a few times, while Jon listened without making ament. Filch might be unlikeable, but he was just following the rules; Ron shouldn''t have pushed that door open from the very start when they persuaded him to, so he deserved to be caught and punishedter. Of course, he wouldn''t say these things, there are only five of them in their ss, and it''s better to get along with each other as much as possible. Once the ingredients had been delivered to the kitchen, the fourth years didn''t ask them to help anymore, but Jon and the group didn''t leave straight away and watched them prepare dinner. Once they advanced to the third year, they would also need to officially enter the kitchen to prepare a school meal, and the two years before that would be a time for them to learn. Life at this Hogwarts was not as full of urgency and depression as Jon had first guessed, and life on the wagon was generally fairly easy. The first week of school went by quietly, and of course, there would be weekends even on the wagon, it was just that the wagon would not stop, the students were not allowed to step out of the wagon, and they would have no choice but to stay on the wagon for both days of the weekend. Just when Jon thought that this calm would continue for at least a little while longer, a small ident happened to him on the Wednesday of the second week of school. -------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 17: Thief Chapter 17: Thief "There is no difference in essence between Crow''s Head-shaped aconite and Boat-shaped aconite, they are just called in different ways, both of them are the same kind of aconite." "Many novice potion students can easily mistake them for a different species of aconite, and as a result, they are deceived by some unscrupulous merchants." There were no desks in the potions'' ssroom, Jon and the ss had a dark cauldron ced in front of them, and a row of wooden shelves lined all four walls of the ssroom, which didn''t contain any disgusting and gruesome body parts of various creatures, and held some strange looking herbs as well as somemon flowers and nts. ording to Lily, brewing potions tends to make the potion brewer''s heart cold and dark, as they deal with various bloody body parts in an isted room, so a sunny and fresh environment is essential. "That''s it for today''s lesson, next time you are in ss, each of you will have to hand me a one-foot assignment, write down what you know about all the potion ingredients I have talked over in this lesson." The professor of Potions ss could not be considered gentle in her way of dealing with the students, she looked at everyone with an expressionless face, which made her look a little dull and deadpan. After spending so many days with Neville and the rest of them, Jon was able to hear some of the stories about Professor Potter at night when they were chatting before going to bed. It was rumoured that she previously had a happy and loving family. Neville''s words also confirmed what Jon had suspected in his mind at the beginning, that the point at which this world first began to shift was most likely during the night when Voldemort had found the Potter''s house after hearing the prophecy. After cleaning up their cauldron in the ssroom, Jon and the four of them walked out of the Potions'' ssroom together. Wednesday is the day of the week when they have the least amount of sses, and after the end of the Potions ss, most of the time in between is free, except for the Astronomy ss with Professor Flitwick at midnight today. "Wanna go y wizard''s chess in themon room?" Ron suggested. He had just finished his week-long punishment of scrubbing toilets the day before, and he had spent thest two days trying to make up for all the time he hadn''t been able to y earlier, he looked like he wanted to divide up into three parts to y with each of them. Justin and Lavender readily epted while Neville said he was going to sleep in the dormitory to catch up some sleep in order to prepare for Astronomy ss in the night. Jon shook his head too, he had very little interest in wizard chess. "You guys go ahead, I want to go to the library." The group was not surprised by this, ever since he had found out that the wagon had a library full of magic book collections, he basically spent his free time there whenever he could. After parting from Ron and the group, Jon walked alone in the direction of the library. Ever since he had stepped into this wagon, a sense of unexinable crisis had lingered in his heart. This temporary peace and quiet academic life had not removed this sense of crisis from his mind, and Jon knew very well that no matter what kind of changes Voldemort had undergone, Dumbledore''s men would always be a thorn in his side. Especially since he appeared to havepletely gathered the authority of the wizardingmunity around here and had basically reached the pinnacle of power in the Harry Potter world, this Hogwarts on the wagon would be thest piece that wasn''t under his control. He would certainly find a way to utterly eliminate the most conspicuous "stain" left in the wizardingmunity, and Jon could not possibly guess what Voldemort had in store for the situation; the only thing he could do now would be gradually reinforce himself. He only managed to feel a little safe, when he was able to fill his head with knowledge. Professor Flitwick would not officially start teaching them real spells until the following week''s charms ss, but Jon had already experienced the wonders of magic in his first ss on Transfiguration. His talent is surprisingly impressive, at least when Professor McGonagall taught them how to turn a match into a needle, Jon was the first to seed among the five freshmen, without any previous failed attempts. Professor McGonagall was pleased with this and exempted him from the Transfiguration ss assignment that day. This gave him a slight mental boost and at the same time motivated him to run to the library more often every day. Being talented only meant that he had the potential to be a powerful wizard, being diligent would help him get closer and closer to that possibility. Jon wasn''t the only one in the library, there were also a few senior students who didn''t have sses looking through materials andpleting assignments given by their professors. It was quiet, with only the "rustle" of quills on parchment being heard. After understanding what the incantations and wand gestures meant for the spells, Jon had no intention of practising the spells in private without having a proper grasp of them. The consequences of saying a wrong word or using a wrong wand gesture are unpredictable and could lead to a major or minorplication. For Jon, who at present prefers to be cautious, he would rather wait for Professor Flitwick to start properly teaching them the spells before he tries his hand at the other seemingly simple spells. In the meantime, he continued to read the spell books, which contained all the general spells with great interest, as he wanted to learn the theory before actually doing it. Time passed, and by the time lunch began, Jon was alone in the library. Just as he was mulling over the pronunciation of the Mending Charm in the ''The Standard Book of Spells, Grade III'', a small, dark shadow suddenly passed by in the corner of his eye. Jon flinched slightly, and when he looked over at the rows of bookshelves again, he spotted nothing. He put the book down on the desk and stretched, thinking that his eyes were blurry from reading too long. After ncing at the time on the pendulum clock and feeling that it was about time to leave, he got up from his chair and put the spell book back in its original ce on the shelf, just as he was leaving towards the library''s entrance. All of a sudden, Jon felt the hem of his robe sink, as if something was making its way up his robe! That thing was so fast that just as Jon noticed it, it had crawled into the right pocket of his robe, and just as it crawled in and immediately tried to get out of the pocket, Jon had reacted. He reached out and covered the exit of the pocket directly, and no matter how hard the creature inside struggled, it could not get out of his pocket. With one hand, Jon grabbed the small, soft-feeling creature through his pocket, while he released the opening with the other hand, allowing him to see the daring ''thief''. It is a creature with ck fluffy fur, a long snout, which at first nce looks like a duck''s beak, and a Doraemon pocket growing on its belly in front of its body. When Jon looked at it, it was panicking as it tried to stuff a crystal orb about the size of a pigeon''s egg into the pocket in front of its belly, it was a small gift from Neville to thank him for his help guiding him in the Transfiguration ss homework the other day. -------------- #Austin and #David Pokora, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 18: Drivers seat Chapter 18: Driver''s seat "So nowadays people won''t even leave a ss ball alone? Why don''t you go steal that golden perch at the feet of Dumbledore''s phoenix?" Jon muttered as he grabbed the Niffler by its neck skin at the back and walked out of the library. Niffler which had been caught red-handed in a failed theft blinked at him with pitiful little eyes as if responding to Jon''s question with a look. I couldn''t. "Well, so you really tried to steal it in the past! Now you are not daring enough to do that, so you have chosen to steal from me, the first-year weak student?" Jon certainly would recognize a famous creature like Niffler, its exterior features are very easy to identify, andbined with this thieving nature, it wouldn''t be possible for it to be any other magical creature. "Give me my thing back." Jon held out his other hand to the Niffler, but the little thing acted like a living miser, tucking its two little paws into the pocket in front of its stomach, with no intention of pulling out the hidden ss ball again. Watching its posture, Jon didn''t want to spoil it, so he turned it upside down and tried to empty its pockets like a bag. Niffler screamed and covered its pockets, no matter how much Jon shook it, it still looked like it wanted to defend its property to the death. In the end, Jon had no choice but to grab it and try to get some help. As he walked in the direction of the great hall with Niffler in his grasp, passing the charms'' ssroom, he faintly heard a gruff voice calling out for something from inside. "Beech, Beech are you here?" Upon hearing the name Beech, Niffler, which was in Jon''s grasp, struggled even more dramatically, squeaking as if in response to the man''s shout from inside the ssroom. It immediately became clear to Jon who owned this thief, and there could be no one besides him that would keep it in the wagon. He grabbed Niffler and went into the Charms ssroom, where Hagrid, the coachman anxiously looked for something, instead of being at his usual ce. "Hagrid, are you looking for it?" When Hagrid heard Jon''s voice, he turned around and saw what he carried in his hand, and his face instantly showed surprise. "Ah! Yes, you little naughty boy! I finally found you! You mustn''t get lost again, I''ve already lost Fang and I can''t lose you too." There was a slight choke in his voice as he got to the end of his sentence. Jon handed over the Niffler called Beech to Hagrid, and Beech immediately scurried into the pocket of Hagrid''s leather coat, with only half his head showing and his paws slowly edging on the rim of the pocket, as he looked at Jon warily. "Thank you, boy, I remember you, your name is Jon isn''t it, it was Lily who brought you to the wagon, right?" Hagrid had a grateful look on his face, and it was obvious that this little thing did mean a lot to him. Jon waved his hand, still not forgetting about the ss ball, it was after all something that Neville had given him, he couldn''t exin how he lost it just like that. "It stole something from me Hagrid, can you help me get it back from it?" "So that''s it." Hagrid instantly frowned and took the Beech out of his pocket. "Give it back, I told you not to steal anything from this wagon." Beech clearly listened to Hagrid more than anything else, he fished through his pockets for a moment, and took out a ss ball with a face full of reluctance, then put it into Hagrid''s hand. Hagrid handed the ss ball back to Jon. "I''m really sorry, I''ll restrain him in future." Jon didn''t care about this little episode, rather he was curious about another matter. "That''s fine, but don''t you have to drive the wagon? Can you leave from the front of the wagon while travelling?" A smile appeared on Hagrid''s face. "I certainly don''t have to watch them all the time, and Thestrals can travel on their own even if I leave. Wannae with me to have a look at them? Consider it my way of making up for this one." Jon did feel a little tempted by his words, and he asked hesitantly. "Won''t that be against school rules?" "Don''t worry about it, it''s not like you''re leaving the wagon, and besides, you have me with you, so it won''t be a problem." While saying this, Hagrid gave Jon a gentle and enthusiastic push in the direction of the corridor, and without further ado, Jon followed Hagrid along towards the far end of the wagon. They came to the end of the long corridor, directly opposite to Dumbledore''s Headmaster''s office, and Hagrid led Jon to open the unmarked door on the left side of the corridor. The moment the door was opened Jon felt a breeze apanied by a wheat scent blowing towards him from outside the door, a golden field of wheat steadily falling back and forth outside. "Follow me, Jon, don''t just stand there." Hagrid led the way and Jon followed him out of the wagon carriage with him. After stepping out of the wagon, there was a fairly spacious field; thest time Lily had taken Jon under the wagon to talk to Hagrid, he hadn''t got a full view of the driver''s seat because it was too dark at night, and only now he was able to see how it was furnished. Hagrid was not sitting on an ordinary bench, but on a long couch, nearly three or four metres long, covered with a thickyer of animal furs, on which he might have rested in his spare time. A row of curved wooden cabs encircled the couch, the cabs were taller than Jon, but for Hagrid they were just above his chest when he sat down, leaving him with a clear view ahead. On top of the cab, there were all sorts of odd things: arge teapot, teacups, and a few small snacks. Hagrid invited Jon to sit down right next to him and then poured him a cup of warm ck tea and brought him a creamy honey cake. The driver''s seat had obviously been under some kind of spell, shutting out all the gusts of wind, with only a soothing breeze blowing in, and the sound of the wagon racing along the ground sounded louder than in the carriage, but it didn''t seem noisy, instead, it had the feeling of being on a journey all the time. They were now travelling through a vast field of wheat with no visible end, and Jon, with ck tea in his hand, stood on tiptoe to see over the cupboard. The golden wheat seemed toe to life and automatically gave way to the wagon before it could run over it. Hagrid saw Jon''s inconvenience and brought him a small bench to ce on the big couch so that he could sit on it without having to tiptoe to see the view ahead. -------------- #Austin #David Pokora and #Aidan Ryan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 19: The end is at the castle Chapter 19: The end is at the castle The wagon with no horses visible was like a big boat travelling on ocean waves, and the rice fields, bent by the wind, rose and fell, truly giving the appearance of waves. "Do we have any destination?" Jon sat on the stool on the long couch, the top of his head just barely reaching Hagrid''s chin, but that was high enough to allow him to see high above the wooden cab in front of him and to see the view in the distance. Hagrid smiled nostalgically when he heard Jon''s question, and his gruff voice was unexpectedly soft. "I asked Dumbledore the same question at the beginning when I started to drive this wagon, and he told me that the moment we stepped into this wagon, there would be only one end to this journey, and that would be to return to that Hogwarts castle that was originally ours." The breeze blew the bangs from Jon''s forehead and a smile appeared on his face as he gently brought his hand upwards with the cup of tea, as if he was saluting someone at a distance. "It has a very poetic feel to it, I like it!" "Oh yes, I was almost in tears when I heard him say that. Well, actually I did burst into tears for a while." "Don''t you get bored driving the wagon all by yourself out here?" "Well, sometimes I do get a bit bored, but it''s all right, I''ve got Beech to keep mepany, and I''ve named every Thestrals in front of me. I almost forgot that you shouldn''t be able to see these lovely fellows, the horses that are pulling us are called Thestrals, magical creatures that can only be seen by those who have witnessed death." Jon really couldn''t see the Thestrals, he had never seen anyone die in front of him in his two lifetimes back and forth, but he had died once before, though that didn''t seem to help him actually see death and thus be able to witness Thestrals in their full glory. "What kind of horses are they?" "ck, with heads that actually look more like dragons, skinny bodies, and a pair of bat-like wings, they are one of the kinds of Pegasus. We can''t have them carry us up though, it''s not that we can''t fly, it''s just that the Ministry of Magic has stricter controls on the skypared to the ground, and if we flew in the sky we''d be an easy target for the Aurors and Death Eaters." "They can keep running without resting?" "Of course not, there are eight Thestral pulling the wagon in front of us, but there are over twenty Thestral on Hogwarts, they are kept in a separate room with grass and an open sky to nurture them, every week they will change shifts, when they are not working they will be given plenty of rest and meat, pulling the wagon is same as activity walking outside for them, and their life is much better than ours." Hagrid was very enthusiastic about educating Jon about these magical creatures, and as he spoke he took another te of small cakes out of the cupboard and put them in Jon''s hand. "Try some more Jon, I made these myself in the kitchen during the night, my speciality is actually rock crust cakes, unfortunately, you didn''t arrive at a perfect time and I had already eaten thest bit of my stock this morning." "Thanks, but I''m full Hagrid." Jon really couldn''t eat any more of the creamy honey cake he was carrying, he didn''t have much of an appetite to begin with, and it was only a small cake in the eyes of Hagrid, it wasn''t small in any way for the 11-year-old. Niffler looked like he was salivating over the cake in Jon''s hand, and when Jon put it in front of him, he jumped on the te and pawed at it, taking the cream into his mouth. Jon and Hagrid chatted for a while longer, and then it wasn''t long before he decided to take his leave. He had nothing else to do in the afternoon, but if Neville and the others hadn''t seen him after lunch, they might report him to the professor. Hagrid did not stop him, and just sincerely invited him toe and talk to him at the front of the wagon whenever he had time, before opening the door to the wagon for Jon and sending him inside. After a rare breath of fresh air, Jon was in a good mood as he walked along the corridor, and he didn''t intend to go back to the great hall, as Hagrid''s small cakes and ck tea were enough to fill him up, and he nned to go straight back to his dormitory to wait for Neville to return after supper. And just as he was passing through the storeroom, a chubby figure happened to walk out of it. Slughorn had a lot of things in his hands, arge box of Crystallised Pineapples in his arms, packets of toffees in his mouth, and what looked like tworge bottles of lemonade-like drinks beside him, controlled by a levitation charm. Jon looked at the now busy professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts ss and asked hesitantly. "Uh, Professor, do you need some help?" "Aha!" Slughorn opened his mouth in surprise, and at the same time, the toffee packets he was holding in his mouth fell down, which Jon subconsciously caught in his hand from below. "You''re right on time, Jon, the students have gone to eat, and I couldn''t find anyone who would help. Go on, take this packet of sweets and follow me, maybe I will share a few with you." This somewhat snobbish professor treated Jon quite well, as the History of Magic assignment Jon had handed inst week had been much appreciated by him, which,bined with a notable performance in Defence ss, had led Slughorn to put Jon on the list of students who could be taken care of, just like Neville. Justin and Lavender, with their mediocre talent and moremon backgrounds, were not on this list. Jon followed behind Slughorn with the packets of toffees that would havested him more than a year if he had been allowed to eat them alone, in his mind, he quietly grumbled that with such a sweet tooth it was no wonder he had such a body. Slughorn''s office is not far from the storeroom, it seems to be a room that he has chosen deliberately. The office was simply furnished with a set of desks and chairs and a row of bookshelves, although there were a number of pictures of him with other wizards on the walls, and all of them smiling at him with a wink and looking like celebrities, but Jon didn''t recognise any of them. "Just ce them over here, don''tugh at me for enjoying them at my age, that''s all I have left, one of the terms Dumbledore offered when he recruited me here was that there would be enough sweets to go around, good thing he didn''t lie about that." Slughorn put his things away and invited Jon to sit down, pouring him a cup of ck tea in the process, as if he was going to take the opportunity to talk to him about his homework. "You did quite well on the Defence ss homework you handed inst week, Jon, you have gained great knowledge about Dark Magic curses very well." -------------- #Aidan Ryan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 20: Sapphire Ring Chapter 20: Sapphire Ring "I just go to the library a bit more when I''m not doing anything, but I actually couldn''t even use a single magic spell right now if I really asked to do it." Jon looked down and took a sip of the warm cup of ck tea, he had just stuffed his face at Hagrid''s and had no intention of drinking it all now. "A solid theoretical foundation is the key to sessful practical skills." Slughorn said as he poured himself a cup of tea as well, "I never failed to judge people''s potential, you will have a great future ahead of you. If this is peacetime I would have given the invitation to join my club in a heartbeat." Of course, Jon knew about the club he was talking about, and it was true that the people who managed to join it were all people who were either capable or from distinguished families. Slughorn was obviously very good at building rtionships with students, he always managed to take the initiative when it came to socialising, not only by virtue of the status they had but also by virtue of their innate talents. Jon had only stopped by to help out, he had no intention of staying longer, so after sitting and having a couple of sips of tea, he got up and prepared to leave. Slughorn didn''t keep him much longer either, he just asked him to take a few toffees and a box of Crystallised Pineapples with him when he left. After leaving the office and closing the door from the outside, Jon did not linger on the long corridor, fearing that if he did not return, he would have to go to Professor McGonagall to report about his disappearance, given Neville''s character. However, just as Jon took a step to go back to his dormitory, he suddenly felt a cold touch on his right index finger. He froze slightly, then lifted his hand and saw a ring that had never been there before on his index finger! It was a silver ring, slim in overall appearance, fitting on Jon''s finger precisely in the right size, and a diamond-shaped blue gemstone embedded in the middle of the ring. The gem is small and is not held above the ring, it''s just enclosed in the ring, and around the side and back of the gem, around the silver ring, there are still four diamond-shaped gaps faintly visible, exactly like the one in front, like four other gems supposed to be embedded there. Jon couldn''t help but frown deeply at the ring, he is certain it is not his ring, and he has never seen this ring before! He tried to remove the ring from his index finger and took it off easily. Jon''s first thought was that it belonged to Slughorn, because he hadn''t had it in his hand before he entered the office, and it had suddenly appeared right after he had left the door of the office. With a brief reflection, he figured out what to do with it. Whether or not it had slipped into his hands from Slughorn''s office, he would have to go back and give him the ring. In the magical world, diaries, rings, lockets, jewellery pieces and the like, especially those of unknown origin, tended to be bad things, with curses beyond normal humanprehension attached to them. Jon had no illusions that this ring might contain an old grandfather who might proim him to be the Chosen One, and it was safer to nip any possible danger in the bud than let it slip away! So he turned without hesitation and knocked again on the door of Slughorn''s office room. "Come in." Slughorn, who was stuffing a Crystallised Pineapple into his mouth, looked at the re-entering Jon with some surprise and asked suspiciously. "Is there anything else you want, son?" Jon took a deep breath and held out his right hand in front of his face. "Professor, when I went out of your office, this suddenly appeared in my hand for some reason." Seeing the ring in Jon''s hand, which quietly remained, Slughorn was visibly frozen. But he quickly reacted, moving swiftly to return the Crystallised Pineapples that he hadn''t had time to stuff into his mouth back on his desk while pulling open the drawer in front of him and taking out a small wooden box from inside. He opened the box in front of Jon, and it was empty, but you could clearly notice from the sunken padding that there was originally a ringid there. Slughorn''s face became serious, he lost the smiling face that he usually had when he looked at anyone, and his face became somewhat serious and even intimidating. Such seriousness did notst long, the frown loosened again, but then the pair of eyebrows quickly re-furrowed. He did not speak, and rose directly from his chair, pacing back and forth in front of Jon with a grim face with his hands behind his back. Jon didn''t try to disturb him; one thing that at least reassured him about Slughorn''s current reaction was that the ring had originally belonged to this Defence ss professor and had just somehow ended up in his hands after he had gone out. Finally, Slughorn stopped his anxious musings, he stared at Jon and extended his hand. "Give me the ring." Without half a moment of hesitation, Jon handed the ring back to him. After getting the ring, Slughorn didn''t ask Jon to leave, nor did he immediately put it back into the wooden box, instead he just walked backwards straight from him, and after about three metres back, a familiar cold sensation abruptly reappeared on Jon''s index finger! Jon looked at the ring that acted as if it had grown fond of him with a look of shock. In contrast to him, Slughorn''s face became calm at this point. "Professor, this..." "You''ll just have to wear it for now." Slughorn looked at the ring on Jon''s hand and said softly, "Don''t worry about anything else, it won''t do you any harm, but you won''t be able to get rid of it for a while either. Go back for now Jon, I''ll see you again tomorrow when I''ve sorted some things out, and I''ll exin to you about the ring then, also don''t say anything about the ring to anyone in the meantime, remember! Anyone!" Jon was certainly ufortable with such a result, but he couldn''t force Slughorn to spill the beans on what this ring really is right now. All he could do was ask. "When should Ie to see you tomorrow, Professor?" As if he could see that he was worried, Slughorn gave him a definite time. "Tomorrow after lunch, we should both be free at that time." Having been given an exact time, Jon eventually left. He got back to his dorm room just as Neville was looking like he was in a hurry to go out, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Jon. "Where have you been? I didn''t see you at lunch either, and I almost went to Professor McGonagall just now to report your disappearance." "I went to do Professor Slughorn a little favour, don''t worry, I''ve already eaten lunch and brought back some dessert." Jon acted as if nothing had happened and ced the Crystallised Pineapples and toffee on the table, but once he hadid back down on the bed, he quietly picked up the ring with the blue gemstone and stared nkly at it. --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 21: Impressions of Jon Chapter 21: Impressions of Jon Curls of white steam rose from the cauldron. Lily carefully tilted a vial containing dark green liquid and put three drops into the cauldron, and instantly the potion in the cauldron turned from purple to grass green. And just as she ced the vial down, there was a sudden soft knock at the door. The movement of Lily''s hand jerked for a second, and then she spoke. "Come in." Slughorn walked in carrying a box of crystallized pineapple, and Lily looked up at him with a noticeably softer expression on her face. "Howe Professor had time to visit me?" "Just happened to get some from the storeroom, so I brought some over for you too." He ced the box of crystallized pineapple on the desk while also taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of it, and Lily looked at the content he brought helplessly. "Eat fewer sweets, you''re already very old, so too much sugar intake is not good for your health." "Okay, okay, don''t start teaching me, without this my life would be at least 50% less enjoyable. Well, your cauldron of calming potion is almost ready, but I suggest you put in a tiny pinch of fairy wing powder, it will give you another 0.3 to 0.5 pints of the final finished potion, it''s my unique recipe." Lily did as she was told and found a small vial of fairy wing powder from the cupboard at the side, she tapped it twice and added the powder into the cauldron. "Thank you for your generosity in sharing the recipe, Professor, but I always felt you definitely came to me with more in mind besides bringing me this box of crystallized pineapple; surely there should be no need to beat around the bush so much between us, right?" Slughornughed dryly twice; when dealing with this once his most favoured pupil, the little thoughts in his mind could always be guessed. After coughing twice softly, the smile on Slughorn''s face narrowed, and he looked at Lily seriously. "The boy named Jon Green was brought by you?" Lily heard the shift in Slughorn''s tone and turned her attention from the potion in the cauldron to this conversation. "Yes, what''s the matter? What''s wrong with him?" Slughorn asked, shaking his head as he stared into Lily''s unblinking eyes. "There''s nothing wrong with him, but I wanted to find out more from you, what''s your impression of him?" A thoughtful look crossed Lily''s face as if she was remembering the first time she met Jon. "He''s smart, much smarter even than the boy from the Longbottoms." She told Slughorn about the incident at the orphanage back then, when Jon, with his observations, had finally chosen to leave with her. "I''ve never seen an 11-year-old actually capable of thinking so much in such a short time, amidst the danger." Slughorn''s face also showed a thoughtful look, and he soon went on to ask. "Is there anything else?" "He''s very concerned about rtionships, I looked into his information when I went to find him, he didn''t have a good life at that orphanage, he was bullied until he showed his magic talent, and after he showed it, he became isted. But after escaping the danger following me, he first asked me about the safety of the people in that orphanage, and I could tell that if I had said that the people in the orphanage would be in danger, he would have pleaded for my help to save them." Jon had made such an impression on Lily that she remembered everything clearly about him. Slughorn listened to her, tapping his fingers gently on the top of the desk for a long time without voicing a word. "So, why are you asking all this, Professor?" Lily asked, in confusion. Slughorn crossed his arms together in front of his body, with a slightlyplicated expression on his face. There was a mixture of joy, relief, and hesitation. "I was thinking that perhaps, I could teach him something." Jon was woken up by Neville. After returning from Slughorn''s office, he hadid down on his bed and fallen asleep looking at the ring without realising it. The nap was peaceful, and he didn''t dream anything until he was shaken awake by Neville when it was already dinner time. "Actually, we can eat dinner a littleter today, after all, we can''t go to bed before we finish our astronomy ss, so we''ll definitely be hungry again by then." Jon said with a yawn as he changed the pyjamas that he had worn in his dorm room. "The great hall won''t specifically keep food for us until dark, and besides, didn''t you bring back some snacks, you can eat those if you''re hungry tonight." Neville hadn''t slept much this afternoon, he already had a little nap in the morning. The two left the dormitory together, quite a few students wereing and going in the long corridor, all of them seniors who were getting ready to go to the great hall after ss. They met up with the Ron trio at the table, and everyone else was curious about Jon''s whereabouts at lunchtime today, which he brushed off with the excuse that he had gone to give Slughorn a hand. Astronomy ss didn''t start until close to midnight, and the five of them stayed in themon room together for a long time after dinner until Flitwick himself led them to the astronomy ''ssroom''. "Follow me and be careful to keep your voices down to avoid disturbing the rest of the people." Flitwick advised them before leading the group through the long corridor in the direction of the entrance hall, stopping only when they reached a room near the entrance hall. On the door, there was a sign that read "Astronomy ssroom". Flitwick pushed open the door and instead of a ssroom, there was a stairway with a revolving staircase that went vertically upwards, directly opposite the door. It was not asrge as the space in the wagon, the roof was onlyparable to the size of the wagon as seen from the outside, probably an open space three or four metres long and two or three metres wide, with a guardrail around the edge of the wagon up to the waists of the freshmen. Hagrid was still driving the wagon across the British Isles, and they were passing through a town where the street lights automatically went out every time the wagon passed, and those lights came back on when it left. The freshmen had just arrived at the roof of the wagon when they were greeted by the marvellous sight around them, which caused Flitwick to tap his wand disgruntledly on a chalkboard that had been set up in front of him. "I know the view around us is spectacr, children, but tonight our real goal is the wide open sky rather than thend, so it''s time for you to find your seats." Five desks and chairs had been set up in advance on the roof of the wagon, and an astronomical telescope was set up on the side near the guardrail, obviously, these had been prepared in advance by Flitwick prior to the start of the ss. The evening breeze, which was mostly blocked out, blew very gently around them, and Flitwick''s voice sounded at the same time. "In thest lesson in the ssroom within the wagon, I only gave you a brief introduction to the basics of astronomy, whereas from this lesson onwards we are going to really start to understand this starry sky above us." --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 22: Night Attack Chapter 22: Night Attack "...With Jupiter being our main object of study this term, and as well as studying the itself, we will also be working on the knowledge of its moons, and I will have each of you draw an astrological chart of Jupiter when the timees, so I hope that during ss you will be able to draw a chart of its moons...." Jon''s mind had actually been out of the ssroom for a long time while Flitwick was exining their learning objectives for the term and reminding them to concentrate. He was still thinking about the ring that had inexplicably appeared on him in Slughorn''s office at lunchtime. The ring is still on him, or rather Jon simply cannot get rid of it, it automatically appears on his right index finger as soon as it leaves him more than three metres away. Jon didn''t wear the ring on his hand, without mentioning the fact that he wasn''t sure if it was dangerous or not, the mere fact that an 11-year-old boy wore a ring on his index finger for courtship (a ring on the forefinger indicates that one is single and happy to be in a rtionship with the opposite sex) was bizarre in itself. ( TL: is it true? I can''t find a source on Google) Despite Slughorn''s assurances of him being in no danger, Jon was notpletely reassured, and from the way, the fat old man had behaved in the original story, he was indeed a very principled man, but that only allowed Jon to give him a day''s time. If by tomorrow, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor did not give him an answer that he could ept, Jon would not hesitate to take the ring and go straight to Dumbledore. Perhaps Dumbledore would make use of him in his calctions, but he would never push him into the fire. The wagon had already moved away from the town and arrived at a quiet ruralne, Jon gathered his thoughts and just as he was about to focus all his attention on the lesson, he suddenly noticed a few dark shadows creeping over the bright starry sky out of the corner of his eye. He didn''t pay much attention to them at first, thinking that they were owls hunting at night, but he soon realised that they were unlikely to be owls. There is no way that owls could be that big! The realisation that something was wrong became apparent in Jon''s mind, and he stood up and interrupted Flitwick''s ss in a sharp voice. "Professor! Look up at the sky!" Everyone on the roof of the wagon raised their heads to the sky in response to his words, and a dozen figures in ck robes could be clearly seen under this clear night sky, riding on top of broomsticks, keeping their flight above the wagon all the way! In contrast to the initial bewilderment on the faces of the students, Flitwick''s face was at that moment frighteningly pale! "Get back! Go back to the wagon! Quickly!" As he shouted at Jon and the gang, he didn''t hesitate to raise his wand with his only remaining left hand! "wheeeeee!" An incredibly ear-piercing, shrill that sounded like the legendary Harpy rang through the wagon. Jon was the first to react to Flitwick''s words, and he grabbed the arms of Ron and Justin, who were still gawking with their mouths open, and pulled them towards the entrance to the stairs! Neville was only a second slower to react than Jon, and he also followed after him, pulling Lavender by the arm. The ck-robed men on their flying brooms in the sky had also all sensed the situation down in the wagon, and instead of maintaining a horizontal trail, they all together lowered their broom handles and swooped down towards the wagon! Instead of entering back into the wagon with Jon and the group, Flitwick used a Summoning Charm without any half-hearted hesitation after giving the warning. "io Flying Broomstick!" A cracking sound rang out at the rear of the wagon and then a flying broom, which appeared to be in a somewhat dpidated state, hovered in front of him. Flitwick mounted the broom, and because he wascking an arm and had to hold on to his wand with his other hand, he couldn''t do anything but press the entire front half of his body against the broom handle, while using the aid of magic to sit firmly on the broom. The tattered broom carried the one-armed wizard Dueling Champion into the sky. "Protect Thestrals! Hagrid!" Hagrid, who had already been awakened by the rm sound, pulled a slightly longer-than-normal wand from the small red umbre and shouted a warning to Flitwick as he stabilized the startled Thestrals. "Be careful!" *** The long corridor was already brightly lit when Jon and the four of them returned to the wagon in a panic. Doors to every single dorm room had been opened and a number of students poked their heads out wondering what was going on, but the more experienced sixth and seventh graders rushed out in their pyjamas. "All students! All gather in the great hall! All students!" The seventh-year head boy and head girl were shouting and began to gather the students towards the great hall, which included Jon and the four of them who had juste off the roof of the wagon. The professors on the wagon had gathered in front of the entrance hall at the first instant of Flitwick''s warning, every one of them except Dumbledore had a flying broom in their hands. "Is Kingsley and the men over in the square tonight?" Dumbledore asked in a deep voice. "No, they''re in Find as ofte, taking care of the business you gave them earlier, there''s only Molly and Tonks over there in the square." It was Lily who answered him, her face looked calm, but her hand, which was trembling slightly as she gripped her wand, revealed her true emotions. It wasn''t in fear or dread, but more in bitter hatred and impatience. McGonagall''s face was gloomy. "Howe, they can find-" "Now is not the time for that, Minerva." Dumbledore interrupted McGonagall as he drew his own wand and led the way out towards the wagon. "Horace, stay in the wagon and guard the students, Hagrid protect Thestrals, and the reste with me, we need to help Filius." With a simple statement, hepleted the entire deployment, and the group who heard his orders did not hesitate to carry them out. Slughorn ran towards the great hall where the students would be, while McGonagall and Lily both mounted their flying brooms at the same time and dashed out of the entrance hall! Hagrid in the driver''s seat of the wagon was now clutching the reins hard! "John! Randy! Ort! Don''t mess around! Take a lesson from the Smith! Stay calm! Speed up and run! Run!" At Hagrid''s inducement, the Thestrals had gradually recovered from their initial shock and began to move their hooves at a faster pace, their wide bat-like wings, which had been folded up on their backs, slowly unfurling! The speed of the wagon increased many times in an instant as it raced forward through the darkness and night across the fields! Inside the wagon, after a third headcount by the Head boy and girl, as well as the pair of prefects, Slughorn pushed his way through the door. Most of the students'' faces were tinged with fear and anxiety as they looked over at the only professor who stayed inside the wagon, and Slughorn''s simple words of reassurance dissipated the panic on almost everyone''s face. "Don''t worry, Dumbledore has already gone over." --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 23: Inside the wagon Chapter 23: Inside the wagon The sky gleamed bright red for a moment, the light prating through the windows of the wagon and reflecting on the faces of every student, followed by a thunderous boom that only an Exploding Charm could produce. No one raised their voice, but a few timid underss girls whimpered, and they were gently reassured by some sixth and seventh-year students who had clearly been through something like this before. Jon huddled together with Neville and the rest of them in the corner of the great hall, the new students were all rtivelyposed, and Lavender, the only girl among them, was not much of a soft character either. In addition to them, Ron''s two older brothers, George and Fred, and the dark-skinned boy Lee Jordan, from the same grade as them, were also beside them. The twins, who were usually bold and daring, showed no sign of nervousness or fear at all about the situation and spoke eloquently about their life on the wagon. "This is the first time we''ve been in this situation, too." Not sure whether it was George or Fred who spoke, but there was some hint of excitement mixed in his tone. "Even Percy has never experienced this before, only Bill and Charlie had experienced the danger of being chased by the Aurors a few times during theirst few school years. I heard that ever since Dumbledore cast a powerful spell on the wagon, the Aurors have never been able to locate New Hogwarts." Hearing his words, something became clear in Jon''s mind who had not said a word from the sidelines. Earlier, after seeing the reactions of the upperssmen, he had found it a little strange; he had thought that such encounters of being chased after by Aurors were the norm in this school, but now it seemed that this was not the case. "Actually, there is no need to worry at all." Another one of the twins said, "As long as we have Professor Dumbledore on board, our safety will certainly never be an issue, unless. That man personallyes over here!" Ron''s face, which wasn''t quite tense, instantly turned pale when he heard thest thing his brother said, and his body subconsciously shivered. "Don''t say things like that! He, he''s highly authoritative now, there''s no way he would still focus exclusively on the likes of us." Justin asked curiously as he watched Ron''s unexpected change ofplexion, along with Neville, and Lavender, who had visibly fallen silent. "Who is that man?" The twins both looked at each other, and they ridiculed in aplimentary, exaggerated tone. "The ''great sir'', of course!" Lee Jordan looked around with a terrified look on his face as he swallowed and said in an almost pleading tone of voice to the twins. "Well, George, Fred, I know you''re not afraid of him, but at least be mindful." The twins looked dismissive. "That''s not a problem, we''ve all heard Professor Dumbledore address him directly by that previous name." "Professor Dumbledore is Professor Dumbledore, and we are who we are." They were arguing over this matter when Jon suddenly spoke up. "Where did Professor Slughorn go?" Everyone around him went quiet as they began to look around the hall, none of them could find the professor. It was then Neville spoke up hesitantly. "I just heard someone report to Professor Slughorn that Filch was missing, and Professor Slughorn told the Head boy and Head girl to stand guard while he went to look for Filch." "Filch never seemed to have visited the hall from the beginning?" Lavender asked, in doubt. Both George and Fred shared a look of disgust toward this coach keeper. "He''s probably still in his room nning some sort of punishment for the students, we''ve heard more than once how he often suggests to Professor Dumbledore to reinstate the corporal punishment system that used to be practised at Hogwarts for better discipline in the current special times." As they talked, the sky long grew quiet again. The galloping Thestrals quickly moved away from the battlefield with the wagon, but none of the professors had returned yet, and the students were stuck in the great hall. Some of the students, who were frightened and physically exhausted, had fallen asleep on the table, and it was only at that point that Slughorn walked in with a crestfallen Filch. It seemed like they were both stillmunicating about something when they entered, and the coach keeper didn''t seem to be in a very good mood. Slughorn knew at this point that he would have to arrange for the students to get some rest, even if they couldn''t go back to their dorm rooms for a while. With a wave of his wand, he emptied the hall of all the tables and chairs and then conjured up dozens of sleeping bags so that the students could stay here temporarily for the night. The dim light swayed gently in the hall as the wagon jolted forward. Everyone around Jon, such as Neville, Ron and the others was already breathing evenly, with the asional not-so-loud snore being heard not far away. He was not sure if it was because he had slept enough yesterday, but even though it was past two in the morning, Jon remained sleepless. He was lying close to the edge of the window and could see the bright white moon in the night sky when he looked up. The events of tonight had added fuel to the sense of crisis that was building in his mind. Now they didn''t have to worry about their safety under Dumbledore''s protection, but Dumbledore couldn''t be with them forever, and he is definitely more than just the Headmaster of this Hogwarts. Besides, although he didn''t know what had happened in the past, the fact that the wizardingmunity had fallen into Voldemort''s hands meant that Dumbledore didn''t necessarily have the upper hand against that man. As he pondered, Jon reached into the pocket of his robes and touched the ring that felt cold in his hand at all times. But no matter what, tomorrow he would have to settle the matter of this ring first, and then he would have to hurry up and find a way to improve his strength, he did not expect to be as strong as Dumbledore right away, but, at least, he would not be in a position where he could not even lift his wand to use a single spell as he was now. On this turbulent night, time passed little by little. As the eastern sky took on a hint of fish-belly white and the stars faded, Dumbledore led Lily, McGonagall and Flitwick back to the wagon, as the students were still asleep. Dumbledore did not even have a few creases in his robes, other than his face looking a little tired, while both Lily and McGonagall''s hair was slightly dishevelled from the wind, and they did not appear to have suffered any injuries; only Flitwick was supported and limped into the wagon, his left leg was stained with bright red blood and faintly smelled burnt. Slughorn''s face was grim as he looked at the injury on Flitwick''s leg, and he took the short professor from Lily''s hand. "I have some Dittany essence left with me, which will do wonders on your injury." --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 24: The owner of the ring Chapter 24: The owner of the ring "I didn''t have a problem, those scumbags used the Exploding Charm together, which merged into a super wide range exploding charm, otherwise they wouldn''t have had a chance to hurt me." Flitwick spoke up somewhat unconvinced even as he was being held up by Slughorn, and he didn''t seem like he thought much of his opponent of today. But of course, Slughorn wouldn''t take what he said seriously; with no school healer at Hogwarts at the moment, he and Lily, the two people who are good enough to be called Potions Master, are the best healers around. Slughorn helped Flitwick to walk first, and Lily and McGonagall both followed Dumbledore along the long corridor as if they were a little confused about something that had transpired during today''s attack. "It''s been so many years, this is the first time the Ministry of Magic has found us in thest five years, yet why did they only send a few Aurors after us?" McGonagall asked with a confused look on her face. Lily also said in a cold tone. "The Ministry of Magic Auror Office has long be a department without any real power when the Dark Lord became lifetime Minister of Magic, the only force that truly holds the greatest strength in the Ministry of Magic is Death Eaters, they are the central force in the hands of the Dark Lord, and these Aurors, basically made up of half-bloods and purebloods with no connections, they are not equal to even a single Death Eater squad in any sense whatsoever. " Dumbledore said calmly. "Don''t think that way Lily, although most of the power of the Auror office was gathered away by him before he threw it to Lucius, all those who have managed to join it to be Aurors are the best of the half-bloods nheless. Lucius is very skilled in recruiting people now, and the majority of half-bloods were recruited by him, since a number of Voldemort''s men still maintain that extreme mindset, at least the half-blood wizards have the right to own wands and to learn magic." Lily could not deny this statement he made, but she still said it. "But at least the ones we dealt with today were ipetent people who couldn''t give us much trouble, except for that exploding charm that they cast against the Filius at the beginning in a group. It is impossible for the Dark Lord not to know that with you on board, these people have absolutely no possibility of posing a threat to us at all, so why did he let theme? It''s been nearly five years since we got located, and now that he has found us, why did he just send a bunch of flies?" Professor McGonagall also frowned and asked. "Besides, how did they find us? The charm on the carriage failed?" Dumbledore shook his head slightly. "No, the charm didn''t fail." "Then how did they locate us." "Perhaps they have all been looking for us everywhere all this time, and it was this group of Aurors that found us by ident, it''s not beyond the realm of possibility." Dumbledore said with a reassuring smile, "Don''t think too much about it, for now, it''s been a tiring night, so you should both go and get some rest, let''s suspend sses for the day and let the students take a break as well." Lily and McGonagall clearly had more to say, but Dumbledore was clearly no longer in the mood for conversation. They were indeed mentally tired tonight, and although the Aurors hadn''t given them much trouble, the sudden attack had kept them tense inside. After the three of them had gone to their separate offices to rest, Hogwarts did not let their guard down. After treating Flitwick''s wounds, Slughorn spent time on the roof of the wagon, and Hagrid became more vignt than ever, constantly looking around while driving the wagon. The students woke up from their sleep in the great hall, then briefly ate some bread and milk that had been prepared in advance for emergencies and returned to their dormitories afterwards. Neville didn''t stay in the dormitory for long before joining Ron and the ss to y chess in themon room; sses were suspended for the day, and with the events ofst night, they needed to distract themselves from other things. They had simrly invited Jon, but Jon just followed Neville for a short sit in themon room before leaving. After wandering along the long corridor for ten minutes, Jon nced at the time which was barely past ten o''clock. He wasn''t in the mood to wait any longer though, after taking a deep breath he walked straight to the door of Slughorn''s office. The knock on the door was not answered, but a passing fifth-year reminded him that Slughorn was currently in the astronomy ssroom and that it would be best to go to the roof of the wagon if he wanted to find him. After thanking that senior girl, Jon headed straight for the astronomy ssroom which was located next to the entrance hall without stopping. He walked up the revolving staircase to the roof, where the desks, chairs, ckboards and telescopes had all been put away, except for a high-backed chair in the middle, where Slughorn sat with his wand in his hand, staring up at the blue sky above him. "Professor." Jon''s voice pulled Slughorn''s thoughts back and the fat old man looked at him with a smile like a walrus. "I woulde here when I happened to be bored, Jon. Why didn''t you bring some Crystallised Pineapple with you? My former students always bring me little surprises like that when they want to butter me up for something." Jon mentally rolled his eyes at the old man''s perfectly blunt ''demand for bribes''. "I''m sorry Professor, but even if I had the money to buy you sweets like that, I don''t know where to buy them." Slughorn held out his wand and nudged it at his side, and a bench appeared in what had been an empty space. "I was just making a little joke, stop being so humourless, and sit down, I figured you might not be able to wait until noon to visit me." Jon asked with a serious look on his face as he sat down beside him and pulled the sapphire ring out of the pocket of his robe. "So, Professor, can you tell me what it is now? Can you take it back?" "It''s no longer possible for me to take it back, Jon." Slughorn looked at him and the words that came out made Jon''s heart sink, "Because it didn''t belong to me in the first ce, it was in my possession only because an old friend of mine once asked me to keep it for him and now, it has found its owner." Jon furrowed his brow. "Then why did it pick me?" "Because it was created to wait for someone who would actualise the value of its existence, and that someone is not the one who created it, nor me the temporary custodian, but you." Slughorn''s voice was calm, but Jon did not understand what he was trying to say. "Professor, can you speak a little more inly?" Slughornughed heartily and shrugged his shoulders. "I''ve actually always envied Dumbledore''s way of speaking with people, like some kind of sage, but it doesn''t look like I''m cut out for that. Might as well make it a little more blunt then, Jon, this ring, it will help you to learn a form of spell casting that other folks can''t learn." --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 25: Change Chapter 25: Change Jon''s first thought was that this ring could rece his wand and allow him to cast spells in the circumstance where he didn''t have a wand. And as the thought came to his mind, he asked it out. "Will it allow me to discard my wand?" "No, no, no, Jon, in fact when you have such a thought, you are misinformed." Slughorn said, shaking his head. "Wands have never been a constraint on wizards, it is a means of enhancing a wizard''s magic, besides there are many parts of this world where wizards do not use wands as a means to cast spells, for example, some tribal wizards in Africa, they have always adhered to the tradition of hand gestures to cast spells. It is not difficult to learn such techniques, although they areplicated, so why don''t European wizards learn from them? In fact, this question is like asking why we have to use a knife and fork when we can just simply use our hands to eat." "It''s not that wizards can''t do it, it''s just that casting spells with a wand is what we think is the most effective and efficient way of casting spells, as well as the most logical one. It''s not as if no one has tried to rece the wand with some other magical tools, such as rings, crystal balls, books and so on, but the reason none of these has be popr is that what we are using is the best." Jon looked at the ring in his hand with a thoughtful look on his face. "Well, Professor you said it would allow me to learn a way of casting spells that no one else was able to learn, right?" "ording to your understanding, what is the magic that wizards use?" Slughorn looked at Jon with a smile. Jon had certainly thought about this question in private, and without hiding it, he spoke bluntly about his understanding of magic. "A wizard with magic can use his or her will to cause a change in the world." "A very simple yet straightforward understanding." Slughorn sat up straighter, his manner bing noticeably more serious. "It means you''ve figured out two of the most fundamental things about magic by thinking that way, Jon. Magic and will, that''s the basis of what makes a wizard a wizard. Only will without magic, makes you a muggle; only magic without a will, makes you an Obscurial, a person whose magic has be Obscurus; and someone who has both magic and will, but has no way of linking the two together, is known as a Squib in the wizarding world." "All spells, whether in the form of transfiguration, charms, potions or prophecies, the necessary elements to perform them are magic and will, the rest, whether wands or incantations or hand gestures are all aids to spellcasting, they help the wizard to perform magic better and more easily, but theirck does not mean that the wizard will lose the ability to cast spells. " What Slughorn was saying now was exactly what Jon had thought of before, but it was obvious that all this was just a prelude, the key pointy in what he had saidter. "The will to cast spells depends solely on the individual wizard, and the wizards who have a strong will are generally considered to be geniuses who have a great talent for learning magic, whose strength grows with age. The wands and incantations are created to assist the wizards, and the study of magic has always been the focus of the vast majority of wizards from ancient times to the present. But like you said earlier, a wizard with magic can use his or her will to cause a change in the world, so what is more important besides magic and will?" Jon stared nkly at first, but soon a light shed through his head! "Do you mean the change?" Hearing Jon''s answer, Slughorn showed enthusiasm. "I''m d to hear the right answer from you, Jon. Yes, even if Filius hasn''t taught you a single spell yet, you should have seen this line written by Miranda Goshawk in ''The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1'' - ''Charms differ from Transfiguring Spells in the following manner: a charm adds certain properties to an object or creature, whereas a transfiguring spell will change it into something utterly different.'' Her intention in leaving this sentence in the book was so that beginners to magic could clearly distinguish the difference between charms and transfiguration, and it could, equally, exin the utility of magic itself." "Change, that is the ultimate objective for which all magic is created. A levitation charm can make an object lighter, a transfiguration spell can turn a match into a needle, and a potion can change otherwise ordinary porcupine quills or Driedtles into a potion that can cure a boil. These are all changes, and this is how magic affects the world." "But there is a unified rule to all such changes, Jon, and perhaps you have been exposed to magic for a too short period of time to have discovered this rule - the wizard uses magic out of himself, but all that magic can change is the world, but not the wizard himself. " Slughorn looked very serious as he spoke these words, and he stared into Jon''s eyes without blinking as if he had stated the only supreme truth of the world. Jon was frozen as he carefully recalled all the magic he knew, and indeed none of it worked on the wizard themselves. Wait! Many can do that. He took a deep breath, weighed his words and spoke. "I didn''t mean to contradict you, Professor, it''s just that I''ve been spending my time in the library whenever I''ve had a spare moment since I arrived at Hogwarts, and in one of the books on Transfiguration, I learned about an advanced human transfiguration spell called ''Animagus'', isn''t that the magic that wizards use in order to transform themselves into something else?" Upon hearing Jon bringing up a counter-example, Slughorn''s face didn''t show the slightest sign of displeasure, rather he looked even more pleased. "I''m really d Jon, I was actually hesitant to talk to you about this before I made up my mind about whether or not to tell you this, but now it seems you''re excellent! Magic like Animagus is something that even Ron and Neville, two kids who grew up in wizarding families, might not have heard of, and you''ve only truly been exposed to magic for less than two weeks, yet you''ve actually managed to know about it already!" "You''re not wrong with that example, Animagus, a high-end transfiguration spell, is indeed an ancient wizard''s attempt to change himself with magic, but it''s actually a product of a failed attempt." "A failed attempt?" Jon''s eyes widened. "Yes, a failed attempt." Slughorn said with emphasis once more, "Since you have seen Animagus in the book on Transfiguration, surely you should also be aware of the greatest limitation of this transfiguration spell-" Jon pondered as he caught the point that Slughorn was trying to make. "Transfiguration cannot transform you into any magical creatures with magical powers." "Right! The change that Animagus brings to a wizard is merely a transformation into different ordinary species, but essentially, what is the fundamental thing that magic does in producing changes in the outside world? A change in magic! But an Animagus can''t do that, so it''s just a failed transfiguration spell! In that respect, perhaps even the existence of werewolves is far more sessful, but you should also be able to guess what the werewolves lose when they transform, right?" "They will lose their will, they have no ability to mobilize their magic to cast spells after they transform!" Slughorn now looked at Jon with what could be calledplete satisfaction to the extreme. "Excellent point! Even with the existence of the Wolfsbane Potion, which allows werewolves to suppress their beastly nature during the full moon, they still have no way to use any magic, their will and magic are isted, and although this is slightly more sessful than Animagus, it is still imperfect, and because of this imperfection in terms of functionality it doesn''t perform even as well as Animagus." At this point, Jon had basically understood what Slughorn was actually trying to say. He looked down at the ring in his hand, and his eyes dazed out. "So, this ring." The excitement on Slughorn''s face shrank, and he grew incredibly grave. "It will allow you to change your own magic for the better. Not the kind of change that is superficial and just formal, but the most essential change about magic!" -------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 26: Teacher Chapter 26: Teacher "So that different way of casting spells from the norm means that the magic is not affecting the outside world, but rather ourselves?" Jon looked at the ring, the diamond-shaped blue gem set in the middle, glistening in the sunlight. Slughorn was also looking at the ring in Jon''s hand, his gaze revealing reminiscence. "I have lived a long time, but I devoted most of my life to potions and to socialising, without engaging in the study of the nature of magic. This ring and all the points I have mentioned earlier is the legacy of a friend of mine, Adrian Fawkes, who spent his life searching for a way for wizards to change themselves, and the end result was this ring." Jon carefully recalled the name for a moment, to be sure that no wizard with that name existed in his memory of the original story, the only thing that seemed to ring a bell was the Last Name Fawkes, which seemed to be the name of Dumbledore''s phoenix. But the wizardingmunity was so broad that there were undoubtedly more capable wizards beyond those who had appeared in the original stories, and it wasn''t surprising that Jon hadn''t heard of that name. Even after Slughorn had exined it to him sufficiently, Jon still had quite a few doubts about the ring itself. "But if we follow what you said Professor, why did it choose me, when that Mr Fawkes you mentioned created it, even if he had passed away and couldn''t use it personally, you could use it no?" "It''s not as simple as you think, Jon." Slughorn looked up to the sky, a hint of remorse showing on his face for some reason. "There has never been a shortage of brilliant people throughout the ages, and my old friend is certainly not the only one who could think of conducting magical research in this direction, a direction in which basically no one has seeded. The only thing that seemed to have seeded was in fact very evil, more unforgivable than the Unforgivable Curse. The ring you are holding is nigh the most perfect result that has ever been achieved, but not everyone can use it now." "For a wizard''s magic to produce a change in the outside world, it takes ''will'' to grasp it, and the stronger the ''will'', the more tremendous andplete the change produced. The ''will'' required to cause an essential change to the wizard himself with magic is even stronger to the point of incalcble proportions. This ring is only a medium like a wand; it is the wizard''s own magic and ''will'' that really counts. Of course, the medium is important, but like I keep saying, if either the magic or the ''will'' is absent, then the magic simply isn''t even possible to perform." "Ever since I got this ring from Adrian, I''ve been meaning to help him find someone qualified to use his creation, but it''s been almost twenty years now, the wizarding world has undergone a great change, and I''ve met thousands of wizards carrying this ring, but not even one of them is qualified to be its master." He turned his head to look at Jon. "I was all prepared to give up, Jon, I have more important things to do, but your presence has taken me somewhat by surprise. I learned a few things about you from Lily yesterday after you left, you are very clever and have an excellent talent for magic, which I was able to verify even more today. The fact that you''ve only been exposed to magic for less than two weeks, and you know so much about it is also a testament to your hard work, and most crucially you''re also someone who values feelings, and generally people like that don''t end up being all that bad even when they be viins. I would prefer this masterpiece not to be recorded in the history of magic than to make another mistake, and only after confirming all this, I have made up my mind to give you a chance to choose. Will you learn from me this method of casting spells that can produce changes to yourself?" There was a great deal of information in this statement made by Slughorn. Jon understood what he was talking about when he spoke of an item that was even more unforgivable than the Unforgivable Curse, one that would essentially change the wizard himself, and through the entirety of the original story, only the Horcrux that Voldemort used for his immortality was capable of such an oue. The existence of the Horcrux was revealed to Voldemort by this old man in front of him, something that he has always regretted, hence his earlierment about "making another mistake". To be honest, with Jon''s current knowledge of magic and the level of spells he had, he could not understand what effect might produce by magic that would change the wizard himselfpletely. But what he could understand was that such an opportunity would be rare, very rare, and he already had a strong sense of crisis in his mind right now because of his ownck of strength. He could roughly guess that the reason he could be able to possess such qualifications was most likely due to the fact that he had crossed over, otherwise there would be no way to exin why he could be special when no one else could. For Jon, who wanted to strengthen himself, Slughorn''s words today were as timely as coal sent in the middle of the chilling winter, so he simply had no reason to refuse as he had nothing to lose. Jon met Slughorn''s eyes, his gaze turned serious, and his tone was firm. "I want to learn, Professor." Slughorn smiled at his answer, no matter how many times he looked at that chubby face, it still gave him the impression that he was looking at a smiling walrus. "I actually prefer the title Teacher to Professor." (*what term should I use - teacher or mentor or sensei or master*) "So, teacher, what should I do to proceed with our studies next?" Jon asked with some eagerness, after establishing a closer teacher-student rtionship than that of a professor and student in school. Only now Slughorn could see an expression that matched that of an eleven-year-old on Jon''s face. "Don''t be impatient, first of all, you haven''t learnt a single spell yet, I need to teach you a few more things to prepare you before the actual teaching takes ce and the learning begins." Puzzlement crossed Jon''s face. "What do I need to learn first?" He spoke quietly. "lumency." After fixing an agreement with Slughorn that he would go to his office every day after dinner to begin his studies, Jon left the roof of the wagon. As soon as he had returned to the wagon, he saw Filch on the long corridor with a grim look on his face, admonishing the students. At this time he happened to bump into Neville and the group, who hade out of themon room, and he couldn''t help but ask curiously. "What''s going on? Why is Filch so angry." Neville and the rest shook their heads in confusion and waited for a while to find out what had happened by hearing around from the upperssmen. It turned out that Filch had discovered that someone had broken into a room without a signboard and the permission of any professor. ------------- [Author:] This theme is not easy to write, so please help me by reading the book every day, and then vote more to increase the book''s visibility on the tform, I can guarantee at least the backstory is not bad, I am improving with each book. ------ Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 27: Occlumency Chapter 27: lumency "You should know we are in special circumstances!" Filch''s shrill voice echoed down the long corridor as he red menacingly at every student present. "Anyone who has done this bettere to me right away and confess, and I might even cut them some ck and punish them ording to normal school rules! But if no one admits it and I end up catching them out, I''ll make them regret not finding me and admitting their mistake at this point in time!" The students looked at each other, no one looked like they wanted to admit their mistake, and Filch''s threat seemed more like an empty threat, he didn''t really have any clue on how to pursue it, and eventually, by lunchtime, it just settled down. During lunch, Jon looked at Ron with a suspicious look on his face. "You guys couldn''t have done that, could you?" Ron immediately shook his head like a rattle. "How is that possible, I haven''t messed with that door since thest time I was punished, ask Neville if you don''t believe me, he''s been with us all morning, he would have stopped us for sure if we had tried." Neville nodded. "We did stay in themon room the whole morning, you on the other hand, what were you doing this morning?" Jon didn''t conceal too much about this, he would have to go to Slughorn''s office every night afterwards, and sooner orter Neville, who shared the same dormitory with him, would find out. "Professor Slughorn wants to teach me something privately, and he asked me to make a trip to his office every evening over the next number of days." A sympathetic look crossed Ron''s and Justin''s faces at his words. "Then aren''t you going to have a lot less time to spare after ss." Lavender rolled her eyes at both of them. "Well, do you think everyone would think like you guys." Neville, on the other hand, patted Jon''s shoulder with a happy look on his face. "It''s a good thing for you, Professor Slughorn is well respected in the wizardingmunity, both before and even now, and he''s the only one on this wagon who isn''t wanted by the Ministry of Magic, so you''ll certainly learn a lot from him." Jon, however, became somewhat curious about this. "Why is Professor Slughorn the only one who isn''t wanted?" Before Neville could voice, Ron jumped ahead and said in a hushed voice. "Because he was the head of Slytherin House before and has held that position even longer than Dumbledore served as Headmaster of Hogwarts, and almost all the Pureblood officials in the Ministry of Magic now were once his students and were under his care during their school years. There are rumours going around that even that man himself was a former-favoured pupil of Professor Slughorn, so if the Professor hadn''t been with us and had gone to the other side he would surely have gained a higher level of authority and fame, and now that he has be our Professor, the Ministry of Magic has not been vocal about it, as if they didn''t know about it at all, and I have heard from the adults that this must have been done under that man''s will as well. " Jon pondered on Ron''s words. He certainly didn''t think that Voldemort was reminiscing about old feelings by treating Slughorn like this, for the man whose nature was more suited to being the Dark Lord rather than just having the title Dark Lord, feelings and such wereplete rubbish just like the so-called ideals, the only thing he really cared about is power and dictatorship. Jon felt that the main reason why Slughorn managed to stay on Dumbledore''s side without Voldemort pressuring him too hard was that he had the secret of Voldemort''s immortality in his hands. Jon didn''t know whether this secret had been told to Dumbledore by Slughorn right now, and Voldemort certainly didn''t know either, so he was expressing to his former Head that he had left some leeway and hoped that the fat walrus will be smart enough to not say certain things while he was allowed to do some things. Of course, all this spection assumes that Voldemort''s arrangement of the Horcruxes is still the same as the original with no changes whatsoever. The whole situation in the wizarding world is in shambles right now, so who knows what is going on with those Horcruxes. He didn''t think too much about these things that were out of his reach, for the time being, all he could do now was just keep his feet on the ground and strengthen his self-protection ability first. The attack had left the students on the wagon shaken for the rest of the day, but there had been no further follow-up. Indeed, it might be just as Dumbledore had said, the Aurors who had attacked Hogwarts had only identally spotted the wagon during a patrol and had been taken care of by the professors before the Ministry''s support could arrive. The tension on the wagon remained high for a week after the attack, but it slowly dissipated as time went on, and the school returned to its normal academic life. And in the third week of charms ss, Jon finally learnt the first spell in his life - the levitation charm. This is the first spell almost every wizard will learn after being introduced to magic. It is not very difficult to cast, and its effect is a simple but practical one, as it simply has the effect of making heavy objects lighter and lighter in weight. Just as Slughorn had said, Jon''s magical talent is truly remarkable, and in the charms'' ssroom he was the first of the five new students to sessfully cast a levitation charm; even Neville, who already had some experience in casting spells, had not seeded in making the feathers on his desk levitate in his first try. For this reason, Flitwick, whose leg injury hadpletely healed, was pleased enough to exempt Jon from his charms ss homework. And it was also on the same day that Slughorn began to give Jon the official start of his lessons. "The study of lumency has nothing to do with what I''m going to teach youter." A stone basiny on Slughorn''s desk, which looked ancient and could well be called an antique. "The main point of learning this magic is for you to protect what I will teach you afterwards, along with the existence of this ring. There are many things in the wizarding world that can allow one to read people''s memories, like potions, spells, and there are even some people who are born with the ability to read minds, and lumency is certainly the best protection against all of these things." Jon naturally knew the effects of lumency, and even if Slughorn didn''t offer to teach him now, he personally would find other means to learn this magic afterwards. The memories of his past life in his head are vital, and if they are not protected, it would be akin to leaving the memories in his head nakedly open to others in this dangerous world of magic. But what concerned Jon now was how Slughorn would teach him. If it was going to be an outright forced invasion into his memories like the original Snape had done to teach Harry the lumency, as a way to speed up the training process of lumency, then there was no way Jon would be able to ept it. ------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 28: A night to remember for a lifetime Chapter 28: A night to remember for a lifetime "The very essence of lumency is actually thebination of ''Will'' linking with magic to build a wall in one''s mind. This wall can block entry and prying through magic, and those who excel can even construct false memories on the outside of the wall as a way to confuse the memory stealer, with no way to tell if the memories they see are real or not." While exining to Jon, Slughorn didn''t forget to grab a piece of Crystallised Pineapple from a cardboard box and pop it into his mouth. "The lumency magic has mostly been learned in two ways, one is a simple and brutal method of forcing one''s way into the learner''s mind and making him constantly remember the feeling of being broken into, and his body will subconsciously resist and his ''will'' will actively mobilise his magic, this is the most primitive way of learning the lumency. But I don''t like this, it''s just too crude, and it''s not exactly healthy for a wizard to snoop into another''s memory too often." As he said this, heid his eyes on the stone basin on his desk. "So I will be teaching using the second method, which is less crude and much more flexible inparison. I borrowed this magical item from Dumbledore, I actually owned one before, I just forgot where I left itter on during a relocation. Foolishly, I actually kept the memories of where I hid things, in that same magical item of mine, for safekeeping, but without finding the Pensieve I couldn''t get the memories, and without getting the memories I couldn''t find the Pensieve." Slughorn chuckled with a self-deprecating shrug. "I would never be able to find that Pensieve again, good thing Dumbledore''s Pensieve was taken out from that castle with him, or I wouldn''t know how to start teaching you. Pensieve is a magical item that is used to store thoughts and memories, and to recreate memories so that they be re-liveable." Jon asked in confusion as he looked at the stone basin with an empty interior. "So how would we begin? Teacher." Slughorn cleaned the icing that had stained his hands from the snack he had eaten while holding his wand. "Now you are going to recall a memory in your own mind, any memory will do, and I will extract the memory that you are thinking about." Jon took a series of deep breaths as he began to go through his thoughts to find a memorable scene that was fresh in his mind. "Are you ready?" Slughorn asked. "Ready, teacher." He pointed the tip of his wand at Jon''s temple, and then the next instant, some kind of silk thread had attached itself to the tip of the wand, Slughorn twirled his wand and pulled a bright silver thread out of Jon''s mind! The sensation Jon felt now was strange, he could clearly perceive a force pulling his memories away from him, it was not a good experience and his body instinctively resisted the act. Although his body did not move, the feeling of resistance in his mind was very strong, it was like some robber had snatched something from your hands right in front of your eyes, and your first reaction to it would be to get your stuff back. At the same time that Jon had this reaction, the silver thread that had been pulled out of his head was suddenly halted as if it had taken root in his head, and the movement became difficult and slow. But in the end, the wand still pulled the silver thread out in one whole piece. Slughorn stored the piece of memory he had extracted from Jon''s mind into the Pensieve, and he smiled at Jon who was a little lost in thought at the moment as if he was recalling the feeling he had just felt. "Did you not like that feeling and instinctively wanted to resist it?" Jon nodded as he frowned. "My mind wants to disrupt that sensation uncontrobly and... It''s almost as if it was acting on its own?" "Not as if." Slughorn said approvingly, "Your body''s instinct to defend itself was very strong, it made a spontaneous resistance of its own volition indeed, and that resistance had some effect." "That''s a very good start, Jon, the lumency was created in the beginning after someone registered the feeling of constantly having their memories forcibly read, which reinforced their natural instincts and eventually evolved into magic. Some people are naturally not exactly sensitive to this act of reading memories, and such people would have an exceptionally difficult time learning lumency, and you clearly fall into the opposite category." Slughorn showed his delight. "This is a perfectly good thing, and it shows that we would probably make good progress after this." With that, he looked at the bright silver, mist-like mass of memories in the Pensieve and asked Jon, "Is this memory something that can be viewed by others?" Jon, of course, had no reason to refuse, and he entered into the memory that had been extracted from his own mind with Slughorn. *** The sea was calm under the night sky like a sleeping baby lying in its mother''s arms. On both sides of the long table filled with delicious food and delicacies, students and professors alike rose to their feet, and a melodious chorus followed, led by the bearded old man who sang the opening notes of the school song. Jon stood on the beach and watched in silence as his own self from three weeks ago was infected by the atmosphere at the dinner table and joined in the chorus. Slughorn, standing beside him, suddenly sat down on the beach, also looking at the entire student body and faculty of this little Hogwarts with a serene expression. "What do you remember most about this night?" Hearing his question, Jon followed suit and crouched down, grabbing a handful of sand from the ground, this memory slipping through his fingers as the sand slipped away, while his gaze remained fixed on the students and faculty who sang with joy and sadness. "This is perhaps the most memorable day of my life, teacher." Slughorn rested his left hand on the back of his right, cing his arm on his knee as he raised his head to look up at the sparkling night sky. "I''m with you on this one Jon, I''ll never forget the night when Dumbledore first brought me to this Hogwarts before I even agreed to be a professor here, that sly old man begged me toe without having to give him any exact answers, he said all I had to do was follow him around to see and attend the orientation dinner that year once. " "That day was just like the night you experienced, a night filled with despair and thest bit of hope that one couldn''t even bear to look at, and that''s how I was pulled by him to sit down at the table, surrounded by students happily asking me if I am the new professor, and they said that they have way too few professors in the school and were really grateful that I was actually willing toe and teach them. I was actually thinking in my mind at that moment that this was probably scripted by Dumbledore to keep me in thepany on purpose, but I just couldn''t help but feel a sourness in my nose." "When that dinner was over, Dumbledore took me by the arm and stood up without any prior notice and announced to the dozens of children that I am the new professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts and the History of Magic, I was pissed off, thinking that I must scold him loudly on the spot, ruin his image, and then turn around and walk away. But in the end, all I could say was ''Hello children, I am your Professor Slughorn.''" His voice was soft, yet filled with an immense weight of emotion. "After those words were said, I thought I would regret it, but what my mind actually thought at the time was that it would be nice to just agree to stay and be a professor." ------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 29: Mrs Weasleys Gift Box Chapter 29: Mrs Weasley''s Gift Box After Halloween had passed, the temperature in Ennd had dropped significantly. Hogwarts prepared winter coats for the students, and although the wagon is constantly moving around in exile, living supplies are not scarce. The fireces in themon room were all warmed up too, and Jon and the ss were working on their charms ss homework there. Well, to be precise, it was Neville and the three of them who were writing, while Jon was helping them by answering their doubts. Ron gripped his quill and couldn''t even able to put together a single sentence over half a day, he looked at the five or six inches of nk space remaining on the parchment to meet the requirements, and he couldn''t help but look at Jon pleadingly. "Show me your finished homework for reference, Jon, I''ll just nce at it, without copying it as it is, it''s simply to get some ideas." To which Jon merely refused in a firm tone. "Don''t even think about it, don''t forget what Professor Flitwick told you and mest time in private, you only used it as a model for thest homework too, but the professor still found out about it, if you get caught once more, both you and I will have to write the homework you copied ten times." "You should better write it yourself, Ron, even if Jon could give you the homework to copy now, can you expect him to write it for you when you take the charms ss exam?" Neville also quipped in a serious tone. "Okay, okay, stop your lecturing, I''ll write it myself." Ron sighed and returned his attention to the parchment with a sad face. It wasn''t that he couldn''t really write at all, there were no stupid people in the Weasley family, it was just that he just couldn''t focus his mind on something like writing homework or studying. As the new students spent more time together, they had be much closer than they had been at the beginning of the school year; after all, none of the five has any bad personality. Although Jon didn''t talk much at the beginning, he was always a reliable source of help to the others, both in their studies and in general, which led to him being at the centre of the circle, and even when Neville was unsure about something, he was always the one to help out. Halloween is widely celebrated in the UK, but for safety reasons, the wagon did not stop at a fixed location for the Halloween feast, instead, the great hall was decorated, and a feast was served inside the wagon. The passing of Halloween means the arrival of the Christmas season, the most important holiday for all Westerners, is just a month and a half away. The mood inside Hogwarts became increasingly rxed, with both the older and younger students looking forward to where Hagrid would take them for the Christmas feast this year. The attack in September was rarely talked about by students or professors anymore, and it was clearly fading into oblivion for most in the wagon, with only a handful of people still remembering it all the time. Jon''s progress in learning the lumency under Slughorn was also steadily advancing forward. He showed a high degree of talent and his progress was not slow, regardless of whether he was learning those basic magic spells and transfiguration in ss or more advanced magic like lumency. Slughorn even deduced by his progress that he would be able to officially start teaching him about the spellcasting techniques associated with that ring before Christmas was over, and the year ended. Just as Jon and the group were catching up on their homework, Filch, who always looked at everyone with a nasty look, came into themon room at some point and walked right up to the square table where Jon and the four of them were and ced arge brown cardboard box in front of Ron''s body. "Here''s some stuff your family sent you, Professor McGonagall asked me to bring it over to you. Remember which things are not allowed to be carried around ording to the school rules and if there''s anything prohibited inside this box, hand it over to me immediately! Or I''ll show you what you''re made of!" After saying these threatening words, he left with a stinky face, asionally looking back towards the box in front of Ron as he walked away as if he wanted to see him open it and make sure there was nothing prohibited inside. When Filch hadpletely left themon room, Ron made a face toward the door. "''Or I''ll show you what you''re made of!''" He exaggeratedly mimicked the manner in which Filch had just spoken, "He''s so annoying, isn''t he?" Justin nodded in agreement; he was just punished the other day for identally tripping and spilling ink all over the long corridor. "He never failed to act ording to the rules, despite the fact that he was indeed strict and vicious." Neville reassured. Lavender, on the other hand, looked at the cardboard box in front of Ron with some anticipation. "Come on, open it and see what your family has sent you!" "It must just be some food Mum personally made along with letters telling me to do well in my studies at school, without fooling around like Fred and George, and to use Percy as a role model." Ron muttered as he opened the cardboard box, and inside there was arge packet of homemade choctes, and a box of brown fudge, with a letter on top of the fudge box. He took the letter out and then unwrapped the sweets straight away ready to hand them out to Jon and the rest of the gang. "Come on, try them all, my mum actually has always been a pretty good cook, although she doesn''t get the chance to cook any extravagant feasts." They were all quite ordinary, but there was a clear look of envy on Justine and Lavender''s faces. Even if it was simple, it was something made for Ron by his mother''s own hands; the fact that one of their parents had fled to d to escape the Ministry of Magic, and that the other''s memory of even having a child like him had been erased, made them feel what considered as a trivial thing to Ron, a luxury to them. The attentive Jon sensed the change of emotion in both of them and reached out to take the chocte as well as the fudge to distribute. "Both look good, so it ought to taste great." With the tacit agreement, Neville also changed the subject to something else. "I''ve been to Ron''s house before and Mrs Weasley and Mr Weasley were both very nice people to be around." "They just act all nice and easy around the other kids, just ask George and Fred, I don''t know how many times both of them have been taught lessons by mum." Ron said as he looked at the letter, "Sure enough it''s just as I guessed, Mum''s once again telling me to learn from Percy properly." While Jon was distributing the sweets, he suddenly noticed a thickyer of newspaper padded at the bottom of the cardboard box that Mrs Weasley had sent to Ron. The front page photo of the newspaper showed people who could move around just like in the video, and a young man he knew very well, was smiling gently at him with a distinctive badge pinned on his chest. With a slight gaze, Jon reached down and took the paper out of the cardboard box, and right above the photo was the headline of this front-page article. [Professor of Hogwarts Charms ss, Special Inspector of the Ministry of Magic, and Outstanding Young Wizard of the Late Twentieth Century - Barty Crouch Awarded with Second ss of the Order of Merlin] ------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 30: News in the newspaper Chapter 30: News in the newspaper Ron also noticed the newspaper that Jon had picked up. "Oh yeah, in the letter Mum also mentioned that Dad had stuffed some newspapers from the previous months in there for me, he wanted me to learn more about current events in the wizarding world. But if you ask me, it''s impossible to get any real news from reading the Daily Prophet, and it''s clear to everyone that after three reporters in a row who dared to dig up big scoops disappeared, this newspaper is now on its knees on all aspects of the Magic Government and is afraid to say even a word of truth." Jon listened to his words, while his attention remained on the front page article about Barty Crouch Jr.''s award. Indeed, it was just as Ron had said, this whole article touting Barty Crouch Jr. without saying a word about exactly for what merit he had received that Second ss badge. Neville also inclined his head to look at the article with Jon, as hemented from the sidelines. "I''ve long heard from my dad that the Order of Merlin award lost its former glorypletely once that man started his rule, by awarding almost every one of his core most loyal men a badge, this Barty Crouch fellow supposedly received a third-ss badge before, and now he got a second ss as well, but what''s funny is that he is in fact most famous for executing his own father with his own hands." Jon shifted his gaze away from the newspaper with a surprised look on his face. "Executing his own father?" Neville shrugged. "Yes. Barty Crouch''s father was also called Barty Crouch, and the Crouches were a long-standing pure-blood family, but his father was very firmly against Pure-blood supremacy, and resisted that man''s rule over the wizardingmunity; back in the days he was the Head of the Ministry of Magic''s Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and the Aurors of the entire wizardingmunity were all part of the department under him. Then after the man seeded in overrunning the Ministry of Magic, Crouch Sr. was captured, and he did not grovel and surrender like the other Ministry officials, even though his only son was in a high position among the Death Eaters." "I heard that man at the time simply wanted to keep him in prison for the rest of his life, but Crouch Sr''s son, this now-awarded Barty Crouch, actually offered to execute his own father. In the end, that man agreed, and the man who executed him as the executioner was his own son." Both Lavender and Justin, who were nearby listening to the story he was telling, all had their mouths dropped open and Ron looked at the youth''s fake smile in the newspaper with disgust. "My mum and dad have always told me that this guy isn''t human!" "Killing your dad with your own hands, that''s horrible," Lavender said with a pale face. Because of the impressions from the original story, Jon wasn''t too surprised by what Barty Crouch Jr. had done in this world; after all, even in the original story he had killed his father with his own hands, it was just that the time had moved earlier, and the nature of it was much worse now. Jon put this newspaper down, Mr Weasley had sent Ron plenty of old newspapers, and he had a keen interest in these things that gave him information about the current wizarding world. He flipped through a few more in quick session, and apart from information about the changes in the Ministry of Magic and some of the gossip, they were all articles praising Voldemort''s virtues, and all of them spared no expense in praising him, and just as Neville had said before, "The Great Sir" had apparently be the official name for him in the wizarding world. Just reading these articles sent a chill down Jon''s spine and raised goose bumps on his arms. Finally, he came across a newspaper dated September 12th which featured an article about this Hogwarts school under Dumbledore''smand. It reported that in the middle of a routine patrol, Aurors had inadvertently discovered the whereabouts of the wizardingmunity''s most wanted dark wizard, Albus Dumbledore, and the terrorist group under hismand. The Aurors on the scene proceeded to take matters into their own hands without waiting for reinforcements from the Ministry, resulting in a failed operation and the loss of information about the movements of this group of criminals. In response, the Great Sir, who normally rarely interferes with the inner workings of the Ministry of Magic, made his displeasure clear to the Head of Auror Office - Lucius Malfoy - and Lucius sent the Aurors who had survived Dumbledore''s men straight to Azkaban for dereliction of duty as a result. This article was not on the front page of the newspaper that day, it was in a corner and there were no pictures on it, so it appeared as if the Daily Prophet was not taking this matter very seriously. Jon, however, sensed something wrong with it. He couldn''t quite put his finger on what it was, he just felt that Voldemort didn''t seem to take Dumbledore and this Hogwarts very seriously. Or else with his character would he simply express his displeasure towards Lucius? But Jon knew too little about the Voldemort of this dimension now, and he knew that if Voldemort remained unchanged from the original story, there was no way he would have forced Dumbledore and Hogwarts to such an extent. So he didn''t take his own mental image of the ''great sir'' and specte on it. Jon shook his head, and just as he was about to put the newspaper away, the headline of another article on the back of the newspaper caught his attention. [ Nics mel''s First Death Anniversary, Philosopher''s stone still Missing] He frowned as he read the article in full, and finally, he looked up at Neville, who was already showing signs of being a "know-it-all". "Nics mel died of old age?" Neville nodded as he too nced at the article. "Yes, the alchemist who lived for many centuries ultimately died of old age, along with his wife. He went to the Ministry of Magic three months before he died to report the theft of his Philosopher''s stone in Ennd; he is a French wizard, but also used to live over in Devonshire from time to time, and it was at that time that the stone was lost." "It was rumoured that when he went to report the theft, that man had a private meeting with him, and it was unknown exactly what they had discussed, but after that, the Ministry of Magic''s Aurors did all they could to help him track down the Philosopher''s stone, but there were no clues until thest of Nics mel''s Elixir of Life was used up and both he and his wife eventually passed away in Devon. " Ron said as he interjected into their conversation. "George and Fred were talking about it at homest year, they both suspected that it was actually the Ministry of Magic who had stolen Nics mel''s stone; they were supposed to be the ones who stole it, so he went there to report it just to get his stone back, but it turned out as you saw." Jon listened to them both and then looked thoughtfully back at the article in the newspaper. ------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 31: Intruders Chapter 31: Intruders The week before Christmas, snow began to fall in most parts of Britain. Jon asionally went over to Hagrid''s in his spare time to spend some time sitting over there with ck tea and biscuits, watching the snow fall outside the wagon. But most of the remaining time was still spent in the wagon studying. He had already surpassed Slughorn''s original expectations with the lumency and had already built a rudimentary ''wall'' in his head before Christmas. Although he couldn''t yet build a false memory outside the wall to make the magic more advanced, he still met Slughorn''s initial teaching requirements. Slughorn did not intend to start teaching how to use the ring before Christmas, and gave Jon a week of holiday, telling him not to push himself so hard, and tobine work with rest, to not tire himself out by working hard. Of course, Jon is also aware of such reasoning. So he spent the week chatting with Neville and the others in themon room after dinner or ying chess, the entertainment for wizards was scarce, especially on the wagon, and with even the most famous sport in the wizarding world, Quidditch, not being held, the students had to find their own entertainment. After a few games of wizard''s chess, which is essentially chess that moves on verbalmands, Jon found it boring and used Hagrid''s help to find a number of stones of the right size on the road while the wagon was in motion, then went to Professor Flitwick for help in cutting the stones into squares of the same size using his superior Severing Charm, and then Jon carved circles and other patterns on the square stones as he remembered them. He used the English alphabet and words instead of Chinese to make a simple mahjong set. Of course, it would have been easier to make a set of mahjong directly by using the Transformation Magic, but it was simply not possible for Jon to remember the patterns on every single mahjong piece clearly, and there was still a time limit on the duration of the Transformation Magic, so it took him three days of effort to make a set of mahjong with an iplete number of pieces. The rules of mahjong are very simple, in fact, there are many mahjong enthusiasts in the United Kingdom and from time to time a few tournaments are organised, but the rules are somewhat different from those in China. But of course, mahjong was not introduced in the wizarding world, and the set that Jon had made was probably the first mahjong set created by a British wizard. After just a few rounds of hands-on y, while recounting the rules to Neville, Ron and the two, they all basically figured out how to y this type of square tile. The five freshmen then quit wizard''s chess altogether and indulged in ying square tiles in themon room every day after ss. "Two circles." In the warmth of themon room, Lavender hesitated for a long time before pointing her wand at one of the tiles in front of her and using a levitation charm to make it fly to the centre of the table on its own. And the very moment her words fell, Ron flicked his wand with a burst of excitement and pushed all the tiles directly in front of him. "Haha! I''ve got a deal!" A look of happiness then appeared on Justin''s face, even if he hadn''t won, he hadn''t lost by much. Neville, on the other hand, was torn as he looked at Ron''s tiles, he was only one tile short of a hand. Lavender had a frustrated look on her face, even if they were just ying casually when they were bored without actually betting anything at all, she was still upset about constantly losing today. After teaching them the ropes, Jon, who had basically been watching the game with rapt attention, coached Lavender. "You''re all still just winning by luck right now, but you can''t y all the games based on luck like this, you have to guess someone''s operational mentality by the hands they y." He actually just has more theory on his mind, his real skills in mahjong stink beyond belief, and in his previous life, he had only yed a few times with his college roommates in the dormitory. The reason why he is now acting all high and mighty and not ying anymore, is purely because he has the self-knowledge that he simply can''t beat them anymore as Neville and the rest of them are getting more and more skilled at ying, and he doesn''t want to break his founder''s undefeated status. "Shuffle! Shuffle!" Just as Ron shouted, the door to themon room was suddenly and forcefully pushed open from the outside. Filch''s old wrinkled and age-spotted face was incredibly unsightly as he red hard at the jumpy Ron, and then his sharp voice hollered at everyone in themon room. "Everyonee out and assemble in the great hall!" With that, he turned and left in a huff, as if he was heading off to inform the other students who were still in their dorm rooms. It wasn''t just Jon and the gang, every student in themon room looked at each other, wondering what was going on. "Let''s go, let''s head over to the great hall first." Jon led the way towards the great hall, and Neville and the gang followed him there, where the vast majority of the students had gathered, with Professor McGonagall standing in front of them with a serious look on her face. Upon seeing Professor McGonagall, it became clear to Jon that this was not a minor issue, as anything that required the Deputy Headmistress to appear could only be a major issue. It was only after Filch had gathered all the students on the wagon that Jon and the others realised what was going on. Someone had broken into the unmarked and locked room again! This time the intruder had been clever enough not to reveal anything, but after what had happenedst time, Filch had asked Professor Flitwick to cast a small spell on every door that did not allow students to enter privately and whenever a door was opened, it would definitely leave a mark on it. Now Filch had apparently found a mark on one of the doors, and he did not hesitate to report it to Professor McGonagall. This was no small matter; the rooms that students were not allowed to enter privately were either housed with some dangerous magical creatures or nts, such as Thestrals or contained some magical items brought from Hogwarts Castle that were dangerous but also equally valuable. Now that these rooms had been broken into twice in a row without a sound, it is definitely time to find out the truth. After frowning at all the students in the room, McGonagall''s stern voice rang out through the great hall. "I believe this may have been an innocent action on the part of someone who was not trying to steal anything, but just broke in by ident. Now, as long as this individuales forward and admits guilt, I will not punish them too severely." McGonagall had always been very authoritative among the students, and no one would doubt what she said. But the students at the scene were all looking at each other, and no one had any intention ofing forward to take responsibility for the incident. After seeing this scene, Professor McGonagall''s frown deepened. "Filch, please make one more trip and invite Filius over for me." ------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 32: ‘Dear’? Chapter 32: ¡®Dear¡¯? Filch soon brought Flitwick to the great hall. The spells on the doors were all ced by him, and if someone had opened them, then naturally he could look for traces of spell on that intruder who had entered. But even though he checked every single student present, he found nothing. All the students of Hogwarts were here, all 56 of them, without any absence. This made Professor McGonagall''s face turn grim, there can only be three possibilities for such a situation. A student did break into a room that was out of bounds, but it was not unintentional or just some curious and mischievous student, rather it was a premeditated act, after which he removed the traces of the spell from his body. Such a possibility is very low, even if it is only a minor magic spell, it is still a spell ced by Flitwick, and not just any student can dissolve it. The second possibility would be that no student had trespassed the room, and the only people left on this wagon besides the students were the professors, so the current deed was actuallymitted by some professor. This is the most unlikely guess, excluding Dumbledore and her, there are only three professors at Hogwarts, Lily, Slughorn, and Flitwick who were either taught by her personally, or colleagues who worked with her for many years, all of them were tested at critical moments, so none of them can be suspected. That is why Professor McGonagall actually leans more towards the third guess. Since it is not a student, nor a professor, then it means that there is someone in this wagon who is not supposed to be here! When she thought of this Professor McGonagall''s face became incredibly pale. She did not like to think about this possibility, because no such thing had ever happened at Hogwarts during the seven years of exile, but she had no choice but to think about it. If such a thing did happen, it would mean that all the students in this wagon are in an unbelievable state of danger! "Everyone, stay in the great hall! Don''t go anywhere!" Her voice suddenly became sharp and frightened all the students present. Professor McGonagall''s face was frighteningly grim, and she entrusted this ce to Flitwick, who also recognized the seriousness of the situation, and then she hurriedly walked out of the great hall and walked quickly in the direction of Dumbledore''s office. The panic in her heart made her even forget to knock on the door, and simply pushed the door open and walked in. "Albus! You have to be aware of this! Albus!" Dumbledore was quietly writing a letter with a quill, and in the face of McGonagall''s sudden intrusion, his face did not show the slightest surprise. He put down the quill in his hand, but his eyes were still on the letter that he had just finished writing. "Don''t worry, Minerva, the wagon is still running, and I''m still here, so there is no need to be so flustered." Dumbledore''s calmness seemed to calm McGonagall''s nerves as well, and she breathed steadily, nevertheless, she said impatiently. "Someone trespassed the restricted rooms on the wagon, all the rooms were previously subjected to Filius''s spell, which can leave traces on the person who opened the door, but when we checked all the students on the wagon, none of them had the trace. Somebody should have intruded! Most likely it was during thest Auror attack, that incident was too strange, if their intention was to distract us with the attack and then let someone sneak in, that would make sense!" She quickly finished her spection, but the expression on Dumbledore''s face did not change a bit, he was still looking at the letter in his hand as if he was checking the wording on it. "Well~" When Professor McGonagall looked at his attitude, she could not help but frown again, and she shouted Dumbledore''s name. "Albus!" Dumbledore then seemed to be pulled back into focus by her voice, and he looked up at McGonagall with a blink. "What''s wrong?" "Did you even hear what I just said!" Dumbledore sighed and ced the letter to the side as he crossed his fingers in front of him. "Of course, of course, I was listening to you, you spected that thest attack was actually a conspiracy by the Ministry of Magic and that they deliberately tried to sneak someone into the wagon. But I don''t think you have to worry at all if that''s the case, Minerva." He said softly, his voice sounded faint like he really didn''t care much about this matter that McGonagall was so nervous about. "Why we shouldn''t worry! No one has ever been able to intrude into this wagon for seven years, and now if someone did sneak in, especially if that someone was from the Dark Lord''s side, how could we keep the students safe?" In regard to her concern, Dumbledore simply replied calmly. "First of all, someone intruded on the wagon is just a guess of yours, although we left at that time, Horace was left to guard the wagon, I trust his ability more than anyone else, if someone really intruded, then he wouldn''t have failed to notice it. Besides, if someone did sneak in and had the ability to remain dormant on the wagon for three months without harming the students or being discovered by us, then we would have even less to worry about. If he was really targeting students, he would have acted long ago and would not have waited until now, which means he has other intentions, we just have to wait for him to reveal his traces. On the bright side, it''s better to have an enemy infiltrated from the outside than to have a traitor within ourselves, isn''t it?" His words were reasonable and justified, such a reply managed to stabilize Professor McGonagall''s mood a bit, after all, as long as there is Dumbledore on board, it is unlikely that there will be any major incidents. "So what are we supposed to do now?" After dispelling Professor McGonagall''s nervousness, Dumbledore focused his attention on the letter again, as if he could see flowers on it. "Nothing, have Hagrid found a ce where we can celebrate the holiday, it is time for us to prepare to take the children for Christmas this year." "That''s it?" Even if her mood has calmed down, McGonagall still felt a little incredulous about Dumbledore''s way of handling the situation. Dumbledore nodded. "That''s it, please help me call Horace toe hereter, I have some things I would like his help with." After seeing that Dumbledore was not really all that unresponsive, McGonagall was then slightly relieved, but as she was about to leave the Headmaster''s office, Dumbledore suddenly called out to her again. "Perhaps you can give me a little advice, after all, you wrote all the Hogwarts admissions letters in the castle, you should know more than me when ites to wording and grammar." McGonagall turned her head again in doubt, she was actually also very curious about the letter in Dumbledore''s hand too. "What kind of wording is it?" "''Honourable Mr Grindelwald'', do you think such wording is too formal? Although we haven''t seen each other for four or five years, after all, we are old friends, so would it be better to use ''Dear''?" McGonagall: "..." ------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 33: Christmas Chapter 33: Christmas After Professor McGonagall returned from Dumbledore''s office, she simply warned all the students to first ensure their own safety if they met a stranger on the wagon, and then find a way to notify the professor, after which she dispersed the students gathered in the great hall. Not only the freshmen but even the senior students were also a bit puzzled by this sloppy way of handling the situation. "I thought the Professors would do a full search through the whole wagon." Neville said with a frown, "Isn''t this a little too rxed." From the moment when Jon learned that someone had secretly opened the restrictive room when he had first arrived at the great hall, he was lost in thought about it, and when he heard Neville''s words, he said reassuringly. "Don''t worry about it, Professor McGonagall and the others certainly won''t joke about our safety, there may be something we don''t know about." In this regard, Ron and the three of them are not that worried, they have absolute trust in every professor, and have no objection to Professor McGonagall''s decision personally. Thus, another two days passed, and the wagon remained calm and peaceful, nothing unexpected happened. It was also at this time that Christmas arrived. In normal circumstances, Christmas is a break between the first and second semesters of the school year in the UK, and after the Christmas holidays, the second half of the school year will officially begin. But for Hogwarts which is in exile, the students don''t even have a summer holiday, and naturally, the students are not allowed to go home at Christmas. Even those pureblood students who still have their families, such as Ron and Neville, must also have to spend Christmas at school, but after Christmas is over, there will be no sses at school for two weeks, and they can go home and reunite with their loved ones for a few days at that time. In the early morning of Christmas Day, Jon woke up to see a gift box half his size in front of his bed. He looked at Neville''s bedside with some confusion and saw the same gift box along with a few more small boxes than him on the side of the bed. "Who sent this gift." Jon muttered as he grabbed the colourful ribbon on the gift box, and then saw a simple message written in beautiful English fancy font on it. [Wishing Jon Green Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays] Underneath the well-wishes is not a person''s name, rather it simply reads "Hogwarts". "I heard that every year at Christmas, the school would prepare a gift for every little wizard on the wagon, which actually turned out to be true!" Neville had already started to open therge gift box with great enthusiasm as he made his way to Jon. The box contained a dark blue robe,rge bags of magic sweets they had seen and not seen, as well as fruit-voured sodas, and sufficient parchment, ink, and seventeen or eighteen quills which wouldst them for the next two or three years. There was also a small gift box inside thisrge gift box. Neville opened the small box, and a gasp of surprise came out of his mouth. "It''s Hellebore!" He looked at the flower nted in a pot in the gift box, revealing a fascinated look. Of course, Jon recognized this nt, which is known as Hellebore in the wizarding world, one of the ingredients of the Draught of Peace, and it is alsomonly known as Christmas Rose in Muggle society, an evergreen flower that blooms during Christmas. Neville loved the Herbology ss so much that he became obsessed with some magical nts. Ever since he saw this pot of Hellebore in Professor McGonagall''s office, he had been chattering about it with Jon in private for who knows how long. Now he finally managed to obtain this flower as he desired. Jon also opened his own share of the gift box, in addition to the bulk of sweets, snacks and school supplies simr to Neville''s, he also received a dark green robe. The body measurements were taken by Professor McGonagall during the Transfiguration ss a week ago, at that time he was quite curious about the reason why they had to be measured in Transfiguration ss. Other than that, he also received a small gift box, which Jon opened and took out three thick books from inside. They are "Encyclopedia of Low and Intermediate Level Spells", "Transfiguration and Metamorphmagus", and "Hogwarts: A History". The three books belonged to Charms, Transfiguration, and the History of Magic, and these three categories were the books that Jon had checked out the most in the library from the beginning of the school year until now. The Professor who prepared Christmas gifts for the students really did put a lot of thought into this. Looking at these presents in his hands, a smile unconsciously appeared on Jon''s face. Just when they were opening the gifts, the wagon, which had been moving continuously, suddenly shook and then stopped. Hagrid''s thick voice sounded throughout the wagon. "Children, you can get off and prepare for the celebration today!" Jon and Neville tidied up their gifts and then walked out of the dormitory together. The other students quickly ran along the long corridor and headed toward the entrance hall. They had been in the wagon almost every day since the beginning of the school year, which had long ago suffocated them, and today was certainly a day that allowed them to rx. "Hurry up! You guys are too slow!" Instead of getting off the wagon first, Ron and Justin both waited for Jon and Neville toe out at the door of their dormitory. The four grouped together and then met up with Lavender, whose dormitory was located right next to the entrance hall at the girl''s dormitory side, and then all five walked out of the wagon together. Outside there ispletely snow-covered woods, surrounded by a variety of spruce trees, some dozens of meters high, others only as tall as an adult. The ce Hagrid selected looked very picturesque, the wagon was parked in a clearing in the woods, the ground carpeted with snow, the students stepped out of the wagon when he and Flitwick waved their wands together to clear the snow in the clearing. The first to rush out was the Weasley twins, they cheered and leapt off the wagon, and half their calves were buried in the snow. Then they squinted at each other and moved uniformly as they flicked their wands at the snow on the ground, two snowballs converged at the tips of their wands, and they hauled the snowballs and waved their wands in a heartbeat towards the boy who had just stepped off the wagon, who also had red hair along with sses on his face, with a violent fling! "Wham!" Snowballs burst in Percy''s face, one after the other. A roar ofughter erupted from all the young wizards around Percy, and Percy turned red and roared the twins'' names. "George! Fred! I''m going to write and tell Mom!" "When are you going to change this line." Fred made a dismissive face toward him and then ran off through the woods with George. Flitwick shouted at the backs of the two boys. "Remember! Not to go out of the boundaries I drew out for all of you!" "Of course, we are the most obedient students, Professor!" The two boys responded in harmony without turning their heads. ------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 34: Where does the money come from? Chapter 34: Where does the moneye from? The Fir tree is a tree species that can be used as a Christmas tree directly, and the ce where Christmas is celebrated certainly was carefully and meticulously selected by Hagrid. This school has more than sixty people, students and faculty members together, the number may not be much, but it is not less either. If more people celebrated in a populous ce, even in the muggle society it will attract some public attention, so they can only choose a secluded and uninhabited ce. It is hard to find a ce with good scenery without people, as well as one that is suitable for Christmas celebrations. At the first moment after getting down from the wagon, Flitwick drew a circle around the area, in which the students could move freely and safely, and also cast a Muggle-Repelling Charm so that even if any Muggles woulde close to the vicinity unintentionally, they would suddenly remember that they had other urgent things to do and leave directly. The young wizards yed in the snow, today was a rare time for them to be active. The professors were busy decorating for Christmas, to make the celebration more than just a simple meal, especially given the recent ups and downs, it should be more festive. While Ron, Justin and Lavender went with the Weasley twins to have a snowball fight, Jon and Neville found a smallke that had frozen in a corner of the clearing, where a few senior girls were carefully skating on it. They looked like they were ying this kind of sport for the first time and only dared to take two small steps on the ice and then skate a few meters forward, with brightly coloured scarves fluttering behind them, but just this, made the girls smile happily enough. "If only flying lessons were still offered at school." Neville looked at the girls, as if thinking of something, "Previously at Hogwarts there was a flying ss to teach students how to use flying brooms to fly, but now because we are in the wagon, there is no way to ess this kind of activity." "Because of the limitation of space, we can not fly in the wagon, but the professors could make the wagon stop frequently for a lesson, did they not do it due to possible risk Or perhaps it is not possible to buy a flying broom?" Jon''sst question was filled with some deep meaning, but Neville didn''t catch it, and he thought about it and answered. "Not being able to buy a broom should be less likely, the flying broom is not particrly high-tech, there are many magical transportationpanies that can build it, although the price is not cheap." Jon looked at the senior students who were helping to carry the rich ingredients out of the wagon under themand of Professor McGonagall and suddenly asked a question. "The quantity of food and clothing that we need to eat, drink and wear all day, for fifty or sixty people is not small, and the quality of life at wagon is not bad either, so how do we get all these things? It can''t be stolen from the hands of muggles using magic, right?" Neville subconsciously shook his head and said. "Of course not! The Professors wouldn''t do that kind of thing, all the things we live with now must have been bought with money." "Well, the professors are usually teaching us sses every day, and we don''t have to pay tuition to attend school, so where do they get the money to buy all these?" Jon said quietly. Neville froze when Jon asked this question because very few students will think about this aspect, the things they usually eat, drink, wear and use to learn, there is no shortage of anything, and with no shortage, naturally, no one will think about how these thingse. The whole Hogwarts is now subverted, the purchase of wands is controlled, and the school''s economic sources certainly would be restricted, so how do they get the money to spend on their daily lives? It can''t be that the professors give them lessons during the day and go out to work odd jobs at night to earn it, right? Neville was stumped by this question, he struggled toe up with a guess that barely made sense after pondering for a long time. "We must not be the only ones resisting the Dark Lord''s rule, there are other wizard organizations like the Order of the Phoenix which has Headmaster Dumbledore as its core, and there must be a couple of other Pureblood wizard families who probably fund all our expenses at school." Jon nodded. "Well, perhaps that''s the case." But in fact, he knew very well that the ims made by Neville simply do not exin that much; given the fact that Voldemort has taken control of the entire British wizardingmunity, it is inevitable that the forces of Dumbledore will beprehensively suppressed. At this kind of period of time, the Order of the Phoenix must also need arge amount of wealth to maintain the organization''s daily operation; even if the members within are faithful and persistent wizards who regard money as dirt, and as long as they maintain a basic life, they do not want to be paid. It costs money to buy potions when they are injured, right? Gathering intelligence and information will cost money as well as connections, right? When someone dies it is necessary to give a pension to his/her family, at least to ensure that their lives can continue, right? These are all huge expenses. As for the few Pureblood families that support Dumbledore, including the Weasley family, the Longbottom family and so on, even if they are not poor, they can''t be said to be a very rich family, and since they have taken a clear stand and chosen to be on Dumbledore''s side, their assets in the wizarding world are bound to be suppressed, so, after all this, if they can still be self-sufficient, it is already quite impressive, and there is basically no possibility of them providing any great support to Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Of course, with Dumbledore''s international reputation, he may be able to get support from other wizardingmunities outside the United Kingdom, but if that''s the case, why does he still insist on staying in the United Kingdom? The Hogwarts wagon runs non-stop every day, but it has never left the borders of Britain. Jon had no information channels to understand the current state of affairs in the international situation of the wizardingmunity worldwide, but the situation is certainly not optimistic for Dumbledore''s side, otherwise, the entire Hogwarts would not have fallen to this point. In fact, there is already a reasonable answer to this problem in Jon''s mind based on the information he has. Only he did not say this answer to Neville; because of the situation that happened in the wagon during this period of time, he is clear that some people with malicious intent are here for this answer. He naturally could trust Neville, but it was not possible to trust everyone in the wagon, and judging from the current situation, it would be better to leave such things to the professor. Jon is not some brainless reckless kid, he is very self-aware and knows that he is not any smarter than others in this world, so if he can think of it, Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall can also naturally think of it. Compared to the Professors who have experienced numerous battles, he is just a first-year student who has just learned a few simple spells, so he doesn''t need to concern himself with that kind of thing. While he was thinking about it, a snowball suddenly hit him on the head, making his brain confused for a moment. "I didn''t mean to hit you! Jon! It was Ron! He used a spell to change the trajectory of my snowball!" Justin exined in a panic. Ron, on the other hand, raised his voice from the side: "He did it on purpose! I saw it! Lavender can testify too!" Lavender covered her face with her cotton-gloved hand, her hat with pompoms bobbing along with her bobbing head. "I didn''t see anything." Jon''s face darkened, and he grabbed two clumps of snow directly from the ground and kneaded them into balls. "No matter who it is, there''s one for both of you." Justin and Ron both screamed and ran away towards the distance, and Neville also excitedly grabbed a snowball from the ground and followed Jon in the direction of Ron as they ran away. "Let me help you!" The sound ofughter was everywhere in this clearing in the woods, and the students of Hogwarts were really happy today just like the Professors had wished. ---------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 35: Thunderous Explosion Chapter 35: Thunderous Explosion Ribbons and golden stars were hung on the Fir trees, which were more than ten meters high, and hundreds of candles floated in mid-air, illuminating the space. Dumbledore, with aical Christmas hat on his head, sat at the front of the table with several other professors, looking at the students who had filled the table on both sides with a smile on their faces. "You have gained a lot this year, and I likewise hope that you can gain even more next year, but of course, it''s time to let our bellies gain." He raised the cup with the cider in his hand. "Merry Christmas!" The students all raised their pumpkin juice in their hands as well. "Merry Christmas!" The temperature outside under the night was low, but everyone present did not feel the slightest cold. It was unknown whether the passion in their hearts drove the cold out of their bodies, or because the dozen burning fires Hagrid had set up around the long table had worked, the students'' faces showed a warm flush. "George and Fred used to take me to steal Dad''s booze at home, but I didn''t drink more than half a bottle, in fact, it wasn''t good at all, I thought it would be better than pumpkin juice." Ron gnawed on a chicken leg while bbering on, Justin listened with envy as Ron bragged about his glorious exploits, but Lavender tore down the whole show with derision. "It''s probably not because the drink isn''t good, is it? It''s because you easily got drunk, right?" Ron of course justified himself loudly in response. "I just don''t like the taste of booze, if I really like it, I would still be able to catch the golden snitch on my flying broom after drinking ten bottles!" His boastful words caught the attention of Dumbledore, who was chatting with Flitwick at the front, and he said with a wink. "Maybe the next time I meet with your mother and father, I should talk to them about letting you show such a great stunt in front of everyone, Ron." Ron''s whole body instantly shivered with fear, and he smiled wryly and scratched his hair. "Butterbeer is alcohol too, I''m talking about butterbeer, Professor." A chorus ofughter erupted from the long table, and Fred grinned mischievously as he brought the extrarge five servings of butterbeer directly in front of Ron''s face. "Oh really, Ron, if you can finish this butterbeer, George and I will give you that Chudley Cannons poster you''ve been wanting!" Ron grimaced and pushed away the butterbeer he brought over without even thinking about it. "I can''t eat anything else if I drink it tonight!" The atmosphere of this Christmas dinner was certainly rxed and pleasant, and the food on the long table was not wasted a bit and was eventually eaten clean. As the time approached 11:00 p.m., snowkes began to fall from the sky once again, and the students, who were already full and tired of ying, returned to the warm confines of the wagon. Jon and the other four freshmen didn''t go back to their dorm rooms to sleep immediately, they are still young when ites to cookingrge portions of dinner, so they didn''t participate, but they couldn''t just sit back and enjoy thebour of others, so the job of cleaning up the table after dinner was left to them. As the candles floating in mid-air gradually extinguished, the surroundingndscape greyed out, Justin burped holding an empty te, still reminiscing about the tasty Christmas pudding that was served at the end of the dinner. Jon, however, for some reason, had been feeling restless since the dinner was over. Neville, who had lived in the same dormitory with him for a long time, obviously noticed something different about Jon, and he asked suspiciously. "What''s wrong with you?" Jon frowned and looked all around, after ten meters away, nothing could be seen in the dense Fir forest, the umtion of snow on the lush tree branches blocked most of the night sky, everything looked normal, but it also revealed an unusual silence. "We better move fast, I always feel something is wrong with this ce." His voice didn''t sound like he was joking, and Ron and Justin, who were originally still joking, also became serious; Jon was very perspective among them. The two female professors, Lily and McGonagall, had already boarded the wagon to manage the students who had returned to their dormitories. Flitwick, Slughorn, Dumbledore, and several of the senior boys stayed behind, and they were removing the various decorations left in the clearing and the rubbish on the ground. Jon and the rest gathered up most of the tes on the long table when Slughorn was working with a student to remove the spell cast by Flitwick on the Fir tree, it seems like the student''s handling was not skilled, and the old walrus was showing them how to do it. The yellow stars glittering on the Fir tree slowly extinguished, and Jon, who was following behind Neville and preparing to enter the wagon, took onest nce at the clearing. And just before the twinkling stars went outpletely, he spotted a man shrouded in the darkness behind the tree on the side of Slughorn and the senior boy, wearing a hideous metal mask that reflected the yellow light faintly, as he, holding up his wand at them! "Teacher! To the left!" "Bombarda!" The sound of Jon''s warning and the sound of the incantation being recited were separated by a mere fraction of a second, piercing the silence of the night one after the other! Slughorn''s reaction was iparably swift, and the moment Jon''s shout was uttered, he had already turned his head to see the masked man who had unknowingly sneaked in close to him. He should have had enough time to dodge or defend, but when he looked at the unprepared senior student in front of him, he made a risky decision in the blink of an eye! Slughorn didn''t have time to recite a spell, he just swung his wand down hard! Then he used his fat body to block the student with his back turned against the assant! "Boom!" The sound of a thunderous explosionpletely changed the tranquillity of the ce, golden fire directly engulfed Slughorn and the boy, countless dirt was blown all over the sky, and rained down in the open space! Dumbledore and Flitwick reacted quickly, and when Jon''s warning sounded, they already had their wands in their hands and aimed in the direction of the masked man. Time was running short so they both did not recite the incantation, a golden-red me erupted from the tip of Dumbledore''s wand! A red-coloured beam of me instantly crossed the entire ten-meter radius of the space, and the light from the spell covered Jon and others who had yet to enter the wagon. The rising mes did not make them feel any sense of burning, the masked man who released the exploding charm tried to wave his wand again to avoid the mes, but it was toote to avoid it, so he decided to interrupt the spell and retreat quickly. And at that moment, a sound like a whip hitting the air sounded, and the bloodied Slughorn stumbled and fell in front of Jon with a student! ---------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 36: Second Night Attack Chapter 36: Second Night Attack Jon panicked and helped Slughorn, who was covered in blood, to his feet from the ground. "Teacher!" The old walrus'' face was bloodless, visibly pale from blood loss, and he fumbled out a vial of potion from the pocket of his robe while waving his hand at Jon. "Don''t worry, I won''t die." At thest moment when the exploding charm started to work, due to the need to protect the student in front of him, Slughorn only had time to use a non-verbal shield charm at the final moment. The effect of a spell that was cast silently and hurriedly was bound to be diminished, and although that spell saved the life of both him and the student, it also deprived Slughorn of the ability to fight back, and he could only escape to the wagon under the cover of the magic cast by Dumbledore using Apparition. Lily and McGonagall, who had originally entered the wagon to settle the students heard themotion and ran out of the wagon. They saw Slughorn who was covered in blood and drinking a Blood-Replenishing Potion and also saw one after another ck-robed wizards with metal masks holding a wand emerging from the woods at the edge of the crimson mes. These people obviously are not Aurors, even the current Ministry of Magic which is under Voldemort''s control, will never let the Aurors who maintain order in the wizardingmunity confront the public with this ghastly appearance. On the left sleeve of their robes, there''s a tattoo of a serpent shrouded in green poisonous gas passing through a skull, which had revealed the identity of these people. There is only one organization in the entire wizarding world that is entitled to embroider this symbol called Dark Mark on their clothes - Death Eaters! Once that man''s die-hard zealots, and now under his personalmand alone, with far more power than the wizard escorts known as Auror office. When they saw the metal masks, it became clear to every Hogwarts professor that this attack differed from thest skirmish. Lily''s hands were trembling. She looked at all the Death Eaters shrouded in darkness, her eyes filled with bloodshot hatred. McGonagall who sensed her emotional shift, could not help but frown and speak. "Lily, you take Horace inside and look after ..." "Professor!" But she interrupted McGonagall''s words with clenched teeth. Lily and McGonagall''s eyes locked, and there was simply no way for her to ignore the emotions that were nearly overflowing out of her. McGonagall sighed as she held Slughorn''s arm with Jon. "I know you could never let go of it in your heart, I''ll go keep an eye on the students, you stay here and be careful." Lily without the slightest hesitation jumped down from the wagon, the cold night wind with snowkes blowing on the hem of her robe. Looking at the masked Death Eaters not far away, she spoke in a sharp, resentful voice that pierced the night sky. "Severus! Snape! Where is he?!" All the Death Eaters were silent, no one responded to her, but the tips of everyone''s wands glowed red! "Petrificus Totalus!" No one used the Killing Curse, or spell-like Exploding Charm, which had a chance of causing death, but the sight of dozens of Full Body-Bind Curses shooting out in unison was still horrifying! The unextinguished crimson me rose up, and when the dense Full Body-Bind Curses came into contact with the me, it was like snow meeting in fire, instantly melted away! Lily did not care if they replied, Snape is just one of her biggest enemies, and his absence does not mean that she will turn a blind eye to the rest of Voldemort''s men. These people did not dare to kill her, but Lily dared to send deadly blows at them! "Bombarda!" This is almost certainly the most powerful and wide-range lethal spell among all magic spells that a normal wizard could perform. The first Death Eater did not use the Killing Curse and chose the Exploding Charm, hoping to harvest two lives with one spell. She was originally a Gryffindor genius during her school days at Hogwarts, and although she is from a Muggle upbringing, she was favoured by Slytherin''s Head Slughorn due to her exceptional magic talent. And in these years of exile, hatred and sessive shes with the Ministry of Magic, allowed her strength to increase at a rate beyond the imagination of ordinary people. The range and power of the Exploding Charm was far greater than the previous exploding charm, the st exploded amidst the crowd of Death Eaters! Numerous transparent light shields tinged by the light of fire turned into a zing golden red, the sound like ss being broken rang out, and more than a dozen death eaters who had been covered in shield charm were blown away! The Death Eaters began to quickly scatter, they raised their wands to deal with the crimson mes conjured by Dumbledore, while shooting spells back at Lily and Flitwick. Instantly, red and green light shone in this originally ck-and-white forest! Inside the wagon. When McGonagall and Jon were helping to support Slughorn into the wagon, Hagrid immediately pulled up the reins of the wagon horses, which had been stagnant for almost a day, once again began to run. After bringing Slughorn into the wagon''s hospital room, they all made their way back to the great hall. The old walrus is not in such a bad state, he has enough means to take care of his injuries as long as he remains conscious, and there is no need to keep someone to look after him. McGonagall did not forget that there might be someone from the enemy side lurking inside the wagon, and tonight''s attack carried out by the Death Eaters confirmed her previous suspicions. Hogwarts wagon''s movements arepletely devoid of any sort of pattern, and it would randomly appear anywhere, even Hagrid, who is driving, would not necessarily know ahead of time, where they are actually going this day, so it would not be possible to know its location unless someone had been delivering the route in real-time from inside the wagon! If thest night attack could be exined as coincidence and luck, then the second attack just three monthster, could never possibly be a coincidence. As a precaution, she once again gathered all the students together inside the great hall, where she personally stood guard. The happy mood the students originally had at Christmas turned to fear and dread at this moment, everyone huddled inside their sleeping bags, very few people fell asleep, but no one made a sound, only the asional sobs of a few timid girls rang out. After entering the great hall, Jon chose a position close to the door to sleep, Neville and the rest of them were confused by his behaviour, because the temperature near the door is the lowest in the whole hall, so no student chose to sleep there. But Jon did not give them much of an exnation, after burrowing into the sleeping bag distributed by Professor McGonagall, he kept his face towards the door side and waited quietly. The cold wind from the door crack blew the bangs in front of Jon''s forehead, his face felt a little numb, but he did not have the slightest intention of changing the ce to sleep peacefully. He felt that it might be possible that the purpose of those Death Eaters outside was not actually to hold or kill them, but rather it was to ensure that the wagon would be in the present state. The vast majority of the professors are not present, the students are gathered together, and the whole wagon could be described aspletely empty except for the great hall and the hospital room! ---------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 37: The little boots Chapter 37: The little boots "Da, da, da, da, da." A very soft, hard-to-notice sound was heard, but Jon, whose left ear was always pressed against the floor through his sleeping bag due to paranoia, could not help but tense his body at this sound. He knew what he had been expecting was here! The sound of tiny footsteps approached from afar, and the person walking in the corridor walked with seemingly cautious steps, not daring to move too fast, moving forward step by step in the corridor. Very soon, the sound reached Jon''s ears, he held his breath, and through the gap at the bottom of the wooden door, he saw a pair of worn-out small leather boots! The boots were not very big, obviously not something an adult could wear, but for the owner who was wearing them, it looked very fitting, as if the owner of the feet was just about the same age as Jon and the others! Jon froze for a second, but he didn''t have time to mull it over. He darted out of his sleeping bag and didn''t try to risk opening the door, and went straight to Professor McGonagall, who was keeping watch in the middle of the great hall. "There''s someone out there, Professor." Professor McGonagall''s face turned more serious than ever, and instead of expressing doubts about Jon''s im, she immediately stood up and walked quickly towards the great hall door and opened it! The moment she looked at the long corridor, a door happened to be closed gently. Professor McGonagall drew her wand, she didn''t turn around, and slowly closed the door to the great hall using her free hand behind her back. The light on the long corridor wasn''t exactly bright, but it was clear enough for her to notice that someone was indeed there just now! She walked to the location where the figure had disappeared, and there are several doors right next to each other, and Professor McGonagall wasn''t sure which room the person was hiding in, so she didn''t just blindly enter to search. Now Slughorn is injured, Filch''s battle power is not necessary to mention, and Hagrid must keep a close eye on the wagon in such a situation, the entire protective force inside the wagon is only her alone, so if the battle arises in the wagon, she can not possibly have more energy to ensure the safety of the students afterwards. Without the slightest hesitation, Professor McGonagall walked quickly to the end of the long corridor and reached the door of Dumbledore''s office, the door was not locked, so she pushed the door open directly, which was totally devoid of life, except for a phoenix with brightly coloured feathers standing on a golden perch that stared at McGonagall who pushed the door open. "Fawkes, you need to go to the za and get Moody, Kingsley and the gang over here soon!" Fawkes cocked his head, then he unfolded his crimson wings, and a golden ze of light enveloped his entire body, after which he disappeared from the office. The wagon was enchanted with the same Anti-Apparition Charm as Hogwarts Castle, and wizards can''t Apparate directly into the wagon; only the ability of the Phoenix can be used. During the wait, Professor McGonagall stood in the long corridor all the time, to make sure that no one hade out of any rooms. She didn''t have to wait that long before the exact same golden light that Fawkes used to leave illuminated the entire corridor, and the crimson birdnded with seven or eight people, ranging from old, physically crippled wizards to young, youthful, fashionable witches and tan-skinned wizards with stoic gazes, and so on. "What''s the situation, McGonagall?" Moody''s magic fake eye kept darting around, and as soon as he arrived at the wagon he began to scout the surrounding area. McGonagall took a deep breath and quickly exined the current situation. "We encountered Death Eaters, Dumbledore and the others are holding them back, Slughorn was seriously injured and lying in the hospital room, but now there is someone from enemies side lurking inside the wagon, and I have no extra energy to search the wagon since I have to look after the students, so I need your help!" Moody calmly drew his wand, and at his side, all seven male and female wizards who hade together from the za also put their wands up in front of their bodies. "Of course, when something happenedst time we were not able toe over due to being upied in Find because of that task given by Dumbledore, so this time we certainly won''t miss out on anything." "It''s been a long time since I returned, I really miss this ce." The sassy witch with pink bubblegum-like curly hair took a deep breath of air from the wagon with a look of enjoyment. The male wizard with gold earrings and dark skin cautioned from beside her. "Don''t think of this as a return visit to the school; you''ve been through a few things too, Tonks, so stay alert and be vignt." "Of course, I know that, it''s a shame Bill and the guys all stayed in Find and didn''te back, otherwise they''d be mouring toe along." The leader, Moody, red at them with his original eye. "Scatter! Stop this chitchat and check out all the rooms on the wagon immediately!" The Order of the Phoenix wizards skilfully began to split up into groups of two and began to check the rooms carefully, starting from the few rooms that McGonagall had pointed at them. *** Most of the students had already slipped into sleep, so they were not disturbed by this sudden development in the wagon, and Jon was still thinking about the pair of boots he had just seen through the crack in the door. McGonagall did not wake up the other young wizards, and when she returned she took Jon directly to a deserted corner of the great hall alone and asked in a solemn tone. "Green, tell me everything you saw." Jon did not hesitate to tell what he saw, along with all the spection he had just thought of. "I saw someone walk through the gap at the end of the door, Professor, and he didn''t seem like an adult wizard, as he wore small, worn boots unless he was someone with the same build as Professor Flitwick." McGonagall''s brow furrowed as she looked at the shoes on Jon''s feet. "Did those boots match the size of the shoes you are wearing?" Jon shook his head. "Almost as big as my shoes, but they seem to be a little smaller." His words caused Professor McGonagall to go and check the number of first and second years in the great hall first, and after making sure there weren''t any missing people, she fell into a moment of contemtion, and Jon who was beside her reminded her softly at that moment. "Professor, I think that person may not be a student, moreover, a person with such a size in the wizarding world may not need to be a wizard." McGonagall turned her head abruptly, her gaze fixed on Jon. "Tell me what you have in mind, Green." "From what I''ve read in the library, I know that there have been many rebellions of humanoid magical creatures in the Wizarding World before, Professor." Jon said calmly, "Like the goblin rebellion, the books said they are generally small and thin and will use a different type of magic than wizards. There are also house elves, a group of creatures that have always acted as servants of pureblood wizards, they are loyal to their lords and also know magic, but more importantly, they are also small in stature like goblins!" ---------------- #SHTC, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 38: Without a Trace Chapter 38: Without a Trace In fact, it is not difficult to associate the boots with goblins and house elves (even though they don''t wear one normally). The reason why McGonagall didn''t think about it in the first ce was that, under Voldemort''s rule, even muggle wizards had a very difficult time surviving, not to mention those humanoid magical creatures that had always been subject to discrimination even in the previous wizarding world. Although the Gringotts goblins were forced to submit to his rule under his strong might, and the majority of the vengeful goblins acted as if they would never defy him, nevertheless, there will always be some outliers in amunity who will think differently and will truly serve Voldemort wholeheartedly. Not to mention creatures like house elves, who from ancient times have always been the most oppressed magical creatures in the wizarding world by pureblood wizards, and also the most pathetic creatures who adore the rule of pureblood wizards. Voldemort''s men naturally have arge number of house elves who are willing to listen to their orders obediently. After all, it is undoubtedly more cost-effective and safer to let such magical creatures infiltrate the wagon than normal wizards, even if there is an ident, there is no real damage for Voldemort''s side. But likewise, this also involves an incredibly critical matter. Jon looked at McGonagall, who had abruptly risen from her chair at this point, and asked cautiously. "I also read in the book that the magic system of both goblins and house elves are different from that of wizards, so if they are really the one in the wagon, will they be able to bring in more people?" McGonagall understood what Jon was implying, and she shook her head firmly. "There will be no such possibility, in the beginning when weid down the enchantment on this wagon, Dumbledore has taken the magic of house elves and goblins into ount, he blocked this loophole, the only one who can enter and exit the whole wagon using magic at will is Dumbledore''s phoenix." Jon hesitantly continued to ask his concern. "Then the purpose of this infiltratoring to the wagon is ..." McGonagall didn''t answer his question and simply rubbed Jon''s hair. "You''ve done enough for today, son, leave the rest over to the grown-ups." Jon sensibly did not continue to ask more questions, even if McGonagall didn''t answer him, he still could probably guess the crux of it. He knows very well about what things he can participate in and what things he can not participate in. He said everything he had to say, so now he didn''t have to bother too much about the rest. After obtaining the important information from Jon here, McGonagall left the great hall once again and conveyed the information to Moody about the intruder most likely being a goblin or house elf. But strangely enough, Moody and their search did not yield any gains. The eight people were divided into four groups and quickly searched all the rooms that McGonagall had marked out, but they did not see even the shadow of a goblin or elf. Even Slughorn, who looked a little pale, walked out of the hospital room, his injuries had been treated briefly, so he was able to get out of bed, although he still had some trouble walking. "What''s going on?" Moody naturally knew him, after hearing about what happened on the wagon, the old walrus'' face, which was white because of blood loss, became even more pale. "I did hear the sound of a door opening and closing while I was lying in the sick bed as well." His voice was much fainter than usual, "At that time I thought it was Minerva who was outside." At his words, Moody frowned. "McGonagall said she saw the door closing, and you heard the sound of movement, and a student even saw the boots that person wearing, but why was this person not present in the wagon?" No one was able to answer his question, because no one else knew the answer at all. Not only the rooms that McGonagall pointed out, Moody and the others have even searched almost all the rooms in the whole wagon, but they still failed to find any clues. ording tomon sense, whether it is a wizard or a goblin or a house elf, as long as a creature has been lurking in the wagon, there is bound to be traces left behind, but not only they did not find the person, they did not even find a trace of such a being. This made things weird and bizarre. The anti-apparition charm on the wagon has already included the magic of goblins and elves, so they could not have left immediately after the mishap using magic. If Voldemort''s men really have such ability, then they directly would have used the infiltrated creature as a coordinate and brought arge number of Death Eaters or maybe Voldemort personally would''vee over while Hogwarts was defenceless, then everyone on the wagon simply wouldn''t have any chance of resistance! Now such a thing did not happen mean, that the matter has not reached the worst situation, but where exactly the infiltrator is hiding? Without any fruitful search, only Moody and the dark-skinned wizard Kingsley from the Order of the Phoenix were left behind to help McGonagall and Slughorn to look after the situation on the wagon, while the others returned to the za, they had a lot of things to do every day, and could not be held up here all night. Dumbledore, Flitwick and Lily returned to the wagon with Fawkes near the time of sunrise. With Dumbledore''s watchful eye, they were able to get rid of the Death Eaters without any injuries, although they were mentally exhausted. As soon as they returned to the wagon, Dumbledore went to his office and listened to McGonagall''s recounting all the events that had happened during his absence from the school. "This matter must have to be investigated, Albus, we have once again found that this is absolutely not a coincidence, the person who infiltrated the wagon constantly looking for opportunities to reveal information about the wagon''s whereabouts, we will always be in danger due to this!" McGonagall said with a stern face, she was rmed by today''s incident, they have experienced numerous dangerous situations during their seven years in exile, many wizards, including Neville''s mother, sacrificed for this school, but now they are facing a danger that is sufficient to wipe out all their previous efforts. Compared to her, Dumbledore''s face can still be described as calm, his fingers tapping the table, a hint of fatigue evident in his voice. "His ultimate goal is not to destroy us, and he certainly will not bother to do so before I die. What he really wants, you should be able to figure it out, Minerva." McGonagall pursed her ghastly white lips as her voice trembled softly. "Even so, we shouldn''t leave anything to chance! We have to find the person who infiltrated the wagon! We must find him/her!" Dumbledore interlocked his fingers together, he did not answer nor did he look at McGonagall. Instead, his gaze stared deep at the wall full of portraits on the opposite side office wall and the emblem of the lion, the eagle, the badger and the snake that had be taboo in the wizarding world. ---------------- #SHTC, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 39: The Five Stones Chapter 39: The Five Stones The atmosphere at Hogwarts after Christmas was somewhat subdued. Even if no one died in thest night''s attack, the frequency of two consecutive attacks in less than half a school year let every student''s heart fill with anxiety, because no one knows if there will be a third time in the future. Students who still have families to go to were sent home individually by Lily one by one after Christmas, and both Neville and Ron were the first-year students who left the wagon to spend a week with their families during this holiday break without sses. The original double dormitory is now left for Jon alone, but he didn''t feel lonely, spending most of his time alone in the dormitory reading, and only asionally going to themon room to rx with Lavender and Justin at their invitation. After Christmas night, Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall did not openly reward or praise him, which is also a kind of protection for him. After all, although the creature lurking in the wagon so far did not hurt anyone, but there is no way to guarantee that it won''t retaliate against Jon after learning that it was because of Jon that its trail and identity were discovered However, in private, McGonagall asked Jon to make a small not too excessive request as a reward, Jon did not think twice about it and asked for the right to borrow books from the restricted section of the library. The library on the wagon also has several shelves of restricted books, which are stocked with magical books that are dangerous to students, and no one can borrow them unless they have the professor''s approval. After some hesitation, McGonagall agreed to this request, but she added a precondition that all books borrowed by Jon from the restricted section should be additionally registered with her. He didn''t want to secretly study the dark magic in the restricted section, he just wanted to have ess to more magical knowledge, and he didn''t have any reason to refuse Professor McGonagall''s request which is purely aimed to ensure his well-being. On the third day after Christmas, Jon knocked on Slughorn''s office door early in the morning. After three days of recuperation, the burns on Slughorn''s back had almost healed, and for a master of potions like him, he had the means to save his own life as long as it wasn''t a kind of injury that would kill him instantly. The injuries caused by the exploding charm seem serious, but in fact, they are all superficial wounds, and there won''t even be any scars left after the potion takes effect. "You are spot on time." Slughorn, who was lying on a reclining chair and eating Crystallised Pineapple early in the morning, saw Jon walking in, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face. "Are you feeling better, teacher?" Jon asked while putting down a box of Bertie Bott''s Every vour Beans he had received at Christmas. Visiting the sick certainly required a gift, although the main purpose of this visit was not just for visiting a sick person. A box of Bertie Bott''s Every vour Beans was certainly nothing to Slughorn, but the smile on his face noticeably grew even wider. "I am not that delicate, Filius can teach charms ss even with a missing arm, and Moody can swing his wand on the battlefield even with a missing leg and an eye, so what is this injury to me." Slughorn did not say too much about these unnecessary things and went straight to the topic. "ording to our previously established schedule, today is the day that I officially will start to teach you about the way to cast spells with this ring, but you can not rx your learning on lumency either, at the moment you are still in the stage of building a wall around your mind, if someone really wants to invade your memory, it is easy to spot issues in it, and in this case, your situation may be more perilous due to your resistance." Jon nodded solemnly at this, even without Slughorn''s reminder, he would not have ended his study of lumency, this kind of magic is equivalent to the foundation of his life in the wizarding world. "That''s all I have to offer now, give me that ring." Jon took off a pendant from his neck, the sapphire ring was tied to this pendant, otherwise, it would be too attention-grabbing for a child who had no contact with the outside world since he came to Hogwarts at the age of 11 to have a gemstone ring on his hand for no reason. Slughorn took the ring from his hand and pointed the diamond-shaped sapphire that is embedded in the ring''s surface at the sunlight. "As I told you before, you can use this ring as another type of wand altogether. See this blue stone? It equals to the wand core of the wand." "Just like the legendary Philosopher''s stone of Nics mel, this sapphire is also a man-made alchemical stone, and its exact method of production is only known to my dead friend, but I can be sure that, unlike the wand, this ring has more than one wand core." He spoke while pointing at both sides of the sapphire ring to Jon, and each side had two other diamond-shaped slots the same size as the centre stone. "When I got this ring from him, this was the only stone left on it, and he didn''t tell me the whereabouts of the four remaining stones in thest remaining hours of his life, but I learned in his magic notes that one of them was hidden by him at Hogwarts." Jon blinked. "Hogwarts?" "Yes, but not this wagon we are in now, but the Hogwarts castle that has been taken over by them. Before the Dark Lordpletely seized hold of the wizardingmunity, Adrien used to be a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts for a year in the past, but he had an ident at the end of the semester and didn''t continue teaching after that, however, he left part of his research in that castle." Slughorn gave Jon a deep look. "In the future, if you have the opportunity, you must try your best to get that stone back, and the same goes for the remaining three unknown stones, all of them are very important to you." Jon stared at the blue stone on the ring and asked hesitantly. "And what exactly is the use of these stones on the ring?" "You can think of each stone as a spellcasting device." Slughorn said seriously: "Wizards require a very high level of ''will'' to cast spells on their own, even if you meet the conditions to learn this way of casting spells, it does not mean that you can cast any magic without care. Because magic is active in you, the ''will'' that is needed will also constantly have an effect on yourself, so it will interfere with the release of other spells, because of this one can only cast one spell at a time. The gem on the ring was designed to help you share this kind of pressure by keeping the ''will'' of casting spells on itself so that you can cast spells without being held back by any of the magic used on yourself." "Simply put, for each stone, you can learn a type of magic that will change your inner magic. And in theory, the number of magic one can handle with this is five." ---------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 40: Strong will drive the success of magic Chapter 40: Strong ''will'' drive the sess of magic "First, you need to determine the first spell you are nning to use on your body." Slughorn gestured for Jon to pick up his own wand. "In this first half of the school year, Filius should have taught you two or three spells already, which one do you feel that you are mostfortable and proficient in using?" Jon hesitated for a moment and then said. "Well, the first spell I learned was Levitation Charm, so I am most proficient in using it." "Then choose the Levitation Charm." Slughorn helped Jon who looked uncertain about the choice, "You just started to learn, you should not choose a tooplicated spell to cast using the ring, levitation charm is just right, it is the first spell that almost all wizards learn when they began to control their magic, simple to learn, and the effect is very practical." In this regard, Jon certainly has no objection, he so far can only use a total of four spells proficiently, Levitation Charm, Wand-Lighting Charm, Repairing Charm and Dancing Feet Spell. The first three spells were learned in the Charms ss, the Dancing Feet Spell - Tarantallegra was self-taught after school hours when he fumbled on this spell in the library. Apart from the Levitation Charm, Jon could not think of what effect the other three spells would have if they worked directly on him. Will Wand-Lighting Charm would turn him into a glowing man who glows brightly all the time? Would the Mending Charm (repairing charm) mend his mutted body when he got injured? Or would the Dancing Feet Spell enable him to dance superbly? Except for the middle one, which sounded a bit reliable, what would be the lethality of the other two spells if they really worked like that, besides making his enemies dieughing when he uses them? From all these options the levitation charm is the only spell that seems practical for now. This charm can make objects float and fly by reducing weight, the more proficient the user is in casting the charm, the more heavy objects they can propel. If this charm can be used on the wizard themselves, then they can have the ability to fly without any external force, no? When he thought of this Jon''s eyes could not help but be excited, but Slughorn who clearly discerned his thoughts at this time, sshed a pot of cold water on him before he could daydream. "Do not treat this so simply, the ring can only help you change the way you cast spells, it cannot change the power of your magic spell, if your levitation charm itself is not mastered in depth, then you will not be able to aplish what you anticipated." But Jon was not discouraged by what he said, the opportunity is now before him, and what kind of proficiency he can achieveter on will only depend on himself. "First, cast the levitation charm once, let me see how well you have learned this spell." After hearing Slughorn''s words, Jon pointed his wand at a book on the desk in front of him and proceeded to recite the incantation. "Wingardium Leviosa." In the next second, the book was elevated as if lifted by an inexplicable force and rose abruptly into the air. Then Jon controlled it to move around. Slughorn was satisfied with the effect of Jon''s levitation charm. "Very good, even in the fourth year, you can''t find a student who can use and control levitation charm to your level." Jon looked at Slughorn with an expectant gaze. "Then is this level enough?" Instead of answering his question, Slughorn directly handed the ring to Jon and said with a smile. "Put the ring on your body, whether it''s around your neck or on your hand, then try it out." "No need to wield the wand, just recite the incantation as usual, but in your head think of making yourself fly instead of some kind of object, which is only a target recement, you should be able to do it." Jon asked with some incredulity. "Is it that simple?" "Simple?" Slughorn smiled, "Just try it once before you ask." Jon wore the ring around his neck again, and he resisted the urge to pick up his wand and wave it, which is a habit he has developed, after a few seconds, he just simply recited the incantation. "Wingardium Leviosa." He could clearly feel the magic power in his body being mobilized, but that power was extremely minuscule, much weaker than when casting spells with a wand. Unlike any other previous spells he had used, where his magic power would flow through his wand to affect the real world, it flowed directly to the ring he wore around his neck, and then quickly returned to his body. At that moment, Jon felt as if he was a little different from a second ago, but on the surface, he hadn''t changed at all. "Do you feel anything?" Slughorn inquired. Jon did not immediately answer, instead, he hesitantly raised his arm, then jumped in ce a few times, before saying hesitantly. "I have a feeling that my body seems to have be a little lighter? But the change is too minimal to quite feel the difference between before and after." The smile on Slughorn''s face froze, he restrained his expression and looked at Jon with a serious face from head to toe. "Are you sure you sensed it urately?" Jon could not give an urate answer because there was no way to know whether that subtle change was real or just a misconception on his part. But Slughorn apparently had the means to determine the change in his body at the moment, he nudged his wand on Jon''s shoulders and arms and felt the magic power that had been blended into his limbs, which was quite different from normal, and a look of amazement appeared on his face. "It''s subtle, not easy to notice, but there is indeed a change, it''s incredible, Jon, it''s really incredible!" Jon had some difficulty understanding his behaviour. "What''s wrong with that? Professor." Slughorn snapped out of that moment ofpse of concentration, and he seriously exined to Jon. "I once exined to you, for any magic, magic power and ''will'' are the fundamentals, the incantation and wand are only auxiliary, but if there is no auxiliary, then even if the necessary conditions are met, casting spells will be extremely difficult. You should have been taught by Filius in the ss in which you learned the levitation charm about the mistake of a wizard who once summoned a cow because he mispronounced a syble of the levitation charm, and this is just a typical example." "You are now changing the way you cast spells, it would be equivalent to overturning the magic spell system with the wand, although the magic spell itself still would not change, the previous incantation of the levitation charm will not be applicable to you; normally speaking, if you use the same set of incantation pronunciation as wand casting system, it should not have produced any effect at all. Magic change on yourself will not be the same as the outside world change, because of syble errors the effect of the entire spell will be changed. The incantation to cast the spell on yourself will need to be altered, the usual incantation shouldn''t have an effect on you." Jon understood Slughorn''s point, he recited the incantation in ordance with the way of wand casting was simply wrong, even though the wrong pronunciation of incantations when casting spells on ourselves would not result in levitation charm turning into summoning cow magic, but it also would not produce any effect at all. But now his otherwise wrong incantation happened to be effective, although the effect was very minimal, from nothing to something is a very big leap. "Then why did this happen?" Jon asked, a little puzzled. "The auxiliary means was wrong, but the magic that should have failed seeded, then the reason for that could only be magic power and ''will''." Slughorn looked at him seriously, "Your magic power is normal, no different from other 11-year-olds, so the only exnation would be the strong ''will'' fuelling the sess of the magic." ---------------- #Book Two, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 41: Combination Experiments Chapter 41: Combination Experiments ''Will'' is something that you cannot specifically measure. In the wizarding world, to cast any spell, ''will'' or what you might call intent and emotion is necessary, and it is considered to be as significant as magic power in the process of casting a spell. Just like the 3 D''s of Apparition Charm -- Destination (target), Determination (resolve), and Deliberation (unhurried), all of these are actually the manifestation of will (intent). The biggest difference between people is the gap in their mentalities. People who think that they can aplish something absolutely have very different levels of determination than others. In magic, this is reflected in a very straightforward way. For example, in the case of the same spell, the strength of the ''will'' would determine the power of that spell if the magic power, pronunciation and precision of wielding the wand are identical to one another. Of course, other factors will also produce a difference, but it absolutely won''t be as obvious to everyone as Will (intent). Just as it was mentioned in the original story, the real dark wizards with dark hearts will never be able to learn the Patronus Charm, because there is no way for them to structure any good intention that is enough to cast that spell in their minds, so even if all other factors are present, they will not be able to learn this spell because of their mentality. ording to Slughorn, Jon''s ''will'' is far stronger than that of a normal wizard. This is the reason why he could forcibly use the levitation charm that was supposed to fail. But even if such a weak effect can be produced, it is simply useless, and the next thing Jon needs to do is to keep trying to find the right way to pronounce the incantation. Because there is no previous precedent, there are no already countless times attempted the most urate pronunciation for him to learn directly. In this regard, even Slughorn can not help him, Jon can only rely on himself little by little with the exhaustive method to figure out. The workload is actually not small, although it is just a single spell, the levitation charm has a total of eight notes, ording to the short and long sound, there are nearly thousands of differentbinations of high and low pitches, but if he devotes the rest of the week or so of holiday in it, he can basically get a rough pronunciation of incantation. But before he officially began, he first went to Professor McGonagall''s office and asked the Transfiguration professor a favour to transfigure up a weight scale for him. Because his powerful ''will'' assisted him to make even the wrong incantation work, he needed a more preciseparison to find out the difference. In the following two days, Jon waspletely cooped up in his dorm room, he prepared arge stack of parchment and started by changing the sybles of the first note of the spell, constantly changing the tone, the sound length, and then getting on the scale to observe the changes produced in his body. Most mispronunciations of the incantations produced a barely detectable change, but you can detect it by the value visually reflected on the scale, which showed that Jon''s weight was 500 grams to 1000 grams lighter than before the spell was cast. This effect is certainly very unsatisfactory, will not provide him with even a little help, let alone make him fly in the air as he had previously expected it would, under the influence of the levitation charm. This attempt went on until Neville and Ron returned to the wagon at the end of the holiday. When Neville returned to his dorm room, he noticed that Jon had been chanting the incorrect levitation charm incantation over and over again all day, and then getting on the scale to measure his weight like a madman. "What''s wrong with you? Weren''t you the first of us to learn the levitation charm? Why cannot you even recite the incantation now? And even if it''s just a practice, you should be holding a wand, no?" Neville looked at Jon worriedly, with a face full of doubt that he was under some kind of evil spell. Jon did not expect that he would be able to hide the matter of practising the levitation charm, of course, he would not mention the ring and the spell-casting method, and Slughorn also taught him the lumency magic specifically to conceal this matter. But as long as he exins to Neville that this is something that the professor taught him without exining much, with Neville''s current emotional intelligence, he will wisely refrain from asking further questions. "Two kilograms, this is the most weight loss so far, but it is certainly still not much." Staring at the scale on the weight scale, Jon shook his head in disappointment and once again marked one of the pronouncedbinations on the parchment with a wrong symbol, and then added the reduced weight. After observing him do so many experiments, Neville can already see what he really wants to achieve at this point, and he cannot refrain from throwing ament. "I think the reason why you got that result is that you just went to thevatory, there is actually no difference at all." Thinking about hisment for a moment, Jon nodded his head, picked up the quill again and crossed out the weight marked next to the pronunciationbination, and wrote a value ording to the estimated amount of excretion he had just defecated. "But can you really seed in such an attempt?" Neville couldn''t help but say, "Don''t you remember what Professor Flitwick said when we started to learn the levitation charm, this charm can''t possibly affect the wizard due to the resistance from magic in our body, otherwise, there would be no such thing as a flying broom." Jon did not answer his question directly, but simply shrugged his shoulders and said. "I''ll give it a try." With that, he stared at the next set of incantation pronunciations written in advance on the parchment. "Well, this time let''s shorten the first three notes ''wing'', ''gar'' and ''dee''; then lengthen the remaining five notes ''um'', ''leh'', ''vee'', ''oh'', and ''sa'' to try." Neville simply sat on the edge of the bed and watched as Jon stood up and began to recite the incantation, still unable to resist muttering under his breath. "Good, the pronunciation of levitation charm incantation is correct this time, even though it is exactly the other way around ( in the original Hermione taught Ron the correct pronunciation: wing-GAR-dee-um Leh-vee-OH-so), it would be strange if it would work." Just as his words trailed off, Jon had pronounced the Incantation of the spell with unparalleled rity. "wing--gar--dee--um--leh--vee--oh--sa!" The moment the incantation was pronounced, Jon perceived something special this time. Magic had never been so visibly mobilized as when he was casting spells with his wand normally! Without the wand as an outlet, the magic power moved from his body to the ring and then once again returned to his body after a transit. The sudden feeling of lightness in his body almost made Jon stumble and lose his bnce and fall to the ground, but fortunately, he held on to the desk immediately to regain his footing. Neville also noticed Jon''s abnormality, but at first, he did not think it was due to the sess of Jon''s experiment but looked at him suspiciously. "You''re not faking it, right?" Jon''s face showed an iparable look of excitement, he did not speak and directly gave the answer to Neville with actual actions. With one hand propped up on the desk, he jumped upward with all his strength from his original spot. "Boom!" In the next second, his head hit the three-meter-high ceiling of the wagon solidly. ---------------- #Book Two, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 42: Flight Chapter 42: Flight Neville did not know how a normal 11-year-old boy jumped this high. But he is sure of one thing, as long as this boy is a normal person, even if he had a spring under his feet, it is impossible for a boy to jump a few feet high. Unless the boy is a giant baby, then even if he is only 11 years old his height would already exceed two meters. But it is unlikely that Jon has giant blood, yet he just jumped up to that height, enough to meet eye to eye with Hagrid, the tallest in Hogwarts, and the ceiling of the wagon obviously restricted his ability to exert his full capability, otherwise, three meter is certainly not his limit. And before he aplished this feat, he had recited an outrageously mispronounced levitation charm! "How did you do that?" Neville looked dumbfounded at Jon who had fallen to the ground, whose face flushed with excitement as he rubbed his head in pain,pletely unable to figure out how this kind of thing that defied the magic system was done; Jon obviously used an incorrect incantation of a levitation charm. Jon clearly misjudged the buff effect of the levitation charm on his body, after it took effect, he could feel his body roughly about half of his previous weight, originally he thought that even if he jumped up harder, it was impossible to jump to a height of three meters, but three meters are obviously not enough. Roughly judging by the fact that his head was knocked dizzy, Jon felt that if there was no ceiling to restrict, he could at least jump to more than four meters, or even a little more if he worked on his strength and muscle power, if he exercised more usually, more than five meters would not be out of the question. What this implies, Jon himself knows very well. His height is about one and a half meters, and the ceiling of the wagon is over three meters and twenty centimetres, which means the height he has just taken off the ground is more than one and a half meters. And the world record for the standing high jump was only one meter eighty-three in his previous life! If there is no ceiling to confine; when his body develops and grows; if he usually exercises more, Jon is confident enough to jump more than double this height. A single leap from the ground to reach more than three meters high has far exceeded the natural limits of human physiology. And he could clearly feel that the benefits brought to him by the levitation charm certainly not only reflected in the standing high jump above, as long as he became more familiar with this feeling now, he certainly would also be able to run faster and be more responsive in his movements. In the wizarding world where the majority of magic used in a battle focused on firing skills, possessing such dexterity that surpasses that of ordinary people is simr to using a cheat code when ying online games- ''Modding''. Jon, who was incredibly happy, didn''t forget to answer Neville''s question. "Just like what you saw earlier, reciting the incantation, and then a jump." He was of course joking, but the honest Neville apparently took it seriously, he raised his wand with an unfathomable expression and also used the levitation charm ording to the same kind of pronunciation as Jon. In the end, there was no effect like what happened on Jon''s end, other than the incorrect incantation putting his holiday homework on fire. After scrambling to put out the fire, Neville actually thought his wand was the problem, he ced his wand aside and recited the incantation once again, his clumsy movements wereparable to a dumb hippo that was trying to escape and ended up jumping in the same ce with uncoordinated limbs. "How the hell did you do that?" After two failed attempts, Neville once again looked at Jon with incredulity. This time Jon did not lie to him further and said seriously. "I told you before, Professor Slughorn taught me something quite different, something that has a high learning threshold, it''s not that I don''t want to tell you Neville, but I promised my teacher that I won''t tell anyone about this." Neville could understand Jon''s statement, the Longbottom family is an ancient wizard family with a historical heritage, and he knew that although wizards are mostly taught about magic in the academy, some spells are still passed on privately between master and disciple or father and son. At the same time without Jon asking him, he took the initiative to say that he would keep this matter a secret and would not talk about it to anyone. After spending half of the school year together, Jon certainly believed in Neville''s character. Besides, even if he said it out, it''s nothing, since he learned this kind of magic he is bound to use it in the future, so sooner orter others will know. The great physical change did not stop Jon from checking his weight on the scale. When he measured his weight this time, he was half as weight, as usual, roughly 16 kg. He was unable to calcte the specific digital measurement for the time being; nevertheless, even if his weight was reduced by half, there was no change in his body functions, and even after his bouncing ability and speed enhanced, there was no exaggerated change in his body. Perhaps when he jumped upward, the levitation charm itself provided him with an upward force, allowing him to jump higher with greater ease. But soon Jon pushed the excitement down and resisted the urge to run to Slughorn''s office to inform him of his sess, and sat back down at his desk to work on the next syblebination. Neville was very puzzled by his actions. "Haven''t you already managed to figure it out? What else do you want?" Jon shook his head as he said in a serious voice. "I think, this syblebination has only demonstrated its most significant effect so far, before I can try out all the other possiblebinations, I can''t definitely say that it is the most suitable one, and just this level is not enough to meet my initial expectation." "What was your initial expectation?" Jon said without looking up while writing the next syblebination on the parchment with a quill. "The normal effect of the levitation charm is what I am expecting." Neville didn''t initially react much to his words, and only after some careful thought, his eyes widened. "You still want to float!" "The point of the levitation charm is to levitate from the ground, right?" Jon said and started the next incantation attempt again. Even though he had already seen the effect of Jon''s levitation charm sessfully exerted on his body once, Neville still found it difficult to ept Jon''s "fantasy". After all, even in this world of magic, what Jon had done was like the magic of magic. However, he did not say anything further, he got pped in the face once before, so Neville would not be stupid enough to stick his face out for a second hit. In the face of Jon, who could not be any longer seen with conventional eyes, he chose to keep his reservations and observe for now, in case one day when he returned to the dormitory he really saw Jon floating in the air. For the next three days, Jon never left his dorm room except for eating, constantly trying various syblebinations of levitation charm pronunciation, but he did not find another syblebination that could surpass the one from before so far. Just when he was about to continue his stay in his room until the end of the Christmas holidays, Ron, Justin and the gang eagerly knocked on Jon''s dormitory door. ------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 43: The Spy Helping the Infiltrator Chapter 43: The Spy Helping the Infiltrator "We are here because you have been in your dorm room for almost two weeks now, and we have something important to tell you, Jon! It''s a matter of life and death for Hogwarts!" Ron''s face was grave, and his tone was very serious as if he wanted to attract the attention of Jon, who was ticking on a piece of parchment filled with incantations. When Jon heard his rming words, the movement of the quill in his hand obviously paused for a bit, then he stared at Ron, without pressing him to ask what kind of big issue would actually be so serious, and said. "If such a huge issue is going on, you guys should go to the professor, what''s the point ofing to me in a panic?" Ron and Justin looked at each other, neither of them had expected Jon''s reaction to be so t before they came. "Because the Professors should all know about this already, and I only found out what actually happened at school when I overheard Dad talking to the guests who came to the house while I was at home!" Ron''s voice was lowered and at the same time, he carefully turned his head from side to side to check, only to be startled by the sudden arrival of Neville with a stack of books in his arms. "Why didn''t you knock when you came in!" Ron eximed, with a huge gasp. Neville looked innocent. "This is my own dormitory, do I have to knock when Ie in?" Since the other day, when he used the incorrect levitation charm to burn his holiday homework, Neville spent thest few days in the library to catch up on his homework, and Jon, who was verifying thebination of incantations in his dormitory, just happened to not disturb each other. But also because of this, there was not much opportunity to contact Ron and the gang, so obviously he did not know about the matter of life and death of Hogwarts that Ron was talking about. "The person who came to my house as a guest over the holidays was Kingsley Shacklebolt, who used to be an elite Auror in the Ministry of Magic before that man took power, and who is now one of the top fighters in the Order of the Phoenix. He and my father were chatting in the study about some top-secret information on the two attacks at Hogwartsst semester, which I managed to overhear at the door ..." Neville interrupted with a frown. "Any discussion about what goes on in the Order of the Phoenix is meant to be strictly confidential, and you shouldn''t have gone to eavesdrop ore back to school to tell us about it." Ron waved his hand in annoyance. "The thing is, they were talking about something rted to the school, don''t you want to know why the school was attacked twice in a row?" "Professor McGonagall told usst time that someone had infiltrated the wagon ..." "And do you know who that someone is?" Even though Neville''s mind is more mature than others of his age, after all, he is only 11 years old, so little by little, his curiosity was hooked by Ron''s words. "Who is it?" "A goblin or house elf!" Ron said excitedly, "Kingsley said that a student saw the shoes of the infiltrator the night we were attacked on Christmas Day. I can''t believe this! Why didn''t the professors tell us about this or mention who that student might be?" Jon who was silently listening without saying anything on the side, in fact, almost guessed what the "shocking secret" Ron had overheard was from the very beginning, and this matter was not announced by Professor McGonagall and the others in order to protect him, but it turned out that Ron had actually heard some inside information at home. "But that night Kingsley and others from the Order of the Phoenix did not find the infiltrator in the wagon, and even now it is unknown whether the creature is a goblin or a house elf, and it is still hiding in the school!" Neville''s face revealed a look of total shock, which satisfied Ron''s desire to show off, but it''s just a pity that Jon still remains calm like ake, which made him feel good but not yet that good. "Don''t you think this whole matter is dangerous, Jon? A magical creature that has defected to the Ministry of Magic, is hiding near us at this very moment!" Ron thought Jon had not yet recognized the gravity of the matter and said hurriedly. "If there is danger, we still have the Professors. They must know about it, yet they still haven''t gathered us together, which means things haven''t reached the point where the life and death of Hogwarts might be at stake as you said." Jon said with both hands spread. Looking at him like this, Ron could only bite the bullet and choose to present his killer move. He lowered his voice and moved his body a little closer. "The professors did not realize the danger, it is likely that they have subconsciously decided to trust everyone in the wagon, even if that infiltrator can hide, but the whole wagon is only so big, where can he hide enough to ensure that he will not be noticed?" Jon frowned slightly. "What are you trying to say?" Seeing that he finally seemed to have raised his interest, a smug smile suddenly appeared on Ron''s face. "Someone at the school must be aiding him to hide! Only this can exin why even with so many Aurors searching at that time, he was not found!" Honestly, this analysis of Ron is not without a point, it can even be totally justified, so Jon''s face can''t help but also turn serious. "You know the person who aided him at the school?" "Of course, I can guess who this person is." The expression on his face became even more smug, and he deliberately whetted Jon''s appetite as he continued the discussion, "It''s just that the Professors have always believed that the adults on the wagon are reliable and trustworthy." "Come on, Ron, tell us, who is this guy?" Justin pleaded impatiently. Ron spoke with absolute certainty, "That person MUST be Filch!" Jon: "..." Well, he was pretty dumb to actually think that Ron maybe could actually spot some key clue at the start. This guy simply throws his hat into the ring of whoever he hates deep in his heart. Looking at the pair of dead fish eyes that Jon showed when he stated the answer, Ron obviously felt his distrust and anxiously continued. "Don''t you believe it, haven''t you noticed that Filch has been acting very odd?" Jon was still looking at him with nk eyes. "What''s odd?" "It''s been two attacks, and we haven''t seen him fighting alongside the professors even once! I''ve also heard from Fred and George that they both haven''t even seen Filch pull out his wand in all their time at Hogwarts!" "So what''s wrong with that?" "It shows that he simply doesn''t want to go against the Ministry of Magic or against that man''s men! He must have always wanted to wash himself clean off the wanted list and get back to being the castle''s caretaker of that castle again, instead of scraping the bottom of the barrel under Dumbledore. Now by helping the infiltrator in the wagon, there is no doubt that he will be able to get an opportunity to wash off his name on the Ministry of Magic''s wanted list!" Ron''s analysis is indeed very usible and there is enough reason to justify his motive, even Neville was a bit convinced by him. Only Jon covered his forehead in pain. If you want to say that he is stupid, he can actually notice all these details. If you want to say he is smart, why can''t he think that the reason Filch had no wand and couldn''t fight was actually that he is a squib who couldn''t do magic? ------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! ----- From tomorrow there will be 2 chapters a day Chapter 44: Youre a Squib Chapter 44: You''re a Squib "This conclusion of yours isn''t too arbitrary." Jon did not directly say Ron''s reasoning is wrong, his reasoning logically did not have many issues, it''s just there are some inconsistencies in the final conclusion. "There are many reasons for not being able to use magic, I would say that the possibility of Filch being undercover is very small, while the possibility of him actually not being able to use magic at all is greater." "How is that possible!" Ron raised his voice, "How could there be someone who couldn''t use magic in a magic school, the muggles can''t even see our wagon, let alonee up here." Jon stared at him. "Who said only muggles couldn''t use magic?" Ron did not figure out what Jon was referring to at first and spoke subconsciously. "In addition to muggles, there are only wizards, and as long as they are wizards, how can they fail to learn magic? " On the other hand, Neville caught Jon''s implication. "Jon implies that Filch is likely to be a Squib. " Ron froze at once. "He''s a Squib? " Justin, meanwhile, looked confused. "What''s Squib? " Neville exined to him, "Squib is a person who has magic present in his/her body but has no way to learn and use magic, these people usually lived in the magicmunity before, they know about the existence of magic and wizards, but they are not much epted by wizards. " "If Filch is a Squib, then he can never be a spy of the Ministry of Magic because ording to the current magicalws of the Ministry of Magic, Squibs are not qualified to live in the magicalmunity. Once discovered, regardless of whether they are purebloods or half-bloods, they will be wiped of all memories about the magical world and thrown into muggle society left to fend for themselves. " "And I heard that most of these people be homeless in the muggle society; they do not have the knowledge and skills of muggles, they also lost the memory of the magic world nor can they use magic, and many even forget who they really are, where theye from, for what purpose they live in this world, and live every day as the walking dead." "With all the current policies and discrimination that the Ministry of Magic imposes on Squibs, if Filch is really a Squib, then there is absolutely no possibility for him to be a Ministry of Magic''s spy unless he has been under the Imperius Curse." After this detailed exnation from Neville, Justin finally understood why a squib would not work as a spy for the Ministry of Magic. But the matter of Filch being a squib also stems from the same basis as Ron''s spection of Filch being a spy, from the fact that he had never used magic in school. Ron would naturally be more willing to believe his own spection, even though it seems that the squib theory actually makes more sense now. Looking at how his eyes shone with the gleam of ''I just want to make it big a deal'', Jon couldn''t help but say helplessly. "Spection is spection, if you really think Filch is a spy, you should tell Professor McGonagall and the others about this suspicion, but don''t mess around by yourself." Ron brushed it off. "Professors wouldn''t believe me, they all think Filch is apetent caretaker." From the original story, you can tell, that both Ron and Harry are troublemakers, now although Harry is gone, Ron''s character has not undergone a huge transformation like Neville, his mind is restless, always trying to make something huge to attract attention of others. Jon is not a kind person who wants to stop Ron from getting into trouble, but he knows very well, that with the current situation at Hogwarts if there is any big disruption caused due to this trivial matter, it will put too much pressure on the hearts of the students. So in order to keep Ron from getting screwed up and ending up dragging down a wagonload of people, he opened his mouth and proposed. "In fact, the issue now is very simple, you suspect that Filch is a spy of the Ministry of Magic, but if he is a squib, then the reason why he has not been using magic can be exined, and ''spy'' will simply be pure nonsense. So if we can just verify whether he''s a squib or not, then the problem will be solved." Ron blinked. "The point is how can we prove that Filch is a Squib?" "That''s very simple, follow me." Jon put down the parchment in his hand and led three of them, Ron, Neville and Justin, out of the dormitory and headed straight towards Filch''s office. When he noticed where he was heading, Ron''s face showed excitement. "Are you going to duel with Filch? Yes! If you force him to fight now, we can find out whether he doesn''t know magic or doesn''t want to use it at all!" A concerned expression appeared on Neville''s face, he felt that Jon is not supposed to be this impulsive. But no matter what they thought, Jon had arrived at the door of Filch''s office and knocked on the door. After they stepped in, the caretaker with the fish-like eyes looked at them with an unfriendly expression. "What do you all want from me?" Ron''s face showed anticipation, and he began to fantasize that in the next moment Jon would draw his wand and challenge Filch, the old geezer, to a duel. Neville looked like he wanted to stop Jon, but he knew very well that Jon would not change what he had decided easily with his character. Justin was eagerly watching the show, he felt very interested in the wizard duel. However, Jon''s next words caused everyone''s jaw to drop. "You are a Squib, right? Filch." Jon''s straightforward words plunged the entire office into an eerie silence. The three of them looked at him with jaws dropped, while Filch also looked stunned, as if he had been struck by a Full Body-Bind Curse and remained still in ce. But although his body did not move, Filch''s old face became pale with the speed visible to the naked eye. The firece in the office is very warm, but they still need to wear a jumper to reach the mostfortable body temperature, yet at this moment, Filch who only wore a thin shirt was secreting fine beads of sweat on his forehead, it looked like he was suffering under 40 degrees heat of the sun. He opened his dry lips, his throat produced a strange "ho ho ho" sound, whichsted for close to two or three minutes before he screamed in an almost hysterical voice. "What are you talking about! Who is Squib! Are you attempting to defame me and make me lose my authority as a caretaker so that you can fulfil your fantasy ofwlessness in school! I tell you! Dream on! I''ll punish you! I''m going to put you in detention! For one semester! For defaming the faculty! Let the whole school see what will happen to those who do that!" In the face of Filch''s exasperation, Jon''s face remained calm. "You wouldn''t be able to do that, because Professor McGonagall won''t even approve this penalty of yours. There is indeed a rule in the school rules that forbids defaming faculty members, but I''m telling the truth, and Professor McGonagall absolutely won''t do something against the school rules. And if ites to that, then the whole school will know that you are truly a Squib." Filch looked at Jon with eyes that seemed like they were about to burst out, the panic and fear that threatened to overflow in his eyes could not be hidden at all, and even Ron and Justin both could clearly see that he was panicking. ------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 45: Filch Chapter 45: Filch "They all look down on Squibs!" Filch''s voice was hoarse and carried a torrent of unbridled venting. "They all think people like me don''t deserve to live in the wizarding world at all... Yeah! How can someone who can''t even use a single spell and is not even qualified to hold a wand worthy of being called a wizard! Squib! Squib! Squibs are useless! Rubbish! That''s what everyone thinks! Everyone!" As if feeling sorry for Filch at this point right now, Neville spokefortingly. "But the Professors at Hogwarts don''t think so." "That''s just for the sake of Dumbledore''s presence!" He yelled, "I know they all actually despise me! Lily Potter never initiated a conversation with me! McGonagall hasn''t treated me well for twenty years! Slughorn even tried to degrade me the night Hogwarts was attacked for the first time this year, I was locked up all alone in my office and scared to death! And he did not take me out until veryte! " Jon listened to his "usations" and felt that Lily and McGonagall were treating him this way because of his attitude towards the students, not because of him being a squib, as for Slughorn. He has always been like this towards people who don''t excel, and he certainly won''t take the initiative to dishonour others. That is why Jon became more curious about thest thing he said. "You were locked up that night? Who did that? The man who sneaked into the wagon? " "Does anyone know that I can''t use magic and can''t cast an unlocking charm? If that person really thought I was in the way, he would not just lock the door secretly! It must be Slughorn! He knew I am a Squib, and have no way to open the locked room without keys, so he locked me in the office to embarrass me! " Filch screamed as if he was certain of this and would not listen to any exnation offered by anyone else. All Jon could do was appease him. "Don''t be upset, Filch, we''re not looking down on you for being a squib, and we''re not going to tell anyone about this, we only came over to ask you because we suspected there is something wrong with you for not using magic all this time." "There is something wrong? "Filch''s eyes bulged, just because he isn''t a capable person doesn''t mean he''s a fool, "You guys thought that I would harm Hogwarts? Am I crazy? No, it''s you guys who are crazy! " Ron sheepishly turned his head, he also did not expect that Filch would expose being squib after Jon just said a couple of words, and now, of course, the matter of Filch being a spy is no longer sustainable. "Now that we''re sure you''re really a squib, there''s certainly no such suspicion, and I''m sorry to have bothered you today." Jon said in a voice tinged with an apology, he really didn''t have much prejudice against squibs personally, but he also felt that this caretaker had a terrible personality. "Do you mean what you just said?" Filch stared at Jon, he obviously noticed that among these 4 people, this boy is the core of them, "Don''t tell anyone else." Jon shrugged, "It''s your privacy, we''ll keep it a secret if you feel we should." "Ah, thanks. Thanks, boys." He thanked dryly, obviously not very skilled at saying such a word. Jon and the three of them left the office, and on the long corridor, Ron hung his head and said. "I never expected him to actually be a squib..." but as if he was still a bit unconvinced, he re-spected to support his thoughts, "but these are his own words, maybe he actually tried to use the whole squib thing to cover up the suspicion?" He was pushing this guess a little too hard, and this time even Justin thought Ron was baselessly making a wild guess, and just then a burly figure happened to be walking head-on toward them. "Hey, Hagrid." Jon greeted Hagrid, who was looking for something in the corridor. Seeing Jon and the group, Hagrid''s face broke into a smile. "Good morning, Jon." "You''re looking for Beech again?" "Yes, he''s not very obedient these days and likes to run around the wagon all the time, I''m afraid he''ll steal something indiscriminately, so I came in to look for him." Hagrid said with a sad face, "Have you seen him?" Jon shook his head. "No, if I had seen him, I would have caught him and sent him to you. By the way, we happen to have one thing to ask you." To let Ron''s suspicionpletely die, Jon opened his mouth and asked, "Do you know why Filch has not been using magic? We''re curious about that." Beside him, Neville and the guys immediately perked up their ears, while Hagrid''s face showed obvious surprise after hearing his question, obviously not expecting him to ask this. After looking left and right first to make sure there was no one else around, Hagrid bent down and came up to Jon and the boys. "You guys actually noticed this. Of course, I know the reason, but I can''t tell you guys, after all, this is his personal matter, and he kinda cares about it very much, so even if all the professors in the school know about it, no one will mention it much." This answer did not say anything, yet it is equal to saying everything, very in line with Hagrid''s big mouth, he really wants to keep it under wraps, but it was not concealed enough due to his nature. After separating from Hagrid, Ron nowpletely has nothing to say, but they have just cleared Filch''s suspicions, and there is still no clue as to how the infiltrator hiding in the wagon. "Don''t think blindly, leave this matter to the professors to solve it, it is already the greatest help to them if we can take care of ourselves." Neville agreed with Jon''s words, and Ron and Justin both eventually went back to their dorm rooms honestly, and it looked like they would be able to settle down for a while after today''s incident. After returning to his dorm room, Jon once again picked up the parchment full of incantation pronunciationbinations, but this time he could not concentrate properly, a certain sentence that he heard in Filch''s office lingered in his mind. In the end, he simply did not try, and leaned back in his chair and looked out the window and stared at the constantly moving scenery. Neville, who was working on his transfiguration ss homework, raised his head and looked at him strangely. "What''s wrong?" Jon shook his head silently and said softly. "Nothing, just thinking about something, something less desirable." *** Life after Christmas break hadn''t changed much for the young wizards on the wagon, and as Jon had said, the best thing they could do for their professors was just to take care of themselves and not cause any trouble for the school. Jon also finished trying all thebinations of levitation incantation pronunciations before February, and finally determined, that the one with the opposite pronunciation to the normal levitation incantation was the most appropriate one for him to use to cast a spell on himself with the ring. After confirming it clearly, Jon found Slughorn once again, wanting to learn from him, how to improve the effectiveness of this levitation charm. Obviously,pared to just reducing weight, faster bounce and speed, Jon wants more; he wants to be able to fly just by his own ability. --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 46: Having afternoon tea would be more preferable than having a rock cake Chapter 46: Having afternoon tea would be more preferable than having a rock cake "Yes, it is true what you are learning now is apletely new way of casting spells, but the basis of the spell itself is still based on the same system of casting spells using a wand. So if you want to strengthen the ability of levitation charm used on yourself, the most fundamental aspect that you need is to understand the spell of levitation charm deep enough." Slughorn gave Jon a cup of ck tea, but he personally held a ss of lemon soda to drink and said. Jon raised the wand in his hand as if he was thinking. "In other words, as long as I have a better grasp of the normal levitation charm, then the effect of the levitation charm used on myself will be equally good. To improve it all I have to do is keep practising the spell itself." Slughorn nodded. "You got it right, the essence of wand casting and ring casting is quite simr, except that there is a difference in the target of the change, which is why only the incantation sybles change while the spell itself remains the same." As he said that, he took out arge stack of notes and grimoires from under the cab of the desk. "And these, when you leaveter, take it with you, Adrien left behind some insights about this way of casting spells that you have learned, it should help you a lot. Of course, the part left in Hogwarts Castle must be more than what I have in my possession now, hisst wish at the time was to donate all his research to the Hogwarts library, but, unfortunately, something like this happenedter. He also asked me to bring out the materials and stones from the castle before he died, and now since you have inherited his possession, I will pass that task to you, Jon." Slughorn said with a smile. "I hope that one day you can really be able to aplish this, but don''t put too much pressure on yourself, you are only 11 years old after all." Jon looked at all the things that Slughorn handed him and couldn''t help but have a somewhat stunned expression on his face. "Teacher ... What you mean by this is that you are no longer going to continue to teach me about things rted to the ring?" "It''s not that I don''t want to teach." The fat walrus shook his head, "but what I know is only so much Jon, after all, I have never really learned the use of that ring, what I taught you before all came from these notes too, now you have initially mastered the spell, it is better for you to learn it yourself instead of letting me ry it to you in a half-baked way. Besides, if you have any questionster, of course, you can continue to ask me, but I am afraid that I can''t give you the answer outright, we have to discuss it to solve the problem." Although he said so, but Jon still can not quite ept it for a while, he had thought that teaching about this kind of spell casting will take a long time, at least one or two school years, but now only half a school year has passed. Just as they were talking, the door to the office suddenly opened with a crack, and Jon turned his head to look over but did not see anyone walking in. Just when he thought some student had identally bumped the door open from outside, he suddenly noticed a familiar small figure nimbly scurrying past his feet, then with a slight leap jumped onto the desk and ran to Slughorn''s face. That is Hagrid''s pet - Beech. He seems quite familiar with this office, when facing Slughorn he did not hide at all, and directly spread out his little paws as if asking for something. Slughorn also smiled as he looked at him and grabbed a handful of Bertie Bott''s Every vour Beans from the drawer and ced them in front of him, and this skilled action seemed like this was not the first time he had been fed. "Professor, howe Beech is in your ce?" Hearing Jon calling this Niffler by name, Slughorn showed some surprise. "You know this Niffler?" "This is Hagrid''s pet, I got familiar with Hagrid back then because he stole something from me." "Yes, Hagrid talked to me about this being the only creature he had brought out of that forest other than Thestrals, this little fellow indeed has loose hands and feet, but it''s just the nature of Niffler." Slughorn said with a wink, "a while ago when I came back to the office I found him stealing my crystallised pineapple, this magical creature seems quite interesting, so I took the initiative to give him some small snacks, then from that day onwards he started to haunt me, every once in a while he woulde to my ce for a short afternoon tea." It is not an error when he said that Beech came to drink afternoon tea, Slughorn really prepared a cup of tea for him in a small pocket-sized cup, which helped him to enjoy the sweets without being choked. When Jon looked at the way he was enjoying himself, he couldn''t help butin in his heart, no wonder he kept seeing Hagriding to the wagon to look for him, the Niffler seemed to have preferred to drink afternoon tea with Slughorn than to eat Hagrid''s hand-made rock cake. After sitting in the office for a while, Jon said goodbye to Slughorn and left. In fact, the fat walrus is not wrong about one point, that is, Jon now has nothing to learn from him when ites to the ring. If he wants to learn another magic he needs an extra gem, but in addition to knowing that one of them is in Hogwarts Castle, he has no clues regarding the remaining three, and now Jon certainly can not go straight into Hogwarts Castle to look for it, so he can only learn the levitation charm on top of the next studies. And Slughorn couldn''t provide him with much help when it came to improving the mastery of the levitation charm, so he needed to figure it out on his own. With this in mind, Jon''s heart was somewhat rxed, and after he returned to his dorm room, he began to concentrate on how to improve the effectiveness of the levitation charm. But at the same time, he did not forget to learn other spells. The spells learned in the first-year charms ss are generally basic magic spells, which may be very practical in life, but in the real wizard battle it can only y some auxiliary role at best, it is difficult to produce any effective lethal power. So, of course, he would not wait till the second year when Flitwick would start to teach, and thene in contact with those types of direct damage spells; he went and borrowed a spell book from the library directly, and began to teach himself the full-body bind curse in private. The full-body bind curse is undoubtedly a very useful magic spell, even now the Ministry of Magic''s Auror office kept the full-body bind curse, stunning spell, and disarming charm as the three primary spells that needed to be learned After all, it is not possible to capture a prisoner with a killing curse, and as an important means of subduing the enemy, the full-body bind curse has always shown its excellence. And this spell is not difficult to learn, in the original story Hermione was able to learn on her own in the first year, so naturally, it is not a problem for Jon. --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 47: Gravity Chapter 47: Gravity "Wingardium Leviosa." The desk in front of Jon flew up under the effect of the spell, but it was only twenty to thirty centimetres off the ground, and there was no way to raise it further upward. Neville, who was exploring the Remembrall sent by his grandmother while nibbling on an apple, looked at Jon with a lifeless expression. "It''s been a month, a whole month! On average, every day you practice this spell more than a hundred times! The sound of the levitation incantation keeps ringing in my ears every night in my dreams, you''ve already mastered it enough, Jon! As Professor Flitwick saidst time, you have already reached the standard of most adult wizards in the levitation charm, and all youck now is the magic power that has not yet grown due to your age, so you really don''t need to practice anymore!" Jon continued to look at the desk that is floating in front of him thoughtfully. "Yes, Professor Flitwick did mention that my expertise in the levitation charm is high enough, the rest can only rely on our own magic power and experience that can only be umted over time, but why is the maximum effect that I can achieve now is still only this?" "Only this?" Neville red with dead fish eyes, "what you used the magic spell to levitate is not a feather, not a parchment, not a textbook, but a DESK! How many people on this wagon right now besides the ''Professors'' can do that?" "It''s not a question of whether anyone else can do it, it''s about how wed the levitation magic spell itself is." Jon''s brow furrowed with a frown. Neville bit the crunchy apple and looked at Jon who finally stopped using the levitation charm, and he is happy to talk to him more as a way to make his ears a little less tormented. "What fault could there be in the levitation charm?" "It can y a bit too little role." Jon pondered, his fingertips subconsciously twirling his wand, in his previous life he liked to turn his pen while solving problems, and now this habit is also brought by him to this world. "Even the levitation charm which Professor Flitwick cast couldn''t make too heavy objects float, it''s not only due to the limitation of magic power and ''will'', but the charm itself can''t exert such an effect." Neville could not understand what Jon was saying, he could only keep nodding his head in agreement, his mouth repeating "yes, yes, that''s right" to acknowledge him. "But the levitation charm was created a long time ago, and there were many wizards who throughout history tried to improve and innovate it, and what we have been taught now is the limit of what it can achieve, the limit of magic used to control the flight of objects." "It is one limit of the levitation charm, and the other one is theck of a possibility to use the charm on the wizard, together, theck of a solution to these two problems has led to the fact that the wizard''s way of conquering the sky now still relies on the flying broom and the magic carpet, an ancient magic tool that has been in use since the Middle Ages." "But since flying broomsticks and magic carpets can fly so high, why is there a limit to the levitation charm?" "I have a limit for eating apples, I''m full in two." Neville threw a clean apple towards Jon, "Don''t think about those for now, try it, it''s sweet." Jon, who was thinking hard, of course, did not notice the apple that came flying towards him, and the apple smashed on his head without any surprise. "Thud!" "Ah! Sorry, I didn''t mean to, I thought you would catch it." Neville apologized in a panic, and Jon first froze after being hit, then looked at the apple that had fallen to the ground with a creepy face. "Neville, why do you think the apple fell to the ground after it hit me?" Neville was frozen by Jon''s question for a moment, and then he looked at Jon with a more nervous look. "Are you okay? Are you dizzy? Shall I take you to see Professor Slughorn?" "The apple will fall down because of...." Jon''s eyes were glowing as he stared at the apple, and he ignored Neville and spoke the answer to himself. "My thoughts were limited! This world doesn''t just have magic, it also has science!" "When you threw it out, you were giving it an upward force, but there was actually a downward force pulling it back to the ground!" Neville quickly made his way and grabbed Jon''s arm. "Come on, hurry up, before you do something stupid, let''s hurry up and let the professor see if you can still be saved!" Jon pped his hand away with a dark face. "I didn''t get smashed silly by an apple! And I don''t need to let the professor fix me up, I''m just thinking seriously. Did you ever think about what went through your mind when you were casting the levitation charm?" Seeing that Jon did not look like he went insane and that he was indeed behaving quite normally except for his gibberish, Neville replied hesitantly. "What Professor Flitwick taught us in ss, firm and unwavering belief that the target that the wand is aimed at can float, and then chant the incantation while swinging the wand." "Knowing what''s going to happen without knowing what''s happening has always been a characteristic exhibited by magic." Jon''s voice was calm, yet one could tell he was unusually emotional, "Just like when turning matches into needles, our professors won''t bother to teach us exactly how the molecr structure of an object changes within the object as it transforms from wood to metal." "Same thing with the levitation charm! Professor Flitwick just told us to think firmly that we could make the feather float but did not tell us what kind of principle is needed to do so, and then the levitation charm we are using presents the simplest and most direct manifestation - an upward force is formed on the object itself, what we call floating is actually just the magic power that carries it up making it almost weightless!" "Magic intervenes with the rules andws of the world, the wizard initiates the concept of change, and the way to make that change happen is determined by the magic itself!" "But what if we actively choose to specify how the magic intervenes with the rules when we cast the spell?" Neville absolutely had no idea what Jon was talking about, but his mouth dropped open, and although he didn''t understand, he could sense that this roommate of his is clearly thinking of something incredible right now! "Do you know why the apple fell down after hitting my head?" Jon asked this seemingly silly question again. Neville also answered with a very silly answer, "Because I just threw it at your head." "Three hundred years ago a muggle who was also hit in the head by an apple, also pondered this question, and somehow he came up with his own answer." A smile appeared on Jon''s face, the smile of a person who is standing on the shoulders of giants, and looking at wizards who have failed to explore the rules of the world to their logical limits. "There is a force in this earth where we live, a force that pulls all objects in thend, sea and even sky, and that muggle named Isaac Newton calls this force - gravity!" -------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 48: "Levitation Charm" Chapter 48: "Levitation Charm" "Hogwarts was founded over nine hundred years ago, and during that time, almost all children with the potential to be wizards were selected for admission to the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by the age of eleven. Even If a student came from aplete Muggle family, at the age of eleven, how much knowledge of natural science could a student who just graduated from elementary school could learn?" Neville had no answer to Jon''s question, he hadn''t even understood what the word gravity meant, and who this man Newton is. "No matter how smart, these students were basically not exposed to too advanced scientific knowledge, and when they were epted into Hogwarts and be young wizards studying magicter, it would be even less likely for them to want to understand the science of the Muggles because it would be more worthwhile for them to spend their energy and time to study a few more magic spells." "Coupled with the constraints of the statute of secrecy and the discrimination of traditional wizards against muggles, the magicmunity has never properly looked at the muggle''s own understanding of the world. Never thought about the deeper changes that magic brought to this world!" Neville had an expression like listening to a heavenly book, and he looked at Jon nkly. "What exactly are you trying to say?" Jon took a deep breath to ease the excitement and thrill inside him. "When we use the levitation charm, what we have in mind is the belief that the object can float, but in fact, there are many ways to make the object float, and the magic itself chooses the simplest and most direct one, forming a force to lift the object up, but what if I can specify a certain way for it to float when I use the spell?" "What other way could there be?" Neville instead became more and more confused, after all, for a child like him who has not received any modern science education since childhood, he simply can not understand the principle behind the reason why the object will always fall to the ground. Jon also did not continue to exin to him, and with a serious face he held up his wand, the tip of the wand pointed at the middle of the dormitory. The incantation that was already about to produce calluses in Neville''s ears rang out once again with unmistakable rity. "Wingardium Leviosa!" This levitation charm had no specific target, or rather everything in this entire dormitory was the target of Jon''s spell. And the moment the spell fell, Neville''s eyes went wide to the maximum, looking at the magical scene taking ce in the room with iparable shock! In the dormitory, in addition to him and Jon, the two living people, all other items, such as parchment, quill, ink bottles, desks, and chairs, including the two heaviest four-poster beds, all floated in the air! The floating state is significantly different from the effect produced by the normal levitation charm in effect. After the normal levitation charm takes effect, the object will obviously float straight up and down and will be static upon rising to a certain height. But now in front of Neville''s eyes, all kinds of objects floating in irregr suspensions, like fish moving in the water,pletely free of any restrictions! But such a magical scene onlysted less than two seconds, followed by a "bang" sound of things falling ringing in their ears. The effect of Jon''s spell was over quickly, and the floating things fell back to the ground. The original clean and tidy dormitory instantly turned into a rubbish dump, with tables and chairs scattered everywhere, two beds fell directly on their sides on the floor, the ink bottle broke into two, ink was all over the floor, and parchment was scattered all over the ce. But whether it was Jon or Neville they did not care about this, the two of them stared at each other with wide eyes, one person''s eyes were filled with the excitement caused due to his conjecture proven, and another person''s eyes were filled with a look that read ''how the hell did this work?'' "How did you do that?" Neville felt a familiar sensation when those words came out as if he had asked the exact same question just a while back. "Just like I told you, devising a way for the levitation charm to make objects float, instead of using the power of magic to hold them up, I just willed to use gravity." Jon did not withhold anything, directly and generously told Neville about his discovery. But the current Neville simply can not even understand what the word gravity means, so there''s no need to mention him understanding the theory behind it. Jon actually initially thought that he was unlikely to seed, as one of the four fundamental forces in physics, he felt that this ultimate rule could not be changed so easily. But in fact, magic itself is a rule-breaking system, the normal levitation charm alsopletely contradicts themon sense of physics, generating a force out of thin air to hold the object up. To put it in a different perspective,pared to creating a new force, changing the existing gravitational force would probably more simpler for magic. However, it was clear that Jon''s mastery of this version of the "levitation charm" was mediocre, so the effect could not be maintained for more than three seconds. Nevertheless, the most difficult thing in the world is a process from 0 to 1. As long as he can use this kind of spell sessfully once, then he is not afraid of not being able to master it skilfully in the future. After restraining his tion, Jon tidied up the dormitory with Neville and left straight away. He wanted to share this good news with Slughorn, even if the fat walrus most likely won''t be able to understand what gravity actually is, but it doesn''t prevent him from conveying his happiness. After knocking on the office door and waiting for an answer toe from inside, Jon pushed the door and walked in. The office was filled with smoke, and Slughorn was boiling a cauldron of potion. He had just put a dried snake skin, like a belt, into the boiling potion when Jon walked in. Jon blinked, and some curiosity rose about the cauldron of potion. "What are you brewing, teacher?" "Uh huh, a kind of potion that is very beneficial to the health of the elderly, don''t look at all my sugar consumption, I am quite mindful of my health, after all, no one wants to die in a hospital bed." He stirred the potion with his wand while describing the recipe to Jon. "Powder of unicorn horn, a small piece of dragon''s liver and a tear of Dumbledore''s pet bird, these three are the core ingredients, along with secondary auxiliary ingredients such as runespoor snakeskin, for example. Do you want some? Even if you are still young right now, it will still be very beneficial to your growing body, but this cauldron of potion will take a longer time to brew, so you have to wait for it." "Then I''ll thank you in advance, teacher." "Oh, by the way, why did youe to see me? Do you have any questions about magic?" Slughorn stopped the movement of twirling his wand in his hand and looked up at Jon in puzzlement. "Of course not, but I''ve finally made a breakthrough in my levitation charm!" His happy smile was still on his face, only there was something more in that smile than the one he had when he arrived. -------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 49: Dispel Dark Clouds Chapter 49: Dispel Dark Clouds Jon only mentioned that he had made a major breakthrough in the levitation charm, and then did not borate on exactly what progress he had made on it. Slughorn''s mind was obviously focused on the potion he was brewing, so he did not ask further questions about the major breakthrough he mentioned. After sitting in the office for a while, Jon left. He walked along the long corridor, his face returning to a calm expression, unable to discern what was actually going on in his mind, just as he walked past the storage room, a familiar small figure, scurrying out of it in front of him. Jon reacted quickly, he directly reached out and grabbed Beech who was holding a cherry in his little paws. "You sneaked in again? Are you stealing food from the storage room?" He stretched out his hand and flicked his finger gently on Beech''s head, and lectured. Beech looked sheepish as he shoved the cherries quickly into the pocket in front of his stomach, and looked like he knew that stealing is not right. Jon turned around and headed for the exit where the driver''s side is, ready to hand over the captured Beech directly to Hagrid. Just as he opened the door, he saw Hagrid standing right outside the door, looking like he wanted to make his way inside the wagon as well. "Are you looking for him again, Hagrid?" Jon grabbed the back of Beech''s neck skin and held him in front of Hagrid''s line of sight. Hagrid''s originally tense expressionpletely rxed, and he picked Beech up from Jon''s hand with an exasperated look, looking eager to teach the Niffler a lesson, but his movements remained careful, subconsciously trying not to hurt him. "Did you find him in the storage room?" "Yes, he stole a cherry from there." "He always goes there to steal foodtely, I have obviously prepared a te of rock cakes, especially for him, but this little thing still runs into the wagon." Jon was tempted to persuade Hagrid about getting a different kind of dessert to feed Beech, after all, his rock cake is a pain in the arse even for a human to eat it let alone Niffler. But Hagrid, who is exceptionally confident in his craft, obviously wouldn''t listen to him. The former Gamekeeper and Keeper of Keys and Grounds, now Coachman''s biggest w is that he always sees others as the same as himself, and feels that if he can do something, others surely can do it too. Hagrid warmly invited Jon toe and sit in the driver''s seat to eat some snacks, but Jon found a reason to decline, he was not in the mood to rx. From time to time, students walked along the corridor, but no one paid any attention to Jon, who was staring at a Headmaster''s office door. He stood at the end of the corridor, right in front of the door at the opposite end to the exit to the driver''s seat of the wagon, looking hesitant several times as if he wanted to reach out and knock, but finally left the door in silence. Jon practised the levitation charm more frequently. Only this time he did not continue to torment Neville in the dormitory, instead, he requested permission from Professor McGonagall and obtained the right to enter and leave the astronomy ssroom during the day freely, and went to the top of the wagon to practice every day. Almost except for the time to eat, sleep and ss, as soon as he had free time, he would disappear from the view of Neville and the group. And such a quiet life continued for two more months, and at the beginning of May, the students on the wagon all began to prepare for the semester''s final exams, almost no one talked about the two attacks that happenedst year. Like the person lurking in the wagon has been withdrawn, Hogwarts has once again returned to the life of exile, albeit it is quite a peaceful one. Less than five weeks before finals, after lunch that day, Neville stopped Jon, who had just got up from the table and was about to head to the roof of the wagon. "It''s time for you to prepare for the exams, Jon, you are always practising the levitation charm, what will you do if you fail the exams of other subjects?" Jon tilted his head and gave it some thought. "Although I''ve indeed been practising the levitation charm, I haven''t missed any of my other sses. And Professor Slughorn exempted me from the History of Magic exam because of my excellent evaluations on every single assignment this semester, so I could simply get an Outstanding. Professor Flitwick was also pleased with my Jupiter chart in thest ss and simrly exempted me from the astronomy ss exam, and Professor Potter, who ..." "Okay, okay, Jon." Ron interrupted his "bragging" with a painful face, "we actually just want you to rest, Neville told us that you are practising magic like a demon these days, we are worried that your body and spirit can''t handle it, let''s take a break today, how about we go to themon room together and y that square tiles? " Justine and Lavender also looked at him with expectant faces, while Jon did not feel physically and mentally exhausted. But Ron was also right, he really hadn''t had much leisure time with Neville and the others for a long time. So he didn''t refuse any further and dly epted to join them as they walked towards themon room. Just as they walked into themon room, Slughorn also pushed the door and walked into Lily''s office which was full of the scent of flowers and nts. Lily was carefully polishing her wand, it was as if she was not holding a wand, but a treasure that held all her feelings. Seeing her actions, Slughorn, who was gently closing the door behind him, sighed. "I always thought you would look forward." Lily''s voice was calm and cold, just as it had been when she had first met Jon. "I''ve always looked forward, Teacher, not only for me but also for this James'' wand I''m holding." "But hatred has been pent-up in your heart." "Looking forward and carrying hatred in my heart do not conflict with each other; I have never been blinded by hatred, it has rather made me more sober than ever before." Silence fell in the office, and after a moment, Lily took the initiative to ease the atmosphere and asked in a soft voice. "How is that new student of yours doing?" This topic was obviously very appealing to Slughorn, and a smile that only appeared when he was eating crystallised pineapple appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Excellent, better than any kid I''ve ever seen before!" Lily looked a little surprised at such a high evaluation from him, and she curled up a sarcastic smile, but the smile was not directed at Slughorn, but at another man who could not be mentioned by name. "If he were to hear what you have said about this boy, he would probably be so angry that he would go mad." Slughorn smiled and winked. "So you should take better care of him in the future, perhaps he''s the moon Dumbledore was talking about." "I will treat all students equally, regardless of whether theye from a respectable family or possess talents. Instead of waiting for a moon, why not let a few more stars shine." Lily said with an expressionless face. Slughorn looked up at the dark night sky outside the window, not knowing when the wagon drove to an area with dense clouds. Suddenly, there was a sh of lightning cutting through the clouds, followed by a "rumble" of thunder. The old man''s voice was also muffled under the thunder. "Whether it is the moon or stars, if they need to shine in the world, they always need the wind to help them to disperse the dark clouds. ..." -------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 50: Snape Chapter 50: Snape The sky outside was unusually dark this evening. Although Neville, who was ying mahjong, did not notice it in the brightmon room, Jon, who had been somewhat distracted since he joined the rest, frequently turned his gaze to the window. "It''s your turn to draw, Jon, what''s wrong with you?" Lavender looked at him with a worried face, "Is it true that you are practising spells too hard, I can see that you have been having trouble concentrating." Jon didn''t say anything, even when Lavender opened her mouth he didn''t make any move to grab the cards, and kept staring intently at the window. "Can it get this dark even if it''s going to rain?" His breathing became much deeper than before and hearing his question, Neville and the others also took their eyes off the tile game and looked up at the inky ck sky outside the window. The dark clouds seemed topletely cover the entire sky, not a single ray of light could prate in, and only the asional lightning and thunder from the unseen side of the sky was able to make the darkness disappear for a moment. "I guess it''s going to rain a lotter." Neville whispered. And just as his words fell, the sky, which was shiny like a ck cloth, suddenly flickered and lit up with countless points of light! Those points of light are all made up of red and green colour, and at that moment, a long snake-like sudden sh of lightning illuminated half of the sky that they could see. The darkness covering the sky was not a dark cloud, but hundreds and thousands of wizards wearing ck robes and riding on flying broomsticks(?)! All kinds of dazzling spell light shed at the tip of their wands, and the next second, as Neville said, heavy rain fell on the exterior of the wagon. Only what made up this downpour were countless magic spells that fell from the sky like rain! "Boom!!!" Under the bted thunderp, the whole wagon shook dramatically together with that loud sound, the sheer force was so great that it looked like it was going to topple the wagon upside down straight to the ground! Screams, shouts, and cries rang out in themon room. The students were all stunned by the sudden development, most of them were shaken to the floor, the ceiling chandeliers were incessantly swaying, and the whole wagon was inplete chaos. Jon did not hesitate to pull Neville and the few of them down to the ground together when he saw the spells fall. Dumbledore personally added the protection measures on the exterior of the wagon, so the majority of the effects of the spells were blocked, but the strong impact brought down by the collision was not offset by the protection magic. Outside themon room, chaotic footsteps were heard from the corridor, and McGonagall''s anxious voice faintly carried over. "Don''t panic! Don''t panic! Everyone head to the great hall! Everyone head to the great hall!" The young wizards who heard her words quickly responded, the attack was so sudden, but with the experience from the previous two attacks, at least the students now knew what they should do in the initial hour. Jon and the group helped each other to rise up from the ground and then ran out of themon room together. The wagon had been stabilized and bnced, without getting overturned on its side and falling to the ground by that horrible rain of magic spells. The forward speed also elerated significantly by countless times. Usually, they can''t feel bumps much at all, but at this time it felt like they were running wildly in a pile of rocks, jolting, Jon and others hold on to the wall of the long corridor, they simply can''t walk forward without support. The students were all gathered in the great hall, the pale student head boy was assisting Filch, who was unable to conceal his horror, to do a head count. The Professors were assembled in front of Dumbledore''s office at the first sign of the attack, while Dumbledore pushed the door open from behind the one that led to Hagrid''s driving seat. He held his wand in his hand as if he had just helped Hagrid stabilize the wagon to move properly, the magic originally shielding the fierce winds in front of the wagon waspletely destroyed, and his grey hair and beard waved freely over his face. "This time is different from the previous two instances, gentlemen." Dumbledore''s voice was steady, this familiar tone slightly soothed the professors'' tense hearts, "They''re practically flooding the area, the Aurors, the Death Eaters, are encircling us." Flitwick used his only left arm to hold his wand up in front of his body, his calm voice sounding like he was teaching his students in ss about how not to pronounce the f in an incantation with an s. "So they are all set to kill us now." Lily waved her well-maintained clean wand, and a worn-out flying broomnded firmly in her hand. On the other hand, McGonagall was frowning, not as calm as Filius, nor had the same burning desire to fight as Lily, and rather was concerned about the safety of the students in the wagon. "We have not found the infiltrator, Albus, if we all leave, then who will protect the children?" Dumbledore raised his arm and Fawkes flew over lightly, gazing down at the professors with his head held high. "Make a trip to the square and get Kingsley and the men over here." A golden-red light shed, and Fawkes disappeared before their eyes. After doing all this, the professors left the wagon, Slughorn, Lily, McGonagall, and Flitwick guarded the four directions of the galloping wagon, while Dumbledore went right above the wagon and looked up at the ck-robed, ck-haired male wizard who was leading the Death Eaters and Aurors. He was not the only one who saw him, Lily, who had just risen to the sky, also saw him. The next moment, a shrill, hate-filled angry roar rang through the dark sky. "Severus Snape!!!" The real rain began to fall. It was like someone had opened up a water valve in the sky and started to cleanse the filth in the world. Lightning once again crossed the dark sky, the momentary sh of light also illuminated Snape''s pale and cold face. His hollow pupils reflect the figure of Lily, no other emotions rose in his gaze, as if he saw a stranger. "Remember what our Lord said." His low but audible voice was loud enough for every Death Eater and Auror present to hear, "Now, let''s begin." The wizards in ck robes began to lower their flying brooms beneath them, looking down at the galloping wagon, like hunters staring at their prey, and swooping down! The rain poured down, and all sorts of spells weaved through the curtain of rain and shot towards the four men guarding the wagon! No one aimed at Lily, as if everyone has a very tacit understanding, she left to the sky that was still enveloped in a ck mist, which was floating along Snape. After seeing Snape, her eyes no longer had anyone else, and she did not hesitate to pull up the flying broom under her to raise up high and aim the wand in her hand at the man. "Ah~" Snape''s voice was tinged with sarcasm as he called out the name of the girl who used to sit with him on the grass in Spinner''s End and fantasize about the world of magic. "It''s been a long time, Lily ''Potter''!" --------------- [Author Note:] The number of wizards has always been a source of controversy due to the conflicting structure of the original story, which portrayed very few students at Hogwarts and hundreds of Ministry of Magic employees who went to build the Quidditch World Cup tournament venue, but they worked on it for over half a year without affecting the normal functioning of the Ministry, and the World Cup venue, which can amodate 100,000 people, was also packed with wizards from all over the world. This is one of the holes that can not be jumped over, although Rowling patched most of themter. The setting of this book is more inclined to more people''s side, after all, it would be too boring to write if there would be fewer people, it would appear as if a vige was actually fighting internally, which would lose its edge. Good night everyone. ------ Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 51: Help Chapter 51: Help "How do you still have the face to say this family name from your mouth!" Lily squeezed out these words from her teeth, her body was trembling, and there was no way to suppress the hatred inside! Seeing her like this, the smile on Snape''s face became more and more disdainful, became increasingly sarcastic, as he said slowly and reasonably. "Why should not I have the face to say this family name, Lily, just because the man who has been bullying me since my student days is dead? Whose family now has a stinky reputation in the magical world? Well, that''s something that would make me happy, and as for you--" His smile grew unrestrained. "Don''t forget, I begged for your life, without me, you would have died that night with that damned pest and that little bastard! So, you are the one that supposed to be ashamed of how you spoke to your saviour like that!" The sharp words pierced Lily''s whole body like needles, she couldn''t stand it any longer, and her hatred for Snape was transformed into killing intent, which manifested into a curse! "Avada Kedavra!!!" The ghastly white-green colour cut a straight line in the darkness, and like a venomous snake, it aimed at Snape to reap his life! However, the ck mist around Snape surged, it is a magic that he learned from his lord, which is a symbol of his status of being only under one person, which allows him to travel through the sky without any resistance even without relying on any means of flight. Such dexterity allowed him to easily avoid the fatal killing curse, while he also aimed his wand at Lily. "After all these years, all you have learned is to retaliate against your saviour?" His whisper was like rainwater that burrowed into Lily''s ears, and at the same time, an invisible sharp de burst out from the tip of his wand, cutting through the dense curtain of rain! The shield charm faithfully protected Lily from that spell, but the light blue glowing shield soon shattered! The sound of Snape''s incantation, which was recited before the sharp de was formed, was drowned out under the heavy downpour. "Sectumsempra!" The first moment they were brought to the wagon by Fawkes, Kingsley and others did not hesitate to join the battle outside the wagon. Except for Lily, who was fighting Snape one-on-one in very high, every other professor was facing double-digit numbers of Aurors and Death Eaters. This is still the case even when Dumbledore already assumed eighty percent number of the pressure; even if the strength of Slughorn, McGonagall and Flitwick is second only to the top few people in the magic world, they still are not strong enough topletely ignore the number of enemies. And only after Kingsley, Moody, and nearly other 100 Order of the Phoenix members joined the battle, was the pressure on the professors greatly relieved. But McGonagall''s face did not show any sign of rxation, she raised her wand and shot down an Auror who tried to sneak up onto her side, and shouted in a serious tone. "Did you leave someone to watch over inside the wagon, stor?! " Moody screamed and cursed at the scumbags while using a sting curse to blow up the shield charm of a group of Death Eaters in front of him. "We are all just guarding the wagon outside right now! If anyone could get in, it would be only after we are all dead!" "But there were already their people supposed to be in the wagon! If you all came out, then how would the children in the wagon be kept safe!" McGonagall''s voice was urgent. Beside her, Kingsley exined in due course. "Don''t worry, Professor McGonagall, it was Dumbledore''s decision to provide reinforcements outside the wagon, so he would have arranged something for that." His words let McGonagall''s anxious heart settle down a bit, in their midst, Dumbledore is the absolute anchor, no one will doubt any of the decisions he made. But just as McGonagall sighed in relief, a spell suddenly struck a fat figure, causing her pupils to suddenly shrink! The green colour of the spell made it difficult to tell whether it was a killing curse or something else, but Slughorn''s body fell helplessly from the sky towards the ground after that. "Horace!!!" *** The great hall was quiet. The dim chandeliers swayed beneath the ceiling, reflecting on the pale, nervous faces of each and every student. Filch, the only adult here, could not hide the panic and restlessness in his heart as he wandered back and forth between the students. Jon huddled in the corner of the room after entering the great hall, he stared nkly at the door of the hall, and no one knew what was going on in his mind. "Don''t worry, with the professor and the others, the school will be fine." Neville whispered tofort Justin, whose body was shaking from fear, and this time even Lavender, who had behaved very strongly in the past, pursed her white lips and sat on the floor holding her knees without saying a word. They all saw the wizards in the sky as if they were dark clouds, and knew better than anyone else that this attack would be different from the previous two, just the difference in numbers, even if all the students are added in and then multiplied by ten, they are no match for these Aurors and Death Eaters. Looking at Jon, who never made a sound since he came here, Ron, who is also worried about the battle outside, patted him on the shoulder and said. "Howe you be this depressed, Jon, cheer up a bit, you are not behaving like the Jon we knew before. " Jon finally seemed toe back to his senses, he did not speak first, and instead let out a deep exhale, before looking at Neville and Ron with great seriousness. "Can you guys do me a favour? " The eyes of Neville, Ron, along with Justine and Lavender, all turned to him. "Help me attract Filch''s attention. " Jon''s voice was calm, but the other four looked at him like he was crazy. "What are you thinking? " Neville asked in a voice full of disbelief as he raised his voice, only to lower it again. "I want to go out, but if I just go out like this, Filch will definitely try to stop me, so I need your help. " Jon''s voice sounded as calm as if he wanted to return to his dorm room right now to get something and thene back again, like an insignificant trivial matter. Ron''s voice, however, became excited and thrilled at this point. "Did you notice something? Is it up to us to save the school now that the professors aren''t on the wagon? " Jon shook his head. "Sorry, it''s not about saving the school, I can''t tell you what I''m going to do yet for some reason, but I''m not going to risk my life or endanger the school, can you help me? " He looked at Neville, who was usually the most observant, and locked eyes with him. Neville gritted his teeth, then suddenly turned his head to look at Justine. "Are you physically ill right now, Justin?" Justin looked at him with a nk face at first but soon responded as well. "Ah, yes! I''m so sick, that I need someone to look after me." -------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 52: Teacher and student Chapter 52: Teacher and student While Filch, as well as most of the students in the great hall, had their attention drawn to Justin, who suddenly said he was physically ill, Jon gently pushed the door open and left the room. The long corridor was empty and spookily quiet like a narrow walkway in a haunted house. The sound of Jon''s shoes hitting the floor was clear, and he didn''t deliberately try to hide the sound of his footsteps, as he walked quickly toward a door. He pushed open the door of the room with the storage room door sign and entered the empty, cubicle that served as a divider between the other rooms. It was also quiet here, and the swaying from the wagon''s extreme speed made the light flicker and barely illuminate the space. After arriving here, Jon''s pace slowed down significantly, he drew his wand without saying a word, staring at the door of the room that had been opened by Ron during the first week of school and got punished for opening the door without any sign. Taking a deep breath, Jon pushed the door open with little force. A boy was standing in the nearly empty room. The boy had the same dark hair as Jon, the same height, the same body build, and the same ... face! In addition to the different clothes he was wearing, the boy, who looked exactly the same as Jon, also heard the movement at the door and turned to look at Jon. On the floor nearby the other "Jon", there was a cer-like entrance that was opened. Jon looked at "Jon", who was frozen from surprise, and the room went quiet. After a short while, Jon, who was standing in front of the door, clutching his wand in his hand, asked in a voice that couldn''t help but tremble with sorrow. "Why? Teacher." The "Jon" standing opposite to him did not make a sound, just smiled at him. A rustling sound was heard from the entrance of the cer at his feet, and then Beech suddenly came out of it! He jumped to "Jon''s" shoulder with a bright red stone in his two little paws, and then asked for praise as he handed the stone to "Jon". "I wanted to leave a good impression on you at the end, Jon." The old, all-too-familiar voice spoke up to Jon. "If you didn''t call out my identity, I would have used your face to take this magic stone away, then Horace Slughorn would have died in the battle that is happening outside, and the infiltrator who concealed his identity would have disappeared from this wagon as well." Jon''s body and face were being reshaped like kneaded y-Doh, he went from skinny to tall and fat, from young to old. The gray robe that was worn on his body, as well as the worn leather boots under his feet, were obviously enchanted in advance and became loose and appropriate along with his changes. The Slughorn, who had taken the initiative to undo the effects of the polyjuice potion, still had a smile on his face, holding that ''magic stone'' in one hand and his wand in the other, as if he was pleased with the sess of his ploy. "This matter has nothing to do with you from the beginning to the end, Jon. Even if someone found out about me pretending to be you, no suspicion would fall on you, everyone knows it''s just a mask used for disguise, even if you''re talented, a first-year kid couldn''t have done this." Looking at the smiling face, Jon''s hand that held the wand became vaguely white at the knuckles because of too much force. Once again he asked the question, only this time the sad tone in his voice had be calmer. "Can you tell me why? Why did you betray Hogwarts? Teacher." Slughorn, as if he was not in a hurry to leave the wagon immediately afterpleting his task, looked at Jon and said with interest. "How about we make an exchange, how about it? You tell me exactly how you found me, and I''ll tell you what you want to know." Jon knew exactly what he needed to do now. There is absolutely no way he can be a match for Slughorn, and as long as the fat walrus wants to leave, no one existing on this wagon can stop him. He needs to stall for time, the longer, the better, as long as he can stall until Dumbledore and the rest of theme back, then Slughorn can not leave! As for his own safety ... Jon is very clear that Slughorn even if he is undercover, he most likely will not hurt him. Otherwise, he simply would not have bothered to teach him so much about the ring casting at the beginning, and would not have waited until now without doing anything. "I never even considered you in the first ce, teacher." Jon spoke slowly, his eyes locked with Slughorn''s, and even now he actually couldn''t believe that all his suspicions turned out to be true, that the person who brought forth three attacks and finally stole philosopher''s stone would be the old man in front of him! "On Christmas night, I saw you walking through the corridor, at that time I really thought that the intruder lurking in the wagon might be a goblin or house elf. It wasn''t until the Christmas holiday passed that, by chance, I learned from Filch about the night of the first attack in the second week of school, he was locked in his office by who knows who and waited untilte to be brought back to the great hall by you from inside." "He suspected that the person who locked the door with magic was you, but he just assumed that you did that because of his squib identity and deliberately tried to embarrass him by scaring him. But I remember very clearly that you went out that night from the great hall for a long time, regardless of whether it was you who locked up Filch; where did you go and what did you do during the time that you left the great hall just lingered in my mind without going away." The expression on Slughorn''s face remained unchanged as he chuckled. "And just because of that you suspect me?" "I didn''t suspect you because of this matter, teacher." Jon looked at him calmly, "You are my teacher and I have a lot of trust in you, even if you acted suspiciously that night, it still can''t shake my trust in you. But when I went to your office to tell you that I had made significant progress on the levitation charm, I spotted what potion you have made." "You put a dried shredded snake skin into it, andter told me that the ingredients used in the potion had Runespoor skin as an auxiliary, but I knew that snake skin, it was not Runespoor snake at all, but the skin of the Boomng snake!" When he said this, Jon could not help but raise his voice. "I have read many books in the library, especially after Professor McGonagall gave me permission to borrow forbidden books, in a book called "Powerful Potions" in the restricted book section, I have seen the introduction of the use of Boomng skin! It has only one discovered pharmaceutical use so far, and that is to make a polyjuice potion! A kind of potion used for human transfiguration!" "I''ve caught you lying to me, teacher. If you had just told me you were making a polyjuice potion, I wouldn''t have bothered to doubt your purpose for making such a potion, but you told me it was a cauldron of nourishing elixir for your body!" -------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 53: If you dont try Chapter 53: If you don''t try "After noticing your problem, some other things that you did in the past became clear." Jon''s eyes never left Slughorn''s eyes, but out of the corner of his eyes, he kept his attention on the rain outside the window. "Before the second attack happened, I guessed from the information in the newspaper that the man hiding in the wagon is trying to get the Philosopher''s stone. Nics mel and Dumbledore''s rtionship has always been very good, Hogwarts does not have any source of ie but never suffered a bit of financial distress until now, there is a high probability of acquiring Nics mel''s gift, the Philosopher''s stone can not only make Elixir of Life, it can also turn stone into gold. The second attackter also confirmed my suspicions, both before and after attack against this wagon was in fact just a cover for the man on the wagon, the Ministry of Magic knows very well that with Dumbledore in the picture, no one can destroy this Hogwarts unless the Dark Lord himselfes. They are only providing you with the convenience to seed in finding what they want you to find." "What else could there be in this school besides Dumbledore that would be worthy of the attention of that man who has gained great influence over the entire wizarding world? It can only be that one and only philosopher''s stone in the world!" "But the first two times when the entire wagon waspletely unguarded in every room except the great hall, that man still didn''t find what he wanted. Then you started to approach that Hagrid''s pet Niffler, teacher." "After realizing that you couldn''t find the philosopher''s stone by yourself, you wanted Niffler''s help. I also caught him a few times in front of the door of the storage room, and from that time I roughly deduced that Beech had probably found the location of the philosopher''s stone, which might be inside one of the storage rooms." "p ..." Slughorn put the philosopher''s stone into his pocket and gave Jon a loud apuse with an expression full of praise. "Brilliant to the core, Jon. I never thought that a freshman who is only 11 years old and has just been exposed to magic for less than a year has already learned so much. The philosopher stone, the uses of Boomng snake skin, the effect of polyjuice potion, even if you find an adult wizard, he/she may not be able to fully understand all these things." "I already regarded you high enough, but I didn''t expect to actually underestimate you, to have a student like you is indeed a dreame true for countless teachers." Jon looked at him with aplicated gaze. "In that case, teacher, why are you still doing this? Isn''t it good to stay at Hogwarts? You said to me when you first taught me the lumency magic, you think staying here as a professor is actually not bad." Slughorn still had that good old smile as he gently twirled the wand in his hand. "When I said that, I wasn''t lying to you. The time I was first tricked into boarding on this wagon by Dumbledore, I did think it would be okay to just stay here and teach, but it is impossible for people to remain the same." His kind voice turned cold, and the smile on his face gradually tightened. "Do you think this Hogwarts really has a future?" Jon did not answer this question of his and did not need to answer, and Slughorn himself has given the answer. "There is not even a tiny glimmer of a future! Yes, it is warm and harmonious here, but how long can such an illusion of peace and harmonyst under the general trend? Do you know what that student of mine has been doing now? He is uniting the pureblood forces of other magical societies throughout Europe, intending topletely integrate the entire power of the European magicalmunity! His authority is getting stronger and stronger, and this Hogwarts led by Dumbledore? After seven years of being a fugitive, he didn''t even dare to leave Ennd!" Jon''s voice also turned incredibly lukewarm. "So just because you can''t see any hope, you''re going to join the wrong side?" "There is no such thing as right and wrong." Slughorn slowly and carefully stroked Beech''s furry head, "Now it''s just that the resistance forces led by Dumbledore are still present, that''s why you think that man''s philosophy is wrong, but if you think about it in another way, he can actually bring more benefits to wizards. In the adult world, as long as the vast majority of this society gains the benefits, then the whole thing is right." "The Dark Lord can bring greater benefits to the vast majority of wizards?" Jon couldn''t help butugh grimly, "I don''t understand, teacher, who exactly does oppression and inequality bring benefits to!" "The redistribution of benefits in society always involves a period of pain, and muggle wizards will inevitably suffer a little now, but the philosophy of that student of mine has changed a lot, he used to think that only dead muggles are good muggles, and now he can tolerate muggle wizards bing ves, isn''t this good progress? When he gets what he wants, he will try to attract more people in order to consolidate his authority. By then, the resources of the entire magical world will be more integrated and the status of muggle wizards will be further improved, and the magical world will definitely be much better than its previous scattered existence." In the face of Slughorn''s outlook on the future of Voldemort''s rule, Jon simply said in an icy tone. "Although I''m young, I''ve only heard of snakes eating their food till their stomachs burst, but I never knew of a snake that would spit out the food it had stuffed into its stomach again even if it bes too much for its body size!" "Aha, excellent analogy, Jon." Slughorn praised, "But what if that student of mine is not a snake? The talent and heart he is showing right now can definitely be described as a great leader." "Praising in such a manner will only make others feel ridiculed and ridiculous." Slughorn shook his head, ending this argument between teacher and student, and quietly looked at Jon who was blocking the door. "I''ve talked to you long enough, if I want to leave, are you sure you can stop me and hold on until Dumbledoree back?" Jon who was originally a little anxious because of the wait now calmed down. He already realized before that Slughorn must have made enough preparations for such an important task. In fact, although he did not go directly to Dumbledore, he had already slipped a letter into the Headmaster''s office. After all, one is a nearly a hundred years old friendship, while another one just admitted as a student at Hogwarts for less than a year, so Jon believed that in Dumbledore''s heart his weight is certainly not as much as Slughorn''s. After seeing the letter, it is likely that he will pay close attention to Slughorn. This is why Jon now dared to stop the fat walrus here alone, originally he chose the safest option, to wait in the great hall, without taking a risk to make this trip. But in the end, he could not hold back, to see whether the traitor is exactly who he suspected, the teacher who has been pouring his time and effort into him. But even at this point, when the rainstorm outside the wagon has begun to subside, and there are signs that it is going to stop, Jon didn''t see any trace of backup preparations made by Dumbledore here. He was not sure what Dumbledore has in mind. Perhaps he has absolute trust in Slughorn, even after seeing the letter, he did not have a hint of doubt about this old friend; perhaps he felt that the ce where he kept the philosopher''s stone would be foolproof and no one could find it: or perhaps there was something in the middle that he did not know about, such as the Headmaster of Hogwarts did not see the letter that he left. But at this point, it had be clear that Jon could not count on the biggest pir on the wagon. If he simply did nothing to stop Slughorn''s departure now, Jon believed that this teacher of his would not hurt him one bit. But he has alreadye here, and in the end, if really just does nothing, how can he be reconciled? Jon took a deep breath, his expression was firm and grave as he gripped the chestnut wand in his hand and held it up in front of his body! "How can we know the result if we don''t give it a try? Slughorn teacher." --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 54: Win-Gardi-Um-Le-Viosa-! Chapter 54: Win-Gardi-Um-Le-Viosa-! "To attempt to be brave is certainly a choice that one will never regret." Slughorn praised as he raised his wand as well, and he looked pleased with Jon''s choice, without the slightest hint of faked delight. "If Hogwarts is still the same Hogwarts, I''m still the same Slytherin Head, then regardless of what, I would have taught you especially when you entered Slytherin House." "Would such a pureblood house ept a student with a mudblood like me?" Jon scoffed in a low voice. Slughorn said with undeniable seriousness. "A true Slytherin is never judged by bloodline as an absolute standard, as long as the heart is noble, visionary, and willing to take absolutely daring action for their goals and ambitions, that is a perfect Slytherin." "And then? Now in that Hogwarts castle with the snake as the school crest, is there a person who can be called a perfect Slytherin like this?" "I''m sorry, actually, after leaving my position as Head of Slytherin, I never went back to that castle, but after I leave from here, I might visit there." Slughorn said with a rxed tone. He hadpletely run out of patience to continue chatting with Jon, and the tip of the wand in his hand aimed precisely at Jon''s body. "That''s all for today, Jon. Don''t worry, I''m looking forward to what you can grow into when we next meet, so no matter what choice you make, whether you stop me in the end or not, I won''t hurt you." As soon as his words fell, the tip of his wand glowed bright red! "Stupefy." Jon''s voice also sounded almost at the same second! "Wingardium-Leviosa!" The wand he held in his left hand didn''t swing, but the moment the spell showed its effect, he dodged the stunning spell flying towards him with a speed far beyond that of a normal human, and charged straight towards the fat walrus! Jon knows very well about the gap between himself and a veteran magic professor, whether it is the number of spells learned or the strength of the spell, even if he learns another decade he may not be able to catch up with the current level of umtion Slughorn has. If he wants to get a chance to win, he can only find another way, although the ring casting was taught to him by Slughorn, but because of the special nature of this kind of magic, other than the party who learned it, others can hardly find a way to target such a spell casting method. Just an ordinary general counter-spell is enough to neutralize the levitation charm, but a levitation charm that takes effect inside Jon''s body, how can amon counter-spell affect the wizard''s body? Since there is no way to make any counter on the magical level, it is the simplest and purest way to make an attempt. The levitation charm used on the body can only reduce Jon''s weight but not strengthen his physical capabilities, so if ites to physicalbat, in fact, he only has the strength of an ordinary 11-year-old boy, but Slughorn is also a hundred-year-old man, and still extremely addicted to sweets andck exercise, so a little walk would make him tired from too much sweating. If you want to make aparison between both of their physical strength, they are equally bnced, but they both still only have half a man''s strength, even so,pared to a wand-to-wand fight, Jon has a much higher chance to seed in this method! At first, Jon''s actions went extremely swiftly, and Slughorn did not react to his extraordinary speed, and when he realized that the stunning spell had failed and raised his wand again, Jon had already arrived in front of him. Jon, whose breathing had obviously be much more rapid, jumped and raised his fist high in the air! "Wake up! Teacher! If the dark lord really respects you and wants to wee you, then why did he corner you like that during the second attack! If your reaction had been half a second slower, then you would have really let his men blow you up!" "Bang!" His fist didn''t hit Slughorn''s face, a slight ripple rippled up, and a transparent light shield shielded the fat walrus'' body. Slughorn looked at Jon, who had got close at hand, and smiled without changing his face. "I''m more sober than anyone else in the world, Jon, and it''s because he has that kind of character that he can actually do what he wants to do. This is simrly your biggest drawback, if you can refrain from putting so much weight on your feelings in your future, then I am sure that your future achievements will not be low." He said softly, his hand did not swing the wand, and his mouth did not recite the incantation, but the wooden boxes scattered around the store room soundlessly changed dramatically. These dead things were given life by magic, they became flexible and slender, and finally turned into countless bright green vipers that sprang towards Jon''s direction! Jon did not back up or choose to dodge, it can also be said that he could not evade it now, the entire floor of the storage room has already been upied by the vipers, except for the space where he and Slughorn stood on their feet! He raised the wand in his hand and recited the only offensive spell he knew at the transparent light shield. "Petrificus-Totalus!" The bright red spell shot out from the tip of his wand, so close that the spell itself had no chance of being shot out of line, and retained the fullest possible impact! The shield charm protecting Slughorn''s body was tainted red by the full body-bind curse! But even so, the gap between the quality of the magic spell between the two still did not allow Jon''s spell to break through theyer of protection, and it did not even manage to break a little, simply leaving some fine cracks like a spider web on the surface of the shield charm. Even this was enough to bring an expression of surprise to Slughorn''s face. "A very satisfactory full body-bind curse, first-year students should not be taught about this in their sses at all, you have already surpassed the vast majority of your peers by being able to reach this level just by self-study." During the time he was speaking, the vipers that littered the ground had already reached Jon''s feet. Jon''s face did not show much disappointment when he failed tond a blow, and his eyes stared at Slughorn''s eyes through the cracked gap of the shield charm that appeared as he calmly said. "I originally intended to give you a surprise the day I saw you brewing the polyjuice potion, teacher. But now it''s not toote to let you know." He didn''t swing his wand, didn''t even bother to raise the wand in his hand again, and simply uttered softly through his lips, the incantation that is used by most wizards when they first learn magic. "Win-Gardi-Um-Le-Viosa-!" The next moment, the "Levitation Charm", which had never been shown to the world besides Neville, showed its effect! Just when the fastest viper had touched his shoes, the earth''s gravity suddenly lost its pull on Jon, and a strange force made him float in mid-air! --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 55: Unsuccessful disarming Chapter 55: Unsessful disarming The ultimate dream of mankind has always been conquering the sky. The only difference between the ordinary world and the magical world is that wizards invented flying broomsticks and flying carpets earlier, and after realizing that human beings can barely manage to fly with their own power, they choose to use external forces. But there are still many aspiring wizards from ancient times to the present who want to rely solely on their own ability to get rid of the restraints of the earth. But ording to records, only one person can do this, namely Voldemort. His body can dissolve a ck mist of magic, which allows him to soar into the sky without any support, and he also taught this magic to Snape. As for Dumbledore and Grindelwald, who is also at the top level of the magical world, they may also be able to fly with their own powerful magic, but this is definitely not a kind of structured magic, otherwise, they would probably have taught it to their own men. From this aspect alone you can see, at least in the study of magic, Voldemort is truly gifted. Nevertheless, in all these long centuries of well-kept records in the magical world, it was only Voldemort who did it first. Slughorn had not learned the way of spell casting through the ring, but he had read all those magic materials left behind by his old friend. The ring casting only changed the target of the magic spell, and definitely did not provide any enhanced effect on the spell itself. With that being said, he always believed that Jon might really be able to make himself fly in the future purely by relying on the levitation charm, but he thought that this process would take very, very long, maybe twenty, thirty or even fifty years, it''s definitely not right now. But the scene unfolded in front of him was not in any way fake, Jon just flew in front of him, using the very ring he gave him, reciting a perfectly normal levitation charm! The ceiling of the storage room should be much higher than the one in the dormitory, close to six meters high, Jon floating in mid-air canpletely control his altitude and direction freely. He actually simply reced the core of the levitation charm with another equivalent one, turning the simple core intent to float up into a gravitational force control to fly up. Nothing else has changed, so the normal control method of the levitation charm has not changed either. But Jon is very, very aware of the biggest w this magic currently has, the fact, that it can''tst too long. Even if he has spent the past few months practising the "levitation charm" proficiently enough, the effect can now be maintained steadily for no more than a minute. Slughorn has recovered from the shock, he raised the wand in his hand, and the vipers that covered the ground began to crawl towards the wall, after touching the wall they turned into an ever-growing vine and began to spread in the direction of Jon using the wall as a root. "You''ve really surprised me enough today, Jon." Even though their wands are now facing each other, the fat walrus still has not minced his words of praise for Jon, "How long has it been, less than half a year, less than half a year since you actually started to learn this way of casting spells, and you have already aplished the most perfect mastery of one magic spell." "But even if you perform shockingly well, and you can truly fly with this spell, will it make any difference to the oue?" Jon''s gaze still remained fixed on the crack in Slughorn''s shield charm, the palm of his hand that held his wand tightly was sweating, and there were already rapidly spreading vines breaking into the space within twenty centimetres around him. The wand that Slughorn wielded during the transfiguration spell still held in the same posture without changing, and even though Jon brought him a lot of surprises today, he never felt that this student of his could really stop himself. Because Jon''s exposure to magic is really too short, so short that if a normal student can use the levitation charm naturally at this time, they can be called very talented. What he managed to do today has already surpassed virtually all of his peers, but after all, he is only 11 years old. The vines thatpletely sealed off the surrounding space which was formed by a transfiguration spell could actually be solved with a simplemon untransfiguration, and the seemingly invulnerable shield charm on Slughorn could possibly be shattered by any spell as long as his magic power bes more powerful. Jon can certainly do all these things in the future, but he obviously can''t right now. The only self-preservation spell he could use in battle was the levitation charm that was used on his body, and the only offensive spell he used was a stunning spell, both of which were solved by Slughorn, so he seemed to bepletely devoid of any other means. But just as the vines controlled by Slughorn touched his coat and were about to bind him, Jon''s mouth rang out with the sound of the incantation that had been used for the third time in this battle! "Wingardium Leviosa!" This time, unlike the previous two times, he finally swung his wand, and the tip of the wand was aimed in the direction of Slughorn, who is protected within the shield charm or to be more precise, it was actually aimed at the wand he was holding in his hand! Without any spell beam shooting out, the magic power just invisibly passed through the broken crack of the shield charm, and instantly influenced the wand lightly held in Slughorn''s hand! Because of thepleteck of advance anticipation, Slughorn simply did not have any chance to react, a not too light force jostled the wand out of his hand, which then floated and flew into mid-air! This levitation charm used by Jon has exactly the same effect as the disarming charm, but there was ack of any forewarning, plus, theck of need to shatter the shield charm did not provide any time for reaction. When the wand broke out of his hand, Slughorn''s entire body froze. Jon did not give up this perfect opportunity that he had worked so hard to create, he struggled to break free from the vines that had wrapped around his ankles, stretching out his other hand that did not hold the wand, and grabbed the wand of the fat walrus that was floating in mid-air! However, when his fingertips touched the wand, the wand suddenly seemed to have self-awareness and turned away from Jon''s outstretched hand! The "levitation charm" ced on it also lost its containment, and the wand deftly fell back into Slughorn''s hand! Jon''s eyes widened at this unbelievable scene, he had never heard of a wizard''s wand that was disarmed could still go back on its own! Slughorn, who had regained his wand, finally came back to his senses, with a shaken look on his face, and then without hesitation, he waved his wand to elerate the growth of the vines. This time, Jon, who has really used up all his means, was trapped firmly into a dumpling andpletely lost the possibility of any resistance. --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 56: Professor Dumbledore? Chapter 56: Professor Dumbledore? "This oue is a foregone conclusion, Jon, but you have certainly opened my eyes today." Slughorn stared at Jon, who had been wrapped into a dumpling and flicked the wand in his hand and aimed it at the wagon window behind him. A ss-shattering sound, which was inconspicuous in the fierce storm, rang out, and the cold, damp air came into the storeroom from outside the wagon. "I will wait by the side of that student of mine until the day this wagon reallyes to the end of the road, and for the sake of having taught here for two years, I will try to persuade him to leave a way out for you and other students." After finishing thest sentence, Slughorn''s fat body rushed out of the wagon window andpletely disappeared into the dark, rainy night. The storage room went quiet, the vines transformed out by the transfiguration spell did not disappear because the caster left, and Jon''s body which was still tied to the floor could not move. Beech did not leave with Slughorn, he was standing on the top of Jon''s head, looking around left and right, in fact, he actually did not know what had happened, only due to the reward given to him by the fat walrus, he helped a little in return. Jon''s face did not show much frustration at this moment, he was looking at the window where Slughorn escaped, with a thoughtful expression, it is unknown what he was thinking. Two or three minutes passed in such a quiet contemtion before Jon tried to call out at the empty room. "Professor Dumbledore?" His voice seemed abrupt in a room where he was alone, and Beech, who was standing on his head, looked alertly from side to side as if trying to find out who Jon was trying to talk to. And just two or three seconds after Jon''s voice fell, an old man with crescent-shaped sses and long grey hair and a beard manifested in the corner! Dumbledore then smiled and stood by the wall, meeting Jon''s nk gaze. "..." Jon swore he really just wanted to try it out, the means by which Slughorn got his wand back, in the end, was just too suspicious, so suspicious that he could do nothing but exhaust his mind infinitely before he could guess an absolutely daring possibility. This possibility that appeared in his mind made him feel ridiculous, and he opened his mouth to call out Dumbledore when he felt he was subconsciously looking for an excuse for his failure. But when Dumbledore really appeared in front of his eyes, Jon froze. His eyes stared unblinkingly at Dumbledore, and Dumbledore''s azure eyes were also looking at him gently. "That was a beautiful levitation charm at the end, Jon, and I''ve never seen a student use such a basic spell in such an exceptional way. If it weren''t for me, Horace would have been disgraced tonight." The old, calm voice just expressed the praise for Jon so unabashedly, as if he was supposed to be a reasonable bystander and the fight just now was just usual sparring between a student and a teacher! Jon''s breathing became rapid, Dumbledore was here, if he could not think of who was leading this y of betrayal, then he had lived more than twenty years of hisst life in vain. "Professor-" His words were not even halfway through when Dumbledore drew out his wand and flicked it lightly towards the vines that entangled Jon while interrupting. "I know you have a lot to ask me, but this may not be the right ce for a long conversation. Kingsley and the men should have just brought the injured Lily into the wagon by now, and Filius and Minerva are still searching for Horace''s ''body'' in the pouring rain. If you don''t mind, you cane with me to my office where we can have a nice chat." As he spoke he pulled up Jon, who had been untied from the floor and walked ahead, leading him out of the storage room. Beech stilly bored on top of Jon''s head at this time, he now had no treasure he wanted to steal and did not want to go to Hagrid, Jon''s hair became a temporary nest for him. Jon, of course, does not bother with Beech''s behaviour, his mind seems very crystal clear, after he saw Dumbledore, everything made sense now, but it also seems like a jumbled-up mess, he felt that everything he perceived til now might be wrong like a well-thought-out conspiracy. He just followed Dumbledore into his office together. This ce is still the same as when he first came, a golden perch erected next to the desk, a wide but worn wooden cab for storing wands in the southern part, half a wall full of portraits of past Headmasters, as well as the real Hogwarts crest above the portraits. After taking a seat in his office chair, Dumbledore picked up a piece of parchment from his desk top, the words on it were obviously all reproduced from book-printed text, and there was no way to identify the person from the handwriting. "When I first received this letter, I was wondering who exactly might have such keen observation and in-depth magical world general knowledge reserves, at first I thought it might be either Minerva or Filius, but if it was really them, there would be no need for this letter to appear, they would simplye to me and clear it up face to face." Jon attentively noted that Dumbledore did not mention Lily''s name. "I couldn''t have guessed that the person who delivered this letter to me was actually just a new student who had only been at Hogwarts for less than a year or a student that Horace had just got himself." Dumbledore looked at Jon and then turned his head to look at the letter in his hand, tutting in surprise. Jon took a deep breath, he had calmed down now and made himself calm enough to ask the appropriate questions. "So, professor, you knew from the beginning about the teacher and his intention to steal the philosopher''s stone? Or rather, from the beginning you worked with him to n for him to steal the philosopher''s stone and send it to the Dark Lord?" Dumbledore crossed his fingers in front of his body, and calmly answered Jon''s question. "The owner of the philosopher''s stone - Nics mel is my dear friend who I spend a great deal of time with, we once worked together to discover the twelve uses of dragon''s blood, and because of that, we developed a deep friendship. At the beginning of this journey of exile, he was the one who gave us financial support by using the philosopher''s stone to turn gold, which enabled the daily operation of this school, but three years ago, after he witnessed the dark reign of the Dark Lord in Britain and reaching a certain secret pact with the French magical government, he no longer wanted to stay in this filthy magical world. So he gifted me his most precious possession, the philosopher''s stone, and then epted his own death openly with his wife." "Before he died, he made a trip to the British Ministry of Magic under the guise of his philosopher''s stone being stolen and met with the most powerful Dark Lord, where he ridiculed his policies and ambitions,ughed at his self-righteous pureblood pride, and vented all his dissatisfaction with the way he had turned the world into. The Dark Lord had indeed changed a lotpared to before, he was not even slightly annoyed by Nick''s mockery, but epted his criticism calmly and finally sent someone to escort him safely back home. It was just, after that day, he began to send his men to search for the whereabouts of the philosopher''s stone." "He actually must have known very well that there could only be one ce the philosopher''s stone could possibly end up, and that would be my hand. Well, given that, I of course found a suitable reason and way to deliver this stone that he wanted to get into his hands." Jon stared into Dumbledore''s eyes, it was obvious that Dumbledore''s tone was unusually calm when he said this, but it made his heart beat inexplicably faster. "Then the teacher he-" "He is the most suitable person, he has been the head of Slytherin for nearly fifty years, and almost all the pureblood wizards who now upy important positions in the Ministry of Magic are his students. The people who think they are familiar with him also know about his timid and fearful character, and the Slughorn family is also one of the most prominent pureblood families in the magical world, and all of these together won''t let anyone have any doubts about his status and bloodline nature. Even if he had taught in this wagon for a year, it would only make people think that he was actually duped into this by me in the first ce." "Taking the philosopher''s stone back will gain him the wee of all Death Eaters and pureblood families, and then he will enter the inner circle of the dark lord, and provide us some vital intelligence and information without anyone knowing during the most critical period." --------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 57: Banquet Hall and Headmasters Office (1) Chapter 57: Banquet Hall and Headmaster''s Office (1) Inside the magnificent hall, wizards wearing elegant and gorgeous formal robes were enjoying the unexpected banquet. The invitation to this banquet was just sent out this afternoon, at this time the high-ranking members of the British Ministry of Magic actually had other arrangements for the evening, but no matter who was invited, as long as the wizards received the invitation, they all postponed all the activities prepared in advance and responded to the invitation to attend the banquet. Simply because this banquet was hosted by that great sir, being able to receive his invitation would only make people feel terrified and honoured, and no one would have the slightest thought of refusing. The banquet started at 7 o''clock and two hours had passed by now, but the great sir still sitting on the main seat at the front of the banquet hall, a faint smile visible on his handsome and charming face, as he listened to the fawning Minister of Magic beside him - Cornelius Fudge reporting to him about the Ministry''s affairs. From the beginning to the end, he did not announce the reason for this banquet being held, nor did he have any intention of ending it. All of the British magical world has to serve the will of this gentleman, even if this meaningless banquet has to keep going on like this for three days and nights, as long as this gentleman did not say it is over, then both male and female wizards who are here with iparably noble status have to smile and raise the goblet in their hands to maintain the elegance and extravagance of this moment forever. But at that moment, the door of the banquet hall was suddenly pushed open by the attendant outside the door. The lightughter among the wizards gradually stopped, and all eyes looked at the male wizard who seemed to have arrivedte. With long greasy hair, a pale face that looks as if it has never been exposed to sunlight, and empty and seemingly emotionless eyes, there is no one else in the entire magical world who has such distinctive characteristics. Severus Snape, that gentleman''s most favoured subordinate, the current deputy headmaster of Hogwarts, pureblood house head, professor of potion ss, and at the same time the deputy director of the Death Eaters General Defence Force. In the current British magical world, where bloodline hierarchies are iparably strict, a half-blood person has an identity and status that far exceeds that of most pureblood wizards. In the middle of the banquet hall, some people looked at Snape who walked in and couldn''t help but frown. Even if he is highly valued by Sir, he cannot be arrogant on this asion, he only came when two hours of the banquet had already started. However, just when some people were ready to stand up and voice their rebuke against this Professor Snape, someone finally noticed the figure that came in with him and let out a gasp. "House Head!" Slughorn still had the same harmless smile, he had changed into a brand-new emerald green robe and nodded slightly towards the witch who had opened her mouth and called out to him as Head, as a response. Therge banquet hall instantly became silent. Everyone in the hall knew exactly what Slughorn''s status is now, although the Ministry of Magic has never included him in the list of wanted criminals, he is still on the same side as Dumbledore the wizard sinner. And tonight, he was brought here by Snape, what does it mean? A wizard with a sharp mind turned his attention to the man sitting in the main seat. That greatest of all gentlemen had stood up from the main seat as soon as Slughorn walked into the banquet hall. He took a step down the dais, a hint of enthusiasm evident in the faint smile on his face, and he opened his arms as he arrived in front of Slughorn. Slughorn''s face also carried what looked like a flush from excitement, and he too opened his arms and embraced his once most favoured student in front of him. "Wee back, Professor." The next moment, the banquet hall rang out with the most enthusiastic apuse, no one knows why Slughorn, who has been hanging out with Dumbledore for the past two years, has appeared here. But these are not important, what is important is the attitude of the great sir towards their former head, sir''s attitude is the attitude of the noble pureblood wizards. ... "Professor, I don''t understand, why would the Dark Lord want the philosopher''s stone so badly? Also, would he really believe that teacher has betrayed us?" Inside the Headmaster''s office, Jon voiced his doubts. Dumbledore''s face showed an inexplicable smile, he opened his mouth to give Jon an answer to his doubts. "The philosopher''s stone is indeed basically not that attractive to him, the entire British magical world is his, even if that stone can create more wealth, can it be more than that? As for the elixir of life, he has always been disdainful of such means that rely on foreign objects to obtain immortality, he will never ce his trust about life in other things, even if it is a dead thing. The only thing that is somewhat attractive to him is the alchemical significance of the philosopher''s stone itself, but this is certainly not attractive enough for him to go to such lengths to get it." "The philosopher''s stone is not what matters to him, whether the stone is in my hands or not is the point." Jon said thoughtfully. "He does not want Hogwarts to rely on this stone to continue to survive in the wizarding world?" Dumbledore shook his head, a smile with a hint of sarcasm tugging at the corners of his mouth. "He just didn''t want me to drink the elixir of life." Jon''s face froze, and his mind clicked with a sudden realization. It is true that Voldemort now has full control over the British magical world, but Dumbledore is still alive! Hogwarts in exile has been able to survive only because Dumbledore is still alive. The students and professors on the wagon and the resisting wizards in the Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort have never put them in his eyes, only Dumbledore, only he alone will make the dark lord who has seeded in taking control of power so serious. And if Dumbledore has the philosopher''s stone, it means he has the capital to live without limits! "But he obviously underestimated me." Dumbledore said softly, "When even he didn''t regard that false immortality highly, how will I bother to use it?" "As for, how can I be sure that he would believe that Horace really betrayed me to join him, it really doesn''t matter at all." "He has never given his trust to anyone, for him, it does not matter whether the people who pledged their allegiance to him are loyal or not, what matters is whether the people under him can create the value for him as they should, of course, there are times when absolute loyalty is also a value. And until it is certain that Horace really has absolute loyalty to him, the matter of Horace''s betrayal itself is already a very valuable thing." Jon was not sure what to say. "To help him gather the hearts of people?" Dumbledore shed a praising smile. "We have been wanted for seven years, during which time he has barely gained any significant results against us, even if his absolute authority in the magicalmunity has not wavered in the slightest, but after all, there are numerous people under him, and he needs to give those who are wavering some confidence to rely on." ------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 58: Banquet Hall and Headmasters Office (2) Chapter 58: Banquet Hall and Headmaster''s Office (2) It was only then that the wizards in the banquet hall realized that this evening''s banquet was actually a wee reception. The noble-born wizards and witches listened to the great sir narrate to them how their former head had managed to stay dormant under that wizard sinner, obtaining his trust and retrieving the lost philosopher''s stone spectacrly. The crowd in the banquet hall admired Slughorn''s patience, andplimented Sir''s far-sightedness, all the while scorning Dumbledore''s vile and brazen attempt to steal his friend''s treasure. After all, on the surface, when Nics mel''s philosopher''s stone was stolen, he personally came to the Ministry of Magic to report it, and now the stone was brought back by Slughorn from Dumbledore''s possession, the crime of theft, as well as the murder, of course, should be rightfully ced on his head. The sir kindly supported the arm of the fat walrus and asked with a smile on his face. "I actually always miss Professor Dumbledore, when I was in school, in addition to you, only he took good care of me, but unfortunately there was not much opportunity to see him again over the years, I wonder if he is living well recently?" Slughorn smiled joyfully, his kind face appeared as if it would never show any dark expression. "Albus is getting old after all, and he has spent all day in the wagon travelling without much free time, I heard that he has been suffering from serious insomniately, he can''t even eat much; for a good piece of steak, he can only move his fork at most twice before he can''t eat it anymore." A lightugh rang out in the banquet hall, and by the tone of Slughorn''s voice, they could all picture the image of a teetering, dying old man struggling to support that band of rebels in their minds. The great sir alsoughed, or the whole banquet hall actually was catering to the expression on his face, as if, if he wasughing, others would alsough, if he was unhappy, all others would also be gloomy and silent. "Ah, that''s really unfortunate." Heughed lightly, "I just ate a te of beef ribs with Cornelius, Professor Dumbledore should be like me and eat a little more normally, health is the most important thing." Minister of Magic Fudge quickly chimed in to agree. "Or sir''s appetite is excellent, I have been suffering from stomach problems in the past two days, just now I have not eaten more than a few pieces at all." The great sir just patted his shoulder, as he smiled and said. "Professor Dumbledore has suffered, I will pick him upter so that he can enjoy his old age, otherwise he has to run around like a child at such an old age, what is the point of torturing himself like this?" Another burst of undisguisedughter rang out in the banquet hall, thatughter was full of mockery. --- "But there''s one thing I don''t understand, Professor." Jon frowned, wanting to ask all his unanswered questions today. "If the Dark Lord could let Teacher steal the philosopher''s stone from the wagon, why not let him do something more worthwhile? For instance, the teacher has revealed our exact location to him three times in a row, so why didn''t hee over himself?" Dumbledore blinked as the dim light reflected off his moon-shaped sses. "So what you''re really trying to ask is why he didn''t just wipe us out when he obviously had the opportunity to do so, right?" Jon nodded, in fact, he can feel that as long as Voldemort came to block Dumbledore for some time, there is no need to defeat him, as long as he can hold him for a while, then with the absolute numerical superiority of Aurors and Death Eaters, it will be easy to solve them all. "Jon, as I told you before, he''s not worried about the philosopher''s stone creating wealth for Hogwarts or anyone else around me, he''s afraid that I''ll be able to rely on that stone to continue to live, and the answer to your question is actually the same." With this simple reminder from Dumbledore, Jon''s mind clicked and came up with his own answer! Hogwarts in exile and the resistance force of the Order of the Phoenix, it does not matter in the eyes of Voldemort, all that matters is the person who leads these two organizations to go on! In this world without the saviour, if Hogwarts even lost Dumbledore, then there is really no future. At the same time, now Dumbledore is treated as the only spiritual pir of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. If Voldemort truly destroys the wagon, the Vitality of the Order of the Phoenix will be extinguished, then what will Dumbledore do when there is no attachment and considerations to hold him back? Desperate people will always be ten thousand times more frightening than those who have hope. The Hogwarts with only a few dozen students would be left alone til Dumbledore''s death, it would be like putting shackles on Dumbledore, for the sake of these children, he would not take any major risks, and would not have any deadly ideas. As long as they didn''t extinguish his hope which is as feeble as a candle me, then Dumbledore would simply try to y it safe, and it is also the best bet for Voldemort. As for the only remaining muggle students on the wagon who are not oppressed and enved, Dumbledore is theirst protective barrier, if one day in the future, the old man is also gone, then the magical world''s sky will bepletely cked out. Voldemort''s best choice now is to make a quantitative suppression on Hogwarts, to keep it from developing and growing too much at the same time without letting itpletely destroyed. Jon even started to suspect that this Hogwarts is still able to snatch Muggle-born students from that Hogwarts castle every year until now, most likely because Voldemort intended to allow it. He wants to keep the candle me kept lit until Dumbledore''s lifepletely burned out for the sake of this flickering candle me which is about to die out! After thinking about this point, Jon fell silent. He looked at the old man with white hair and beard and knew very well that even if wizards can generally live more than one or two hundred years, the constant strain caused by fighting against two generations of Dark Lords almost all his life, exhausted a lot of his vigour. Dumbledore seems to have sensed Jon''s somewhat distressed mood and smiled brightly. "No need to feel bad for me, Jon, I''m not doing this for anyone, it''s just something I want to do. Just like your teacher, if it was in the past, who would have believed he actually had the guts to go undercover?" Jon hesitated, and after a moment of hesitation, he finally decided to ask, the question he had actually always wanted to ask since the day he was brought to this wagon by Lily. "Professor, I want to know, how did you lose to the Dark Lord at that time? Is he really so powerful that no one can defeat him? ------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 59: Banquet Hall and Headmasters Office (3) Chapter 59: Banquet Hall and Headmaster''s Office (3) The banquet was nearing its end. And every wizard here knew very well that the great gentleman still has one more important thing to announce. On the high tform, the student and professor who hadn''t seen each other for a long time seemed to be chatting happily, and no one dared to urge them about the fact that it was already veryte and everyone should go back to bed; because as long as the gentleman didn''t mention it, the banquet would never end. Finally, the wizards who are right next to the high tform heard the gentleman''s casual remark. "If you join me, you can be a minister of magic for a while, professor. It just so happens that Cornelius talked to me just now, saying that he feels overwhelmed with the management of the Ministry of Magic." The wizards who heard these words all looked slightly puzzled, but soon they all reacted quickly to the situation, chatting andughing, except for Cornelius Fudge, who was beside the gentleman with an insincere smile, his face somewhat stiffened and looked like a pug. But such stiffness onlysted for just under two seconds, and his round face once again blossomed into a daisy smile. "Ah, it would be great if Professor Slughorn could take over my position, his ability is obvious to all, and I believe the Ministry of Magic will definitely be much better under his leadership." The smile on Slughorn''s face had not changed from the beginning to the end, and he politely refused. "I''m getting older, and it''s not easy to manage the Ministry of Magic for you, you should help me find an easy job to enjoy my life, but of course, the pay should not be less, I heard that the crystallised pineapples in Diagon Alley are not cheap." The great gentleman smiled, his request for Slughorn to be the Minister of Magic didn''t look that firm, those words at the beginning seemed like truly a casual remark. "What professor said does seem reasonable, and it is time for you to enjoy your life, but it is also true that crystallised pineapples are not all that cheap, and the sry of a normal job will not be enough for you to eat them every day." As if he thought of something, he turned his head to look at Fudge. "I remember you mentioning that the one who manages the Department of International Magical Co-operation doesn''t want to work there?" Fudge said with a smile, "He has beenining that those Frenchmen simply don''t want tomunicate at all, and the first few times they met, they even got to the point of raising their wands, and he talked to you about it before, saying that he actually wanted to go back to the Death Eaters more than anything else." "Then let him return, after this night the guards are estimated to have a few spots vacant, give him a ce." He said indifferently, his voice still sounding as casual as usual, only this time it carried a non-refusable tone. "Professor, you should be the head of the Department of International Magic Cooperation, it''s much more reassuring for me to leave it to you than to those baboons who can only wave their wands. The position of deputy Minister of Magic will also be added to you, you are my professor, after all, even if you be head of the department, you can''t just be the head of the department." Slughorn did not refuse this time, he smiled and nodded, only the corner of his eyes nced at Fudge who obviously seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief. He clearly knew that in the future, in the Ministry of Magic, even without his student''s specific instruction, this puppet minister would definitely keep an eye on him at all times, and that is exactly what this student of his wanted to see. After ying with the scarlet stone in his hand, the great gentleman finally raised the goblet in his hand. He did not get up, and merely raised the goblet gently as he sat in the main seat, and said aloud to the wizards in the whole banquet hall. "For the Purest Blood!" Offstage, the male and female wizards also raised their goblets in their hands and offered their salutations for thest bit of the banquet. "For the Purest Blood!" --- Fawkes on the golden perch was grooming his mboyant feathers with his pointed beak. When Dumbledore mentioned his defeat, his face did not show much frustration or shame, he still spoke as calmly as ever. "The Dark Lord''s gift of magic, especially dark magic, is unprecedented. But previously, his will had always been very chaotic, and he could even be described as crazy, which made his dark magic more powerful and uncontroble, yet also made him influenced by the ''will'' of magic, rather than controlling magic with his ''Will''; he and his organization brought unspeakable terror to the magical world, a terror which only made countless people oppose his rule spontaneously." "But after a certain day, he changed beyond everyone''s recognition. He became more like his former self, adept at disguise, knowing how to refine his desires with nobler goals, knowing how to unite those around him with something other than just violence, and knowing even better how to truly master his power." "After that, the winds of the magical world began to change, and he eroded the Ministry of Magic almostpletely without a sound; when Hogwarts Castle became the only ce that could stand against him. It was at that time he proposed a fair duel with me on his own initiative, and on the very day of the duel - that same night - he led his men into Hogwarts Castle." "The students were all hidden in the kitchens'' underground cer, the faculty and others who opposed his rule were constantly fighting in the corridors, thewns, and all over the ssrooms of the castle, and he was engaged in a final showdown with me on the very highest ce in the castle, the Astronomy Tower." Jon held his breath, through Dumbledore''s narrative, his mind subconsciously imagined the image of that tragic night. Battles were happening all over Hogwarts Castle, with Death Eaters falling and Professors dying at Hogwarts, but the only thing that could determine the final oue of the fray happened at the top of that tower. But in the end. "In the end, it was me who lost." Dumbledore said calmly, "His spell knocked me to the ground, his wand was lit up with a killing curse, and I still remember very clearly what he said to me: ''Professor Dumbledore, I proved to you that the most powerful magic in the world is not that bullshit love, but something greater, something more fascinating! '', and then it was Fawkes who saved me just before his Killing Curse could even be released, and that was the night he managed to rule the entire British magicalmunity." He stared at the Elder Wand in his hand, his words didn''t contain much regret, but rather some sentiment and rxation. "And from that day on, this wand became ordinary in my hands, because I am no longer worthy of being its master." "As for the second question you asked, Jon; is he really invincible or not, as a loser, I can''t give you a definite answer, but what I can tell you is that even if he had defeated me once, he can''t guarantee that he can still beat me the second and third time like the first time, even if the wand in my hand can no longer exert its full power. " Dumbledore said with a serious face. "The power that makes him immensely powerful came from an unknown source, but this power must be unstable, otherwise he wouldn''t have tried to keep dragging things out with me like this and let time wear down my magic. Since he has something to be wary of, this means he is far from invincible." Jon fell silent. He finally got the answer he had always wanted to know from Dumbledore, Voldemort not only killed Harry Potter that night, but he had also be stronger and saner than before. As for the reason why he became like this, even Dumbledore is not aware of it. Or maybe he had in fact already found out something, but his trust in Jon still was far from the point where he could reveal everything he knew. Even the things he was saying to Jon now, Jon found it, a bit too much. Before tonight, the number of times the two of them had exchanged words with each other could be counted on one hand, so why say so much to him now? Just because Jon found out the secret of Slughorn going undercover? Jon felt that the reason why Dumbledore, and he had this conversation tonight would not be that simple, there must be a deeper objective to it in the end. Just when he was thinking about this, Dumbledore looked at him and suddenly opened his mouth and asked. "I heard from Horace that you are very talented in lumency?" Jon froze for a moment, then nodded lightly. "My teacher did mention that I learned this magic quite well." Dumbledore''s gaze became serious as he asked sincerely. "So Jon, I wonder if you would be willing to help me with something?" -------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 60: The Funeral Chapter 60: The Funeral The day after the attack, the news of Slughorn''s death spread throughout the wagon. Most of the students felt disbelief at the news; except for those who had entered the wagon at the beginning of the exile, the other young wizards had never experienced a life-or-death separation from any of the professors. But the body of the defence against the dark arts professor, who was usually always smiling at the lectern, had already taken back to the wagon, and the sobering reality was in front of them, which the others could not refuse to believe. When eating lunch in the great hall, Dumbledore also announced the death of Slughorn in front of everyone, and many students cried out on the spot. The fat walrus may not have treated all students equally in the wagon, but he was a dedicated professor, whether it was the defence against the dark arts or the history of magic, he would never restrict his knowledge taught due to his preference for a particr student. Plus, the majority of the students on this wagon are muggle wizards who have no family and no home, for them, everyone in Hogwarts is their family, and the few professors are like their parents. But now, one of these individuals has left them forever. During lunch, Dumbledore not only announced the death of Slughorn but also announced that there would be a funeral held for him tonight. The students finished their lunch dully, all sses were suspended for the day, some went back to their dorm rooms, and some gathered in themon room. Jon and Neville didn''t go back to their dorm room, they joined Ron, Justin and Lavender, and made their way into themon room in silence. About a dozen students were sitting there, but no one made a sound, only the cracking sound of the mes burning the wood in the firece echoed in this quiet space. Even the twins George and Fred, who used to be the most active and lively, were slumped over the table with gloomy faces, without any desire to liven up the mood. Jon also remained silent, but, of course, he was not sad about Slughorn''s "death", he was just thinking about thest conversation Dumbledore had with himst night. The content of the conversation was plenty, and at the end, he gave Jon the right to choose, but for a while, Jon simply could not decide, so he just expressed that he needed some time to consider. Of course, Dumbledore will agree to such a request, he really did not want to force Jon to do what he wanted, and truly respected his choice, whether he would be willing to do it or not, his attitude toward him will not change. However, Neville and the rest of the group are now unaware of this matter, in their eyes, in the freshmen, the rtionship between Jon and Slughorn is the best, but now something like this has happened, then the most saddest person must be him. "I can understand your feelings, Jon; when my mother left me back then I also thought I would probably never be happy again, but actually, no matter what, living people always have to look forward, after all, we''re not living only for ourselves, but also for those who have died for us." Neville whispered in a serious tone, Ron and the group also looked at Jon with concern, to which Jon showed a smile on his face and reassured them in turn. "Don''t worry, there is nothing wrong with me, I won''t be sullen like this simply because of this." Seeing he was not forcing a smile on his face, Neville and the rest of them were slightly relieved. The whole afternoon passed in this way. Near the end of the evening, Hagrid stopped the moving wagon, they have arrived at the edge of a cliff. Dumbledore had reassured all the students that there would be no such attack, nobody would question this old man''s words, and moreover, nobody would be afraid to step off the wagon due to fear of danger. Below the cliff is a stormy sea, and the cold wind blew in the face of every student who stepped out of the wagon. No one was fazed by the cold since most of them were stunned by the cluster of tombstones in front of them. On the steep cliff, there were nearly a hundred tombstones, and almost everyone could find a familiar name carved on them. A student silently took his wand from his pocket, and walked up to a tombstone holding the short old wooden wand, and bowed deeply as he looked at the name on the tombstone. The wand he''s now using to learn magic was inherited from the one buried under this tombstone. More and more students discovered the tombstone of their wand''s former master, the one who had been their predecessor and the one who had helped them on their magic journey. The students held their wands in their hands, and, just like the student at the beginning, they bent down deeply and bowed, paying their respects to each of their predecessors who were buried here. No one shed tears, even the usually most sensitive girls also pursed their lips not to make sob. The bones of the martyrs were buried under their feet, and they could not show a single sign of weakness here. The professors carried the coffin with Slughorn''s "body" and stepped down from the wagon, most of them did not look grieving, McGonagall and Flitwick''s faces were even a little gloomy. The Ministry of Magic would not hide the news about Slughorn''s defection against Dumbledore and returning with the philosopher''s stone, and the Daily Prophet certainly reported the event in a big way early this morning. For the safety of Slughorn, Dumbledore did not talk to anyone about the fact that he was actually going undercover, there were only two people, Jon and Lily, besides him were aware of it. It goes without saying why Jon was aware of this, as for Lily, Dumbledore and Slughorn were worried that she would not be able to ept the fact that her most respected mentor would betray her. Her mental state is already a bit unstable, they don''t want her to suffer any more major stimtion, so in the original n, she was the only person who would know about the truth other than Dumbledore. The uninformed McGonagall, Filius and the rest of the Order of the Phoenix members, as long as they saw today''s newspaper, almost everyone understood what had transpired. Horace Slughorn did not die, but betrayed Dumbledore, betrayed them all. Dumbledore forbade them from telling the students about it, and the purpose of this funeral was to at least leave thest bit of good memories of Slughorn in the minds of these children. Jon imagined, the members of the Order of the Phoenix, who were unaware of the truth, along with McGonagall and the Filius, would have cursed Slughorn, but they couldn''t me anyone. The professors buried the coffin into the ground, Dumbledore erected a gravestone with Slughorn''s name carved on it. The students bowed their heads in silence, the raging wavespped at the shore reef under the cliff, and the wet, salty, cold sea breeze blew up the hem of their robes. The seagulls chirped in the sky, before nightfall, Dumbledore read out the final line of the eulogy while carving a sentence on Slughorn''s tombstone like every other headstone there. ---- [To the star that dares to shine in the darkness of the night] -------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 61: Silent Island Chapter 61: Silent Ind The grey haze was filled with deadly despair. Tall creatures covered in ck tattered robes roamed the ind, jointly guarding the old fortress in the middle of the ind. In the erosion of time, the fortress looks exceptionally dpidated, with mottled stone walls covered with ck moss, bathing in the sea breeze like a withered arm sticking out of the wall, struggling between life and death realm. Watching two dementors drifting away in the corridor side by side, a ghastly pale Lupin stabilized his breathing, stepping lightly on the ck stone bs, walking to a prison cell in the deepest part of this prison. The prison cell oddly does not contain any people, instead, there was arge dog with pure ck hair lying inside. Keen perception allowed the ck dog to detect the movement outside the bars, it opened its fierce eyes, and after seeing Lupin, its gaze became calm again. The ck dog''s body was twisting and turning, and almost in the blink of an eye, a tall, fit, pale-skinned man with striking grey eyes appeared in the prison cell. "You''vee at too short of an interval this time." Sirius casually said. He seemed like he was not affected by those dementors, you could not feel half a bit of sadness and despair, on the contrary, he was full of vitality and restlessness. Lupin appeared in a poor state, his face looked pale, and the whole person seemed like he had overdrawn a lot of physical strength, his breathing was obviously much sharper than normal, and the bloodless hands were trembling slightly. "It can''t be helped, when I came out of the cave just after the full moonst night, there was a lot of news passed from outside, and there are a lot of things for you to know on the ind, if it wasn''t for the bad time, I actually would havee overst night." Sirius sat on the yellowing straw and raised his eyebrows. "Let me guess, something that would make youe in such a hurry is it much of a good thing or a bad thing." "Dedalus died in jail." A silence fell over the ce. Quiet to the point where only the sound of two people breathing could be heard. The body of Sirius, which was originally sitting casually, tensed up without realizing it, and his grey eyes just stared at Lupin, his voice sounded like it was squeezed out of his teeth. "Obviously when you camest time you told me that he was doing very well!" "Yes, he was indeed pretty fine, but he was on the verge of going crazy at that time." Lupin''s already rapid breathing now became even more erratic, "He was crying andughing, saying he wanted to die in agony, and then saying he must persevere and go home to visit his mother once more." "I went to see him the day before yesterday when he could not hold on, I brought him a lot of his favourite chocte and pudding, but he was lying on the ground, can not even sit up, his mouth only kept repeating that he wanted to see his mother." Lupin''s voice trembled, and he was only able to bring his voice to this point. Sirius clenched his fists tightly, he desperately suppressed his voice, as if it took all his strength to get the words out. "67 of them! There were 67 of our men locked up here when we arrived! Now that Dedalus is dead, there are only 42 left! Including the three of them, Hestia and the others, who were brought inter! 28 people have been sucked to death by those animals in the past three years. 28 people! 28 lives!" In the end, he seemed to be able to control his emotions, as if he had covered the boiling water with a lid, muffling all the rage, and asked in a voice that was so calm that it seemed eerie. "So what''s the progress now?" Lupin took a deep breath. "That''s the second thing I came to find you to say. Word hase from Dumbledore, and if there are no surprises, we''ll be starting right before June of next year." "Another year of waiting?" "The timing is 100% right this time, and ording to our previous estimates, we will be able to make all the preparations just before next spring." "Why can''t it be a little earlier?" "Don''t forget what the consequences of failure are if you start early without reaching expectations." He stared into Sirius'' eyes, "There are still SO many people counting on us, we''re the ones who have been encouraging them to persevere until now, don''t let them end up waiting for despair." Sirius fell silent, and Lupin quietly looked at the windowless grey stone wall of the prison. Today Azkaban is silent, but it will not always remain this way. ... The summer break has begun at Hogwarts. But in fact, for the vast majority of students, there is no difference whether there is a summer break or not, they no longer have a home to return to, and even if there are no sses to attend, all they can do is stay on the wagon. Among the freshmen who will not be freshmen in two more months, Ron and Neville can still have a home to return to, while Justine and Lavender are stuck in the wagon for the summer. Just when they thought Jon was also the same, on the evening of the third day after the final exams, when students gathered in the great hall for dinner, Dumbledore without alerting anyone, took Jon out of the wagon. They are not in their original appearance at this time. Dumbledore''s transfiguration has reached the point of perfection, even the title of master of transfiguration is somewhat unworthy of his level of transfiguration. Without the use of any magical potion as an aid, just relying on the spell itself, he directly changed the appearance of both himself and Jonpletely. They both have an appearance of a middle-aged male wizard, with no distinguishing features, a kind ofmon face that will basically be forgotten subconsciously after one nce. After being dropped off by Hagrid from the wagon between a field, Jon asked in confusion. "Professor, how are we going to get to our destination?" "With Apparition, it''s just it''s not possible to directly arrive at our destination, wherever there is arge gathering of wizards, the starting andnding points of the apparition will be strictly monitored, we need to wait for the wagon to go far away and then pick a ce that is not far from our destination." He exined softly and cautioned in passing. "Don''t forget, don''t call me Professor from now on, you''re Jack, and I''m Williams, we''re blood brothers, our mother is a muggle wizard, and our father is a pureblood, while we are half-bloods." Jon nodded. "Don''t worry, Williams, I''ve memorized all the information you''ve provided on the wagon." After estimating the time, Dumbledore grabbed Jon''s arm. "The odds that we will use them are low, but it is always a good thing to prepare in advance just in case." He said as he waved his wand. ''Apparition.'' The next moment, the two figures twisted and disappeared from thin air, and at the same time, in a deserted alley in London, the two "wizard brothers" regained their forms. -------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 62: The Leaky Cauldron Chapter 62: The Leaky Cauldron London is bustling. Voldemort''s rule over the magical world does not seem to have affected the muggle world for the time being, after all, the time he took real control over the magical world is still a little too short. Moreover, if he really is rational enough, he will not go after the muggles without any advance preparation. Because if he were to do that, the enemy would not just be the muggles and the resistance within the British magicmunity, but the whole world''s magic government, who would not allow the Statute of Secrecy to be broken. The matter of ruling over wizards based on ss division by bloodline can be said to be an internal matter of British wizards, but trying to expose the magicalmunity to the public eye is tantamount to making enemies with wizards all over the world. Jon believes that with Voldemort''s almost unending desire for power, he certainly will not give up the ultimate dream of wizards ruling Muggles and ssifying all Muggles as the lowest ss than even Muggle-born wizards. It''s just, right now, he''s far from ready to counter all of this. At least until hepletely standardizes his ideology throughout the international magicalmunity, he probably won''t do anything yet. Dumbledore led Jon down the street, both of them still wearing their wizard robes, such a costume certainly looks very conspicuous in the modern world, attracting a lot of attention along the way. Finally, they stopped in front of a bar that didn''t fit in with the surrounding buildings. Compared to the other neon-lit signs, the wooden sign that said "The Leaky Cauldron Pub & Inn" looked like an antique handed down from the Middle Ages. The muggles passing by here seem to bepletely oblivious to this ipatible scene and ignore the old bar that seems to have travelled through time. Dumbledore turned his head and looked at Jon, Jon nodded slightly, and then the two walked into the bar side by side. While pushing the door in, Jon, in ordance with Dumbledore''s instructions to him beforeing, deliberately pulled out the wand that had been hidden in the sleeve, and then put it into the robe''s coat pocket, revealing half of the obvious wand outside. Not only he did do so, but Dumbledore also did the same, the wand he inserted in his pocket is not his very easily noticeable Elder Wand, the wand is very smooth and looks very ordinary. After the bar door was pushed open, the doorbell made a "ding-dong" crisp sound. The old wizard who was standing behind the bar, wiping the sses with a rag, looked up at them. He first nced at their faces, and then his eyes naturally fell on the wand that was half inside their pockets and half exposed. "Ah, a pair of fresh faces, but you know the rules well, so you shouldn''t be anyone who is unwee at this bar, right?" The old wizard asked with narrowed eyes as he watched them while putting down the rag in his hands. Jon didn''t move or make a sound, while Dumbledore smiled as he walked forward. "We are both British wizards, of course, we know what kind of people are allowed in ording to the rules, Mr Borgin, isn''t the wand on us enough to prove it?" The old wizard called Mr Borgin smiled, revealing his mouth full of old yellow teeth. "If you are a British wizard, the wand is certainly enough to prove your identity. I''m sorry gentlemen, but a brainless Spanish mudblood came to my store the other day, he also has a wand, that''s considered normal in their country, but he actually thought that his lowly blood would be epted in this noblend as well." Dumbledore frowned slightly. "That''s really..." He did not finish the words that followed, but Borgin seemed to think he saw his dislike and disgust, and the smile on his face could not help but be mixed with a hint of ttery. "May I ask how I should address you?" "Richard Williams, just call me Richard, this is my brother Jack Williams, I''m sorry I don''t have the noblest name you were expecting." The smile on Borgin''s face narrowed for a few moments, whether it is an ancient pureblood or a new pureblood, there is indeed no Williams family, which means that the two brothers in front of him are just half-breeds with mediocre status. "Of course, not everyone can have a noble bloodline, but I know a lot of half-bloods who are also very allergic to those mudbloods and consider it a sin to share the same air with them." He re-polished the ss in his hand, "So what do you two need? Cider or whiskey?" "We would certainly love to have a drink here sometime, but it''s getting dark, and we have a deal pending in Diagon Alley, so we''ll try your strawberry pie next time we have the chance, Mr Borgin." Dumbledore smiled apologetically, and even if he hadn''t earned half a copper Knut from them, Borgin actually found himself in a rare good mood. "Well, I wish you all the best for today." Jon remained silent throughout, only nodding slightly in greeting when Mr Borgin looked at him, showing a sharp contrast to his "brother''s" character. Dumbledore led him all the way through the bar, where not many wizards were seated, and they were all like Jon and Dumbledore, with the end of their wands exposed as if this is a kind of identification proof. After walking out of the back door of the bar, they came to a backyard-like open space, where a brick wall, unpainted, stood directly facing them, and a dustbin was ced beside it. This is the entrance to Diagon Alley, which is the same as the one in the original book without any changes, they walked towards the brick wall when Dumbledore said to Jon in a quiet voice. "Wand is our proof of identity, in ordance with the ''Law of Wands'' introduced by the Ministry of Magic five years ago, it is illegal for Muggle wizards to have any ess to wands, they are deprived of the right to use them, and now the same applies to our entry into Diagon Alley, Muggle wizards without wands have no means to even enter that bar just now. The wall is also a barrier that requires a wand to open, which means that all Muggle wizards are also barred from entering and leaving Diagon Alley except in special circumstances." Jon listened to the exnation Dumbledore gave him in silence, he spent the whole year of his contact with the magical side in the Hogwarts wagon, and all information he has heard about the current situation of the magicalmunity was from hearsay. This is the first time he has ever visited the magical side other than the wagon, and he didn''t even enter Diagon Alley yet, but the whole ss system of the magical society was already in front of him. And just when he was reflecting, Dumbledore at some time took the wand in his hand and gently tapped a certain brick on the wall. The next second, the brick shivered and began to move, a small gap appeared in the centre, and the gap becamerger andrger, in no time a wide archway appeared in front of them, which led to a winding, twisting, cobblestoned street with no visible destination. -------------- Happy Christmas #Giant Sloth, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 63: Diagon Alley Chapter 63: Diagon Alley Clean streets with clear windows, but perhaps because it waste in the evening, there were not many visitors. It has been a year since he entered Hogwarts, but this is the first time Jon came to Diagon Alley, and unlike in the original book, this is not a ce that wees muggle-born wizards at all, he is not eligible to buy new textbooks, school robes and wands here, and even to enter the alley, he has to sneak in with apletely non-existent identity. So when he walked on the cobblestone road his mood was not much rxed, and he constantly remained half a shoulder behind Dumbledore, arriving unhurriedly at the door of a potions store. Dumbledore pushed open the door into the potion store with Jon, the store owner who seemed to be checking his books looked up at them and spoke in a not-so-enthusiastic tone. "It''s almost time for us to close down two customers, if you need anything you can tell me what you need straight off, and I will rmend the right potion for you." Dumbledore did not speak out immediately, his eyes were not on the shopkeeper or any vial of potion on the shelves, instead, he stared at a boy huddled in the corner with a rag and struggling to wipe the shelves as soon as he entered the store. The boy looked about the same age as Jon, with short chestnut hair, wearing a hemp robe, which is dirty and oversized as a whole and does not seem to fit him very well. The shopkeeper also obviously noticed Dumbledore''s gaze, and he frowned slightly before turning to the boy and calling out. "Smith." The boy named Smith stopped his hand movements and turned his head timidly to look at the three adults. "Ai, Mr Elmo." "No need for you to work here, go back to the cer first, do not disturb the mood of the customers here." Smith weakly agreed, then lowered his head like a mouse trying very hard to hide its presence while being watched by everyone, and walked quickly out of the potion store. "Now you might be in the mood to state your needs, gentlemen?" Elmo looked at Dumbledore and the men. He looked like he was driving the boy away in disgust, but Jon could sense that he was acting more like a protector. Dumbledore blinked and looked at him with a smile on his face as he asked. "We don''t want any potion, may I ask if you have a tear of the phoenix in your store?" Elmo''s expression suddenly changed, he looked deeply at Dumbledore and replied in a soft voice. "It is a raremodity, customer, we normally won''t put it on the shelves." Dumbledore walked towards the inner room of the store with Jon in tow, all the while saying. "Then let''s see what''s beyond this shelf." Elmo did not stop them from entering the inner room without being invited, rather he moved carefully to the front of the store to see if there are any suspicious persons outside, and thenpletely closed and locked the door. After doing all this, he also walked quickly into the inner room, where Dumbledore and Jon have removed the effect of transfiguration magic, revealing their original appearance. "Mr Dumbledore, I thought it would take a while for you toe over." This potion store owner named Elmo is obviously a person ced in Diagon Alley by the Order of the Phoenix, even if the Ministry of Magic usually monitors strictly, they can''t supervise every part of the entire British magicalmunity. It is not difficult for them to hide their own people in a street with a lot of traffic like Diagon Alley, as long as the Order of the Phoenix wants to do it, after all, there is no shortage of purebloods and half-bloods among the members of the Order of the Phoenix who have solid backgrounds to be traced. Dumbledore shook his head and said. "It is better to let Jon get more familiar with the life of the boy he will be living as for the next year for some more time, while we have time, as there is still more than a month left before school starts." Elmo''s gaze at this time turned to Jon, who was standing next to Dumbledore, and with an emotional expression on his face, he walked forward and extended a hand. "Pete Elmo. I was surprised when I heard from Dumbledore that you are really just a child who has only been exposed to magic for just a year, but I believe in his vision, you must have a unique strength, he will not let a child sacrifice his year of life for nothing." Jon also extended his own hand and shook Elmo''s. "My name is Jon Green, Mr Elmo, and I''m going to be under your care here for the next month or so." "Don''t be in a hurry to say the word care yet." Elmo said with a bitter smile, "after the official start of the n, in order to ensure your safety, I will clear my mind of all memories of you and this n, then I will treat you as the real Smith, so I would treat you how I would normally treat him afterwards, so there is nothing to take care of." Dumbledore patted his shoulder: "Let me have a few more words with Jon alone, you go ahead and take care of the boy, Pete." Elmo nodded, and then he left the inner room and walked toward the cer where Smith is. After only the two of them were left in the room, Dumbledore looked at Jon with a serious expression. "Now you still have a chance to back out, Jon, if you think this thing is too dangerous, I can still take you back to the wagon, I will look for other ways to get that thing in the castle afterwards. Do not feel afraid or embarrassed to speak, after entering that castle you have to rely on your own, I have no way to give you more help." However, there is not much tension on Jon''s face, and he even showed a smile. "No one is more suitable than me professor, I actually did hesitate at first, but then I thought about it seriously; professor saved me from being taken away by that school, the school taught me magic, taught me knowledge, and you have been protecting our safety, so it does not justify if only you guys pay, and I just have to sit back and enjoy it. I believe no student on the wagon will back down if their help will be needed by the school. Besides, there is something in that castle that the teacher wanted me to get before, and this is just the right opportunity to do so." Dumbledore looked at Jon''s serious face, he smiled calmly, while reaching up his sses and rubbing his eyes, which were somewhat watery. "In the end, I''m too old to hear these things from a student. Well, then there are a few key things I have to remind you of once more atst." He said with a serious face. "After you consume the polyjuice potion, it canst a maximum of 12 hrs, the potion I prepared for you is a one-month supply. After that you have to find a way to brew it yourself, Lily told me that you havepletely mastered the specific brewing process, as for how to get to the potion ingredients after arriving at that castle, at that time someone will take the initiative to contact you." "As for the ''admission pact'' magic on the muggle students, I will cast an almost identical magic sign on your body, so that you can mask the detection of the people in that castle, you don''t have to worry too much about other things, that pact is just a constraint used to inflict taming education, it doesn''t mean that if you sign it you will simply obey. Later, Elmo will also give you a record of the character and habits of the boy you will y, I believe you will read it with great care without me reminding you." "Thest and final thing." Dumbledore handed a crimson feather to Jon, "whether you end up getting that thing or not, as long as you feel like you are in danger of being exposed and discovered, be sure to squeeze this feather, no matter where you are, Fawkes will bring you back." -------------- Happy Christmas #Giant Sloth, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 64: Smith Chapter 64: Smith Dumbledore took the boy named Randy Smith and left. He left Jon with Fawkes'' feather and a polyjuice potion in addition to a handful of hair cut from Smith''s head. It is not clear whether that boy''s character was inherently like this or because of something else, he epted what he went through contrary to what Jon had expected, and even if he was going to be taken away, he did not ask much about anything. But perhaps if you think about it, it might be due to the year of living in that Hogwarts castle, has made himpletely numb to the future, the previous life has been hopeless enough, so what''s left would just be death even if it turned out to be worse. A boy who is only 12 years old already has such a mentality, which makes people a little apprehensive. This is Jon''s first official contact with a student of another Hogwarts, and this time he also had a very significant impression of the "school" that also bears the name Hogwarts. Previously he had only heard about it through Lily''s mouth, she called this castle a taming ground, and only now he realized that this name may not be exaggerated at all. After Dumbledore left, Jon drank the polyjuice potion with Smith''s hair, which did not taste great, it was like drinking a bottle of bitter melon water, and his appearance and identity had now changed. The Jon on the wagon would temporarily disappear for a year, while a mudblood student in Hogwarts castle would be reced with an entirely different person. He needs to help Dumbledore to find a thing in that castle. After Voldemort upied the original Hogwarts, he got an almost obsessive desire to control the school, which may have stemmed from Dumbledore''s refusal to let him work there. All the faculty in the castle were reced with his most close subordinates, and even though he only has the honorary title of lifetime minister in the Ministry of Magic, he has personally assumed the role of Headmaster of Hogwarts Castle, even though he basically never stays in the castle. The castle''s internal security is also incredibly strict, even above the Ministry of Magic''s internal security. Dumbledore has reminded Jon, about how they once attempted to let adult wizards who drank polyjuice potion enter the castle in disguise as students, only to be discovered by a magic spell that could detect age, and then the wizard named Dedalus Diggle was eventually taken into the prison ind called Azkaban. Due to the division of bloodline and ss rule being the fundamental policy of Voldemort''s government, they have a very precise administration of the identity of every pureblood as well as half-blood student. Coupled with the fact that they are not being that much oppressed, and all these students have their own respective families, it is difficult for the Order of the Phoenix to produce a half-blood or pureblood student identity for Jon. In contrast, the "mudbloods" were all orphaned the day they were brought into the castle. A loving family is a thing of the past, and even if they try to go out of their way to stand in front of their parents, their mothers and fathers will only find it strange that this strange child is crying at them. During the time when the half-blood and pureblood students went home for holidays, the "mudbloods" had to do unpaid work in stores all over the wizarding world, and as long as they didn''t starve to death, no matter what kind of suffering they experienced in the middle, Hogwarts Castle and the Ministry of Magic would never bother to investigate. The "mudblood" in the current magicalmunity are not treated as human beings, which will make it more difficult for Jon to carry out some actions in Hogwarts Castle, but it will also give him a kind of protection. Because of being lowly as dirt, those noble people who step on the dirt will rarely pay attention to whether the dirt under their feet has turned from ck to yellow. The cer is cold and damp, not a suitable ce for people to live. But Jon, who was lying on a stale bed, didn''t care much about this ce, it''s not like he hadn''t stayed in a worse living environment than this, at least he has a bed to lie in now. It''s not that Elmo does not want to provide good conditions for Smith, who originally lived here, but in today''s social situation, if he showed goodwill, it might not only bring any good to Smith''s life, but it might even harm him. As he said, after Jon took over Smith''s identity, Elmo used the Obliviate to clear his memory of Jon and Dumbledore''s visit here today, and this way, even if something unexpected happens to him here in the future, it will not affect Jon in Hogwarts Castle. From now on, the only person in the world who knows where Jon actually went and what he''s doing is Dumbledore, so the rest of the year''s life will only depend on Jon himself. With the dim light in the cer, he carefully read through the notes about the character and habits of the kid Smith, even if no one generally pays special attention to a "mudblood", he still has to try not to do things contrary to the character of Smith. The night is getting darker, and the first night of the identity change passed uneventfully. By early the next morning, just after dawn, Jon got up and put on the worn linen robe after a simple wash, and then drank a vial of the prescribed dose of polyjuice potion, the effect of which couldst for 12 hours, and then climbed up from the cer to the potion store. The store door was yet to open, and Elmo didn''t wake up yet, but generally, at this time, it was time for Smith''s work to begin. He collected half a bucket of water from the sink, then picked up the mop that was about the same height as his whole body and began to clean the floor of the potion store with water, after which he had to clean the shelves where the potions are kept, as well as the windows and the cashier. Normally these cleaning jobs only require a cleaning spell for wizards to bepletely done, but for the "mudbloods" without wands, they must do it themselves, even though Smith is now only 12 years old. At seven o''clock, when the store was about to open for business, and Jon had already cleaned the floor and shelves and was getting ready to clean the windows, Elmo came out of the bedroom inside. "Good morning, Mr Elmo." Jon greeted him in the somewhat timid voice of Smith. Elmo, who no longer had any memory of Jon recing the real Smith, didn''t notice anything unusual, and he looked at Jon with a nod in response, then opened the door to the store. Jon''s work should not stop, especially during the potion store business hours, because if he ever got seen by the customers who came to the door with half-heartedzy behaviour, these people may write to Hogwarts Castle to inform the school. All such performances will be recorded by special staff, and after the start of the school year, by the number of ints", the castle caretaker will hang up the guilty "mudbloods" in public and punish them with a whip. ----------- [Author note:] The effect of the polyjuice potion willst differently depending on the level of the brewer, with the longeststing 12 hours or more, the effect of the potion brewed by Hermione in the original story for the first timested about an hour or so. In the end, I couldn''t stay up any longer, I promise to write more chapters during the day when I woke up, my waist pain killing me, if I can''t sleep now, I will be finished. Good night. ---- #Giant Sloth, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 65: Malfoy Chapter 65: Malfoy After a week of living in Diagon Alley, although the work here is hard, Jon temporarily did not suffer the difficulties he originally guessed he might encounter. Every day the potion store received a lot of customers, but the vast majority of half-bloods and purebloods would not even look at him,pletely treating him as air, and in the case where a few people showed disgust on their faces after entering the door, Elmo would take the initiative to open his mouth and let him go back to the cer. After all, Elmo is a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and Jon could feel his sympathy for the situation of the "mudblood", but he could not give "Smith" normal treatment and respect in the open, because this is a busy wizard street of Diagon Alley. For example, Jon could at least sleep on a bed with nkets, and the food he normally ate was exactly the same as Elmo''s. When he noticed that the wizard with obvious malice against the "mudblood" entered the store, Elmo would help him out implicitly. In fact, there were times when Jon thought of going out of the potion store and visiting the other stores in Diagon Alley, but after much deliberation, he chose to give up. After the end of July, there was only one month left before the new school year began, and the number of visitors in Diagon Alley was increasing every day, with many parents bringing their children to buy textbooks and learning aids for the new school year. It is simply not possible for him to walk openly in the streets of Diagon Alley unless he steals the hair of another wizard and bes an adult wizard with a wand. But the risk of doing so is somewhat too great; he can''t be sure of the identity of the wizard he has turned into, and if he meets anyone who knows the wizard, it will be easily revealed. In the end, Jon did not try to take the risk, his intention of going out was just to explore the surrounding stores, to see if there were any "mudbloods" like him, who were sent here for forcedbour over the summer, and he has no other pressing matters. Today, as usual, Jon opened the door of Elmo''s store and continued to repeat the daily cleaning of the windows, when a pair of well-dressed father and son with light blond hair walked towards the potion store. They didn''t seem to notice Jon, and the sound of conversation between the two didn''t even slow down. "...Not only did he ept the offer at the Ministry of Magic to be the innkeeper of the Leaky Cauldron, but his antique shop in Knockturn Alley is still collecting things. This old guy was really lucky, the previous innkeeper of the Leaky Cauldron was Tom, who moved to France with his family five years ago, I heard that he could not ept the changes in the magicalmunity and also did not dare to resist. Eventually, the position was won over by Borgin, who seems to be quite well-connected with the gentleman." "But he still has to bow his head when he sees you, Dad!" "We are the noblest even among the purebloods, Draco, so what if he has connections, he''s just a half-breed." As they pushed the door to the store, the father and son ended the conversation, especially when he said "half-breed", the blond middle-aged male wizard lowered his voice deliberately. After living here for a week, Jon learned somemon sense of the current magical world. Under Voldemort''s rule, the status of half-bloods is naturally not as low as Muggle wizards, after all, if he truly just united the power of pureblood wizards, it would be almost impossible for him to achieve a solid reign in the magical world. Even If the sses are divided by bloodline, he must at the very least give them a somewhat independent status, because he needs to incorporate the most numerous wizards in the world, the half-bloods. Thus, the entire British magicalmunity now has a clear social ss - pureblood > half-blood > mudblood, and this system can actually be said to be a replica of the four social sses that existed in ancient Rome during the era where very flourished. Purebloods are aristocrats and knights, half-bloods are citizens, and mudbloods are ves. Although the status of half-bloods is not quiteparable to purebloods, they still do have human rights, and the "half-breed" term just mentioned by the middle-aged male wizard is actually an offensive name that purebloods gave for half-bloods, which is explicitly prohibited in today''s magicalmunity, simr to how muggle wizards were called as "mudbloods" in the former magical society. Many of the shopkeepers in Diagon Alley stores are half-bloods, so although the middle-aged wizard behaved arrogantly and impudently, he didn''t have the gall to say the term "half-breed" openly and proudly. Jon who had overheard the middle-aged wizard call the name of the boy beside him who was about the same age as himself, along with their physical features, certainly figured out who these two people are. Lucius Malfoy and Draco Malfoy, are purebloods with deep roots, and from the family who supported Voldemort from the beginning of his quest to power. Now he holds the post of the head of the Auror office in the Ministry of Magic and seems to be highly valued by Voldemort. But Jon, who had read the original story, was clear that the Malfoys'' loyalty to Voldemort is not absolute, they may support a certain side, but their main aim is to benefit their own family. Seeing them walk into the potion store, Jon silently continued to rub the ss of the outside window. His tattered linen robe and the clean and tidy robe of the adults and children on the street, seemed out of ce as if they were people from two different worlds, but he did not pay attention to these, and instead observed the movements of the Malfoy father and son after they entered the store with the corner of his eye. Elmo''s attitude towards them is very warm, even if half-bloods are also citizens, it is still a far cry from the special status of the privileged "nobles". The young Draco also imitated the arrogant posture of his father, and when he nced over the potions on the shelves, his distaste was evident in his gaze. They didn''t stay in the store for that long, and simply stated their needs to Elmo, then bought away two vials of potions that looked like boosters, and walked out of the store in less than two minutes. This time Jon was not as lucky as he was earlier, as soon as Draco stepped out of the store, he turned around and noticed Jon who was cleaning with a rag, and an expression of disgust immediately appeared on his face that otherwise pulled up in the air. "I can''t believe I ran into a mudblood." Lucius who heard his words, also turned his gaze to Jon, his brow visibly furrowed. "The same year as you entered the castle?" "Yeah, I kind of remember this little stinker, I''ve seen him in the castle a few times. He cried on the spot when Professor Crouch was disciplining one of those ballsy mudbloods" Jon''s face didn''t change at the unpleasant slur that came out of their mouths; he remained silent as he wiped the windows and listened extra carefully to what Draco was saying. "The Headmaster is still too kind to these mudbloods, we actually found these stinkers doing gatherings and forming groups in the castlest term." -------------- #Giant Sloth, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 66: Hogwarts Castle Chapter 66: Hogwarts Castle "A bunch of mudbloods dared to form a gang in Hogwarts castle, in the end, this matter has reached the Headmaster, and to my surprise, they all haven''t been executed yet." Draco looked regretful like he felt sorry for not seeing the drama he was expecting. Lucius took his arm, with no intention of finding trouble with Jon whatsoever, for people like them, it felt insulting to have a conversation with a mudblood, let alone take the initiative to lower themselves to pick a fight. In the magicalmunity, the one who likes to torment the "mudbloods" are mostly from the half-blood group. Originally all of them weremon people of the same level, but under the rule of Voldemort, their status was not reduced, while originally their equal muggle wizards were turned into ves. This made them feel the taste of privilege even while being under the oppression of pureblood bias; these people would frequently try to find a sense of superiority through the "mudbloods ", and this also made them stand in support of Voldemort''s rule. "I told you not to make anyments about that gentleman, especially when outside." Lucius led Draco away, while Jon scrubbed the window and squinted his eyes as he fell into deep thought. This duo of father and son had actually revealed quite a bit of information to Jon in their conversation just now. Before he came, Dumbledore exined to him, the "notice of eptance" signed by the Muggle students who were tricked into joining Hogwarts castle is actually a kind of binding, it is not a contract that will instantly change your mind 180 degrees as long as you sign your name on it. This is just a contract created to control the personal freedom and magic talent of the Muggle students, not as scary as Jon had imagined at the beginning, such as signing the contract would directly change people''s minds subconsciously. This means that those "mudblood" students in Hogwarts Castle still have their own individual will and have not been domesticated to the point of obedience, like the house elves. If there is oppression, then there will be resistance, the other Hogwarts wagon led by Dumbledore is a kind of resistance, and the Muggle students in the Hogwarts castle obviously also know they should resist. It''s just that the strength gap is so big that people can hardly catch their breath in the castle, so their resistance will hardly have some kind of result. Draco''s words also revealed this point, those students suffered punishment, and although they were not directly deprived of life, this punishment is obviously not very light. Otherwise, he would not have known about it, he might have even seen how the students were being punished right at the scene. Jon looked at the backs of Malfoy''s father and son, their clean and neat robes shining in the sunlight. The parents and students who came and went in Diagon Alley were just like them, with a warm and harmonious family atmosphere; the new students excitedly holding their brand-new wands high; the third and fourth-year students walking into the pet store with their friends at school, enthusiastically buying pet food to feed the owls; the young boys and girls nearing adulthood meeting outside the bookshop, discussing with sad faces how to prepare for the seventh year NEWTs. At the same time, there was also the sound ofughter. Everything here looks so rosy as if the magicalmunity is still the same as in the original story, and Hogwarts is still the original Hogwarts. But Jon, who was squatting at a window and struggling to wipe the ss high above, seemed like the only stain in the world that shouldn''t be there, a stinker (stink bug) in Draco''s mouth that had destroyed the harmony and beauty of the ce. A light smile inexplicably appeared at the corners of Jon''s mouth as he diligently cleaned up with a rag in his hands. The stink bug in the sunlight and the twinkling star-like firefly in the dark, these two namesplement each other. Life in Diagon Alley was very monotonous because you can not go out, Jon basically repeated the dull and boring life every day. Such days continued until the first of September when the new school term finally began. The night before, Elmo prepared a much more sumptuous dinner than before, and although he said nothing, Jon could see that he was seeing himself off. For ordinary students, the way to get to Hogwarts Castle is still heading to tform 9 at King''s Cross Station to take the Hogwarts Express, but students like "Smith", certainly do not deserve to sit on the same transport with the noble half-bloods and purebloods. Jon didn''t know exactly how to get back to the castle, but it didn''t take him all that long to figure out it, in the afternoon of the first day, there was an unexpected visitor came to the Potions store. That was a house elf, just like the one Jon saw in the film in his past life, it had pointed ears, big eyes, skinny to the extent of skin and bones, it looked very ugly. With a sudden sh in the potion store, the house elf respectfully handed a piece of parchment to Elmo''s hand. "Sir, please evaluate the performance of the mudblood who has been boarding in your store during this holiday." Elmo, without much surprise, gave Jon the best "O" rating, and then the house elf put the parchment away, bowed to Elmo, and then walked to Jon''s side, grasping Jon''s arm without anymunication or reminder. The next second, a sense of distortion identical to that of the apparition with Dumbledore spread throughout Jon''s body, and when he felt his feet on solid ground again, he had arrived at apletely new environment. This should be a certain building''s basement, all tightly enclosed, except for a lone closed door; under the swaying lights, he saw dozens of children around him, all wearing sackcloth robes, both young and older. They all sat separately on the floor, each keeping a sufficient distance between each other as if no one dared to sit next to each other, and none of them opened their mouths to talk. The house elf, after dropping Jon off here, immediately disappeared from the room again, as if it was going to pick up the next child. After seeing these children, Jon had already figured out where he is now. The only ce where so many "mudbloods" gather is Hogwarts Castle! And just when he has identified the ce he came to, another sound unique to the apparition was heard, like a whipshing in the air. A girl with messy chestnut-coloured shoulder-length hair, wearing the same worn grey linen robe was brought in. -------------- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 67: The Start of School Chapter 67: The Start of School The girl''s features were quite refined, though she was smeared with dust, which along with her messy hair made her look like a poor girl living as a beggar on the street. After being brought to this room, the girl remained silent and sat on the ground like the other students, without contacting anyone else. Slowly, more and more students came to this basement, even exceeding the total number of all the students Jon had seen on the wagon, about seventy to eighty children gathered here, each of them dirty, wearing tattered linen robes, thin, pale skin, all appeared to be malnourished. And just as the time approached seven o''clock, the door of the chamber, which had been closed tightly, was suddenly pushed open from the outside. A male wizard with a crooked long face and a stout body walked in. At the sight of this male wizard, most of the students sitting here subconsciously trembled, they were obviously terrified, afraid of this man who walked in the door. Jon looked at the wizard calmly from the corner, he held a shackle in one hand and a whip in the other, and an excited grin appeared on his face after he entered the door. There were two house elves in charge of picking up the "mudbloods" back to the castle, and when they saw the wizard enter, they immediately handed him the parchment respectfully, which was the "holiday work" assessment list of all the students present. The two house elves addressed the male wizard as "Mr Dolohov". Before dropping him, Dumbledore had given Jon all the information that the Order of the Phoenix now had about the faculty at Hogwarts Castle. The "Mr Dolohov" full name should be "Antonin Dolohov", the current Hogwarts castle caretaker, once Voldemort''s loyalpdog, also an extreme pureblood supremacist. He is keen on using whips and shackles to punish misbehaving students, whether they are mudbloods or half-bloods, and will simply turn a blind eye to any behaviour of pureblood students in the castle. After receiving the sheet from the elf, Dolohov waved his hand, and the two house elves bowed, then disappeared from the chamber. "Very well, after two months, we meet again children, I have missed you all after so long apart." He used a cold tone to say these kind words, and the students in the chamber did not feel any warmth, and the younger children subconsciously shrank into the corners. *** The Hogwarts great hall is brightly lit and the pureblood and half-blood students who have been away from school for two whole months have returned to the castle. The great hall was beautifully decorated with hundreds of candbra carrying lit candles floating in mid-air, and the ceiling featured a gorgeous starry sky overhead, which was not made of see-through ss but was magically enchanted to present the starry sky outside the castle. There are a total of four long tables beneath, one of which is ced separately from the other three with clearly distinct boundaries at a closer distance from the high tform, while the other three long tables are ced evenly in the centre of the great hall. The students sitting at the long table near the high tform were wearing more exquisite school robes, with a circle of gold trim embroidered on the cuffs and cor, and a dark green serpent coiled around the H emblem was embroidered on their chests. Draco Malfoy is also sitting among them, he looked arrogantly at the half-blood freshmen who were being brought into the great hall by a professor, excited to sit down at the other three long tables. "In the end, they''re all just a bunch of ignorant half-breeds." He sneered and talked in a low voice to the two burly boys beside him. Goyle and Crabbeughed along with him as if they had heard some funny joke. Crabbe pointed to a handsome-looking boy with a gentle expression at one of the three long tables further back. "I heard that guy is very appreciated by Professor Snape, he seems to be called what... Diggory?" Malfoy saw the boy he was pointing at and said disdainfully. "Cedric Diggory, his father is also an official in the Ministry of Magic, but what can a half-breed do even if he is talented, Snape is the only one who will take good care of his kind." Thest sentence of his voice was suppressed to a very low level, and while speaking, his eyes also unconsciously looked at the long table seated with Hogwarts faculty. He was quietly relieved when he saw that the man dressed in ck robes, like arge bat, was not paying attention to them here. At the three long tables at the back, the students of the Half-Blood House weed their new students, and Seamus and Dean, who had already advanced to the second year, were enthusiastically briefing the new students on the process of this orientation dinner tonight. "Later Sir Headmaster wille over, and this is the only time in an academic year that he wille to Hogwarts Castle, but during our orientationst year, he didn''t make any long speeches, he just weed the new students and announced the start of the dinner. The food here is all splendid, and I highly rmend you all to try the roast pork chopster, the taste is really indulging." "The students at that separate long table? Leave them alone, they''re all privileged no matter where they are but don''t mess with any of them either, the Professors won''t be looking out for us. Other than that, Hogwarts is great in every aspect, it''s a great school!" *** Soon the door to the chamber was once again opened from the outside. This time it was someone familiar to Jon who came in - Barty Crouch Jr. He still had that faint smile on his face as he walked in with a few boys and girls. "These are the new students this year, remember to take good care of them, Dolohov." "I certainly will, Professor Crouch." Dolohov replied with a smile as he walked Barty Jr. out and then brought the new students into the chamber, among them a child who was bewildered by what was going on in front of him asked. "Are you a professor, too? Sir, why don''t we go to that big hall in the castle with the others? And Professor Crouch said he would provide us with war-" "Snap!" Before he could finish his question, the long, thick whip hit him! The boy''s whole face became distorted from the pain, and he cried out in the next second, not understanding what he had done wrong at all. Dolohov, however, left him alone and herded the other already-shaken freshmen to find an open space to sit down. "We still have a long time, children, there is nothing to fear if you don''t know the rules, these seniors of yours in the back will give you a personal demonstration of what the rules of Mudblood in this castle really are!" His eyes went to the assessment sheet in his hand, and as if he saw something that satisfied him, the corners of his mouth curled up with an increasing arc as he shouted out a name. "Tyler Stebbins!" ---------- [Author:] Muggle student information is really hard to find, I looked through the Harry Potter wiki and did not find much. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 68: Hell and Heaven Chapter 68: Hell and Heaven A boy who looked about 14 or 15 years old stood up from the ground with a numb face. Dolohov looked at him, and he looked at Dolohov. "Do you know what your score for this holiday is?" The boy named Tyler said in a voice that sounded like it was devoid of any emotion. "My work did not satisfy the gentleman who provided me with room and board, and he gave me a failing grade." Dolohov smiled sinisterly and held the pair of shackles in front of his body. "Put your hands in them yourself." Taylor cooperated like a robot as he ced his skinny, bony hands into the shackles. Dolohov mmed the shackles shut, then threw the chain attached to them onto a ring in the centre of the room. The next moment, the boy, who in normal society would have been in junior high school at most, was hoisted up! With his feet off the ground, his entire body looked like it had been hung up in a ughterhouse, lifeless dead meat, gently swaying in mid-air. "Pop!" With a loud popping sound, the whip struck him hard on the back! The pain made Taylor''s breathing ragged, his stagnant water-like eyes seemed to have some kind of fluctuation, but his face still had the same dead expression. "You were part of that gangst semester, weren''t you?" Dolohov''s smile never disappeared, and this kind of violence seemed to bring him great satisfaction. "What is the only meaning of living for a mudblood? Answer me, Stebbins! This is something that you have learned in your very first ss at school!" The boy spoke with difficulty, each syble he uttered now seemed to take a great deal of effort. "To serve the purebloods, sir." The freshmen were dumbfounded by the brutal scene, and many were already crying out, this ispletely different from what Mr Crouch had said when he coaxed them into signing the letter. There is no lively great hall, no loving professors, and no friendly ssmates. There was only a dark, damp basement, a tyrannical professor, cold shackles and brine-stained whips. The contrast between heaven and hell was too much for them to handle, but they could only cower helplessly in the corner, crying their heads off. Jon couldn''t help but take a deep breath when the whip fell on Taylor. It is much worse here than he thought. At the same time, his attention was grabbed by the girl with chestnut hair, who he suspected to be Hermione Granger''s reaction at the moment. The girl looked like she couldn''t bear to see the torture, but forced herself to see it. Her eyes grew wide and red, her fists hidden in the wide cuffs were clearly clenched, and her dirty face went pale as paper. The punishment continued, and the consequences of a failing grade clearly not going to end with a singlesh. "Snap!" This was the sound of the second whip swishing. "Keep telling me! Stebbins, if the mudbloods make a mistake, what kind of punishment should they receive!" "The whip ...shing... sir." "Snap!" This is the third and at the same time thest one. "Then, don''t you think you should be punished like this!" Taylor was no longer able to answer his question, these threeshespletely knocked him out of consciousness, his body powerlessly swaying in mid-air. Dolohov spat at the boy as if he found it bad luck, then released him from the shackles and eventually pulled him to open the door of the chamber as if he was dragging a corpse. "Lestrange! Here''s your work!" The caretaker shouted out loud into the hallway outside the door, and soon a middle-aged male wizard appeared in front of him and took Taylor from his hands. "This has only just started and one has already copsed?" "Didn''t get much action for two months, so I failed to grasp the lightness. Don''t worry, you won''t get more than five today." Taylor''s back left three whip marks, and a blood trail drawn on the ground was shocking to the eyes. The new students have stopped crying, they hugged their legs, their bodies trembling as they desperately try to shrink themselves into a ball as if this would bring them a touch of warmth so that they can forget that Hogwarts is like a hell on earth. ... "Hogwarts is like heaven!" The new young wizard at the long table that belonged to the purebloods couldn''t help but let out an excited exmation as he listened to Draco arrogantly introduce him to all the privileges that pureblood students had in the castle. Draco, on the other hand, was dismissive of the new student''s reaction. He is a freshman from a new pureblood family, and if we follow the old pureblood ssification in the magical world, this kind of person is just a "half-breed", not qualified to sit at the same table with him to share a meal. But after Voldemort ruled the magical world, he identified purebloods, half-bloods and mudbloods ording to the situation at that time. A wizard whose parents were not wizards was naturally the lowest-ss mudblood. The requirement for half-bloods is that one of the parents must be a wizard or both of them. In addition to the twenty-eight recognized families in the magical world, purebloods, those whose parents are all wizards for three generations upwards, are also included in the pureblood ss. This kind of ss ssification is only unique in the year that Voldemort just took power in the magical world, once all the existing wizards determine their own ss, this ss would bepletely finalized and passed on hereditarily forever. The children of purebloods will always be purebloods, the children of half-bloods will always be half-bloods, and the children of mudbloods will always be mudbloods. And it is forbidden to intermarry between different sses. Those wizards who are ssified as purebloods because three generations of their parents'' ancestors were all wizards are also known as new faction purebloods in the magical world. This particr faction could be considered Voldemort''s hardcore followers, a group of people who are most loyal to him in the entire magical world, far beyond most of the old pureblood families like the Malfoys in this regard. The number of new purebloods is not small, Voldemort partly pulled and divided the wizards with the status "half-blood", which allowed thergest group of wizards to be further reduced in volume, and it also generated conflicts and contradictions between half-bloods and new purebloods, as well as new purebloods and old purebloods, which is more conducive to his control of the entire British magical world. The strategy of subdividing the different identitybels within the different sses, so that the external conflicts they are meant to cause are transferred into internal ones, proved to be very sessful. This is evident in Hogwarts Castle, where Draco, whoes from the old faction of purebloods, simply does not recognize the freshmen from the new faction of purebloods. In his eyes, these pureblood wizards are just ''fakes'' with pureblood status who have no family history and are purely the product of the great gentleman''s muddled mind. Of course, such thoughts could only be mused in his head, because in the middle of the high tform at the great hall, the Hogwarts Headmaster, who always looked as handsome as he did in his youth, had already sat down in the main chair at some point. -------------- [Author:] If you want to be considered a pureblood, your family should have to be wizards for more than three generations, and this is in fact even true in the original book, the pureblood status isn''t just limited to the twenty-eight families. For example, when I wrote my first two books, many people questioned why even though Harry Potter''s parents, James and Lily, were clearly wizards, he was considered a half-blood; it was mainly because although Lily was a wizard, her parents and grandparents were pure Muggles. That''s why the original Harry was always emphasized as a half-blood. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 69: Sandwich Chapter 69: Sandwich Voldemort sat on the main seat at the high faculty gallery. After he appeared, the entire great hall fell silent consciously. Even though the students sitting here are basically kids and teenagers, there is hardly anyone who does not know the prestige of the man who has reshaped the entire wizardingmunity. Even if he will onlye to Hogwarts Castle once a school year, no student has forgotten that he is the Headmaster of this wizardry school. To Voldemort''s left sits Snape, and to his right is Barty Crouch Jr. They are his proxy in this castle, as well as the most loyal and powerful right-hand men under him. "The start of a new term would always bring a cheerful mood." A nd smile appeared on his handsome face, and his voice echoed throughout the great hall. No one dared to whisper at this time, and many were even purposefully restraining their breathing as if a slight sharp intake of breath would disturb the gentleman on the tform. "I would like to wee the new students to the school and hope that in the future you will treat this castle as if it is your home. Each of you who can sit here has true noble blood flowing through you, the excellence of purebloods is unquestionable, but half-bloods also possess an honourable part." "We have the same noble blood, supporting this noble blood is supporting ourselves." Voldemort lifted the goblet in front of him, which contained a third of wine that resembled blood. "For the purest of blood!" Whether it was the separate one long table or the three long tables located in the centre of the great hall, all the students as well as the professors on the high tform raised their goblets together. "To the purest of blood!" The young voices echoed in the great hall, their faces flushed with excitement, everyone seemed to believe in the grand idea that "supporting the noble blood is supporting oneself"! ... All the students who did not get a pass or above in the "holiday training" were punished with threeshes. The amount may not seem much, but for these physically weak "mudbloods", these threeshes could kill many if they were just a little bit heavier. Dolohov did what he said he would do, a total of thirteen students were punished tonight, and exactly five of them eventually passed out. These five, plus other students who are covered in bruises, will be treated by the school healer, Lestrange, within the night, and it won''t affect their normal sses and work tomorrow. Although the injuries can be healed, the psychological impact of being hung in front of others and whipped can never be erased from these students'' minds. This whipping was the conclusion of the "holiday training" for the old students and the first disciplinary measure for the new students. After the punishment was over, the students started their "opening dinner". Everyone was given a ss of in water and two slices of hard bread. The students who got an O for the holiday performance were treated differently from the others and were honoured with an extra sandwich that looked like it was left over from the night before. A dozen people actually felt proud of themselves for getting this extra sandwich that should have been thrown away. They received their rewards from Dolohov with their heads held high, proudly looking like dogs who had received a leftover meat bone from their masters. The dinner in the great hall has begun, and as the castle caretaker, Dolohov will not skip the event where Voldemort will be present. The basement was only left with the silent "mudbloods" who ate water and hard bread. These children at the bottom of the magicalmunity also formed different circles. Most of the mudbloods who got sandwiches sat close to each other as if the fact that they did a better job of fulfilling the orders of the pureblood masters would set them apart from the other mudbloods and make them seem more honoured. These students are mainly 15 or 16 years old, they have been here for more than four years, so they have alreadye to terms with their status as ves in their hearts, and to be "superior" among the ves, they willingly obey all the orders issued by the school and have been tamed to the point of being quite triumphant. Jon was clearly an anomaly among the ''sandwich students'', he didn''t bother to get together with the seniors and didn''t even seem to have any intention of eating the sandwich. He is a normal person, not a dog, the sandwich piece ''meat bone'' handout, he did not even feel like touching it. Jon broke the bread, which was already dry andparable to Hagrid''s rock cake, and soaked it in the water, and just when he was about to take this "bread water" to satisfy his hunger, he suddenly noticed a gaze that had been staring at him since a while ago. He looked at the girl with long chestnut hair, who was also looking at him or to be precise, at the sandwich he had ced beside him. Jon hesitated for a moment, then pushed the sandwich lightly in the direction of the girl. The girl did not immediately grab the sandwich, her gaze turned to the other seniors who had won the sandwich, and only after observing that their attention was not on her, she quickly picked up the reward belonging to Jon, broke it in half from the middle, and put half of it back to Jon''s side, while the other half was hidden behind her back. Jon blinked, somewhat surprised at the girl''s careful thinking in knowing how to avoid unnecessary trouble. Just when he thought that this girl would secretly eat half of the sandwich after making sure it was safe, Jon suddenly realized that this girl did not actually intend to eat it. She carefully shifted her position, as if she was afraid that her movements would attract the attention of others, especially those senior students who had gotten the sandwich. In the end, it took her three or four minutes to move to an inconspicuous corner where a freshman sobbing with his head buried in his knees was sitting. It was the boy who had ended up getting ash from Dolohov for asking questions at first. He simply could not swallow the dry hard bread and did not dare to cry out, so he could only bury his face into his knees, using his body to hide the desperate sorrow. Until the girl gently touched his hair and handed half of the sandwich to him. The freshman lifted his tear-stained face, and the girl, who was obviously only a year older than him, had a smile on her dirty face that was more gentle than anything he had ever seen, and then gently handed the sandwich in her hand a bit further forward as if gesturing for the freshman to take it. "This might be a little tastier." Her voice was small and quiet, like a small, faint me, clearly seemingly weak, yet warm enough to warm a desperate child ------------ [Author:] Cedric''s bloodline is doubtful, Wiki says he is ''likely'' to be pureblood, this ''likely'' points to the Goblet of Fire where Hagrid said to Harry that he hoped he would win the championship to prove that half-bloods are not weaker than purebloods, this pureblood may possibly refer to Cedric who is also a Hogwarts champion, or it may refer to those Slytherins who look down on Harry''s participation, this is a bit vague, so I will just write him as a half-blood, butter If there are some big brothers really give solid evidence that he is pureblood then I will certainly revise it, but then the original part rted to Cedric will definitely be cut off. The first thing you need to do is to get a good idea of what you''re doing. Good night! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 70: Never Chapter 70: Never The first dinner at Hogwarts Castle ended on a light note. The mudbloods returned to theirmon room, although the dormitory is also located in the dark, damp and cold underground basement, it was not so bad that all of them needed to sleep together in the big bunk. In addition, each mudblood has a separate bedroom, but the conditions in the bedroom are quite poor, full of musty bedding, no windows, only a broken wooden door used to enter and exit, space is also very small, in addition to a bed, you can''t even put down a desk. Combined with what he heard from Draco in Diagon Alley, as well as the phenomenon of students basically not daring tomunicate with each other just now, the separate dorm rooms are probably assigned to avoid too muchmunication between various mudblood students. The fact that a private group of mudbloods were found in this castlest year made the supervisors wary. A group of untamed ves gathered together, no matter what they have discussed, it''s not something that "masters" wants to see. But this separate room gave Jon a lot of conveniences, he needs to drink a polyjuice potion every 12 hours to maintain the effect of transfiguration, it is okay if it happens once or twice, but since it''s a daily urrence, if there is a roommate, the problem will definitely be discovered. In addition, he needs a secret space to prepare polyjuice potion, but even if this is a separate dorm room, it is obviously not a safe ce, not only is it close to other students'' dorm rooms, the smell emitted when boiling potion is easy for people to notice, and there is no privacy in this castle for mudbloods, so there is no way to know when someone will rush into his room to search. But this ce is Hogwarts Castle, so it''s not that difficult for someone to find a private space, especially for Jon who has read the original book, the only thing to worry about is, whether that ce is exposed in this world or not. The night passed quietly in this way. The next morning, Jon, who has developed a biological clock for more than a month, woke up early. The Mudbloods had a lot of work to do in this castle besides their normal sses, such as cleaning all the publicvatories in the entire castle, the pitch outside the castle where the Quidditch matches would be held, the Owlery, and the herbology ss greenhouses which were partially unused. They were basically kept away from all contact with purebloods and half-bloods, so house elves took the cleaning responsibilities for the purebloods and half-bloods'' dormitories, library, great hall, ssrooms, and professor''s offices. While their job early in the morning on the first day of school is to clean the publicvatories in the castle that have beenrgely unused for two months. A male and female student from the Mudbloods were appointed as Head boy and Head girl of mudblood students, both of whom had been given sandwiches as a rewardst night and had clearly epted their status as "ves" from the bottom of their hearts, bing proud supporters of the bloodline sses. The two heads assigned different floors to each grade of mudblood students, Hogwarts Castle restricted the mudblood students'' areas of operation, in addition to the ces that had been set aside for them and the locations they had to clean, other areas were not essible, and once they had been spotted there, at least they would be hung up for a whipping. Today the second-year students were assigned to an area on the seventh floor, which happened to be where Jon intended to observe after entering the castle. It was still very early in the morning, except for the house elves in the kitchen who started working on breakfast and the mudbloods who were ready to start working, the students and faculty were basically still asleep. After receiving the tools needed for cleaning, Jon and a few other students moved very carefully, without making any loud noise, and went to the seventh floor together. Around the corner by the staircase, a few steps ahead there is a troll tapestry, and on the opposite side of the tapestry is a nk wall. When passing by, Jon just nced at the nk wall, without a slight pause in his steps, and without any change in expression on his face. This wall is not specifically highlighted with any sign, which means this ce still hasn''t fully opened to the public, and not just every student in the castle knows about it. "Remember we can only go up to this area at most to clean thevatory, we must not go any further, that is the area near the Headmaster''s office, if we are found out, Mr Dolohov will not spare us." The chestnut-haired girl pursed her lips, then with a serious face reminded everyone, and at this time, Jon finally got to hear other students address her. "Hermione." A girl hesitated and asked in a small voice, "Taylor, Taylor and the group would they seriously never think about it again?" There were not many students in the second year, probably only seven or eight in total, she was whispering probably because there was no one else around, and this was the first time Jon had heard any mudblood students get together and initiate a conversation. When the girl asked the question, the rest of the group had dark looks on their faces, as the question reminded them of something bad in the past. Hermione''s face paled a little, and she pursed her lips tightly as if she was gritting her teeth to give a false answer to the question, but in the end, she lowered her head. "Maybe. We might never have a chance." The mood of the students was obviously low, and the eyes of the girl who asked the question became slightly red, but none of them dared to stay in the corridor for too long, they picked up the tools in their hands and went into themonvatory and started cleaning up. They were given just over an hour to clean thevatory, which hadn''t been used for two months, and they had to finish before breakfast began, so no one cked off and everyone finished their work quickly. Finally, when pureblood and half-blood students began to get up and appear in the hallway, they left the seventh floor and went to the separate "great hall" belonging to the mudbloods - the underground basement where they had gatheredst night - to have breakfast. Naturally, there is nothing to say about the food, just something that normal modern people prefer not to eat, the living conditions in Hogwarts Castle are not that bad, so it is obviously intentional that they give these foods to the mudbloods. And after breakfast, the mudblood students also need to get to their ss in time to study. This is actually what Jon has been looking forward to experiencing, although, in the information provided to him by Dumbledore, there is also an introduction to this aspect, he still wants to experience it first-hand; in the absence of a wand, what kind of lessons the mudblood students learn in the castle. ---- #Rafiq,Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 71: Gesture Casting Chapter 71: Gesture Casting The ssroom where the mudbloods have their sses is naturally separated from the other students. But the location is finally not on the underground floor, but rather located on the ground floor of the castle in a separate remote area, where basically no one woulde, just exclusively allocated to their ssroom. No one dared to bete for the first ss, so Jon and the ss waited in the ssroom almost twenty minutes early. They did not even have a ss schedule, and there is only one ce where sses are held, and the first week of sses was notified by the heads of mudbloods, after that, the ss would be held ording to the weekly schedule. Three minutes before the start of ss, a dark-skinned adult witch walked in through the door. She is the professor who is usually responsible for teaching their spellcasting ss - Aurora Sinistra. Jon is somewhat familiar with this name; she must be a certain professor who made an appearance in the original Hogwarts, it''s just that there was very little relevant description of her, so Jon didn''t have much of an impression of her. Now she is still able to continue teaching in Hogwarts castle is not much of a surprise, not everyone can be dedicated to the point of being willing to sacrifice their lives for a part of people who they do not have much to do with. Compromise is actually the mostmon choice that people would make. "You should have done all the spellcasting requirements that I asked you to do before the holidays." After she entered the ssroom, she took a nce at the state of all the students present, and then said in a tone that was not very harsh and demanding, "You should always keep my words in your mind, if you feel ufortable and depressed, you should cast the spell a few more times, which will make you feel better." When she said this, her voice paused for a moment, and then she said it with a soft sigh. "No matter what kind of environment you live in, how hard and tiring it is, at least it''s better to keep living than to die without a sound, isn''t it." "Last academic year, we spent a year learning how to use gestures to control the magic in our bodies, your progress has basically reached the standard of barely being able to try to learn real magic, so from this semester onwards, I will teach you the first spell - cleaning spell. Mastering this will also make your future work a little easier." The spellcasting she was talking about is not really using magic in the true sense at all. ording to the description in the information provided by Dumbledore to Jon; too much oppression imposed on the mudbloods by Voldemort, along with not giving them wands to prevent them from learning normal magic will eventually lead to the magic in their bodies to be suppressed and be a powerful dark magic creature, Obscurus; so to prevent that, the spellcasting ss arranged for them. In this ss, a professor will teach them how to use hand gestures, a spell-casting method that has long been eliminated in Europe to guide and release the magic in their bodies. All the ancient things are not necessarily powerful, hand gestures spell casting has been eliminated for thousands of years, except for part of African wizards who still maintain such a practice due to their tradition, basically, no one will take the initiative to learn this method of spell casting. Becausepared to wands, not only the hand gestures are difficult to learn, but even the spell cast will be weaker, and spells differ significantly from theplete and mature wand-casting system in the magical world, so only a handful of spells are still in cirction in this era. But if you let the mudbloods learn this way of spellcasting, the above disadvantages be advantages instead. Even in the absence of a wand, the magic that has umted in the bodies of these enved mudbloods can be discharged without having to worry about the future of the overly-gifted students among them would be difficult to control, as the effect of the spell cast by hand gestures are generally much worse than the effect of the spell cast by a wand. This fits perfectly with Voldemort''s intention to oppress the mudbloods. The original goal of Hogwarts Castle was to provide a ce for medieval children who were oppressed in witch hunts to learn magic and channel their magic, and even now this fundamental goal has not changed, but the motivation for this goal has taken an ironic turn. What Sinistra taught the first-year studentsst year was some simple spell-casting gesture, which is not a specific spell, but was created to channel the magic in the wizard''s body to nature, and what changes will be made to the surroundings after the channelling ispletely random. Sometimes a puddle of water will appear out of thin air, other times they will have an extra de of grass or fruit of some nt in their hands, and again, often they will just be clean. "...ording to what I taught youst year, you will be able to do this, every movement of the hand gesture spell casting should be done with precision, and the hand gesture spell casting cleaning incantation is ''purifico''. While reciting the incantation, the left hand should be waved upward, without too much width, like what I am demonstrating now, and the right hand should not have any movement at the beginning, but after the left hand is waved upward, it should be slightly extended forward, also without much width, and both movements should be done quickly, just like I did." Sinistra turned her face toward the ckboard on which the cleaning spell incantation had been written and showed them the entire process of casting the spell. "Purifico." At the end of the incantation, the chalk marks on the ckboard disappeared, and the board became clean and shiny. The students off-stage were wide-eyed, although they had been in this castle for a year, this was actually the first time for them to reallye in contact with a specific magic spell. They have no wands, and the first spell they learn is only a cleaning spell, but every student here is enthusiastic about learning such magic. Even if they were enved and oppressed, no one could deprive them of their identity as wizards, and as long as they were wizards, no matter what kind of blood they were defined as, they had the qualification to learn magic. Jon was only about two positions away from Hermione, so he could see that the girl was listening to Sinistra''s exnation with unparalleled attention, and her hands were trying to make gestures. After determining that the girl is Hermione, Jon didn''t have any intention to contact her directly. Even if she is the leading role in the original story, there is no way she can help Jon to do things in this castle, not to mention that he has just entered Hogwarts Castle, and it is clear that the identity he borrowed didn''t have a deep friendship with Hermione in the previous year, so if he rashly approached her, it would be too risky. ----- #Rafiq, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 72: Brainwashing Chapter 72: Brainwashing Certainly, there is more than just a spell-casting ss avable for the mudbloods. After finishing the morning ss, the students went back to their dormitories. During the time when they did not have sses as well as work, as they did not have any leisure activities, they basically just stayed in their own little tiny space. After lunch, they had one more ss today, in the same ssroom as the spellcasting ss, and this ss is a history of the magic ss. The professor for this ss was not the ghost professor "Binns", it was strange; since Jon came to the castlest night, he did not know whether it was due to his bad luck or something else, but he did not encounter any ghost silhouettes. The man who taught them the history of magic was a medium-sized male wizard named "Evan Rozier", from the Rozier family that belongs to one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight families, this male wizard is obviously an old faction pureblood. Compared to Professor Sinistra in the morning, this Professor Rozier was much more hostile. His face never showed any friendly expression since he entered the ssroom, and after a quick nce at the students below, he coughed lightly. "Well, I have toe here to face you all once again. To be honest, I have handed in my resignation request five or six times, but Sir Headmaster always refused to approve it, as if he thought, only I could teach you all the best. I''m not questioning the decision of the sir, but the gap between mudbloods and normal wizards just exists objectively, I don''t think education alone will make you guys as good as you should be, the ones who should really be here to teach you should be those house elves" He grumbled, talking nonsense for a long time in front of the students before he started his teaching. There is certainly nothing to say about the history of magic that is meant to educate the mudbloods. The historical events he told were all about how ancient pureblood wizards fought for the interests of wizards, how pureblood wizards invented magical spells, improved wands, promoted the development of magic, and so on. The mudbloods who tried to rebel against the pureblood rule would be nailed to the pir of shame even after their death. It is not strange to instil false values in the present by distorting past history, and it is fair to say that there are many ruling sses who have done this all the time in every society. In the end, even the real history will be hidden andpletely buried, only those fabricated stories will be the "history" known to future generations. And now Voldemort''s rule over the British magical world is still rtively short, and there is still a long way to go before the fake bes real. For example, in this ss on the history of magic, it seemed that every student was listening intently, but in fact, there were very few people who truly listened to the "history" told by Rozier. These second-year students seemed to have learned about some real history from some sources and were not very interested in the history of the magic ss. The afternoon ss ended in such a way that those who attended the ss did not want to talk, and those who listened did not want to care. There are only three sses in total for the mudbloods to learn. Aftering to Hogwarts Castle, the spellcasting ss and the history of the magic ss were held on the first day, and on the second day, Jon also experienced a separate subject that Voldemort had specifically designed for the Mudblood students - the "Ideology ss". This ss, as the name suggests, is to teach the mudbloods what kind of attitude and ideas they should have when living in the magical world. It seems to ovep somewhat with the History of Magic ss, but it actually has apletely different purpose. The History of Magic ss aims to teach these students about their distorted history, while the Ideology ss aims to tell them what they should do in the future as a mudblood. A spellcasting ss to relieve their bodies of pent-up magic, to prevent them from the risk of bing Obscurial, the other two sses used to subconsciously change their mentality to be more emphasis on Voldemort''s reign of the bloodline. Even if at first these children from Muggle society did not ept the doctrine that they were born inferior, they are going to stay in this castle for seven years. During these seven years, the purebloods are born noble, and mudbloods are born inferior words would be ringing in their ears all day long, and normally they have to practically work for the pureblood and half-blood students, and only if they perform well will they get some incentives. This kind of subtle influence can truly change a person''s mindset. The mudbloods who got sandwiches on the first night of school are a good example, as they have basically be what Voldemort wants all the mudbloods to be in the future. The mudbloods will be subservient to the words of every pureblood wizard, acknowledging their inferiority from the bottom of their hearts, while firmly sticking to the ss rule of the purebloods. In time, the mudbloods would bepletely distinguished from pureblood and half-blood wizards, being shaped up for two groups and turned into a perfect bunch of ves. Voldemort, who has sessfully taken control of Hogwarts Castle, is educating the mudblood students here in this way. Here the students simply do not have any chance to resist, the absolute difference in strength in front of them can only make them ept the reformation passively. In just two days ofing to this castle, Jon clearly perceived the so-called "taming camp" statement isn''t actually exaggerated. During the first two days of school, Jon did not act rashly. He is not an impatient person, beforepleting the task given to him by Dumbledore and his desire to find the stone of the ring, he first wanted to ensure that he could safely stay in the castle. This includes familiarizing himself with the interpersonal rtionships of the boy named "Smith", as well as the gesture casting skill. He first needs to make sure of his ordinary everyday life, in order to continue the next step of exploration work. And just a week after Jon came to the castle, the time Dumbledore decided to give him the necessary ingredients for the polyjuice potion arrived. Without any contacts, all Jon had is a specific location outside the castle near the forbidden forest, and he needed to find the opportunity to reach that ce by himself. And on the weekend of the first week of school, there was an opportunity for him to go out of the castle. Dolohov had gathered all the Mudblood students to perform a major clean-up on the Quidditch pitch, which had been out of use for two months, in order to prepare in advance for the Quidditch matches that would be yed by the pureblood and half-blood houses afterwards. ----- #Rafiq, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 73: Breathing Chapter 73: Breathing "Remember what you have to do! I know that Professor Sinistra has taught you the cleaning spell this week, and this is your chance to practice the spell. Make sure to clean up this gallery by noon today, or I will inform Mr Dolohov exactly who is cking off!" The Head boy barked orders at Jon and several of the second-year students. Being the Heads of the mudblood students, the two Heads certainly received preferential treatment. Not only they canmand and supervise other students to work, but they also don''t have to participate in this kind of collectivebour and can act as an overseer on behalf of that castle caretaker. After assigning the tasks to them, he turned around and left, as a Head of the mudbloods, it was not just the second-year students under his supervision, he also had to go and inform the other mudbloods of Dolohov''s arrangement. After the Heads left, Jon and the rest of the group didn''t dawdle, everyone knew exactly what the consequences would be if their task area wasn''t done with when the time came. Even though they have learned the cleaning spell for a week, casting spells with hand gestures is a kind of difficult skill to master, so far only two people Jon and Hermione can barely use the spell out effectively. So for the cleaning work this time, the two have consciously assumed the mainbour force, and with the help of magic, they undoubtedly saved a lot of effort. September weather is still very hot, with the passage of time the sun gradually rose, and a lot of sweat surfaced on everyone''s face. "Purifico." After using hand gestures to cast a spell to clean one more seat in the gallery, Jon straightened his sore back. He used the sleeve of his robe to dry the sweat on his face and then turned his head to Hermione and the rest of them as if nothing had happened. "I''m going to request a toilet break." Even if the management is more strict, Hogwarts Castle won''t be able to restrain the basic physical function of the mudblood students, so they just control the time they go to the toilet, each person only has five minutes. Thevatory on this side of the Quidditch Pitch is directly below the gallery, and it takes about a minute and a half just to run over there, which means it would take more than half the time to go back and forth, leaving only two minutes to spend in a hurry no matter what sort of emergency it is. The Head boy who was guarding the entrance to the Quidditch pitch imitated Dolohov and stared fiercely at Jon. "You know what the consequences are if you don''t return on the specified time, right? The timer starts now!" Jon didn''t stay much longer, he ran down the bleachers quickly and rushed in the direction of thevatory, looking at his hurried back, the faces of the mudblood Head of both genders couldn''t help but show a sneer. It took more than a minute to run to thevatory, which is now empty, a time that Jon calcted. The rapid running made his breathing be a littleboured, and without stopping, he walked straight into a cubicle. His hands speedily unbuttoned his grey robe, and on the inside of the robe, there is a cloth pocket sewn on it, from which Jon took out the chain with the ring and put it on his neck! The familiar cold sensation clung to the sweaty skin in front of his body, and then he lightly recited the incantation that he hadn''t used for two months. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Not the levitation charm that removes gravity, but the regr kind used on the body, and the moment the spell was used, a feeling of lightness filled his whole body for the first time in a long while. Two minutes. Jon counted the time in his heart, and then his two thin arms grabbed the edge of a small window above thevatory cubicle and climbed up with unparalleled ease. The front exit of the pitch is facing thergewn between ck Lake and Hogwarts Castle, if you run out directly from this direction, it is likely to be found by the half-blood or pureblood students who y at ck Lake on weekends, while thevatory window is directly facing the boundary wall that encloses arge part of the Hogwarts school, unless one purposelyes here, usually, there won''t be any people passing by. After jumping down from the two-meter-high window, Jon ran straight along the shadow of the wall towards the direction of Hogwarts'' gate and the forbidden forest. His speed was surprisingly fast, and in less than half a minute he had already run to the edge of the perimeter wall that separated the Hogsmeade wizard vige from the school. On the bush, there was a small sack with the same colour as the dirt half-buried quietly on the ground, and Jon didn''t hesitate to reach out and pick up the sack and stuff it into the inner pocket of his robe that he used to hide the ring, and then quickly returned the way he came. He neatly re-entered thevatory, removed the ring from his neck and put it back in ce. After briefly adjusting his breathing rate, Jon slowed down his movements and ran towards the bleachers at the same pace as he hade to thevatory. When he returned to the pitch, the Heads guarding the front of the entrance red at him and let him in. Only four and a half minutes had passed, so even if the Heads would like to make things difficult on purpose, they couldn''t find any excuse. This is the first time he went through the process of getting the potion materials, the beginning of the process is most prone to errors, there were no idents this time, and when he became familiar with the processter, it would be much easier. And just when he was ready to continue his previous work, Jon suddenly felt an eye looking at him from his side. He turned his head and met Hermione''s gaze nkly. "Randy ... do you want to take a little break?" The girl asked hesitantly. Jon realized at this time that because of the rxation he had just experienced, his breathing, which had been rapid after his previous pretence of intense movement, had unconsciously slowed down a bit. It should not have been a big deal when you are around 12-year-old kids, but Hermione was obviously much more perceptive and attentive than normal. Without wanting to draw attention any further, his breathing became sightly rapid again, and he said with an unchanged expression. "I''m fine, let''s speed up the progress, if, by noon this ce is not cleaned uppletely, we will be punished." Hermione also only asked due to normal concern, so she didn''t say anything more, and returned her attention to the dust-filled seats. After this hup, the second-year students did not stop for a moment and eventually finished their assigned tasks before lunch started. The weekend lunch was a bit better than the previous days, at least everyone got a piece of salted meat, but the whole morning''sbour made the students don''t have much mood to enjoy such "food", after hastily finishing their lunch, they went back to their dormitory, and began the one of the rare rest time this afternoon. Jon also returned to the dormitory, but he did not do anything during the whole day, he was very patient, and waited until dark to have a safer environment for him to open the bag. ----- #Rafiq, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 74: Unimpeded Chapter 74: Unimpeded After the darkness enveloped the entire Hogwarts castle, Jon stayed quietly on his wooden nk bed. The air was a little muggy because there were no windows in the dormitory, and as summer turned to autumn, a person''s mood could easily be tiresome. Jon had no intention of sleeping, he was listening carefully to the fading footsteps outside the door, the sound of castle caretaker Dolohov''s patrol at the start of the curfew. After a week of being here, Jon had basically gauged the habits of the castle caretaker. After the curfew began, he would start patrolling the underground floor, and after patrolling once, he would return to his office to rest, unless he heard any movement in the middle of the night that should not have been made, he would not go outside at all. So after his footstepspletely disappeared and waited for about twenty minutes, Jon sat up from the bed. He did not light the candle straight out, instead, he fumbled to get his robe with the inner pocket sewn on, and after pulling out the cloth bag he found in the morning, he slowly drew out his wand. The inner pocket on the clothes was specially made for him by Dumbledore, and a powerful undetectable extension charm was affixed on it, which looked like an ordinary pocket on the surface, but actually had a lot of space inside. With a light flick of the wand, a quill in front of the bed transformed into a scissor by using a transfiguration spell, and then he tucked the wand back again. After taking the scissors and cutting the wick of the candle on the candlestick in the dark by two-thirds to ensure that the me will be small enough, Jon lit the candle. The light is very faint, but enough to illuminate the area in front of him. With this tiny glow, Jon opened the cloth bag that he picked up over the boundary wall today, and one by one, he took out various potion materials. Lacewing flies, Leeches, full-moon plucked powdered Fluxweed, bundles of Knotgrass, Bicorn Horn fine powder and the most important dry skin of the African Boomng snake. If all these materials boiled out to prepare a polyjuice potion, it would be enough for Jon to use two vials a day for a month. If there are even more materials, this same cloth bag with an undetectable extension charm could be able to hold them, but there is no way to ensure the medicinal properties of the productsst for a long time. Undetectable extension charm can only expand space, but could not freeze time, which is why Dumbledore didn''t directly give Jon a school year sufficient amount of polyjuice potion beforeing, if you did not use it for a long time, then the effectiveness of the pre-brewed polyjuice potion will also dilute, so Jon must be able to be self-sufficient in Hogwarts Castle. After checking that there is no problem with the materials sent over, Jon was about to put things back into the cloth bag when his hand touched a cool, liquid-like thing inside the bag. Jon first froze, then he took out the thing that was so light in weight that it seemed as if it didn''t exist. It is a transparent cloak with a faint silver glow, at the first sight of it, Jon subconsciously held his breath. There was also a note on the top of the cloak. [After Lily knew you went there, she specially asked me to send it to you, take good care of it] After reading the contents of the note, Jon immediately put it right above the candle and lit it, watching the me brighten for a few seconds and then go out again, he knew exactly what the cloak that was sent to him is. A cloak of invisibility! Not the kind that is sold on the market in the magical world, the ordinary stock that uses the fur of Demiguise or the kind that has been enchanted with a disillusionment charm. If this cloak of invisibility originated from Lily''s hands, then it is most likely one of the three Deathly Hallows that was traditionally passed on in the Potter family, the one that was in Harry Potter''s hands in the original story! After the death of the Potters'' father and son Harry and James, the family can be identified as extinct, so the cloak of invisibility was naturally handed over to Lily''s hands. Jon looked at the invisibility cloak in his hand, his mood quickly became calm from the initial excitement. This item can be described as a precious relic left behind after the death of her husband and son, for Lily, it is absolutely very significant, but now she sent this cloak to Jon''s hands, if he had an ident, then this cloak certainly won''t possibly ever have a chance to return. Jon can understand the implications of this, in that year on the wagon before, he can tell that now the only motivation for Lily to persist in living is revenge. To take revenge on Voldemort, revenge on Snape, revenge on everyone involved in the murder of her husband and son. She asked Dumbledore to send him the invisibility cloak, in order to make it easier for him to act in Hogwarts Castle so that he could aplish the ultimate goal. Perhaps there was some consideration for his safety as one of her students, but it should be mainly for the sake of the unquenchable hatred in her heart. But regardless of whether she wholeheartedly considered his safety, Jon appreciated the invisibility cloak she sent from the bottom of his heart. With this item, there is no doubt that his next actions will be significantly easier! All the things except the invisibility cloak were put back into the cloth bag, then the bag was stuffed back into the inner pocket of his robe, and then Jon put on the robe and blew out the candles. With the cloak of invisibility, his originally postponed n can be advanced a little bit. After carefully listening at the door for a minute or so to make sure there was no movement outside, Jon put on the cloak of invisibility andpletely concealed his figure, then gently pushed the door open and walked out of his bunk room. The corridor outside was dimly lit, the candbra set in the wall pulsed with a faint me, Jon moved carefully and pulled out his wand, then approached the iron door at the end of the corridor. After the curfew began and Dolohov conducted his patrol throughout the underground floor, he would lock the iron door from outside, just like a prison cell, and would note over to open it until the next morning, so without a wand, there would be no way for a mudblood student to open the door even if they''re from seventh year unless a professor came to teach them a spell to unlock the door secretly. But for Jon, who had a wand and had experienced a year of formal wizardry education, the locked iron door proved to be virtually useless. He slowly pushed the tip of his wand out of his cloak of invisibility and tapped it against the locked door. "Alohomora." A faint unlocking charm incantation sounded, and the closed iron door let out a creak and was opened from the inside by Jon. He walked out of the basement, then locked the door again from the outside, before turning around and heading for the stairs. The entire Hogwarts castle except for the "whistling" wind, remained dead silent. And tonight, a "mudblood" who used to be bound will be unhindered at this moment. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 75: Responsiveness Chapter 75: Responsiveness The lively Hogwarts Castle during the day is silent after nightfall. Jon went up the stairs and made his way to the seventh floor, treading on steps that were not as vibrant as they were during the day. This particr floor is not only off-limits to mudblood students, but also to other half-bloods as well as purebloods. Because, the current owner of Hogwarts Castle, Voldemort''s Headmaster''s office is located here, although he will basically onlye to Hogwarts Castle once a year on the opening day of the academic year, his own authority in the school is not half diminished. Plus, Deputy Headmaster Snape and Castle Caretaker Dolohov explicitly prohibited entry, so no students have ever thought of going near the Headmaster''s office. After Jon arrived at the seventh floor, he did not directly go to the Headmaster''s office, even though the objective of his infiltration is most likely to be in this office. He went to the nk wall opposite the tapestry of "Trolls Beating Barnabas (Troll Tapestry)" and wandered back and forth three times wearing the cloak of invisibility. ''I need a room that only Jon Green can open to make potions.'' He repeated these words silently in his mind, and without realizing it, a normal-looking door emerged on that nk wall. Jon focused on the door, and did not try to open it, but stood still and took a deep breath while reaching his left hand into his sleeve and feeling the Fawkes feather that had been hidden under his sleeve. Opening the Room of Requirement is a gamble for him. In the original story, this room was not discovered by Harry Potter until muchter, in fact, Voldemort had already discovered this room when he was a student, andter he even hid the Ravenw diadem that was made into a Horcrux. Jon has no idea whether or not Voldemort has Horcruxes, and if so, will he continue to store them in the Room of Requirement? - However, what is certain is that Voldemort is aware of the existence of this hidden room. Since he knows about it, there is a possibility that he might have ced some arrangements here; so, for Jon, opening this room is a very risky move. But he had to take this risk because there is no other ce in Hogwarts Castle for him to make a polyjuice potion, which requires nearly a month of time to make a sessful potion without being discovered. The ce where Hermione made the potion in the original story was in the girls''vatory where Myrtle lives, due to Myrtle being there thatvatory was rarely used, but now, there is no ghost to be found in the whole castle, so Myrtle is naturally gone, and the girls''vatory is certainly not deserted. If he couldn''t even able to make a polyjuice potion, then the following infiltration would be a joke. Jon adjusted his state to the best, then stretched out his right hand which is still hidden under the cloak of invisibility and ced it on the door handle of that door, he slightly increased the force, and then the door was easily opened by him from the outside. Behind the door was an empty room with a single cauldron in the middle of the room, a brand-new set of table and a chair ced beside the cauldron, a stack of nk parchment, a quill and ink, and a wooden shelf on the wall for storing materials and the finished potions. This seemed to be a room that belonged exclusively to Jon, and unless someone in the castle knew the name "Jon Green", there would be no way for anyone to find it. Even after entering the room, he did not take off the cloak of invisibility and stayed in it for a full ten minutes before Jon decided that Voldemort did not seem to have made any arrangements in this room. When you think about it, if he really can monitor a certain ce all the time, he should have made such a surveince as early as when the Horcruxes were stored in it, and Harry wouldn''t have gotten the diadem so easily in the original story. After making sure it is really safe, Jon quickly emptied out all the potion materials in the cloth bag, and after heating up the cauldron, he dropped all the Lacewing flies into it. The most time-consuming part of the recipe is thecewing flies, which need to be stewed for 21 days in order to reach the right concentration, and it can''t be preserved to be used at any time after stewing it, it must be used on the day after 21 days, otherwise, it will be a pile of waste. But the good thing is that the process of stewing flies does not require Jon to keep looking at it, he just needs to look at it every once in a while to make sure there are no problems. The boiling cauldron gurgled and bubbled, after cing all the potion materials here, Jon exited the room of requirement. Since this room has not been tampered with by Voldemort, then he can also determine some other things. He continued to walk back and forth in front of the wall, mentally requesting a space reserved for hiding things. Then a room door exactly like the one before appeared in front of him, Jon pushed the door open and walked into a space big enough for a small za. There were all kinds of discarded misceneous things piled up here, there were crippled desks and chairs, there were broken flying brooms, broken statues and portraits with broken frames. Jon carefully looked through the various piles of misceneous items, and he searched for about 20 to 30 minutes ording to his memory before finding the wooden cab with a blistered surface, and there was a statue of a wizard covered with pockmarks on top of the cab, with a certain wig on his head. But there is only that, Jon did not find any suspicious circr objects around, let alone a diadem. Voldemort must have taken the Horcrux. Although this trip did not bring Jon any actual harvest, but it confirmed a suspicion in his mind. The reason why Voldemort has now changed, there is a great possibility that it is rted to his Horcruxes; since his repeated soul splitting made him more and more crazy and irrational; then what if he retrieved his split souls, he would inevitably change back to the once "Tom Riddle". Jon did not continue to stay in the room, he exited the room, and then watched the door in front of his eyes slowly disappeared into the wall. There is still a long time left to the night, and he actually has quite a few things he wants to do, such as visiting the library in the castle or making a trip to the Defense Against the Dark Arts ss professor''s office, or to at least take a look at the Headmaster''s office entrance that is not that far from him. The cloaked Jon stared at the entrance to the Headmaster''s office, and after a half minute of hesitation, he took a step forward. He would not do something as reckless as going straight in, but sooner orter he had to find out exactly what the situation inside the office is, so why not check the way in and entrance tonight? ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 76: King of Snakes Chapter 76: King of Snakes There are actually two entrances to the Headmaster''s office located on the seventh floor. One is right in front of Jon''s eyes, and the other is on the second floor, it''s just that the entrance on the second floor has beenpletely blocked, leaving only this one on the seventh floor. Unlike other ssrooms or offices, the door of the Headmaster''s office isrge and has two sides just like the castle gate. At the moment this door is tightly closed, Jon carefully approached the door, and without reaching out to push, he put his ear close to the door. Very quiet, no different from the current Hogwarts Castle, but somehow Jon, although he did not hear any sound, he smelled a faint fishy smell. This smell is not that strong, probably blocked off by the door, but through the door crack this fishy smell is very obvious, so he is well aware that this is not his own delusion or anything. Jon put his hand that still covered with the cloak of invisibility on the left-hand door, which was not locked, it seems even though Snape and Dolohov had given strict orders to all the students, there are no actual protection measures here. He exhaled lightly, then slightly pressed forward, and a crack appeared in the middle of the two doors. Through this crack, he saw the view behind the door where the lobby should be. Where a long, thick body like a big barrel coiled, with emerald green scales faintly reflecting the dim light, it looked like it was asleep, and did not notice Jon who quietly opened the door, the coiled body floating up and down in regr intervals. Jon watched the huge creature for a few seconds, and without seeing the part of its head, he re-closed the gap in the door. Nagini? No, this is Hogwarts Castle, if he really wants something to help him guard the Headmaster''s office, then Nagini is certainly not suitable, the most suitable one should be another snake. An ancient serpent that does not belong to him, but obeys hismands because of his bloodline and the Parseltongue talent he inherited from his ancestors- The Basilisk! Jon wrapped up the cloak of invisibility tightly and did not stay here, his footsteps lightened, moving quickly and turning towards the stairs. He finally understood why even though Snape and Dolohov prohibited students from approaching the area near the Headmaster''s office, they did not arrange any special measures to guard the area. Now that Voldemort has taken control of Hogwarts Castle, the Basilisk that hepletely took control of during his school days was released from the chamber once again, and the Basilisk that obeyed all hismands would naturally be used by him. Let it stay in the front room of the Headmaster''s Office, which is the best defence, and a lock on that door is just aplete addition to the picture. When he returned to his room, Jon took off the invisibility cloak, carefully tucked it into the inner pocket of his robe along with his wand, andy back on his bed as he began to think about his next steps. He definitely needs to go inside the Headmaster''s office; and to do that, he needs to find a way to deal with the Basilisk. As one of the most dangerous magical creatures in the magical world, Basilisk is undoubtedly formidable, not only its size and strength are enormous, plus its skin also has resistance to most magic spells just like a dragon, and there is poison in its fangs, which even Voldemort''s Horcruxes can''t resist, but the most vital feature of it is its eyes that can directly take away the life of the person gazing into it. From these characteristics, even the dragon that''s on the same level as it is can''t match it in terms of lethality, but this powerful artificial dark magic creature also has a fatal w! It is afraid of the rooster''s crowing. Perhaps because it was born by a rooster, even the calling cry made by an ordinary rooster can be fatal to it. Simply put, it is a high-attack and low-defence creature, it can instantly kill the enemy, but as long as you find the right method you can also very easily kill it. But in Hogwarts, it''s not that easy to find a rooster, Voldemort certainly should be aware of the Basilisk''s weakness, he must have instructed Snape not to let a rooster appear within the boundaries of Hogwarts. And, even if he found a rooster, if he wants to deal with the Basilisk, he will have to find a suitable time. The sound of a rooster crowing is not low, if it sounded in normal times, the sound will certainly attract others, so even if Jon resolved the Basilisk, he could not sneak into the Headmaster''s office again. Luckily, there is still plenty of time for him to solve these problems, at least he knows in advance what exactly is guarding the Headmaster''s office, so the next time he can make sufficient preparations. Moreover, if he is not mistaken, there should be an item in Hogwarts Castle that can help him in his next actions, and that item is probably not discovered yet. The castle seems to be full of danger, but for Jon, this is perhaps the ce he knows the best, after all, the entire seven-part of the original story mostly revolved around the castle. *** "After the afternoon ideology ss, we have to clean thevatory of the castle, so I suggest you not eat too much at noon, Randy, did you forget that you almost threw up when cleaning thevatoryst time?" At lunchtime, watching Jon eating cold sausages as well as dry bread, Hermione could not help but remind him in a small voice. Hearing her words, Jon put down thest piece of dry bread in his hand, Hermione is indeed right, he almost failed to hold backst time when cleaning thevatory for the first time. Almost three weeks have passed since he came to the castle, and he basically noticed that among the second-year students, Hermione is their "leader". This little girl is smart, attentive, and usually always looking out for others and the younger students, these children in the second year are also willing to listen to her. "Haven''t you done this kind of work this summer? I remember that except for the first time when you cleaned thevatory in the first year, when you cried from the smell there, and then forced yourself to ept it, you never had a hard time again, right?" The little girl looked at Jon and asked in a somewhat curious tone. Jon''s heart jumped slightly, but his face did not change expression as he said. "The gentleman I boarded with over the summer was very nice to me and didn''t let me do these kinds of work, I just became a little ufortable after returning to school, but it won''t be a problem anymore." Hermione just asked this question casually, and after hearing Jon''s exnation, she nodded and said nothing more. However, Jon became more alert inside, this little girl is different from other second-year children, she can see the problem as long as he behaves a little inconsistently with the original "Smith" behaviour. In the future, he needs to pay extra attention in front of Hermione. -------------- Happy New year Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 77: Caretakers Office Chapter 77: Caretaker''s Office When the afternoon ss was over, Hermione went to get the tools they needed to clean thevatory, but Jon found an excuse not to go over together. He walked out of the ssroom alone, and then entered the specialvatory for mudbloods, and put on the invisibility cloak. The time was alreadyte in the evening, but not yetpletely dark. In such an environment, Jon could not be easily detected by other students as long as he walked close to the wall and paid some attention carefully. He also cast a levitation charm on his body at the same time after putting on the cloak of invisibility, so that he can move more swiftly and more feather-light next. As he made his way up a staircase that no mudbloods were normally supposed to step on, he encountered a number of half-blood and pureblood students who had also just got out of their ssroom and were walking down the stairs towards the great hall to have their meal. They talked andughed, just like normal students in a normal school, passing by Jon, without noticing that a mudblood who is not supposed to be there is heading upward. Jon moved quickly, counting the stairs silently in his mind, and took less than half a minute to get from the ground floor to the fourth floor, which had already be deserted, with most of the students leaving to go to the great hall. And just as Jon arrived at the fourth floor, Dolohov happened to being out of his office, he turned over and closed his office door, then passed by Jon and walked down the stairs. This was certainly no coincidence. In the three weeks of his arrival at the castle, Jon had been observing Dolohov''s behaviour every day, and he had basically figured out the castle caretaker''s daily routine. Some professors would have their meals brought directly to their offices by the house elves, while Dolohov liked to go to the great hall, where he seemed to enjoy the feeling of his students bowing to him and calling him "Mr Dolohov". So his three meals a day are served in the great hall, just like the normal students. That means that right after mealtime, his office will be empty for roughly half an hour, and this is the opportunity Jon has been eyeing all week. After personally watching Dolohov walk down the stairs, Jon approached his office door with quick steps. The door was not locked, because no student in the castle would dare to sneak into this perverted caretaker''s office. Jon carefully pushed the door open, and then closed it again. After entering, he first took the quickest possible nce at the office premises. The ce is very gloomy, the half-set orange sun outside the window shone with a ray of sunset and fell on the dark floor. There are four or five cold chains and shackles hanging down from the ceiling, making the room look less like an office and more like an interrogation room. There are no portraits of any characters hanging on the surrounding walls, which is the best possible news for Jon. The portraits in the magical world are generally alive, and the characters have their own identity and canmunicate with people, if a pair is also hung in Dolohov''s office, then Jon who''s wearing a cloak of invisibility, although he will not be discovered, the purpose ofing to this office will not bepleted, and it will also reveal that someone broke into Dolohov''s office. The various parchments on the desk were arranged in a messy manner, and it seemed that the caretaker didn''t have the habit of tidying up his room regrly. Jon didn''t bother to look at the things on the desk but went straight to the wooden cab on the wall. Basically, all the prohibited items collected by Dolohov from the hands of half-blood and pureblood students should be here. When dealing with students other than mudbloods, even if they are half-bloods, he cannot use force, at most, he can confiscate the tools of crime and then punish them with detention. Jon started rummaging through the wooden cab, even at this time he did not take off the invisibility cloak, and looked through the things with very light movements, as soon as he was sure it was not what he wanted then he would put them back in ce. The wooden cab is not that big, and there are not that many things stored, basically, some prank props, the kind of things that you can usually buy at the joke shop in Diagon Alley, Jon probably used more than ten minutes of time to rummage through the two wooden cabs, but he still did not find what he was looking for. Looking at the caretaker''s office right in front of him, he frowned slightly. On second thought, maybe he was going in the wrong direction. The item he wanted to find was confiscated from James and the gang by the former caretaker Filch when Hogwarts Castle hadn''t fallen, and now that the castle had changed owners and the caretaker had be a pureblood supremacist wizard, would he still keep the items left behind by his predecessor, the squib Filch? Just as Jon was pondering, a chatter suddenly resounded from far and near outside the office door. "Is it really okay for us toe and steal from Dolohov like this?" The voice sounded a bit naive and had a thicker vocal pitch. The voice that answered him sounded familiar to Jon, he had met up with this boy once back in Diagon Alley. "What are you afraid of, he is only fond of those shackles he has, and will never check if the collected confiscated items missing or not, we will not be found out. Besides, what can he do even if we got found out? My father is the head of the Auror Office, and both of your fathers are working in the Ministry of Magic, so he will only detain us for a few days at most, he won''t do anything to us." The conversation at the outer door continued, and Jon had already tightened the invisibility cloak on himself and hid under the desk. The door to Dolohov''s office room once again was opened from the outside by three students, and Draco Malfoy and his two followers, Crabbe and Goyle entered. With nowhere near as much caution as Jon, they just poked their heads into the office, as if trying to steal the prohibited items from here that had been taken away by Dolohov earlier. "Go look in that cab over there, Goyle, and watch your movements a bit, don''t make a mess of things." Jon watched from under the desk as the three of them also made their way to the wooden cab and began rummaging through it, but they were obviously much luckier than Jon and soon found what they were looking for. The item was found by Crabbe, it is a blue orb, roughly about the size of a ping pong ball. Draco took the orb as soon as he was able to, with an excited expression on his face. "I brought it to school secretly from home without my dad''s knowledge, and luckily Dolohov didn''t throw it into that room on the ground floor like he threw the other half-breed bastards'' things. I don''t want to go over to the ground floor to find my stuff and meet up with the mudbloods!" ----- Happy New year Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 78: The Marauders Map Chapter 78: The Marauder''s Map "To be honest, I don''t understand why Dolohov even bothered to make a storage room on the ground floor, wouldn''t it be more convenient to have a room right next to his office?" Crabbe said with a giggle as he scratched his head. They were already heading out of the office at this point, and Draco said smugly as if he knew some kind of hidden secret. "The one on the ground floor isn''t really a storage room, to begin with. I''ve heard from the seniors, that room was actually the office of the previous caretaker, it was just that after Dolohov became the caretaker, he was quite disgusted with that room, and not only did he not choose to take over it, but he used it as a ''dumping ce'' ... " Their footsteps and chatter had faded away, and only after they had left did Jon step out from under the table with a thoughtful look on his face. Even if he still remembered the approximate plot of the original story, there is no way he could remember every detail that clearly, for example, he didn''t quite remember where Filch''s office was in the original story. But the speech that Draco made when he came to steal something to show off gave him a lot of help. Dolohov moved into this office after the take-over, while the original Filch''s office was discarded by him as a store room on the ground floor! Jon did not continue to waste time in Dolohov''s office, he quickly walked down to the ground floor with the invisibility cloak, but did not immediately go to the store room that Draco said, but went into thevatory, took off the invisibility cloak, and meet up with Hermione and the rest of them. He has already dyed long enough, others might not mind such a disappearance during the lunch break, but with how attentive Hermione is, she might be able to find a problem. He found several other second-year male students in thevatory that needed to be cleaned because the boys and girls would be working separately in differentvatories, the boys didn''t notice anything unusual about Jon being away for this long, they just thought he had diarrhoea and stayed in thevatory for a while longer. After the work began, no one cked off, these children are still only 12 years old, so their minds are rtively simple; everyone had fallen into this kind of situation, and all they could think about is to be more united, so no one yed any petty tricks and focused on their works. While cleaning, Jon asked a boy named Hanton, who was beside him casually "I heard there is a storage room on the ground floor that Mr Dolohov uses to store confiscated things?" Hearing Jon''s words, Hanton thought for a moment before nodding his head. "Mr Dolohov seems to store some stuff in a room on the ground floor sometimes, just the third room to the left after walking in from the entrance hall, but it''s off-limits to us, try not to go near there, otherwise he might say we broke the school rules and find a reason to punish us sometimes even if we didn''t go thereter on." He looked like he thought of some bad memories, his body could not help but shiver, yet he did not forget to give a reminder to Jon. Jon waved his hand and said. "I just overheard people talking about it and asked casually, I am not stupid enough to mess with Mr Dolohov." Hanton also just made a reminder on the passing, he did not think Jon would do something that bold because "Randy" in his memory has always been a very timid person. When they finished with thevatory, it was already eight o''clock in the evening. The exhausted mudbloods returned to their bunks under the watchful eye of the Head boy and Head girl, and then Dolohov locked the big iron door, announcing the end of the day. As the night drifted deeper and deeper, Jon counted the minutes as hey in his bed, and after estimating that it was almost midnight, he got up from his bed. He cloaked himself skilfully, drew his wand, gently opened the door of his room and walked out of it. He left the "cell" where the mudbloods are kept, went from the basement to the ground floor corridor, and then, ording to the information given to him by Hanton in the evening, he found the locked store room at the end of the entrance hall, on the left side. The door lock was opened by Jon using the unlocking charm, then he fumbled in the dark to close the door again before waving his wand under the invisibility cloak once again. "Lumos." A faint glow illuminated the not-too-big room. There were a lot of messy magic joke props piled up around, all of these things were confiscated by Dolohov from the hands of half-blood students, Jon saw a clown mask with a red light at the eyes, a fake tongue like a snake wriggling on the floor, and a zombie head-shaped leather ball rolling back and forth. He didn''t even look at these spooky prank props at midnight and went straight to a wooden cab that was ced in the far corner. After clearing away all those things piled up around the wooden cab, he began to check each item stored in the cab one by one. Finally, when he reached the third row at the lower end of the cab, he vaguely saw a line of textbelled on the second drawer on the right side - "Confiscated and Highly Dangerous". Seeing this line, Jon breathed a huge sigh of relief as he pulled open the drawer and, not surprisingly, found a worn nk parchment inside! With a solemn face, Jon stretched out his hand to take this parchment out of the drawer. If people don''t know the inside story, they won''t find anything unusual about this parchment, it''s like a scrap of parchment that has been forgotten in a corner for a long time, but Jon knows the use of this "scrap of parchment" very well. He raised his wand in his hand and tapped the parchment while whispering. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Then ck ink dots appeared at the location where his wand struck, and then a ck line expanded around the dots and continuously spread out in all directions, and soon the ck lines covered the entire parchment, outlining a map of the entire Hogwarts on it! It''s not just a map, it also has the names of everyone who is now inside the castle, and all of them are shown on the map. He saw familiar names such as Severus Snape, Antonin Dolohov, Draco Malfoy, and many others. No one was walking around in the dead of night, and the names of both students and faculty remained quietly in theirmon rooms and bedrooms. And right above this map, a passage written by its creators still remained. [Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot & Prongs, are proud to present - The Marauder''s Map] ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 79: Who can tell the future? Chapter 79: Who can tell the future? The Marauder''s Map, a magical map created by the Marauders, marked with almost all the locations in Hogwarts Castle along with the secret passages, and it was also enhanced with an extremely powerful homunculus charm that can reveal the names of all the people and ghosts in the castle on the map. Even if Jon is now wearing the cloak of invisibility, and has drank the polyjuice potion, in the marauder''s map on the ground floor of the castle where he stood, the name revealed is not "Randy Smith", but "Jon Green". This map is very important to Jon, who is now infiltrating Hogwarts Castle, you could even say that there is no ce he can''t go in the whole castle when he has it along with the invisibility cloak. The key is that it also marked the entrance to all the secret passages in the castle, which means that Jon has the opportunity to go out of the castle, and contact Dumbledore directly outside! This map is, the same as giving Jon a full map to y in the early game, removing all the fog from the castle, and allowing him to know the movements of everyone in Hogwarts. Jon carefully nced at the names of every individual now marked on the Marauder''s Map. He had actually been wondering one thing after entering Hogwarts Castle, where all the ghosts in the castle had gone? Now even when he got the marauder''s map, there was still no gain, the Peeves, Bloody Baron, Lady Grey, Nearly Headless Nick, all the ghosts who had given names in the original story, he could not find even a single name on the map. All the ghosts have already died once, so they can''t be killed again after that, no matter if it is an unforgivable killing curse or the instant death of the Basilisk. The only exnation for the current situation is that they have all been brought out of the castle, but Jon did not see any ghosts in the wagon, so did Voldemort drive them out of the castle? Jon couldn''t figure this out for the time being. Just when he nned to extend his wand to cancel the magic on the marauder''s map and put it away, he suddenly spotted a person''s name at the bottom of the map, which seemed to have suddenly moved. Jon stopped the movement of his hands, he frowned slightly, looking down towards the location right down where the castle basement, and carefully looked over, but found every name stayed properly in their rooms, and no one was walking around or going out. He did not immediately decide that it was his own illusion and chose to stare at that location on the map for a good five or six minutes before finally continuing the action he had just stopped and tapping lightly on the marauder''s map. "Mischief managed." The lines on the map retracted, eventually coalescing into ink dots at the tip of his wand and then disappeared. Jon put away the map that had turned back into in parchment, then tugged the cloak of invisibility tighter on his body and walked out of the Filch''s office. Even if someone had really moved just now, it didn''t make him get all frightened. Even for mudblood students, there was no rule that they couldn''t get up in the middle of the night to go to thevatory, and it was not possible for him to go out of the underground floor. Walking down to the basement, he closed the "cell door" with his backhand, and a "creak" of rusty hinges was heard in the silent underground dormitory corridor. After locking the door again, he returned to his bedroom. However, what Jon did not notice was that one of the dormitory doors he had just passed was not properly closed, and a hidden eye in the darkness was staring at the empty corridor where a subtle footstep sounded, and then the door of the student''s dorm room named "Randy Smith" was opened and then closed again. ... *** It is now October. The weather has gradually started to get cooler, pureblood and half-blood students have changed into thicker school robes, and even the mudblood students each received a worn thick robe to protect themselves from the cold. It was just, even in this weather they still needed to stick their hands in the cold water to soak their rags to clean the castle as well as various parts of the Quidditch pitch. Even though most of the students had basically learned the cleaning spell using hand gestures, this spell was not universal enough to be used in most scenarios, and some parts still required the mudbloods to work with their own hands. The atmosphere in Hogwarts Castle had recently be more lively, since, October meant that it would be time for themencement of the semesterly Quidditch tournament. This is something that can easily excite students who are studying inside the castle since entertainment activities are scarce in the wizardingmunity. However, the two houses, half-blood and pureblood, which are separated, will notpete against each other, instead, the half-bloods willpete against the half-bloods, and the purebloods willpete against the purebloods within their own houses. Students who wish topete can go to the Flying Instructor who manages this event and apply to create a team. Each team will thenpete against each other, and the team that eventually wins at the end of the semester will receive an actual material prize like thetest flying broom, as well as having their team name featured in the centre of the Trophy Room. Voldemort intended to create a division between half-blood and pureblood students, both in education and in sports. He wanted to engrave the mentality that purebloods should have privileges in the hearts of half-blood wizards since they were very young so that they would ept this matter from the bottom of their hearts no matter now or in the future, and then the future hierarchy in the wizardingmunity would bepletely solidified. But even if the castle is bustling now, it has nothing to do with mudblood students, instead, this half-blood and pureblood carnival has t-out added a lot of workloads on them. They had to clean up the unused pitch before the tournament, and the job of cleaning up after the tournament also fell on their shoulders. The first Quidditch match ended on Saturday, and Jon and the group started cleaning the pitch for the second time that week after the match. With the experience gainedst time, the second years were able to work much faster this time than the previous time. "Please do it, Randy, you''re better at using the spell than I am, you should be able to clean this stuff off easily." The boy who had previously told Jon the exact location of Filch''s office, named Hanton, looked at the ground sshed with pumpkin juice or butterbeer type of drink, approached Jon and asked him. Jon nodded and handed him the broom in his hand to sweep up the ribbons that were fluttering all over the spectator stand. "In fact, you are just a little off on the pronunciation, a little change of habit will make the cleaning spell work quite well." "Hermione said the same thing to me." Hanton took the broom with an envious expression on his face, "You guys are truly gifted, Professor Sinistra just taught it once, and you were both able to learn it." "Learning magic not only requires diligence and hard work, but it also requires you to be able to ept the very process yourself." Jon didn''t immediately proceed to use the cleansing spell, he felt like teaching this boy something, "When casting a spell, we are supposed to rely on our mind and our ''will'' to make the spell work, you need to be open-minded and interested to learn the spell, then it won''t actually be hard to learn." Hanton lowered his voice. "I''ve secretly watched those wizard studentspete, and they can actually fly in the sky on a broomstick! That must be FUN!" "Be careful, it would be a disaster if Dolohov caught you peeking." Hanton looked up at the blue sky overhead and ced the ordinary broom that Jon had handed him on his crotch, as if he too, like those half-blood and pureblood students, could already fly up into the sky on a broomstick at the moment. "How nice it would be if I could fly like them." He said yearningly. Jon didn''t look at Hanton, his eyes never moved away from the drink stain in front of him, but he still didn''t make a move to cast the spell, he broke the brief silence and murmured in a quiet whisper that Hanton might not be able to hear. "Maybe in the future. Who can tell for sure." ----- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 80: Halloween Eve Chapter 80: Halloween Eve Near noon, after cleaning up the Quidditch pitch and preparing to return to the castle, Jon broke away from the second-year mudblood students midway through the process saying he had to go to thevatory. He used the same method as before with just an addition of using a marauder''s map to make sure no one else was around and went to a remote location near the wall, where he hid a piece of paper with a phoenix feather emblem on it in the ce where he had originally found the potion materials. After doing all this, Jon returned to thevatory and then rejoined the mudbloods, during which no one noticed or cared whether he went to thevatory to go to the loo or not. In October, it wasn''t just the Quidditch tournament officially began, it also signalled that the Halloween feast was getting closer and closer. There are only a few days when all the purebloods and half-bloods at Hogwarts get together to celebrate: the opening dinner, the Halloween dinner, the Christmas dinner, and the closing dinner. For the first holiday dinner after the start of the school year, the students in the castle have a rtively high level of enthusiasm. This enthusiasm is not just limited to the half-blood and pureblood students, even Jon could feel that the mudblood students around him also seemed to be looking forward to this day of the holiday. Only this anticipation of theirs was obviously not due to fantasizing about any big feast, or what kind of candy they could get, something they wouldn''t dare to think about even in their dream now. They were looking forward to something else that Jon didn''t know about, and the anticipation only spread among the second-year students, and in the other grades, he didn''t notice anything unusual. This was both somewhat within the realm of possibility and somewhat beyond Jon''sprehension. Beforeing to the castle, he had already known from the Malfoy father and son''s conversation in Diagon Alley that the mudbloods in Hogwarts Castle were not exactly just going along with the oppression without making any resistance. He lived here for almost close to two months and learned a lot about some of the things that happenedst semester. Basically, it was the senior mudblood students who privately organized and taught the junior mudbloods the true meaning of the insulting name mudblood, as well as telling them that children from a full muggle family are not inferior to half-bloods and purebloods and that everyone was an equal wizard in the British magicalmunity not long ago, regardless of their origin. Besides this, there was nothing more they could do than tell the younger children things that wentpletely against the history of magic and ideology sses they had attended during the day. Then, during an assembly near the end of the semester, they were finally caught. Castle caretaker Dolohov personally fed the leading students Veritaserum, forcing them to tell what they had done, and then this whole thing was even notified to Voldemort, who wasrgely absent from Hogwarts Castle. After the incident, the Ministry of Magic sent a man, a wizard who is well-versed in the Memory Charm. All the mudbloods involved in the gathering, except for the first years, had their memories wiped off, and the leading seniors, whose memories had been modified, were given a wless set of memories by the wizard to rece them. Then, in front of all the students in the school, whether purebloods, half-bloods or mudbloods, Dolohov flogged the leading students, beating them to the point of death, while asking them to express their gratitude for the school''s "education" from the bottom of their hearts. This is the reason why the student named "Taylor" looked so strange like an emotionless mannequin when he was hung up, got beaten and verbally abused by Dolohov on the night Jon first came to Hogwarts Castle. He was one of the seniors who led these gatherings and one of the students whose memory was most thoroughly modified. Only the students, who were still first years at the time, were not subjected to this memory wiping. They were only 11 years old, so young to be wide-scale memory erasure, the human brain is inherently most sensitive, even in the magical world. The professors at Hogwarts thought that these students had not been exposed to "abnormal" views for too long and that there are still six years ahead to correct them, plus the example provided by Taylor and the others was enough to intimidate them, so they just gave them a verbal education. But from the current situation, it seems that these mudbloods who have now advanced to the second grade are not that intimidated, in the first two months of the school year they did behave obediently, but after October, others might not have felt the change, but Jon, who is part of the second-grade students himself, felt the obvious change. Jon was a little surprised that these children who are only 12 years old this year, after going through those things in thest semester, now actually dare to make some small moves in private, but when he thought about it, if there is Hermione in the lead, then these kinds of things are not that surprising. Thest day of October is the night before Halloween. After the afternoon sses ended, the pureblood and half-blood students werepletely liberated, and skeletons walked around the great hall which had been decorated with pumpkin lights, flying bats and skulls. The young wizards all changed into pure ck cloaks and put on pointed wizard hats and carried pumpkinnterns and ran around in the castle, reaching out to the professors to ask for candy when they met them. On such a festive asion, even the usually cold-faced Deputy Headmaster Snape would take a handful of candy out of his pocket and give it to the students who had hesitantly stretched their hands to him when they encountered him. Only all this joy and excitement has nothing to do with the mudblood students. They were all locked in their underground dormitories after an ordinary dinner under Dolohov''s watchful eye. On such a festive night, the presence of the mudbloods would only spoil the fun for both professors and students alike. The only good thing was that there was no work for them to do this evening, except that they were forced to stay honestly in their dormitories. The Head boy and Head girl, who were in charge of patrolling and monitoring, returned to their dorm rooms after eight o''clock, no one wanted to be out in the cold in the corridor after such ate hour. Tonight is actually the second time that Jon has to go to get the potion materials, but he did not do anything rash and stayed inside his dorm, he had a feeling that something different would happen tonight. Sure enough, at a time when it was about to close to nine o''clock when there should be a lively dinner party in the great hall above, a soft knock sounded at the door of Jon''s room. ----- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 81: We Are Wizards Chapter 81: We Are Wizards Jon opened the door of his dorm and a girl named Hermione Granger was standing outside the door. She looked at Jon, made a silent gesture to him, then grabbed his arm and led him out of the dorm. Jon did not resist as he followed the girl through the cold breezy corridor and then reached the far end of the underground floor, where a slightlyrger room that appeared to be an abandoned potions'' ssroom is situated. There were already some children waiting there, all first and second-year students. Most of the first-year students had nk and uncertain expressions on their faces as if they were unsure of why they had to disobey Dolohov''s order to gather here at this time. The second-year students, on the other hand, mostly showed agitated expressions, as if they were fearful and yet trying to cope with that fear. After leading Jon into the room, Hermione shut the door behind herpletely. Tonight would be a pleasant Halloween night for the faculty and students above, and no one would bother toe and see the mudbloods at this time of year, not even Dolohov. "Is it just the seven of us? Hermione." The question was raised by a second-year student named Ben Thomas, who was usually a quiet boy. Hermione tugged her messy hair behind her shoulders and pursed her whitened lips. "Vis has been getting close to Brown (the Head boy of the Mudbloods) and the group since the school began, and we can''t trust himpletely anymore." Her words caused a bit of silence among the second-year students, many of whom subconsciously clenched their fists. And at this time, a first-year kid finally asked a question. "I... Why are we gathered here?" The boy stammered, " If, uh, if Brown and the group spot us, they''ll definitely report it to Mr Dolohov." The second years didn''t say anything, while Hermione turned her head to look at the first years. They are only eight of them, their facial features still look quite childlike, if they could not perform magic, then in muggle society they should have just entered middle school and started happy middle school life. In fact, Hermione and the guys are only a year older than they are, but they have experienced more in the past year, which washed off quite a significant 12-year-old childishness. The suffering is tormenting them, but it also helped them grow faster. "Because gathering,municating, getting along, freedom, these should be our birthright!" Hermione looked at the freshmen and uttered a statement that was so treacherous ording to the mudblood''s education. The first-year students who had been subjected to a period of indoctrination, all looked at Hermione with their mouths wide open. Perhaps in the first few days here, they will miss their parents every night, be nostalgic for the previous society and life, and cry about what is happening to them. But the whole two months of busybour and tough lifestyle in the castle have gradually let them feel numb. Eleven years old is when children would begin to develop their own world-view and values, but all day long they were taught that they were born inferior to others and that the goal of a ve''s life should be to serve the purebloods better, and very few of these children were not affected by these words. If they were not born inferior, then why should they be subjected to such discrimination? If they weren''t born with dirty blood, then why were they not allowed to hold a wand and learn proper magic like the rest of the children? If they were not born inferior, then why did they endure such a ve-like life? The children''s minds are still very simple, they will think about all these questions on their own, but no matter what, they have failed to give themselves a usible answer. They have done nothing wrong, so why do they have to suffer so much? Was it really like what these professors and sirs at the castle said, that it was just because they were born lowly due to their dirty blood? "No one is born inferior!" Hermione looked at them and said firmly, "We are all equal, and the history of the magical world has never been just the history of pureblood wizards as the professors talked about, and all we can do is rely on serving them to leave our names in the history books!" "Mudbloods, that''s a cuss term, it''s not a definition of our ss! Hogwarts Castle didn''t even have a pureblood, half-blood, and mudblood bloodline house seven years ago to begin with - for thest thousand years, all of us have had only onemon name - wizards!" "We are wizards." Her voice was not loud, and her tone was not rousing, but it allowed everyone present to hear what she was trying to say clearly, and it also allowed everyone to feel the unparalleled firmness and certainty she had for what she was saying. The first-year students'' jaws dropped, and a short silence followed before a boy named Colin whispered. "But the professor ims that only those with the bloodline deserve to be called wizards." "What''s the difference between someone with pure bloodline and us?" Hermione asked. The boy couldn''t answer her question, because the professor who taught them never talked about how they were different from pureblood and half-bloods either, he just repeatedly emphasized their inferiority. "Blood is just an excuse, they''re just finding a reason to enve us. There is no such thing as superior and inferior human beings. If we were truly born inferior, then why don''t they dare to let us have our wands to learn real magic? Because they know very well that every word they say to us from their own mouths is a lie, a lie used to make us believe that we are inferior, make us not dare to defy and resist the superior from the bottom of our minds even if we one day gain enough means to stand against them." Hermione''s words filled those first years with a mixture of dread and encouragement. They had experienced nothing but degradation in this castle, and today is the first time someone has said something like this to them. "But, but even if we know this, what''s the point?" One girl choked out, "We have no way to resist, we can only be their ves." "Someone is resisting." Hermione looked at her seriously, "I''ve picked up newspapers that were thrown away and learned about another Hogwarts in the wizarding world, where everyone is equal, where even someone like us can get wands to learn magic, where everyone can drink hot pumpkin juice, have milk, eat grilled sausages, steaks, puddings and cakes, and at the holidays'' everyone will celebrate together, everyone will receive Christmas gifts, and everyone will be wished blessings." Her words brought a look of longing to the faces of every child who heard them, and it seemed like a dream life. But in fact, what Hermione portrayed was not something she read in the newspaper, how could the Daily Prophet under the control of Voldemort possibly publish such an article? She may have really found it in the newspaper, or learned from the senior students who were not wiped off their memories before, and became aware of the existence of another Hogwarts under the leadership of Dumbledore. Those words just now, are all the best possible rosy thing she could imagine now. Jon, who had not said anything from the beginning to the end, knew clearly she actually did not say anything wrong, she was able to imagine a lot of things present in that exiled wagon. The children in the castle, without wands, without magic, with limited mobility andmunication, had no chance to overthrow the oppression by themselves. But she must give these children hope, even if they are now a group of children, defenceless, without the ability to make any resistance. But one must at least make them aware that they are equals, no? ----- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 82: Hogsmeade Chapter 82: Hogsmeade This gathering ended before the Halloween dinner above came to an end. Due to being caught oncest semester, Hermione became much more careful as the new organiser. Once she takes a wrong step, it won''t be just her, but all the second years as well as the first years, too, will be implicated. Just as Jon thought, this kind of assembly is not organizing the mudblood students to carry out some kind of act of rebellion, if they really want to do that, not only there is no point in doing that, but it will also get everyone killed. The students gathered together just to tell the younger students the real truth, about what they had learned in ss was all deception, there was nothing more than that. The bustle in Hogwarts Castle stopped after 10 o''clock, and Dolohov performed his caretaker duties, sending all the purebloods and half-bloods who wanted to linger in the corridors back to their dorm rooms. And by midnight, the whole Hogwarts went quiet, and it was at this time, Jon opened the Marauder''s map in his dorm room. After making sure that no one was wandering around in the castle, he put on the cloak of invisibility, left the underground dormitory, made his way to the ground floor, and walked straight through the entrance hall, then sneaked out of the castle. As he approached the Quidditch pitch along thewn, he followed the same route as he had taken on previous trips, walking quickly towards the gate by sticking to the wall that enclosed the entire school. When he reached the ce where he had left the note, Jon knelt down, plucked away the weeds, and using the moonlight, he finally found a bag in the dirt that was exactly the same as the one he had gotten in his hands a month ago. This time he did not immediately put the sack away, but directly opened the closure, fumbled around inside, and subsequently really fished out a palm-sized note from it. Jon drew out his wand and whispered the incantation. "Lumos." The faint light that suddenly lit up at the tip of the wand illuminated the darkness inside the invisibility cloak, and at the same time allowed him to see the contents recorded on the note. There were no words on it, just a hog''s head with fangs drawn in ck ink. After seeing this pattern, Jon''s mind instantly came to a clear understanding. Before he was still guessing, who is the person sending him a batch of potion materials every month, but after seeing this now, it couldn''t more obvious. The wizards in the whole magical world who are aware of the rtionship between this person and Dumbledore can be counted in one palm of the hand, if he did not have time to provide any help in the battle of the fall of Hogwarts seven years ago, then Dumbledore most likely would let him continue to conceal his identity and lurk around Hogwarts Castle. After thinking clearly about these, Jon immediately stuffed the note and the cloth bag with potion materials into his pocket, then put away his wand, and returned to the castle as he tightened the invisibility cloak. After returning to the castle, he did not go back to the underground chamber of the Mudblood immediately, but hid under the cloak of invisibility, while looking at the marauder''s map in his hands, and went to the Gunhilda of Gorsemoor Corridor on the third floor. There is a statue of a hunchbacked, one-eyed witch ced in this corridor, and because there are no ssrooms or professor''s offices around, coupled with the fact that the statue itself looks a bit spooky, few students usuallye here. Jon went around behind the statue of the old witch, he raised his wand and tapped it against the hunchback witch statue. "Dissendium." The next second, the humpback one-eyed witch opened up, revealing a stone slide. After giving a final nce at the information on the marauder''s map to make sure there was no one around, Jon put away the map, gripped the wand tightly in his hand as he dove into the secret passage and slid down. This is an extremely long slide, after entering the secret passage he used the wand-lighting charm, but the winding and undting way ahead of him simply didn''t allow him to see the destination. The slidested for more than ten minutes before Jon re-stepped on the solid ground, and there was a stone staircase in front of him that led upwards, probably hundreds of steps, and the light of the wand-lighting charm was not enough to illuminate the end of the stone staircase. Jon began to follow the stone steps all the way up, he did not carefully try to count, but it felt like walking through more than two hundred steps before arriving at the end of this secret passage, overhead there is a wooden p door. After opening the door, Jon came out of the secret passage, and at this moment he waspletely out of Hogwarts Castle and came to the wizard vige outside the school - Hogsmeade Vige! If the stores in this vige have not changed much, then the chamber he is in now should be the cer of the Honeydukes sweets shop. Looking around the messily ced barrels and boxes, Jon did not linger much in this cer, he approached the door, used an unlocking charm on the locked door, and then came to the vige for the first time from the back door of the sweet shop. He did not know if it was an illusion, when looking at the wide, straight streets, Jon could feel his breathing had be much easier. The oppressive atmosphere in Hogwarts Castle can only be felt aftering out of it. Even after arriving at Hogsmeade, Jon still didn''t take off the invisibility cloak he was wearing and started looking around the streets of this wizard vige, and soon got some results. There is a small pub, with a battered wooden sign hanging from a rusted bracket on the door, on top of which a severed hog''s head is nailed, and in the night, blood can be faintly seen prating the white cloth wrapped around it. Still, without removing the invisibility cloak from his body, Jon gently knocked on the closed door of the bar. The knocking sound echoed in the quiet night, but there was no movementing from inside, his hands did not stop moving, but continued to knock on the door. It didn''t take long for a response toe from inside the bar, a gruff and impatient voice sounded. "Don''t you know the rules? No amodation is epted after 10 o''clock! If you don''t have a ce to sleep, lie down at the door and wait for me to open the next day! Even if you''re a pureblood lord, if you knock on the door once again I''ll turn your head into the size of a troll!" Jon, however, remained unrelenting, as if he was going to knock the door down if it wasn''t opened. Soon there was a "thud, thud, thud " sound of someone walking quickly down the wooden stairs, apanied by annoyed cursing. The door to the bar was opened from inside, and a cranky old man in pyjamas with ponytail hair and a short but bushy beard held up his wand and stared out at the empty entrance. "Excuse me, do you sell phoenix tears in your ce?" A slightly childish voice rang out of nowhere, causing the blue pupils of the old man, who was covered with the smell of goat foul smell, to jolt. ----- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 83: Conspiracy Chapter 83: Conspiracy "Phoenix tear? That is a rare item, not something that would be avable in a normal store." The old man''s gaze became deep as he looked at the air in front of him and spoke the set code words. Jon then took the invisibility cloak off his own body, and the old man with the same blue pupils as Dumbledore looked at him. After he unveiled his body, Aberforth pulled him into the bar, and then he poked his head out and looked around to make sure no one saw Jon, before re-entering the bar and shutting the door from inside. "Are there any guests in your bar today?" Jon looked around the dirty environment, and couldn''t help but wrinkle his nose and ask. "It is rare for someone to stay in my ce, after all, I want a high price, yet conditions are not as good as the three broomstick bar at the other end, and tonight is the same, no one turned up." Aberforth said while staring at Jon closely, with an expression as if he had seen a ghost resurrecting. "Did Albus tell you I live here before you came to Hogwarts Castle?" Jon pulled out the note with the hog''s head drawn on it from his pocket. "Wasn''t this note something that you left for me?" "Yes, I saw the note about you wanting to contact me, but Albus told me you are only a kid who just started your second grade. Even if the fact that he had chosen you to infiltrate that castle was proof enough to prove that you were different from the norm, I thought you would be looking for a possible way to contact me. Still, I didn''t expect a twelve-year-old to find my store so quickly with just a crest before even a day had passed." Aberforth stared into Jon''s eyes as if asking him to give him a reasonable answer. "Before entering Hogwarts Castle, I had already learned about all the stores in Hogsmeade Vige through the newspaper." Jon shrugged and said, "The only store that has anything to do with Hogshead is yours in the entire British wizardingmunity." "So how did you make it out?" "I found a magical map of Hogwarts castle somewhere inside, and the map was marked with secret passages to the outside, one of which leads to an exit right under the cer of the Honeydukes'' sweet shop." Hearing Jon''s exnation, Aberforth was relieved and at the same time could not help but frown. "It''s still too dangerous, the folks in that castle have been clearing the secret passageways to the outside world, a secret passage underneath the whomping willow leading to the shrieking shack was sealed off by them, the one you''re using now is not necessarily without risk of being caught." "I have no choice, I need to contact you directly for a few things, or I can''t carry out what Professor Dumbledore asked me to do to help." Jon looked at Aberforth, although he knew his name and the fact that he is Dumbledore''s blood brother, he still blinked and asked, "May I ask what I should call you?" "Percival." He gave out his unknown middle name, which is also his currentst name to the public. "Mr Percival." Aberforth interrupted him, "Don''t call me Mr., just Percival will do. If you need any help you can mention it to me now, I will do my best to help you regardless of whether or not Albus has entrusted me with it before." Jon did not dwell too much on the name and said with all seriousness. "Well, Percival, I need a rooster." "What?" Aberforth froze, thinking he had misheard, "You need what?" Jon simply repeated it again. "A chicken, a rooster, preferably a more energetic one that likes to crow a lot." This time Aberforth listened carefully and looked at Jon in confusion. "What do you need a rooster for?" "There is a Basilisk guarding the Headmaster''s office entrance, without tackling this, there is no way for me to get in, and the odds of what Professor Dumbledore asked me to get being inside the Headmaster''s office is quite high." After hearing the name Basilisk, Aberforth''s face became iparably grave. "You''ve seen the Basilisk?" Jon nodded. "I saw its body without looking at its eyes head-on." "Nonsense! If you had seen its eyes, then you wouldn''t have met with me now." Aberforth got up from his chair with some agitation, and he paced back and forth as he stepped on the grimy floor. "If you want to use the rooster to deal with the Basilisk, this is indeed a most convenient and simple solution, but things are not that simple." Jon although read the original book, understand a lot of unknown things, but he never thought he is betterpared to other people due to the information he knew from the original book, no matter how much he knows, he does not have the experience of older wizards on handling wizard rted matters. "Isn''t the rooster''s crowing lethal to Basilisk?" "Indeed, it is lethal, but the Basilisk is not so vulnerable that it would immediately die as soon as it hears the crowing of a rooster." Aberforth exined to Jon, "The longer the Basilisk lives the more resistant it is to the crowing of the rooster, although hearing it for a long time will still make them die in pain, but in between they will also have time to escape or try hard to kill the rooster." "Your ultimate goal is not to kill the Basilisk, but to tackle it and then steal what is stored in the Headmaster''s office. If the basilisk escapes, or violently resists or even if the rooster''s crowing attracts the attention of the others, then your mission will still fail." Jon has long thought of countermeasures for this. "Therefore I have no intention of dealing with that Basilisk at the usual time. On Christmas Day, most of the students will go home, and those who are left behind as well as all the staff will be on the ground floor that night for Christmas dinner." His words made Aberforth pause, and he looked at Jon, with his gaze brightening. "No wonder Albus chose to let you carry out this matter, when I found out that he actually let a twelve-year-old kid be a spy, I even wanted to poke my wand into his brain to check if it has be a mush, and now it seems that his brain works well as usual." Jon didn''t care about Aberforth''s praise and went on to say. "The Headmaster''s office is on the seventh floor, and the Christmas dinner is going to be held in the great hall on the ground floor, so everyone who stays in the castle will be there then, the only chance I might have to deal with the basilisk would be before the end of that dinner." "I can help you find a rooster that will basically crow all the time as long as it can open its beak." Aberforth promised, "But you can''t just rely on the help of the rooster, you have to find a way to keep that snake from escaping or killing the rooster head-on before the crow of the rooster could possibly kill itpletely." Jon looked up at him as if listening to what he was saying. "Is there anything you can possibly teach me? Percival." ----- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 84: My Best is Levitation Charm Chapter 84: My Best is Levitation Charm Aberforth ispletely different from his brother, not only his personality is more grumpy, but also a very unkempt old man. His bar always smelled strange and grimy, and the tables and stools were all a bit mushy as if they hadn''t been wiped clean after a customer had identally spilled beer on them. But he did not need to care much about the hygiene of his store, anyway, he does not rely on the ie of this bar to survive, and no matter how much he can clean now, his business absolutely not as good as the other Three Broomsticks Inn in Hogsmeade, and with his reputation and poprity, there''s no way he canpete. After all, one is Madam Rosmerta, who is still sexy and charming enough to make many students in Hogwarts castle charmed secretly, while the other is a dirty, bearded and grumpy old man, so it''s obvious which one anyone would go to. Aberforth handed Jon a mug of butterbeer, and in the process even cooked him a freshly pan-fried, piping hot egg and ham sandwich at the bar. Although the butterbeer mug might seem questionable about whether its owner had cleaned it since he bought it, Jon still grabbed the mug and drank most of it straight away. It is not just because he went around Hogwarts castle today, then climbed the stairs and made his way up the secret passage for ten minutes to reach the Hog''s Head Inn and also talked for a long time with Aberforth, and only now got a sip of drinking liquid. It is more due to his two months in the castle, in addition to the in water, he didn''t touch any drinks with a little vour, originally butter beer was a little too sweet for Jon''s taste, and he didn''t like it much in the wagon, but now he drank most of the mug directly. The freshly baked sandwiches tasted good too, no matter how bad Aberforth''s cooking is, but this is the first hot food Jon has had in a while since three meals a day in the castle were either dry bread or cold, hard, salty meat. Looking at Jon gobbling up food, Aberforth waited for him to finish the rest of the butterbeer in the wooden mug with a second sip, and swallow the sandwich in his mouth without chewing a few times, before speaking. "I''ll help you with the rooster thing, there is no way to rece it with something else, it has to be a real rooster to affect the basilisk. But there is still one thing to figure out, how can you bring the rooster into that castle inconspicuously? And you also have to make sure not to let it crow when you''re not using it." Jon took another bite of the sandwich in his hand and pondered. "Can we solve this problem if we use transfiguration?" Aberforth flinched slightly. "You mean turning the rooster into a dead thing that can''t move, and then releasing the transfiguration on it when you need to use it?" "Right." Jon said with a nod, "How long can your transfiguration spell possiblyst at most?" "Live-to-dead and dead-to-live transfiguration are considered more difficult techniques in transfiguration." Aberforth spoke of the difficulties, but his face did not show half a sign of trouble, "but if it is me who is going to use it, then as long as you want, I can make that rooster''s transfiguration duration tost more than a week." Ultimately, he is from the Dumbledore family after all, and also a wizard who has lived for more than a hundred years, regardless of whether it is a magic spell or a transfiguration, his magical attainment is far beyond that of more than ny-five percent of wizards in the wizarding world. Jon was not surprised by this, if Aberforth could not even reach this level, then he would have to question his standard. "I will turn it into a small, portable and inconspicuous object, and when the timees in which you need to use it, you can directly cancel the transfiguration spell on it, it should not require any advanced transfiguration skills." "But as I said before, the rooster idea is good, but the odds of it not being able to deal with the basilisk are very high, if that''s all you''re going to use." Aberforth sat across from Jon and said with a serious gaze, "You need to do a good job of supporting the rooster from the side, not only to protect it from being killed but also to control the basilisk''s movements so that it can''t escape quickly." Jon finished his sandwich, then habitually touched the wand in his hand, and said. "Although the basilisk has very high resistance to magic, it''s not like no spell will work on it, right?" "Its defence is actually far from the sort of level of defence that Dragon Hide has, but even if there are indeed many spells that can in fact affect it, can you use them?" Aberforth looked at Jon, he was not mocking or anything but asked a very serious question. Jon shook his head and truthfully said all the spells he knew at present. "Full Body-Bind Curse, Cleaning Spell, Wand Lighting Charm, Levitation Charm, Unlocking Charm, Repairing Charm, Severing Charm, Softening Charm and Locking Spell (thest six spells are included in the ''The Standard Book of Spells - Grade 1'')." To be honest, with only one year of contact with magic, Jon was able to learn so many spells was already out of Aberforth''s expectation, and the full-body bind curse can also be considered a medium difficulty level spell, which the average first-year student can not even scratch the surface of, so the fact that Jon can learn it, is already considered very talented. "When I was on the wagon, most of my energy was focused on how to be proficient in the levitation charm, so I rxed a bit on learning other spells, otherwise I would have learned some more useful magic spells." Hearing Jon''s exnation, Aberforth could not help but frown slightly. "Proficient in the levitation charm? Your most proficient spell is this?" Seeing that Aberforth''s obvious thought of ''spending time on a spell like the levitation charm is purely sick in the head'', Jon did not make any more verbal exnations, instead, he directly used actual actions to show him part of the "levitation charm" that he knew. "Wingardium Leviosa." He wore the ring around his neck when he entered the secret passage, so after Jon recited the incantation, he flew up in front of Aberforth! Looking at how Jon, who had only recited the levitation charm incantation pronunciation incorrectly, flew up without any external object, Aberforth''s eyes had be as big as a cow''s eye. He realized at this time that the levitation charm he understood and the "levitation charm" that Jon learned to use could be said to be two different kinds of magic. After showing what he currently knows, Jon released the effect of the "levitation charm", he did not want to show off anything, but at this time he should give a clear ount of what he knows so that Aberforth can determine what aspects of his abilities he has to make up for. ----- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 85: Conjunctivitis Curse Chapter 85: Conjunctivitis Curse "How did you do that!" In the face of Jon''s levitation charm, the highly experienced Aberforth asked with the same Incredulous expression as Neville, who was only in his first year. Jon said truthfully. "This variation of the spell is my own research, but the way of casting this kind of spell was taught to me by my teacher." When he heard him say this, Aberforth also wisely did not continue to ask more questions, even though the mainstream of magic teaching in the current magicalmunity is through public education in the school, there are still some wizards who have a unique heritage of magic that they have invented and do not disclose it to the public. "Well, my earlier thought was wrong, you didn''t make any mistake in focusing your studies on the levitation charm in the first year, this spell will help you a lot in your future, especially in what we are going to do next." Although the words were like that, the expression on Aberforth''s face was still stony. "Having the ability to fly allows you to move more dexterously, which will help you protect the rooster better, but how to keep the basilisk in ce is also a problem that needs to be solved. There are actually quite a few spells that can help you do that, and I can also teach you, but now there are less than two months before Christmas, how much you can learn during this period, and to what extent, only depends on you." Jon stared at Aberforth when he suddenly had an idea, then he blinked and asked. "Why can''t we go to Hogwarts castle together then? Just use that secret passage, put on this cloak of invisibility, with Rooster and you in the situation, surely we can easily kill that basilisk, and then find what Professor Dumbledore wants from the Headmaster''s office!" Aberforth, however, without a moment''s hesitation, vetoed Jon''s proposal. "Albus should have told you that he had actually arranged for someone in the Order of the Phoenix to pretend to be a student before and tried to infiltrate that castle, but that person was ultimately discovered." His words evoked a memory of Jon when Dumbledore sent him to Diagon Alley, he did tell him that before him there was a man named "Dedalus Diggle" who also carried out this spy task, but no longer after entering Hogwarts Castle, he was discovered by a spell that detects age and unfortunately was taken to Azkaban. "The Dark Lord has done a very good job in protecting that castle, and there is Age Line enchantment all over that castle, any adult wizard besides those faculty members who enter the castle will be detected immediately." Aberforth said in a deep voice, "This is the best possible protective measure, as long as adult wizards are excluded, the dark lord believes that even if Albus has arranged for young children to infiltrate the school, they can''t make any big difference. What''s more, he took the protection of the few students left on the wagon as his only meaning to live, which means he would be even less likely to do such a thing." Jon smacked his lips, originally, ording to what he thought, as long as he could bring Aberforth inside, then things would be much easier, but now it seems that this solution is not feasible. "Then let''s start learning the spell today." Jon''s words sounded very t, as if there was not much sense of urgency about the little time left, "Today is November first, Christmas dinner on December 25, 55 days is enough time." A smile appeared on Aberforth''s bearded face. "I like your confidence, then let''s not waste any more time and start now." Right after he took out his own wand, his eyes went over towards the wand in Jon''s hand only at this moment after Jon entered to properly take a look, then his whole body suddenly froze. Jon noticed his strange reaction and couldn''t help but ask in confusion. "What''s the problem?" Aberforth did not answer his question, but slowly stretched out his hand and looked at Jon''s wand with aplicated gaze. "Can you show it to me?" Jon did not refuse and passed the chestnut wand directly to Aberforth''s hand. Aberforth seemed to be incredibly familiar with this wand, he used his rough hands to caress the ancient and worn wand, Jon was unable to read theplex emotions in his eyes. "I tried to steal it from Albus''s hand and break it countless times when I was young, but I was unsessful. He protected it very well and did not allow anyone to touch it, I did not expect it to fall into your hands now, did Albus give it to you?" At the time when he first got the wand in his hand, Jon had noticed the look Dumbledore gave it was not quite right, and now it was obvious that Aberforth also knew the owner of the wand. "It was during the wand selection, I thought this wand suited me, and then took it, Professor Dumbledore also agreed to give it to me." He said truthfully. Aberforth looked at Jon again, this time he looked him up and down carefully as if he wanted to see through Jon''s skin, to study whether he is a different person or not. "I never thought he would actually give this wand away, I thought he would treasure it for the rest of his life." Hearing Aberforth''sment, Jon asked in confusion. "So who is the original owner of this wand?" "I don''t want to mention that name, but whoever used it before, it''s yours now." Aberforth returned the wand to Jon''s hand, "Talking about this won''t help the situation at hand, let''s continue where we left off." He really does not seem to want to say anything more about the origin of the wand, plus he said that he had tried many times to steal it from Dumbledore''s hands and break it, it is clear that he and the original owner of the wand did not see eye to eye. Jon did have some curiosity about the identity of the original owner of the wand in his hand, and Aberforth''s reaction also gave him a little guess. Still, as the man said, it was not going to help the problem at hand by dwelling on this matter, no matter what the identity of the person who used the wand before him, the wand itself did not have any special characteristics. "There are actually many spells that can affect the basilisk, and the most powerful attribute of this creature lies in those eyes of it, so the Conjunctivitis Curse has always been the basilisk''s nemesis." "Can this curse directly ruin the basilisk''s eye power?" "The Basilisk''s eyelids have extremely powerful magic resistance, so it won''t be destroyed by such a simple spell, but you can rely on it to cause some effects on the basilisk''s eyes. This will make it subconsciously close its eyes, which will ensure that you won''t be directly killed when you inadvertently lock eyes with it. Of course, if you''re lucky enough that your spell hits it directly on any of its eyeballs, then it can also cause powerful devastating damage to that eye, making it temporarily blind." ----- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 86: Carrow Chapter 86: Carrow That night, Aberforth exined many spells to Jon, almost all of which he could use to deal with the Basilisk. Jon listened very carefully,ing to Hogwarts Castle is equivalent to wasting a year of learning time, but now there is a chance to be taught by an experienced wizard-like Aberforth, he certainly will not waste it. Of course, one nighttime could not let him learn a few spells, but Aberforth had taught him the correct pronunciation of incantation as well as wand gestures of several necessary spells, and he could practice them in the castle as long as he had time. Now Jon has found a secret passage toe out of the castle unnoticed, then the ce where the next portion of the polyjuice potion will be boiled would naturally be in the Hog''s Head Inn, although the Room of Requirement is secretive enough, this location is also known to Voldemort, who knows if one day when Jones out of that room, he might happen to meet the Dark Lord waiting for him right outside the door? Before he left the Hog''s Head Inn, Aberforth gave Jon onest serious admonition. "In the future, you must be careful when entering and leaving the secret passage, and also, remember never to take the muggle students of your House with you outside the confines of the school." Jon asked, frowning in wonder. "And why is that?" "The admission pact on you is a fake enchantment made by a spell cast by Albus, so it is not restricted, but those students are different, they are bound by the real admission pact on them, once they leave the school''s premises privately, their absence will be discovered by people in the school, then we will all be exposed at that time." Upon hearing Aberforth''s words, Jon was silent for a moment before he looked up into the eyes of the old man and asked. "Once the admission pact is signed, it can''t be undone?" Aberforth shook his head and said. "Even a near-unbreakable contract like the blood pact can be broken, there is actually no such thing as an unbreakable pact in the magical world. But neither you nor I know much about this kind of magic pact breaking. If you want to break those students'' pacts, you need to take them away from the castle, and any of them stepping out of the school''s boundaries will definitely attract the attention of the entire castle''s faculty and even the people in the Ministry of Magic, and the situation would be nearly insurmountable." Jon nodded in silence. He did not dwell on this matter with Aberforth for long, their main goal now would be to enter the Headmaster''s office unnoticed. After saying goodbye to Aberforth and agreeing on a time toe back to the inn, Jon returned to Hogwarts Castle the same way he hade. The day after the Halloween dinner, Halloween day, there was a day off for the students to rx while the mudbloods were scheduled to clear the weeds on thergewn between the ck Lake and the castle. After November, the time is moving towards the cold winter, and the temperature in Britain has been getting colder and coldertely, but the only thing the Mudbloods have to keep warm is the thick robes they are wearing. Jon squinted his eyes and yawned quietly, he is now, in a growing stage, after returning to the dormitoryst night, he only slept for three hours, and now he has to get up early in the morning to work, it would be strange to be in high spirits. But his hands did not stop moving, Dolohov''s twopdogs, the male and female head of the mudbloods were wandering between the working students, as long as they found any ckers, they would not hesitate to drag them to their "master". "You didn''t sleep wellst night?" A girl''s voice sounded in Jon''s ear. Jon made up an excuse in his mind without looking up and said to Hermione. "The temperature is a little too cold, and woke up a few times in the night from the cold, so, yes, did not sleep very well." "If you feel cold, you can put the summer and winter robes together and then cover the quilt;ter, if it''s still too cold for you to bear, go to Dolohov and tell him, our lives are still worth a little bit, they won''t let us just freeze to death like this." Only at this point, Jon looked sideways to see a head that was also not raising to clean up the weeds in thewn, from the perspective of others, it looked like Hermione was working seriously the whole time. "It''s okay, I''m not cold to that extent." Just when Jon intends to end this conversation, without wanting to talk more with this little girl to avoid revealing a w, a male wizard who looked like he had just stepped out of the greenhouse, wearing a ck robe, with a face full of beard and shady eyes walked towards the castle gate. As he passed the mudblood students who were working on thewn, his face showed obvious disgust and revulsion, and he walked quickly to Dolohov''s side as he cursed something under his breath. "Professor Carrow is here, be careful, don''t let him target you, or there will be big trouble." Hermione whispered a reminder. Jon did not move, nodded slightly, and continued to clean up the weeds in front of his hands, but in fact, the corner of his eye has been staring at the corner where Dolohov was talking something with "Professor Carrow". This male wizard''s full name is "Amycus Carrow", from the most Ancient Pureblood Sacred Twenty-Eight Family, as well as one of Voldemort''s strongest supporters, and now he is in Hogwarts Castle as a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts ss, specializing in teaching pureblood and half-blood students the Dark Arts. He also has a sister named Alecto Carrow, who is also a professor in the castle as well, albeit assigned to teach the Muggle Studies ss. Amycus Carrow is also one of the people Jon has to specifically watch out for in the castle. When Slughorn taught him about the way of ring casting, he had mentioned to him that Mr Adrian Fawkes once had a history of assuming the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts ss professor in Hogwarts, and ording to what could be known from the notes left behind after his death, the one of the ring''s gem should have been left in Hogwarts by him. It is likely that the gem and rted materials were left behind in the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor''s office. He infiltrated Hogwarts castle this time, not only toplete Dumbledore''s task but also want to find the gem left in this castle. ording to the information that Slughorn gave him on the wagon, the Defense ss Professor''s office has not been changed so far and is still used by the current Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, the oldest of Carrow''s siblings. The only thing is that his job is far different from Dolohov''s, which only requires him to go out of the office from time to time by ss schedule, and the time of the defence ss also basically oveps with the time of Jon''s daytimebour, and he usually settles his three meals in the office, so Jon could not find the opportunity to sneak into his office until now. ----- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 87: Night tour encounter Chapter 87: Night tour encounter "Three Stripes!" In themon room on the Hogwarts wagon, Lavender waved her wand and the mahjong in front of her flew to the middle of the table. Justin absent-mindedly drew a tile while throwing away an East Wind tile. "It''s past Halloween, why Jon hasn''t returned yet?" "Professor Dumbledore said that Jon''s return is uncertain, it could take a year or only a few days, if we go by a long time, he won''t be back for at least another half a year." Neville threw out a cylinder tile and gave an analysis to Justin and the other three at the same time. Ron has a glum look on his face. "What kind of task do you guys think Professor Dumbledore actually needs Jon to do? He''s only 12, even if he did usually learn magic a little faster than us ... Could it be that he was asked to help research some magic?" Lavender shot him a nk look. "What do you think all the professors in the school are for? Even if Jon is smart, there''s no way he can possibly research a magic spell that the professor couldn''t even havee up with, no?" Justin''s originally breathless expression finally perked up a bit after Lavender threw out the tile he needed, and with a sweep of his wand, he pushed all the tiles in front of him. "Hu!" The mahjong game ended, but the four people who had moved up to the second year, including Justin who had won, did not have much of a mood swing. The original group of five is now inexplicably short of one, and Neville and the rest of them haven''t gotten used to Jon''s absence since the start of the school year. The chandeliers in themon room were swaying gently as the wagon moved forward, and Ron looked at the new pet toad that Neville had brought with him this semester and blurted out. "Maybe Jon''s ying with a toad right now?" Lavender threw out an empty paper cup and smashed it on his head. "You think Jon would be as bored as you are!" ... Of course, Jon wasn''t ying with a toad, he was merely torturing a frog. "Coniunctivitis Maledictio." A red light hit the frog that Jon had caught from the ckke, and the moment the spell hit, the frog''s eyes turned dull grey, then it looked like it hadpletely lost its eyesight and was jumping everywhere in a panic. Jon studied the frog''s behaviour, he has basically able to use the Conjunctivitis Curse proficiently, but the gap between the frog and the basilisk is too great, so the spell that has an effect on the frog is not certain to affect the basilisk. The practice of the conjunctivitis curse can not stop, but Jon can shift part of his energy to other spells. Although he does not need to make potions in the Room of Requirement, he still can use this room as a ce to practice magic spells. After all, it is too convenient, as the name suggests, it is truly worthy of being called the Room of Requirement. Jon''s daily practice time is actually not that long, since Halloween, he has nned his schedule, after the curfew was imposed at nine o''clock, lie in bed to rest, woke up at twelve o''clock on time, cloak the invisibility cloak and sneak to the Room of Requirement to practice the spell, practice until 2:30 a.m., then return to bed, and then in ordance with the mudbloods specified work schedule, get up at six o''clock to start a new day. This way he can still rest for about seven hours a day, except that waking up once in the middle is certainly not as rxing as sleeping for seven hours straight, but it''s not as if he will be in a state of exhaustion for the whole day afterwards. By the end of tonight''s spell practice time, Jon put away his wand, wrapped in a cloak of invisibility and walked out of the Room of Requirement. The castle is still quiet, the cold wind swept through the corridor, which made him tighten his robe. In Hogwarts under Voldemort''smand, almost no student would have such a daring idea as a night out, and Dolohov''s attitude towards the half-blood students is unusually harsh; the vast majority of the young wizards in this school do not dare to stumble upon him. Jon walked down the seventh floor smoothly as usual, and just as he reached the bottom corner of the fourth-floor stairs, a sharp footstep suddenly approached from afar. The sound was so clear in the night that Jon''s heart subconsciously sank to the bottom at first, thinking he had been discovered! And he quickly held the phoenix feather. But soon his heart rxed because along with the footsteps came the sound of two rushed conversations in a hushed tone. "....Why didn''t you find out until now! Think about how you''re going to exin this to Mr Crouchter!" The voice sounded familiar to Jon, the person speaking was none other than Castle Caretaker Dolohov, but his tone was now unusually urgent, an emotion that had never been shown in front of the mudblood students. "I, I rarely go to the deep part, who would have thought those books would turn out like that? I can''t be med for this, I can''t enter a level one restricted area without permission, it was only two days ago when I arrived to recondition the bookshelves that I realized something was wrong!" A clearly somewhat timid voice stammered out an exnation. "It''s pointless for you to tell me this, just wait til you go and exin to Mr Crouch!" Jon had no interest in what they were talking about, and after hearing Dolohov''s voice, he immediately wanted to turn around and walk back, avoiding the castle caretaker for the time being. But just as he was about to step back to the stairs in front of him, there was a clear sound of footsteps heard above his head. Someone wasing down the stairs! Jon immediately stopped all his movements, he is now blocked in this section of the stairs, whether up or down will cause some movement, and the best way to hide is to stay where he is! And it was at that moment that he saw the male wizard with greasy hair and a pale faceing down the stairs. "So, what is the matter that you must go and report to Crouch?" Snape stopped at the corner of the stairs, just less than two meters from where Jon was crouching, and he looked at Dolohov and the cowering male wizard who had just walked up the stairs, and asked with an indifferent expression. After Dolohov and the male wizard saw Snape, both of their bodies stiffened, they did not seem to be too friendly with the Deputy Headmaster, judging by their ugly expressions, their attitude could even be described as repulsive. But the two still maintained a basic level of respect. "Mr Snape, it''s just Quirrell discovered some sort of mishap in the library, and this matter is not worth disturbing your rest." Dolohov''s words sounded stiff, his words were spoken with respect, but one could not feel any semnce of heartfelt respect. "My question is, what is it that you must go to report to Barty Jr." Snape raised his voice, looking at Dolohov and the other with a cold face, "Do you need me to repeat the question a third time!" Dolohov lowered his head, he seemed obedient, but in fact, his eyes were filled with indignation, and the one who spoke up to answer, was naturally the librarian named "Quirinus Quirrell". "The books in the deepest part of the restricted section have all lost their magic power, sir." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 88: The Balance of Hogwarts Castle Chapter 88: The Bnce of Hogwarts Castle "You''ve been a librarian for almost four years now, right?" Snape stared at Quirrell and said in a t tone. Quirrell''s body involuntarily trembled, and he stammered back. "Yes, yes, sir, counting this day, this year, this is already my fourth year working in Hogwarts." "You should know very well, with your half-blood origin you are not qualified to work in the castle, it was our lord who saw that you have a solid basic knowledge and have respect for knowledge, so you were specially appointed as a librarian, and this is how you will repay our lord''s trust?" Snape''s voice was not loud, but it was just enough for everyone present to hear, and after hearing hisst words, Quirrell''s body trembled even more, he did not hesitate, and eagerly exined the original speech that he nned to give to Barty Jr. "But, but the restricted book section of the library, especially the part from the third level onwards, is only allowed to be cleaned and inspected once every five years ording to the rules, sir!" Quirrell''s eyes revealed fear, and he spoke quickly, "I was appointed as a librarian four years ago, the year before I took office, the books in the restricted section were checked by the previous librarian, and there was no problem ording to the records at that time, only this week it is time to check again, and I just found the problem tonight, and then I immediately prepared to report it to my superior! " Snape listened to his exnation, but the expression on his face did not change a bit, the corners of his mouth also showed a sneer. "Report to the superior? Which superior are you referring to? In the absence of our lord, who is the one in charge of this castle?" Quirrell was visibly stunned by this series of three questions he asked, in the already single-digit temperature of the night, his forehead unexpectedly beaded with fine sweat because of the tension, stammering for a good while without being able to say a word. And just when he was in such an awkward situation, a sudden insertion of the voice, helped Quirrell to solve the dilemma. "Aren''t you a little too sensitive, Snape?" In the dark corridor, Barty Crouch Jr., who always had a faint smile on his face, stepped out of the darkness. "Although I was not appointed by our lord with any management position in the castle, at any rate, I am also a specialmissioner of the Ministry of Magic at Hogwarts, who can directly report to our lord, and isn''t it normal for them to think of reporting to me first in case of any emergencies?" After Barty Crouch Jr. also arrived here, Quirrell and Dolohov consciously shut their mouthspletely, in the current scene there is no longer a ce for the two of them to interject. Barty Jr. did only have a Charms ss professor position in Hogwarts castle, but all the faculty members in the castle are very clear that his status is very different from other professors. In the beginning, when Voldemort took control of the castle and decided to divide the students into three Houses, purebloods, half-bloods and mudbloods, he was also considering who to employ as Head of the Pureblood and Half-blood Houses. At that time, almost all the Death Eaters thought that the pureblood house''s head position certainly would be assumed by one of the two, Betrix Lestrange and Barty Crouch Jr. Because these two people can be said to be Voldemort''s right-hand man, and not only from the most pure and most ancient pureblood family but also have far more loyalty than all the rest. But in the end, no one expected Be was not assigned any nominal position, but still aided Voldemort to indirectly manage the Death Eaters, and Barty Jr. was not even mentioned, while Snape was directly announced as the Head of the Pureblood House, and the sole Deputy Headmaster position, although he was also considered a core member of the Death Eaters back then, his status was far fromparable to Be and the Barty Jr. No one dared to show any discontent with Voldemort''s decision, but nevertheless, a few Death Eaters and Hogwarts faculty members weren''t convinced about Snape obtaining this position. The main reason for this is not hisck of strength or contribution, but everyone knows that the pureblood house head is a half-blood! In the current magical world, in which only blood reigned supreme ording to the rules defined by Voldemort, the status of a wizard with half-blood origin exceeds that of almost all other purebloods, and he also serves as the Head of the Pureblood House, which is a disgrace to the purebloods, especially the ancient purebloods who have been following Voldemort from the very beginning. It is said that Voldemort originally intended to let Barty Jr. assume the position of the half-blood house head, but then suddenly changed his mind, and let a witch from the Greengrass family, whose attitude is rtively mildpared to other Death Eaters, be the half-blood house head as well as the professor of transfiguration ss in the castle. As for Barty Crouch Jr., he was appointed as a professor of charms ss, and then he was eventually given the title of Ministry of Magic Special Commissioner, which never existed before and answered directly to Voldemort in person. This enabled Barty''s identity in the castle to be transcendental. The faculty in the castle also formed a slightly bizarre situation, although Snape is the nominal deputy headmaster and has the right to manage school affairs in the absence of Voldemort, the rest of the faculty, even half-blood Quirrell is not convinced by him, and in the state of hearing the words without listening to the message. As a result, the professor of charms ss Barty Jr. who due to his heritage and notorious ruthlessness, possesses the same authority as the actual deputy headmaster even without any nominal responsibility tomand, and the faculty below who should report to Snape in the first instance of difficulty also went straight to him. There are also a small number of professors who just want to teach honestly, including the half-blood head Professor Greengrass who has always been respected by the half-blood students for her friendly attitude even though she is a pureblood. This bnce has been maintained in Hogwarts Castle for six or seven years, allowing Voldemort to keep the wizarding school under control without any trouble, and each year the new graduates of the half-blood students ept the current bloodline hierarchy in the magical world to a very high degree. After all, their lives are not different from the past, except that they have to hold their noses and ept the privileges of purebloods, and the existence of pureblood professors such as Greengrass let them believe that there are still good people among the purebloods and that only a small group of people will act recklessly because of such privileges, moreover, they can also get back some of the benefits usurped by purebloods from the mudbloods. As for the mudbloods The purebloods and half-blood lords are kind-hearted and know that these ves do not have an easy time, then simply pretend not to see the existence of these people, anyway, the mudbloods are lowly, and seeing them will dirty your eyes. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 89: The Disappearance of Knowledge Chapter 89: The Disappearance of Knowledge The atmosphere has be a bit chilly at the corner of the stairs on the fourth floor. Wrapped in a cloak of invisibility, Jon hunkered down in a corner and didn''t even lock his gaze on any of the people in front of him, to prevent his sight from alerting some kind of sixth sense of the two men who are going toe-to-toe with each other right now. "You certainly have that right, Crouch." Snape still had that nonchnt tone of voice, "So how do you n to deal with this?" "Deal with this?" Barty Jr. pretended to be puzzled, "You are the deputy headmaster of this school, Mr Snape, it is you who should determine how to deal with this, all I can do is ry what has happened to our lord, what do you mean by asking me how to deal with it?" "Can''t you understand what I mean?" Snape said indifferently, "Since they are both scrambling to report this matter to you, how to deal with it will be left to you. Many books in the restricted area are very precious even to our lord, so you better get this done, or else how are you going to report this to our lord when the timees." Crouch nodded with a smile on his face. "Since you have said so, please rest assured, I will definitely give our lord an exnation about this matter for sure in the end." Hearing him make a promise, Snape did not continue to spend time with the three of them here, with a cold hum he turned around and walked away from this staircase corner. As the sound of his footsteps went further away, the stairs were left with only Barty, Dolohov and Quirrell. And after Snape left, the smile on Barty''s face gradually faded, and his cold gaze turned to Quirrell. "You better exin everything precisely what happened to all those restricted books to me right now!" Quirrell trembled, and this time he revealed theplete details of the incident. "I, I''ve been doing the five-year routine sorting and tidying of the restricted book section since Monday, sir, and there was nothing unusual in both the level five and level four restricted books as of yet, it was only when I reached level three in my inspection that I noticed something was wrong. There are many books in the level three restricted book section that all have lost their original magic, the book that you have always loved, the Unforgivable Unforgivable book, has bepletely unopenable, as well as the Evil Spirits'' Book of Ghosts, the evil spirits that were originally stored in it have somehow disappeared, it has be an ordinary nk book, and all the other books also look like this. You know, those restricted books inherently possessed powerful magic, and it is because of those magic they can record the dangerous knowledge, but now after those magic disappeared, these books have all be ordinary, and their original stored knowledge has gone missing along with the magic!" Barty''s face became even more dreadful, and he stared at Quirrell with a deadly stare. "From the third-level restricted book section onwards, did you go into the deepest part to look!" "At, at the first moment of finding something wrong, I, I went in to look, sir." Quirrell stammered even more, "The, the restricted books at the back are also, are all also the same, all their magic power and the knowledge recorded are all lost!" "Bam!" Barty abruptly punched Quirrell to the ground, then drew his wand and aimed it at the librarian. "Is this how you treat our lord''s trust in you?" His voice was as cold as the ice in an Arctic cier, "Seal his mouth, Antonin." Without the slightest hesitation, Dolohov cast a spell on Quirrell who was lying on the ground whimpering and begging. "Oscausi." Quirrell was nowpletely unable to make any significant sound, he could only make whining sounds from his throat and struggled to get up from the ground, however, the next instant, an unforgivable curse hit his body. "Crucio" The heart-breaking pain instantly engulfed Quirrell''s whole body, the pain that seemed to pierce his soul made him try to open his sealed mouth wide and let out a silent hiss, his body curled up like a prawn in a frying pan, his appearance could make people feel a burst of nauseous and fear just by looking at it! Barty Jr. and Dolohov looked at Quirrell''s current state with indifference, as if they hadn''t seen his miserable appearance. Torturing Quirrell was just to vent his frustration, and he still needs to see what exactly happened in the library. The books in the restricted section have all lost their magic power, and if this matter is reported to Voldemort without investigating the cause of it, then even if it is Barty Jr., he is bound to receive punishment! After the two of them left, the ce was left only with Quirrell who was lying on the ground and constantly letting out a "ho-ho" sound from his throat, his breathing from his nose be more rushed, and his whole body was already soaked with sweat. He stared nkly at the dark ceiling, like a man who had lost his mind. Jon looked at the miserable state of this half-blood wizard who had also defected to Voldemort in the first original book, without revealing a trace of pity on his face. Since he wanted to be a purebloods dog, then he should have known that the dog will have a bone to eat when its master is happy, but at the same time, when its master is unhappy, he will also find it an eyesore and want to kick it hard. There is no one else on the stairs, Quirrell is now basically in a semi-conscious state, Jon did not continue to stay here, he moved slowly and softly down the stairs, then passed by Quirrell, whose chest continued to rise and fall violently, and left the corner of the fourth-floor staircase. Only after he got down to the ground floor he picked up the pace a little and walked into the underground dormitory, then returned to his own room. After taking off the invisibility cloak, Jon did not immediately go to bed, but took out the Marauder''s Map and opened it. On the map, he could clearly see about half a dozen professors gathered at the location of the castle library at this time, not only Barty Jr. and Dolohov, but also the two siblings Amycus Carrow and Alecto Carrow, the half-blood Head Greengrass, and so on. What went wrong in the library, Jon does not know, but he knows very well that the books in the restricted section are very important to Voldemort, the Hogwarts library has the richest collection of books in the entire wizarding world, and the restricted section even has an extremelyprehensive knowledge rted to dark magic, and even the knowledge about Horcruxes was obtained by Voldemort from the restricted section. But now all those books have lost their magic power. The more advanced the magic book, the more it will not just rely on the text itself to carry knowledge, the magic attached to the books is their true source of knowledge, and now the magic of these books is all lost, which means that the knowledge will also disappear. All those important, significant knowledge for Voldemort is all gone, and in Hogwarts Castle, no one can afford to assume such responsibility. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 90: Preparations Chapter 90: Preparations The temperature in Hogwarts was getting colder and colder now, and every one of the professors in the castle did not seem to be in a good moodtely. The library had be off-limits to all students for two weeks, during which time Barty had frequented it, sometimes bringing in several specialists from the Ministry of Magic''s Department of Mysteries who specialised in dealing with unique situations. However, it seems that in the investigation on the disappearance of magic in the restricted books, they did not make much progress, Barty Jr. has not even shown his signature smile for many days, and even the pureblood students are afraid to take a breath in front of him. But these things happening in the castle, for better or worse, have nothing to do with the mudblood students, and no one would even guess that the problem of restricted books would be caused by the mudblood students, after all, these people, not to mention going to the restricted books section, they are not even qualified to go near the library. ording to Jon''s reasoning, the matter of the restricted books is already considered a big deal, if these professors in the castle can''t figure out the reason for it, then Voldemort will probablye to the school to check the situation in the library personally. But from beginning to end, Voldemort did not return to Hogwarts Castle, he seems to have been busy with other important things, even if such a major event happened, it didn''t seem like he wanted toe to the school to personally investigate the situation. After three weeks of investigation without any results, Barty and Snape left the school together for a few days, and when they came back, both of their faces were a little pale, no one asked them what they went out to do in the past few days, but after they came back, they withdrew all the investigations carried out on the library and then relocated the few remaining restricted books that had not been ruined, all of them were moved away from Hogwarts Castle. The mishap in the castle did not affect Jon, at the very beginning when the school facultyunched an investigation in the library, he cautiously suspended his spell practice for three days, and onlyter, after observing at night with a marauder''s map that no one was going out in the castle after midnight, did he continue to resume his original schedule. The entire month of November passed in this way a little quietly. In the middle of all this Hermione organized another gathering, the long life of hardship, will make these mudblood students be numb, so Hermione is trying her best to remind them that they still have their dignity as human beings, otherwise even if they have a backbone, after being trampled on for a long time, will help to create a habit, which is why Voldemort has chosen to oppress and abuse these children from the age of 11 when they entered school. And in the meantime, Jon went through the secret passage to visit the Hog''s Head Inn twice, where he not only learned all the possible spells he could learn in a short time from Aberforth but also further discussed with him a clear n for Christmas Day. The progress of Jon''s spell learning made Aberforth feel very shocked, he knew very well that with the living environment of the mudblood students in Hogwarts castle, Jon could hardly squeeze in private time for spell practice normally; all the spells he taught Jon were not too advanced, but there is always a process of practising to make it proficient, ording to Aberforth''s initial estimate, by December, if he could learn two or three of them, Jon would be considered exceptionally gifted. But up to now, he has taught Jon a total of eight or nine spells, including several transfiguration spells, which Jon has basically been able to use smoothly. Although his proficiency can obviously still be seen as somewhat rusty, this has already far exceeded Aberforth''s expectations. This is a number of spells that a normal second-year student would learn in a school year if they give it their best shot, but Jon just learned it from him in less than two months on-and-off, during which even if he could practice, the practice time would be drastically limited, yet he was able to master it to this extent. This makes him feel mixed emotions as he thought of a person, his older brother Albus Dumbledore when he was a child. In Dumbledore''s second year, he was also like Jon now, learning any new spell at his fingertips, and even more exaggeratedly, at the age of 12, he was already able to perform the high-end transfiguration spell of turning an inanimate object into a living creature. Learning magic does depend on talent, and Jon is clearly an equally gifted student. "About the rooster, I have already picked a good one, wait for the day before Christmas ande to my ce onest time, then pick up that rooster." The wind was so strong tonight that a "whine" could be heard inside the Hog''s Head Inn, and Aberforth brought Jon a cup of hot cocoa so that he could warm up in this weather. "I guess it''s going to snow in a couple of days." Jon looked at the weather outside the window, holding the hot cocoa and said, "On Christmas day, the dark lord won''t appear at the castle dinner feast, right?" Aberforth said with an affirmative nod. "The most important identity he has now is not simply the Headmaster of Hogwarts, most of the forces in the entire British magicalmunity depend on him to maintain, on such an important day as Christmas, he will hold a grand banquet to entertain those under him, I heard that he will also make a summary about the development of the magicalmunity this whole year at this banquet, which means that the castle will not have many professors left at that time. All of his core henchmen will attend the banquet held outside the castle." Jon pondered and asked. "In other words, there are actually very few students and faculty members who would stay at the school every Christmas?" "Very few, basically the number of people who would attend the castle dinner would only add up to about a dozen, almost all the half-blood and pureblood students have their own families, so they all would go home on Christmas Day, and the remaining students and faculty would be those who do not have families and those who are marginalized in the Dark Lord''s hierarchy, so Christmas night is really your best opportunity. " "I have one more question." As Christmas Day is getting closer and closer, Jon has to think through all the possible mishaps and circumstances before the operation starts. "If I managed to kill that Basilisk in the end, then will the Dark Lord over there can immediately sense it?" Aberforth frowned seriously and thought about it for a long while, and finally shook his head and said. "No, there is no such magic in the magical world, linking a person''s sense with the magical creature''s state, which involves a part of magic blind spot, Dark Lord''s strength lies in the destructive and bizarre curse of dark magic, he can''t do such a thing." Jon actually also felt that even if Voldemort changed greatly, it is unlikely that he could attain such a feat. After all, he didn''t even receive any induction when even his own Horcrux was destroyed in the original story, not to mention the fact that the bond between Basilisk and him certainly hadn''t reached that point of the Horcrux. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 91: Christmas Chapter 91: Christmas "There is another point I must emphasize to you." Aberforth said seriously, "even if we have now prepared very adequately, you still have to pay attention to the eyes of the Basilisk, do not have direct eye contact with it, otherwise, all your efforts will go in vain, and you will definitely die there." This point that Aberforth made, of course, Jon himself knows it very well, the most dangerous thing about the Basilisk is its eyes that can directly kill people, and in the process of trying to y it by using spells on it, there will always be an inevitable probability of making contact with its gaze. This is one of the most dangerous potential risks for Jon, if he keeps his eyes closed the whole time, to ensure that he and the Basilisk would not have any direct eye contact, then how can he ensure that his every spell willnd on the Basilisk? This seems to be an unsolvable problem. Jon did not know if there is any magic in the magical world that can enable people to "see" their surroundings without using their eyes, which neither Aberforth nor he knows much about. Jon sipped the cup of hot cocoa, looking out of the window frowning and pondering, he would like to address every possible risk, but now it seems like there is no solution to this problem, if he wants to y the Basilisk, then he must face this risk. Just when he fell into deep thought, outside the window in the dim streetmp, there are stars of snowkes slowly drifting down from the sky. It is snowing in Hogsmeade. Aberforth also saw the snowkes outside the window and could not help but let out a sigh. "This year''s snow fell really early, those muggle students in the castle are going to freeze." Jon did not respond to what he said, at the moment the snowkes fell from the sky, his whole being seemed as if he thought of something, stunned out of his mind to look at the snow. Aberforth took a while to notice that something was wrong with him and couldn''t help but ask in confusion. "What''s wrong?" Jon''s eyes glowed, and he suddenly smiled. "Percival! I seem to have found a solution!" *** Christmas break came on the fifth day after the snow. The vast majority of the half-blood and pureblood students in the castle have left Hogwarts Castle and taken the train back to their respective homes, and some of the Professors with families have also left the school for the time being after the holidays began. The original lively castle has now be empty, the ancient castle regained the calmness that should belong to it, which also made the usual work of the mudblood students a lot easier. For these children whose existence has even been forgotten by their own biological parents, there is certainly no holiday at Christmas, and even if the school sses stop, they have to continue working during the day. "Hey, did you see the Christmas tree that was just brought in? They were talking about how the great hall will be decorated with Christmas trees for tomorrow''s Christmas dinner, and everyone in the castle will receive a Christmas present." While cleaning the entrance hall on the ground floor, Hanton peeked over in the direction of the great hall with an envious look on his face, and his voice suddenly dropped a bit as he continued, "But we don''t count as people in their eyes." Jon said with a reassuring smile. "As long as we can still see ourselves as people then all this means nothing." "I remember how my mama used to knit me a cashmere hat every Christmas before I was brought here, and the colours were all different." Jon and Hanton''s conversation aroused some memories of a girl named Ariel, perhaps it was sad enough before, but now when she thinks of the good old days, she does not look sad, instead, her tone is very light and cheerful. "It''s just, back then I didn''t like the hat she knitted, I felt that style is old-fashioned, the colour is not pretty, I would only wear it on my head on Christmas day for her happiness, the rest of the time it was all hidden in my closet drawer. Maybe they will find those hats when they tidy up the room one day and wonder why there are all these children''s things in the house and eventually throw them away." Her words evoked memories of many of the mudblood students around her, and the first-year children still had sad expressions on their faces when they heard such a thing, and just then Dolohov appeared around the corner of the entrance hall, after which everyone consciously stopped talking, kept their mouths shut and continued to clean the castle in silence. It was the day before Christmas and the great hall was being decorated for tomorrow''s feast, but these had nothing to do with any of them. After the day''s work and a simple dinner, Jon returned to his room, where hey quietly in bed and waited for the zero hour. Then in the early hours of Christmas Day, he sneaked out of the castle for thest time through the secret passage to the Hog''s Head Inn. Aberforth had long since gotten everything ready for him and handed him two buttons. "Look at the colours, the ck one is a rooster that can barely stop crowing, and the brown one is something you asked me to prepare for you, I hope you can use it when the timees." Aberforth said while using a loose thread to help him sew the buttons on Jon''s robe cuffs while admonishing him with a gruff face. "The phoenix feather that Albus gave you must be kept in a ce where you can hold it in your hands at all times, if there is an ident, do not hesitate, he should have specifically advised you that no matter what it is, it is not as important as your life." Jon nodded and took a deep breath and said. "Don''t worry about it, I''m very afraid of dying, in that kind of time, I''ll definitely focus on saving my own life." After making all the arrangements, Aberforth gave him a reassuring smile and patted his shoulder encouragingly. "Regardless of the final oue, your willingness to agree toe to this castle and also taking the risk to do such a thing is enough to prove yourself, Jon." Jon looked into Aberforth''s eyes, and he seemed to be thinking about something on his mind, and after a moment of silence, he suddenly asked a question. "If, if this operation goes well, and I get those two things, I will just leave?" "Or else what?" Aberforth looked at Jon as if he caught a sense of what was going on, and Jon continued to ask. "With that stuff stolen and my disappearance, surely that dark lord will know that someone pretended to be a mudblood student to do such a thing, and after I leave, won''t he take it out on those students I was with within the castle?" "He won''t kill them, even the lives of the mudbloods are worth a lot to him, he only wants to enve these people, not to kill them all, nor it''s profitable to kill them all, so those ssmates of yours in the castle won''t have their lives in danger." "But they will still be punished because of me, and then remain in this castle, as ves of other people, receiving that kind of monstrous education?" Jon''s words were a bit pointed, it was more like a kind of confrontation. Aberforth went silent, his face looked ashamed, and he sat dejectedly in his chair, without speaking, after a long while like that he asked. "But what can we do?" After a short while, he spoke in a hoarse voice. "Even if you found out the secret passages in the castle that are not known to anyone, and you also have the invisibility cloak to bring them all out, but, as soon as they leave the boundaries of that school, all the wizards in the castle and the Ministry of Magic will know about it, and the Dark Lord wille over in person. Even if we call Albus and the rest of them to help, there is no way to break the pact on these children before theye over, and doing so will only harm them and force those children to die!" Jon turned his head to look at the darkness of the night outside the window, and also went silent. He knew that Aberforth was right, they could not do anything at all now, even if they forcefully try to bring those children out, there is no way to ensure their safety. The dark castle in the night was like a huge prison, once the pact was signed and locked up inside, it was like signing for a life term of imprisonment and envement. *** Christmas Day. Even though there were no more than a few students in the castle, asionalughter could still be heard in the corridor. At noon, the students who stayed in the castle ate a rich lunch, andter on, the professors who were going to attend the Christmas banquet held by Voldemort tonight, including Snape and Barty, left the castle one after another. Dolohov also gathered all the mudblood students at about four o''clock in the afternoon, just like how the students gathered in the underground chamber at the beginning of the school year. After all, it is Christmas, and on this day even the mudbloods can also eat some of the more "generous" dinner - they each received a sandwich that only students with good summer performance at the beginning of the school year could get, as well as a cup of hot milk. Once the Mudbloods'' "Christmas dinner" was prepared, he handed over the responsibility of managing it to the Head boy and Head girl and left the castle for another really big banquet. This night, the mudbloods are indeed much freer than in the past, at least they will not be forced to return to the dormitory before seven o''clock, without being allowed to go out again. They can stay on the underground floor until the end of the dinner in the great hall above before returning. But Jon obviously will not spend that long here, he has to finish everything before the professors who went to Voldemort''s Christmas banquet return to the castle. So, not long after Dolohov left, he walked over to the two Heads as if he wasn''t feeling well. "Senior Bitter, I''m feeling a bit dizzy, can I go back to rest in my dormitory first?" The two head students, who had been sessfully brainwashed, were enjoying the rxation of a rare period of time when Dolohov was not present, looked at Jon, and the head boy named Bitter waved his hand impatiently as if he too had be one of those "pureblood lords" at that moment. "If you want to leave, just leave! Don''t be an eyesore here!" After that, Jon left the underground area quickly and walked in the direction of the dormitory, almost no one in that area noticed his departure, only one girl took a nce at his distant back. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 92: Snake and Jon in the Foyer Chapter 92: Snake and Jon in the Foyer Christmas song was being sung in the great hall. The singing was not loud, but you could hear that every student who was singing are very happy. Professors who are not qualified to go to the Christmas banquet held by Voldemort are basically marginal figures, and none of them is bigoted in personality, so no student will feel depressed or ufortable when they are the ones left to spend the holidays with them. The cloaked Jon didn''t stay long on the ground floor, he held the opened Marauder''s Map in his hand, and after making sure that there was no one else in the whole castle above the ground floor, in front of the stairs, he rxed his movements and dashed to the door of the Headmaster''s office on the seventh floor. He put away the invisibility cloak, although wearing it could help a little at the beginning, but this will also likely cause damage to the cloak. Jon did not forget that this cloak is not his, but rather a symbol offort for a witch whose heart was already dead, not to mention the fact that this cloak will not really help much as soon as the crows of the rooster sounded to reveal his location. After putting away the invisibility cloak, pulling out his wand, and hiding Fawkes'' feather on the inside of his sleeve cuffs to ensure that he could hold the feather in the first instance once there might be any idents, Jon took out a ck cloth from his pocket. After tying the ck cloth to his forehead temporarily, he took out the pendant with a ring and put it on his neck, then pulled off the two buttons that were sewn on the cuffs, and released the transfiguration on the brown button first. A half-full cloth bag appeared in front of him, Jon held his wand in his mouth, he lifted the bag with one hand and then used the other hand to pull down the cloth on his forehead to cover his eyes. Finally, he took a deep breath and pushed open the door of the Headmaster''s office in front of him with justifiable force! Arge foyer, half the size of a great hall, was in front of him, and a huge snake, more than 20 feet long, was curled up in the middle of the foyer! When Jon came in, the Basilisk was resting with its eyes closed, it lived close to a thousand years, but most of its life was spent sleeping, although it is a magical creature born of a rooster, in the cold winter temperatures, its sleep time sill extended. But in the first moment when Jon opened the door, it had alertly opened those earthy brown eyes! Its current owner ced it here, and gave it a deadly order, anyone who dares to barge into this door, no matter who it is, all have to die! In these seven years, it had already eaten three students and one professor who had mistakenly entered the Headmaster''s room, but its master not only did not me it but also gave it the greatest praise. It never forgot the deliciousness of human flesh, and after so long, another "food" finally came to its door today. In the first instance, the person entered, it searched for Jon''s eyes, wanting to kill this weak creature instantly through the same death magic it had used to kill the previous four people. But Jon, who was blindfolded, of course, was not affected in any way. After he entered the door, he did not release the transfiguration spell on that ck button in the first instance, instead, he dumped all the things in the cloth bag on the ground first. It is a pile of sand, very fine and dry gravel, and after being poured out by him, it scattered into a mess. Only then did Jon release the transfiguration spell on that ck button, and a colourful rooster appeared in his arms! "Wo-Woo-Woo-ooo!" The very next second the rooster appeared, it opened its beak with impatience, and let out a pleasant crowing sound, just as Aberforth had said! The sound of the rooster echoed through the foyer, and when the moment the sound was heard, the basilisk suddenly tossed on the ground in pain as if it had been sshed with boiling hot oil! The rooster''s crowing is the most terrifying poison in the world to it, and the sound of this creature that bred it out is enough to inflict truly fatal damage. But, the Basilisk is after all not so fragile that it would just die immediately upon hearing the crowing sound, otherwise, it would not have been listed by the Ministry of Magic as an XXXXX level magical creature, alongside the Dragon, and crowned as the King of Serpents. It endured the pain and fear that originated from the depths of the soul, its brown eyes fiercely stared at Jon, opening its bloody mouth, revealing two glittering cold fangs, its body like a spring first pressed tight, and then rushed at him at a strange speed! Right after the first moment of releasing the transfiguration spell on the rooster, Jon reached for the wand in his mouth, and instead of wielding the wand, he used the ring to cast the spell and recite the incantation that was too familiar to him. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The feeling of weightlessness wrapped his whole body in an instant, making his whole body float in the air! The next second, the Basilisk''s head crashed into the floor where Jon had just stood, sending the scattered piece of gravel flying all over the foyer. And Jon, who was flying in mid-air, did not stop his movements, he did not hesitate to wave the wand in his hand and once again recited the exact same incantation! "Wingardium Leviosa!" This time the target of the levitation charm cast with the wand was not anything else, but those gravels already scattered on the ground! Thousands of tiny pieces of gravel under the influence of the spell floated up with Jon, floating in mid-air like a group of stars in the vast universe, hovering and moving slowly in the weightless state, but when they encountered obstacles, they could give the most intuitive feedback to Jon who released this magic. This would be enough for him to perceive all the movements of the Basilisk in the foyer despite the loss of his vision! The Basilisk, of course, could not think about what these annoying gravels around it actually did, and it felt as if its brain was about to explode, and all it could think about was to immediately devour the flying human and the rooster in his arms! It soon put such thoughts into action, the reflective shimmering turquoise scales quickly sliding, it once again focused on Jon who was floating in mid-air, and its body once again rushed out, this time it did not open its mouth again, but surrounded its bucket-like body, to trap Jon in arger space, and then eat him without fail! However, every movement made by its huge body squeezed the space where the thin gravel that was floating around, which made the gravel around it slightly denser, and Jon was able to determine the position of the basilisk, and the next move it was nning to move, the gravel moved in the same direction. Aftering up with this method, he practised countless times in Hog''s Head Inn with Aberforth, and was able to make an iparably urate judgment of the information conveyed by the gravel movement! So, as the second rooster crow sounded and the snake monsterunched its second dash, Jon also prepared his second dodging move in advance. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 93: The Headmasters Office in the Castle Chapter 93: The Headmaster''s Office in the Castle "Plop!" The Basilisk hit the wall behind Jon once again, its movements were anticipated by Jon in advance with each move, plus the ability to fly up, which made him as slippery as a loach. At the same time, the movements of his hands did not stop, constantly casting one curse after another on the Basilisk. "Coniunctivitis Maledictio! Coniunctivitis Maledictio! Coniunctivitis Maledictio!" The pain the curse inflicted on the eyes was apanied by the sound of the second crowing of the rooster, which had already caused irreversible damage to the Basilisk! Its earthy brown eyes began to bleed out, its fangs were already stained with blood, and its body had begun to swell, with various parts of its turquoise scales bulging out and then concaving again, making people feel a chill just by looking at it. The two failed attacks have made the Basilisk give up on entangling Jon, and it was prepared to run! Although Voldemort gave it the order to defend the foyer to death, still the longer the creature lives the more it cherishes its life, this Basilisk which was originally created by Szar Slytherin is naturally no exception. Of course, it will obey its master''s orders, otherwise, it will not faithfully stay in this castle for nearly a thousand years, but the rooster crowing is the instinctive fear that came from the depth of its soul, a weakness deliberately left when a Basilisk was first created, it has given its best to make an attempt, and now that the attempt has failed, it must escape! The chosen direction of escape, naturally, is the door that Jon came in! And in the first instance, it had the tendency to escape, such movements, Jon sensed it as the gravel nearby the door was being pushed by the Basilisk''s body, and he knew very well that it was a critical moment. No matter what, he must not let the Basilisk escape, or once it has attracted the attention of the students and faculty who are currently having Christmas dinner in the great hall on the ground floor, and they be aware that someone has broken into the Headmaster''s office, the odds of Voldemort personally returning is high! So at the first instance, Jon aimed his wand at the foyer, and he recited a transfiguration spell under his breath, that Aberforth had focused on teaching him, and he also practised this transfiguration spell for the longest time in the Room of Requirement. No spell beam appeared, but therge piece of floor in front of the door all turned into a muddy swamp, and the Basilisk happened to just wriggle its huge body to escape here, and the next moment it was trapped in the swamp! Even if Jon''s talent is high, he only just learned this spell for less than two months, so being able to exert the desired effect is already amazing enough, but there is no way topletely trap the Basilisk, its body did not plunge deeply, as long as it struggled slightly, it could break out of the swamp. But before it could make its next move, Jon had already waved his wand again. "Immobilus!" Freezing charm, the charm hit the Basilisk''s body precisely! The thick Basilisk hide has a strong magic immunity effect, but the charm still had some effect on the basilisk, making it struggle to escape stop for about a second, and it was this second, it slowly submerged in that swamp for some distance! Grasping this time, Jon flicked his wand up in his hand, and the swamp''s transfiguration spell was instantly undone, turning back into solid ground, but the Basilisk''s body was already partly embedded solidly in the ground, leaving it trapped in a ce with even greater resistance! It desperately struggled, trying to break out of the ground to escape from this ce of death before the next rooster crow sounded, and the tremendous force created cracks in that ground that trapped it, but just a second before it was about to break free from it. In Jon''s arms, the rooster crowed for the third time, like the death knell ringing in the evening, deciding the end of the Basilisk! "Woo-woo-woo-hoo!" The surface hide of the Basilisk all bulged up, it had totally gone insane, and also at this moment, it broke free from the ground, no longer trying to escape, the whole body of the basilisk was twitching, rampaging in the foyer! This irregr action caused Jon, who was floating in mid-air, to dodge, but he was still swept aside by the force its body created even after dodging, and the tremendous force mmed him solidly into a wall, causing a tightening in his chest. The Basilisk itself rushed from the entrance of the foyer to the opposite direction, and it crashed directly into the door of the foyer leading to the Headmaster''s office that it was guarding, and eventually the bulging hide began to dent like a leaking ball, and the fishy blood spurted out in all directions as if it were a fountain! It hissed and wailed in agony, but none of this could change its end, and its body copsed helplessly in a pool of blood! Jon panted sharply, and got up from the ground, he now looks a little wrecked, covered with gravel and dust, his face has also be somewhat pale, but at least it is not serious enough to affect the state of his consciousness. After hearing no movement around, he did not recklessly remove the ck blindfold cloth first, but once again waved his wand and used the levitation charm on the gravel scattered on the ground. The gravel floated up through the air, and soon he found the exact location of the Basilisk now and then judged the various parts of its body. Next, Jon pulled up the cloth and looked in the direction of the Basilisk''s tail, the basilisk already lying motionless on the ground, its body is pooling a small pond of fishy blood, and it was also bubbling likeva on the ground. The Basilisk''s surface hide was bursted by its own blood, indeed, it was dead. After determining this, Jon waspletely relieved, he first used the full body-bind curse on the rooster that fell to the ground and kept on crowing, and then put it into the cloth bag enchanted with Undetectable Extension Charm. This rooster has a lot of credit, of course, Jon will not do anything like remove the grass and kill the monkey, after using it just ughter it. Afterwards, he cautiously checked the door at the entrance of the foyer, to make sure that the door was still closed, he stepped into the Headmaster''s office that had been knocked open by the Basilisk. The furnishings here are unexpectedly simple, there is no decoration or portrait on the surrounding walls, not even a bookshelf or wooden cab, only a desk and chair in the centre of the Headmaster''s room. The Basilisk''s huge body blocked part of Jon''s view, and he could only see what was ced on that desk if he continued to walk two more steps forward. And just as he got a full view of the desk, the pupils in his eyes suddenly tightened! Each of the things ced on that desk was something he was very familiar with, and although this would be the first time he saw it with his own eyes aftering to this world, he had long read it described in the original story many times. That is a sword, a diadem, a locket and a golden cup! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 94: Four Relic Chapter 94: Four Relic Horcrux. The evillest dark magic that Voldemort relied on for his immortality in the original book. The dark magic caster''s soul can be split into pieces by killing and stored in another dead or living thing, the thing that has stored the soul fragments is called Horcrux. And as long as the Horcrux is notpletely destroyed, the person who created the Horcrux can live forever and can be resurrected again even if he or she got hit by a Killing Curse. The person who created Horcrux has always been evil in history, and Voldemort made a whole seven under his main consciousness, moreover, with his pride, he even made each of the seven Horcruxes an extremely unique item as possible. Now it is ced in front of Jon''s eyes, and it is clearly the four relics left behind by the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Gryffindor''s sword, Slytherin''s locket, Ravenw''s diadem, and Hufflepuff''s golden cup! Of these four relics, in addition to the Gryffindor sword that has been hidden in the sorting hat, the other three were Voldemort''s Horcruxes. Gazing at the four relicsid out on the desk, Jon''s breathing began to be rapid. The world has changed, but the deviation point in the world-line urred on the night Voldemort heard the prophecy and went to kill Harry Potter, but the three Horcruxes among the four relics in front of him, all were made before this time point. In other words, they are still most likely to be Voldemort''s Horcruxes! They are his lifeline to immortality and longevity! Horcruxes are generally very difficult to destroy, but coincidentally, the Basilisk that Jon just killed, and its fangs are one of the easiest ways to destroy a Horcrux. Even he could hold that Gryffindor sword, and as long as the sword is slightly doused with a bit of the Basilisk''s venom, it could likewise be a potent tool for destroying Horcruxes. This is a wonderful opportunity as if it is like a great gift from heaven to him to reward him for his valour and wisdom. Jon did not know when he had reached the desk, staring at the four relics, he took a deep breath as if he was ready to pick up the four relics. However, the next second he did not hesitate to go around from the desk. Whether heaven will give a reward to the brave, Jon does not know, but this reward in front of him is certainly not from heaven. This is Hogwarts Castle under Voldemort''s control, he is in Voldemort''s office, he just defeated the Basilisk that Voldemort ordered to guard this ce, and these in front of him are the relics that Voldemort himself ced here. His most precious, life-saving things are ced in a ce that can attract the most attention of the enemy, and the tools needed to destroy these things are also all prepared. The in Basilisk, and Gryffindor''s sword along with Horcruxes on the table, can not be a gift from heaven, instead, there is a great possibility that these are Voldemort''s traps! After a whole year of being brought into the magical world and understanding many things, Jon was very clear that Voldemort is definitely not a fool. On the contrary, all kinds of policies of the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts under his rule today are enough to show that he is smarter than the vast majority of people. A smart man would do such a thing? Jon is very decisive in giving up these suspected Horcruxes, this world is no longer the magical world he originally recognised, he can rely on some information he read in the original books in his previous life as help, but he cannotpletely rely on the original books. Moreover, the fundamental goal of his visit to this castle this time had never been these Horcruxes. He bypassed the desk and quickly found a spiral upward staircase in the office ording to the exact location Dumbledore had given him earlier. Sessfully killing the Basilisk did not let Jon''s heart half rxed, he knew very well that the death of the Basilisk is just the beginning, the things Dumbledore wanted him to get will definitely have more than just this little protection. Holding his wand, Jon carefully stepped on the spiral staircase, all the way up. *** Inside the magnificent banquet hall, well-dressed male and female wizards were participating in a Christmas ball that only the top handful of wizards could attend. If someone took a stone and threw it down from the first floor randomly, there was a high probability that it would hit a high official in the Ministry of Magic or a well-known board member of apany in the magical world. The person who will be hit will only show a friendly smile to the child or young man with a provocative face who threw the stone from the first floor because the one who can go up to the first floor is the true confidant of that gentleman. Dolohov is one such confidant. At this time he is standing proudly at the side of Voldemort, who always remains young-looking and handsome, and chatting with a fat, old man with two walrus-like moustaches. "Teacher is Teacher after all, once you came to the Department of International Magic Cooperation, the foreign export transactions of the Ministry of Magic in the past six months have been much smoother than before, and when the French Minister of Magic came to see mest time, he praised me that you are a true gentleman." Slughorn still has that smiling look, close to half a year has passed, and he still seems to be the same as when he first came to Voldemort, there is no change. "Dealing with these people is actually very simple, invite those at the helm of the French Ministry of Magic to hold a banquet, open a bottle of good red wine, talk about the past glory of their wizard family, some business and policies can be negotiated this way." "So all these losers under me could never learn your tactics." Voldemort turned his head to look at a male wizard standing behind him with a bow, "Clearly a man of distinguished birth, but usually acts like a street hooligan." The burly former head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation just rubbed his head and smiled, as if what Voldemort had just said was actually apliment. Since Slughorn returned to the right camp, the old man with a distinguished background and status has be the core of the core, except for Voldemort, other wizards regardless of their status will bow down to him and address him as "Mr Slughorn". Since the start of this Christmas banquet, Voldemort has been talking andughing with his former teacher, they talked about their former teacher-student rtionship at Hogwarts, and Slughorn seemed to be in high spirits, full of nostalgia for the castle that he hadn''t returned to for a long time. Voldemort also saw his mood and introduced him to the current faculty members working in the castle. Snape, Barty Jr. These people are old acquaintances, naturally, there is no need to make additional introductions, Voldemort called the people who were not considered bright students in the past. "...Scott is an excellent school healer, the Lestrange family has a lot of talent, moreover, he once had the experience of being a healer in St. Mungo''s, and he has done a very good job as a healer in the castle these years." ---- #Wiggy, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 95: Portrait Chapter 95: Portrait Voldemort patted the shoulder of a male wizard whose face had turned red from excitement, and then his gaze was fixed on Dolohov, who had been waiting nervously for a long time. "And this one, Antonin Dolohov, you must remember him. He used to fare very well in Slytherin when he was at school, and now he is working as a castle caretaker at school, which is also a busy and energy-intensive job, and those children are at a young age when they are not well-disciplined" When he heard Voldemort''s words, Dolohov''s body trembled slightly because of excitement, and he hurriedly said. "These are all that I ought to do, my lord." "There is nothing that one should or should not do." Voldemort smiled and said, "Each of us working together to make a better future for the magicalmunity. But you''ve been holding this position for a long time too, haven''t you?" Dolohov''s eyes lit up briefly, but then he masked them well, and the face that had remained fierce in front of the mudblood students now showed the same honesty that a good watchdog would show. "Whatever I might do to serve beneath my lord, it would be the greatest honour of my life!" "But talented people can''t just waste their talents, your achievements over the years as a caretaker are outstanding, I''m very satisfied, perhaps the next year you can get a position more suitable for your abilities." Dolohov was obviously excited, an excitement that he simply could not hide. "Everything will be done ording to the lord''s arrangement!" "I will certainly make some arrangements for your future, and of course, you will have to maintain your present merits and do your job well." With such a promise from him, it was equivalent to having a guaranteed promotion in the next year. Dolohov naturally tried to show even more performance at this time, and he said with a serious face. "I will not fail your expectations, sir!" Since such words have been said here, of course, Dolohov will not continue to "waste time" at the banquet, to show his own merits of hard work andmitment, he left the banquet hall in advance after saying farewell to Voldemort and returned to Hogwarts Castle. At this time the clock had just arrived at eight o''clock in the evening, the students and faculty in the castle''s great hall were still enjoying their meal, and after Dolohov returned, he first went to the great hall for a while. However, with these faculty members who did not enter the core circle of the upper echelons of the British magical world, he naturally did not want to talk about much. He just casually mentioned a few words about the prosperity of another Christmas banquet with an arrogant face, then left the table and went to the underground. He actually knew very well what Voldemort really appreciated about him, discipline those pureblood and half-blood students, no matter who arrived it was the same, only in the case of managing mudbloods, what he did satisfied that gentleman the most. Humming the new tune of the Weird Sisters happily, Dolohov arrived at the "banquet hall" of the mudbloods, then opened the door and walked in. After he entered, the atmosphere on the underground floor, which could barely be described as rxed, instantly became quiet. Every Mudblood student looked at him and then lowered their heads in fear before they could meet his gaze, while among them, a young girl''s face suddenly turned pale the moment he entered. The two Heads smiled fawningly and weed Dolohov in. Ignoring the two fawning ones beside him who are not even consideredpdogs, he, who is very sensitive to the number of mudblood students, frowned the next moment after ncing at everyone present there. "One person is missing?" Bitter, the head boy who had acknowledged Jon''s request to leave, had an even more humble smile at that moment "It''s Randy Smith, he came to me earlier and said he wasn''t feeling well and went back to rest in his dormitory early." "Not feeling well?" Dolohov asked again, raising the pitch of his voice. And this time, a trembling voice, a girl''s voice, suddenly rang out from the crowd of students in the cer. "Sir, Randy ate a cookie at noon that he had hidden away but never been able to eat before, and then, it spoiled his health." The corner of Dolohov''s mouth showed a scoff, as if he was sneering at the mudbloods who could only live like rats in this manner. He looked in a really good mood and didn''t appear to be all that angry, and said very casually to the girl who stepped forward. "You go get him for me right now, even if he is going to die of illness soon, there is no reason for me to stand and speak while a mudblood remains in bed." "Yes, yes, sir." The girl named Hermione hurriedly walked out of the cer and jogged in the direction of the bedrooms. Jon continued to walk up the spiral staircase for about three or four moreyers, which had clearly exceeded the height of Hogwarts, but he was still able to keep going up, only because he had reached a separate tower in the castle. Walking to the end of the stairs, he appeared in front of a closed wooden door. When he reached here, Jon became more cautious. He did not directly reach out to push the door, but carefully squatted at the end of the steps, and then pulled out a tube-like thing from the cloth bag. The thing was prepared for him by Aberforth to use at the door from the foyer to the Headmaster''s office originally. Still, the Basilisk had already knocked the door open by itself, so Jon had no chance to use it, but he hadn''t forgotten he had such a thing. He put the tube-like thing in the crack at the bottom of the wooden door and then squinted his right eye to see at one end of the tube-like thing, and the other end of the tube-like thing that had been put into the other side of the door quietly turned into a periscope like a shape on the ground. Through this small magic prop called "telescopic eye", Jon saw the scene inside the room at the top of the tower from outside the door. The space inside is very small, there is only a desk and a chair inside, and on the desk, there is a book and a quill ced in a simple way. But in such a simple room, the surrounding walls are decorated with three portraits! Those three portraits are obviously magic portraits. The old witch on the far left was dozing with her head down, a gloomy male wizard in the middle bowed his head and contemted about something, while the portrait on the right featured a young man, who babbled incoherently about something Jon couldn''t hear! The moment he saw these three portraits, Jon immediately moved quickly and carefully to pull the telescopic eye out of the door crack! The Basilisk in the foyer of the Headmaster''s office is really just a basic guard, the real guards are actually these three portraits! ----- #Wiggy, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 96: Difficult to deal with Chapter 96: Difficult to deal with Jon returned to the Headmaster''s office. His brain was now running fast and steady. The Basilisk was obviously the first line of defence to the Headmaster''s office, and if he is right, the four relics on that table would be the second, and the three portraits in that room in the tower would be thest. The portraits of the magical world are all in a sense alive, and the portrait of the same character can instantly go back and forth in any location of their own portrait, without any magical constraints and restrictions. Those three portraits have a great probability to have a connection with Voldemort, thisst protection may seem like just three portraits, but in fact, it represents Voldemort himself! If he did not use the telescopic eye prepared by Aberforth to him, and just push the door directly and entered, then the next moment, it is estimated that the most powerful individual in the magical world at present, will appear in front of him, and will not even allow Jon to pick up the book & pen and run directly. Facing Voldemort can be considered insurmountable even if Dumbledore is in this situation. But Jon''s current situation is far from insurmountable, after all, the three portraits still have not rmed by anything, which means that Voldemort does not know his office was already broken into. This means that Jon still has time to n for the next. If Voldemort personally came over that is certainly a dead end, but what if there is a way to make the three portraits unable to contact Voldemort? While Jon was pondering, his hands did not stop moving, he waved his wand and cleaned up the messy foyer, as well as the fishy blood of the Basilisk that died in the Headmaster''s room. There is a Basilisk guarding this ce, which means that Voldemort forbids anyone in this castle to enter the Headmaster''s office, although the Basilisk has its own consciousness to choose who to kill and who not to kill, the magic in its eyes will be triggered as long as your gaze meet its eyes, unless you know Parseltongue, otherwise any movement in the door, it will use its eyes to look at you, whoeveres in, even Snape, who is the Deputy Headmaster, is also the same. At the moment of locking eyes with it, he would immediately die. As long as he cleans up the thick smell of blood, then no one will know that the Basilisk guarding the ce has been killed, and still by the hand of a mudblood student until Voldemortes to the opening dinner at the beginning of next year''s academic year. After Jon cleaned up the foyer and removed all the blood shed by the Basilisk, the sound of a door opening suddenly rang out behind him! Jon''s body froze instantly! The moment he heard the sound, his hand slipped into his sleeve, holding a bright red feather, and then he immediately turned to see the person who had opened the Headmaster''s office door. Hermione stood frozen outside the door, looking at the huge dead serpent beside Jon, who was also looking at the girl who was panting and had obviously run all the way here frantically. Tricky. He frowned, and slowly rxed the palm of his hand that was about to be clenched, when he was about to speak, Hermione reacted ahead of him and said in an iparably urgent tone. "Dolohov came back early, he is now looking for you!" Jon reacted very quickly, he knew very well that if what Hermione said was true, if he did not deal with this situation immediately, then he would have to face more difficult things. He quickly patted his dirty robe, not directly using the cleaning spell, because being too clean would be more suspicious instead. While patting his robe he quickly walked out of the Headmaster''s office, then turned back and closed the door tightly. "How long did it take you toe up to me?" He put away his wand, pulled out the invisibility cloak, and asked in a quick tone. Hermione also responded in a quick manner. "Three minutes, I went to that storage room on the ground floor first, but didn''t find you there before I came up here, those moving stairs helped me, it made me walk a lot less." "Did anyone see youe up from the ground floor?" "No, I went up the stairs along the corner in front of the dormitory door, and they all thought I had gone to look for you in the dormitory. I made up an excuse for you, saying you had a bad tummy from eating a bad cookie." Both of them now tacitly did not bother to ask why the other was here, as long as the immediate problem is solved, there is plenty of time to ask it in the future. Jon directly cloaked the invisibility cloak on them, the cloak isrge enough, and the two of them are only 12 years old, small in size, so even if he covers three people it is more than enough. They ran down the stairs together, those stairs just like Hermione said, she seemed to be very familiar with the way, and she led them down at a fast pace, from the seventh floor to the ground floor. During this process, Jon took out the Marauder''s Map, he had no chance to stare at the map in the Headmaster''s office before, but the map was opened before he killed the Basilisk, to make it more convenient for him to look at any time. At this time on the map, Dolohov''s name is clearly in the location of the underground floor. Hermione did not lie, this time the caretaker still did not notice that something was wrong, and remained there waiting. After making sure that there is still room to continue to hide, Jon quickly put away the Marauder''s Map, and then grabbed Hermione''s arm and ran from the ground floor towards the underground stairs. Only when he was close to the cer, did he put away the invisibility cloak, then without bothering to breathe steadily, he just pushed open the cer door with Hermione breathing heavily. Dolohov stared at them both as they walked in, and when his eyes fell on Jon''s pale face from being knocked into the wall by the Basilisk, a snicker couldn''t help but appear on his face. "Not feeling well after eating expired stuff. Squatting in thevatory for a long time?" Jon lowered his head "timidly" and whispered. " I-I am sorry, sir, I should not have kept the cookie hidden that long before eating it." "It''s not your fault Smith, mudbloods are supposed to do that without wasting food. But I hate to wait for someone, especially a mudblood." He stared at Jon with an "intimidating" expression, as if the next moment he would whip, but then he suddenlyughed again. "But you''re in good luck today, I''m in a good mood, plus your usual performance is also very good, so I think I will spare you, but for the rest of the holiday, the entire castlevatory is yours to clean." Only after hearing him finish this sentence, did Jon let out a long breath of relief in his heart. This hurdle, he was considered to have muddled through. "Yes, yes, sir." After that, he and Hermione returned to the group of mudblood students together. No one knew what happy things had happened to Dolohov today, he was really happy and even summoned a house elf and asked the kitchen to prepare a cream cupcake for every mudblood student to add an after-dinner dessert to this night of Christmas. ----- #Wiggy, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 97: Keen Granger Chapter 97: Keen Granger On the night of Christmas Day, it snowed at Hogwarts. Dolohov did not stay with them for long, his sudden return to the castle in advance for what seems like no purpose at all, gathering the mudblood students and rewarding each of them with a cupcake, and then at 9 o''clock, let the students return to their dormitories, then locked the door to the underground. Hermione''s heartbeat hadn''t calmed down even after she returned to her dorm room. She was very clear about how bold her actions were today, once she did not seed in finding Jon where she guessed, then Jon would ultimately escape without her, but it was certain that she would be finished. Dolohov will definitely hire someone to alter her memories and turn her into a robot like Taylor who only knows how to obey and has no other feelings. But she still decided to do it, because Hermione knew clearly in her heart, relying only on these children in the castle, they have no way to resist the oppression and dominance of the Pureblood, they need to use the power of the outside world. And Jon is a person from the outside world! The night gradually darkened, and she quietly stretched out on her bed, without a hint of drowsiness, nor did she have the slightest intention to fall asleep like this. Thus, she waited until midnight, and suddenly there were three light knocks on the door outside her room. The sound is too faint, if not Hermione''s attention has always been tensed, then she may not have even noticed. After the knock on the door, she sat up from the bed at the first opportunity, wearing a thin, tattered robe and got out of bed to open the door. The moment the door was opened, Jon walked in with great swiftness, then turned around and closed the door to the dorm room again. The dorm room is located underground, there is no window, there is no moonlight to shine in, and only a candle was lit, the light dimly illuminated this side of the narrow space. Jon looked at Hermione without speaking first and pulled out the Marauder''s Map that had been opened and ced it in front of him in the most conspicuous position so that he could always observe the movements around the dormitory to prevent Dolohov from making any surprise inspections during the night. Only after finishing this kind of safeguarding did he look at the girl who was sitting in front of the wooden bed, wearing a tattered grey night robe, with a thin body, holding her arms and shivering lightly as her body was freezing. "I suggest you first, to put on thicker clothes because I have a lot of things to ask you next." Hermione although her face was a little white from the cold, her eyes were unusually bright when she looked at Jon. Only after watching her obediently wrap her thin body in the quilt did Jon take a deep breath and say with a serious face, in a voice that only the two of them could hear. "First of all, I want to thank you a lot for the help you gave me tonight, Miss Granger, if it wasn''t for you, I would have probably been exposed by now. But I still have a task to carry out, so I also want to make sure some doubts of mine, and I need to know exactly what is going on, so please answer me truthfully." He stared into Hermione''s eyes and asked without blinking. "At what point did you find out that I had a problem?" "The first night you first came to the castle." Hermione whispered with a blink. Jon couldn''t help but frown. "The first night?" "Well, when you got a reward from Dolohov for your excellent summer work, you pushed it to me on your own ord when I looked over at the piece of sandwich he had rewarded you with." Hermione exined softly, "The Randy I knew was very timid and never took the initiative to act like that, the most he did was not touch the sandwich and let me take it away by myself." Jon''s expression became strange, he had actually been careful of how he behaved, trying his best to imitate Randy''s habits, but who would have thought that a 12-year-old girl might still notice such a thing? "Just because of that?" "And your performance in the first spell casting ss, Randy he actually does not have any talent in gesture casting, when learning various gesture movementsst semester, he privately asked for my help to teach him in order not to be reprimanded, but you learned the first cleaning spell in just one ss period. And I have carefully observed your hand gesture habits, which are quite different from his, although the movement is standard, it seems very rusty, like a beginner, which is very unusual." Hermione talked seriously about the various problems she found in Jon''s behaviour. The two previous points were just her noticing that something was wrong, and what really made her sure that the current Randy was not the same Randy that he once was, was actually on the day they were going to clean themonvatory together for the second time. "I made a point of reminding you not to eat too much for lunch before you went, saying that you got coked up the first time you went to thevatory to clean it in the first year and that you forced yourself to get used to itter and slowly got used to it. This is actually a false statement, Randy most hated to go and clean the publicvatory, he spent the whole half of the semester previously crying while working in thevatory and would try to get it done as soon as he could, only at the end of the semester things got a little better." Jon listened to the girl''s narrative and also recalled that day, the expression on his face became odder and odder. So what sounded like a casual question was actually a test? Hermione stared at Jon''s face, but her expression was not a bit self-satisfied, and she continued with caution. "After I said that false statement, your reaction was very t as if youpletely agreed with my words. It was also at this point I was really sure you weren''t the Randy that I knew before." It sounds like Hermione was able to discover Jon''s identity purely because of his own carelessness andck of preparation. But no one canpletely act as another person, and Dumbledore did not search Randy''s mind to get his memories, after all, the noble professors in the castle generally will not pay any attention to a character of cowardly mudblood, and his ssmates around him are only 12-year-old children, getting acquainted with each other for less than a year, no one would expect such a young child will have such a keen sense of observation. And Hermione just went againstmon sense, Jon even after knowing that she was actually the most attentive of the trio from reading the original book, did not think she could be attentive to this extent. It can only be attributed to the fact that the harsh and difficult environment has catalysed her growth and made her more cautious and careful, paying close attention to her surroundings at every moment. For example, she is now, when answering his question, she has been paying attention to Jon''s expression and emotions as if she is afraid that her tone of voice will provoke his displeasure when she brings a little bit of bragging and ir. Jon rubbed the corner of his brow, and for the time being, he decided to shelve thement in his heart, he looked at Hermione and continued his question. "It''s quite understandable and okay that you could judge that I am not the real Randy by all this, but why are you helping me? Aren''t you worried that I''m actually someone working to help those pureblood wizards?" ---- #Wiggy, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 98: Destined Chapter 98: Destined "I worked in a bookshop during the summer, it was a very old bookshop, and the owner was very kind to me." Hermione opened her mouth and said, "She had a lot of banned books hidden away in her store, in which I saw a banned book called ''Hogwarts: A History'' and read a part of it, and found out that the former Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was not anything like what it is now." "That store owner also subscribed to the Daily Prophet, and I happened to read on it that there was actually another Hogwarts school out there in exile in the wizarding world, being led by Dumbledore, and that news segment said that it was the only remaining resistance and traitors." "I learned that Dumbledore was the previous Headmaster of Hogwarts seven years ago, the original Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry that he led was a real school, onlyter when he was defeated, this castle was upied by another person, and we were enved in this way." "You pretend to be Randy to sneak into the castle, have the guts to do this, only someone from another Hogwarts school will dare to risking here throughout the wizarding world, there will be no one else." Hermione said in a small voice, but with so much conviction, she looked at Jon, and those eyes were clear and bright. "Besides, I can tell by the way you treat us all, if you were one of those pureblood wizards, you wouldn''t even spend time with us like this, you must be from another Hogwarts, right?" Jon looked at the girl''s twinkling eyes and sighed immensely in his heart. All these spections sound reasonable, the most crucial thing is that Hermione is now truly just 12 years old, not a 12-year-old child on the outside like him, but actually has an adult soul inside. When it came to such a situation, Jon became calm instead, and facing Hermione''s question he did not deny it, but nodded his head and admitted it. "Yes, I am indeed from another Hogwarts." Hermione became excited when her own assumptions were verified by Jon personally. After all, she is still only 12 years old, even if her observation and logical reasoning are far beyond her peers, but in the end, her mentality is not as mature as Jon''s. "Are you a professor of that Hogwarts?" She continued to ask with impatience. Jon hesitated for just a second before nodding without further deliberation. "Yes, I''m a professor at that school." It wasn''t that he was trying to lie on purpose, but it was already quite insecure for him that Hermione knew about his identity, and now even if he admitted where he came from, he still had to hide his true identity. Besides, if we go by the actual mental age, it is not a big deal for Jon to have the cheek to call himself a professor. Hermione was too excited to notice Jon''s moment of hesitation, and besides, it would only make sense for Jon to be a professor, if he was just a student then she should be suspicious. "I have one more question, why could you possibly think of going to the Headmaster''s office to find me?" "I went to that storage room on the ground floor first, because I knew from Hanton earlier that you had looked for information about that room, and after not finding you there, I could only guess and gamble that you might visit the Headmaster''s office." This time it was not simply a deduction, Hermione took a gamble, if she came a dozen or twenty minutes earlier, if Jon was trying to kill the Basilisk when she opened the door, she might well have stared straight at the Basilisk''s eye. Luckily, Jon''s action was fast enough, otherwise, Hermione is likely to die in an ident today. After all the causes and circumstances were clearly understood, Jon looked at Hermione with a serious face. "Since you found out my identity, then you should also know the consequences if my identity is exposed, so Miss Granger, will you keep it strictly confidential?" Hermione''s face filled with seriousness, and she solemnly swore. "I swear I will never tell anyone anything about you!" It didn''t matter that she swore, it wasn''t essential to get people to open their mouths to get information, in the wizarding world information could be extracted directly from their minds, which is why Dumbledore asked Jon to infiltrate Hogwarts Castle. He followed Slughorn for a whole academic year to learn the art of lumency and had enough ability to keep secrets, but Hermione obviously did not have such ability. Jon is very calm, looking at things rationally at the moment, even with Hermione''s promise he is notpletely at ease, in his mind, he is nning to find an opportunity to sneak out of the castle to find Aberforth to discuss how to solve the three portraits, and then in ordance with the length of time, he may stay in the castle to decide whether to try to clear Hermione''s memory of this section about himself. The young girl obviously could not see what exactly was going through Jon''s mind at this moment, she blinked and continued to ask. "So, Professor? What should I call you?" "Just keep calling me Randy, that''s all I am at the moment." Jon said without blinking. "Randy, what did Mr Dumbledore send you to do at the castle?" Her eyes widened, "Is it because he wants you to steal something important from that man?" Jon said vaguely. "Well pretty much." "So," she suddenly became nervous again, her body wrapped under the covers even began to shake slightly, her bright eyes were filled with expectation and anxiety, "So, did he ask you to provide us with any help? " Her voice was very small, her tone carried ack of confidence and trembled, and her gaze, which had been looking directly at Jon, was also somewhat averted, it looked like she was expecting Jon''s answer, but also like she was afraid of his answer. Jon did not speak at first. He in fact would have told the truth, this girl is very smart, and as long as he talked clearly about Dumbledore''s difficulties and the issue of their signing the admission pact, she should be able to understand. And even her words showed weakness, it is kind of easy to see, she knows very well that even the professor from the other Hogwarts simply has no reason to save them, not to mention that he is likely to be in the middle of a life-threatening situation. But it is because of the realization that she is very smart, and can think of all that can be expected, that even the words of request for help are stated so tactfully and unconfidently, letting Jon fall into silence. He thought of the conversation he had with Aberforth that night not long ago, and if his task sessfullypleted, then what to do with students like Hermione in the castle? Continue to be left in this castle? Continue to be oppressed, to be subjugated? Whenever he thought of such a thing, it made Jon feel very ufortable. These students in the castle are very lovable, Hanton envied those noble half-blood and pureblood students who can ride a broomstick and fly into the sky, Ariel is willing to voice her fond memories of past Christmas to everyone to relieve the sorrow, and Hermione is to let those new students do not forget that they are still equal, risking a great deal to continue to organize the assembly. So, these loveable, freedom-hungry children are destined to be left here as ves? ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 99: Contact Dumbledore Chapter 99: Contact Dumbledore Hermione, of course, noticed Jon''s silence. She pursed her lips, which had lost its original blood colour, and a reluctant smile appeared on her face at this moment. "You don''t have to feel difficult, Professor, I can understand, after all, his strength is too strong, no one can fight him now, we can wait, I will keep telling them, let them believe that there will be hope in the futu-" Jon suddenly spoke up at this time interrupting her words. "No need to keep telling them, and you don''t have to think much about it either, I wasn''t wondering how to tell you that we weren''t prepared for this just now, but I was hesitant whether to tell you about the n or not." Hermione froze, she looked at Jon, and Jon looked at her, with a smile on his face. "We already nned everything at the very beginning, you don''t need to ask much else, afterwards it will be enough for you to just keep it a secret." The atmosphere plunged into silence, and only after a good long time, Hermione sniffled, she tried to prevent the tears that are already swimming around her eyes from slipping away and asked in a voice tinged with sobs. "You you mean it?" Jon replied softly. "The Professor of the other Hogwarts never lies." Hermione raised her hand and used her sleeve to dry the tears she hadn''t shed, her eyes turning red, the smile that appeared on her face, atst, wasn''t as forced as thest ones, and she said in a firm tone. "I believe in you!" Late at night, aftering out of Hermione''s dorm room, Jon did not go straight back to his own dorm room. The emotional outburst of the little girl was pacified, and Jon leaned quietly against the wall next to Hermione''s dorm door, holding a Marauder''s Map in one hand and holding the invisibility cloak in the other, standing silently, with unknown thoughts in his mind. The corridor of the underground dormitory was totally covered in darkness, and he stood still in such darkness for twenty to thirty minutes before he finally made his move. Jon put on the invisibility cloak, looking at the Marauder''s Map in his hand and sneaked up to the statue of the humpbacked one-eyed witch and used a spell to open the entrance to the secret passage and went in. *** The Hogsmeade vige waspletely nketed in snow, and the streets were not yet cleared of thick snow. The bright white moonlight was reflected by the solid white surface of the snow, which made the silent wizard vige not appear very dark. Jon paid close attention to his tracks, after he came out of the Honeydukes candy shop cer, after each step forward he would turn back again to clean up the footprints he left behind, to prevent any possibility of leaving suspicions. This visit he walked very slowly, and even from a distance, he could see that even though the shopfront looked a little dirty inside the Hog''s Head Inn, there was still a faint candlelight, as if specially pointing him the right way. When Jon approached the Hog''s Head Inn and came to the front steps, before he could reach out and knock on the door, Aberforth had already taken the initiative to open the door from the inside. He weed Jon into the warm Inn with a firece burning brightly and proceeded to serve him a cup of hot cocoa, which he knew Jon actually preferred over butterbeer and pumpkin juice. Without taking the initiative to ask, Aberforth just waited for Jon to finish the first sip of hot cocoa, and then Jon spoke up by himself. "I killed the Basilisk, but I didn''t get those things." This kind of scenario was already spected before the Christmas operation started, and Aberforth had also predicted with him that it might happen, so he didn''t look that disappointed and just asked. "There were other guards guarding the room where those two items are kept hidden?" Jon nodded. "Three portraits, all working together to keep an eye on those two items, pretty much as we suspected before, he still left a trick. Also, before I found the room where the two items were kept, I also saw another four items on the desk in the Headmaster''s office, a sword, a cup, a locket and a diadem, I suspect that there must be something wrong with these four items as well, otherwise the Dark Lord would not have kept them at that ce openly." Listening to Jon''s narrative, Aberforth had a thoughtful look on his face and pondered for a moment before saying. "The matter of the portraits is not exactly insoluble, this thing is after all a magical creation, and in the magical world except for those three unforgivable curses, all other magic has a counter spell, the magical world portraits are certainly no exception, except that our current difficulty lies in how to solve those three portraits before they send the message out. As for the four things you mentioned. Those are likely to be magical items of great importance to Voldemort." "I also got found out while cleaning up the Basilisk''s corpse." "Oh, you got found out... You were discovered!" Repeating Jon''s words twice, Aberforth was shocked to realize exactly what he had heard, and he nced at Jon and asked in an urgent tone, "Discovered by who?" Jon said silently. "A student in the same year as me, she didn''t just find out about me today, but she spotted something wrong with me way early on. Dolohov, who was supposed to go to the Dark Lord''s Christmas Banquet tonight, returned to the castle early and discovered my absence, and it was she who helped me find an excuse to cover up and then located me before I was exposed." Hearing that the person who found Jon was not some faculty member in that castle, Aberforth was a bit relieved. "Spotted something wrong with you way early on? What happened?" Jon originated what Hermione said to Aberforth from the beginning questioning his identity to the back identifying his origin and finally helping him, hearing the end Aberforth could not even help but praise. "A very smart little girl, if it is a peace era she will certainly be able to shine." Only after Aberforth''s praise was finished did Jon take a deep breath and voice the following words. "She then asked mestly if we had any ns to get them out of the Hogwarts castle as a part of our nned task of infiltration." The Inn went quiet. So quiet that they could only hear each other''s breathing, and only after a long while did Aberforth speak slowly. "She''s threatening you?" "She was pleading to me." Jon leaned back in his chair and murmured, his mind now filled with the little girl''s face with her lips pursed in anticipation and fear. Aberforth let out a long sigh, such a decision should actually be made by him, after all, he is nearly a hundred years older than Jon, but he still subconsciously asked Jon. "So what do you have in mind?" Jon did not speak out at first, but looked at the ceiling of the Inn, and paused for a few seconds before saying calmly. "Can you help me get in touch with Professor Dumbledore? I''d like to have a few words with him." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 100: General Counter-Spell Chapter 100: General Counter-Spell Of course, it is not possible to contact Dumbledore just because you want to contact him. The Ministry of Magic now has strict control over all means ofmunication in the British magical world, even if you want to adopt an owl, it is necessary to go to the Department of Magical Transportation to record, and Aurors have the right to shoot down any owl that has not been registered. It will take time for Aberforth to contact Dumbledore, and Jon is not in a hurry to do so at this moment, after all, they still have not managed to get the intended mission objectives, and they need to find a solution to solve the three portraits in that tower. "The magic used in the production of magic portraits is not highly advanced, only the process is veryplex, especially the need to add some emotions of the person whose portrait is created, but to destroy a portrait, in fact, a single general counter-spell is sufficient." "General counter-spell?" Aberforth nodded. "Yes, although there is no way topletely obliterate the magic on the portrait, the general counter-spell can make the portrait be an ordinary portrait for a period of time, and the length of that time depends on your mastery of the general counter-spell. The problem is, an average counter-spell can only affect one target at a time, meaning you can only neutralize a portrait after you rush into that room." Jon furrowed his brow as he continued to ask. "So what should I do?" Aberforth shook his head. "If there is only one portrait in the room, then this is actually a fairly good way to handle it, but now there are three portraits there, then I don''t know what to do next." Jon thought about it and suddenly looked up and asked "Can we go teach others to learn this spell?" Although he didn''t say all the details in his words, Aberforth understood the implication. "You want me to find a way to get two wands so that you can bring them into that castle, and then you will teach the little girl who has found out your identity as well as another person a general counter-spell, then the three of you will use the spell on different portraits at the same time?" Jon said with a nod. "The general counter-spell is not much of a difficult spell to learn, as long as you can somehow get two wands, and teach me the spell, then I''ll teach them, and that shouldn''t take more than two or three months." This does seem like a perfect solution, yet Aberforth threw cold water on him. "The idea does seem feasible, but you still can''t avoid the admission pact on those muggle students." Aberforth exined to him, "That pact not only restricts their space of movementpletely but also makes them be never able to hold the wand during the period of the pact''s fulfilment, the dark lord has thought of it from the very beginning, to make sure that the possibility of these children touching the wand to cast spells is eliminated from the source." Jon asked, somewhat a little reluctantly. "If you let them get the wand then what will happen?" Aberforth answered him seriously. "Three years ago an adult muggle wizard who was too oppressed tried to steal a half-blood wizard''s wand and escape from Britain, he had received a normal magic education before the Dark Lord took control of Hogwarts, so he knew how to cast spells with a wand. But after the Dark Lord tookplete control of the wizardingmunity he was forced to sign a ve contract simr to the current one, giving up the right to use his wand for life, and the moment he got his wand, the hand that held it was charred." Very vicious, but effective. As long as the mudbloods have no way to hold the wand for life, then even if they want to resist, they can''t make any waves, and it is even worse than when the right to use the wand was taken away from the goblins, after all, they still have their own unique racial way of spell casting. Jon''s idea was rejected after they can not think of any other more effective n, he could only learn the general counter-spell wand gesture and incantation pronunciation from Aberforth here, to master the spell first before they can think of other solutions. Time has reached thetter part of the night, Jon did not continue to stay in Aberforth''s ce, at three or four o''clock in the morning he returned to the castle. Although Christmas has passed, there is still some time left for the Christmas holiday. Pureblood and half-blood students have yet to return to school, and the campus still looks empty, but after the Christmas banquet, most of the professors have returned to the school, including Snape and Barty Jr. These people, are singles, there is no family, if there is nothing outside, then they will basically stay in the castle. The day or two after Christmas, Jon has been watching for Snape and their reaction, Marauder''s Map is always in the state of being open, as long as there is time he will pay attention to whether any people are passing near the Headmaster''s office, or have the intention of trying to enter. After all, Voldemort barring all entry into the Headmaster''s office is still only a guess, whether or not Snape and Barty Jr. have the privilege to enter or leave the office, Jon still needs to observe more. And also after Christmas, he began to do the punishment given to him by Dolohov, cleaning the publicvatory in the castle alone until the end of the holiday. Having time alone was no punishment at all for Jon, and he couldn''t wait for Dolohov to assign him more of these opportunities in the future. As long as he can constantly monitor the Marauder''s Map to pay attention to whether people are passing near thevatory, Jon can use this time to practice magic spells, as for cleaning work, using a wand to cast a cleaning spellpared to hand gestures to cast a spell is undoubtedly much faster and more convenient, so the punishment is morefortable and easier than his previous days. The only thing that makes people a little lessfortable is the smell in thevatory which is really not that pleasant. After finishing the day''s work, and returning to the underground floor, there is not so much work to do during the holidays, so most of the other mudblood students can get some rare leisure time, but freedom of movement is still restricted, they can only be in the underground floor without going to the upper floors. Jon came back when it was time to eat supper, these days their meals are slightly better than before, the bread is at least not that hard, and asionally you can drink some pumpkin juice with vour. Even though Jon''s true identity was exposed, Hermione did not show any closeness to him during the normal time, the little girl is indeed smart enough to know what to do and how to refrain from certain things. "This holiday is much better thanst school year." While eating Hanton sat next to Jon, he bit off his bread and chatted in a whisper, "Mr Dolohov is very happy these days, and those professors who are usually very hostile to us are also home,st Christmas break, Kruger identally bumped into Professor Carrow when he went to water the flowers in the yard and was almost tortured to death by that professor. " Jon at first just listened distractedly, his mind still thinking about how to solve the three portraits, but after a few moments, he suddenly seemed to think of something and turned his head to stare at Hanton. "You are saying that Professor Carrow, is not in the castle this holiday?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 101: Defense Professors Office Chapter 101: Defense Professor''s Office Hanton was a little puzzled why Jon''s reaction suddenly became so dramatic, but in the end, not everyone has Hermione''s careful observation and keen intuition, and he didn''t ask anything else, but simply replied to Jon''s query. "At the beginning of Christmas break, Mr Dolohov asked some of us to clean the area in front of the school gate. You weren''t assigned to it at the time, it was Ariel and me who went over there together, and that''s when we saw the two Professor Carrow carrying their suitcases and looking like they were getting ready to go home together. We haven''t seen them at the school since, so I guess they won''t be back until the school year starts." Defence Against the Dark Arts ss professor''s office is also a target of Jon''s arrival at Hogwarts Castle. It''s just that he hadn''t been able to find any opportunity to sneak in before, the current defence ss professor, Amycus Carrow basically doesn''t leave his office much, and during the day during his ss time Jon needs to stay with the other mudblood students, sneaking out alone would easily let Dolohov discover the issue. After the start of the Christmas holidays, his attention has been ced on how to kill the Basilisk and enter the Headmaster''s office, which is why he has overlooked monitoring the Defense ss professor''s office, in fact, if he had been more careful, he would have found out that the Defense ss professor''s office had been empty for a while, and the brother and sister of the Carrow family had left Hogwarts Castle at the start of the Christmas holidays this year. After all, they are professors with a family, unlike Snape who lost his parents while he was young, and Barty Jr. who killed his own father, both have no home to return to for the holidays every year. But now that Jon had been reminded of this by Hanton, it wasn''t toote to find out. There is still close to a week left in the holidays, and there are enough days for him to get in and out of that defence ss office a few dozen times. "Thank you, Hanton, this pumpkin juice of mine is all yours." Jon shoved a serving of pumpkin juice he hadn''t touched into Hanton''s hand, which brought a bewildered look to the young boy''s face, not knowing exactly what he had helped him with. *** The snow that fell on Christmas Day still hasn''t melted to this day. The night at Hogwarts Castle is very cold, Jon put on all the clothes, then put on the invisibility cloak, took the opened Marauder''s Map and left the underground dormitory. The office of the Defense ss professor was located on the second floor of the castle, and Barty Jr.''s Charms ss office was just one room away. This seemed to be the ce where Jon had to pay more attention tonight, to avoid making too much noise, so as not to disturb the "dutiful son" of the magical world. Aberforth did not ask Jon to return the telescopic eye he had lent him, which gave him more room for investigation before entering the door. After checking that no magical portraits or living creatures remained in the Defense ss office, Jon opened the door using the unlocking charm and carefully stepped inside. With the moonlight shining through the window, he could clearly see theyout of the office. There is a lot of space here, basically just a little smaller than Voldemort''s Headmaster office, the surrounding walls are furnished with several rows of bookshelves, but the books on them are few and far between, all of them filled up with some strange and bizarre things. Grindylow hatchlings soaked in an unknown liquid, ced vertically on the shelves, dried up human hands of unknown origin, nes stained with dried blood and green human skulls, etc. Rather than saying that this is an office of a Defense Against Dark Arts professor, Jon is more willing to believe that this is a secret base of a dark wizard. But whenbined with the character of Professor Carrow, it made sense that his office would be like this, but Jon was a little curious as to how he usually taught his students in his defence ss. While thinking about these messy things, Jon walked carefully past the bookshelves, not touching anything on the shelves, and then made his way forward to the inner room of the office that is normally used for lounging. The furnishings here are much more normalpared to the outside, except that household item are discarded haphazardly, and you can tell that Amycus Carrow is not some kind of person who likes to be clean and tidy. Jon did not waste much time, Slughorn before stealing Philosopher''s Stone gave him all the notes and materials left by the creator of the Ring he wore, Mr Adrian Fawkes, and in those notes, he had long learned the location where Adrian had hidden his research when he was a Defense ss professor at Hogwarts. He went all the way around Carrow''s bed and found a piece of flooring at the end of the bed that didn''t look any different from the rest of the floor, then he drew his wand and tapped it against the piece of flooring and recited the incantation ording to what he had read in his notes. "Reverse up and down." The floor suddenly moved, it turned over on the ground, and the side originally exposed to the surface turned to the ground, while the side originally hidden in the ground was revealed on the surface. At the same time it turned over, a long, narrow, and the same length and width as the moved floor wooden box was brought out. The wooden box has a lock, but not locked, Jon did not hesitate to open the box directly, which was full of rolled-up parchment. He opened the cloth bag which had been enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm and put all these materials into the bag. In the process of storing up the materials he showed considerable attention, but until he finished taking up all the contents of the box, he did not see any shadows rted to the stone of the ring. This made Jon could not help but frown, but he did not continue to stay in this office much longer, after making sure that nothing was missing, he restored the wooden floor to its original state, put on the cloak of invisibility and left the ce. There were no surprises on the way, and he returned safely to his dormitory. When he returned, he spread out the Marauder''s Map on the side of his bed, lit the candle, and began to take out the materials he had brought back, one by one. It is true that Adrien''s notes only recorded that he had hidden part of the relevant materials in his office, but did not say that the gems were also in the same ce. But since Slughorn clearly told Jon that there is a gem in Hogwarts castle, then this matter should not be a mistake, only that Adrien did not put his research and the gem together. Jon was not overly discouraged, and by the faint light of the candle, he began to go through the hidden magical materials little by little, hoping to find some clues from them. Just when he saw what these magic notes were actually about, his entire attention was drawn to the contents on it. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 102: The Gem in the Book Chapter 102: The Gem in the Book That Professor Adrian Fawkes, when he came to teach at Hogwarts, his research on the ring and the gem had reached its final closing stage. And this gem made at Hogwarts is thest of the five. People always like to save their most valuable things for thest, and Adrien is no exception. When making thisst gem, he did not follow the usual alchemy techniques but wanted to add a little different characteristic to the gem. The ring and the gem are a transit point for spell casting, where the wizard''s own magic is absorbed into the ring and subsequently fed back to the wizard himself as an altered one. Then why when creating this spell-casting device, the idea must be limited to the magic of the person using the device itself? [Compared to the wand''s core, the alchemy gem I created has a stronger magical power tolerance, so why not try to amodate other magical powers as a means to strengthen the spellcasting power of the wizard using the ring? The magic effect of the ring acts on the wizard himself, and the magic spell of the enemy also affects the wizard himself, so if the wizard possibly able to erase the effect of the hostile spell, will he receive only the magic power in the spell, and then store it in the gem?] This was the question that Adrien asked himself in his notes, and it was also his initial intention at the beginning regarding what kind of characteristics to add to thisst alchemy gem that he nned to make. There was a huge collection of books in Hogwarts castle, the knowledge of which gave him enough magical theories to support his ideas, and the resources of various herbs and magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest were also abundant, giving him the raw materials to transform the gem. The reason why he was injured at the end of being a professor of defence ss was that he wanted to collect the materials for the transformation of the gem, and went deep into the forbidden forest to get some kes from the unicorn''s horn, but when he was scraping it, he met with the resistance of the unicorn and was directly stabbed through the stomach. He was found by the students and sent to St. Mungo''s in time for treatment, and finally returned to school at the time of the final exams, but he was left with after-effects and was unable to continue teaching at the castle. But after paying such a price, his research was finally somewhat sessful, the gem was given absorption and magic storage properties somehow, and was finally ced in Hogwarts Castle. And the ce where it was stored was in the library. When he saw this, Jon seemed to suddenly think of something, his whole body suddenly froze. Before Christmas, at that time he was practising a variety of spells targeting the Basilisk in the Room of Requirement, he inadvertently overheard a major event at Hogwarts at that time at midnight. The books in the restricted area of the library, the magic attached to them all inexplicably disappeared! Finally, the professors in the entire castle investigated this matter for more than half a month and even invited people from the Ministry of Magic''s Department of Mysteries to investigate this matter clearly, only to end it without finding any clear exnation. So... Could this incident possibly be rted to this gem that Adrien hid in the library? If there is a rtionship, why did nothing happen for more than ten years in the past, and why did it take the magic power from the restricted books to absorb now? Jon temporarily could not figure out this question, but he was keenly aware that this gem hidden in the library might be the key to solving the three portraits in the tower! Since it could absorb all the magic power from those restricted books in the library, why couldn''t it absorb the magic power from the magic portraits as well? After he figured this out, Jon couldn''t sit still in his dorm room. The key to solving this problem was what he had been looking for, so he didn''t wait, he put on the invisibility cloak again and left the underground dormitory. The library of Hogwarts is in a separate tower, and the one responsible for managing this ce is none other than Quirrell, who was not med much for the previous restricted book incident, after all, he is not even qualified to enter the restricted book section if it is not time to do regr clearance and maintenance. The library door was not under any sort of protective measures, especially now that the restricted books that were inside had been moved, leaving only some of the normal handwritten books that students normally refer to, so there was no need for additional protection. The locked door was easily opened by Jon with an unlocking charm, and after entering the door, what was immediately visible was a long row of neatly arranged desks, with bookshelves ced next to the desks and filled with all kinds of books. Jon did not stay here, he closed the library door back and kept walking in, and soon came to a separate enclosed section. This ce is also full of bookshelves, but there are hardly any books on the shelves, this is obviously the former restricted section, but now it is free for students to enter and exit, after all, there are no more books inside. Jon directly crossed the enclosed line, the restricted books were all moved away, but the gem left by Adrien must still be in this library. Otherwise, those professors in the castle wouldn''t have ended up finding anything, without finding an exnation to give Voldemort. Moreover, the gem was stored in a very hidden location, if Jon did not learn about the location from the notes, then he could not guarantee that he would be able to find it in the remaining less than six months. Jon kept walking in until he came to the third row of shelves from the end, then in the fourth row, he started to count the partitions from left to right, counting to the seventh partition before he stopped. He took out his wand, did not recite any incantation, just use the tip of the wand to tap in an orderly manner on the vertical side of the partition, which magically opened a slot, a heavy book was hidden within the space. Jon pulled the book out of the cubicle, he didn''t take the book back to his dorm room, the library is very spacious and far away from the students'' and professors'' living areas, if there is any ident when he opens the book, it is far better to solve it here than to take it back to his dorm room. The book did not have a name, and when he opened the book, on the title page he saw a quote left by Professor Fawkes. [Willing to bet, because of the bet with Horace, I left this research of mine at Hogwarts. Since you opened it, then no matter who you are, I hope you will not use my research results for dark magic research.] He looked at the line of message seriously for three or four seconds, before turning over to the next. The following page started with a dozen pages of detailed information about the gem, and when Jon turned to the middle of the book, he realized that the pages behind werepletely glued shut. And the middle of this glued page is embedded with a diamond-shaped, crimson gemstone! ------------- [Author:] After two hours of getting stuck, I straightened out the plot for another hour or so before I started writing, and when I realized it was already 4:30, so I finished writing and went to bed! ---- #Jonathan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 103: The Gem That Absorbs Magic Power Chapter 103: The Gem That Absorbs Magic Power The colour of the gemstone was conspicuous, and it looked like a scarlet liquid was quietly moving inside. It is exactly the same shape and size as the blue gemstone on the ring that Jon is now carrying, only with a big colour difference. When Jon took it out of the book, it wasn''t cold in his hand, and even had some warmth to it. He did not directly embed the gem into the empty slot of the ring, but carefully flipped up the information in front of him, carefully reading through the notes left by Adrien. He gave this gemstone different characteristics from the other four, it can absorb the magic power of magical substances to store, while under normal circumstances it is the same as the one on Jon''s ring, also ice-blue in colour, turning red means that the magic power stored in it falls under full load status. It is necessary to mention that the magic power that supports the wizard''s spell casting in this world is not simr to the blue bar of the mage in the game, it''s merely a source of energy to use magic spells. It represents a much moreplex significance, if you insist on following the rules of conventional mages in the game, magic power is actually more like magic intensity. The stronger the magic power, the more powerful magic you can use and learn, as well as the original power of the average spell, bing stronger, but the specific limit to the number of spells cast by the wizard wille to physical capacity, too much spell casting will make the wizard feel mentally and physically exhausted, but there is no such thing as magic power exhaustion. For example, when casting a spell, whether it''s a spell or a transfiguration spell, the magic in the wizard''s body is mobilized to affect the world, and the magic in the wizard''s body will be withdrawn, but there will be no reduction in the total amount in the wizard''s body, and the power of the wizard''s spell will remain as strong as the magic he can control. There is no such thing as the more magical power the more powerful the spell is, in fact, it has a lot to do with the emotion and intent used to cast the spell. In short, the factors behind the power and weakness of a spell cast by a wizard are veryplex, and there are many things involved. And this gem that Jon got now, can absorb the magic power released by other wizards when casting spells or making magic items, and then reinforce the total magic power when Jon casts spells as a whole by storing it, to achieve the effect of enhancing the spells. And since this gem is bound to a single magic spell, it means that at the time the spell used with it is added, it can only be used with that spell. The most suitable spell for it is naturally "General Counter-Spell". Because when a wizard is casting a spell, the magic power is already formed, the change is outside and the magic power is inside. If you want to absorb and store the magic power, you need to cancel the external changes, and the only spell in the magic world that can do this is "General Counter-Spell". Using the ring to cast General Counter-Spell on himself, Jon can make him immune to spells that general counter-spell is immune to, and after the effects of these spells are neutralized, the magic power attached to it will be absorbed by the gem and stored to enhance Jon''s spellcasting. It seems that this ability is very buggy, more capable than the shield charm, but the premise for this ability is that Jon can cancel the spell when he normally uses his wand to counter it. While using a wand to counter the spell, he can still think of other ways to avoid the spell that would attack him if the General Counter-Spell didn''t seed, if it would be applied to his body directly, how would he know if he could withstand it if the spell didn''t hit him? If you can withstand it, of course, it''s fine, if he can''t, then there is no follow-up, and the effect will directly take effect on him on the spot. Moreover, the Counter-Spell has no resistance to the three unforgivable curses, that is to say, even if he studied the counter-spell more deeply, there is no way to ignore the spell at the level of unforgivable curses. In addition to the function of storing the magic power of the spell that he is immune to, enhancing his own spellcasting capabilities is quite desirable, in fact, wasting a gem to learn "General Counter-Spell" is a bit of a loss for Jon. After all, if he really wants to enhance his own defence, he can learn the shield charmter, and directly apply it to the ring, then even if some spells he can not resist, the shield charm can help him offset some of the power of the magic spell before it breaks. Not like the Counter-Spell, which canpletely stop the spells that can be stopped, but can not stop the spells that can not be stopped at all, it is purely a gamble. However, in addition to absorbing the magic of the spell through countering spells using a spell-like "General Counter-Spell", this gem can also absorb the magic of the magic items. For example, not long ago arge number of restricted books in the library lost their original magic power, the gem should have sensed the ring that Jon brought into the castle when he passed by the library, and passively got activated, then absorbed all the magic power from those restricted books. Now, this gem is already close to the state of full absorption, the dense magic directly turned it into a blood-red colour. This is enough to see how much magic it can hold. Many of these restricted books that are stored in the restricted section contain powerful magic, because the authors who made the books are quite powerful themselves, and most of the restricted section was basically drained by the gem. But this is obviously an unforeseen circumstance, from what Jon can see in Adrien''s notes; if he puts the gem embedded in the ring, the magic that the ring can absorb, at most, only the sum of his own magic power plus the original magic in the gem, and it can''t absorb any higher than this value. In other words, if you ask Jon to carry an empty gem to the library to absorb, he may not even be able to absorb a book''s worth of magic, after all, he is only 12 years old, and the magic in his body is far from growing to the most abundant point. Anyone who can write a grimoire and leave magic on it must have stronger magic than his. But now the magic power inside the gem is basically equivalent to the state of full capacity, and his own magic power added together definitely far exceeds that of more than 99% of wizards in the magical world, which means he can use the gem to solve the three portraits in the tower. After all, the three portraits are all practically magical creations. After reading all the notes at the front of the book, Jon''s furrowed brow rxed, but there was no expression of joy on his face. He was expressionless, and once again turned the book from beginning to end, and finally fixed his gaze on one of the inconspicuous words. [...The absorption ability of this gem is valid only on the signed magic pact itself, but not on the person who signed the contract- ] ---- #Jonathan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 104: Preparation Chapter 104: Preparation Jon can understand the meaning of this sentence. The signing of a magic pact is actually essentially the person who created the pact, leaving his or her magic on that pact, and when someone signs the pact, the magic left on the pact splits in half and enters the body of the pact signer. These two pieces of magic work together to maintain the effect of the pact, and any problem on either side can break the pact. This gem left by Adrien can only absorb the magic power on the magic item and the magic spell which has its effects erased, these magic powers are outside the body of the wizard, and it does not affect the magic power already in the body of the wizard. It can''t absorb the magic of the pact left on the mudblood students'' bodies, but it can absorb the magic left on the pact they signed. But the admission pacts are all not in Hogwarts Castle, before Christmas Jon asked Aberforth about this matter, to find out whether it is possible to steal the pact and destroy it, but was told by Aberforth, all the mudblood students'' admission pacts are stored in the Ministry of Magic archives, except for a small number of people who have ess, no one else is qualified to get in contact with it. Thispletely cut off the possibility of solving the problem from the pact itself. Originally, when he got this special gem, Jon''s heart still had a trace of fantasy, thinking that maybe Mr Fawkes could have made more in-depth research, but when he saw this paragraph earlier, it hadpletely shattered Jon''s fantasy. He can only use this gem to solve the three portraits in the tower, as for the matter of rescuing these mudblood students in the castle, it is still at a dead end. Jon let out a long sigh, he was a little disappointed in his heart, but he was nowhere near the point of wanting to give up on the matter. The pact is indeed the key, but whether or not these children can ultimately be brought out of the castle is still depending on the response from Dumbledore''s side Jon took the ring off his neck, then put the scarlet stone, aligning it in a diamond-shaped slot on the left side of the blue gem in the centre. He slightly loosened his hand, and the gem and the ring seemed like positive and negative mas, tightly bound together. The red magic power-like liquid still flowed around in the gemstone, and Jon took the grimoire that was originally used to store the gemstone, then changed the bookshelf back to its original state, and left the library. The gem gave Jon a direction to solve the issue of the three portraits in the tower, a direction that seemed very straightforward, without a single stumbling block, but it required him to take a step forward. The General Counter-Spell he had only just started to learn from Aberforth, far from being able to use proficiently, and he still needed to make trial and error with the spell on the transition from wand to ring casting. But the good thing is that the incantation of the general counter-spell is far less pronounced than the levitation charm, which means that when Jon has really mastered the counter-spell, it won''t take him long to experiment and cast the ring-casting version of the spell. *** Christmas break was soon over. Both pureblood and half-blood students returned to school after a happy break at home. The castle became lively again, as usual, the corridors became more crowded, and the dailybours of mudblood students returned to the same level of hard work as before Christmas. And after the start of the school term, Jon''s attention on the Marauder''s map became more focused, he would open the map whenever he had the chance to check the location of the Headmaster''s office, and after his frequent observations, he was now basically sure that no students would go near that area on the seventh floor. Whether pureblood or half-blood, it was as if a death order had been issued, and even the most mischievous students would not cross that line. Faculty members are also the same, there is no other professor''s office on the seventh floor in addition to the Headmaster''s office, and no one dares to have their office ced on the same floor as Voldemort, even Snape and Barty Jr. is no different. After all, it is a creature that has lived for thousands of years, the corpse of the Basilisk also did not decay that easily, so after Jon cleared all the blood traces inside, without that fishy smelling out, no one would smell anything odd. This ensured Jon that there is still plenty of time to lurk in the castle. "Make a list of people who you think you can trust and whose minds are not yet swayed. Remember, you must be extremely selective and careful with this list, because if any students among them have already been brainwashed with pureblood''s ve mindset, then the rest of us will be exposed." On another night, Jon came to Hermione''s dorm room in the dead of night and gave her this task. In fact, even if the students eventually would be rescued, it would not be ording to the list given by Hermione, Jon could only do his best to take away the first and second-year students, while the third-year students and above students'' memories had been changed mostly at the time when the gathering was discoveredst year, so now they now became more submissive, and there is no guarantee that the Ministry of Magic''s Obliviator had not left any secret thoughts in their heads. If they were brought back to the wagon, no one could guarantee that there would be no problems with the safety of the wagon. Jon would do what he could, but only if it didn''t pose any danger to the people around him. Tonight he asked Hermione to make a list just to find something for this little girl to do, Jon was concerned that if she had been left idle to focus her attention on herself, she would find him to be actually lyingter on, and it would lead to some kind of mess. Hermione nodded solemnly to Jon and agreed. "I will be careful, you can rest assured and leave this matter to me." After giving the task to Hermione, Jon made his way up to the Room of Requirement in the darkness of the night, he had to speed up the practice of general counter-spell, even if it seems that the Headmaster''s office is safe for the time being, but it didn''t let him rx in peacepletely. The good thing is that the progress afterwards is very smooth, the speed of Jon learning spells itself is not slow, plus the general counter-spell itself is not much difficult to learn spell, so at the end of the first weekend after the Christmas holiday, the middle of January, he already considered to have thoroughly grasped the mastery of this spell, can ensure that there would be no problems in the everyday use. Then he began to convert the wand incantation to the ring incantation, marking the general counter-spell on the second gemstone. When it came to this one, it was even smoother than his practice of general counter-spell, after all, the gem was created to counter spells, and the incantation for countering spells was not tooplicated. At the end of January and before the arrival of February, Jon had finished all the preparations and nned to start the second trip to the Headmaster''s office. -------------- [Author:] The Hogwarts Castle plot will end in three to five days at most, the following are all the climax, it would also be considered a good show for you to enjoy. ---- #Jonathan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 105: Book and Quill Chapter 105: Book and Quill The temperature at the end of January is still very low, and these past two days a winter rain also fell at Hogwarts, the cold wind at night passed through the window to enter the corridor, and the invisibility cloak draped over Jon blew with a rustle. After he stepped out of the underground, he went all the way up the stairs. The stairs in the castle which were active during the day are now quiet, previously under the lead of Hermione, these seemingly sentient stairs helped them, but they were not so helpful to Jon, as if they only recognized Hermione alone. But Jon now did not need to rush up, he reached out and wrapped the invisibility cloak tightly around himself, and then came to the seventh floor of the castle. He crossed the limit that Voldemort had set for everyone, opened the door to the Headmaster''s office and walked into the foyer. There were still some traces of blood stains on the floor, and the pitted floor was not repaired. From the foyer, he went forward and walked into the Headmaster''s office, where he could see the corpse of the Basilisk with a lot of holes. A month has passed yet its corpse has not shown any signs of change, the bright green scales are still as bright and shiny, and the flesh and blood exposed at the wounds are still fresh, without half signs of decay. After all, the Basilisk is XXXXX level magical creature, not to mention this Basilisk created by Szar Slytherin has lived for more than a thousand years, from venom to snake hide, its entire body is precious magical materials, as long as you can take it out you can definitely sell it for a high price. Unfortunately, Jon did not have a way to take the body away, the cloth bag enchanted with Undetectable Extension Charm that was prepared by Dumbledore for him, was far from being able to contain the Basilisk''s corpse to the point that he could only find a way to knock off the venomous fangs, and collected some venom to keep. In fact, he originally intended to remove the two eyes of the Basilisk, but he was not able to guarantee that the magic on the eyes of the Basilisk would also lose its effectiveness when it died, to be safe, he did not bother to do this somewhat risky move. After passing the Basilisk, he could see the desk with the four relics of the founders. These four relics were still ced there quietly, looking like exhibits in an exhibition hall, nothing special or unusual. Jon, however, passed by them cautiously, the more harmless the four relics appeared, the more he was filled with vignce. All the way up the spiral staircase that is located at the back of the office, he once again came to the door of the small room at the top of the tower. Inserting the telescopic eye in the door crack, Jon first made sure that the old witch, the middle-aged male wizard and the young male wizard in the three portraits were all still in their frames before he raised the ring in his hand. "Finite." An incantation distinct from the normal wand-casting general counter-spell incantation sounded softly, and Jon''s body abruptly became distinct. From his body there was a strange wave began to spread outward, this wave soon passed through the door in front of him, broke into the room inside, and then the original three portraits that were still snoring with their heads down, suddenly all be still as if the pause button was pressed. The originally realistic and vivid portraits began to be stiff, like a living object became a dead object, the three wizards in the frame all fell silent, they were not breathing, not moving, and turned into three ordinary dead paintings. The room became quiet, and the book on the middle desk was spread out like a breeze turned the pages, then a quill plugged into the ink bottle flew up out of nowhere, and wrote a child''s name on the nk page. Outside the door, Jon did not feel anything, but when he looked at the ring he was wearing, he could vaguely find that the blood-red gem seemed to have be a bit darker in colour. The magic power contained in it was exceptionally abundant, and after absorbing the magic power from three more portraits, it had almost no more room left for a semnce of storage and could only wait to be discharged. Jon did not stay outside the door, he pushed open the door and walked into the room, did not bother to look at other things, and went directly to the desk, closed the book filled with names, while taking away the quill that just flew back into the ink bottle! These two things, are the objects that Dumbledore let Jon sneak into Hogwarts to steal - "The Book of Admittance" and "The Quill of eptance"! Hogwarts'' annual admissions are all based on these two magical items. When a child first shows magical talent, the quill will fly out of the ink bottle, trying to write the child''s name into the Book of Admittance, and then the Book of Admittance will "m" closed, refusing to be written until it receives enough evidence about the possession of magic power. In other words, to qualify to study at Hogwarts, a child must go through a two-step screening process, and only when both the book and the quill agree, the child will be recognized as having the talent to be a wizard. In the past thousand years since Hogwarts was founded, the Book of Admittance and the Quill of eptance have never made a mistake. They have never let a muggle or a squib with no ability to learn magic into the castle, nor have they ever missed a single student with magical qualifications left out. This also means that this book contains the names, addresses and dates of birth of all the students who have attended Hogwarts Castle for close to a thousand years since the year Hogwarts was founded, a privilege that belongs exclusively to Hogwarts. Before Voldemort ruled the wizarding world, the Ministry of Magic had no right to see any information in this book. But after Voldemort became the master of the Ministry of Magic and the Headmaster of Hogwarts Castle, he was able to use the information of the students on the Book of Admittance to screen the identity of wizards throughout the British wizarding world to determine their lineage. No one can hide their origins, after all, all the wizards in the entire British magical world graduated from Hogwarts, and when they enrolled, they had already left an absolutely real trace. However, Voldemort did not make the existence of the Book of Admittance public, the tower connected to the Headmaster''s office can only be entered by him alone, which is equivalent to his monopoly on the interpretation of the wizard''s lineage. The first thing that confuses Jon is that such important items, in ordance with Voldemort''s current shrewdness, he would put it in a safer ce where he can see them, but Dumbledore gave Jon a vague statement that it is not Voldemort did not want to change the location of the book and quill, but he simply could not do so. But now Jon obviously has this ability! ---- #Jonathan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 106: How about next Thursday? Chapter 106: How about next Thursday? He had already put the book and the quill into the cloth bag, then left the Headmaster''s office and sneaked out of Hogwarts castle to the Hog''s Head Inn. Aberforth had been waiting for him here for a long time, Jon always informed him before each operation in the castle in advance, to avoid any unnecessary surprises that might ur before he could prepare. As soon as he entered the Inn, Jon ced the cloth bag containing the Book of Admittance and the Quill of eptance in front of him. "The things in here, I''ve got them!" Aberforth opened the cloth bag and saw the Book of Admittance with a ck dragon hide cover and the feather quill made from an Augurey feather in it, and a rxed smile appeared on his face. Other aside, at least their initial goal ispleted, having the book and quill in the wagon means a lot to Hogwarts. Before when they grabbed students with Hogwarts Castle, they basically observed the movements of the professors in that castle near the beginning of the school year, and then set off, which is extremely inefficient, and there is no way to prevent additional Muggle students from enrolling each year. But now that they have the book and quill, everything will bepletely reversed, and the enrolment process at Hogwarts Castle will be much more difficult, because they will not only have to evaluate Muggle students, but also screen purebloods and half-bloods, and even if both parents are wizards, the newborn child may be a squib until he or she has thoroughly disyed his or her magical talents. Under Voldemort''s rule, the social status of a squib is not much better than that of a mudblood, and may even be worse, so some parents will conceal the fact that their child is a squib and disguise various signs that their child has shown the magical talent to fool the Ministry of Magic''s investigations. It''s even more difficult to identify muggle students because there are millions of newborns every year, and the staff at Hogwarts Castle don''t have that much capacity to check whose children are showing special talents, something that can cause great difficulties in their admissions work. But for the Hogwarts wagon, who originally sought Muggle students in a risky way, along with children of purebloods and half-bloods who are dissatisfied with Voldemort''s rule, and have sent their children here to Dumbledore. Now with this book and quill, it will undoubtedly make it easier for them, and they don''t even need to wait until the student reaches the age of eleven, the professor can reach out to this gifted student as soon as the Book of Admittance bears his or her name. All in all, the existence of the Book of Admittance and the Quill of eptance is very important to both Hogwarts, which is why Dumbledore let Jon sneak into the castle in the first ce. And now this objective has been perfectly aplished. But Aberforth who revealed a smile at the sight of the book and quill reverted back to a silent face pretty soon. Jon also sat in front of a counter without speaking, the two of them looked at each other, it was clear that under the original n, since the purpose of the infiltration has beenpleted, then it is time for Jon to leave here and return to the Hogwarts wagon. After everything happened in Hogwarts Castle, and Randy Smith, a mudblood student, went missing, regardless of Voldemort''s anger at finding the Headmaster''s office broken into and the books and quill stolen, it would not affect Jon Green. But now neither Jon nor Aberforth mentioned the matter of leaving, and the silencested in the Inn for a good long while before Jon spoke first and asked. "You previously said that I could get in touch with Professor Dumbledore''s side tonight?" Aberforth pulled out his pocket watch from his pocket and nced at the time on it. "In another half an hour, the Order of the Phoenix side will be able to set up an independent floowork, which willst for roughly 48 hours, during which time you can get in touch with Albus at any time." Jon nodded quietly, his eyes unblinkingly staring out at the darkness beyond the window as if he was thinking about what to say when he met with Dumbledoreter. Aberforth did not bother him but went on to prepare a cup of hot cocoa for him at the bar. Time passed little by little, and at the scheduled time, Aberforth went to the front of the firece, took out a box of white powder by the firece, then pinched out a small pinch, and sprinkled it into the fire. The original orange and bright fire turned dark green in the next second, then the me rose, and the green fire soon formed the upper half of a man. Dumbledore smiled at Aberforth from the floowork, and his voice came out of the firece. "You look like you''ve been living welltely, with a much better spirit than me." Aberforth scowled, and at the first sight of Dumbledore, he pulled his face down, like an old goat with a long stretched face. "I''m younger than you! Of course, my spirit is much better than yours! Old thing, your student wants to see you!" He cursed, and acted as if he was about to turn around and leave this space to Jon and Dumbledore, then suddenly and silently red back at Dumbledore and said. "The boy has done a remarkable thing, you can seriously consider his request." Dumbledore just smiled and nodded at him. Aberforth stepped to retreat behind the bar, leaving the space here for both Jon and Dumbledore, and after he left, Jon got up from his chair. "I''ve got both objects, Professor." Dumbledore''s face obviously showed a surprised expression, this final result did not let him have half a surprise, since he dared to let Jon do this, it is clear that he has the ability toplete this task, but he did not expect that Jon actually acted so quickly, in just a little more than half a school year he had alreadypleted the given goal. "Well done, Jon, you''ve proved that you are far more excellent than I thought you were." He said with emotion, but in the face of his praise andpliments, Jon''s face did not show any semnce of happiness, his eyes still looked as serious as before, and his expression became heavy as he said. "I have something I want to discuss with you now, Professor." Seeing Jon''s seriousness, Dumbledore also curbed the smile on his face, and seriously looked at Jon, nodding his head and said. "Tell me what you have in mind." Jon opened his mouth, he had preconceived a lot of reasons to convince Dumbledore in his mind, but now, after it really came to time for him to speak, he just asked. "We, can we save those Muggle students in the castle, all who need to be saved?" The room went quiet. Behind the bar, Aberforth subconsciously stopped his hand that was wiping a ss, Jon was holding his breath, while Dumbledore in mes was showing a thoughtful and hesitant expression. When he saw this, Jon''s heart gradually sank until a few secondster, Dumbledore suddenly opened his mouth and said. "If. We schedule the rescue on next Thursday, will your side have enough time to prepare?" "Bang!" Aberforth identally dropped the ss on the floor, and Jon was alsopletely frozen. ---- #Faveryy, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 107: Take them out Chapter 107: Take them out "Are you-you sure about that, Professor?" Jon asked incredulously, his eyes widening as he looked at Dumbledore, who was once again smiling in the firece. Aberforth behind the bar hade back to his senses by this time and began to gather the shards of ss on the floor with a grimace. In the end, they are still biological brothers, even if he does treat his brother poorly, he understands his character very well. This is obviously something long nned by Dumbledore, from the beginning when he asked Jon to enter the castle, he must have thought about saving these mudblood students, only he did not tell Jon about this purpose at the beginning, but now since he has brought back the book and quill, he mentioned it willingly. "To be honest, Jon." Dumbledore spoke, "in fact, I had already intended to do so when I let you into that castle in the first ce, only at that time I was not sure if things would progress to this point or not, and this progress does not only refer to you at this side, there are other more aspects." "But your progress is beyond my expectations, while on the other side, they have also been preparing for many years, originally I wanted them to wait until June of this year, and now it seems that they no longer have to wait." Dumbledore stared at Jon straight. "Now there is an opportunity, Jon, an opportunity not created by me nor you, but another group of people who are experiencing suffering, they had selected a suitable opportunity to act, on Thursday next week. At that time, as long as you can take those students out of Hogwarts Castle, I will send Minerva, Kingsley and the others to meet you on the outskirts of Hogsmeade." Jon''s throat was a little dry, he did not expect Dumbledore had actually already prepared everything, and his voice became a little nervous. "But the pact on them is yet to be resolved, if they go out of the confines of Hogwarts, then the school faculty, as well as the Ministry of Magic staff, will all be alerted, and then even the Dark Lord will personallye over." "I have received a very reliable intelligence, Jon." Dumbledore said softly, "An important matter will hold up the Dark Lord on theing Thursday, and no matter what happens, he will not have a chance to appear at Hogwarts Castle. And the rest of the Ministry of Magic, they all have other work that they have to get done, including some of the faculty in Hogwarts Castle will be gone by then, and that''s a perfect opportunity." "All I have to do is get them out of the castle?" Jon asked again, "At what time next Thursday, is it during the day or at night?" Dumbledore''s face became grave. "During the day, between 11:00 noon and 1:00 p.m. We must find a way to sessfully bring them out within those two hours, if we miss that time, then we won''t have another chance after that." Jon''s brow furrowed deeply. With the invisibility cloak in hand, he could bring the students to the secret passage entrance in the dead of night, but in the daytime, with so many people watching, even with the invisibility cloak, it would not work at all. The invisibility cloak can only hide up to four students in total, Jon can only send them to the front of the secret passage one by one, the mudblood students are not that irond, if any students are missing, a senior student who has been domesticated will surely report it to Dolohov, and then things will definitely be exposed. "I know that it is difficult for you to act during the day, but this time frame can not be changed, you can only try to figure it out." Dumbledore seriously urged. Jon nodded deeply at this. Although Dumbledore did not say it explicitly, Jon can feel the opportunity created now is very umon, and even if there are difficulties, he must try to find a way to ovee them. "After theye out, someone will help to break the pact on their bodies, but the first key point is taking them out. And finally remember that no matter what, Jon, if you are forced to the point where you have to make a trade-off, you must protect yourself as the main priority." After saying thisst sentence, the conversation with Dumbledore ended. The me in the firece changed back to orange from the ghastly green, and the Inn became quiet again. Aberforth wiped up the greasy counter in a rare moment, and he looked at Jon, who had fallen into deep thought, and asked. "Do you have any ideas?" Jon slowly shook his head, but his face did not show any sign of distress, but instead, he looked at the burning and jumping fire, his eyes reflecting the bright yellow fire, his voice calm and decisive. "Hanton was envious of the other students who had flying brooms to fly, but he could only hold the broom and use it to clean thevatory; Ariel didn''t say it outright, but everyone could tell she missed the cashmere hat her mother knitted for her; the first-year student named Colin kept crying secretly, whispering to himself that he was supposed to have a camera of his own by now; they are all only in their teens; No one should be ves in this castle day and night, and no one should lose the freedom they should have, so I''ll try to find a way to get them out of this prison!" *** In the underground dormitory of Hogwarts, the mudbloods returned to their rooms as usual after the day''s sses andbours, and Dolohov locked the door from the outside as night fell once again. Near midnight, Jon knocked on Hermione''s room door and said after the door was opened. "Next Thursday, Professors from another Hogwarts will meet us at Hogsmeade, and all we have to do is get the students out." Hermione was frozen. She did not expect things to move so quickly, she is smarter than many of her peers and knows that after signing the enrolment pact, mudblood students can not easily escape from the cage that is known as Hogwarts Castle. As long as they go out of the Hogwarts school, they will immediately be found, which Dolohov had warned them about when they first entered this castle. Originally Hermione thought that even if Jon wanted to save them from these people, they should at least wait until the start of this year''s summer holidays, wait until that time when the mudblood students will be openly allowed to leave Hogwarts Castle, which is the best time to save them, but now it is just February. "Is there something unexpected that happened that caused the n to be brought forward?" She asked with slight unease. Jon shook his head. "At first the n was timed on next Thursday, but now there''s a problem, we can''t move at night, we have to get the students who need to be rescued out of Hogwarts Castle all together between 11:00 and 1:00 pm that day." ---- #Faveryy, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 108: Going Home Chapter 108: Going Home "It''s almost impossible to bring mudblood students outside without other faculty members'' attention during the daytime." Hermione''s face went a little pale. "Ever since that incident that happened thest term, Dolohov''s supervision over us has be incredibly strict, and even if he can''t watch us all in person all the time; when something happens Bitter, Kate and upperssmen who are absolutely loyal to the pureblood wizards, will not show us the slightest mercy and inform him and other faculty. " As soon as this kind of situation urs, the advantage of Jon''s adult mentality is reflected, as he is moreposed than Hermione, and analysed the difficulties they are currently facing. "It''s not necessarily reached the point of impossibility yet, the main difficulty we are facing now is still about how to get rid the Dolohov and the rest of the faculty''s attention on us, as for Bitter, Kate and the rest of the seniors, as long as they are not too many in number, I can solve them without drawing any attention to us." "And trying to get these people''s attention away from the mudblood students for a little while isn''t reallypletely out of the question." He looked down in thought, pondering the possibilities. "Maybe we can make use of that Headmaster''s office since Professor Dumbledore said that after 11:00 am on Thursday, the Dark Lord could not absolutely have time to appear in Hogwarts Castle, that time we could do something and let the people in the castle ''identally'' find out that the Headmaster''s office has been opened, and the Basilisk has been killed. At that time everyone''s attention will certainly be drawn to this discovery." Hermione shook her head and said. "This will not work, as far as I know about Dolohov, if such an incident urred, the first reaction will be reinforcing the security to prevent any dangerous elements from stepping inside and out of Hogwarts Castle, especially us. Half-blood and pureblood students all have families and identities to trace, and we are the only ones who can be ced as spies easily." The reason why Jon approached Hermione to discuss this matter is that he knows that Hermione is smarter than the vast majority of his peers and also knows his identity, if he is looking for someone to discuss this matter together, it is only this girl. Just this sentence is enough to prove that she is not blindly looking for a way to escape from here, she bes more rational at a critical moment. Hermione was indeed right, especially given that Dumbledore had previously arranged for someone from the Order of the Phoenix to infiltrate Hogwarts Castle and was discovered. Once the Headmaster''s office was found to be intruded on, the faculty in this castle, even if they could not contact Voldemort for the time being, they would block the entire castle in a short time, forbid all students from going out, and then conduct a quick check on the mudblood students first. This not only will not divert the attention of Dolohov and the rest from them but instead will draw their attention to all of them. Moreover, Jon has no way to let the people in this castle discover the problem in the Headmaster''s office, before when he killed the Basilisk, he has been worried that someone will suddenly break into the Headmaster''s office and discover the abnormalities. But now it seems that even if Jon took the initiative to report to the people above that there was a problem in the Headmaster''s office, these people in the castle would not think of immediately going into the Headmaster''s office to check, but hang him up and interrogate him about how he knew about this matter. When he thought of this, Jon''s brow could not help but tighten up. If this route does not work, then his original idea of attacking a few pureblood and half-blood students to cause chaos in the castle, and then taking the opportunity to rescue the Muggle students, also will not work. This Hogwarts isn''t the Hogwarts from the original story, if there is an attack on the students, the faculty in the castle will definitely think that there are people from Dumbledore''s resistance camp infiltrated the school, and they will definitely lock down the mudbloods at the first instance; still for the same reason, if they want to infiltrate, the mudblood identity is the most essible, and this is why Dumbledore chose a mudblood identity for Jon. Trying to attract the attention of the Dolohov and the rest of them at the same time, but also to prevent them from warding against the muggle students; it is almost impossible to find an effective way. Hmm. It is not entirely impossible to do so, as long as But before this idea could even rise from his mind, it was pressed down by Jon himself. He looked at the leaping candle me in the darkness, slowly squinted his eyes, and reached out to touch the ring that he had hidden in the inner pocket of his robe. The gemstone he just got from the library still contains extremely powerful magic power, if in the end he really could not think of another way, then he had to give it a try even if it is a forceful rush! *** The ind full of grey mist. The monsters d in ck robes floated around the dark, huge prison castle freely, and the aura of despair and death emanated from their bodies, along with the grey mist shrouding the entire ind. In the deep prison cell, Sirius was caressing dozens of wandsid out on the ground with a hand that couldn''t stop trembling. "Have you received any message from Dumbledore?" Lupin also sat right next to him and nodded his head. "I received a reply, he agreed to the request of advancing the n, and scheduled the time for next Thursday at noon, that day will definitely be a big sunny day, the strong sunlight at noon will make those dementors weary, and it is also our best chance." Sirius''s voice was hoarse, like someone who has been thirsty for a long time without ess to a sip of water. "Just try to keep track of the time, after spending so much time here, who knows what day of the week it is." As he spoke the words to this point, his voice suddenly paused for a moment before he took a deep breath and asked, pretending to be calm. "How many of us are still left in the prison?" Lupin clenched his fists slightly. "I''ve been encouraging them for the past six months or so, but Danis and Beatrice still died." Sirius'' lips couldn''t help but twitch at the corners, and his teeth clenched together as if he was about to gnash them, but his mouth still spoke. "Fortunately. Luckily we''ve only lost two friends in thest six months, not a whole bunch." He fiddled with the wands on the ground and gently parted two separate wands from the 42. "Are the rest of them good to go?" "Hersey, Ralph, Aron the three of them are already on the verge of the limit, there is no way they can help us when the timees, there are still 37 people left, ording to our initial n at the beginning, as long as we have 35 people we have close to 70% probability of sess." Sirius turned his head and stared into the Lupin''s eyes, his bloodshot eyes were calm and frightening. "So now with 37 people the sess rate is one hundred percent, we have to be one hundred percent sure because we are taking our friends home!" ---- #Faveryy, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 109: Opportunity Chapter 109: Opportunity Jon stared at Dolohov''s back while ncing at Lestrange from the corner of his eye, who was walking towards Dolohov and looked like he had something to discuss. Unobtrusively, Jon shook his head at Hermione, who was also standing by and waiting. Hermione pursed her lips and turned her back from outside the iron gates of the underground dormitory, and together with Jon settled at the very end of the line of mudblood students, heading back towards their own dormitory. "Wait for the night." Jon whispered beside Hermione in a voice that only the two of them could hear. Hermione did not speak, just nodded looking a little disappointed. And Dolohov, who was not aware of their little gesture, was listening to Lestrange''s invitation. "-You know if you hadn''t made a big ssh at the Christmas banquet, Mr Crouch wouldn''t have extended an invitation to you. In previous years, we only just included the few professors from the Sacred Twenty-Eight Families at our club gathering." A smile appeared on Dolohov''s face, knowing that because of a few words from Voldemort at the banquet that day, he now actually seemed to have squeezed his way into the inner circle of purebloods. "Of course, I''ve always longed to attend this club that Mr Crouch started, it''s just. You know, never had much of a chance before. What time is the gathering scheduled?" "It was originally scheduled on Friday night, but the Carrow siblings had to go home that day for their mother''s birthday and spend all this weekend at home. Mr Crouch then re-scheduled it on Thursday, when none of them had any sses, while Mr Crouch did have a charms ss himself, but that was in the afternoon, so the gathering got scheduled at nine o''clock on Wednesday night." Lestrange looked at Dolohov and reminded him. "I know you have to patrol after 8:00 every day, be careful not to bete for the gathering then, there were already some other people who were not happy with the fact that you were invited." Dolohov asked hesitantly. "The professors do not have sses on Thursday, but I still have work during the day, will the gathering be held all night?" "We usually y cards for an all-nighter, and if you still have things to do during the day, there are rooms for lodging upstairs at the Three Broomsticks where you can rest. We have also known each other for so many years, don''t me me for not reminding you, you can rest if you want, but pay attention to the asion, don''t spoil everyone''s mood, otherwise, this, your first time participating in the gathering is estimated to be thest time." "You don''t have to remind me of this, I''m not insensitive to that extent." They chatted and walked out of the underground, then parted at the stairway on the first floor. Dolohov, who had never been in a better mood, returned to his office humming a little tune, feeling that he had a great future ahead of him after thest Christmas banquet. *** Late at night. Inside Hermione''s dorm room, Jon said with a serious expression. "This kind of thing can not be done forcibly, if there is an ident while attacking Dolohov, and be discovered by others, then it would be a foregone conclusion, we will not even have the chance to put up onest fight." With today being Tuesday, the date agreed on with Dumbledore for this week is around the corner, and the only viable solution Jon can think of now is the castle caretaker Dolohov. His primary responsibility in managing the castle is actually watching over the mudblood students, so Jon as long as he can find a way to solve him, and use the polyjuice potion to change into his appearance, then it is perfectly possible to assign a cleaning job to the first and second year mudblood students on the third floor of the castle at noon on Thursday, and then find the right time to unknowingly take everyone out of the castle. But the difficult part of this matter is how to take care of Dolohov without alerting anyone else. In terms of strength, Jon is certainly no match for an adult wizard like him, especially a Death Eater who has followed Voldemort for more than a decade and survived many battles. And if Dolohov reacts, he certainly will not have the slightest reservation, and directly cast a killing curse on Jon. Jon just got the gem that contains a powerful magic power, but this magic power can only be used for the magic on his ring - levitation charm and general counter-spell, but these two spells no matter which one, it has no way to block the effect of the killing curse. So he can only sneak attack, using the situation where Dolohov ispletely defenceless, to knock him down. It is hard to find such an opportunity when no one else can be around and when Dolohov ispletely defenceless. After Jon came up with this n, three days passed, and this evening they returned to the underground dormitory was their best chance, originally they were going to let Hermione attract Dolohov''s attention, and then Jon will make a move, but Lestrange''s arrival forced them to terminate the original n. Hermione sat on the bed with her knees, she looked at Jon. "Can we find another chance?" Jon crossed his fingers, and his face became dim, as he whispered. "Then we need to find a chance at night, the day after tomorrow is the time scheduled for the operation, I''ll try to sneak into Dolohov''s room tomorrow night, there''s no one to disturb him at night, and he won''t be alert." *** On Wednesday night, after curfew hadpletely begun, Jon sat up from his bed, took out the Marauder''s Map, lit a candle and began to stare at Dolohov''s every move. He watched from the map as the castle caretaker left the underground mudblood dormitory, then walked all the way up, checking every floor of the castle, and then at eight-fifty, abnormally actually left the school grounds through the Hogwarts gates. Jon couldn''t sit still in his dorm room. He knew very well that if he still wants to carry out the n of pretending to be Dolohov, then tonight is the only chance. Without a moment''s pause, he immediately put on the invisibility cloak and also left Hogwarts through the secret passage and arrived at the brightly lit Hog''s Head Inn. Now the time is only nine o''clock, and there are still many wizards in the Inn drinking and chatting, Jon carefully avoided everyone, walked to the back counter of the bar where Aberforth is preparing cider for customers, and pulled the hem of his robe. Aberforth was instantly aware of the situation. Instead of closing the Inn immediately, which would have been too obvious, he called for a wizard he knew well and asked him to help watch the Inn below, then excused himself to get the liquor from the cer and took Jon with him to the underground cer in the backyard. "I want to attack Dolohov then pretend to be him and bring the students to the secret passage tomorrow, but this night he left the school. I need your help to check on Hogsmeade to see if he''s still in this vige, and if he is alone, then both of us together can handle him with more certainty!" Jon quickly told the current situation, Aberforth also instantly decided not to wait, instructed Jon to stay in the cer and wait for his message, and then went back to the ground. ---- #Faveryy, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 110: Do your best Chapter 110: Do your best After waiting there for about less than an hour or so, Aberforth came back with a grimace on his face. "I saw him at the Three Broomsticks, but he wasn''t alone, Barty Crouch Jr, the two Carrow siblings, the school healer with thest name Lestrange, and other professors from Sacred Twenty-Eight pureblood families were all gathered there, they should be having some kind of gathering." Jon sat down on an empty barrel, his face clouded with uncertainty, and he finally said. "Let''s wait and see when they are going back, whether they go back together or separately and individually." Aberforth did not let Jon wait around doing anything, he led him to a guest room on the second floor of the inn and let him rest there first, after all, no matter what the oue of tonight, he will certainly be running around and tried during the day tomorrow. After letting Jon settle in, Aberforth closed the bar an hour earlier than usual, kicked thest drunken bum out of the ce at 11:00, then closed the door and went to keep an eye on the area around the Three Broomsticks Inn in person. He chose a spot where he could see the group of Hogwarts faculty who were drinking and ying cards in the saloon of the Inn from the side, while those inside couldn''t see him from this angle. The weather in early February is still very cold, the cold wind blew on his wrinkled face causing numbness, but Aberforth kept a firm guard until about two o''clock in the morning. When he saw Dolohov finish thest hand of cards and turned up to the first floor of the Three Broomsticks Inn, he could not help but clench his fist in anger and hammered a heavy punch on the wall beside him. Then he ignored his hand, which had be bruised, and turned around and walked quickly towards his inn. Arriving at the first floor of the Hog''s Head Inn, he woke up Jon, who was sleeping lightly. "He stayed overnight in that Inn." "Is everyone else asleep there?" "No, except him, the rest of those guys are still ying cards in the saloon." Jon rubbed his face with a cold hand and exhaled lightly. He knew exactly what it meant if Dolokhov stayed overnight in the Three Broomsticks tonight. With Barty Jr, the Carrow siblings and the other Hogwarts Castle professors there, even with the cloak of invisibility plus Aberforth, there is no way Jon could guarantee he could deal with Dolohov in such a setting. There is only one group of them still there, after putting on the cloak, how should they enter the Inn with the door closed? Even if they find the right opportunity to sneak in, then how to sneak into the first floor while avoiding all Hogwarts professors on the ground floor? This is not impossible to seed, but the risk is too great, once they choose to risk it, but tonight''s operation failed, the impact will not only affect the rescue of students from Hogwarts Castle tomorrow, but Dumbledore''s other ns obviously are also likely to have problems. Jon bowed his head in silence for a long time, and finally, he did not decide to take the risk. You can rescue people, but you can''t risk sacrificing others to save them. If they fail tonight, Jon and Aberforth can certainly escape, but the Ministry of Magic will certainly be alerted, and then the ripple effect will be too extensive. "It''s okay." Jon sat up from the bed and put on his robe, his face did not show much frustration and disappointment, he said in a nd voice, "Since we can''t pull off a trick, then let''s go head-on." Aberforth sighed. "You can''t keep everyone well-protected." "As long as you can do your best, then no matter what the oue, you will not regret it!" *** Early Thursday morning on the Hogwarts wagon. The students responsible for making breakfast today had woken up early and were busy in the kitchen. The second-year students still need to give the upperssmen a helping hand for another year, and this morning, Neville and the three of them were in the kitchen helping to fry eggs. They''re already able to make food that doesn''t require much skill. Four people each have a pan, and the half-cooked eggs are frying inside, while the fourth-graders, who are responsible for the main meal, are preparing sandwiches and grilled sausages for breakfast. "You fried them too lightly, Ron, I just saw that some of the yolks are still all liquid inside the fried eggs." Lavender stared at Ron''spleted product and lectured him. Ron, however, shrugged his shoulders unconcerned. "That''s how I like them, but Percy doesn''t like this type, he prefers more seasoned and firmer omelettes, so hopefully he''ll get to try my work when the timees." Neville stared at his pan, musing. "I wonder what Jon''s been up totely?" Ron tsked. "Maybe Jon''s been assigned to an awesome task where not only he doesn''t have to go to ss every day, but he gets to eat grilled knuckles all morning!" "Jon''s not going to eat something that greasy early in the morning." Justin muttered in a small voice. While they were chatting, Neville was keen enough to notice the door to the room behind them being opened, so he turned his head and saw the visitor, and couldn''t help but widen his eyes slightly. "Professor Dumbledore." Hearing his voice, this time Ron and the three of them reacted, turned around and saw Dumbledore walking into the kitchen with a smile on his face. "Grilled pork knuckles, of course, not suitable for the morning, but fried eggs with sandwiches is a fantastic choice." He had obviously overheard the conversation between them earlier and smiled, "Give me one of your works first, Ron, I like them a little softer too. Lavender, would you please get me a sandwich and pumpkin juice from Swift and the others, no need for grilled sausage, my appetite is not so good as I get older." He naturally sat in the kitchen in front of a vacant kitchen table, the red-faced Ron found one of the most decent from his own pieces and put it on an empty te in front of Dumbledore. Lavender also ran all the way to the fourth-year students'' side to get a thicker sandwich and warm pumpkin juice, and carefully handed it to Dumbledore. Dumbledore would usually go to the great hall to eat with the students, but asionally when he was busy, he woulde to the kitchen to see if there were any food avable, and if he couldn''t find it, he would cook it on his own. This is the first time they saw the Headmaster get up so early ande directly to the kitchen to eat breakfast. Neville, while controlling the heat for the omelette, curiously looked at Dumbledore, who was seriously eating breakfast and asked. "Are you going out for something today? Professor." Dumbledore used a knife and fork to cut open Ron''s fried egg, the liquid yolk inside immediately flowed out, and the old man replied softly. "I''m going to see two old friends today." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 111: The Wolf and Dog Chapter 111: The Wolf and Dog Dumbledore left the wagon a little after seven o''clock. He left the wagon alone, not in his wizard''s robes but in a long trench coat, and then used an Apparition to arrive at an ordinary Muggle town next to London. He was like an old man who got up early in the morning and strolled aimlessly along the street, walking from one end of the town to the park in the centre. The scenery here is very good, there are also a lot of morning young people, as well as small children standing on the side of the road waiting for the arrival of the school bus to school, he did not slow down along the roadside until he came to a park bench ahead. An old man was sitting on the bench, he looked much thinner than Dumbledore, with a short beard on his face, wearing a long trench coat with a standing cor and a much colder facial expression, and just rxed on the bench with his eyes closed. "You actually came earlier than me." Dumbledore''s words visibly carried some surprise, he looked like he was familiar with the old man, and sat down on the other side of the bench. The cold old man opened his eyes, did not bother to look at Dumbledore, but directly reached out and pulled out a cloth bag from his pocket and threw it to him. "What you asked for, that old man Gregorovitch has now submitted to me, these are the first batch of goods." Dumbledore asked curiously. "How did you win him over?" The old man sneered: "Vader pointed his wand at his head, and I asked him if he had any further words to offer me? Then he said he''d do anything for me." Dumbledore went silent for a while, and only after a long time did he smile lightly. "This is considered your style of doing things, but you should not be too harsh on him, after all, you have already stolen his things." The old man snorted coldly. "Don''t y nice here, I''ll give you the stuff, but not even a Knut can''t be missing. I know that even without the philosopher''s stone, you have left a lot of gold in that broken wagon of yours." Dumbledore waved his hand in disinterest. "Don''t worry, when today''s events are over, I''ll send the previously agreed-upon price." With that, he stuffed that cloth bag into an empty pocket of his trench coat and then stood up from the bench. Dumbledore looked at the old man who still remained motionless on the bench and smiled as he blinked and said. "I received the goods, are not you leaving?" The old man leaned back on the bench and closed his eyes again, the cold morning breeze blew his cor, but he remained motionless. "You haven''t paid, I''m going to wait here, in this world, no one has ever reneged on my bill!" Dumbledore suddenlyughed, he did not bother to look at the old man sitting on the bench, who could obviously send someone to deliver the things, but he made a special trip here from Bulgaria, and turned around and walked in the direction of London downtown. He didn''t walk fast, he left the area as if he was taking a stroll, and when he got out of the town, he reached out to stop a cab and gave the name of a destination to the driver. At 10:00 a.m., he arrived on time at the deserted street, which seemed abandoned even in the daytime. He seemed to have a good conversation with the cab driver on the way, and after paying for the taxi with muggle bills, he stepped out of the car and entered a red, old, out-of-date phone booth. He didn''t touch the antique phone in the booth but took out his wand. This wand is not his usual elder wand, but just an ordinary apple wood, phoenix feather core wand, he raised the wand to the telephone and lightly knocked. Then the whole telephone booth began to shake! The next second the telephone booth abruptly began to fall, just like the elevator, carrying Dumbledore to the underground. Such a fallsted about a minute or so, and the telephone booth eventually reached its destination, after the door opened, he was in a hall almost half the size of a ser field. The walls on both sides of the main hall were embedded with many gilded fireces, and in front of him, there is a ''The Magic is Might'' stone statue, which reced the Fountain of Magical Brethren that was actually in this location seven years ago. Looking at the familiar scene in front of him, Dumbledore''s eyes showed some nostalgia, he walked out of the telephone booth, a variety of wizards passed by him, and finally, a witch saw his face at this moment. The witch froze in ce, which caused another male wizard, who had been trailing behind her, to bump into her back, but before he could open his mouth toin, he also followed the witch''s gaze and saw Dumbledore walking along the hall with a smile on his face. Gradually, more and more wizards spotted him, and almost everyone in the hall froze in ce as they looked incredulously at the number one dark wizard and wanted criminal in the British magical world walking in so brazenly, and their brains went nk for a while. Dumbledore did not care about the behaviour of the people around him and arrived unhurriedly at the register and security desk in the main hall. The Ministry of Magic employee, who was looking down at the newspaper, sensed someone approaching, and without raising his head, he uttered a formic line. "Wands on the table, sign up on the form over there." Dumbledore did not put down his wand and did not bother to register his signature, but said calmly in a voice that could be heard by all the wizards in the quiet hall. "Could you contact Voldemort and let him know that his Professor hase to visit him?" *** Meanwhile, Azkaban Ind, at the same time when Dumbledore walked into the Ministry of Magic. Sirius took the wand from Lupin''s hand, he had walked out of the prison and walked side by side with Lupin on the main path in the prison. Their faces revealed the overwhelming excitement, and their actions were so obvious in broad daylight that they naturally attracted the attention of the "jailers". Dementors drifted towards them, and the whole main path was crowded with these monsters, too dense to count. "Which one should we start with?" Sirius held his wand up in front of him, he licked his dry lips, with a fierce smile on his face. Lupin remained as steady as always as he and Sirius put their backs to each other and spoke calmly. "Let''s start with Ralf and the others, we have to get him out first." This was how they had been getting along for the past three years, with Lupin inmand and Sirius doing the work. Having identified his target, Sirius couldn''t hide the hideous grin on his face anymore. "Pups!" He waved up his wand. "Expecto Patronum!" Silver light surrounded him as if a ring ofs surrounded a star. Lupin likewise used this advanced protection spell together with him. "Expecto Patronum!" The light suddenly became incredibly blinding! The Dementors that rushed at the front began to let out silent howls and desperately retreated backwards, and right under this dazzling silver light. Wolves and Dogs coalesced together as they ran and rushed towards the group of prey that belonged to them! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 112: Question Chapter 112: Question Mudblood students were scheduled to clean the Owlery on Thursday morning. Even after going to a club gathering hosted by Barty Jr, Dolohov did not miss out on his work the following day. He rushed back to the castle early in the morning to open the underground dormitory door, let the Mudblood students out for their first ss of the morning, and then arranged for them to clean the Owlery after ss. This is where the owls owned by pureblood and half-blood students are housed by the school, which can smell worse than thevatory and is the hardest ce to clean. Jon mentally measured the time, Dumbledore gave him a time range from 11:00 to 1:00 p.m., but he needs to take the students out before 11:30. If it is dragged until after 11:30, it will be lunchtime, when most students and professors will head to the great hall, and the more people there are, the more difficult it will be. The best time period is between 11:00 and 11:30 when the pureblood and half-blood students are not yet out of ss and there are not many professors in the hallway, so Jon can quickly bring these first and second-year kids to the entrance of the secret passage on the third floor as long as he moves quickly. The distance from the ground floor to the third floor didn''t require much time, but the width of the one-eyed hunchbacked witch statue is limited to one person at a time, and there are close to twenty students in the first and second years, including Jon. And even if they are really fast enough to send everyone into the secret passage, it is at least will take half an hour to go down from the entrance to the exit of Hogsmeade, during which time those who discovered the problem will definitely do something, and will find a way to block the area around Hogwarts Castle, including the Hogsmeade vige. That time even if Dumbledore sent the Order of the Phoenix men, a vicious battle is bound to follow. In that kind of scenario, there is no way to guarantee that there will be no casualties, it may be the members of the Order of the Phoenix, or maybe the children who were rescued. But Jon could not think of any other better way, as he said to Aberforthst night, they can only try their best. Jon let Hermione inform the first and second years about itst night because Hermione organized the gatherings this year, and her reputation among this crowd is very high, so these children will obviously be willing to listen to her words. They arrived at the Owlery at 9:30 am and cleaned up at 10:50 am, which is not far off from the time Jon had predicted at the beginning. The seniors who watched over them, Bitter and Kate, took them back to the castle, and Jon and Hermione stayed at the end of the student line. Before entering the castle''s main block, he had quietly put the ne with the ring around his neck, his right hand retracted into the sleeve of his robes, and the hand hidden inside held the end of his chestnut wand. "Did you tell the rest of the group what we''re going to doter?" Hermione''s lips turned a little pale, and she looked preupied for a couple of seconds before responding to Jon''s question. "Well yeah." Jon''s attention was focused on Dolohov, who was standing at the castle entrance, waiting impatiently for the students to walk in, so he didn''t notice that something is wrong with Hermione at this moment, he took a deep breath and said in a quiet voice. "Pay attention to my movements, when I take my wand out, you immediately take these students to the location I gave on the third floor and run over, I''ll be behind, remember you must be fast, no matter who you meet on the way, don''t stop!" Hermione did not give him a response, and Jon did not check whether Hermione was nodding or not, because at this time they had entered the entrance hall of the castle. Just at the end of the line when Jon brushed past Dolohov, he watched the castle caretaker turn around, reaching for the door to close it again, the hand hidden in the sleeve was about to grip the wand and cast a spell as fast as possible. A slender, pale and trembling hand suddenly grabbed hold of the sleeve of his arm! Jon''s eyes widened as he turned his head to look at Hermione, whose face was bloodless, but her gaze was never more determined and resolute. "This is the best solution I thought of. Please. Make sure you get every one of them out of here unharmed." She said these words to Jon in the most humble and pleading voice that only the two of them could hear. Then she loosened her grip on Jon''s arm that prevented him from casting the spell and left the line of mudblood students without a second thought, walking in the direction of Dolohov. Jon stopped moving and stared at her in shock. The girl whose hair was scattered behind her, thin and slim, weak and inconspicuous like a young leaf just sprouting from a small tree in spring, just made her voice loud and clear. "Mr Dolohov, can you answer a few questions for me?" Everyone in the entrance hall heard her voice, and every one of the mudblood students who walked in front, except for those senior students with numb expressions, looked at Hermione who suddenly left the group and stood in front of the middle-aged wizard who was in name the castle caretaker but actually the jailer. Dolohov, who had just closed the castle door behind him, also heard her voice, and he turned around with a gloomy face to look at the little mudblood who had obviously not followed the rules and had broken away from the group directly without any request. However, before he could utter a word of reprimand, Hermione had pursed her lips and asked the "treacherous" question. "Everyone is equal, this is the truth that even the muggles you despise the most and think that they are no different from animals can see, why do wizards think that people should be divided into three, six and nine sses?" All the students who had not yet stepped out of the entrance hall were frozen, even Dolohov stood stunned. "Why should a human being in the magical world be assigned his ce in society at birth? Why is it necessary to define a person''s life by that senseless bloodline?" Dolohov finally reacted when she asked the second question, his face flushed red, and he became furious, not bothering to answer Hermione''s question, nor did he instantly attack, but instead he yelled at the mudblood students who were still frozen in ce and looking at Hermione in shock. "Get back to the cer! Immediately! Immediately! Bitter, Kate! Tell them all to stay in their dorm rooms! Keep an eye on them! Today''s lunch is cancelled! No one is allowed toe out without my orders!" The two heads panicked and began to scold the dazed students, rushing them to the dormitory, and by this time Dolohov had grabbed the cor of Hermione, dragging the thin girl along the floor and pulling out the chains he carried to bind her hands! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 113: No One will Stay Here Chapter 113: No One will Stay Here Jon watched Hermione as he clenched the wand in his hand tightly under his sleeve several times, but when he saw how that girl kept shaking her head while her hands were bound while facing him, he loosened his hand again. He could understand what Hermione is doing now, and this idea had urred to him before. Let a mudblood student make a mistake at this time, make an extremely serious mistake and get Dolohov involved, whether it is a whipping or other more serious punishment, he would have to be personally present, and no one would pay attention to the other mudblood students during that time. But one of them must be a victim. The only person who knows Jon''s identity and the whole n is Hermione, and only Hermione can be this victim. The girl who is smarter than other people of her age should have thought of this, and she knows that if she takes the initiative to say it, there is a high probability that Jon will not agree. However, if she takes matters into her own hands at this critical time, and then sacrifices herself alone, it would ensure that Jon can be safe and rescue everyone else without fail. After this, when the mudblood student''s escape is known, she will absolutely die! "What are you looking at! Hurry up and go!" Bitter kicked Jon, who was still dazed in ce, and Jonpletely loosened the hand holding his wand in his sleeve, he took a deep breath and did not speak, and expressionlessly followed therge group of Mudblood students in front of him. His mind is clearer than ever today. He knew that if he suddenly stormed out at this time, it would be the most unwise behaviour, then not only Hermione, who was already in the hands of Dolohov, would certainly be in danger, he could not guarantee that all the students would be rescued. But Jon also knows exactly what he should do. The girl who had never even touched a wand, never learned a real spell, had done enough of what she could do and didn''t need to do. So the rest, it''s up to him ... The mudbloods were sent back to their dormitories, and except the two heads, no one else was allowed to leave their dormitories without receiving Dolohov''s orders. And after returning to the dormitory, Jon took out the invisibility cloak and a pocket watch that Aberforth had prepared for him. The time is now 11 o''clock, 30 minutes before the other pureblood and half-blood students leave their sses, he must act fast! Putting on the invisibility cloak, he quietly walked out of his dorm room, the corridor was empty, and only two heads were standing in front of the iron door, they were still talking about the scene that just happened in the entrance hall. "Granger is dead, Mr. Dolohov will whip her to death." "I''ve always felt she was very disloyal, I''ve been thinking about reporting to Mr Dolohov that she might not be thinking right, little did I know she''d actually blow herself up." "I think she might be crazy, actually what''s wrong with life now? As long as we listen well to the purebloods, aren''t we livingfortably?" They did not notice that there was a person behind them without a sound, and Jon took out his wand while hiding under the cloak of invisibility, his hand was more steady than at any other time, and the sound of his incantation was fainter than any other time. "Stupefy." The next second, Bitter''s entire body fell straight to the ground, and just as Kate froze in confusion, Jon''s second stunning spell hit her. The two heads, both fell unconscious to the ground, but Jon''s movements did not stop in the slightest, he removed the invisibility cloak he was wearing and knocked on the door of Hanton''s room. It took a full four or five seconds for Hanton to open the door with a panicked look on his face, and Jon looked at him without saying any nonsense. "Come out, don''t talk,e with me." Hanton obviously wanted to say something, but he finally obeyed Jon''s words, keeping his mouth dead shut, after which Jon knocked on the doors of two more second-year students, calling them out as well, and cloaked them under the invisibility cloak. This is already the maximum number of people the cloak can cover, Jon led them out of the underground dormitory, and when they reached the ground floor, every one of them could see Dolohov in front of the entrance hall, tying the hands of Hermione with chains hanging high. It was almost time for lunch, and the great hall is just next to the entrance hall, when every student and professor came out to eat, they would be able to see Hermione hanging there. He is not only punishing her but also humiliating her! Seeing this scene Hanton and the other two second-year students all stopped in their tracks until Jon pushed them forward a little before they walked up the stairs. Only after bringing them to the third floor and behind the statue of the one-eyed hunchbacked witch did Jon pull off the invisibility cloak again. He used his wand to open the entrance to the secret passage, and then urged Hanton and the others in an urgent tone. "You guys go in first, but don''t rush down, wait until I bring the others before you slide down." Just as he finished speaking and was about to turn around to leave, Hanton suddenly pulled his arm. The boy looked timidly at "Randy Smith" who behavedpletely differently from the past, and he looked at Jon with a pleading gaze. "Hermione will be fine, right?" The other two second-year students also looked at him with the same pleading eyes, they could not do anything now but plead with such an inappropriate request to a person they are not qualified to ask. Jon re-cloaked himself in the cloak of invisibility, he took off Hanton''s arm and left after simply saying the following sentence. "Nothing will happen to anyone." He took three students inside the third-floor secret passage on each trip after that. Hermione lied, she did not tell these students in advance that they will escape at noon today, but only told them that no matter what happens, listen to "Randy Smith". She has a high reputation among these students, especially after what happened today. Jon''s next move was very smooth, Dolohov had hung Hermione in front of the entrance hall, and then he went back to his office to get the whip, andter when all the students woulde to eat, he would punish this ungrateful little mudblood in front of arge crowd. But no one noticed that in the underground dormitory, the first and second-graders had all disappeared. Three minutes before the students would leave ss for lunch, Jon sent thest two first-years into the secret passage. He asked Hanton to lead these children to walk ahead, telling him to go all the way to the exit, where there will be professors from another Hogwarts waiting for them, and help him tell those professors to leave immediately after receiving them, without waiting for him. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 114: Good Fortune doesnt come from nothing Chapter 114: Good Fortune doesn''te from nothing Hanton looked at Jon incredulously from the secret passage. "You''re going to stay with Hermione?" "Trust me, no one is going to stay behind today." Jon stared into Hanton''s eyes, "Remember, take these kids and don''t stop, keep going, go to the end where there is a p door, open that p door, and then you don''t have to do anything, someone will help you get everything done!" After he finished thest sentence, he knocked on the statue with his wand, and the next moment the entrance to the secret passage waspletely closed. And just as Jon re-cloaked the invisibility cloak on his body and walked down from the third floor to the ground floor, those pureblood and half-blood students also finished their sses. The originally quiet corridor became lively, and the teenagers all rushed out of the ssroom and ran downstairs gleefully. No matter what the asion, eating is always the most delightful. However, just as they wereughing and talking in groups and walking down the ground floor, all of them saw a girl hanging in front of the entrance hall. Her hands were tied, her feet were hanging in the air, her body was swaying helplessly in mid-air, her mouth was sealed with a spell by Dolohov, and she could not make any sound. All the students who saw her froze, but soon these pureblood and half-blood students reacted. Look at the linen robe Hermione is wearing, they all became aware of her identity. Although these mudblood students will rarely run into them, they are still living in this castle, so they have seen a few of these "alternative" students, plus with what happenedst semester, they also know that if these students make a mistake, what kind of punishment they will receive. The purebloods were the first to react, they looked at the girl who had been hung up for public disy,menting that a mudblood is a mudblood, while walking proudly into the great hall. Some of the half-blood students, like those people, whispered andughed, said taunting things, and passed by the girl. Most of the younger half-bloods kept their heads down, couldn''t bear to look at the girl''s miserable state, and left in a hurry. Among them a tall, handsome boy frowned, as if he thought it is terrible to hang such a small child, and pulled out his wand to save her, but was dragged into the great hall by the students around him, telling him not to meddle. All these people''s behaviour fell in Hermione''s eyes. She did not cry, nor shed tears, at this point, she instead calmed down and looked at the people below while hanging and thinking, after today her ssmates who had been rescued can certainly live such a life. No need to do dirty work every day, no need to go through the very education, and no need to experience such a degrading gaze. They will bask in the sunshine and be free human beings, with their own belongings, knowledge and opinions. This "prison" can no longer be a cage to bind them, just like the colourful birds showing their beauty under the blue sky and white clouds they will be free. As for her? Good fortune doesn''te from anything, someone has to be sacrificed, no? Since she firmly believes that no one in this world is nobler than anyone else, and no one is more special than anyone else, why can''t this sacrifice be her? Hermione smiled, her smile is not bitter, nor stiff, but a smile from the heart. Some students who passed by saw the smile on her face, and they muttered in whispers whether this mudblood had gone insane. Dolohov came down with the whip, he looked at Hermione with a carnal grin, in fact, at the beginning when he hung this mudblood, he had already determined that she has gone crazy. But in the wizarding world, insanity can be cured most easily. He already decided to wait until after lunch, then he will go to the Ministry of Magic, and bring over the employee who is proficient in Memory Charm, to change the memory of this lunatic. No matter how crazy a person is, in front of absolute magic she will also be submissive, and after today, she will be the most obedient ve. Dolohov brought out a stool from the great hall, then conjured up a table in front of himself and started his lunch right in the entrance hall. He was not anxious to whip this girl immediately, an hour ago, the two administrators of this castle, Snape and Barty Jr. both left in a hurry, for the time being, it is unknown what is happening outside, but since these two people left, he can be a little more unrestrained. The students are all eating, so he is going to wait until the end of lunch to show his skills and majesty in front of the rest of the students in the school! Jon, cloaked in the cloak of invisibility, is standing in a corner less than five meters from Dolohov. He is holding a Marauder''s Map in his hand, watching the movement of Hanton and the others who are escaping from the castle. He wants to pinpoint a good timing to make a surprise attack, waiting for these kids to leave the school boundary. In this way, it will not interfere with the escape progress on their side, and he also will be able to rescue Hermione using the surprise brought by the muggle students leaving the school boundaries. As he had said to Hanton at the beginning, Jon had never wanted to leave anyone in the castle as he had originally intended. He hated to sacrifice someone for the sake of aplishing certain purposes, and perhaps some things are necessary and righteous for the sake of the greater good, but he just felt disgusted to sacrifice Hermione for the sake of aplishing this task. This disgust does not need a reason, and to remove this disgust he didn''t also need a reason. Looking at the map as Hanton and the others approached the edge of the map, he estimated that after three minutes at most, they would bepletely out of Hogwarts'' boundaries, and Jon also put away the Marauder''s Map. He pulled out Fawkes'' feather from his pocket, held his wand in his other hand, and stared at the back of Dolohov who was slowly enjoying his steak, as he silently adjusted his condition. It is easy to solve Dolohov who is defenceless, but he is not the only faculty member at the entrance of the great hall today. People wereing and going in all directions, students were taking their meals back to their dorm rooms, and there are also several professors who are standing in front of the stairway and chatting, but Jon himself didn''t just have this feather and wand in his hand, he also gained a certain level of confidence that he normally doesn''t have from this castle. Saving a group of people might be a hassle, but if it''s just one person, Jon doesn''t think he won''t be able to do it. A silent count reached in his mind, and just at this moment, a sharp whistling sound rang out throughout Hogwarts castle! It is an rm signal to indicate that a mudblood student has escaped from the school. Dolohov went pale, he panicked and stood up from the seat, and just as he stood up, Jon had already extended the hand holding his wand out of the invisibility cloak. "Petrificus Totalus!" ---------- [Author:] Don''t scold me, don''t scold me, I didn''t intend to end it on a cliff, I just happened to write this right before the chapter update time, so I was forced to post it first. I will continue to write, and try to update a chapter tomorrow morning, and the remaining two chapters are estimated to be updated a littleter tomorrow, after all, I got to go to work on Monday. I also believe that Hermione''s inner monologue at the end of the chapter I wrote is quite good (smug face). I''m sure I can''t do such a noble feat personally, but I believe and respect that there are definitely people in this world who are that noble, they may not be saints, but just like the line in Shawshank Redemption, ''Strong people stand up for themselves, but stronger people stand up for others.'', this kind of nobleness is great, isn''t it? ---- #MrOtter and #Gabriel Nevhi, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 115: Another Hogwarts Professor Never Lies Chapter 115: Another Hogwarts Professor Never Lies At the end of the secret passage from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade, Hanton stopped in front of the p door with the escaped first and second years. "We, should we just leave Hermione behind like this." Ariel suddenly whispered. Everyone stopped in their tracks at once, and even the first-year students who had been feeling some hazy excitement and thrill at their impending freedom, all lowered their heads with downcast expressions. They are not very old, but they are not naive children who do not know and understand anything, they know what kind of price they have to pay to escape from the old castle called the school, which is in fact a prison. When Jon brought them out of the underground dormitory, everyone saw Hermione hanging up in the entrance hall, and no one who saw that scene would be calm and unmoved inside. But they are the object of rescue, even if their heart is filled with resentment and sadness, they have no way to give any assistance. Seeing the sullenness of the people around, Hanton was a little angry. "Is that how you all feel? Not even capable of helping ourselves, but instead we are dragging others down with us, so you feel sorry for and me yourselves? My thoughts, however, are simple! If Randy and Hermione can still escape from there alive, then I will spend the rest of my life trying to thank them, but if something bad does happen to them, I won''t let them regret this decision of rescuing ME from this ce!" "They''re trying to get us to look forward! Thankfulness is not supposed to be spent on remorse for not being able to help them and ourselves! We are supposed to remember today''s powerlessness and then try not to be in the same situation as today in the future, instead of stopping at the door they have created for us!" His words let some of the first-year students who had begun to sob wipe away the tears that had yet to leave their eyes, these words may not be right or wrong, but it is certainly useful in helping everyone else to step out of the sad mood, not to be overwhelmed by emotion, cool their hot heads that urged them with stupid thoughts of going back to die with Hermione and Randy. Hanton walked in front of everyone as he spoke, and then pushed open the p door as other eyes watched! Soft light shone in from behind the door, and there were two tall, slender figures standing there, an elderly witch with a stern gaze but an exceptionally gentle expression, and a middle-aged man with dark skin, golden earrings, and a smile on his face. Together they held out their hands to the child behind the p door, who was still looking at them in a daze. *** Dolohov waspletely defenceless. He never thought he would be struck by a spell from behind, this Hogwarts castle has been ruled by Voldemort for as long as seven years, these seven years although there are still resistance forces roaming outside, but none of them can infiltrate this school. Coupled with the panic brought to him by the rm, he simply did not have any time to react. The tall body copsed down right there, the full-body bind curse restricted his body, but it didn''t make him lose his vision, and as he fell backwards, he saw the soles of a pair of worn-out shoes with some bird droppings still left on them gradually erge and step on his face the next moment! Jon did it on purpose. In the first instance he used the full-body bind curse, he also crushed the feather in his left hand together. A golden-red me burned up in his hand, but he did not feel a semnce of burning, instead, there is a different kind of warmth emanating from the me. Jon loosened his grip, but the red fire remained in the air, Fawkes did not immediately appear, when Dumbledore handed him the feather, he specifically warned him, the Anti-Apparition Charms inside Hogwarts Castle were strengthened by Voldemort, especially against the Phoenix''s unique Apparition. This feather is equivalent to providing Fawkes with a coordinate point, but it will take a short time to break through the Anti-Apparition Charms in the castle to get here now! Jon did not think it would be a terrible thing to stay here for a little while, he came to the castle under a false name, and he could not just leave with nothing left behind. This is not in line with his soul''s fundamental core, not returning a gift for their "hospitality" to him is not in line with his character! This sudden attack not only did not let Dolohov react, causing him directly fell to the ground, but the surrounding pureblood and half-blood students who just came out of the great hall, as well as the three Professors of the Astronomy, Divination and Care of Magical Creatures sses at the end of the staircase, who were surprised by the rm sound of mudbloods escaping from the school, were all also froze! During the time they were in a daze, Jon, who was stepping on Dolohov''s face, did not wave his wand; he simply recited the incantation that was too familiar to fail. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The levitation charm that everyone in this castle is exceptionally familiar with, the first magic spell that non-mudblood students started to learn officially in the school, just made Jon''s body fly lightly into the sky! The magic-filled second gem gave Jon a very strong boost to this spell, allowing him to stay in the sky longer, and be more flexible and faster! But the colour of the original blood-red gem also faded a lot the moment he used the levitation charm, turning from blood-red to bright pink. The magic stored in it does not belong to Jon, and every time he uses the magic on it to strengthen his spell casting, it will cause it to deplete, not like the magic in a wizard''s body, no matter how many magic spells are used, there will be no half change. But Jon did not feel distressed to use it, the magic on the ring can only be used for the spell on the ring, and now he can only use the magic power on two spells. Hermione, who was hanging in mid-air, also looked at Jon in disbelief. She didn''t cry when she was hung up by Dolohov, she didn''t cry when she was ridiculed by countless people around her, and she didn''t cry when she thought of her miserable fate afterwards without being able to see any hope of survival. But when she saw Jon fly up to her, her eyes could not help but moisten up. "Professor ... why did youe back ..." Jon had already aimed his wand at the shackles that locked her hands and easily unlocked them with one shot of the unlocking charm. "I told you, the professor at the other Hogwarts never lies." He carried Hermione, the little girl physically frighteningly light. There was no deafening speech, no righteous rhetoric, he just gently said, like how he had tricked this little girl that night, telling a truth with a lie. "I just promised Hanton, that no one will stay behind today!" Just the moment he saved Hermione from the shackles, three incantations rang out together. "Expelliarmus!" "Stupefy!" "Petrificus Totalus!" The three professors who were standing at the stairway made their shot! But they did not use the Killing curse directly in the first instance, after all, they still have no idea about the unexpected situations happening today, and they still have the home-ground advantage, so they tried not to kill if they could capture them alive. However, Jon did not make any movements, he did not even have any intention to raise his wand in his hand. In full view of all the students who were still dazed and did not react, he once again recited an ordinary magic incantation. "Finite Incantatem!" The original bright pink gemstone quickly faded and changed back to the exact same light blue colour as the first one. And just at the same time, a surge of energy abruptly spread that diffused the magic in the spells! *** [Author:] This is not a cliff chapter, it is aplete chapter, there are two more chapters to be posted in the evening, it''s time to check out. [ TL; this is thest update for the day] ---- #MrOtter and #Gabriel Nevhi, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 116: Three Battlefields Chapter 116: Three Battlefields In the hall of the Ministry of Magic, the men and women wizards who hade to deal with their business were leaving quickly. No one dares to stay here, even if the old man sitting in the chair in the centre of the hall has never killed anyone, but with his reputation as a dark wizard and a wanted criminal, no one dares to gather around him to spectate. The chair beneath Dumbledore is certainly not something that was handed to him, even if some of these people at the venue still have a good impression of him in their hearts, but no one has the guts to express even a little closeness to him when so many people are present. The male wizard who is responsible for registering the visitors'' wands and names is bound to the floor, face to the ground, craning his neck, ying dead while burying his whole head in the ground and acting like an ostrich. That chair was originally his. The Auror office reacted quickly, they assembled their teams quickly through the firece at the entrance of the hall, Lucius Malfoy personally led the whole force, when he saw the old man sitting peacefully in the middle of the hall as if he wasfortably spending time in his own living room, his face turned dark as if it had been smeared with ashes. Hemanded the Auror division to split into two groups, each respectively guarding the exit and entrance to the hall, enclosing Dumbledore in the centre. Every one of them took out their wands while awaiting orders. Hundreds of wands were aimed at the old man in the centre, but on contrary to the norm, the majority of these people''s hands who were holding their wands were trembling lightly with uneasiness and sweat forming on their foreheads, as if it was not one man surrounded by hundreds of people, but rather hundreds of people surrounded by one man. "Albus Dumbledore." Lucius looked grim as he uttered the name of the old man who is sitting on the chair, to which Dumbledore smiled and waved at him. "Ha, it''s been a long time, Lucius, my friend. I have previouslymended you for your promising potential, and as you can see, my eye is still urate, you have now be the head of all Aurors." Lucius stared into Dumbledore''s eyes, he did not smile but asked with an iparable gloomy gaze. "What are you doing here?" "What do you think?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, "Of course, I came to meet my greatest student, why? He has no intention of meeting me in person?" He smiled, just like the old man in the neighbourhood chatting about family matters, holding the wand in his hand with a casual twirl. This kind of move was what caused the heartbeat of the vast majority of the Aurors who aimed their wands at him to slow down by half a beat as they subconsciously gulped. Lucius'' face became more and more awful. The current situation was not that they had surrounded Dumbledore, but Dumbledore had arrived in front of the Ministry of Magic and held them captive! Before the Hogwarts battle seven years ago, he actually never felt that this outwardly harmless-looking old man could pose any kind of threat, despite his fame and reputation, Lucius, after all, did not experience his peak period, so such belittling is considered normal. But after participating in that Great Battle, especially since Lucius was so close to the battlefield near the Astronomy Tower, and nearly watched the entire battle between two of the most powerful wizards in the magical world, he clearly recognized from the bottom of his heart the horror of Dumbledore. Even if this old man had lost in the end, it only proved that the one who won is even more terrifying, not that it shows Dumbledore''s weakness. Now if they really started to fight, the entire 10 floors of the Ministry of Magic located underground will be destroyed, for the most part, Dumbledore might not be able to kill them all, but he could cripple the Ministry of Magic and then leave in peace. He is making use of the Ministry of Magic to force Voldemort to meet him! It is because he figured out this point very clearly, Lucius at this moment is beyond nervous and apprehensive, he is not sure what is happening outside, which requires Dumbledore to personally appear at the Ministry of Magic, and moreover, he does not know whether the Ministry of Magic and the people in the Ministry of Magic are worth the weight in Voldemort''s heart right now. Just as beads of sweat slid down from Lucius'' forehead, a voice that made him both terrified and delighted sounded abruptly from behind him. "It''s been a long time, Professor Dumbledore." A male wizard with an upright posture, angr features and a handsome and extraordinary appearance walked out from behind Aurors. No one dared to block his way, and every Auror standing here bowed to him with greater fear and sincerity, lowering their heads and shouting in unison. "Sir!" Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, and crossed his fingers together on his knees, the smile on his face remained exactly the same, as he looked at the most powerful man in the wizarding world today, who waved his hand, and someone brought him a chair, then all the Aurors present, including Lucius, retreated as far as they could and left the hall, leaving only Dumbledore and Voldemort, a pair of Professor and student. "Hogwarts, Azkaban and the Ministry of Magic, you still know me well as before, and know that the only ce I actually would not let go the most is here." Voldemort looked calmly into Dumbledore''s eyes, "but I''m still curious, how did you manage to insert your people into those other two ces?" *** Sirius and Lupin each carried a man on their backs. They were followed by more than thirty ragged, skinny Azkaban prisoners! At this moment they had rushed to the gate of this prison, and more than 80% of the dementors on the whole ind had all gathered there. The silver glow streamed between them, and the overflowing streams of light illuminated the entire castle which was filled with grey mist. But the number of Dementors gathered in front of the prison gate is too much, they are nearly endless, the Dementors whose bodies are melted by the silver light close to the escaping prisoners retreat back, while the Dementors who are behind them advanced forward. Deadly despair and spirited hope confronted each other, and the end result is that the side of the escaped prisoner is getting sluggish. Sirius gritted his teeth as he held the already unconscious wizard behind him from falling off his back with one hand and raised his wand with the other. "Onest time!" Lupin, too, contrary to his usual gentleness and calmness, shouted and raised his wand high above his head as silver light streamed over them! Every prisoner raised their wands as high as they could with him, and for a moment, the dazzling light shone just as brightly as the zing sun shining everywhere! "ex-PEK-toh pa-TRO-num!!!" Numerous incantations of the Patronus charm sounded together, those lights coalescing, all kinds of animals stepping lightly in mid-air, leaving behind brilliant silver flying kes, swooping down towards those dementors in front of the gate! Wolves, dogs, cows, chickens, foxes, honey badgers, goats. More than thirty Patronus together rushed out to make a huge gap for them! The scent of freedom hit them, and outside the prison, Moody with dozens of other Order of the Phoenix members riding on flying brooms tackled the Death Eaters stationed on the ind, while throwing the long-prepared flying brooms at the feet of the group of prisoners! ---- #MrOtter and #Gabriel Nevhi, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 117: Being a slave is not terrible Chapter 117: Being a ve is not terrible The magic power stored in the ring''s gemstone has granted an unprecedented enhancement to Jon''s general counter-spell. When an individual''s general counter-spell reaches a certain level of strength, it can produce a qualitative effect that can cancel more than ny-nine percent of spells in the magical world, except for the three unforgivable curses, it can even extinguish a fiendfyre! And at this moment, Jon''s general counter-spell has already reached that level. And such a level of magic overflowed from his body to the outside, and all three spells cast by the professors, without any exception, were cancelled when they approached less than a meter in front of him! The three professors'' faces turned gloomy, while more and more students who had heard themotion in the great hall during lunch flocked out of the hall, including some other Professors and faculty members. The Carrow siblings, Quirrell, and Lestrange all saw Jon floating in mid-air, and hundreds of students around them all looked at the scene nkly. "The bloodline superiority?" There was a sneer in Jon''s voice, as he looked down at these purebloods and half-bloods below, disying the same type of look and tone he had seen for close to a full year in this castle, in the same posture they had always held themselves in. "Come on, your theories are truly ridiculous, I''m just a worthless mudblood that you guys were all talking about, but now I''m calling all of you trash, do any of you have the ability to refute me?" In front of him, the red fire grew bigger and bigger, and gradually, it took the shape of a bird. These mocking words made almost all the pureblood students'' faces red, they never thought that one day the word "trash" would be used against them from the mouth of a mudblood. And Alecto Carrow, the younger of the Carrow siblings, couldn''t stand the humiliation, and with her thick arm, she raised her wand and recited the incantation of Unforgivable Curse in a sharp voice! "Avada Kedavra!" A bright green light shed in front of the entrance hall, and some timid schoolgirls shrieked, but Jon''s figure shifted slightly to one side, and the curse went past him, hitting the stone wall behind him. "Raging, ipetent, stupid swine?" Jon cocked his head and looked at Alecto Carrow. "Does the bloodline''s superiority mean that purebloods all have big appetites than the rest of us and can waste more food to get fat? If so, I suggest you aim the tip of your wand at yourself when using the killing curse, what''s the point of living besides being a shame?" "Kill him!!!" Amycus Carrow could not stand to see his sister humiliated, he yelled, barking orders at all the professors present. And in the case of Snape and Barty Jr. are not in the castle, in addition to the high status but basically carefree half-blood Head Professor Greengrass, the Carrow siblings have the highest status in the castle. The other professors, including the school healer Lestrange and the librarian Quirrell; all of them raised their wands at Jon. "Avada Kedavra!" These people werepletely unscrupulous about casting the Unforgivable Curse, they were originally dark wizards or even Death Eaters, and had long been indifferent to human life, not to mention a mudblood who could not be called a human being in their eyes. But Jon was dexterous in mid-air like a hummingbird, he had consumed nearly half of the magic power in the second gem to use the levitation charm on himself, which made him haveplete control over his own body. The gravitational force and the force field pulling him downward almost seemed to be his own limbs, allowing him to control his own body as he wished! The general counter-spell cancelled normal magic spells, killing curse can bepletely dodged, Jon at this time is equivalent to having a full point defence, even if he carried Hermione, even if most of the Professors and some students in this castle attacked him together, not even a spell touched his coat due to his speed and dexterity. His biggest w now is that there are no effective means to counterattack, maybe he''s not able to attack them effectively, but it is easy to torture them in a humiliating way. The very next second after dodging all the killing curses, Jon suddenly dashed in front of Amycus Carrow. The general counter-spell that emanated from his body easily erased the infamous male wizard''s shield charm, and even at such a close distance Jon had no time to raise his wand and recite to cast the spell, but he had no intention of casting the spell from the very beginning either. Instead, he raised his palm high, swung it in a half circle, and the next moment, pped Amycus hard on the face! "p!" Jon in the end is still only 12 years old, even though he used his full strength, he was unable to p Amycus off, but with the force borrowed from the fast movement in mid-air, he still pped him hard enough to stagger and almost fell to the ground. Humiliation! Immense humiliation! Amycus''s half of his face is red and swollen, he was furious that he wanted to reach out to choke Jon to death, but he could not even touch half of his clothes, as he once again went back up into mid-air. Hermione honestly tightly sprawled on Jon''s back, she was still immersed in the feelings of a new lease of life, but the few snide remarks and the p that Jon had just made, let her who originally thought that under this young appearance, he''s in fact an adult, and the image of a mature and stable middle-aged professor she had of him in her heart bes shaky. She felt that this professor is not as serious and dignified as she pictured? "See?" Jon didn''t care what Hermione was thinking, his voice echoed throughout the entire entrance hall, "The so-called purebloods are only noble because they can use evil Unforgivable Curses to determine the life and death of others, and when they''re not in a position to do so, they behave as ridiculously as snotty buggers." "This status is not something they rightfully earned, this is them whitewashing their very, disguising their privilege, and adding a crowning justification for their oppression!" The half-blood students hiding at the far back of the great hall, in the stairway, on one side of the corridor all heard Jon''s words, and they stared in stupefaction at the boy who looked down on all the people, and many of them had seen him doing ve-like work in themonvatory the other day. A clear bird''s cry sounded in the entrance hall. Fawkes'' bright red figure finally emerged, and it swept an emotionless nce at the students and professors below with those golden pupils, then swung its wings andnded on Jon''s shoulders. The thunderous voices of the Carrow siblings exploded as countless spells flew towards him. But no matter how they roared, there is no way to suppress thest words left by Jon as he and Hermione went along with Fawkes as they turned into a golden red ray of light, breaking through the huge cage and returning to a wider world of freedom. "Being a ve, although it is unfortunate, is not terrible, because if you know how to struggle, there is still a hope of breaking free after all; but if you feel the pleasure, awe, and intoxication from the life of a ve, then you are doomed to be a ve for all eternity!" ---- [Author:] I remember seeing these words in a school book, I don''t know if it''s still around, but it was very touching. Also, I really do not want to break the chapter and create a cliff, but the climax of the plot is about 20,000 words, I simply can''t write it all in one day, I really have tried my best to write more, and the early update of the chapter is to prove that I really don''t want to break the chapter in a cliff; it''s just it takes time to write it, as a result, more people cursing me, don''t scold me, I am going to be cursed silly, which author doesn''t want to write the climax directly, but it really can''t be helped () I''m not sure how to do it. --- #MrOtter and #Gabriel Nevhi, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 118: Reason Chapter 118: Reason Inside the main hall of the Ministry of Magic, which is half a ser field in size. Voldemort and Dumbledore were sitting five meters apart, facing each other. These two people, who should be most hostile to each other within the British wizardingmunity at present, did not fight as soon as they met, but instead looked as calm and peaceful as if they were really just a student and professor who had not seen each other for a long time and this meeting is just meant to catch up. "So who did you let infiltrate Hogwarts castle without triggering any kind of warning?" Voldemort stared into Dumbledore''s eyes, his face showed hardly any anger, instead, it seemed as if he was genuinely asking this question due to curiosity. "Those Age Detection enchantments were set by me personally, it would take an extremely high level of Confundus Charm to fool it, who else but yourself is capable of such a feat?" Dumbledore still had that same smile on his face, and he spoke softly. "You sometimes believe in yourself a little too much, Tom, believe in your own magic, and even more in your own judgment." When Dumbledore addressed him with that name, Voldemort subconsciously narrowed his eyes, he obviously disliked hearing that name, much less the family name behind it. "Self-confidence is never a bad thing, that''s what you taught me back then, Professor Dumbledore." "But self-confidence is not the same as arrogance, but now I am no longer your professor, if you can''t understand some things, it is beneficial to me, is not it?" The expression on Voldemort''s face gradually darkened, his snake-like eyes focused as if he was staring at prey. "And you, Dumbledore, are you that confident that the person who infiltrated the castle can save that bunch of mudbloods? And also have so much confidence in those bedbugs in Azkaban that they could escape?" "Your reign is actually aplete mess, Tom." Dumbledore said casually as if he did not see Voldemort''s menacing gaze, "you should have felt the power of violence can only get short-lived obedience, to make most people really support you, you need to let them see the benefits. But your awakening time is still a bit short in the end, if you had operated for a longer period of time, perhaps I would not have had such confidence." Voldemort snickered. "Now why aren''t you mentioning your ridiculous love?" Dumbledore did not fume at his mockery but had a calm face. "[For the Greater Good], I deserve part of the credit foring up with that phrase, I had seen much before you did, what the so-called human nature really is. But magic is supposed to be the existence that allows the individual to transcend the group, and interest can draw the group together, but love - it can make the individual mighty." "So what?" Voldemort asked with cold eyes and a high tone, his voice echoing in the empty main hall, "You have always said that I could never master the most powerful magic, if I didn''t know anything about love. But now, who is the loser? And who is the victor!" Dumbledore quietly locked eyes with Voldemort. "No matter what kind of spell, the ''will ''is always the driving force necessary to cast the spell, and love, is the strongest ''will''." When he said this, he suddenly smiled self-deprecatingly, "But you''re right, even if I can say more, keep saying more truths, there is no way to hide the fact that I am indeed a loser. The mysteries of magic are infinite, I''m not an omniscient god, there will always be powers that I don''t understand that someone else might have mastered, but-" "Your power is also unstable isn''t it?" A silence fell in the main hall, the atmosphere seemed to have frozen, and only the sound of the moving hands of arge clock hanging on the wall continued to resonate. "Are you sure I don''t dare to fight you or is that ipetent loser also in this city? Did he give you enough reliance to give you adequate backbone?" After a long pause, Voldemort slowly stood up from his chair, and simply looked at the old man in front of him in a condescending manner. Dumbledore also looked at him calmly. "Neither, Tom. I believe you dare to fight me, I also believe that you are not afraid of Gellert and I teaming up against you, but I believe more than that, you have enough rationality now. Your reason will tell you that if we fight in this ce, then, a lot of things will go wrongter on, things that are very bad for you." "Your sanity, which made you have today''s achievements, but also for the same sanity, you also have to sacrifice a few things to it." While he was talking, Voldemort had already pulled out his wand. But Dumbledore remained motionless in his chair, watching his every move. Two people just silently looked at each other, the hands of the clock were still moving, Voldemort although holding the wand, it did not seem like he intends to raise it. And just when the clock''s hand pointed to "", Dumbledore also stood up from the chair. "I''m d I had such a nice chat with you, Tom, but it''s gettingte." He straightened his trench coat, "due to the reason that Horace was poached by you, I now have to substitute for his original teaching positions myself, I have two more sses to conduct this afternoon, so that''s all for today." Just as his words ended, a golden-red light shed abruptly at his side, and Phoenix Fawkes, who had turned into a professional cab,nded on Dumbledore''s shoulder. "Today''s matter, will not end in this way, Dumbledore." Voldemort did not even seem like he wanted to stop Dumbledore from leaving, and just coldly said words that didn''t sound very threatening, and simply watched as the radiancepletely wrapped him up. Before disappearing from the main hall, Dumbledore responded in a soft voice. "I''m looking forward to it." The glow dissipated. Voldemort was the only one left in the main hall. No emotion could be seen on his face, and he slowly sat back in his chair. His gaze was calm, calmly staring at the chair Dumbledore had sat on earlier. The sound of the hands ticking on the clock was very rhythmic, he followed that rhythm, the fingertips of his index finger gently tapping the body of his wand. Just as he fell into contemtion, his mouth suddenly and strangely seemed to open on its own and let out maniacal words that quite contradicted the calmness of his eyes! "Why didn''t you just KILL him! What are you afraid of! Why aren''t you killing him! Why don''t you kill him!!!" The voice echoed in the main hall, and Voldemort raised his fist without hesitation, and punched himself hard in the mouth! This punch was so hard that it directly caused blood to appear at the corner of his mouth. "Stupid." It was as if he had regained control of his mouth, his voice once again returning to calm and cold, "If it wasn''t for you, I would have dealt with him the moment I saw him." He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and dried the blood from the corner of his mouth, then turned around with a gloomy gaze and walked inside the Ministry of Magic. ---- #Archit Sharma, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 119: The real Hogwarts Chapter 119: The real Hogwarts Fawkes took Jon and Hermione to a hut in the middle of a forest. This hut was just simr to the safe hut that Jon had first got to when he was brought out from the orphanage by Lily, a temporary hiding ce to hide the traces of Apparitions that had been created by the Order of the Phoenix and scattered all over the UK. The Phoenix''s Apparition certainly won''t be traced back to its source, but McGonagall, Kingsley, and the other two wizards from the Order of the Phoenix have brought those students who escaped from the castle''s secret passageways to this ce to avoid being traced for a while. The children''s enrolment pact has not beenpletely resolved, just beforeing here, McGonagall and they temporarily used a magic spell to block the effect of tracking; topletely eliminate it, it is necessary to wait for Dumbledore to personally do it. And after Jon brought Hermione here, the children were overjoyed. After seeing some familiar faces, they finally were able to vent their nervousness and worry, some hugged Hermione and others hugged Jon and cried for a while, including the original bracing Hanton in the secret passageway who clung on Jon''s arm and cried the loudest. But the crisis has not beenpletely lifted, McGonagall covered up the enrolment pact on Hermione''s body likewise at the first instance, and then once again used the Apparition to bring them to a new safe house. At this point, these rescued children had turned pale and could not help but dry heave out, even when Jon first experienced the Apparition, he was not able to adapt to such sensations, and now these children have experienced it twice in a row, which made them feel giddy and dizzy. At the same time, although Jon and Hermione''s safe return made their mood not as low as it was at the beginning, the anxiety in their hearts didn''t lessen. When they first escaped, the other Hogwarts professors who came to meet them behaved very gently, without a trace of contempt and indifference that the faculty in that castle had for them, but the long period of servitude had made them instinctively wary of unfamiliar people. Aftering to this safe house, McGonagall, Kingsley and others began to get busy, lit the fire, boiling chocte, and then give each child sitting here a cup to ease the difort brought by the Apparition in their bodies. Their actions made the children fidget a bit, the first-graders were fine, they had only been in that castle for less than a year, whereas the second-graders were mostly apprehensive. Just like a child who has been abused all day, if suddenly one day an adult reaches out and hands him a piece of candy, his first reaction will certainly not be epting it cheerfully, but shrinking his neck, hiding in the corner, timidly look at the person who reached out his hand. But the good thing is that Jon is there as a bridge. He helped McGonagall to distribute the hot chocte to each of the children''s hands, and at the same time, in front of them, he took a big sip first, and then said to them with a grimace. "I suggest you not drink it too fast when you drink it." The children looked at his face, and couldn''t help but smile, their emotions also rxed a lot, and one child even cautiously looked at McGonagall and asked. "Professor, will we still be mudbloods in the future?" Professor McGonagall who was looking at these children''s appearance, and had just secretly wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, showed a gentle smile that she had never shown before. "Forget thatbel, child, you are no different from all others." Her reply brought a glow to the child''s eyes, and his voice unconsciously became slightly louder, but the tone was still subconsciously pleading. "So will we be able to learn real magic in the future?" McGonagall reached out and touched his head. "I''m your Transfiguration and Herbology ss professor, you must listen attentively in my ss in the future." "I will!" This conversation, let the children lower their subconscious guard, they held the warm hot chocte, and finally showed a smile that has not been shown for a long time on their faces. Hermione was also smiling, but her eyes were fixed on Jon the whole time as she was smiling. Jon is certainly not blind, he naturally felt her sight, so he turned his head to look at her suspiciously and asked. "What''s wrong?" "Why haven''t you changed back to your original appearance, ''Professor''?" The girl used the word professor very heavily as if she obviously saw something from the way Jon and McGonagall had just talked with each other. Jon''s face remained unchanged as he shrugged his shoulders and said. "It will take 12 hours for the Polyjuice Potion to lift its effects, so if you want to see the real me, I guess you''ll have to wait until around six o''clock in the evening." Hermione didn''t dwell on it, whatever Jon''s identity really is, she didn''t care, and it wouldn''t diminish her gratitude to him in any way. "Truly thank you." She gave Jon a hug. Jon patted the girl''s thin shoulder as he smiled. "You should be thanking yourself." They stayed until five o''clock in the evening, and when the sky began to be grey down, McGonagall and the others proceeded to leave with these children who had rested enough. By using the Apparition, this time they arrived in the middle of a vast tulip garden. Hogwarts wagon is pulled in the middle of thewn in the garden, with candles floating around, along with the fairies waving their wings emerging from the flowers. As soon as McGonagall appeared here with the group, the students, who were busy decorating the venue for the evening''s sumptuous wee ceremony, shouted hurriedly. "They''ve arrived! They''re here!" Before their feet hit the ground again and the children could react to the dreamlike ce they had arrived at, a sound of bursting poppers rang out at their sides. Coloured ribbons and sequins floated down from above their heads, and the students on the wagon, who had been notified in advance but had no idea of the exact time, quickly stood in chaotic formation ording to the original rehearsal and shouted in gleeful harmony. "Wee to the real Hogwarts!" The children were all frozen, they looked at this wonderful scene that they didn''t even dare to dream about in their dreams, and everyone''s eyes could not help but flood with tears. The students on the wagon enthusiastically brought them to either side of the long table ced in the middle of thewn, and Dumbledore sat at the front of the long table, his smile was as warm as a firece in winter, and his eyes looked right at Jon, and his voice said softly. "You''ve done a better job than anyone could have imagined, Jon. Thank you for taking these kids and breaking out of that cage." ---- #Archit Sharma, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 120: Welcome banquet Chapter 120: Wee banquet "You you you" Hermione looked incredulously at the original face of Jon after the polyjuice potion effect had worn off, and he turned back into his original appearance, her mouth could only subconsciously issue one syble in a row. Jon stroked his hair, he had no time to cut his hair in the castle, after drinking the polyjuice potion the appearance of Randy was fixed, so there was no need for him to take care of his original hair, which caused his hair length significantly a bit too long. The banquet is certainly not a good time to trim the hair, but this kind of hairstyle will have some impact on his image, so Jon can only use transfiguration to temporarily create a leather band, intended to tie the long hair into a short ponytail. Hearing Hermione''s shocked voice, he looked behind his shoulder with both hands pulling to tie his long hair together, and asked with a smile. "What''s the problem?" "You, how old are you?" Hermione took a deep breath, suppressing the disbelief in her heart and trying to keep herself calm as she asked. "I entered school the same year as you." Jon tied his hair with a leather band and raised his head to indicate Lily''s location, "see the professor there, she is the professor who teaches us Potions ss, enrolment of new students is also generally her responsibility. When she found me to enrol me, she actually went to your home first, but she arrived a stepte, otherwise, we might have been ssmates long ago." Hermione''s face looked a littleplicated, she never thought that she was actually only a step off between heaven and hell, but soon she came back to her senses and stared at Jon with wide eyes. "So, you''re only 12 years old?" "It''s already 1993, I''m 13 years old, and it''s not even far-fetched to say I''m 14." After hearing Jon''s answer, Hermione remained silent. She has a sensitive mind, just after they escaped, through the attitude of Professor McGonagall towards Jon, it can actually be deduced that he probably lied to her, he''s not another Hogwarts professor at all, but a student. But Hermione''s thought process was at its limit, she never thought that Jon would be around the same age as she is, she thought that a student who dared to sneak into that "prison" and y tricks in front of so many notorious adult wizards would be at least a sixth or seventh-year student who is about to be an adult! When Jon had just tied his hair together, an arm had wrapped around his neck vigorously, nearly shattering his already unskilled and not-at-all-stable ponytail. "We didn''t know until today noon, what exactly you had been doing, Jon!" Ron said excitedly. "Professor Dumbledore has kept it a secret from us before, even when he went out this morning, he lied to us and said he was going to meet up with two old friends. Then only at noon when Hagrid brought us to this ce, and we started to decorate the ce, did Professor Flitwick tell us who we will wee in the evening and why!" "It''s good to have you back safely." Neville said with a fearful look on his face, "To be honest, I actually can''t figure out why Professor Dumbledore decided to send you on such a dangerous mission, but luckily everything turned out to be fine." The second years gathered around and surrounded Jon, while Lavender and Justin were curious about what the other Hogwarts was like; they had no idea what kind of danger Jon had gone through. The wee banquet had begun. Although life on the wagon is far happier than being a mudblood student in that castle, but being enclosed in a space all the time, day after day, also made students feel bored, so no matter what the reason for the banquet is, every student was exceptionally excited. There is simply no likelihood for the students on the wagon to develop ostracism either. With no divisions and nopetition, and under so much pressure from the outside world, unity has already be part of their instincts. The children who were rescued from the castle were brought to both sides of the long table by students who are either the same age as them or older than them, and the enthusiasm even made these children a little ttered. As if they had been reminded in advance, even if they were curious, no students asked them what their life was like, in the other Hogwarts, the students on the wagon just introduced them to the life they would lead in the future, as well as about the professors in the school. Special arrangements were made for these rescued children when they entered school. When Jon and Dumbledore determined the time of the escape n through the firece at the Hog''s Head Inn, the wagon prepared and freed up the vacant rooms and ssrooms. When they officially entered the wagon and obtained their wands, a professor would set aside time to teach them the magic knowledge they had previously missed, to help them learn until they caught up with the progress of normal students. The atmosphere at the banquet was lively, and just as the feast was drawing to its conclusion, Dumbledore pped his hands gently, drawing everyone''s attention to him. "I am d that so many new students will join us today even if it is not an opening day, and although everyone has already expressed their wee to all of you before the banquet started, allow me, a nagging old man, to say one more time, wee to Hogwarts!" The students on either side of the long table cheered, and light smiles appeared on the faces of the children who had just arrived here today. "First of all, let''s thank Jon Green for his sacrifice, to be honest, whoever knew I let him go undercover thought I had gone crazy, but his brilliant performance proved I am not a lunatic." "And of course, let''s also thank Miss Hermione Granger, who fearlessly sacrificed herself to provide valuable opportunity and time for this rescue, which is something that I and everyone here should admire." The students gave them a round of apuse, and Jon who had just finished being held in a chokehold by Ron and is now being held in a chokehold by an excited Neville, had a flushedplexion, and it simply was not possible to tell what expression he has at this moment. Hermione was a little overwhelmed and lowered her head, she was a little ufortable with suchpliments and wee. "Finally, let''s wee our new professor." Dumbledore''s words quieted the audience as a pale, middle-aged male wizard made his way through the flowers, looking like he had just arrived, right as Dumbledore was about to speak out and introduce him. "After Horace left us, we need a new professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts as well as the History of Magic. Remus Lupin, a wizard who once graduated from Hogwarts with very high distinction, while just today he and a group of others has aplished an equally impressive and unprecedented feat. After today, he will be joining Hogwarts as an honourable professor." ---- #Archit Sharma, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 121: The Traitor Chapter 121: The Traitor Lupin is wearing a decent ck robe, his hair and beard have obviously been purposely tidied, or at least look much neater than Jon. The prison escape n from Azkaban and Jon''s n to escape with the children from the castle was synchronized,pared to the castle side, the escape from that prison is obviously much more violent. Simrly, Dumbledore also let Moody with a lot more members of the Order of the Phoenix pick them up, after breaking through the Dementors'' encirclement, they used the afternoon to get rid of the subsequent pursuit of Death Eaters who came to reinforce. The prisoners who escaped were exhausted from the long torture they had endured in prison and the fierce battle they had fought today, so they fell asleep as soon as they returned to a safe ce, so no banquet had been organized tonight for the wizards who had regained their freedom. The celebration and wee party within the Order of the Phoenix will not begin until Sirius and the rest havepletely recovered. However, Lupin''s state is quite good, he was lurking and wandering around the ind, without suffering any dementor abuse, so apart from the energy he consumed in today''s battle, which was basically recovered after half an afternoon of rest, he has no other problems. Originally, Dumbledore intended to let him continue to rest for a week before taking up his post here in Hogwarts, but Lupin took it upon himself to suggest that his state is all right and that he cane to the wagon today. The students were obviously rtively unfamiliar with him, but Neville whispered an introduction to Jon and the rest of them. "I know him, my father took me to meet him at the banquet when the Order of the Phoenix gathered a long time ago, he has a very nice personality and gave me a box of candy at that time." Lupin took his seat at the long table and nodded with a gentle smile as he looked at the students who weed and apuded his arrival even though they might have felt ufortable or unfamiliar with him. Jon looked at Lupin''s appearance, his face looked a bit odd, in his memory, this messy, male wizard who ended up tragically in the original story also entered Hogwarts as a professor, but that was at the beginning of the third year, and now it is near the end of the second year, the time difference is not that far. This makes Jon can''t help but feel a sense of loss caused by the fact that things are not quite the same. The banquet was over after Dumbledore finished announcing all the things, the students rescued from the castle were assigned to their dorm rooms in the wagon, they experienced a lot of shock and worry today, but they were not allowed to rest immediately, Dumbledore took them into an empty ssroom alone, to deal with their enrolment pact. Only near midnight, the childreny in a soft andfortable four-poster bed that they had never experienced in another school, and soon slipped into dreand. The wagon left the tulip garden and continued the journey that they did not know when it would end. And after everything was properly resolved, in Dumbledore''s Headmaster''s room, now all the professors in the school, including Lupin, who just joined today, all gathered here. A quill and a book were ced on Dumbledore''s desk. Looking at these two familiar things, McGonagall''s face showed a nostalgic expression. "Reiming them back allows us to get muggle students in advance ahead of the people in that castle in the future." Flitwick also nodded and said. "Jon brought out all the first and second-year students in the castle, and now that the Quill of eptance and the Book of Admittance have also been brought back, it would mean that that castle has lost its source of Muggle students, which will definitely have a great impact on them." Lily said in a cold voice: "The Dark Lord originally relied on the constant oppression of Muggle wizards to stabilize the unbnced mentality of half-blooded wizards towards pureblood wizards having privileges, and now the oppressed object is lost from the source, it will definitely bring big trouble to his rule in the future." "Do not be mesmerized by the unseen situation." Dumbledore calmly shook his head, "he will not just watch us make moves and do nothing, he can hold a grudge greater than anyone else, the main reason why we have managed to aplish so much so sessfully is still that his attention has been focused on other areas these past few years, except for the Horace affairst year, he basically adopted aissez-faire attitude towards us. " Lupin frowned intensely. "I''ve been in Azkaban all these years and don''t know much about what''s going on in the magical world, so if the Dark Lord isn''t focusing on us, what else is keeping him so preupied?" The Headmaster''s office fell into silence for a while, apparently, McGonagall and the others could not answer this question. Dumbledore gently tapped his fingers on the desktop, and only after a long time did he reopen his mouth. "I learned something from a special channel that has only been obtained recently, several of his most trusted men, including three Lestrange; Betrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange and Rabastan Lestrange as well as Peter Pettigrew, who betrayed us, has not appeared in public for close to two years. I guess if the Dark Lord really has something more important to do, it might have something to do with this." At the moment he said the name "Peter Pettigrew", Lily instantly clenched her hand. Her body obviously tensed up, and breathing could not help but be rapid, Lupin also looked gloomy and stared at the corner of the desk. This name, which seemed to have disappeared from the magical world, was never forgotten by them. Seeing their reaction, Flitwick also could not help but sigh and raised his hand to pat Lily''s arm to offerfort. Dumbledore knew exactly why they became like this when they heard the name, and he took off his sses with a slightly weary look. "Do not rx your focus yet, we did achieve some sess, butpared to the original loss, these sesses are not enough to convert into our capital to obtain victory. Let''s stop here for today, about where his attention is actually ced, that is left to me to investigate." After Jon returned to the wagon, he found that life here remained the same as before he left without any major changes. The rescued students are still divided ording to their original grades, except for Hermione, Hanton, and other second-year students who are not temporarily attending sses with Jon and them, but instead, they have been integrated for the targeted remedial sses when they will receive their wands. Their study time will be morepressed, after all,pared to the students on the wagon they have fallen behind quite a few essential sses that they should have taken. But no oneined about this, after officially integrating into life here, Hermione and others studied magic with a lot of enthusiasm, they even use less rest time than others, and continue to spend most of their time outside of ss to learn magic. Jon was also catching up on the lessons he had missed after entering his second year, but it didn''t affect him much. On his fifth day back on the wagon, Dumbledore suddenly called him to his office. "You did a great job with that task, as a reward for that, do you want to go out with me and rx for a few days?" ---- #Archit Sharma, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 122: Hermiones Wand Chapter 122: Hermione''s Wand Jon looked at Dumbledore with a suspicious look on his face. "Is it really about going to rx, instead of an excuse to trick me over first and then get me to do something else?" Dumbledoreughed hoarsely as he blinked and said. "A friend invited me on a trip to France, just to catch up on some things, and besides, when did you get such an impression of me?" In a previous life. Of course, these words could only be mentioned in Jon''s mind, and naturally, he wouldn''t say it directly. But to be honest, Dumbledore really never tricked him to do something, before going to infiltrate the castle, he exined all the dangers clearly, and asked Jon''s own opinion. Without hesitating for long, Jon readily agreed to go. During this period of time in Hogwarts castle, he had constantly been mentally tense, and the quality of sleep was also very poor, so it is indeed time to rx and rest. Staying on the wagon is certainly considered rxing, but going out with Dumbledore is even better. After all, with him around, Jon simply does not have to think about his own safety, and maybe he can also learn some helpful magic knowledge. After confirming the time of the trip, Jon left the Headmaster''s office. On the way back towards his dormitory, he happened to run into Hermione who had juste out of the library. At this moment, Hermione is not dressed like a wild girl as in the castle, he heard because of her excellent performance in the remedial sses, Lily gave her a vial of hair-softening potion, to keep her hair adjusted, and smoothly draped behind her. She was not wearing the tattered grey robe, but the robe that the student in the wagon would wear, and although her face is still a little pale from chronic malnutrition while her body is still thin, she is obviously much better than before. "Good morning, Jon." It was not until she walked close to Jon that she took her attention away from the book she was holding in her hands, and looked up with a smile to greet Jon. In the castle due to the different circumstances, even if Jon and Hermione had contact, he rarely observed her nature. However, after arriving back to the wagon, he realized, Hermione, who had experienced two years of dark servitude, had be more introvertedpared to the original Miss Know-it-all, whose personality was somewhat mboyant. She now subconsciously observes the face of the other party every time she speaks, even aftering to this wagon, this habit has not changed. Like a small beaver that is always cautiously poking its head out of the water to observe the surrounding situation, she is full of fear and wariness towards this world in which she has already seen a lot of its darkness. "Good morning." Jon also greeted, "Going to the library so early? Have you even had your breakfast?" "I stopped by the kitchen and finished it on the way." She looked rxed as she chatted with Jon, "Excellent buttered bread for breakfast." "It should be the fifth graders'' turn in the kitchen rotation today, and the buttered bread should be baked by Ron''s two older brothers, hmmm... To be honest, I think I''m okay with it as long as they didn''t sneak anything weird and strange into the bread." They chatted side by side and walked together in the direction of the dormitory, and Jon was a little curious about the new wand Hermione had gotten only a few days before. "Can I see it?" Hermione graciously passed the wand to him. This wand is very new, quite different from those old wands that Jon, Neville, Ron and the others got when they first enrolled in school. "What kind ofbination does it have?" Hermione recalled: "Grapevine wood and Jackalope antler wand core." The wood used for wands is basically standardized all over the world, but it is easy to identify the question of where ites from through the wand core. The new wands Hermione got certainly did note from the hands of Ollivander, this wand-making family has identified unicorn hair, dragon heartstring and phoenix feather, these three materials as the most suitable wand core material after generations of craft, they basically no longer use body parts of other magical creatures as a wand core. These wands are obviously obtained by Dumbledore through special channels, and the probability of this is not the work of the British wand maker is pretty high. With the situation this year, if there is no new source of wands, then with the influx of this many students,bined with those wizards who escaped from Azkaban also need wands to use, the stock in Dumbledore''s office is definitely not enough. But now it seems that he already has a solution. After returning the wand to Hermione, they parted in front of Jon''s dorm room, after returning to the dorm room, Jon began to pack up his things, ording to Dumbledore, the appointment is scheduled for tomorrow. Ron and the group were envious of Jon''s ability to go out with Dumbledore. Staying in the wagon all day, of course, they actually wanted to go somewhere else, but the actual conditions were obviously not there yet. Early the next morning, Dumbledore was already waiting for him in the entrance hall, and Jon with a small suitcase in his hand walked off the wagon together. "So, are we simply going to Apparate there, Professor?" Dumbledore used his Transfiguration magic to transform both himself and Jon, and they still had the same, sibling wizard look they had when they had travelled to Diagon Alleyst year together. Hagrid waved the whip in his hand to them after stopping to send them down and then resumed driving the wagon away. Dumbledore put a bowler hat on his head as he smiled. "Of course not, who travels directly to the end of the line? It''s the scenery along the way that is most valuable to us." He watched the Hogwarts wagon disappear into the distance and led Jon on foot in the opposite direction for perhaps three or four kilometres to a corner of a secluded vige, then gripped his wand in his hand and aimed it at the distant deserted road. About after two or three seconds of silence, soon a deafening "bang" sounded, a three-story-high, bright purple-coloured bus abruptly passed through countless low houses, speeding towards their location, and finally stopped in front of them with a sharp brake. "Bam", the bus door was opened, and a breathless voice came out from inside. "Wee to Knight Bus, an emergency passenger service for witches or wizards in distress. Just hold out your wand and step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go~. My name is Ernest Prang, and I will be your driver and part-time conductor today, tomorrow, and tomorrow of tomorrow. In fact, I''ve long asked the Ministry of Magic to assign me a separate conductor, as they did eight years ago, even if it''s a mudblood." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 123: The Dementors Kiss Chapter 123: The Dementor''s Kiss Dumbledore took Jon along with him on the Knight Bus. There were not many people on the bus, and on the first floor there was only one male wizard with curly ck hair lying on the seat with a tired face, it was unknown whether he was asleep or just resting with his eyes closed. "Where do we need to get off first if we want to go to France, Mr Prang?" Dumbledore asked as he skilfully took out two wet towels from a cab behind the driver named Ernest Prang and handed one to Jon to wipe his face. After restarting the bus, Prang didn''t answer his question directly but continued to mutter in a voice with little energy. "Two wet towels, a Silver-Sickle, these are ultimately included in the fare. Also, not to give me extra trouble, if you need anything you better take it out of the cupboard now, the chocte bar cost three sickles, the water bottle and toothbrushe with the set, and you need to pay a sickle for each set." He mumbled a lot about the prices of goods avable on the bus before he finally started to answer the questions Dumbledore had asked. "Since the Ministry of Magic is very strict regarding exit regtions, I can only drive you to the Floo Network Authority Branch in Wales, where you will have to present your identification and fill out a form to be certified, and then you can use the cross-country Floo Network. Also, if you have plenty of money, remember to bring two extra galleons to give to the employees there, it''s a hidden rule that will save you a lot of time, otherwise, your exit approval will be stuck for two or three weeks whether you have issues or not." Although Prang''s attitude is not enthusiastic, but the description is still quiteprehensive, and when he said thest sentence he deliberately lowered his voice a bit, but in fact, this is a well-known unspoken rule. Even the Ministry of Magic before Voldemort''s governance naturally has nothing to do with the word clean, not to mention now; some departments are allposed of new pureblood "upstarts" who need some urgent funds, so it is quite the norm to collect some ''donation''. Dumbledore listened to his words with a serious face and took out two choctes from the cab, and finally expressed his thanks. "Thank you for the reminder, then please drop us off at the Welsh Floo Network Authority branch." "Okay, gentlemen, you better find a ce to lie down first, as your destination will be reached only around four o''clock this afternoon at the earliest. We have to get the gentleman who is still sleeping to his old home in Devon first, and Mrs Viera upstairs, she is going to Scond to fight with her estranged husband, so I suggest you don''t mess with thatdy, she is in a very bad mood." Dumbledore and Jon looked at each other, and together they thanked Prang once again and then went through the spiral staircase to the first floor of the bus. Again, only one obese witch was resting on a seat, and her mouth was moving as if she was cursing at someone or practising a rehearsal for a quarrel that would soon follow. And when she saw Dumbledore and Joning up, she red at them with her toad-like eyes. Dumbledore led Jon up, but they did not stay on the second floor and continued up to the third floor of the bus. There is no one here, there are four or five empty single bed-like seatsid out separately, they found one bed respectively, and after sitting down, Jon picked up a newspaper of the day that was hanging on the wall. In this Daily Prophet, he saw the opening article right away. [Antonin Dolohov was executed in Azkaban yesterday evening] Jon did not continue to read on, just seeing the headline of this news, he stared with wide eyes. "Dolohov is dead?" He asked in an incredulous whisper, looking at Dumbledore. Dumbledore was peeling the outer wrapping of the chocte bar he had gotten from the cupboard, and hearing Jon''s question, he nodded as if he had gotten the news much earlier and said. "Not quite dead, three days ago a reporter from the Daily Prophet reported that he was found guilty in Wizengamot court, and when Dolohov questioned what exactly he is guilty of in court, it was his lord who sentenced him personally for the crime - the crime of ipetence." "So the Dark Lord intended to kill him, and did so?" It wasn''t that Jonmented the death of Dolohov or anything, he didn''t even have the slightest good impression of this perverted castle caretaker, and the more trouble he had, the happier Jon would be. But ording to his original expectation, even in Hogwarts Castle, if all the things he did were found and exposed, it is likely that Dolohov will be severely punished. Jon has always felt that even with Voldemort''s harshness, he is unlikely to kill his own men directly because of this matter, at most will directly revoke all his posts, and then throw him into prison for a few days. But Jon''s understanding of Voldemort was ultimately misjudged, and Dolohov clearly did not survive. "He was not sentenced to death straight away." Dumbledore sat on the edge of the bed, eating chocte while whispering, "The guards on that prison ind were angry that so many people had escaped from them, so Dolohov''s ultimate punishment was to be rewarded with a dementor''s kiss." "The kiss of those monsters will directly suck away the soul of the kissed, so although his body may seem to be alive, in fact, it is already an empty shell, it can be said to be another sense of death or more terrible than death." Jon quietly listened to Dumbledore''s exnation, while also reading the newspaper coverage of this issue. Dolohov ispletely finished, the ambitious future that he originally visualized for himself, is indeed very promising, filling the space in order for the dementors to be well-fed. After flipping through the other panels of news, Jon had some idea of the changes that had urred in the magical world that day after he escaped with a group of underssmen in Hogwarts Castle and the prisoners broke out of Azkaban. The biggest impact on British wizards was that those Dementors were allowed to leave that Azkaban ind and let them capture the escaped prisoners by themselves. As everyone knows, Dementors are not wizards, they don''tmunicate with people, and they feed mainly on the positive emotions of people. They left the prison and borrowed the reason of catching escaped prisoners to roam around in the British magical world, which would surely have a great impact on the lives of normal wizards. This is indeed the case, as of today, the third day since the Dementors were allowed to leave the ind, the Daily Prophet has so far reported seven or eight cases rted to these monsters. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 124: The Wagon that cannot leave the land of England Chapter 124: The Wagon that cannot leave thend of Ennd The view from the third floor of the Knight Bus was quite impressive. With his back leaning on the side of the seat, Jon could see the bus passing through a muggle city thanks to the window on his side. The magic bus was modified to travel incredibly fast, and the way it moved forward was very unique, rather than rolling forward on four wheels, it was more like jumping forward, which also caused its forward movement to be unusually bumpy. The houses in front of the bus, before the bus hit them, they have moved from the route to the sides, and then after the bus departure, they returned to the original position, but it did not attract the attention of the roadside muggle pedestrians and people in the houses, seems very magical. When the bus was passing between these houses, the nearest Jon could even hear, through a window, the sound of two boys plotting to steal the grapes from the neighbour''s vine. This sensation was novel, a bit like Jon''s previous view from the driver''s seat of the wagon, watching Hagrid driving the Hogwarts wagon, but with a very distinct twist. "I went to see Professor Potter the day after I got back, intending to return the invisibility cloak to her, but she didn''t ept it." Jon talked to Dumbledore about what happened when he returned the cloak of invisibility, "She said it would be in my custody for now, and if she needed it, she would ask for it back from me." Dumbledore settledfortably on the bed-like seat as well, as if he really had brought Jon out on just an ordinary trip this time. "That thing means someone from her past that she misses, but it''s incredibly painful for her to remember, and it''s a good thing you''re holding this cloak of invisibility for her." Jon quickly changed the subject to something else, and he turned his head to Dumbledore. "Professor, even if we are going to travel without Apparate directly to France, why do we have to go through the official channel of the Ministry of Magic? Wouldn''t that carry the risk of exposure?" "If we leave the country privately, that would only be more risky." Dumbledore exined softly, "Of course, the Order of the Phoenix has mastered a method to create an independent and secure temporary Floo Network, and also has a number of Portkeys for various parts of Europe, which we can use if we really want to bypass the restrictions." "But the Ministry of Magic, under the control of the Dark Lord, has been tightly restricting the management of the entry and exit of British wizards for the past two years, and that branch of the Floo Network Authority in Wales is a new department that was set up only two years ago. I''m interested to see exactly what kind of preparations are required if two half-blood wizards with clear backgrounds and legitimate reasons for leaving Britain want to leave." Jon could tell that Dumbledore really didn''t try to cover it up, he truly wanted to learn about these things first-hand, but there must be a deeper reason why he wanted to find out about the departure procedures required for British wizards, which he didn''t specify, and Jon didn''t choose to ask. His answer, however, reminded Jon of another question that he had been trying to understand since he was first boarded on the wagon, and he asked curiously. "Well, why are we still stuck travelling around Britain on the wagon, Professor Dumbledore? I don''t think this kind of reign that the Dark Lord is exercising on the British magicalmunity would be eptable in every magical government out there, would it? Why don''t we just leave Britain and go to a country that can ept the new Hogwarts, won''t it be safer?" Dumbledore shook his head with a dull look on his face. "No, it''s not as simple as you think, the wagon we live in now is not just a mobile school, it actually kind of inherited the Hogwarts castle eight years ago when it still hadn''t been conquered, has a very particr sense to thisnd. This causes its wheels to only ever turn on the Britishnd, without the ability to reach thend outside the Isle of Great Britain." When he said this, as if he thought of something, his eyes became a little deeper. "Of course, nothing is absolute, what our future destination ultimately, no one can tell now." Just as Jon was pondering over the words he said, the Knight Bus suddenly stopped. They had dropped off the curly-haired male wizard on the lower level in Devon and were on their way to Scond to send that Lady Viera to her husband to quarrel, and the roadside where they stopped now is a deserted suburb, and there was no sign of any wizard raising a wand to beckon the bus. Jon tried to sit up suspiciously from the bed-like seat when a cold, icy, hopelessness apanied by deadly silence suddenly enveloped the whole bus! Dumbledore, who was lying calmly, could not help but frown slightly, he shrunk his hand into the sleeve of his robe, and when that hand came out again, an Applewood wand that looked ordinary in appearance had appeared in his hand. The aura of stillness and despair grew stronger and stronger and even made Jon subconsciously pull the quilt over to wrap his body. And just two secondster, he saw a creature shrouded in a grey cloak that looked like it had been soaked in water, with an iparably tall figure, and emanating a wave of despair from the depths of its soul. Dementor! The dark creature unique to the British magical world that feeds on the good and happy emotions within people''s hearts, thus spreading nothing but despair, and has no weaknesses other than its fear of the Patronus Charm, and it is impossible to wipe them out. Dementors have existed in Azkaban since long before the ind became a wizard-only prison. As the British Ministry of Magic did not have any solution to deal with these monsters, soon one of the former ministers decided to find a different way to tranquillize these positive emotion-sucking monsters. Then the ind of Azkaban became a prison, and the dementors living there were used as jailers. Wizard prisoners whomitted major crimes would be imprisoned here and be a food source for the dementors, to pacify the monsters and prevent them from going to the British Isles to cause disturbances. This measure has been used by the Ministry of Magic to this day, but the implementation of this process has always remained controversial, because the key is that the Dementors are the purest form of evil, the Ministry of Magic and their rtionship, indeed, a case of a loss of moral justness. And now Voldemort''s government certainly does not have such concerns, so under hismand, the current Ministry of Magic has be the government which has the most in-depthmunication with the dementors. So much so that they are now allowed toe directly to the British territory to search for escaped prisoners. "The one you are looking for is not with us." At the first sight of the dementor, Dumbledore said in a calm and emphasized tone. But the dementor does not seem to listen to his words, it slowly floated forward, and the cold and despairing atmosphere is getting thicker and thicker, which nearly overwhelmed Jon enough to gasp for breath. And at that point, the tip of Dumbledore''s wand shed with a silver ray, he used a tone of voice that didn''t sound half threatening and slowly spoke. "I advise you. It''s best to leave now." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 125: Bribery and Privileges Chapter 125: Bribery and Privileges At the moment when the silver light shone, the dementor obviously stopped its advancing movements. It did not proceed to move forward, nor backward, like the delicious food in front of you, and you don''t want to give them up until the silver light at the tip of Dumbledore''s wand became brighter and brighter, it waspelled to float back down the path to the lower level. Dumbledore and Jon looked at each other and neither said anything, soon there was a rush of footstepsing from the staircase, and Ernie Prang, who was the driver and part-time conductor, came up the stairs with a somewhat pale face, and was relieved to see that they hadn''t had any idents. "I''m sorry, gentlemen, these monsters wanted to inspect the interior of the bus, and I was unable to stop them, they were all permitted to do so by the Ministry of Magic." Dumbledore waved his hand. "It''s fine, this is a special time, we can understand, hurry up Mr Prang, we would like to taste the baba au rhum in Paris tonight." Prang once again bowed his head and apologized to them before walking down the stairs. Only after his footsteps hadpletely disappeared did Jon turn his head to look at Dumbledore and whisper. "It looks like these Dementors have many privileges." "Without the escaped prisoners in Azkaban, they have lost most of their food." Dumbledore said in a deep voice, "the Ministry of Magic permitted them toe to the British territory to search, the possibility of trying to entrust them to sessfully capture the escaped fugitives is very small; it is more likely they are trying to appease them in this way. As long as they don''t directly suck up souls, eating some wizard''s positive emotions is not a big deal in the eyes of the Ministry of Magic." Jon smacked his lips and didn''t say another word. They remained on the bus for another hour or so, arriving in Wales exactly at four o''clock in the afternoon. Dumbledore led Jon out of the bus, and a somewhat dpidated manor appeared before them. The manor is located in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, on the outskirts of the Muggle city, where muggles asionally pass by, but they also seem to ignore the whole building, which is obviously enchanted with a powerful Muggle-Repelling Charm. Dumbledore stood in front of the rust-scarred gate, rang the bell, and then a man''s voice sounded as if it came from above their heads. "Name of visitor, bloodline, purpose of visit." "Richard Williams and Jack Williams, half-blood, nning to travel out of the country to Paris, France." There was a moment of silence on the man''s side as if he was reviewing data to verify their identities, and after about ten seconds or so had passed, the iron gate in front of them was suddenly opened. "Go straight to the main hall along this path, don''t go to other areas, or you will suffer the consequences." The voice issued a warning, thenpletely disappeared, while Dumbledore and Jon together walked into the manor. After they entered the gate, the iron gate closed itself, and they walked along the stone path and stepped into the main hall of the manor. As soon as they entered, they could see a dozen fireces on the wall that was opposite the entrance with green snakes of fire jumping, and from time to time wizards wereing out of the mes of the five fireces on the left side of the wall, while the fireces on the right had a long line of wizards who were sprinkling Floo powder into the fireces in turn. The ce was not as deserted as it seemed from the outside, the main hall was full of people, and most of the wizards walked in a hurry. But there is a space deliberately left empty, where two dementors are floating quietly, with a grey cloak shielding their eyes and most of their faces as they silently watched everyone in the hall. It is because of their existence, even if more than a dozen fireces are burning, the main hall which should be hot at this time was cold as a harsh winter, which also resulted in no one willing to stay here, and someone constantly walking out of the various rooms and immediately use the firece to leave. Dumbledore and Jon did not stay in the main hall, they continued to walk forward to the registration desk, where they were greeted by an impatient-looking witch. "William Brothers? Want to go through the departure procedures to France? Go to room five, go ahead and register first then wait in line, there are 13 people ahead of you waiting for approval." Dumbledore did not move and took out 5 gold-galleons from his pocket and ced them before the witch at the registration desk while smiling and asking. "Madam, we have a very important business to negotiate in France, please, is there any channel to quick approval?" The witch looked up at Dumbledore, and then her eyes turned to the 5 brand new gold-galleons, there was no expression on her face, and she did not reach for the 5 gold coins. "If you read the newspaper recently, you should know that something serious happened a few days ago, the Ministry of Magic tightened the supervision of the entry and exit of wizards, especially half-blood wizards, just look at those two repulsive dementors. Therefore, if you want to apply for special channels. It requires more trouble than before." Dumbledore''s face did not change as he ced another 10 gold-galleons in front of her. "I wonder if these might be enough to solve the trouble?" "There are two of you." Dumbledore showed a hesitant look, but in the end, he gritted his teeth and took out another 10 galleons. This time the witch did not dy, Jon saw a sh before his eyes, she did not even take the initiative to reach out, but the total of 25 gold-galleons on the table disappeared before his eyes in the next second, then the witch quickly handed Dumbledore two badges. "Take it with you, then go to room three, someone will help you save time." Dumbledore took the badges from her hands and walked with Jon in the direction of room three. There were a lot fewer people herepared to the main hall, and Jon muttered in a whisper beside Dumbledore. "They are taking bribes so openly and honestly?" "It''s not called taking a bribe." Dumbledore said calmly. "Then what is it called?" "When the officials in this kind of public service are allowed to demand money while doing their supposed job isn''t a bribe, she wouldn''t dare to do this if she is just a half-blood." Dumbledore said softly, "So it''s not bribery, it should be called privilege." Jon shrugged, his mind still hasn''t fully adjusted to the fact that this magical world is inherently unequal even more than the muggle world, he really shouldn''t apply his old normal thinking. They arrived in front of room number three with their badges, knocked on the door, and waited for the sound of permission to enter from inside before Dumbledore led Jon to push the door and walked in. In the third room, there was an older male wizard with sses sitting behind the desk, he saw the two badges that Dumbledore put on his desk after entering, so he got a form from the side of the desk and asked without looking up while filling it out. "Destination." "Paris, France." Dumbledore replied "How many days are you nning to leave the country, and do you have any ns to return to Britain in the near future?" "Three to five days or so, and wille back right after the business deal is over." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 126: The Closed Country Chapter 126: The Closed Country The male wizard quickly finished filling out their information on the forms, and then pushed the two forms in front of Dumbledore and Jon. "Sign and pay, the cross-country charge for using the Floowork is 10 galleons each, 20 galleons total for the two of you." They signed their fake names on the form, and then Dumbledore took out twenty gold coins and put them on the desk. The money suddenly disappeared after itnded on the desk as if the desk was enchanted with some kind of magic that allowed it to collect the money on its own. The wizard helped them open a door at the back of the third room, behind which there were two non-burning fireces. "The Floowork of the firece on the left is connected to France''s Floowork, and it can reach any firece that is documented within the French Ministry of Magic. Also don''t forget the return entry time you submitted, if you don''t return after five days, you have to pay a fine of 12 silver-sickle for each day of dy." After all the precautions were made clear, the male wizard left the room where the firece is attached. Dumbledore and Jon stood together in front of the firece on the left, and then Dumbledore passed the box of floo powder from the wall to Jon, and let him pinch out a small pinch. "Step into the firece, our destination is [Montmartre Hignd Square No. 126], call out the name of the destination, and then sprinkle the floo powder." Listening to Dumbledore''s instruction, Jon followed the steps he said to do, and then sprinkled the floo powder in the firece. The next moment a rising green me began to spread from his feet, instantly wrapping his whole body, and then he disappeared. And in Paris, France, 500 kilometres away in a straight line, 126, Montmartre Hignd Square, inside a wizard bar, the me of the firece turned from yellow to green, and then Jon''s figure appeared here. It is not afortable experience to travel long distances with floo powderpared to an apparition, but at least Jon is used to this feeling, so afternding, he did not make a mess. Just after he walked out of the firece, less than three or four secondster, the me that had turned from green to yellow turned back to green again, and Dumbledore stepped out of it shortly after. Their destination is a bustling tavern, filled with wizards in robes. Dumbledore and Jon''s presence did not attract much attention, and the atmosphere in the tavern was noticeably more rxed, and when they sat down at one of the empty tables, a witch clutching a dinner tray soon came over and asked them in French what they wanted to order. "One Baba au Rhum, two steaks, a ss of cider and a ss of juice." "Would you like an egg with mayonnaise and Cream of Onion Soup?" "Well, very good rmendation, then two of those too. Also, don''t wait until the end to serve the pastry, you can bring it up with the steak." "I''ll have the back room do it as soon as possible, Monsieur." Dumbledore''s French was so proficient that Jon doubted that the witch even noticed that they are actually two Englishmen. He took a moment to observe his surroundings before taking the time to address his doubts to Dumbledore while the order was being served. "Shouldn''t there be plenty of ways for wizards to get out of Ennd if they want to? Even if the floo powder and portkeys are controlled, then why they do not just use the Apparition to travel out? It should not be too much of an obstacle to use the Apparition to travel the distance between Britain and France, right?" Dumbledore exined to him. "The Ministry of Magic will randomly check the fall points of these Apparitions, and once an English wizard is found to have smuggled his way out, then his name will be recorded and the corresponding punishment will be imposed afterwards, with a minimum fine of 20 galleons, and 3 days in Azkaban." Jon understood the implications of this, even if the Ministry of Magic under Voldemort had a strong desire to control the entire British magical world, he could not possibly monitor the actions of every wizard at all times. This is like the muggle world driving on the red light vition, as specified in the nonpliance of that trafficw, if you drive at the red light, if police catch you, you have to admit and pay the fine, did not catch you, it only means that you are lucky enough to get away this time. And now at the end of the twentieth century, the flow of information is far from being as smooth as in the future, and wizards can only rely on the Daily Prophet for basic information. Now that the Ministry of Magic has full control of the Daily Prophet, and it has almost be the default official daily newspaper, as long as the newspaper features something about the capture of a few stowaways every day, it will have a strong deterrent effect, making British wizards afraid to leave the country at will without filing a report. But now if you want to register, then, like Dumbledore and Jon, you need 45 gold-galleons to leave the country on the same day of registration, the bribes and fees paid for both. Two wizards had to pay a total of 45 gold-galleons in bribes and fees to get out of the country. You know that a regr employee of the Ministry of Magic only earns a few dozen galleons a month, and that''s a mid-level position, so it''s not something any wizard could afford to pay for. This is basically equivalent to a semipulsory closure of the British magicalmunity. After all, Voldemort''s policy of very is like driving backwards in history. If British wizards can stillmunicate with the outside world as before, there will certainly be many problems within the British magicalmunity. The most visible problem is that there must be an exodus of muggles and half-blood wizards who can''t tolerate his reign, and the poption will decrease for sure, which is not something Voldemort wants to see, so he made such a move. As for leaving the country through muggle means, such as aerones, trains and ships, it is estimated that with the nature of Voldemort and those under him, there is no way they would put muggle means of travel in their eyes unless the phenomenon of exodus through muggle means is particrly high, only then they would face the issue seriously in that regard. In fact, this approach in Jon''s view,pared with Voldemort''s original crazy performance in the original story, is already very mild, after all, if you really want to leave, you can still escape by bleeding money, even if you can''t pay such a sum of money, you can also fly cross-country on a broomstick, although the risk is greater, the Ministry of magic can not prevent travelling cross-country to such a level with their limited manpower. If he behaves in the way he did in the original story, he is afraid that Voldemort will directly prohibit anyone from leaving the country, and then causeplete chaos within the British magicalmunity. The dishes they wanted were served quickly, and although both countries are adjacent to each other, the gap in cuisine between Britain and France is as great as the gap in military power between France and Germany in the early 1940s. Whether the taste of craft or style, French food can beat British food eight hundred times. For example, Dumbledore''s long-awaited Baba au Rhum, the cake was so satisfying that he only shared a bit of cream with Jon in the name that there is wine in the cake, without letting him eat too much, he directly finished the serving very quickly. Just when they were about to drink their fill, a quarrel noiseing from the neighbouring table suddenly caught their attention. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 127: Bloodline Contradictions Chapter 127: Bloodline Contradictions "I know you, a Muggle student who just graduated from Beauxbatons and was directly recruited by the Ministry of Magic because of your excellent grades, and they even exempted you from the assessment, you''ve been in the limelight recently." At the table next to Dumbledore and Jon, the two guests who had been eating together in peace did not know what had started the conflict, their voices gradually became louder, and at this moment, they had already attracted the attention of most people in the tavern. The one who said this is a well-dressed male wizard wearing a dark purple robe, with a sneer at the corner of his mouth, as if the seeminglyplimentary words are in fact ridicule. The target of his ridicule is a young male wizard on the opposite side of the table, whose face turned red and he also gave a cold snort. "Isn''t that how the Ministry of Magic''s recruitment policy has always been? Since they have decided that I have shown sufficient ability, of course, they will hire me on a priority basis, why are you being so difficult? Because I took up your spot?" It was as if his words had poked the purple-robed male wizard in the sore spot, and his face visibly became unbearably ugly. "You''re just a young man who recently graduated from school, what do you think you can possibly achieve with your background even if you enter the Ministry of Magic now? It''s nothing more than a lifetime of menial duties!" "Even if it''s a menial role, it''s still better than some people who even thoughe from a distinguished background, don''t even have the qualifications to enter, right?" The young male wizard obviously caught his sore point, and simply exposed his scars; the purple-robed male wizard''s mental state was not very good, and he immediately pulled out his wand in a rage. "Lowly bastard! You can talk to me only because it''s France! Because most people are confused right now! If only our Ministry of Magic adopted the British system, you wouldn''t even have the right to hold a wand, nor would you be worthy of polishing my shoes!" His words trampled the young wizard''s pride, and he also pulled out his wand in anger and confronted the purple-robed wizard! Theirpanions also raised their wands together and stood up with fierce expressions, and the atmosphere became tense. The tavern becamepletely quiet, as if these two people engaging in some kind of sensitive topic, everyone shut their mouths, and no one made a sound. Only the tavern''s waiter and barman trotted over nervously, half forcing and half pacifying tried to persuade the two groups to leave the tavern, even the meal cost was waived. After they left, the tavern gradually regained its hustle and bustle, but the atmosphere seemed to be a little different from what it was before, and quite a number of wizards were whispering and vaguely discussing topics rted to the bloodline. Dumbledore''s face became somewhat heavy, he did not talk much with Jon because of the crowd here, but after finishing the meal, he asked for a double room on the second floor of the tavern. Of course, the night is not a suitable time to travel around, so they need to stay here overnight. When they arrived at the guest room, Dumbledore shook his head and said. "This is not a good sign." "The confrontation between the two men while we were eating earlier?" Jon asked. Dumbledore nodded: "Britain is very close to France, the two countries also have the most frequent exchange between wizards, and after the Dark Lordpletely ruled the British magicalmunity, a lot of muggle-born wizards fled here at the beginning in advance sensing something bad going to happen." Jon mused. "They talked about the dark lord''s governing policies here after arriving in France, so that the French purebloods, as well as the half-bloods wizards, saw the benefits? Thus intensifying the bloodline conflict here as well?" "Not only that." Dumbledore added, "The British Muggle wizards who fled here must have also squeezed some of the resources and interests of the original French wizards, which further intensified the bloodline conflict. In addition, the French magicalmunity is more traditional in thinking and more resistant toe into contact with muggle-rted matters." "And on the Muggle wizards'' side, as the Muggles in France are more obsessed with the matter of equality, this has also led to these Muggle wizards being very disgusted with the current situation in Britain, and we have received a lot of their support. This has also made the confrontation between the bloodlines more and more intense, and there have been more shes within the French magicmunity involving the bloodlines in the past two years." Voldemort''s influence seems to be spreading outward from Britain, and the first to bear the brunt is the closest France. It has always been argued that Voldemort''s grasp of the world andyout are notparable to that of Grindelwald, after all, Grindelwald has set his sights on the future of the world''s magicalmunity from the very beginning, and his own influence has covered the whole of Europe and half of America, nearly more than half of world''s magical government. Jon has actually debated about this in his previous life. The so-calledyout is just a different direction in which they chose to acquire power in the beginning. Grindelwald learned magic in the northernmost part of Europe, a school of magic established in the Scandinavian Penins, Durmstrang Institute. Even if he was expelledter, the wizards he initially came into contact with and the forces that he gathered were essentially from the Nordic magicalmunity. The magical government is different from the muggle countries, whether in terms of influence or in terms of regtions, they are far from beingparable, and the poption base of wizards themselves is far smaller than that of muggles, so even though the magical government in the Nordic side has also been established by relying on the regime of the muggle countries in the past, there is an enormous gappared to those powerful magical governments due to the low number of wizards. After being expelled from school, he went to a lot of ces, including meeting Dumbledore in Britain, stealing Gregorovitch''s Elder Wand in Germany, returning to Northern Europe to organize the Acolytes Protection Agency (the official name of the Acolytes) and so on. After travelling around Europe, Grindelwald established his foothold in countries that were isted from major magical regimes - centring on the Nurmengard Castle in Austria - and began a guerri war against various magical governments in Europe, even bringing the war to North America at one point. Add to that the fact that he had followers under him from all over the world, and many of them were notorious dark wizards in their respective magicalmunities. As well as his ultimate ideals and political goals werepletely detrimental to the vast majority of wizards - wizards who just wanted to livefortably and didn''t want to break the Statute of Secrecy and start a war with muggles. And so Grindelwald''s influence spread throughout the world; after that, magical governments all over the world perceived his threat to the Statute of Secrecy. While Voldemort, who attended Hogwarts when he was young, had already enlisted arge group of like-minded "friends" with his own methods and charisma during his school years, and then stayed in Britain for a few years after graduation, before travelling around the world as well. During this time he also relied on his own philosophy to attract arge group of "allies", and then returned to the United Kingdom. But from this point on, the way of acquiring power between Voldemort and Grindelwald differed. Grindelwald wanted to upy a small magical regime, then grow stronger, gradually erode the more powerful magical regime to unify the entire global magicalmunity, and finallyplete his ultimate goal. While Voldemort was directly selected to begin with the most difficult bone to chew, the British magicalmunity, at that time he at least split his soul five times, so his mindset has be somewhat arrogant and self-centred. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 128: International Situation Chapter 128: International Situation He chose the hellish difficulty level Great Britain, to kick-start his power acquisition starting point. This is one of the most powerful Ministry of Magic in the whole of Europe, with a wizard who is recognized as the most powerful and righteous wizard in the world, Dumbledore, Voldemort also simply did not adopt the guerri warfare strategy of striking a shot in one ce after another by using all his means, but directly fought to the death in the British Isles. In addition, his philosophy was much more radical than Grindelwald''s, he even raised the slogan of killing all the muggles and leaving the world to wizards alone, but he also learned from the past and never made it clear that he wanted to challenge the "Statute of Secrecy". Not touching the Statute of Secrecy is equivalent to not touching the bottom line of wizards all over the world. The "pureblood supremacy theory" also preserves the rule of the established Internationalws, so other magical governments are in a wait-and-see state when Voldemort is stirring up the storm. Even if he behaves brutally in Britain, it is only an internal issue, as long as he does note out to harm others, the other magical governments are happy to watch the British territory in turmoil. With Voldemort''s desire for power, his eyes certainly will not only be ced on the British Isles, but this is the starting point of his choice to conquer the world, as long as he sessfully conquered the British magical world, he can use this as the foothold to influence the other magical governments in Europe. After all, in the absence of too much craziness, his ideology and way of governance actually represented the interests of the vast majority of purebloods and half-bloods (the new school of purebloods). And once the hardest part is aplished, just like the ancient siege and war, when the big cities are upied, then all the other small cities and towns will also watch the wind and surrender, and then the majority of small magical regimes in Europe simply cannot resist his invasion. But the original Voldemort went crazier and crazier, and also believed the prophecy of the Saviour, giving himself a predestined enemy, and therefore died wasting a full decade of his time. Even so, he resurrected back to life, and also sessfully "devised" a n and killed Dumbledore, upied the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts, if not for the destined saviour Harry Potter somehow killing him, he actually might have sessfully ruled over Britain. And now the situation has be much different. Voldemort killed Harry Potter and became more saner, and his charisma returned to the time when he first started to establish his forces, and most importantly, hepleted all-round domination of the British magicalmunity more than a decade in advance, and although he did not kill Dumbledore, he defeated him head-on, allowing his prestige to reach its peak. At the same time, he rxed the restrictions of the pureblood supremacy theory, and oppressed only the "mudbloods", while thergest base of half-blood wizards was partially promoted to give more power to bnce the purebloods, while the lives of most others did not change. This led to a political change, and the redistribution of interests in the British magicalmunity became solid, with even more and more wizards bing loyal to Voldemort. Even if Dumbledore still exist to bring the resistance, it can not shake his position in the slightest. And now, the benefits of Voldemort''s regime are all visible to the nearest French Ministry of Magic, which amodated the Muggle wizards who escaped from Britain, and the French wizards who know more about the territory of Britain than the wizards of other countries, are well aware exactly who will benefit and who will be harmed by such a system. The French Ministry of Magic took an ambiguous attitude toward Voldemort''s government and never even issued any condemnation in this regard, and exchanges between the two Department of International Magical Co-operations became frequent after Slughorn became the head of the department on the British side. You can see a lot of things from the scene that happened in the tavern today, Voldemort is causing more and more influence on the world outside Britain. After thinking about all this, Jonpletely lost the rxation mentality that he had when he first arrived in France. For the entire European magical government, the past few years have been at a very delicate juncture, the more stable Voldemort''s government holds authority, the more they have to express their attitude towards this kind of social system. The key to this delicate situation is that no matter what kind of attitude they express, it will not lessen the bloodline conflict, but will intensify it. So far, none of the magical governments still didn''t make any stance on Voldemort''s government, as if the British Ministry of Magic is still the same as before, how everyone used to get along, and now it continued to be the same. But they can not always maintain this status quo, the future will certainly force them to stand in line, which may possibly start off by their own domestic wizards, or maybe it could be started by Voldemort himself! During the night, Jon wondered about this and finally fell asleep at some point. The next morning, Dumbledore took him to have an early breakfast in this tavern again, and then the two left the ce together. They walked away from Montmartre Hignd Square, and the French Diagon Alley ce Cache, and came to the Muggle settlement. Then Dumbledore led Jon to an empty alley to use the Apparition to reach the edge of a sparsely popted town, and a small wooden cabin stood in front of them. The wooden cabin did not appear thatrge, but the door frame was very high, reaching all the way to the roof, which was about four meters. They came to the door of the cabin, Dumbledore knocked periodically on the door, first two consecutive knocks, then three intermittent knocks. Soon, the odd door was opened from the inside, and at the same time the door was opened, Jon was also shrouded by a shadow. She was an extremely tall witch, and Jon even thought she might be a little taller than Hagrid. The witch was wearing ordinary aqua blue robes, with a pointed hat on her head, her face looked a little haggard, and after seeing Dumbledore, her face remained alert. Dumbledore did not utter a word, instead, he flicked his wand at himself and Jon, and the next moment they regained their original appearance. "Long time no see, Madame Maxime." "Oh! Albus, you''re finally here!" The witch who was called Madame Maxime instantly revealed a surprised expression on her face, she bent down and hugged Dumbledore, and then brought the two of them into her cabin. Then Dumbledore introduced him to her. "This is my student - Jon Green, I brought him along to see how things are going over here in France." " Hello, Madam." Jon addressed politely. At the first sight of this witch, he recognized her identity. There is only one witch with such a figure in the original story, and that is the Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic who appeared in the Triwizard Tournament - Olympe Maxime, a witch with a giant bloodline. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 129: Ghost girl Chapter 129: Ghost girl But as the headmistress of one of the top three wizard schools in Europe, it is reasonable to say that Madame Maxime would never live in such a ce and dress in such an ordinary way. Jon''s heart filled with doubt as he nced at the interior of the cabin, where the decoration was very simple, not like a ce used for permanent residence, but more like a temporary shelter. Madame Maxime did not seem to pay much attention to Jon, after Dumbledore''s introduction, she just nodded to Jon who greeted her, then invited the two to sit down and poured them a cup of tea. "You should have seen the letter I wrote to you." Madame Maxime looked crestfallen, "I was dismissed from Beauxbatons." Dumbledore did not bother to touch the tea on the table, his face turned a little gloomy too. "That''s why I came over on this trip to find out why." Madame Maxime did not immediately open her mouth to exin, but turned her head to look at Jon. "Since I brought him with me, it means that I haveplete trust in him, madam." Dumbledore said calmly. The half-blood giantess, who is now be ex-headmistress of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, let out a long breath. "Well, your decisions are often the right ones most of the time." She stared into Dumbledore''s eyes, "The Ministry of Magic appointed someone to take my ce, they said I was twisting students'' minds and teaching them improper things, and threw me out of the manor!" Dumbledore frowned. "Such a ridiculous charge?" "Everyone found it absurd too!" Madame Maxime agreed, she looked emotional, "I denied their usations, the entire school faculty and students all can vouch for me, under my management, Beauxbatons only taught students magic, there is no way to distort any minds, and I have no ideology to impart upon them! " "I demand proof, otherwise I will never leave Beauxbatons, even if it is an order issued by the Ministry of Magic!" "And then what?" Dumbledore asked. "And then." Madame Maxime''s agitated expression began to fade, her face began to turn white, and her lips were trembling as if she was thinking of some awful memory, "And then, they said, they said I am half-giant. And presented evidence in front of the whole school that I was hiding my origins, that as Headmistress of Beauxbatons, I was in fact privately promoting giants, and that I was trying to whitewash the students'' perceptions of giants and thus twisting their opinions" As if due to a psychological effect, she felt Dumbledore and Jon looking at her with a somewhat piercing gaze, her eyes faintly reddened, she said in a trembling voice. "I swear! Albus, maybe-maybe I did never tell anyone about my bloodline, but I definitely didn''t do what they said I did! I have always devoted myself to educating children, and I absolutely never promoted giants" Dumbledore gently reassured the witch, who is more than a meter taller than him. "I know, I know, madam, of course, you would never do such a thing, we have to think of the reason, the reason why they are speaking about your origin now." Dumbledore obviously wasn''t going to despise Madame Maxime''s origin, "I believe your origin was investigated by the French Ministry of Magic when you became Headmistress of Beauxbatons, but why did they have to bring this up now and dismiss you." Jon could hear that Dumbledore was trying to be as polite as possible with his wording to prevent the witch in front of him, who was about to burst into tears, from having an emotional breakdown. "I don''t know." Madame Maxime''s voice had gotten a little choked up, perhaps because being half-giant makes one''s emotions a little more pure, she couldn''t hide her sadness, "And not only did they kick me out, but after dismissing me from Beauxbatons, they restricted me from going to my own home, saying that Aurors wereunching an investigation into my years as Headmistress, and if the charges are confirmed formally, I have breached the wizardingw." "I sensed something was wrong and felt that no matter what the final oue of the investigation would be, they would eventually arrest me! So the very night I wrote to you, I sneaked up on a couple of Aurors guarding me and ran away from home, and now the Ministry of Magic has issued a bounty on me, they could find me here at any time now!" Dumbledore''s brow furrowed deeper, he obviously realized something. "Who did they appoint as Headmaster after you left?" "They parachuted a male wizard in." Madame Maxime''s tone was tinged with hatred, "I thought that even if I had been driven out, my original Deputy Headmaster would have been elected as interim Headmaster, but they simply were impatient and directly appointed a male wizard that no one had even heard of before to be the Headmaster." "What is the name of that male wizard?" "Ivan Gas, I''ve never heard of this guy before! It''s like he came out of nowhere and became the Headmaster of Beauxbatons as soon as he appeared!" Madame Maxime sounded agitated as if she was trying to restrain her emotions, but she couldn''t calm down in any way. "The French magical world has be a mess now, and I have no idea what the Ministry of Magic has been doing all this time!" Her voice was rmingly loud, "Some time ago those people actually arrested many families to eliminate dissidents, and also issued a wanted notice for the Dcour family!" "Apolline Dcour escaped with her husband and her eldest daughter, and the younger daughter stayed in my house as a guest at that time, so I could only amodate her with me temporarily. However, those Aurors actually searched my house directly, and they were aware that the youngest daughter of the Dcour family was staying with me. I had no choice but to feed her a vial of Draught of Living Ghost, which put her body into a deathlike slumber and turned her soul somewhat like a ghost and made the Ministry of Magic''s Aurors assume she was dead!" Madame Maxime had a sad face, the Dcour family was obviously close to her. "The reason I wrote to call you here, also, was for this matter. I can''t stay in France any longer, so I need your help, Albus, take the girl with you." With that, she pulled out a rose-red bow hairpin from the open pocket of her robe, and as she held this hairpin out, an illusory, timid little girl of about six or seven years old appeared. The girl''s features are exquisite, with long, silky silver-white hair, but even if Jon had never seen a ghost before, he could recognize at first nce, this is definitely a ghost! As soon as the girl appeared, she hid behind Madame Maxime, only daring to peek at Jon and Dumbledore with only half a face. Dumbledore''s face became a little ugly. "The antidote for the Draught of Living Ghost is not well formted, and if she is unlucky, she may never be able to wake up again, and will turn and be a ghost forever." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 130: Proliferating Desire Chapter 130: Proliferating Desire "There was nothing else I could do." Madame Maxime shook her head and said, "If she is allowed to be captured by the Aurors, then she will only end up more miserable with her Ve blood, and who knows what those people will do nowadays." Dumbledore remained silent for a moment and then said with a heavy face. "It looks like the French Ministry of Magic is preparing to align themselves with the Dark Lord." Madame Maxime froze. She froze for four or five seconds before regaining herposure and kept shaking her head. "Impossible! If they are nning to do that, then more than 60 percent of the wizards will rebel! Those Muggle wizards are absolutely unwilling to be ves, they will stop at nothing to kill anyone who has this idea!" Dumbledore looked up at her. "I don''t want that to be the reason either, but by all indications from the French Ministry of Magic at this point, they are indeed weeding out families that are pro-Muggle and not interested in pureblood supremacy theory. As you said, they are now at the point of doing whatever they can, even going to the extent of trying to wipe out the Dcour family." "And you, the real reason they kicked you out of Beauxbatons was not that you twisted the students'' minds, but because you have never openly supported purebloods, and they felt you won''t be obedient, so they are finding a reason to rece you." Madame Maxime''s mouth dropped open, Dumbledore''s analysis had a point, but she didn''t want to believe for a second that the French Ministry of Magic would pull such a crazy move. What good would that do to those people? To seize the benefits that originally belonged to Muggle wizards? France is different from Britain, here Muggle wizards are more developed in both social and economic status, especially those old wizards who have lived from thest century to the present, and the Ministry of Magic does not have an unrivalled wizard like Voldemort to be in charge. Are they not afraid that once the blood hierarchy is announced to be enforced, those muggles who are angry to the extreme will rush into the halls of the Ministry of Magic and gnaw the system''s designees all to the bones? "Who is the current most high-ranking person in the pro-Muggle faction of the French Ministry of Magic?" Dumbledore asked in a deep voice. Madame Maxime looked ghastly as she said, "The Chief Wizard Chancellor - Adele Rnd, she is a benevolent witch of half-blood origin." "Has she shown signs of being unstable in her current positiontely?" Dumbledore asked next. Madame Maxime shook her head decisively. "No, not only is her position stable, but she has been confronting those people, and I recently heard that she is thoroughly investigating the charges against the Dcour family, trying to find a way to clear their name." Dumbledore showed a thoughtful expression. "Rnd. I have had several exchanges with her at the International Confederation of Wizards before, and she is indeed fair and just. I will find a way to get in touch with her, and hopefully, there is still a chance to stabilize the situation on the French side." Just as Dumbledore was speaking, a blue-headed tit suddenly flew in through the window, the bird flew in without making a sound, just standing quietly by the window looking at Madame Maxime And at the sight of this bird, Madame Maxime''s body immediately trembled. "They''ve found this ce!" Jon never thought that her huge body could actually make such a swift movement, she dashed quickly to the wall and lifted a suitcase that is big enough for half of Jon''s size from there. "Excuse me! I have to leave France, Albus!" Madame Maxime said in a sharp tone, "I can''t imagine what they will do to me if I continue to stay here!" She turned her head to the phantom girl who was looking at her timidly with a look of helplessness on her face. "Gabrielle, I''m going to be in a dangerous situation,ter on, there''s no way to take care of you anymore, you''re going to follow this Professor Dumbledore, he''ll take you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where you can get the best protection and teaching. After I leave France, I will look for your mother, father and sister, and I will let them pick you up from Hogwarts!" The girl''s eyes were brimming with tears, and she looked like she was trying hard not to cry, and then adding further mess to the situation. "Mama, Papa, Sis and you, Madame, you''re all going to be okay, right?" "It''s going to be all right." Madame Maxime''s eyes reddened, and she gave the girl named Gabrielle a false hug, "The future will be better, and you have to live a good life, I will find a way to help you find the antidote to the Draught of Living Ghost so that you can return to your original body!" Finally, she turned her head to look at Dumbledore, with a pleading expression. "Please, Albus, her body was hidden by me in a secret room in Beauxbatons, which only I know, no one can discover it, so please help me take good care of her for sure!" Dumbledore said with a serious nod. "I will." After getting his promise, Madame Maxime did not continue to stay, the blue-headed tit that announced the news jumped into her suitcase, and then she used the Apparition to leave the cabin. Dumbledore took Jon, and Gabrielle who was left behind by Madame Maxime, and together they left the ce by using Apparition too. Of course, it is not a big problem for him to deal with a few Aurors, but this is after all the French magical world, even if his identity is concealed, Dumbledore does not want to start a fight here. By using the Apparition now, he could also help Madame Maxime by confusing the Aurors who came after her. Sure enough, three or four minutes after Madame Maxime and Dumbledore left the ce, the four-meter-high door was sted open from the outside with a spell! Three or four Aurors in dark blue robes raised their wands and rushed in, but no one was seen inside. Soon a professional quickly detected two Apparition traces from here along with thending point of the two Apparitions. They did not hesitate to divide into two teams at once to follow the trail. The team that tracked Dumbledore''s Apparition trail came to thending point and roamed the sky on their flying broomsticks for a long while, but failed to find any sign of the wizard''s presence, and eventually returned without sess. And 10 minutes after they left, two ordinary stones by the roadside suddenly turned into human form. Dumbledore and Jon patted the dust on their bodies, while the ghost girl Gabrielle''s hairpin was in Jon''s pocket. Dumbledore did not immediately use the Apparition again but led Jon along the path all the way towards a Muggle town not far away. "The Dark Lord and the French Ministry of Magic side must have made some kind of deal." Dumbledore said in a deep voice, "Horace after joining under him, the first message he sent back to me was that his attention was not on the British side these days, but paid great attention to the intel from the French magicalmunity side, that''s why our operation at Hogwarts Castle went so well." He looked deeply at the edge of the wheat field in front of him, and the slowly turning windmill. "His desire is no longer limited to the British territory, he wants to spread his influence and rule to the whole of Europe." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 131: Gabrielle Chapter 131: Gabrielle Jon apanied Dumbledore on this trip, thinking overall it would be truly rxing. With Dumbledore around, he didn''t have to worry about security at all, he could simply enjoy the trip But after visiting Madame Maxime and receiving Gabrielle from her, Jon had to think about something deeper, and he understood, what is the fundamental purpose of Dumbledore''s trip to France. He is observing the closest piece ofnd to Britain, to find out, to what extent Voldemort''s regime in Britain has affected France. And from the current results, it is not very optimistic at all. Not only had the French pureblood wizards attracted to Voldemort''s theory of pureblood supremacy, but it seemed that they had already started some kind of cooperation with the British Ministry of Magic. But just like what Madame Maxime had said before she left, Jon also felt a bit incredulous that the French pureblood top brass had made this choice. Because the French wizards and the British wizards are not the same. The pureblood wizards here may be more prideful and arrogant than the British pureblood families, but they are not fools, the implementation of the bloodline ss system can indeed bring them more benefits, but they simplyck the prestige of someone like Voldemort, to press down and exploit the entire group of wizards to the point of very. The current situation in Britain, as long as Voldemort does not die, it will never return to the way it was before because his personal strength has transcended the existence of the group. The French magicalmunity simply does not have such a person currently, the master of alchemy like Nics mel, although his prestige and fame are on par with Dumbledore''s, his strength is nowhere near the peak of the pack of wizards due to his old age, and not to mention that he is dead, even if he is still alive he can''t agree to this current inclination of the French Ministry of Magic. Once the official announcement of Bloodline ss division is made here, the angry muggle wizards and part of the half-blood wizards, these more than about 60 percent of French wizards will riot. As long as one has a little bit of brain, anyone can see that the French Ministry of Magic will certainly be shattered, and all the current top government officials will be "chewed to the bone" by the muggle wizards, and then a new ministry of magic will be established. This is simply a dead end, unless Unless the French Ministry of Magic is willing to give up their rights, submit to Voldemort, let him include the French magical world into his pocket, and then use Voldemort and the British magical government under him to suppress the revolting muggle wizards. But are these people really willing to find a lord above their heads? Jon couldn''t figure out the crucial point of this, and in fact, it isn''t something he needs to think about. He is now only the second year nearing graduation, not even at the age of entering the third year, and has already done enough this year to rx; Dumbledore should be the one to worry about such a big concern. He never felt he is now much smarter than the others due to reading the original books about another Harry Potter Worldline in his previous life, what he can think of, Dumbledore certainly can think of it too, or even more than him in most cases. In the first year, the Slughorn matter is proof. Dumbledore did not depart from France immediately after the meeting with Madame Maxime, after that he took Jon and Gabrielle along with him on a tour around many of the major gathering ces for French wizards, and also visited several friends who had helped Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix in exile over the years. On the way, Gabrielle was basically taken care of by Jon. To preserve the existence of the girl who drank the Draught of Living Ghost and turned somewhat into a ghost, even if she does not need to eat and drink, she can not be allowed to stay in the hairpin all day by herself. Jon is quite familiar with this little girl, he knows her since she appeared in the original book; Champion of Beauxbatons in the Triwizard Tournament - Fleur Dcour''s biological sister, with a quarter of Ve blood flowing in her body. But now that her family members are all hunted and fled France, she can now be considered as having no kin in this country. "-Mama and Papa took me to Madame Maxime''s house as a guest earlier, and then, then, I liked the birds Madame kept in her house, and she also has Abraxans in her backyard that I liked, so I asked Mama to let me stay at Madame''s house for a few days." The ghost girl said with a resigned look on her face. Dumbledore was visiting a friend of his, and Jon didn''t follow along, but sat outside on thewn and listened to Gabrielle talk about what had happened to her. "As a result, on the very first night, I stayed over at Madame''s house, Mum and the others were all chased out of France!" She was in a depressed mood, and Jon sat on the grass while she sat on a branch of a small tree next to him, looking like a helpless rabbit. "Later, my sister used the firece of Madame''s house to talk with me for a few moments, she said they were still being chased by those bad people, and there was no chance to pick me up, so I was told to hide in Madame''s ce first, But, those people chased after me in Madame''s houseter, and Madame could only let me drink that very bitter potion to protect me, which turned me into what I am now." "Now, even the Madame has gone." To be honest, Jon is not actually much good at dealing with children, but he still said in a broad voice. "They didn''t leave you behind. They let you go with me and Professor Dumbledore to better protect you. Have you heard of a Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" He wanted to divert the girl''s attention. Gabrielle did seem to focus on his words, and tilted her illusory transparent face, recalling her memory. "I listened to my father talk about Hogwarts, he told us that it is a wizard school controlled by evil wizards, the professors inside are all dark wizards, and the students all have to learn dark magic!" When she said thest sentence, her face, which was already transparent, became even whiter at this point as if it had just urred to her that since Jon and Dumbledore came from Hogwarts, they must all be evil wizards as well. Jon obviously sensed that she was guessing something wrong, and to prevent scaring her, he could only speed up his speech and exin. "The one your father told you about is Hogwarts Castle, which is indeed a school for dark wizardry, and the Hogwarts wagon we''re going to take you to, most of everyone there is very nice to be around, you''ll like it there." "A wagon?" Gabrielle looked down at Jon from the branch, her attention attracted by that word, "A magic school on a wagon?" "Yes, a school on a wagon, we have sses every day in various ces in Britain, and we also have a feast on the day of every festival, and all of us will celebrate it in a ce with great scenery, and every single dish in the feast will be made by our own hands." Listening to Jon''s description, Gabrielle gradually became absorbed by his words. "That sounds nice." Jonughed. "We''re certainly going to have a nice journey." However, there was one sentence that he did not say, but just silently followed up in his mind. It would undoubtedly be an even better journey if it isn''t in this gloomy magical world. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 132: Hogwarts Professors Chapter 132: Hogwarts Professors "Can I call you Jon?" Gabrielle''s mood was obviously much more rxed than before she chatted with Jon, and she unconsciously wiggled her tiny transparent legs from above the tree branch. Jon raised an eyebrow and said. "Sure, is it alright for me to call you Gabrielle as well?" The girl was obviously a cheerful character, and soon she became familiar with Jon. "I''ve always wanted to go to a magic school, my sister is a Beauxbatons student, and she has very good grades, Madame Maxime has told me, that she has never seen a witch smarter than my sister before. But mama and papa said I need to be 11 at least to enrol in magic school." " Well, you can enter magic school a little early now." Jon said. "But the way I am now, there''s no way to learn magic when I attend magic school." Gabrielle said with her hands on her chin, lost in thought, "Originally Papa had promised to give me a wand on my birthday this year." "There is more than just learning the magic that you can do at school." Jonid back and rxed on the grass, his mouth chewing on the bitter grass root, as he told Gabrielle about the people on the wagon. "The people there are very interesting, although there are no Abraxans, the wagon is pulled by Thestrals, only those who have seen death can see this magical creature. Hagrid, who drives the wagon, has a Niffler named Beech, though he loves to steal things, he will befriend you if you are willing to give him a share of your cake." "Professor Flitwick, who teaches the Charms ss, usually keeps some cupcakes in his office drawer, and if a student happens to be sad about something, he will take out a cupcake he has tofort the student, and the taste of the cupcakes he makes are much better than Hagrid''s rock cakes." "Professor Potter requested a small part of the greenhouse from Professor McGonagall, where she nted all kinds of flowers, Professor Potter never locked that room, if you are in a bad mood, you can go to that greenhouse full of flowers to spend some time alone; if you search behind the flower pots, you may probably be able to find some amulets made by the professor, if you like, you can take it. Professor will not ask you to return it, but she will make a new one when she has time and put it in the same ce." "Professor Dumbledore has a phoenix named Fawkes, he may seem very proud, but, in fact, I have found him more than once sneaking into the kitchen to steal chocte, but it is best not to let him find out that you know about it, or he might be small-minded and not bring you with him when he Apparates." "If you see a cat with a pattern around her eyes like sses passing by on the wagon in the future, be sure not to pet her head or try to tease her with dried fish or other food, or else Professor McGonagall will stare at you quite badly in the future." "The new Professor Lupin is not in good health, each month he will be very weak for a few days, but he is really nice and gave me a book when we first met, but I advise you not to go to his office easily, recently he is preparing teaching props for teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts ss, and they are not exactly yful creatures." "The wagon caretaker Filch, although bad-tempered and likes to scold students, but if you talk to him about the knowledge of raising cats, his voice will be very soft, but do not ask him why he knows so much about raising cats without having one, he actually used to have one." "If only the teacher is still around." Jon looked at the azure sky and recounted in a soft voice. "If Slughorn teacher is still around, you can ask him to help you go to the storeroom and bring out a lot of candy for you to eat before the Christmas banquet, teacher, he is very partial to talented students, but he also knows that there are many of these students in the school, who no longer have anyone else except the professors to show them some love." He actually didn''t even notice that he had unknowingly noted the habits of all the professors on the wagon. Since being brought into that wagon, he had begun to get used to living on it, and now he had already be familiar with everyone on it. Gabrielle listened to Jon''s narrative, and her originally somewhat sad expression calmed down as she cocked her head and looked at Jon who is on the grass. "When are we going to Hogwarts?" Jon spit the grass root out of his mouth, he sat up and looked at Dumbledore who was walking towards them not far away and answered Gabrielle''s question. "We''re going back today." This trip to France that Dumbledore took Jon with him ended in the evening. They used the Floo powder to return to the Floo Network Authority branch where they had filed the paperwork when they left Britain, after all, Williams'' identity would certainly be usedter, and Dumbledore had no intention of giving up this fake identity. After listening to Jon''s narration at noon, Gabrielle showed great interest in the Hogwarts wagon. After they left Wales, Dumbledore took them directly to a roadside not far from the wagon with an Apparition. Two people and a ghost in this way did not wait that long, and before the skypletely darkened they saw a wagon that was speeding towards them. Hagrid pulled up to a halt Thestrals next to them, and greeted Dumbledore and Jon happily. "Good evening, Mr Dumbledore, and Jon, and this ..." He saw Gabrielle floating beside Jon and Dumbledore, and Hagrid, who had been a gamekeeper and Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts Castle for decades before, had obviously seen ghosts, he just wasn''t sure what to call Gabrielle at the moment. Although she had rxed enough after a few days of getting to know Jon, Gabrielle still seemed a little timid and reserved when meeting strangers. "Gabrielle Dcour." She looked at the male wizard, who seemed nearly as tall as Madame Maxime, and hid behind Jon and said her name. Hagrid smiled and waved at her. "First time seeing you, Hello Miss Dcour, you can just call me Hagrid." "You can also call me Gabrielle." After they had briefly acquainted themselves, Hagrid turned his gaze back to Dumbledore, his expression bing slightly grave. "Sir, there is something I have to tell you, during the time you have left, the magic on the surface of the wagon has been somewhat disturbed for some reason." Dumbledore did not continue to talk with Hagrid here. "Later I wille back to you to understand the specific situation, Hagrid, for now, it is best for us to continue our journey." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 133: Draught of Living Ghost Chapter 133: Draught of Living Ghost Everything went as usual in the wagon. But the arrival of Gabrielle had caused a stir. Although there were once many ghosts in Hogwarts Castle, and even a ghost professor who specialized in teaching the history of magic, the students on the wagon had never seen such a being since the beginning of the exile. Most of the students here were originally Muggle students, who had learned about the knowledge rted to ghosts only when the professor talked about it during the ss, but they were also the same as Jon, just aware of it, but seeing it for the first time. "How unfortunate." Lavender said in a small voice as she looked at Gabrielle, who hid behind Jon because she was surrounded by a group of people, somewhat shy and panicked, and Hermione, who was beside her said. "She died so young, I read that a person will turn into a ghost after death when they have a deep obsession with the world, she must have suffered a lot when she died." Gabrielle, who obviously heard her words, pouted and grabbed the corner of Jon''s robe, trying to poke her head out to exin, but finally shrunk back unhappily. She is now only seven years old, and although her personality is considered cheerful, in this period of time, after going through so many events, she also started to be somewhat more cautious. "This is Gabriel Dcour." Jon can only introduce on her behalf, "from France, going to be a guest at Hogwarts for a period of time, she is indeed a ghost now at present, but she''s not really dead, rather drank the Draught of Living Ghost, which temporarily turned her like this." The Draught of Living Ghost is somewhat unorthodox and not widely known, in short, it is a potion that can forcibly turn a wizard into a ghost. But this potion has a high degree ofplexity and difficulty to make, some of its ingredients are now even basically extinct, and the degree of restrictions is very high, after all, it can artificially cause ghost transformation, but it cannot bepared with the real ghost, it will not have the characteristic of not dying again after the death, normally one can only survive in the form of a ghost for four or five years, then that person will diepletely. But the advantage is that, after drinking the vial and turning into a ghost, it is not irreversible, as long as the body of the person who drank the potion is well protected, then if you are able to feed the antidote within the five-year limit, you can revert that person back to his/her original human form. Madame Maxime had indeed reached the point where she had no other way out, otherwise, she would not have risked killing her friend''s daughter by feeding Gabrielle the Draught of Living Ghost. Lavender and the group did not know what the Draught of Living Ghost is, but they heard the implication in Jon''s words. But they really didn''t care whether or not Gabrielle actually died, there was hardly a child on the wagon, and although the child is a ghost, it still made Lavender and the senior girls a little excited. Soon they took Gabrielle to tour around the wagon, while Jon went back to his dorm room with Neville to put his bags down. "After you and Professor Dumbledore left, the wagon seemed to have stopped once midway through due to some problem, although Professor McGonagall, Professor Potter and the others checked it out, they found nothing unusual." Neville''s tone was more casual when he said this, and he didn''t seem like he thought it might be a big deal. This year Jon''s rescue of the students from that castle had dissipated a lot of the original caution and anxiety that the students on the wagon had felt due to being in exile. After all, in the eyes of the students, Jon is indeed gifted in learning magic, but he is not particrly different from the other students. The fact that he was able to rescue someone from Hogwarts Castle after less than a year of infiltration, in addition to proving his greatness, also showed that the enemies in that castle are no better than that. This gave the upperssmen, who knew little about Jon, the illusion of "If I went there, I can do it too". But Jon clearly knows more. With Voldemort''s vengeful character, he is unlikely to be able to take such a big loss without a little counterattack, and now it is not the time to rx, but to be more vignt. This is something that Dumbledore and the other professors are also well aware of. Jon remembered just before getting on the wagon, Hagrid told about damage on the wagon enchantment to Dumbledore; the wagon stopping and the magic enchanted on it being damaged should all talk about the same thing. What exactly happened when the wagon stopped once in the middle of the journey, the professors obviously did not say much to the students. Jon also did not talk much about this with Neville, he put his luggage away, went to the great hall for dinner, and Ron and the group chatted for a while at the table about the interesting things he encountered on this trip to France, and he returned to his dormitory alone. He hadn''t really studied the gem he got from the castle library since he returned from Hogwarts Castle. The gem had long since turned from blood-red to a pale blue exactly like the original gem on the ring. Jon did not try to spare any hand when he finally left. As a result, all the magic energy in the gemstone was used up without reservation for just a levitation charm and a general counter-spell. The effect was naturally significant, Jon could be said to be unharmed under the joint attack of many professors in the castle, moving freely, although there are no effective means of fighting back, but he originally was not intended to kill anyone at all, and in the end, he managed to escape with Hermione, which is already considered to have exceeded the requirements of the task. What he said at the end, was not that he wanted to pretend to be cool or due to the indignation from working hard there, but there were so many students present that time, so he thought it would be a good time to say something like that. The more the Ministry of Magic wants to cut the presence of Hogwarts led by Dumbledore, the more Jon has to make a public announcement that there are still people in the wizarding world who are still fighting against Voldemort''s system. This may not let all the half-blood students see the nature of this pureblood supremacy theory, but it is possible to wake up a few people, making their originally submissive mentality change a bit. Even if there is only one person who can have such a change, then it is not a loss for Jon to say these words, and it can also leave a seed of rebellion in the hearts of others. The pureblood under the leadership of Voldemort may seem strong and difficult to resist, and this seed may never break the surface, but once even a subtle change urred in the situation someday, the scale is notpletely tilted to one side, then the seeds nted today will blossom, and when the timees, it may y an unexpected role. With the magic stored in the gem he was able to do so much, so Jon felt that this deal was not a loss, and besides, it is not as if he could not store magic inside in the future. And the most crucial thing is that Jon always felt that this gem retained more than just magic power alone. Previously, because of him being anxious about rescuing students from the castle, he did not have the time and energy to study it, and after he came back, he went out with Dumbledore for a few days, and now he can finally spare time to seriously study what is on this gem. If there is something else in it that he has not found, then Jon can only assume that the knowledge was absorbed together with the magic in the restricted books. Magic power is a carrier of the knowledge in the restricted books, but it does not mean that is all those knowledges. ----- [TL;] The potion that can turn people into a ghost seemed like an author''s self-creation, previously I assumed it as a modified Draught of Living Death, but the time limit and other info that the author gave in this chapter prove it isn''t any exciting canon potions, I searched Wiki and other websites to make sure of it; now I will edit the name of it in the previous chapters into Draught of Living Ghost. --- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 134: Sectumsempra Chapter 134: Sectumsempra Of the books included in the Restricted Section, except for the history books that were written with consciousness and unbiased views and facts that Voldemort wanted to seal, it is likely for other books to have some kind of forbidden knowledge on the subject of magic. It is also possible for such a book to need magic as a carrier of knowledge, or it may be simply the bad taste of the author and creator of that book (Grimoire). And this gem that Jon got from the library, has absorbed the majority of the magic in the restricted books. And the knowledge that relies on the magical power to be held could not have disappeared for no reason, Jon had a feeling that it is still present in this gem. He looked at the pale blue gem, thought for a moment, and then used it to recite the incantation of the general counter-spell, applying the general counter-spell to his own body. Now there is no more magic on the gem for him to use, this general counter-spell''s level is based on Jon''s own magic power. If the strength of the spell that hit his body did not exceed his own magic threshold, the spell would be cancelled, and the magic attached to it would be absorbed and stored by the gem for him to use for casting spells using the ring. But if the spell exceeds Jon''s magic threshold, then the general counter-spell he cast on himself would have no protective effect. Now that the gem is empty without a trace of magic left in it, Jon wants to try to get it to absorb some magic again and see if he can see some kind of difference. After using the counter-spell on himself, he held his wand and turned the tip to aim at himself. Then he recited a minor hex that would do little to no physical damage. The spell struck Jon without any surprise, but it did not produce a single reaction on him, which did not surprise him, because even if he cast the spell with his wand, he could still use the general counter-spell to cancel his own spell, and there was no reason for the ring to not work when he cast the spell. But even though the effect of the spell was cancelled, he did not notice any signs of magic growth in the second gemstone embedded in the ring. So, it''s not possible to absorb and store the magic he cast on himself into the ring. Jon stroked his chin and looked at the ring in his hand and fell into a moment of contemtion. In fact, when he thought about it, this is normal. The wizard''s own magic power is constant, the level of magic you have, you will be able to cast magic of that level. The ring can help Jon to enhance the power of a spell he casts, by utilizing the absorbed magic of others and Jon''s own magic together with a superimposed effect, to gain a boost. If the magic is derived from Jon himself, then it should not have any reaction to something that has the same root. After thinking about this, Jon became much clearer. He got up from his chair and was about to go out to themon room when Neville pushed the door toe back at this time. "The little girl named Gabrielle is not as afraid as she was when she first arrived, she has gotten acquainted with Lavender and Hermione, and even asks if she cane to the boys'' dormitory to y with you." Neville said as he walked in from outside. "I told her that Professor McGonagall has allocated her a room among the first-year girls'' dormitory, where she can spend her time resting if she wants to, without disturbing others at night, and she doesn''t have to attend sses at school, so she can y with you whenever she wants, but not in the boys'' dormitory ... " Neville said as he closed the door behind him, when he turned back, he suddenly found Jon looking at him with a glowing gaze that startled him. "Why are you looking at me like that? Should I ask Gabrielle toe to find you in our dorm room?" He thought Jon was upset that he had taken matters into his own hands without asking, but Jon shook his head decisively. "No, you''re right to discourage it; she''s only seven, but she needs to be taught the difference between boys and girls at this point in her life." "Then why are you looking at me with that look?" "Use a hex on me, Neville." Jon said seriously. Neville froze for a moment, then asked with a serious look on his face. "What kind of curse are you under? Do you need my help to break it for you?" "No, I want your help to cast a hex on me." A brief silence descended on the dormitory room, and it was only four or five secondster that Neville stared at Jon with a peculiar gaze. "You''re crazy!" "I''m perfectly sane." Jon didn''t exin too much to him, just continued, "It''s just a little experiment, you''re certainly not going to hurt me, and I''m not stupid enough to hurt myself. Use one of your best spells on me, hexes and jinxes are fine too." Neville has a high trust in Jon, and with the previous experience ofst year''s levitation charm, he also knows that Jon will always work on some unusual and strange spells. So, hearing Jon''s urging, he hesitantly took out his wand and finally asked. "Is full body-bind curse okay? I haven''te into contact with any hexes, but I did familiarize myself with practising full body-bind curse as you studied full body-bind cursest year." "No problem." Jon naturally had no objection. Neville did not hesitate any longer, he raised his wand at Jon, and Jon did not perform any protective measures. "Petrificus Totalus." Red beams of light shot out from the tip of Neville''s wand, hitting Jon''s body straight on. But the spell was like a stone sinking into the sea, not causing half a ssh, not only the full body-bind curse effect did not reflect the slightest, but even the impact force that should have been carried by the spell also disappeared. Neville blinked his eyes hard, he guessed in advance that Jon might be working on some magic research again, but he never thought that he would take on the full body-bind curse on his own body without even swaying a bit! Jon and Neville are roommates, so he naturally is aware of Neville''s magic volume, a little stronger than Ron, Justin and Lavender and the rest of them, but a little less than him. Therefore, the general counter-spell on his body can be effective against it is something that Jon expected, and the crux of the issue is the gemstone in the ring. He did not immediately exin to Neville why his full body-bind curse had no effect at all, Jon took the ring back to his hand and carefully observed the colour of the second gemstone, which he faintly felt to be a little darker than the previous shade. After that he quietly perceived it, and indeed detected a trace of wandering magic in the gemstone. And this magic power obviously belongs to Neville! But the magic is so weak that if Jon hadn''t been more careful, he wouldn''t even necessarily have been able to perceive it. Compared to before when he first got this gem when it was still crimson, it was as big as the difference between a drop of water and a river. But Jon''s focus was also not on the magic absorbed by the gem, he looked at the gem with his mind and always felt that the magic obtained from Neville''s full body-bind curse was connected with the title of a book on the gem on its own. The content of that book could not be seen, nor did he know how thick it is as if Neville''s magic could at best make it show the book cover. It took a lot of effort for Jon to finally read the title of the book. The Invisible Sword: Sectumsempra And under the title of the book, he also saw a familiar author name - Severus Snape! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 135: Index of Mobile Magic Restricted Books Chapter 135: Index of Mobile Magic Restricted Books The Invisible Sword: Sectumsempra. This is a highly well-known dark magic in today''s magical world. As the right-hand man of Voldemort, Snape invented and created several dark magic as well as potions that have been widely spread among the Death Eaters and the Aurors. The Invisible Sword is one of them. It is, in the minds of those Death Eaters who carved destruction into their bones, its status is enough to rank with the exploding charm and sting curse, as the best offensive magic spell below the three unforgivable curses. The speed of the spell is very fast, the critical hit rate is very high, the injury can be intense or light ording to the mood of the wizard themselves, and the injury caused alsoes with a curse effect, but it is not that there is no treatment for the curse at all. This spell was not hidden by Snape, and Voldemort wouldn''t have allowed him to hide such good dark magic, he wrote all the keys to learn this spell in a book, to circte it widely in the group of Death Eaters. And it makes sense that this one can also be included in the restricted section of Hogwarts Castle Library. The book that is now on disy in Jon''s mind, is such a book written by Snape. Jon felt excited. The source of his excitement was not just because he found this book "The Invisible Sword: Sectumsempra", but because the book cover that appeared as a result of absorbing Neville''s magic was telling him that the knowledge that was originally stored in Hogwarts library was not just lost due to the magic power was absorbed by the gem! Magic is the carrier, but not the knowledge itself, as long as the gem is "charged", allowing it to be filled little by little, then Jon will be able to obtain the knowledge of more than 80% of the magic originally hidden in the restricted section of the Hogwarts library. Hogwarts is the most ancient wizarding school in Europe, and its collection of books is certainly the mostprehensive in the entire European wizarding world, and restricted books are undoubtedly the most profound and dangerous group of knowledge that is stored in the books. Now more than 80 percent of the knowledge that was in the restricted section is hidden in this gem, which means that Jon has a portable library of restricted magic books. And the key to opening this library is the magic power of different people! The more powerful the magic power absorbed, the more magic knowledge he can acquire. Just like today, the magic of Neville helped to reveal the book cover of the restricted book written by Snape;ter on, the more magic he absorbed, the more contents of the books he would be able to obtain! Jon was a little impatient to put on a jacket over his body, and he looked at Neville, who was still frozen in ce and asked. "Are Ron and the guys still in themon room?" Neville snapped back to attention at that. "They should still be, when I left, they were helping to tutor Hermione and the new students in Transfiguration. Why did my full body-bind curse fail to work on you?" He finally couldn''t resist asking. "General Counter-Spell, a spell that we will learn in the third year, it has the effect of breaking mostmon spells, and the full body-bind curse is no exception." "But ... I clearly saw you made no movement to cast any spell?" Neville asked the biggest doubt. Jon walked up to him and didn''t bother to tell a lie to cover it up. "Do you remember the levitation charm that I used in front of you at the beginning ofst year? This spell is just like that levitation charm I learned back then, it has be slightly different." When he said that, as if he suddenly thought of something, he looked at Neville and asked. "Did you get the book I asked you to read at homest year before the summer holiday started? On gravity and Newton''sws?" Neville nodded and said. "I asked my dad to help me buy those books at a muggle bookshop in his free time, and he bought a few of those books when he came back, but ..." he scratched his head with some embarrassment, "but I couldn''t quite figure out what was written in it. " If it is purely a matter of figuring out what gravity is, this may not be difficult, but it is not that easy to get a wizard who has been exposed to magic since childhood to be able to ept this type of knowledge from the bottom of their heart. Besides, what Neville''s father bought him might not necessarily be a simple introduction to gravity-rted science books, but might involve a deeper level of electromaic force and force fields, which would be like a heavenly book for Neville, who didn''t have any natural science foundation at all. So from zero to get in touch with these for him, it really isn''t an easy thing. Jon wanted to try to use the change of ''will'' when casting the spell to achieve a different way of disying the effect of the same magic spell, to see if it could be achieved by other students. If it proved to be something that everyone could perform, then Jon felt that this type of altered spell casting would be promising and perfect for these students in the wagon. The vast majority of them are muggle-born, before being brought into the wizarding school at the age of 11, they all had elementary school education, which might not let them understand much detailed knowledge, but at least they have a theoretical foundation in natural science, which is quite a bit stronger than Neville, who never had any exposure to it since childhood. And in this year''s Hogwarts, there is a girl he rescued from the castle, one who was personally acknowledged by Dumbledore to have the ability to think more rationally and logically than most wizards do in the original book. It might be difficult for Neville to get started in the natural sciences, but there would be no problem for that girl in that regard. After leaving the dormitory, Jon went straight to themon room. Here only Lavender and Hermione remained behind to catch up on the history of magic, everyone else had gone back. After the students in the castle came to the wagon, the second-year students finally did not just have Lavender as a girl. Before she was staying in a dormitory with the third-year girls, but now she can naturally be assigned to live with the second-year girls. Hermione is her new roommate from the beginning of this year until graduation. The time was approaching 10 o''clock, and they were packing up their books and parchment, getting up to leave themon room when they happened to meet up with Jon who was pushing the door to meet them. "Good evening, can you do me a little favour?" He greeted the two girls. As long as the spells can be cancelled by counter-spell, then no matter what magic spell, it is all the same to Jon, because the students'' magic is still too weak, so he can only use the quantity to make up the quality and try to find a few more people''s magic to absorb. But the magic of the professors are strong, his general counter-spell simply has no way to deter the magic spell used by any of them, which makes it impossible to store the magic on that spell in the gem. Of course, if he consumes the magic power in the gem to use the general counter-spell on himself, he can improve the power of the counter-spell, but this is putting the cart before the horse, the stored magic power is consumed, what is the use of strengthening the counter-spell? With the excuse of doing spell experiments, the two girls Lavender and Hermione certainly did not refuse to help to cast a spell on him. And just after they satisfied Jon''s needs and the magic was absorbed by the gem, Jon called Hermione back alone. "Do you have some time tomorrow at noon? I want to do some research on magic and need some help to see whether my conjecture is true or not, and get some data along with it." ---- [Author;] I know theseyouts will make people feel a little dry, but these are really necessary info, simr to the first volume, it''s not as tense and depressing as the second year, and all the things I''ve written so far are useful information, not blindly written messy texts, these are all well nned, a few hidden foreshadowing are buried within. The biggest reason for people to feel like reading dry text is actually due to theck of updates, don''t worry, after tomorrow''s holiday I will definitely fill up the volume. --- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 136: Try Chapter 136: Try Hermione didn''t even consider it and agreed to Jon''s request. In these rescued students, Jon''s reputation is even higher than Dumbledore''s. Because before knowing who Dumbledore is, it was Jon who brought them out of that castle, and among these students, Hermione is the one who is most familiar with Jon. After all, it was the two of them who devised the whole breakout n, and it was Jon who rescued Hermione, so the two naturally became friends. That''s why for Jon''s request, Hermione didn''t even think about refusing. The next day, after the morning ss, Jon and Hermione walked out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts ssroom together. The driver''s seat of the wagon is a very good ce, only Hagrid is nearby, safe with no other distractions. "Did your elementary school on the other- muggle side cover the concept of gravity?" Jon did not go to elementary school in Ennd, and he was not sure if the previous lessons in the orphanage, and the elementary school outside had the same learning content. Hermione was a little puzzled about why Jon asked such a question, and she tilted her head for a moment to ponder the memories of her previous experience as an ordinary Muggle student, which had be blurred in her mind after these two years. But she is not a dumb person after all and has not forgotten all the things she learned in elementary school. "Gravity? We learned that in fifth grade." Hermione said with certainty, "In thest chapter of the fifth-grade science ss, the teacher specifically spoke about forces and rted knowledge, gravity, friction and the principle of leverage." Jon was not much surprised by this, the British have always attached great importance to the science curriculum, and there is already a ss since first grade, with six school years in total, the knowledge learned must be rtivelyrger. "So do you still remember the concept of gravity?" Hermione nodded hesitantly. "I haven''t forgotten what my teacher said ..." she turned her head to Jon, "but ... does this knowledge still have any role in the magical world? The fact that magic exists means that a lot of all that scientific knowledge and theories will be overturned." Jon didn''t say it outright, nor did he deny Hermione''s words, he just said casually. "I just have some ideas on that, so I thought maybe I could ask you to join me in giving it a try, and when we arrive at Hagrid''s ce, I''ll tell you what we''re going to do after we get there." They continued straight along the long corridor of the wagon and came to the opposite side of the Headmaster Dumbledore''s office at the end. The door leading to the driver''s seat was slightly left ajar as if Hagrid had deliberately left it like that for Jon. He pushed the door open and led Hermione out of the wagon with him. The breeze, which had been abated by a protective enchantment, blew past them, lifting a corner of their robes and the hair on their foreheads. The wagon is speeding along the edge of argeke, the wheels crushed through the tender green grass without leaving any trail of wagon or horse. The seemingly ordinary and dpidated wagon is actually enchanted with arge number of extra spells, otherwise, even if Voldemort does not want to cut off Dumbledore''sst hope, they won''t be able to survive in this crisis-ridden magical world for so long. Jon and Hermione came over when Hagrid was chatting with someone in the driver''s seat, and only when they turned around did they see that it wasn''t just anyone besides Hagrid, but Gabrielle, who had been brought to the wagon only yesterday. "Jon!" The little girl, who looked even more illusory in the light, greeted Jon with a brittle wave, and Hagrid brought out the ck tea and small dessert that had been prepared in advance after seeing them. "Good noon Jon, I thought you would bring Neville and the group here?" Hagrid smiled and turned his attention to Hermione, "I know this little girl, her name is Hermione Granger, right? A very brave girl. If that tattered hat could still be part of the school, she would be a most perfect Gryffindor." When Hagrid invited him, Jon told him in advance that he would bring someone with him, and before that Neville, Ron and the others all came with Jon to the driver''s seat of the wagon to chat with Hagrid, so Hagrid did not care about this matter. He just didn''t expect that Jon brought Hermione. Hermione can tell what Hagrid said was apliment to her, during the summer work in the bookshop, she peeked at "Hogwarts: A History", a forbidden book, so naturally, she knew very well that Hogwarts would previously divide the freshmen into four houses, as well as the characteristics represented by each house. She blushed slightly and reached up to run her hand through her long hair that had been blown in front of her face by the wind. "I''m not as brave as you say, you can just call me Hermione." Jon, on the other hand, looked at Gabrielle with a puzzled look and asked. "How did you manage toe to Hagrid?" "You all went to ss in the morning, and Gabrielle didn''t want to bother you, but it was boring in the wagon." She sounded quite happy, so she didn''t use the word "I" but called out her name. "And then Hagrid invited Gabrielle toe here to chat with him when he entered the wagon for breakfast." "This ce is really fantastic!" She looked like she had a great time chatting with Hagrid,pletely devoid of the nervousness she felt when she first got into the wagon, "Hagrid drove the wagon through a pasture in the morning! There were so many cows there, and when it got close enough, Gabrielle could even touch the cows'' horns!" After looking at Gabrielle showing no signs of being ufortable upon arriving at the wagon, Jon couldn''t help but smile as well. Who would not like an innocent little child? The driver''s seat of the wagon is veryrge, it is more than enough for Hagrid to lie down here, and now even with the additional Jon, and Hermione, as well as Gabrielle, who does not upy space at all in the ghost state, it still seems very spacious. Hagrid knew that Jon brought Hermione along to do some experiments, so he did not bother them, instead, he and Gabrielle used the long-handled fishing transformed using transfiguration in the other half of the driver''s seat, trying to get a fish out of the bigke around them at high speed. "I heard from Neville that you''ve learned the levitation charm quickly, and have fully been able to use it on your third day in the wagon?" Jon asked. Hermione pulled out her wand and nodded as she said. "Casting spells with a wand is not as difficult as casting spells with gestures, besides, the two different ways of casting spells also have a lot of simrities, so I learned it a little more easily. Hanton, Ariel and the rest of them have also learned the levitation charm, and Professor Filius is very satisfied with this progress." Jon looked at Hermione and asked tentatively. "So when you were learning the levitation charm, did you ever consider what kind of force this charm actually creates to exert its effect on objects and make them float?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 137: A Case Chapter 137: A Case Hearing Jon''s words, Hermione obviously hesitated for a moment, but then she quickly nodded her head slightly and said. "I thought about it. Magic is very magical, but all the knowledge I learned in muggle school is also objective, I have thought about why wizards and muggles obviously live in the same world but found twopletely different rules." "Aftering to the wagon, I also asked Professor Flitwick about this issue, Professor did not know exactly what rules the muggles found, but he told me this: because the wizard has magic, so it causes us and the muggles to see the world differently. Magic is like sses with a filter so that those who have it and those who do not have it see a different view respectively." Jon rubbed his chin, he had never talked to Professor Filius about these things, and the sses'' analogy is quite apt. ''So whether this world is the way we look with magic sses on or the way we see it without the sses on? Or are these both real, it''s just that no one has ever thought of connecting the two parts of the world with each other?'' He mused, thinking differently about his own application of natural science theories to magic. After chatting with Hermione for a while, Jon didn''t waste any time and got straight to the main topic at hand today. Compared to Neville, Hermione has received a proper muggle primary education and has systematically learned the science rted to gravity, which is basically simr to Jon''s situation, it''s just that Jon has been learning natural science for a longer time than her, and his knowledge is more in-depth. "Try to use the levitation charm, but when the incantation is recited out, your mind should not think that the charm can make the object float, but rather believe that the effect of the levitation charm is to directly control the gravitational force of the earth, the reason why the object going to float is due to the loss of gravity on it." Jon''s whimsical idea left Hermione somewhat dumbfounded as she held up her wand and asked unsurely. "Would that actually work?" Jon was patient as he looked at the wand in Hermione''s hand. "I''m not sure whether this will work for you, but it doesn''t cost anything to try, and with Hagrid around to help to keep a watch on things there is little risk, so you can try it out on this rock cakes right now." Although Hermione felt that Jon''s ideas are quite far-fetched, she still in ordance with what he said, and raised her wand, the tip of the wand pointed at the te of rock-like rock cakes. "Wingardium Leviosa." She recited the incantation of the levitation charm. Instead of thinking of making the rock cakes float, as Professor Flitwick had taught her in ss, she tried to define the nature of the "making objects float" process, as Jon had said so that the effect of the spell would actually interfere with gravity. However, in the end, nothing happened. Hermione''s levitation charm is obviously a failure, the rock cakes are still firmly on the te, and her incantation is standard and unmistakable, but it did not produce any effect. Jon saw the scene and his brow furrowed in confusion. "Do you feel anything?" He asked Hermione. Hermione shook her head. "No, there is no feeling, I just feel the incantation and waving of the wand are the same as usual, but the intent on casting the spell is extraordinarily screwed up, so when the spell was finished, I could already feel that the magic spell is a failure." Jon''s brow could not help but frown deeper. Regarding the modification of the magic spell, this result is a bit different from what he expected. When he first got the ring from Slughorn, he came up with such a way to modify the will and intent of magic to strengthen the effectiveness of the levitation charm, in which the wand and spell did not change, only the intent changed, and the final result was a sess. This made Jon think that such a sess is reproducible. After all, since he came to this world, he did not notice any difference between himself and others. Since the results can be achieved by him, then why can not be achieved by others? But now Hermione tried it in front of him, making him suddenly aware of another possibility. Perhaps it was not that he had found a pathway between magic and science, as Professor Flitwick said, the existence of magic is equivalent to a pair of sses with a filter, once you put it on, you will see apletely different world than before you put it on. These two worlds may seem to be the same, but in fact, they are worlds apart, and it is very difficult, if not impossible, to cause a link. And the reason he was able to seed himself was not that he discovered a new way of casting spell manifestation, but simply because he is a bit more special than others! This special levitation charm effect, only he can cast it, others even after listening to what he said, understanding the principle of gravity, and recing the ''will'' to cast the spell, they simply can not do what he did! Jon stared nkly at the front of the wagon dazed, Hermione looked at his appearance and thought he was devastated by the failure of his experimental attempts, and could not help but purse his lips tofort him. "You are already better than a lot of people just for thinking outside the box, Jon. Professor Flitwick told us when he was giving us a remedial lesson about how magic learning sometimes needs some whimsical ideas like this for wizards to progress in their research on magical spells and for the entire magicalmunity to keep moving forward." Jon came back to his senses, he did not exin much to Hermione, if indeed his personal speciality led to the sess of the spell, then it is not good to spread the word about it. But he has yet topletely reject his previous idea, after all, now only Hermione is an experimental subject, which may have other causes of failure, and it is still not certain that he is specialpared to everyone else. He needs to expand the scope of the experiment, let more students who understand the gravitational force, try to cast spells with this kind of ''will'', ande to an urate conclusion based on the results. This is not a difficult task, the least shortage on the wagon is muggle students who have received a natural science education, and among the second-year students in the same year as Jon, there is a boy who would have almost entered Eton if he had note to Hogwarts - Justin Finch-Fletchley. Just as Jon was thinking of expanding his experiment and asking Hermione to try another spell, a sudden shout of excitement came from Gabrielle on the other side of the driver''s seat! "You did it, Hagrid!" Hermione and Jon looked together in the direction of Hagrid, the coachman was excitedly holding a long fishing high, with a string of water drops from the dripping down theke to cause ripples to form. And inside the, a big fish is writhing, glistening in the bright sunlight! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 138: Hostility Chapter 138: Hostility No matter how many times she triedter, Hermione didn''t seed even once. Her situation waspletely different from Jon''s, obviously, there was no problem with the spell casting and the incantation, but the rock cake on the te just wasn''t affected by the spell in any way. Contrary to the failure on their side, Hagrid brought Gabrielle along theke and caught several fish in his, both of them were in a very happy mood. After the failed experiment, Jon and Hermione did not stay in the driving seat, they could not stay here too long as they had their afternoon sses after lunch. After saying goodbye to Hagrid and Gabrielle, the two went back inside the wagon. "This could be my personal mistake, not an error in your thinking, you can try again with someone else." Hermione stillforted Jon, Jon waved his hand unconcerned. "It''s okay, I''m not that fragile, it''s just a spell that didn''t work." Just as the two talked and pushed the door into the wagon, an abrupt voice suddenly sounded near them. "Who let you enter this door? It''s clearly written in the school rules that you can''t enter a room without a door sign in the wagon, don''t you guys know that?" Jon turned to look in the direction the voice hade from and spotted a boy with sses, trademark red hair and a Prefect badge pinned to his chest, standing just three meters away from them. Percy looked like he had juste out of Professor McGonagall''s Deputy Headmistress''s office, and happened to spot Jon and Hermione pushing their way into the wagon, and as a Prefect, he asked them with a serious attitude. To his attitude, Jon has no discontent, Percy''s character is a little unpleasant, but he also does everything ording to the rules, without Hagrid''s invitation, they really can''t open this door which leads to the driving seat. "We received Hagrid''s invitation, Mr Weasley, and it is also written in the school rules that with the permission of the faculty or a person in charge of the room, it is alright to enter a room without a sign, isn''t it?" Hearing Jon''s words, Percy did not immediately respond by saying something but looked deeply at Jon before saying in an inexplicable tone. "Don''t think you are entitled to privileges just because you did something for Professor Dumbledore, Green." Jon froze, and before he could say anything, Hermione jumped in front of him and looked at Percy with an unkind expression. "I don''t think Jon has ever thought that way, Prefect Weasley, he has never acted as if he ought to be superior." Percy didn''t bother to argue with Hermione, nor did he continue to stay here, he grunted coldly, then turned around and left. Looking at his back, Jon touched his head somewhat inexplicably, he could not remember when he had pissed off this Ron''s brother and did not understand why he seemed to be speaking as if he was targeting himself. But he didn''t bother to delve into this matter. Where there are people, it won''t always be harmonious, and there''s no way Jon can make everyone like him, and it''s Percy''s right to dislike him for some reason. Of course, if he continued to be hostile for no reason, Jon wouldn''t tolerate it because he is Ron''s brother. Jon and Hermione ate lunch together in the great hall, and he then once again thanked Hermione for her help before they parted ways. The end of the school year is getting closer and closer, and the study atmosphere on the wagon is getting more and more intense. Even the first and second-year students who were just rescued and brought here at the beginning of this year have to meet certain score requirements to officially enter the corresponding grade ss in the next school year, otherwise, they will be held back and have to join the new students at the beginning of next academic year. Jon was not on the wagon for the vast majority of this semester, and without the usual ssroom performance, there was no way for him to be exempted from the final exam and get his grades directly, as he was during thest school year. But even during that time at Hogwarts Castle, he was not entirely unproductive. He learned a lot of magic spells and transfiguration techniques under Aberforth''s guidance, so now that he has returned to the wagon, the second-year courses are easy for Jon. During this period, Jon still has not given up studying the modified version of the " levitation charm " matter. He asked Justin to give it a try, the boy who would have entered Eton if he hadn''t got brought to Hogwarts, knew even more about gravity than Hermione. But the result is still the same, after he changed the concept, there is still no way to sessfully use the levitation charm, not to mention like Jon, directly change the effect of the original levitation charm. This made Jon notice for the first time that he is special. When he got the ring from Slughorn, he heard him say that his ''will'' is much stronger than normal people, but such characteristics are not visible on the outside, usually, Jon only felt that he learned magic easier than others, but did not notice more abnormalities. Now it seems that the strong ''will'' brings him the benefit of not only faster learning of spells and the ability to use the magic ring that others cannot simply use, his ''will'' can even directly change the function of the levitation charm, which is a kind of transformation. It''s just that Jon doesn''t feel that such a gift is a blessing from the heavens. He vaguely felt that the reason why his ''will'' seems to be stronger than others most likely has something to do with the transmigration. Since there is no way to promote the modified magic spell, Jon didn''t dwell on it too much, nor did he stop collecting magic power from other students. In thest week before the final exam, he found some excuse to ask the students of the first to third year on the wagon and part of the fourth year to help and collected all of their magic, but he didn''t continue to ask fifth year students to help him as he had felt the limit of the general counter-spell already. In other words, Jon''s own magic level is just equal to the normal fourth-grade students, which is already considered a very high level of talent. And the collection of all this magic, lets the original light blue gem colour have some slightly visible changes, but it is still far off from the previous deep red. But after collecting all this magic, Jon finally obtained aplete picture of the restricted book that was written by Snape on The Invisible Sword: Sectumsempra. He did not rush to study it but took the time to copy down the contents, and then knocked on the Headmaster''s office door in the evening of the day the final exams began. Dumbledore was reading a letter and after seeing Jon walk in, he stuffed it back inside the envelope, looking slightly tired with a smile on his face. "Good evening, Jon. I heard about your Transfiguration exam today from Minerva, and you have performed very well." ---- #Halleffy Henryk Reis Santos, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 139: Dark Magic Chapter 139: Dark Magic Jon directly copied the knowledge rted to Invisible Sword: Sectumsempra on a notebook and ced it on Dumbledore''s desk and said straightforwardly. "Professor, I got something from that castle." Dumbledore wiped the frame of half-moon ss, and then put it back on, his eyes fixed on the notebook that Jon put on the table, and then he said with a slight surprise. "It is indeed a wonderful work." He looked back up at Jon, "Where did you get the knowledge on this notebook?" Regarding the ring, Dumbledore was obviously unaware of it. Slughorn also specifically instructed Jon when he gave him the ring, asking him not to talk about the existence of this ring with anyone, so Jon has also kept this promise. As for why Dumbledore did not ask him about this matter, it should be Slughorn who had helped Jon to patch up before leaving the wagon, after all, on the night the fat walrus stole the philosopher''s stone, Jon used the strange levitation charm once in front of Dumbledore, but Dumbledore did not ask him about this matter. "It''s something to do with a thing that Professor Slughorn has taught me before." Jon carefully worded, "when I was in the castle, many books in the restricted section of the castle library suddenly lost their magic one night, then I got to take the magic that was drawn out of these books, after which I only had to slowly charge magic into it now, and it would allow me to see the restricted books originally collected in the restricted section little by little." Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully as he took the Invisible Sword: Sectumsempra manual into his hand. "So, this is what you obtained after collecting enough magic?" "Yes, Professor." "Do you want to, uh, learn it?" Jon didn''t even need to initiate the conversation, Dumbledore had already seen the purpose of his visit this time. This is indeed the main reason why Jon took the initiative to inform Dumbledore about the existence of the restricted rook, he wanted to learn some useful and powerful dark magic including the Invisible Sword spell, which he certainly could not hide from this old man. There is no ce to learn these kinds of magic inside the wagon, and as long as he uses it in the future, it will definitely lead to a series of problems. So instead of waiting until after the doubt and suspicion ced on him, it is better to say things clearly at the very beginning, and Jon does not think there is anything wrong with saying that he wants to learn dark magic. The men of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix led by Dumbledore have already been crushed in many aspects, such as numbers and strength when fighting with Death Eaters and Aurors, yet can they still only use the stunning spell, full body-bind curse and disarming charm? Which has no lethal effect in the fight against their enemies. After watching their friends and rtives die one by one under the enemy''s magic spell, no one can suppress their inner hatred, just like Lily now. Dumbledore can pledge that he would refrain from using dark magic, but he has no ability and no reason to restrain others. Perhaps these rebellious wizards still have enough insistence not to misuse the three unforgivable curses, but for dark magic like the sting Curse, the Fiendfyre, they will never restrain themselves. Given such circumstances, Dumbledore also has no reason to prevent Jon from learning, at most, he will add some restrictions for learning. "I must first congratte you on acquiring a great fortune, Jon." Dumbledore said seriously, "The collection of books in Hogwarts castle is the richest in the entire European wizardingmunity, and those that are ssified as restricted books are invariably extremely dangerous and contain powerful magic as well as knowledge. If you can master all those books, I can guarantee that you can be more powerful than anyone else, but." His azure eyes gazed at Jon. "But the more powerful it is, the easier it is to get lost, and while the knowledge is tempting, not everyone can afford it. These words may not be persuasive, but I have to tell you." "I will not restrict you from learning the magic in those restricted books, but you have to learn to grasp your own level better, don''t lose your eyes for those false, seemingly powerful power." For such a response from Dumbledore, Jon actually felt a little surprised, he obviously remained rtively at ease towards him, using a verbal reminder rather than actual restraint. This probably stemmed from Jon''s performance during the second-year infiltration, causing Dumbledore not to worry too much about the tilting of his mentality. "I''ll keep an eye out Professor." He promised with a nod, then asked hesitantly, "Is it true that dark magic would affect wizards?" "As long as it is magic it will affect wizards." Dumbledore said calmly, "We will have to think all kinds of emotions and intent in our mind when we cast a spell, these emotions are the source of our power of magic, and most of the time, when casting transfiguration and some ordinary spells such as levitation charm, cleaning spell, full body-bind curse and so on, wizards have to believe that they could achieve that effect." "The reason, why dark magic is called dark magic is that when using this kind of magic, the wizard''s emotions inevitably be dark, with the desire to attack and hurt others. Once the use of dark magic bes a habit, that weak-willed will unconsciously change by the emotions of the spell casted, be irritable and easy to anger, believing that they can control the lives of others at will, the three unforgivable curses are one of the most potent curses that can affect our minds, that''s why, in the era of peace, it is illegal to use the unforgivable curse on people." "Now many people in the Order of the Phoenix use dark magic as their main offensive means, but I have specifically restricted the right to use dark magic for some people," Dumbledore said it quite frankly. "Most of them are more impulsive and can easily be affected by dark magic. Your performance throughout this school year has shown your sanity and calmness, Jon, I believe you canpletely control yourself, Horace also made a promise to me on this matter before he left, he said you are different from everyone else, even if one day your body turns hostile, you will never betray yourself. I trust him, and I trust you, so I won''t stop you." What Jon needed was this statement of assurance from Dumbledore. What hecked most at present is the offensive means, and dark magic is known for its extremely destructive power, and he is confident enough that he can control his own ''will'' and not be easily swayed by his emotions. Just when this conversation was about toe to an end, Jon suddenly noticed the name on the envelope of the letter that Dumbledore had ced on his desk, and Dumbledore noticed his gaze and did not put the letter away anymore. "Adele Rnd, you''ve heard the name before in France; I recently got in touch with her and learned something about the French magicalmunity." ---- #Halleffy Henryk Reis Santos, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 140: Dead and Alive Chapter 140: Dead and Alive "It''s not peaceful over there in France." Dumbledore didn''t shy away from talking to Jon about this kind of thing, after what happened this semester, he stopped treating Jon like an average second-year student. "They just recently went through a change of Minister at the beginning ofst year, and this new Minister of Magic is more inclined to fight for the interests of purebloods, and fond of using vile political tactics like putting all his political enemies in jail. This is how Gabrielle''s family, and Madame Maxime, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons, whom we met earlier, were all ousted from their positions and even fled France to save their lives." He reached out and tapped the envelope on his desk. "But even as Minister, he could not possibly control the entire French magicalmunity with one hand. This Lady Rnd, the current Chief Wizard Chancellor of France, is now his greatest political enemy, and the leader of the pro-Muggle camp. After returning from myst trip to France, I''ve been in contact with thisdy, and she''s working hard to hold parliamentary voting to oust the current Minister of Magic and stop him from taking the French magicalmunity down a wrong path." Jon''s face was filled with contemtion, his vision of the current international situation in the wizarding world is certainly not as urate as Dumbledore''s, but he remembered what had happened when they had first returned to the wagon not long ago. "Professor, is there something wrong with the security enchantment of the wagon?" Hearing him ask about it, Dumbledore narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked out the bright white moonglow at the window and said softly. "We just returned from France, and the defence of the wagon seems to have a slight issue, whether this issue is big or small, we still have to wait for something to happen to find out. The dark lord, will not swallow his anger readily, he will find a way to get his reputation and honour back from somewhere else." Jon knows perfectly well that this is the main concern, even if the situation in France is moreplicated, it will not affect the wagon, only the threat of Voldemort is close at hand. "Have you found something, Professor?" "In your first year, everyone thought that someone had infiltrated the Hogwarts wagon and secretly leaked its location and intelligence out, causing us to be pursued all the time." Dumbledore suddenly brought up the events of more than a year ago, his eyes reflecting the white glow of the moonlight along with some inexplicable meaning. "Now, it is quite possible that he did send someone to us or bought someone inside." Jon felt a little creeped out at his sudden remark. More than a month had passed since their return from France, and if what Dumbledore said is true, it means that an unknown person has boarded the wagon since that day. But it had been too quiet for a month. Jon even felt that this was the most rxed period since he entered Hogwarts, the students in the castle were all rescued, a kind and knowledgeable professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts came to the school, there was no hunting, no danger, everything was so peaceful ... Dumbledore certainly would not joke with him about such things. It was because he did not feel anything, instead of feeling mentally relieved, it made Jon feel rmed. "The Dark Lord sent someone to infiltrate the wagon? But why after all this time, he hasn''t done anything?" His voice was a little anxious. Dumbledore shook his head. "I have no answer for your questions, but ording to what I know about him, and a slightly more credible feeling that tells me what he would do. As I''ve told you before, for him, destroying this ever-moving school would take only some serious effort, but it wouldn''t be difficult if he wanted to. It is not difficult to find an opportunity in my absence to slip someone in unnoticed, but what he is nning, other than to kill me, I can''t think of anything else at the moment." The office fell into a brief silence, except for the sound of Fawkes pretending to sleep on the golden branch, the portraits of sessive Headmasters on the wall who were issuing a subtle hum also seems to be asleep. A few momentster, Dumbledore''s voice sounded again, his voice had remained t as if he did not care much about Voldemort''s counterattack. "Soon it will be summer holiday when there will be fewer students on the wagon, this may be an opportunity to screen the whole school once again." Jon did not stay any longer than necessary in the Headmaster''s office and returned to his dormitory before curfew began. Even though the wagon, moving with minimal bumps, it was unusually calm in the darkness, and Jon tossed and turned in his bed a little sleepless. After the final exams and before the holidays begin, a special event takes ce at Hogwarts at this time of year. This year is no exception. That afternoon the wagon drove to the seaside cliffs that appeared familiar to students from the second year onwards, and after they got off, they could see tombstones all over the ce. The tombstones, which were polished smooth by the sea breeze every day, had long since be rough under the wind and sun, but every name carved on them was exceptionally clear, as if they would never be erased by the long river of time. Many of the students who remembered the cemetery well found out that close to thirty tombstones had been added at some point, expanding the cemetery to arge extent. The students were silent as they stepped off the wagon and lined themselves up. Even the students who had just arrived at the wagon this year were infected by the atmosphere, and no one made a sound or asked a question, they just followed their fellow students and stood at the end of the line. Before the wagon pulled up here, there were already dozens of adult wizards standing in front of the newly erected tombstones. They were all wearing ck robes, each of them silently looking at those names on the tombstones, and after the wagon arrived, Dumbledore also brought the school professors to their side and stood with them in front of those new tombstones, looking at the name of those who would never return. Dedalus Diggle, Hestia Jones, Fabian Prewett, Marlene McKinnon, Beatrice, Danya The waves pped the reef, like mourning for the names of those who would never return to this world, and all the adult wizards put a white gardenia in front of those tombstones respectively, and all the hundred tombstones on this cliff were dotted with a faint white. Gabrielle floated beside Jon, she was also infected by the atmosphere, looking mournful and grasping Jon''s cuff with transparent hands. And Jon''s gaze was fixed on a tombstone that was older than those new ones and newer than the old one, on which the name of his teacher, who is still alive, was carved. What was on his mind were the words that Dumbledore said to him the night before. For the departed, the soul has returned to the dead, but for the living, the danger is never far away. ---- #Halleffy Henryk Reis Santos and #Gytis Ragelis, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 141: Gabrielles roommate Chapter 141: Gabrielle''s roommate After the summer holidays begin, the small number of students on the wagon who still have families will have a short, little home day for a few days. Although at the beginning of the holiday, Neville extended an invitation to him, it was politely declined by Jon. After learning a few things from Dumbledore, he wanted to stay on the wagon at this time to see what the results of the search would be. On the third day of the summer holiday, McGonagall had most of the students gather in the great hall in the name of cleaning the entire wagon, and then Filch took some of the senior students to clean each dormitory as well as themon room. The rest of the students thought it was just an ordinary cleaning, after all, there had been such activity on the wagon every time during the summer holiday. The "cleaning"sted all afternoon, and in the meantime, Jon was not idle in the great hall, even in the summer holidays, Hermione, Hanton and Ariel they have not rxed, still catching up on the knowledge they had left behind beforeing to the wagon, and Jon helped them with their studies. Gabrielle followed the upperssmen''s arses around in a big circle before returning to the great hall in boredom. "Unfortunately, all my roommates have gone home, otherwise I would be able to find them to y, they always take me to find something interesting." The little girl propped her chin up and plopped down next to Jon. Jon, who had just finished briefing Hermione on the key points of the Freezing Spell, turned his head to look at Gabrielle. "Your roommates? I was worried that the first years who were assigned to live with you would mind your presence a bit, after all, muggles are often a bit ufortable with ghosts, and now it seems like they are girls from a wizarding family. You guys get along well?" "Luna is fun to be around!" Gabrielle seemed happy to introduce her friend as if she were introducing herself, "Although a lot of the first years think she''s weird, she''s really, really nice to other people." "She likes to tell me stories about the Crumple-Horned Snorkack and will show me the wooden cork and dirigible plum essories that she wears most of the time, though I''m not all that intrigued by either of them." "And Ginny, she was also very kind, every time her mother sent her something, she would think of sharing it with us. But I can''t eat those cakes, cookies and sandwiches yet, so she promised me that when I be a human again, she would invite me to her house and let her mother cook all the goodies for me!" "But both Luna and Ginny went home for the summer, they are not muggle students, they both still have their own families in the magical world and can go back and spend a week with their families." Until today, Jon didn''t know who Gabrielle is staying with, Luna Lovegood, a little girl nicknamed Loony in the book, a girl with a great personality and perfect for making friends. As for the other Ginny Weasley, it goes without saying that the Weasley children are basically very decent, and the youngest girl in the red-haired family has inherited the best of her parents. "Sounds like they''re all pretty nice." Jon echoed Gabrielle''s words. Gabrielle said excitedly, "I can introduce them to you when they get back, they actually talk about you a lot privately in the dorm room." "I''m looking forward to it." *** The whole wagon inspection, finally ended before dinner, from the final look on Professor McGonagall''s face, this trip was obviously fruitless. Jon actually felt that this whole thing showed something amiss. If truly as said by Dumbledore, Voldemort sent someone to infiltrate the castle, then why there is no movement at all now even though two whole months have passed? So far no abnormalities have urred in the wagon, nor did any pursuers show up, which made it difficult to discern Voldemort''s intentions. The calmer it is, the more people who know the inside story can''t calm down, just like the sky always stays quiet before the storm, who knows what lies behind the gentle breeze. Jon remained vignt and never stopped learning magic. Since "reporting" to Dumbledore, he officially began to study the first restricted book obtained from the gem, the "Invisible Sword: Sectumsempra". This powerful dark magic was developed by Snape when he was a student at Hogwarts, so it is not that difficult to learn, but it takes a lot of effort to be proficientpared to other spells. Other than that, some of the basic spells in the second-year textbook ''The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2'' were not forgotten by Jon, who got a very high score on the Charms exam, and was praised by Professor Filius for his ''brilliant spell casting'', but even after the exam, Jon kept trying to master the second year spells. Because, in the magic spells, they learned this year, there is a very good spell - Memory Charm. If you just generally learn to use it, then this spell can only erase an individual''s memory at most, but if you master proficiency, then not only is it possible to erase a person''s memory, but you can also weave a false memory into the brain of the person whose memory is erased. But generally speaking, wizards who can have this level of expertise are enough to be called masters, and there are very few wizards in the magicalmunity who have studied this spell to its fullest. The Obliviator Headquarters in the Ministry of Magic is one of the most well-trained memory erasers in the country, and the Head of that division, Gilderoy Lockhart, is the one who personally performed the memory erasure and restructuring of the Muggle students at Hogwarts Castle. The fruitless clean-up at the beginning of the summer holidays made little impact on life in the wagon afterwards. None of the students who stayed on the wagon waspletely idle; the professors would hold clubs and tea parties at this time of the holidays, temporarily upying the astronomy ssroom on top of the wagon or the greenhouse full of flowers for some entertaining activities. Most of these activities were hobby-rted, such as Professor Flitwick''s "Wizard Chess Tournament", Lily''s "Flower Arrangement Tea Party", Professor McGonagall''s "Quidditch Theory Talk Club "etc., which basically did not involve studying, making the two months of holidays pass as if nothing had happened. One weekter, Ron, Neville, and the others, who had gone home for the holidays, had returned to the wagon. And in the first dinner right after they arrived at the wagon, Ron grumbled to them about what had happened at home. "Percy, he''s going to be Head Boy next school year, and he''s been bragging to us all day about that new Head Boy badge that the school sent him as if he couldn''t eat or sleep if he didn''t get apliment out of us for a moment!" ---- #Halleffy Henryk Reis Santos and #Gytis Ragelis, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 142: Brother Conflict Chapter 142: Brother Conflict "He scored better on his final exams this time and got top marks in not only those major courses but also in many elective courses. It was because of this kind of performance that he got the position of Head Boy this year." Ron didn''t look much happy for Percy, instead, he was full of dissatisfaction. "He''s really too mboyant, and he hasn''t even be head boy at school yet, but he ims at home that George, Fred, Ginny and I have to listen to him. It''s ridiculous that Mom still speaks in his favour as if she''s proud of him." Neville, as always,forted from the sidelines. "Percy senior also proved to be excellent, he has the best grades among the seniors and has always been the most observant student, if he wasn''t the student''s head boy this year then there wouldn''t be anyone else qualified for the position." "Of course, I know that. I''m not denying that he is excellent, but his attitude is really annoying. I guess when he bes the head boy in the future, he will ask everyone to obey his wishes!" At that moment, an abrupt, somewhat cold voice suddenly sounded from behind Ron. "Am I that bad in your heart? Ron." At the table, the second-year students all froze, then they all pretended to eat the food in front of them as if nothing was wrong, but the corner of their eyes was peeking towards the boy behind Ron who also had red hair, with sses and a cold expression. Ron couldn''t help but shiver when he heard the voice, but he soon calmed down and turned his head to look at his third brother. "I''m just being honest, Percy!" His face did not show any semnce of backing down, originally he showed the least respect to this one older brother in his family, although the others did not necessarily show it either. Percy, who had the head boy''s badge pinned to his chest, looked awfully scary, and the whole second-year table went silent, everyone felt ufortable from being looked at by him with such a gloomy gaze. Hermione unconsciously leaned toward Jon''s seat; Hanton seemed to be studying whether the pattern on his te was exquisite; Neville wanted to open his mouth to ease the atmosphere, but when he opened his mouth he didn''t know what to say; Lavender and Justine both kept their heads down and tried to pretend they didn''t exist in the face of such an awkward situation. The atmosphere on this side of the table even attracted the attention of the students at the other tables, and the two brothers George and Fred, who were sitting in the adjacent seats, looked this way. "Hey, what''s going on?" Percy didn''t continue to let the scene stagnate like this, his face still looked bad, but he simply said in a casual tone. "Then we''ll see." He then turned around and left the great hall all alone. After he left, the atmosphere at the second-year table gradually recovered again, and Neville sighed and spoke persuasively to Ron. "You should have just apologized to him, saying that would have made him step back in a more good tone, after all, he is the head boy when the school year starts." "You just didn''t see him at home." Ron looked angry too as he said loudly, "He always thinks everyone else should listen to him and thinks he''s better than everyone else, but all I can see is his stupidity!" Neville said nothing more, in the end, this is a Weasley family matter, even though it is Hogwarts. Jon remained on the sidelines watching the scene without saying a word, he did not open his mouth to persuade anyone, before it was clear that Percy''s attitude toward him is quite wrong, so Jon naturally did not take the initiative to jump out to participate in such matters. He didn''t think it is a big deal; the younger Weasley children are notfortable with their older brother, because he is a little too hungry for authority, and follow the rules to the extreme, which made people feel very ufortable to get along with him. After dinner, instead of going straight back to his dorm room, Jon went to the office of the new professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts ss that came to the wagon this year, Lupin. Remus Lupin turned out to be a very good Defense ss professor. He only officially started teaching in the wagon at the beginning of March this year but was liked by the students, at least his teaching level was not worse than Slughorn, and he was very easy-going, and if any students encountered some problems he would try to help to solve them. When Jon had just returned to the wagon from the castle, he had learned from Dumbledore the reason why he was able to sessfully rescue Hermione and other students from the castle, a big part of the sess was due to the infiltration of Lupin in Azkaban, as well as Sirius ck, two people, together organized a prison break n to pull the attention of the Ministry of Magic. They spent three years working on this n, transporting the wands of the Order of the Phoenix members to the prison ind, trying to help them reduce the influence of the Dementors, and teaching them the Patronus Charm, before finally choosing to start the prison break at noon on Thursday decided by Dumbledore for Jon. Lupin''s actions attracted the attention of most of Voldemort''s Death Eaters, including Hogwarts'' Snape and Barty Jr. all went to reinforce. That''s why Dumbledore had no way to give Jon more help, only let Kingsley and McGonagall over to pick them up, because Moody had to bring the rest of the Order of the Phoenix to assist Azkaban''s prison break n. Finally, without anymunication between the two sides of Azkaban Ind and Hogwarts Castle, the prison break was sessful at the same time students were rescued, through Dumbledore''s arrangements. Jon is well aware that he, Hermione and those children rescued from the castle, were indirectly assisted by Lupin and them, so just after a few days of returning to the wagon he specifically took the time to take a dozen students, including Hermione, who escaped from the castle to thank Lupin. Lupin weed them gently, without half a professor''s posture, and gave them a magic book on defence against dark arts, which allowed Hanton and other students'' good feelings towards this professor to skyrocket, since they had only received the attitude of disdain and indifference from those professors in the castle. In the rest of the second-year sses, Lupin appreciated Jon''s talent in magic and gave him a lot of guidance in private. However, his identity as a werewolf had not been announced yet, although most of the students on the wagon probably wouldn''t care much about his identity, after all, in the current magical world, the status of "mudbloods" is no better than that of werewolves. But perhaps because of Lupin''s personal concerns, he asked people who knew about the matter to conceal it. Every full moon, he would get off the wagon alone, to find a quiet ce to drink the wolfsbane potion Lily prepared for him, and then he would wait for the transformation to end before returning the next day. After the start of the summer holiday, he did not organize any hobby club due to this, then he taught him some knowledge about the Patronus Charm at Jon''s request. ---- #Gytis Ragelis and #Myles Mansfield, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 143: The Patronus Charm and The Invisible Sword Chapter 143: The Patronus Charm and The Invisible Sword Jon was very interested in an advanced defence spell like Patronus Charm. This spell may seem to be highly limited, only posing a greater threat to creatures like dementors without being able to kill thempletely yet, but in fact, in mostbat scenarios, a Patronus can be of great help to a wizard. It is by no means just an illusory entity, but an actual creature that is coalesced by positive emotions. And in future battles, the Dementors will certainly always be firmly on Voldemort''s side, and the sooner he learns this charm, the better it will be. Lupin did not object to teaching Jon the Patronus Charm, he was just a little surprised that Jon who only entered the third year wanted to learn such an advanced defensive art. But he also knew that the boy in front of him is far more talented and intelligent than his peers, so he did not refuse, and from the beginning of the summer holiday, he spared time for Jon toe to his office, to teach him about the Patronus Charm. Lupin''s teaching ability is not bad at all, not to mention the Patronus Charm is one of his specialities. During the three years he spent lurking in Azkaban, he taught more than thirty wizards imprisoned there to sessfully summon their Patronus to eventually break out of the prison. So he has a rigorous teaching system when ites to this charm. "In fact, if we have a dementor to cooperate with our teaching, to personally experience that feeling, you should be able to learn this charm at a rapid pace." Lupin''s face, which always looked a little pale, had a serious expression, as he always does when teaching, "However, we are not in a situation where we are in the middle of an emergency, so we don''t need to rush to speed up the progress so much." "Come on, show me a demo, Jon, and let me see how well you''ve practised this charm over the course of this week." Jon smiled as he took out his wand, and he followed Lupin''s words and cast the Patronus Charm. "Expecto Patronum." He waved his wand, recited the incantation, all in one go, and it was clear that he had practised frequently. But the tip of his wand only lightly emitted a silver wisp, there was no more reaction, but Lupin''s face already showed surprise at this, and he praised. "Very standard spell-casting movements and the pronunciation is precise." Jon, however, frowned at this as he stared at the wand in his hand. "Then why doesn''t the charm work?" "Because the Patronus Charm is very different from the other magic spells." Lupin exined to him, "This magic requires a very high level of emotion, and even if the casting movements and pronunciation are standard, there is no way for the charm to seed if the emotion is not enough." Jon pondered, "How can I make the emotion stronger?" "That would require you to judge for yourself." Lupin looked at Jon seriously, "You need to learn what truly makes you happy by yourself. Many things can create a happy and joyful feeling, but because everyone''s situation is different, they have different requirements for this emotion of happiness." "For example, for those adult wizards I taught in Azkaban, when I was teaching the Patronus Charm, their happiness at that time was simply the days before they went to Azkaban Ind. Every day before their captivity was unbelievably happy for them at the time because the despair the Dementors brought to them was unforgettable for life. That''s why I said that learning the Patronus Charm would have been much easier with the assistance of the Dementors when teaching." "But since we don''t have that now, you have to try it yourself, to find out what really makes you happy and pleasant. That''s the hard part of learning a Patronus Charm, Jon, because human emotions are not very discernible, especially about yourself, and it''s hard to tell how happy you are, and exactly which thing allows you to really gather hope and happiness together." Jon can understand Lupin''s words, the Patronus Charm is a ssic magic spell that depends only on the wizard themselves, there is no way for dark wizards with evil and dark hearts to learn this charm because the source of their happiness and pleasure is itself dark. There is no way to summon the most pure Patronus with emotions that take enjoyment in killing, torturing, and persecuting. This is not magic that can be learned simply by relying on talent, it mainly depends on Jon''s own understanding of himself, depending on when he can figure out what he is truly feeling delighted by. This whole thing wasn''t easy, at least Jon made a lot of attempts. He recalled how he felt in his previous life when he first entered the university, and also experimented with the feeling of learning lumency and ring casting with Slughorn a year before, but all yielded little sess, not to mention Patronus, the silver light emerged from the tip of his wand was only a faint three or four stripes. But although there is not much progress in learning the Patronus Charm, in the other spell The Invisible Sword: Sectumsempra, Jon has made rapid progress. He has been practising this spell for nearly half a month, Jon experimented with an old school desk, and he was able to use it to leave a half-centimetre-deep scar on the wooden table, which is enough to cause a fatal injury if it is reced in a key area of the human body. The effect of the Memory Charm is not visually obvious, this kind of magic spell can not be used freely on the human body, Jon also has no way to test to what extent he has practised it, but when he cast it on the experiment frog, it can make the memory of the dumb frog mistakenly think it is a fish, and sprawl on the ground on all four legs. The summer holiday passed gradually in this way. Still, no idents urred on the wagon, as if the spections that Dumbledore had mentioned to Jon before, were all his imagination. The two professors at Hogwarts, Lily and McGonagall, who were usually in charge of bringing in the new students, left the castle and went to look for all the magically gifted 11-year-olds ording to the names and information on the Book of Admittance that Jon had brought back to the wagon. Their target was only those students of Muggle origin, while students of half-blood and pureblood unless they were from the kind of families in which both parents knew them personally very well, they would not go to initiate contact. Since Dumbledore was able to get Jon to infiltrate the castle, Voldemort could certainly think of letting children of the right age into the wagon. This year, Lily and McGonagall''s recruitment of students has be extremely smooth, without the Book of Admittance and the Quill of eptance, it is not an easy task for Hogwarts Castle to even screen the children of the right age from wizarding families to identify whether or not they have magical talent, let alone find a needle in a haystack like a Muggle child. The fruits of what Jon risked his life to achievest year are manifesting little by little on the wagon. ---- #Gytis Ragelis and #Myles Mansfield, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 144: The Disappeared Person Chapter 144: The Disappeared Person In past years, enrolling students on the wagon was actually a rather difficult task There are only so many professors on the wagon, and every wizard in the Order of the Phoenix also has his or her own duties, so no one has so much free time to roam around in Muggle society all day. They can only try their luck with kids who are old enough to be 11 years old near the start of the school year. The good thing is that the poption of Britain is only so much, as long as you get hold of decent muggle poption information, and then carry out a screening process to find them by following the Ministry of Magic''s movements, there will always be some gains. And in the middle of this, many times you will inevitably run into professors who got admission duty from the castle, just like when Lily confronted Barty Jr. and took Jon from the orphanage. In the past, the annual admissions period was a thrilling one, and Lily and McGonagall, who were mainly responsible for this task, experienced an adventure almost every time they brought the new students into the wagon. Lily for some special reason, her situation was somewhat easier, but McGonagall has been on the knife''s edge many times. And from this year, they finally didn''t have to take the risk anymore and were able to go out and pick those kids back into the wagon long in advance. The arrival of the new students gave the bored students on the wagon something new to do. The children who have just started school and are ready for first grade have just lost their families and now need someone else to give themfort. Each new student from a muggle family, after being told that they are in fact a wizard and will be studying magic at Hogwarts, Lily or McGonagall will cast an erasure spell on their identity, which is simr to a Memory Charm. All traces of their existence in the world will be eliminated, including files, photos, and memories, as if they never existed at all. This is actually a rather cruel thing to do. It is said that at the beginning period of the exile, there was a great controversy in the school as well as within the Order of the Phoenix over whether to use such means of safeguards for the new students being enrolled. But in the beginning, when Voldemort just started ruling the magical world, the suppression against Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix was at its peak, the Ministry of Magic found the families of the Muggle wizards in the Order of the Phoenix without any bottom line and arrested them as a means to ckmail. These captured muggles, some sessfully saved, while some have be aplete pain in the hearts of some people in the Order of the Phoenix ... After that, no one had any objections to erasing the memories and existence of the muggle students, and after taking the muggle students away, Lily and McGonagall would properly deal with their parents and try to conceal the fact that they had a child and were picked up by the wizarding school. Today''s Ministry of Magic has no scruples when ites to dealing with rebellious forces like the wagon and the Order of the Phoenix. Once it is determined that a child is picked up by the wagon and will be raised to be a rebel with a "rebellious" mindset in the future, then they will do whatever they can. Most of these 11-year-olds are ignorant of the grudges and conflicts in the wizarding world and their special status, they only know that the appearance of Hogwarts professors has separated them from their parents. Generally, when conditions allow, Lily and McGonagall will give these muggle parents a clear exnation of the situation in the magical world and their children''s situation. After proving the existence of magic, they would show these muggle parents some of the Daily Prophets that had been published about the blood ss policy. Most of the parents were still able to see the reality, and they were more reluctant to let their children be a ve than to be separated apart from each other. And like Jon, muggle students who are orphans don''t need to have this aspect taken into ount. The vast majority of orphans with magical talent will have little affection for the orphanage that raised them, and in the mixed conditions of growing up without blood as a bond, these children are almost always isted from others because of their own unique qualities. And the orphanage is rtively special, the Ministry of Magic generally will not do anything to the adults and children there, so Lily did not lie to Jon at that time, even if an orphan from the orphanage was snatched in front of Barty Jr, the orphanage will not be in danger. All these students, like Hermione, who were rescued from the castle this year, on the night they were just received in the wagon, the group assisted Lupin in their breakout from Azkaban, Moody and other members of the Order of the Phoenix were not idle, they urgently moved Hermione''s parents toplete the erasure and get rid of the Ministry of Magic''s sight. The men of the Order of the Phoenix can only do these things to the best of their ability. The family of these children will be protected, and then they will inform these children, who have beenpletely forgotten by their parents and families, that there maye a time in the future when they can undo the erasure magic on their families to gain their identity as well as their existence so that they can be reunited with their families and walk in the sunlight in the future. This is the reason they were brought to the Hogwarts wagon, and it is the same ultimate goal for which the vast majority of Muggle students on the wagon are motivated. Not just for their own freedom and equality, but for their families as well! After the start of August, in less than two weeks, Lily and McGonagall have brought all of this year''s new students to the wagon, a total of nine Muggle students, ording to the Book of Admittance, all of this year''s age-appropriate Muggle students were brought in. Nine students were brought into the Hogwarts wagon, which means that Castle didn''t trick any of the "mudbloods" this year, coupled with the first and second-year students Jon brought back, that Castle has a full three grades of "mudbloods" vacancies. This is a very serious matter for Voldemort''s policy, after all, the key to improving the status of purebloods lies in the confiscation of the interests of half-bloods by purebloods, and to stabilize half-bloods, they are using the oppression of "mudbloods" topensate. Now that there are fewer and fewer "mudbloods", the bottom ss of oppression is gradually disappearing, and the half-blood wizards who were originally in the middle ss will be the bottom ss. This ss downward will cause huge chaos in Voldemort''s already stabilized rule. What he should reasonably do now is either try to find some way to destroy the wagon, even if he can''t kill all the students, he should try to ruin the existing teaching ce, or he should reim the Book of Admittance and the Quill of eptance again. But four or five months have already passed, but Voldemort did not make a single move, making it seem as if the book and quill being stolen, the students in the castle being rescued, and the prisoners in Azkaban escaping from prison had no effect on him. Jon always felt that there was something wrong with this situation, and the present tranquillity simply didn''t provide any peace of mind. And just when all nine freshmen were brought into the Hogwarts wagon, the students and professors on board were ready to give them a little wee ceremony in the great hall in advance, an unanticipated thing finally kinda happened! Percy had disappeared. His disappearance was discovered when Professor McGonagall was trying to call the head boy to help to manage the students in the great hall. No one knew where he had gone, it was as if he had evaporated and disappeared from the wagon just as someone was trying to find him. McGonagall immediately sensed that something was wrong, and she immediately gathered all the students into the great hall, and then together with other professors conducted a major search on the whole wagon, but still found nothing. Percy''s things were still in his dorm room, even his freshlyundered robe was still hanging by his bed, but he was gone. ---- #Gytis Ragelis and #Myles Mansfield, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 145: Image Chapter 145: Image A student is missing, the first time this has happened in the wagon since it went into exile. Moreover, Percy will be moving up to seventh grade after the summer break and is considered a half-adult wizard, not to mention that he has excellent grades and can be said to be at the top of his ss in terms of strength. Even if someone had sneaked into the wagon and abducted him, it would have been impossible without making even a little noise. The originally scheduled small wee dinner was cancelled, McGonagall after searching the entire wagon without any results, immediately sent a message to Dumbledore who was dealing with other matters in the Order of the Phoenix, and soon Dumbledore came to the wagon with a pale Weasley couple. Apparently, at the time when the message was received, Ron''s mother and father - Arthur Weasley and Molly Weasley were with Dumbledore, so the moment they learned of their son''s disappearance, they also followed to the wagon. In the Headmaster''s office, the professors all came here, except for Hagrid, who was driving, and Filch, who was watching the students in the great hall. Arthur and Molly fidgeted, especially Molly whose eyes were a little red, but at least they kept their basicposure and listened to the professors sort out the day''s situation. "Percy was not found on the wagon, the odds of him being no longer here are high." McGonagall''s voice also became obviously a little anxious, it is clear that she actually cares a lot about Percy''s well-being. It''s not that she''s partial to Percy, she would be this nervous if it happened to ANY of the students on the wagon. Lily''s voice, on the other hand, was much tter. "I brought thest of this year''s freshmen back to the wagon this morning, and that''s when Hagrid stopped once. The firece on the wagon was only connected to the floowork in Grimmauld ce, and there was no way to use the Apparition inside the wagon, so without the assistance of others, he could only have left the wagon at that point." Arthur took a deep breath, his thoughts were fairly calm. "Why did he need to leave the school without a word? When he came home some time ago, he was obviously happy about being a head boy when school started, and kept bragging to his younger siblings about it." "You forget, Arthur." Molly''s eyes were red, "He had a big fight with Fred and George before he went back to school from home, saying they had no respect at all for him as a brother." "They''ve had a lot of fights like that before." Arthur shook his head and sighed, "I hardly think this one is any different from the previous ones, and even if they had a falling out between brothers he shouldn''t have left school, now where would he go?" "He might have gone home to visit us?" Molly spected with a hopeful tone. "If that''s true, then we should have seen him at home at noon, he would have apparated and gone home in less than a minute after leaving the wagon if he had wanted to go home." A short silence fell in the office, Dumbledore did not participate in the spections between them but kept a thoughtful face looking at the firece, it is not clear what he was thinking. It was only when everyone had quieted down and looked at him that he turned his head to Filius and asked. "You said earlier that you found a robe Percy left behind in his dormitory?" Filius nodded. "It is a Christmas gift he received from the schoolst Christmas, and I found two things in the pocket of the robe." Six eyes turned to him in the Headmaster''s office, and Filius pulled a small ss vial and a badge out of his own pocket and ced them on the desk. It was the same head boy badge that Percy had just received over the summer, and the vial contained a one-third vial of shiny green powder that looked a lot like floo powder. "I checked this badge together with Remus, there''s no trace of any spell on it." Filius said, "but neither of us recognized what the powder in that vial is, at first I thought it is just a normal floo powder, but Remus pointed out to me that this thing is different from the floo powder, it does not seem to be connected to the floowork." Dumbledore''s gaze paused for a second on the head boy badge, then he looked at the vial of powder that was suspected to be floo powder. He picked up the ss vial, pulled the cork out, put the mouth of the vial to the end of his nose and sniffed lightly. "This is a variant of floo powder." He said, "Two years ago, the same magicpany that made the floo powder introduced a new product. By cing the powder on the firece, you can record an image on the fire, and if you want to see that image, you just have to sprinkle the re-collected powder into the firece. But because the practicality is not high, it is very troublesome to re-collect the powder, so most wizards do not have much demand for keeping the image, and it was no longer in production after just under a year on the market." He put the ss vial back on his desk, and Arthur and Molly''s eyes were locked on the small ss vial. "What message Percy was trying to leave us?" "Percy never left the wagon during the time this was on sale, as far as I know." Dumbledore crossed his arms, his gaze deep, "you guys even didn''t have heard of this thing, so it couldn''t have been something he brought to school from home, so even if he wanted to leave a message for us, how did he get this thing?" The Headmaster''s office abruptly went silent, and all the others obviously followed Dumbledore''s train of thought. Molly''s face turned frighteningly pale. "I, my son-he must have been abducted!" Arthur''s lips were trembling, but he still grabbed Molly''s hand, reassuring her that he is still with her, and he did his best to remain calm and said. "Whoever left this behind, let''s take a look at it, Dumbledore." Dumbledore nodded, and he handed the ss vial to Lupin, who dumped the powder from it into the firece that had been extinguished in the summer. And the moment the powder fell into the firece, green mes rose up, and soon, the mes formed a familiar face, which appeared in the firece. This person is none other than Percy, who disappeared from the wagon! Seeing the familiar face that could not be any more familiar, Molly''s tears flowed down from her eyes. Everyone in the Headmaster''s office was looking at the boy who was nearing adulthood, wearing spectacles and has a slim build. The faceposed of green mes could clearly shows that he looked very cold while recording this image. He looked ahead as if he were looking at all the professors and his parents in Hogwarts in person. "I have always believed that outstanding people should acquire more power and privileges, Professor Dumbledore." ---- #Gytis Ragelis and #Myles Mansfield, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 146: Ambition Chapter 146: Ambition "This should have been a matter of course." His voice was as cold as an Arctic cier floating in the ocean. "I assume that you, Professor Dumbledore, also made me a Prefect because you recognized my excellence, and at the present, you have also made me Head Boy. But most of the others on this wagon don''t seem to think so." "My stupid brothers, who have never recognized that the best deserve the right tomand, are even belittling those who are progressing and denying that I am better than them, and not just them, but many others in this school think like that." "They reject the leadership of the best, they put their personal senses and emotions first even though we are in such a tight situation, they treat a student who just started his third year of school with great respect, but they never regard me highly, the soon-to-be head boy of the school!" There was silence in the Headmaster''s office. The tension on McGonagall''s face was gone, and she frowned; Lupin''s face was as calm as it had been at the beginning; Flitwick shook his head in silence and sighed the moment the zing Percy opened his mouth to say his first words; and Lily''s gaze turned cold, and her expression looked much colder than Percy''s. Molly covered her face with both hands, and tears continue to slide down her arms from her palms; Arthur looked serious, he looked at Percy''s face, as if he was looking at his son for the first time in such a strange demeanour. Dumbledore, on the other hand, had no change in expression from start to finish, even though Percy was clearly talking to him in this image he left behind. "I couldn''t see a bit of a future, you know! There is no future in staying on this wagon!" Percy''s voice became louder, and his emotions began to re up. "Obviously I''m working harder and better than everyone else, yet I''m not receiving as much as I deserve! After I got the head boy badge, I was ted at first, but after I calmed down, my reason told me that this badge has nothing to bring me in the future!" "What would I get even if I graduated from this wagon with the status of being a head boy? Is it possible to enter the Ministry of Magic with it? Or to join the Gringotts? Nothing! Nothing! I would still remain a wanted criminal! No matter how good I am, no matter how good my grades are after I graduate, I will only have one way out, just like those low-performing students-" "To fight against an entire magical government with an organization that has no future, zero prospects, and little respect! To be a street rat in the magical world with an obvious noble bloodline!" "Bang!" The sound of a door closing rang out in the Headmaster''s office. Lily expressionlessly walked out of the door as soon as zing Percy uttered these words like she didn''t even want to listen to another word further down the line. Molly had buried her face in Arthur''s shoulder, her body still trembling along with her sobs, like she simply couldn''t ept that her son had be like this. "My parents, my brothers and sister, they may be willing to ept this kind of life, but I have to think a way out for my own future, Professor Dumbledore." Percy''s voice suddenly calmed down, and his change in tone conveyed that what he said next was not an impulsive decision, but one that had been well thought out. "I don''t fully agree with the theory of bloodline supremacy, but since that gentleman is fighting for the interests of pureblood wizards, why should I, as the person who gains the benefits, oppose him so much? The world is bound to change, and that gentleman''s take-over of the magical world has be a major trend, and it can''t be changed by someone rescuing a few students from that castle." "I don''t want to be crushed by the wheels of the times along with the faithful old folks, why should I continue to wait for my death?" "I know Professor Slughorn is not dead at all, he can see more clearly than any of you, as I can, and has joined the right side, gaining status and position second only to that gentleman. It''s a good thing, when I go there, won''t we both be the same, same pure blood, same controversial past, same repentance." He did not explicitly say what he was going to do, but these words, even if you let a first-year studente over, he/she would be able to understand the meaning. "I will not forget what I was taught at this school, and because of that, I am not going to stay on the wagon, I am going to do something that will be more beneficial to my future." Percy looked at everyone with cold eyes. "Purebloods are not necessarily all superior, but I will prove to all what kind of respect my abilities would have earned me if I had been in another ce! And what kind of power and status such respect would get me!" "We''ll seeter, let''s wait and see." As his final words fell, in the firece, the human face made of green mes gradually went out and dissipated, and an inexplicable silence returned to the Headmaster''s office. Molly nearly fainted from crying in Arthur''s arms, and there was sadness on Arthur''s face, but it became increasingly gloomy. "It''s hard to believe- Unimaginable." McGonagall''s face was stern, she was obviously angry with Percy''sst words, but she could not say more because of the presence of Arthur and Molly. Flitwick sighed again, he lowered his head and murmured in a downcast voice. "When children grow up, they will have their own ideas." Lupin shook his head. "But such ideas, I think it''s better not to have them." Arthur gently patted Molly''s back, he looked up at Dumbledore, who had a calm face from start to finish, without a slight change in his expression. "I''m sorry about Percy, Dumbledore." Dumbledore finally reacted, he turned his gaze to Arthur and spoke. "No need for that, Arthur, from a personal point of view, what Percy said was not wrong, there is no future in following us, what he wants, we all have no way to give him." "But the things he wanted at the end; whether he went to get them on his own ord, or whether someone else gave them to him generously, that''s still a different story." Arthur froze, Molly also raised her watery red and swollen eyes to look at Dumbledore. Dumbledore''s gaze was deep as he spoke with a stony voice. "Percy may indeed have had this kind of thought earlier, but it''s absolutely not this extreme and radical. The powder he used to record the image, the way he left the wagon without a sound, the information that he learned about Horace not being dead, and the look of confidence that he could get more benefits for himself if he left the wagon right now." His voice became heavy. "Someone bewitched him while he was still in the wagon, incited him, and gave him assurances on behalf of the Ministry of Magic about his future after he left us!" ---- #Myles Mansfield, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 147: Strange Betrayal Chapter 147: Strange Betrayal "The Dark Lord won''t be willing to endure the loss that happened in the first half of the year, he''ll certainly find a way to get it back, and now it seems he''s already making moves." Dumbledore''s words left the Weasleys frozen in their seats, Arthur quickly reacted as he asked with a sharp voice. "Are you saying that someone in the wagon was inciting Percy to betray us?" Dumbledore looked at him and said with a relieved expression. "It''s not that much of a stretch Arthur, Percy did not act in a harmful way towards us, he could have done more against us to get closer to what he desired, but he must have refused to do that, he just believes now that the future is on the other side, and he is trying to go the way he thinks that is beneficial to his future." "Percy is not the one who caused us the problem, it''s the problem itself, it''s just that the problem has happened and there''s nothing we can do to change the oue, but the person who created the problem apparently still might be on the wagon." "Perhaps he infiltrated the wagon way early on, but we never found him until this time, when he started making moves and somehow made contact with Percy, which then intensified the resentment he had in his heart against us." Molly wiped the tears from her face, although she was sad and upset about Percy''s betrayal, she had not lost the ability to think. "But why did they choose Percy? Even if he usually performs well in school, how does abetting him to betray us will affect us? And what good will it do to the Ministry of Magic? This not only reveals the information of the man who infiltrated the wagon, but also does not change the current situation half a bit." Lupin pondered and replied. "Could it be that they are trying to use Percy''s betrayal as a model, and after he joins the Ministry of Magic, he will be grandly reused, and the Daily Prophet will make a big deal out of it? Few purebloods families are more inclined towards us from the past, but their children and grandchildren may not necessarily share this view, and Percy is setting a benchmark for them, and the attitude of the Ministry of Magic towards him will indicate that they will not pursue or even focus on this as long as they are purebloods who are willing to serve the Dark Lord, even if their families are standing in an opposite side to them." His words did offer a possibility, but simrly, McGonagall offered a different view. "This is not in line with the nature of the Ministry of Magic as well as the Dark Lord, Percy''s matter can indeed set a benchmark, but it can''t have much impact on us now, in terms of public opinion they may be able to make a lot of noise by using this matter, but in fact, we never had any say in the sphere of public opinion. If they really want to make some kind of retaliatory response to what happened in the first half of the year, this is a bit like a p of thunder without lightning." Percy''s betrayal, especially this image he left behind did strike a bitter chord in the hearts of both the Weasleys and the professor on the wagon. But to be honest, the actual significance of his betrayal is not really very significant, even if he is indeed the best performer among his peers, he is not so great that one person''s movement can change the current situation. If the person he was in contact with had used the Imperius Curse to force Percy to do something more outrageous on the wagon or even more ruthlessly kill any of the students in the school outright, the situation would have been much worse, and the blow to both Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix would have been enormous. But now he chose a choice that can be said to be a minor "revenge" tactic, it made people feel very iprehensible. But no matter what the reason behind this matter is involved, the fact that Percy has betrayed them can not be changed, Arthur took a deep breath and bowed his head to Dumbledore and said. "I am deeply disappointed that my son made such a decision, Dumbledore. I am sorry." Dumbledore naturally can''t have any prejudice against the Weasleys because of this incident, so he said in a broad tone. "It''s not your fault, every people will have different opinions for sure, he just went and chose the path he wanted to go down, even if we all thought it would be the wrong one." "I want to postpone my duties over in France for a while." Arthur grabbed Molly''s hand, his mood was obviously low as well, "To take Molly out for a break, and, if Percy did actually join the British Ministry of Magic-" Dumbledore interrupted with a serious expression. "He will not affect you, Arthur, everyone will not suspect you, that I can guarantee." "Of course, I know that, I''m just trying to do this for my own mind." He looked up at Dumbledore with a hint of pleading in his gaze, "A littlefort to us, I suppose." Dumbledore remained silent for a moment and ultimately nodded. "Well, I respect your opinion, I will ask Sirius to bring someone to take over your duties." After determining Percy''s ultimate destination, the Weasleys didn''t stay long in the wagon; they didn''t visit the other children who are still at school because they simply didn''t know how to inform them of such an oue. And after they left, McGonagall inquired Dumbledore. "Is it possible that Arthur and Molly are going to meet Percy alone?" Dumbledore somewhat wearily took off his sses. "Don''t worry let them make their own decision, if there is a need, Arthur will never hide it from us." "Then if the Daily Prophet reportster about Percy joining the Ministry of Magic, should this be hidden from the students on the wagon?" Dumbledore shook his head. "This is not the same as the Horace case, we are protecting these students, not cutting off their ess to information from the outside world. If we always just selectively tell them some information, then sooner orter when they find out everything, they will lose trust in us." He did not say exactly what is different between this time and the time of Slughorn, but McGonagall also did not ask more questions, she faithfully carried out the task given to her by Dumbledore. Later, things did develop as they had predicted in the Headmaster''s office. The next day''s Daily Prophet headline was about Percy "making the right decision" to join the Ministry of Magic. The third son of the Weasley family, from the famous pureblood traitor family, had turned himself in and gotten a pardon, and then Minister Fudge hired him as the new head of the Improper Use of Magic Office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The wagon did not hide this matter, just at noon on the fourth day of Percy''s disappearance, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny, who were still a bit worried about Percy''s disappearance, had all read the article. A parent of a half-blood student sent that day''s daily newspaper to the wagon, and that day, the entire school students all knew where the missing Percy had actually gone. At the very noon on that day, the Weasley children who were on the wagon all gathered together. ---- #Myles Mansfield, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 148: Three investigations Chapter 148: Three investigations "Disgraceful traitor!" George said through gritted teeth, and Fred''s face was gloomy as he said "If he wanted to do this for so long, then why does he still have the face to show us that head boy badge of his at home!" Ron clenched his fists, he didn''t lower his voice, half of themon room could hear what he said. "And he also said let''s wait and see! This is what he wants me to see him do? A shameless betrayer, a hypocritical viin!" For her part, Ginny, who is only 11 years old, sat with a sad face beside her brothers and did not speak. Everyone else in themon room tried tofort them for a few moments, and no one was going to pin Percy''s actions on the rest of the Weasley children. The students on the wagon were not all that hostile to take these things out on others, not to mention whether it was Fred, George, Ron or Ginny, they all got along well with their fellow ssmates. "He didn''t do anything bad to us, too." Neville struggled to find the words tofort him, "He left quietly, probably just felt he is different from us." "Different from us?" Ron sneered, "He''s just doing it for his ambition to be superior! He''s always thought he is different from all of us,ining that mom and dad took our family to live in nowhere, saying that we at least had Burrow before! So he chose to be ackey of the Ministry of Magic? To be a noble pureblood who manifests his status by oppression and very?" The crowd around fell silent, no one could refute Ron''s words, he was indeed right. Even if Percy had just left the wagon without doing anything adverse to anyone on the wagon, his choice today would be enough to make everyone in this school resent him. He stood on the side of the Ministry of Magic, and even joined the Ministry of Magic that enved and abused the Muggle wizards, what kind of status he had for the Muggle-born students who had been his ssmates on the wagon in his heart before? This made Ron and the rest of the Weasley children feel ashamed, and even if no one on this wagon wasining to them, they would not be able to hold their heads high about it. Jon felt some surprise and also not surprised after knowing Percy''s whereabouts in the end. Not surprised because, in the normal development of the plot, this ambitious and power-hungry boy will also part ways with his family, in the current situation of the Order of the Phoenix led by Dumbledore where there is no way out, he will naturally have grievances in his heart. Some surprise because, like the professors thought, he felt something was wrong with Percy leaving the wagon just like that. Even without seeing the image Percy left behind, with just the previous conversation with Dumbledore, Jon could guess that his departure must be rted to the person who infiltrated the wagon. The original Percy even if he got grievances, he did not have enough courage to betray them and go out, so there is definitely someone behind the scenes, contributing to the events that happened. But since he had been able to get in touch with Percy and entice him to betray, then why not try to do more? This is like in wartime, one side of the spy corrupted the excellent cadet in the military academy of the other side, but without waiting for him to y a greater role, he directly helped him to defect before he even grasped the power and even before he graduated. This not only does not help to reap any benefits but also exposes the evidence that spies do exist. No matter how you look at it, this is not normal. Unless the person who infiltrated the wagon, and Percy established a deep feeling, so he was unwilling to see him continue to suffer even one day in this ce that does not fit with his vision, and simply wanted to help him escape from the suffering, so he did this. But such a style of painting, no matter how you look at it, feels wrong, not to mention whether there is such a person in the Ministry of Magic and Voldemort''s side, even if Percy truly does not share the same beliefs as other students to a certain point, it is not that unbearable that he can''t stay on the wagon for a while. Dumbledore and the group couldn''t understand this matter, so naturally, Jon also couldn''t figure it out. But even if they do not understand the reason for this, things have happened. Percy''s betrayal really did not cause any substantial impact, other than making the students of the wagon indignant for many days, these young children apparently most disgusted by the act of betrayal, no one is willing to mention his name, which even affected the opening of the new school term as they can''t find anyone to rece Percy as head boy, no one seems to want to inherit that position. Eventually, a seventh-year boy was reluctantly appointed as the head boy under McGonagall''s persuasion and assisted the professor in managing student affairs in general. After that, Dumbledore did not treat the incident as if it had never happened, since that person could instigate Percy, it means he can do more things on the wagon. This is different from the Slughorn incident that happened in Jon''s first year, when the whole undercover presence in the wagon was just a sham, whereas now it''s obvious that someone really did somehow infiltrate, and it wasn''t Dumbledore''s arrangement. On two asions before the start of the school year, the wagon found a suitable spot to stop, allowing all the students to leave the wagon for a while, with the professors checking every room, but without any luck. It was as if that person had be a ghost as if no one would ever be able to find that person if he/she did not want others to see him/her. And after Percy left the wagon, and even after two sessive fruitless searches, no other idents happened again. As if that person''s purpose had been achieved, Percy''s betrayal was what he ultimately wanted to do, after which hepletely disappeared from the wagon. But the professors didn''t just rx, they scheduled a time to conduct a third search on the wagon on the night of September 1, the day of the orientation dinner for new students. They must ensure the safety of this school, because the students living here, is all their future hope, if they have an ident, then the person who bes unattached is definitely not only Dumbledore, there will be many people in the Order of the Phoenix will be aplete desperado. The professors did not hide this matter, the students were also briefed about the dangers on the wagon, everyone was asked not to move alone, even to thevatory to prevent idents urring with a minimum of two people going together. It was in this way that the whole wagon was in a state of rm, and this year''s orientation dinner began in a field with a great view, which was specially chosen by Hagrid. Early in the morning students left the wagon, to prepare food on the meadow, and in addition to McGonagall who stayed to watch over them, other professors, including Dumbledore, were all in the wagon for the third round of inspection. ---- [Author;] This volume is a bitplicated, but also the beginning of another big event, I will write more slowly, let me slightly adjust two days before adding more! -- #Matthew Lepcha, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 149: Ash and Silver (2 in 1 Chapter) Chapter 149: Ash and Silver (2 in 1 Chapter) "Did the mole who infiltrated the wagon leave with that traitor." Ron spected while chopping an onion. He was now reluctant to even mention Percy''s name anymore, using the term traitor as a substitute. Compared to the others, Neville, who was also obviously much more perceptive, cleaned the potatoes and shook his head. "That mole''s purpose couldn''t just be taking Percy away, it wouldn''t make half as much sense as him staying on the wagon and reporting our location to the Ministry of Magic at all times." "I''m scared to sleep alone these days, and have to squeeze into a bed with Hermione." Lavender said irritably as she walked over carrying a bucket of water. Hermione, who was whipping the cream, turned her head and looked at her helplessly. "Tonight we have to take two quilts, you always like to wrap the whole quilt away in the night, I am about to catch a cold." "Actually, even if we don''t have a clue who that person is, we don''t have to be too nervous." Jon said calmly, "When he helped Percy to leave the wagon, if he really wanted to make any harmful action against us, he should have done it long ago, not waiting until everyone now went on their guard." He put the potatoes that Neville had washed and the onions that Ron had chopped into arge pot, and then carried them together with Justin toward Hanton and the others, who were boiling arge cauldron of hot water. "Let''s all wait for word from the professors, hopefully, today''s search will yield some positive findings." Throughout the day today, they were preparing for a sumptuous dinner tonight, of course, because of the rich ingredients prepared for the night, the lunch was not half bad, and the ce where the wagon was stopped was charmed by the professors with Muggle-Repelling Charm, so as long as they don''t leave the designated area, the students here can freely move around without fear of being discovered by anyone. And at lunchtime, Dumbledore and other professorse down from the wagon, looking at Professor McGonagall and their faces, most students can guess that in today''s search, it is estimated that there are no valuable clues again. This is not quite a normal situation, especially since Percy''s escape from the Hogwarts wagonst time, the protection measures on that wagon are quiteprehensive, unless Dumbledore and a certain professor on the wagon acted like they did the year before, otherwise it would be very difficult to hide even if a wizard was able to blend in. But today is a wee dinner, the new students who have just been brought on the wagon, can clearly feel the nervous atmosphere these days, today it is time to let them rx a little. The long table on the meadow, the table is muchrger than the year Jon just enrolled, the table is covered with a white tablecloth, surrounded by students busy with food prepared for the day. Dumbledore would never make a long speech on such asions, he knew that the children are always impatient in the face of food and game. Just before the banquet officially began, he smiled and mentioned. "Don''t worry about the danger on the wagon, although we still have not gained anything today, there is already a solution, and I believe we will see the results soon." The older students naturally had 100% trust in his words, and the lingering pressure that was in the hearts of all the young wizards, except for the first years, was suddenly relieved, and theughter at the dinner became more abundant. There were no new professors to introduce this year, and Lupin had already taught the students on the wagon for nearly half a semester and had long been familiar with them to the point of acquaintance. The students on the wagon were as enthusiastic as ever, introducing the new students to the professors sitting at the other end of the long table and exining their future lives in the school. Those students from Hogwarts Castle who came to the wagon this year have long since lost the initial restraint that they had when they first arrived here, and they looked just like any other children, and the life of being enved in the castle has long been pressed into the bottom of their hearts by the happiness they have now, except for the asional recollection of that unpleasant past before going to sleep, when their bodies would tremble a little, otherwise, it''s just like being brought to the wagon from the very beginning. The dinner was served until close to ten o''clock when it eventually ended, the students were led by Dumbledore to sing the Hogwarts song under the starry sky overhead, and then the vast majority of students began to return to the wagon to rest, except for all the freshmen plus one from each grade in the second to seventh years, leaving a small number of these students to clean up the rest of the mess. Jon is also one of the students left to help, Dumbledore did not leave, he asked the professors who have been busy all day to return to the wagon to rest, and then he joined Filch to help the students while watching over the students here. He pulled his wand and knocked on the long table full of food scraps, the tes and cups above all became iparably clean, followed by sixth and seventh-year students using a spell to gather these cleaned dishes and eventually neatly stacked them together, and the rest of the students were taking care of the rubbish left on the ground around them. Gabrielle also did not immediately return to the wagon, she floated beside her "roommate" Luna, directing her to pick up the fruit peel. But soon she felt bored, floating beside Jon, talking happily about how great today''s dinner was, she now wishes to be old enough to not attend Beauxbatons as she wished before, but toe to this Hogwarts wagon, it''s just unknown whether her mother and father would agree. Jon who was thinking about something didn''t pay much attention to the little girl''s twittering words, just kept nodding his head to show that he was listening while using his wand to restore the crushed grass on the ground back to its original state. Gabrielle soon found his perfunctory, so she pouted and drifted to the bushes at the edge of the wagon to y with the fireflies. Jon was not thinking about anything else, he was just thinking about what Dumbledore said before the dinner party started, something about already having a solution. He did not feel that it might have been an empty reassuring statement since Dumbledore said so, it means he must have already had an inkling; otherwise, his reputation would be lower. Right when the students who stayed behind to clean up the ce all tidied up the ce back to the way it was before they came, the freshmen with the lightest workload were ready to step on the steps back to the wagon. An ear-splitting scream suddenly pierced through the quiet night sky! "AHHHH!!!" It was a young girl''s voice, and at the first sound of this voice, all the students present, as well as Dumbledore who had not gone back all turned their heads to look in the direction of the source of the voice. Gabrielle, who was floating around the grass with the fireflies, didn''t know when she held her head, her silver hair trembled behind her body, which was transparent in the moonlight, the body was even more illusory at this time. And in front of her, a figure cloaked in a grey cloak, a more than two meters tall creature as thin and tall as a bamboo pole, noiselessly came floating out of the woods! At the moment this creature appeared, a cold winter-like gloom enveloped the entire venue, the sight of it made every student immobile, as if frozen by this bone-chilling cold, their bodies could not stop shivering, and a deadly silence and despair rose up within their hearts for no reason! The moment he saw this monster, its name popped up in Jon''s mind - Dementor! "Expecto Patronum!" Almost in a sh, the sound of Dumbledore reciting the incantation rang out right behind him, and Jon raised his wand, and without half a moment''s hesitation, he ran quickly in Gabrielle''s direction. "Get back to the wagon! All students return to the wagon!" Silver light illuminated the open wilderness, Dumbledore''s calm voice rang with obvious sullenness, which made the students who had originally been looking at the dementor stunned toe back to their senses, and ording to the grade from youngest to oldest, they quickly returned to the wagon. Dumbledore''s charm did not summon the Patronus, but the silver light is like another full moon in the dark night, piercing the frigid nature that has wrapped this patch of meadow. The dementor floating in front of Gabrielle began to retreat, as if it felt unusually ufortable with the silver light, not daring to easily go forward, and returned to the gloom behind the bushes. Jon''s hand went through Gabrielle''s cold body, and the little girl who had been stunned finally returned to her senses, she cried out Jon''s name, and then stretched out her transparent hand to grab the corner of his robe. Jon held his wand in his hand, while gentlyforting her, and constantly led her backwards, meanwhile, with the help of that warm silver light behind him, his eyes also saw the scene behind the bushes which no longer had fireflies flying around. Dementors, swarms of dementors! They are hidden in the woods where the silver light does not shine, and it is difficult to tell the number, but at a nce, it just feels like they are everywhere as far as the eye can see! "Take Gabrielle and go back, Jon." Dumbledore''s voice rang out from directly behind Jon, and by now they were only two people left at the venue, and all the other students had returned to the wagon. Hagrid waved the reins and sat in the driver''s seat, the Thestrals, which can only be seen if one has been in contact with death, let out a restless hiss, Jon did not stop for half a moment, he led the Gabrielle who had been clutching his dress quickly along and hopped on the wagon. After he got into the wagon, Dumbledore walked to Hagrid''s driving seat, the tip of his wand emitted silver light to deter those hundreds of dementors behind, these monsters whose bodies cloaked in tattered grey robes, surging out of the woods! "Go, Hagrid!" Hearing his order Hagrid immediately pulled up the reins, the Thestrals actually did not need him to drive, after getting themand to run unrestrained, they ran wildly towards the golden wheat fields ahead! The wheat that is already close to ripening fled to the sides in a panic before the horses'' hooves trampled them, just like pedestrians in the middle of the road, and the wagons galloped on, but the dementors didn''t give up on their target in sight. They flew from the woods upwards, like countless kites with broken strings, and headed towards the night sky! The originally clear starry sky was obscured, and the suffocating gloomy cold oppressed down to the ground from mid-air like a blizzard! Hagrid, who most intuitively felt this deadly stillness, had obviously turned pale, but he still did his best to grip the reins in his hands. "Thestrals needs time to elerate! Sir! We can''t shake them off for now!" Dumbledore''s face showed no particr change, except that under those half-moon-shaped sses, he narrowed his eyes at some point and raised his wand in his hand again. He did not answer Hagrid''s words, but his voice was calm as he recited the incantation. "Expecto Patronum." The moment the incantation sounded, the silver light that was ten times more dazzling than before lit up half of the night sky! Under that overwhelming light, a bird extremely simr to Fawkes bathed out of the silver gleam! Unlike Fawkes''s golden red brilliant beauty, its lifelike feathers are all silver like the moon, every time the wings swung down, the silver glow at the end of the feathers will be swept off all around. The moment this silver phoenix Patronus appeared, the sky full of grey was pierced by this light! Those monsters that originally blocked the entire night sky began to scramble to retreat backwards, but their speed was clearly no match for the phoenix soaring in mid-air, the deadly grey silence was dissipating, and the sky was filled with silver light once again brought back the starry sky. Hagrid showed an expression of unbridled tion. "We got rid of them, sir!" Dumbledore''s face remained as calm as before, and he looked at the fading grey and said softly. "We are only temporarily got rid of them, the fundamental problem has not been solved." Thestralspleted the initial eleration, and the surrounding scenery is like a slide show turned rapidly under the sides of the wagon, constantly passing by. They passed beyond entire wheat fields, passing through viges and brushed along a city in a very short time. After making sure that they hadpletely lost the dementors who were trailing behind, Dumbledore returned to the wagon through the door in the driver''s seat. To prevent someone from taking advantage of such chaos to create more chaos, the students who have returned to the wagon were sent to the great hall by the professors, Dumbledore pushed the door to enter, and all the students looked at him with restless expressions. The original aged calm face in face of these children, as always showed a gentle smile. "Go back to bed, the situation outside has been solved. Remember if you want toe out to thevatory at night, make sure to wake up your roommate to go with you." The students all breathed a sigh of relief at his words and returned to their dorm rooms in two separate lines as boys and girls, under McGonagall and Flitwick''s arrangements. Before leaving the great hall, each of them didn''t forget to say "good night, Professor" to Dumbledore. Jon had calmed Gabrielle down and let her follow her roommates, Luna and Ginny, back to their dorm rooms as well. When he and Neville passed by Dumbledore, Jon actually had something to ask the old man, but after looking at Dumbledore''s clear and vaguely tired gaze, he swallowed the words for the moment. The night is getting deeper and deeper, and tonight Hogwarts has returned to a kind of calm that makes people uneasy. ---- #Matthew Lepcha, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 150: Hallucinations (2 in 1) Chapter 150: Hallucinations (2 in 1) On the first day of the new academic year, Hogwarts was not affected by the Dementor attackst night. ording to the ss schedule, the students ate breakfast and then went to the ssroom where their sses would begin in the new academic year. But although sses were not affected, students could not really treat yesterday''s events as if they had never happened. Only a dozen students actually saw a dementor at that time, and most of the other students on the wagon didn''t even know what a dementor really is, which is something they have yet to learn. During ss time, the students who had seen the dementors were describing the monster to the other students in graphic detail. But in fact, in that situation, most of them were stunned by the deadly aura, and now if you really let them describe the specific look of the creatures they saw, it would turn into all kinds of strange shapes and sizes. Many were just able to state the gray tattered robe and tall thin body correctly, then break it down, some said the dementor had a demon face, some said it had a skull on its head, while others said the creature had nothing at all on its neck and was a headless monster. Such remarks soon met with a rebuttal from the parents of one of the young wizard children, saying that if the dementors were a skeleton or had no head at all, it would be impossible for them to kiss others, and even more impossible for them to suck the souls of wizards in this way. As the person who was closest to the dementors at the scene, Jon didn''t join in their discussion either. He was not interested in what kind of face the dementors had hidden under the cloak, what he was most concerned about now was his progress in learning the Patronus Charm. Before he started learning this charm, he expected that in the future Patronus Charm will definitely be very useful, but he never expected that even before his third-year student life had begun, the dementors had alreadyunched an attack on the wagon. This time, the attack actually took ce in a very strange way. Jon had learned from Lupin that the reason why they sessfully escaped from Azkaban Ind earlier this year was that more than thirty members of the Order of the Phoenix who were imprisoned there used the Patronus Charm together. The positive emotions that overflowed outpletely knocked off the Dementors'' siege, which gave them the chance to meet up with Moody who rushed to pick them up. The Ministry of Magic could not be unaware of such information, there are more than thirty people in the Order of the Phoenix who have learned the Patronus Charm, and were able to rush out of Azkaban Ind, the home base of the Dementors, so how can these monsters who have now arrived at their home ground British Isles be able to cause effective suppression on the Hogwarts wagon? Jon did not see what happenedst night, but despite so many dementors swarming, Dumbledore alone was able to solve such a crisis outside the wagon, so he really couldn''t see what kind of significance such an attack that can be described as "harassment" could possibly have. This is exactly simr to abetting Percy''s betrayal, in addition to giving the students on the wagon some psychological impact, there is no other practical effect. If this is Voldemort''s response to what happened in the first half of the year, then his behaviour is more like a vanity project, without getting any semnce of tangible results. But the reason the dementors can''t affect the wagon is that the Professors and the wizards of the Order of the Phoenix are skilled in the Patronus charm, and Jon doesn''t like the feeling of putting his safety in the hands of others to be protected, he badly wants to speed up the learning progress of the Patronus charm to prevent the situation where he has to face the dementors alone one day, yet he has no means to fight back. After thest potion ss in the morning, Jon went to the great hall with Neville, Hermione and the rest of them to settle their lunch. On the way, they met Ginny and Luna, who had also just left ss, except it seemed like they were walking over here on purpose. "Green senior." The red-haired Ginny hesitantly called out to Jon, and Jon could see that they had something to discuss with him, so he stopped in his tracks and gestured to Neville, Hermione, Ron and the others to go to the great hall first. "Just call me Jon, I have a good rtionship with a few of your brothers, there is no need to address me so distantly." He said casually. "Can I also directly call you Jon?" Next to Ginny, the girl with wooden corks around her neck and Plum-shaped earrings hanging from her ears blinked her prominent eyes and asked in an ethereal voice. She seemed a little homely and spoke with a sort of wispy voice, yet her gaze was as serious as ever. Of course, Jon knew the girl''s name, and he smiled at Luna. "That''s perfectly fine, you can call me Jon, I can also call you Luna can''t I?" The girl with the plum-shaped earrings said matter-of-factly. "That''s the fairest thing to do." "We didn''te to find you to talk about names Jon, and it''s not time Luna." Ginny hurriedly and quickly got to the point as she saw the conversation was at risk of being carried away by Luna. "Gabrielle has been in quite a bad state since she returned to the dorm roomst night. We were worried about her, but we hadn''t even seen a dementor, so we didn''t know how to cheer her up. Then this morning when we woke up we realized she wasn''t in the dorm room, and we couldn''t find her all morning." Jon frowned slightly, to be honest, he originally thought that the dementors should not have that much effect on the ghost, after all, they are already dead people. Now it seems that the Gabrielle who drank the Draught of Living Ghost is quite different from the usual ghosts, not to mention that yesterday she was the closest to the dementors that appeared first. "I''ll go look for her, I think I can guess where she is. Don''t worry, I''llfort her. You guys go eat in the great hall, and by the way, ask Neville to bring me two sandwiches on his way back to the dorm." Naturally, Ginny and Luna didn''t question much about his words. Although Jon is only in his third year now, the feats he performed earlier this year have already made the vast majority of the students on the wagon have enough respect and admiration for him. This is also the reason why Percy resented Jon, a student who had only been at the carriage for less than three years, had now gained even more poprity and respect than him, the prefect, which made Percy, who was already power-hungry, instinctively be annoyed and jealous. After watching the two young girls leave, Jon also turned around and walked towards the end of the long corridor. He came to the opposite side of Dumbledore''s Headmaster''s office, the door of the room leading to the driving seat, and easily pushed it open. The wagon at this time is passing through a very picturesque and beautiful-looking city, those low red-roofed houses keep moving to the left and right to avoid, making way for the wagon, if you look long enough it will have aical style. But in the driver''s seat, Gabrielle, who was propping her chin up with both hands, obviously did not put her mind to it. Jon could guess that Gabrielle woulde here, even though she is now a ghost who can freely go through most of the doors on the wagon, but after learning that students are forbidden to enter the room without a door sign, the little girl consciously never tried to vite the rules of the school that other students on the wagon have to follow. Although she is young, she also knows some sense, if you want to integrate into a group as quickly as possible, you have to follow the same rules as the group. But Hagrid here is an exception. Usually, when driving the wagon, Hagrid would be bored on his own, and now after he became familiar with Gabrielle, there was always a child who usually did not need to attend sses to talk with him. When Jon arrived, Hagrid was holding a big cup of hot tea in his hand and talked to Gabrielle about the experience of raising horse-like magical creatures. But the little girl was obviously listening absent-mindedly, sitting on the wooden cab in front of Hagrid that is usually used to hold small items, shaking her white transparent legs along with the slight bumps of the wagon, it is unknown what she was thinking about. When she heard the movement of Jon''s arrival, she was half a beat slower than Hagrid to return to her senses, and Hagrid was happy to pour Jon a cup of ck tea while handing over a te of his favourite signature rock cakes. Jon took the cup of tea, took the te with the rock cakes into his hands, and then put it on the wooden cab without a second thought. "I thought it is your first day of school this academic year? Why do you have time toe to my ce?" Hagrid and Jon''s rtionship is also very familiar, usually, when it is not suitable to practice spells in the dormitory, he woulde to Hagrid, over time, the two have long be friends with a pretty good rtionship. "It was Ginny and Luna who asked me to help." Jon''s eyes were looking at Gabrielle as he spoke, Hagrid must have been rtively unfamiliar with the two names, "They said you were still moping after you went backst night, and then when they got up early in the morning they couldn''t find you, they were worried about you and asked me to find out where you are." Gabrielle lowered her slender eyebrows as she said somewhat weakly. "I''m sorry, I forgot to tell them about this in the morning." Hagrid, even if he is somewhat insensitive, he could also tell that Gabrielle is not in a good mood by now after spending the whole morning with her, and now that Jon is specifically looking for her. He also knew that the one who had the closest contact with the dementorsst night was this little girl. "Are you still thinking about those dementors yesterday? That thing in fact is only scary when you see it for the first time, you did not stay behind, so you did not see what happened to them, Dumbledore cast a spell to drive them all away!" Hagrid said reassuringly. But his words did not seem to y any role on Gabrielle, she still has that sullen look. "I miss my mama, papa and sister." She whispered, "I wonder where they are now and if they''re doing well ..." Until now, four or five months have passed since Gabrielle was picked up from Madame Maxime, but she has never received any semnce of a reply. The former Headmistress of Beauxbatons, before leaving, promised to get in touch with Dumbledore after finding Gabrielle''s parents and would take her to her family. But even after so long, there is still no news. But sometimes, in fact, no news is the best news. Jon looked at her and said. "If you want to see your family, you don''t have to hide your feelings in your heart. Many of the students here, maybe older than you, but they all have the same experience of being separated from their families as you do, and at least your mom, dad and sister can still remember having a family member like you around, while their parents don''t even know who they are anymore." Such aparison will undoubtedly resonate with an already emotional little girl like Gabrielle, who has been on the wagon for so long, naturally knows a lot about the students on board, and knows very well thatpared to her current situation, there are many people who should be more upset and sad than her. Her original sadness subsided a fair deal, but she looked at Jon hesitantly, as if she wanted to say something. "I had a hard timest night, so I wandered around the wagon ..." she whispered, "and then while I was crying alone and thinking about my mama, papa and sister, I don''t know if I just imagined it myself or if I actually saw a person ..." Jon was keenly aware of the important information in Gabrielle''s words, and he raised an eyebrow lightly. "What kind of person? Was it a student or an adult?" "An adult, I ... have seen him in my own home before, he came to my house and discussed something with my papa in private." Gabrielle looked like she was trying very hard to remember the scene she could recall, "but Papa was very upset that day, he ended up kicking that guy out of the house, my sister and I had never seen papa that angry before." Jon turned his head and exchanged a nce with Hagrid. It was obvious to both of them that this was a very important piece of information! "Where did you see him? Gabrielle." "I... I can''t exactly recall." She shook her head, "I actually still feel like I didn''t actually see him at all, I might have just missed my mama, papa, sister and the others too much to recall seeing that man, but ... I''m not sure ... " Gabrielle''s description was very vague, and her tone was very unconfident, which gave them a feeling of not being very reliable. But whether it is Hagrid or Jon, they didn''t take this matter lightly. Jon stood up from the driver''s seat of the Hagrid and said with a serious look on his face. "Whether you really saw this man in the wagon or not, we have to tell Dumbledore about it, this may be an important clue." He never thought of relying on himself to start any investigation and going alone to do the heroic deed. Now the danger faced on the wagon concerned the lives of many people, and Jon consciously knew that the professors, after knowing more, would certainly make a more correct decision than he would. He did not hesitate, together with Gabrielle left the driver''s seat, then returned to the wagon, went straight to the door directly opposite, and knocked on the door of the Headmaster''s room. Dumbledore was writing something with a quill in his office, and after entering the door he didn''t say much else, Jon directly asked Gabrielle to restate the words to Dumbledore. After listening quietly to Gabrielle''s unconfident narrative, Dumbledore also could not help but frown and said softly. "Can you describe the specific physical characteristics of this adult male wizard you are talking about child?" ---- #Matthew Lepcha and #Kodi Brown, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 151: Age Line Chapter 151: Age Line "He was thin and not very tall, probably a head taller than Jon." Gabrielle made theparison by using Jon. "Not that old either, about the same age as Papa, he spoke in a kind voice, and gave my sister and me a gift when he first came to our house, hmm, he gave me a little bear doll." Dumbledore''s gaze revealed a thoughtful look, and then he asked. "Do you remember when he went to your house and what he was discussing with your father?" Gabrielle shook her head. "I didn''t listen. Papa usually won''t let me and my sister be around when he discusses things. But after that meeting Papa was angry, and Mama didn''t say anything as she stood at the side, that man just kept apologizing and then walked out of our house." Gabrielle remembers that incident well enough to describe the full details of that time, but the information doesn''t seem to give them any valid clues. To begin with, the very matter of why a French wizard, whom Gabrielle had met, appeared in the wagon was puzzling. Dumbledore rubbed his thumb and then asked. "How long ago was it when he came to see your father? Was it close to the time when your family members became wantedter?" "Just a week before Mama, Papa and my sister fled France." "And can you remember clearly in which room on the wagon you saw that man? If you really forget, you can tell me what ces you visitedst night." Gabrielle struggled to remember. "After I came out of the dormitory, I first went to sit on the rooftop of the wagon for a while, then returned to the wagon in thetter part of the night, and kept drifting along the room on the left side toward the foyer, I don''t know which room I drifted into when I saw a teapot inside that resembled the style of my home, after which I remembered my mama, papa and sister, and then I seemed to recall or see that person ." She said hesitantly. "Professor Dumbledore, I''m not sure whether I actually saw that person or not, at that time I was crying ..." Dumbledore whispered tofort her. "It doesn''t matter, whether you saw that male wizard on the wagon or not, it''s been a great help to us, child. No need to worry too much about the dementors, this creature is not really that scary, it just easily evokes negative emotions within a person. If you still feel down, you can go to the fifth room in the greenhouse, where there is a garden cultivated by Lily, which is quite pleasant for those who need to rx." Gabrielle said thank you to Dumbledore and did not continue to stay in the Headmaster''s office any longer. And after she left, the Headmaster''s office was left with only Jon and Dumbledore. Jon looked at Dumbledore and couldn''t help but ask. "Professor, will a French wizard really be able to get into Hogwarts?" Dumbledore tapped his fingers rhythmically on the desk and shook his head. "This matter can not be determined that quickly, I need to contact Ms Rnd, to determine whether there is this person in the French Ministry of Magic based on Gabrielle''s description." "What if this person is someone in the French Ministry of Magic?" Dumbledore''s gaze became deep as he said gruffly. "That would mean that things are going in the worst-case scenario." He didn''t say what the worst-case scenario is, but Jon could hear the seriousness in Dumbledore''s tone. "So how do we catch the man lurking in the wagon?" Jon asked, and a slightly rxed look appeared on Dumbledore''s face. "If the Dark Lord did send someone to the wagon, what kind of person would that person be, what do you think?" Jon thought about this question very seriously. "He should be verypetent, otherwise infiltrating the wagon would be a matter of question, and then he would need to face a lot of psychological pressure, because you are on the wagon at all times, which is going to be more stressful than my previous infiltration into the castle, after all, Voldemort won''t be in the castle the whole time. Secondly, he must also have enough eloquence, otherwise, it is impossible to convince Percy to defect, unless he used an Imperius curse." "Then such a person, how old do you think he should be?" This question from Dumbledore made Jon hesitate for a moment. To be honest, it would be much more difficult to sneak inside the wagon than it would be for Jon to sneak into Hogwarts Castle. There are fewer students here, less space to move around, and it''s unlikely that the professors would ignore any students, and Dumbledore would be on the wagon all the time. Not to mention the reason why Jon was able to stay at Hogwarts Castle like a fish in water, mainly because he got the invisibility cloak and the Marauder''s Map, two Perfect infiltration artefacts, and also because he had read the original books, so he was much more familiar with that castle than most people, plus Jon himself was not an ordinary 12-year-old. Whereas the situation on the wagon is very different, it is more than ten times more difficult to hide here without screwing upter, Jon does not think that Voldemort would send a random person over toplete such a task, no matter what, he must be the elite among the Death Eaters, not a kind of brainless and reckless man. "If there''s really someone who infiltrated the wagon, then he must be an adult wizard." Jon said with certainty. Dumbledore obviously had the same opinion as Jon. "The wizard who infiltrated the wagon is bound to be an adult wizard, and we can use the same method of defence that the Dark Lord uses to prevent adult wizards from infiltrating Hogwarts Castle." If Jon could not think of what Dumbledore was talking about at this time, he would have grown his brain for nothing, and he looked at Dumbledore. "Age Line?" "Right." Dumbledore nodded and said, "I didn''t previously ce age line enchantment on the wagon, because this is not only a school but also a temporary meeting ce for the Order of the Phoenix, but that doesn''t mean we can''t do it." A slightly rxed smile appeared on Jon''s face at this point. "As long as the age line is added to the protective enchantment of the wagon, then all adult wizards except for the professor will be discovered at that time!" Dumbledore also had a smile on his face. "But this matter still needs some preparation, applying age line enchantment on the whole wagon is not the same as ordinary spell casting, if I want to maintain the effect, I have to arrange it for quite a long time, during which it is still necessary to keep caution on the wagon." "I remember you have charms ss in the afternoon, now it''s almost time, don''t bete." Jon did not stay in the Headmaster''s office, or he would indeed bete for his charms ss. And after he left, Dumbledore pulled out a yellowed parchment from his desk. He gripped the ink-stained quill, pondered for a moment, and then wrote a paragraph on the parchment. ---- #Kodi Brown, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 152: Improvement Chapter 152: Improvement In France, somewhere in the Ministry of Magic, Adele Rnd, Chief Wizard Chancellor, was sitting at her desk, staring at a yellowish piece of parchment. As one of the top three political figures in the French Ministry of Magic, this witch, who is less than fifty years old, is naturally well-maintained, with her long dark green hair pulled back into a bun, and her whole face still looking charming except for a few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. She is wearing ck-framed sses on her face, which brings a touch of mystery to the original majestic vibe revealed. And on the parchment she was staring at, words appeared one by one out of thin air, eventually forming aplete sentence. After reading the contents of the parchment very carefully, Rnd frowned gently as she fell into a short silence. Then, she rang a small bell in front of her table, and a male wizard wearing the standard uniform of a French Ministry of Magic employee quickly knocked on the door and respectfully entered her office. "What time are those councillors decided to hold a temporary meeting?" She asked calmly. "Councillor Talia has just given the results of the resolution to Hafed, and it has been determined that the interim meeting to address whether or not Minister Eric Amalric has thepetence and character to be a minister will be held on the first day of November." "They''re going to hold this off until after Halloween?" "There was a big division among the councillors too, and some of them said they wanted to give Amalric more time to prove himself." Rnd''s brow was noticeably furrowed a little more than it had been just before the male wizard came in. She did not say anything but nodded in silence, and the male wizard then respectfully bowed to her before closing the door again and leaving the office. Not long after he left, Rnd picked up a quill by her side, she thought for a moment, and then wrote a line of text on the yellowed parchment. [There is no such person in the Ministry of Magic] *** As Dumbledore said, it was not a simple project to set the age line enchantment on this wagon. Especially to ensure that this magic enchantment is not confused by an excellent Confundus Charm, it requires even more attention, so it can''t bepleted in a short time. ording to Jon''s estimation, this enchantment will take at least about two months to prepare before it can finally have an effect. And in the meantime, they must also guard against the man hiding in the wagon from creating more chaos, although even now, no one has been able to figure out exactly what this man''s goal is. Time was passing day by day, and in the blink of an eye, it was already three weeks after the start of Jon''s third year of school. During this period of time, the wagon journey was calm, there were no dementor attacks or other idents, but the school''s security hasn''t been rxed, and the students basically will not act alone, even in the middle of the night to go to thevatory, they have to call on their roommates in the same room together. It''s just that the operational vignce is still maintained, but in fact, in the heart, no one can always be mentally tense for so long, after all, there were not many people on the wagon who saw the dementor attack with their own eyes, which made their initial tense feeling gradually rx. This is actually not a bad thing, if the atmosphere among the students has remained restless, then the school''s teaching will also be affected. In addition to the third-year studies that Jon had begun, he had not given up on the study and research of the Invisible Sword spell as well as the Patronus Charm. The first spell is not much to say, as long as you are willing to spend time to practice more, skills and proficiency will constantly improve, whereas with the Patronus charm,pared to the beginning of the school year, Jon finally achieved a small improvement. In Lupin''s office, the defence ss professor, whose face would always appear pale, had an appreciative smile on his face after seeing the silver light at the tip of Jon''s wand that shone countless times brighter than before. "Having faced the dementors once directly, your understanding of this charm is getting deeper and deeper." Jon''s face did not show much self-satisfaction, even though he did make significant improvements thus far, but it was not to the point where it could make him feel much pride. "Creatures like dementors seem to be able to make people feel all kinds of bad emotions just by existing, even if they don''t do anything." He recalled, "That deadly despair after having physical contact, can create a great emotional turmoil, and at that time it will allow people to recognize what their most positive and desirable emotions really are." Jon mused and looked at the silver light at the tip of his wand. "This kind of feeling is not as if recalling some specific memories, after all, even if our minds can really recall the time when we were happiest, it is unlikely that the emotions can reach exactly the same level as at that time, and being close to the dementors will allow people to feel their emotions more vividly." Lupin nodded and said. "The dementor sucks the happiness out of people, and in the process, its own existence radiates despair, but the magic that restrains it, in fact, can be learned more quickly by being under its influence because the more despairing it is, the more likely it will make people nostalgic for the truest happiness they once had." "The Patronus charm is not an ordinary spell, there are very few wizards in the magical world who can actually cast this charm, and this level of mastery that you have now has already surpassed the majority of wizards, Jon." In the current magical world, most wizards actuallycked the spirit to explore the study of magic. Even Hogwarts originally was founded not for the purpose of studying any greater knowledge, but only to help to guide the young wizard on how to use magic in their bodies, so that they would not be Obscurial and die early. The majority of the wizards graduated from the wizarding school after they have basically learned some of themon everyday magic, in the Ministry of Magic before Voldemort took control, the vast majority of the Ministry of Magic employees can not even use the shield charm, and the Ministry of Magic is a ce where only the most talented students from Hogwarts can enter. This not only causes the wizards in the magical world to be generally weak but also since ancient times the direction of magical research has be very biased, in addition to some confusion spells that are designed to prevent muggles from knowing and getting in touch with the magical world, such as muggle-repelling charm and memory charms, most of the magic research is focused on everyday use spells. The spells that are powerful and used forbat and against the enemy are always low, but in recent years, because of the conflicts that have been urring, war-rted magic has begun to develop again, and the overall strength of wizards in the British magicalmunity has also shown a considerable improvement. The Patronus Charm is indeed a very advanced magic spell, but Jon is not satisfied just from learning it to only this level, as long as he does not seed in summoning the Patronus out, it is a failure for him. Lupin also clearly saw Jon''sck of satisfaction, although he did not know until now, why Jon was so impatient, he still gave his own suggestion. "You can also find Lily to ask for advice regarding the Patronus Charm, in this spell, except Dumbledore, no one canpare to her." ---- [Author;] The format for this volume has been adjusted, and from tomorrow I will start preparing to wrap up this volume with a burst of energy --- #PsychoticPurse 6, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 153: What is this? (2 in 1) Chapter 153: What is this? (2 in 1) Lily Potter has always been a rather special professor on the wagon. She did not have the same kind of friendliness when dealing with students that professors like McGonagall, Flitwick, as well as Lupin, expressed without reservation from their hearts. Whether in the usual ssroom or privately in the wagon when meeting with students, most of the time she is cold, regardless of who she looks at, she has a t expression. Only after getting along with her for a long time, many students will find that Professor Potter is actually not as unapproachable and uncaring as she appears to be, but has the same level of sincerity and patience as other professors have toward the students. It''s just that her emotions are being suppressed by herself due to something different. About Lily''s past, the other professors never talked to the students, even Neville and Ron, whose family and Lily''s family were originally well acquainted, knew some secrets, they never really talked to Jon and the others about Lily''s "family". After getting some tips from Lupin, Jon knocked on Lily''s office door during that weekend. The Potion professor was brewing a potion in her office. After Slughorn left the wagon, she was arguably the busiest person in the entire school on a regr basis. There is no school healer on the wagon, so Lily, who is a Potion ss professor, has be the healer for all the students in this school. In general, she will stock some potions formon diseases, and some of the magical nts and herbs specially cultivated in the greenhouse also need some special potions for nurturing and irrigation, plus since Lupin came to the wagon this semester, the job of making wolfsbane potion for him also naturally fell on Lily''s body. Therefore, no matter what time of day or what kind of person came to Lily''s office, they would see a cauldron bubbling up in the middle of her office. "Good morning, Professor Potter." Upon entering, Jon greeted the witch sitting in front of the cauldron. When he walked into the office, a chair automatically slid up behind him. Lily didn''t bother to look at him, instead, she was concentrating on dropping two drops of green liquid into the boiling cauldron, and the next second, the originally boiling liquid instantly calmed down, and the colour of the liquid turned into an indigo colour. Lily closed the lid of the cauldron before she looked up at Jon. "Something wrong?" She didn''t call out Jon''sst name or first name, yet her t voice was not sounded as distant as it could have been. Jon didn''t just jump in and say that he needed advice on the Patronus Charm, he first expressed his gratitude to Lily respectfully as he had forgotten to do so properly face-to-face before. "I haven''t properly thanked you, Professor, for lending me that invisibility cloak since I came backst time." "That was more than just to help you." Lily sat down in the chair in front of her desk, she seemed to have the luxury of chatting with Jon for a while, "It was beneficial to the whole school for you to do what Dumbledore told you to do. Besides, since you dared to take such a great risk to sneak into the castle, I''m certainly not that selfish that I wouldn''t even bother to take out a piece of invisibility cloak." If one only listened to what she said, the average person would subconsciously think that the cloak of invisibility that Lily lent to Jon to use was just an ordinary piece of amodity that could always be bought with a little bit of effort in the magical world, but Jon knew better than anyone else what this cloak of invisibility that had been passed down from the Potter family really meant. "Besides that cloak of invisibility is not something I intend to gift you, it''s just that with me, it can only be put in a box where it wastes its usefulness, and although the thing is lent to you, I hope you will use it in a way that truly reflects its value, not for some petty crime that vites school rules." She looked to Jon, her tone changed little, but from it, Jon heard a great deal of earnestness than solemnity. "If I ever find out that you have done such a thing, I will take back the invisibility cloak and will punish you more severely than Filch." Even if Lily didn''t say such a thing, there was no way Jon would go and do something like that with the invisibility cloak; he wasn''t really a thirteen or fourteen-year-old teenager, nor was he bored enough to take a night trip on a wagon wearing the cloak and break into random rooms he shouldn''t. "I can assure you, I''m certainly not going to misuse that cloak, Professor." On the desk, a teapot flew up on its own and poured a cup of tea into the teacup that had slid in front of Jon, and it was at this time that Jon finally said what he hade here for. "I''ve been learning the Patronus Charm from Professor Lupintely." He looked at Lily, and didn''t see any surprise disyed on her face at this news, "Professor Lupin told me that you have a very high level of mastery in this spell, Professor, and told me to visit you for advice." Lily lifted the teacup in front of her and took a light sip of the ck tea inside. "The other day, Remus talked to me about this, he said that your progress in learning the Patronus Charm is very fast, in less than half a year except for the fact that you still can''t summon the real Patronus, you have already been able to reach the level where this spell can have an effect." "But there is something he does not know, if before I could indeed teach you something, but at this moment, I am barely able to use the Patronus Charm myself, let alone teach you." She didn''t look like she was looking for an excuse to brush it off, and when Jon thought about it, he could understand that Lily''s understanding and mastery of the Patronus Charm had likely changed as a result of her past experiences. This spell is originally a spell closely rted to the caster''s emotions and state of mind, each wizard''s Patronus is not always static from the time it is summoned, it will change with the shift in the mindset of the caster. For example, in the original story, Tonks initially had a rabbit as her Patronus, but after she fell in love with Lupin, the rabbit turned into a wolf. The Patronus is not a specific creature, it is more like a reflection of the wizard''s own heart, a powerful emotional force that is magically manifested. Lily''s Patronus in the original is supposed to be a doe, her husband James Potter and son Harry Potter''s Patronus are both stags, and Snape''s Patronus is exactly the same as hers, also a doe. It is because the Patronus charm reflects the wizard''s heart, Snape and Lily''s identical Patronus is what makes people feel reassured that he is going to be a double agent, and as long as he still loves Lily he can''t and won''t hurt Harry Potter so that he will be in natural opposition to Voldemort''s side. But now this world has obviously undergone very drastic changes. After the dramatic changes in her life, except for Lily herself, no one can imagine how her Patronus has changed, and even as she herself said, she might really have difficulty in using it. Jon understood this, but was still a little disappointed, he always felt that he was still a little short of something when it came to the Patronus Charm, but could not grasp what it is; he was not able to mobilize the positive emotions, which is why he could not summon his Patronus in the end. But although Lily could not teach him anything that would give him enough of a boost as he wanted to, she did give him a word of advice on learning the Patronus charm. "Don''t just assume that the emotions that form the Patronus Charm are simply positive emotions in a one-sided way. People areplex creatures, and emotions are the key to thisplexity, the so-called positive emotions are also rtive, in some instances, when you recall some scenes, your mood will inevitably be sad, but in some other different situations, maybe it can give you a higher level of joy." Jon didn''t end up staying in Lily''s office for too long, after he finished his cup of tea, he excused himself and left. He didn''t go back to his dorm room immediately, he went straight to an empty ssroom that was usually used for charms ss, and when he pushed the door in, Hermione was practising her wand-waving skills inside. Jon leaned against the door and stared at Hermione for a while before giving a piece of advice. "I would suggest that when you swing your wand at the end, don''t add too obvious personal habitual movements and try to correct it, it will help you well in learning more advanced spells in the future." Any ssroom on the wagon, except for the astronomy ssroom and the greenhouse, is allowed for private use when there are no students in ss, and themon room is usually used by students to rest and rx, so for the most part, students who want to practice spell casting practically will choose the empty ssroom. Especially the charms'' ssroom, where the walls are enchanted with a protective spell that protects this side of the wagon from spell damage. If it is in the corridor there will be no such protection, a random spell may leave a hole in the floor, that''s why it''s prohibited by the school rules to cast a spell in the corridor, and that kind of conduct will make Filch more angry and raging. Hermione turned her attention to Jon, she rarely goes to themon room after ss hours in general, even among the students who were rescued from the castle back to the wagon, she belongs to the most diligent one. And during this time, Jon''s practice of the Patronus charm was not hidden from others, and the two would often meet in this charms'' ssroom. "What happened to consulting Professor Potter about the Patronus Charm?" Hermione asked, and she obviously knew what Jon had just gone to do. Jon thoughtfully raised his wand in his hand, he waved it gently and recited the incantation as he had done before. "Expecto Patronum." The silvery light bloomed like a flower at the tip of his wand, but the light that was gathered soon scattered all around, it didn''t look like it was going to coalesce into something more substantial. Looking at the effect of the spell on the tip of the wand, Jon shook his head. "This spell even if the professor taught me more clearly, it is necessary for me to see whether I have figured it out myself in the end." Hermione looked at the silver light on the tip of his wand, her gaze revealed an unspeakableplexity. To be honest, Jon''s worries today are really a bit fanciful, they are all in the same grade, although Hermione just came to the wagon this year and has just started to learn wand casting, she is well aware that Jon''s study in magic has actually surpassed his peers by a long shot. This is still the progress he made after wasting most of thest academic year at Hogwarts Castle to save them. There are times when natural talent really doesn''t mean anything if you can work hard, and Hermione thinks she is already considered a diligent enough student, butpared to Jon, she is a little ashamed of herself for actually having such a mentality. In fact, she does not understand Jon''s psychology. Because he knows what the world should have been like, Jon feels more urgent about the current situation. The Voldemort seen in the book only exists in the book after all, not to mention that the dark lord in that story has long since be an iprehensible madman. The madman is fearful, but his harm is also limited, but in this world, this madman has be much more sane, which is what really makes people feel terrified. Especially without knowing the reason for such a change; Dumbledore, whose strength should have exceeded that of Voldemort, even lost to him, which is what made Jon feel suffocating oppression. He desperately wants to improve his strength, to protect the other people on the wagon if possible, as well as to protect himself, and all of them require sufficient strength to provide a solid basis. The ring he got from Slughorn gave him a direction to be stronger, but likewise, he couldn''tpletely rely on the ring. Even Voldemort knew that a wizard''s strength should be built on himself, and Jon was equally clear that he couldn''t be overly dependent on one thing, which is why he worked so hard even when he wasn''t studying the ring''s spells and learning the usual spells. And it was precisely this kind of attitude on Jon''s part that gave Hermione a great stimulus. When she felt that she might have tried hard enough, she would think of the boy who had rescued her from that "prison", and then she would keep on pushing. This was also the case with the other people Jon spent most of his time with. For example, at the beginning of the school year, Ron was a bitzy and didn''t even want to do his own homework, "borrowing" from Jon or Neville. But after the second year, he never mentioned borrowing anyone''s homework, and usually did not waste his time ying wizard chess in themon room, but went to the library with Justine and Lavender. In the Charms ssroom, Jon pondered his emotions and thoughts on the Patronus charm for a while longer and then began to practice a few spells and transfigurations he had already mastered over and over again. His natural talent allows him to learn magic faster, but if he wants to use it inbat without a second thought, he needs to practice night and day to eventually form muscle memory to do so. And while he and Hermione chatted, practising magic spells, Jon waved his hand at the table and bench in front of him, and used the levitation charm, among the targets of a spell, there was something extra floated that wasn''t part of his target that drew his attention. His eyes did not look at those tables, chairs and benches that had floated in front of him, but his hand reached out, and carefully pinched a pinch of hair from the middle of those floating things. This pinch of hair is very special, not resembling human hair of any kind, with an overall dark grey colour, and each one is very short and thin. "What is this?" ---- #PsychoticPurse 6, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 154: Wormtail (2 in 1) Chapter 154: Wormtail (2 in 1) Hermione also heard Jon''s question, and she turned her gaze to Jon''s hand and saw the small tuft of grey fur. "It doesn''t look like something from a human." Jon examined the grey hairs carefully, and his brow furrowed in confusion. "Are there any other creatures on the wagon?" "There is Hagrid''s Niffler named Beech." Hermione mused, "But Beech''s fur is ck, and this one is a little on the grey side. Other than that there are Thestrals kept enclosed in a special room, but those are unlikely toe to the Charms ssroom, and their fur should also be solid ck if anyone can see it." "There aren''t any animals on the wagon whose fur is grey." Jon''s frown grew tighter, "Even Professor McGonagall''s Animagus is a tiger-spotted cat, and it''s even less likely that she would have shed grey fur." He held the tuft of hair up to Hermione''s eyes and asked in an inexplicable tone. "What animal do you think left this behind?" Hermione stared at the grey fur, not quite able to understand exactly what Jon was trying to convey. "Hmm, a magical creature? Raised by the professors on a wagon, it''s just kept in a room we can''t get into, so we don''t even know?" "Don''t think so hard." Jon''s gaze was fixed on the grey fur as he murmured, "Do you think this may be a rat''s fur? "A rat?" Hermione cocked her head in bewilderment, thinking that a short, thin grey fur like this could potentially be many animals, such as grey rabbits, cats, and dogs are possible, but why would Jon specifically emphasize rats? "That does seem possible too." She could only go on to follow Jon''s line of thought, "Maybe it was a grey rat that slipped into the wagon in the middle of thest orientation dinner at the beginning of the school year, and before any of us noticed, it had made its home here." Jon''s brow didn''t half rx, but his gaze grew brighter. "No, if it is a rat, then it should have sneaked into the wagon much earlier!" Hermione couldn''t understand more and more about what Jon was trying to say, she couldn''t understand how he could deduce so much from a tuft of fur. Jon, however, did not continue to exin much to Hermione further, this tuft of fur seems very ordinary, but it can make people who know about certain things, to associate it with many things! He did not continue to stay in the charms'' ssroom, but took the tuft of grey fur, turned and pushed the door ready to leave. "Where are you going?" Hermione asked from behind him. Jon said without looking back as he hurried on his feet. "To find Professor Dumbledore." Hermione froze. She felt that she could not keep up with Jon''s brain circuit, just because you found a pinch of hair of some animal in the wagon, do you want to report this matter to Professor Dumbledore? Jon is indeed ready to go to Dumbledore, but his steps have gradually started to slow down when he was near the door of the Headmaster''s office. This matter certainly must be reported, he never wanted to rely on his own to investigate anything, there are so many people and professors on the wagon, and there is still Dumbledore present, they are definitely much better than him alone. But he has to think about what to say and how to avoid the suspicion of why he thought of this particr direction. After arriving in front of the Headmaster''s office, Jon already had a n in mind, he took a deep breath and then knocked on the door. And when the sound of Dumbledore''s response came from inside, he pushed the door and walked in. Dumbledore is not the only one who is in the Headmaster''s office, except for McGonagall, other Professors such as Flitwick, Lupin, as well as Lily, who just finished talking with Jon an hour ago, are all here. They seemed to be discussing something, and after Jon walked in, all eyes focused on him. "Sorry, professor, I seem to have interrupted your meeting." Facing Jon''s apology, Dumbledore just shook his head. "It''s okay, Jon, if you have something important to say, you can just say it." Without further hesitation, Jon took a deep breath and held up the tuft of grey fur he had found in the charms'' ssroom. "Professor, I just found this in the charms'' ssroom when I was practising a spell." Everyone in the Headmaster''s office looked at the small pinch of grey hair he was pinching between his fingers. Flitwick, Lily and Lupin all three unconsciously frowned, they do not feel any discontent, but they still don''t understand why Jon brought such a pinch of hair to the Headmaster''s office. Only Dumbledore''s face remained calm, his azure eyes seemed like thinking of something after seeing the grey hair in Jon''s hand, and his pupils shrank slightly. "I don''t know if any of the other professors on the wagon still keep any pets, but from what I know about all the existing creatures and animals in the school, none of them has this type of fur." Jon uttered the wording he had thought of ahead of time before entering. "Before when Professor Slughorn was still around, he told me about a very magical transfiguration magic used among wizards called Animagus, and I thought, is it possible that the man who infiltrated the wagon, is in fact an Animagus? These hairs are left behind when he turned into an animal!" His words did not bring any obvious change in Dumbledore''s face, but Lily as well as Lupin, both of them at the moment Jon said the word Animagus, and theirplexion all became strange and grey. They seem to associate it with some unforgettable past, Lily did not know when she clenched her fists, while Lupin also had a rare gloomy look. "I know I may be making a big deal out of this, but maybe if it''s actually true, then-" "No! You''re not making a big deal out of this at all, Jon." Lily interrupted him before he could finish, she had risen from her seat, and her face, which was usually cold, had now gone gloomy to the extreme. "This is a very important clue! Can you tell me in which Charms ssroom you found it?" Jon could tell that the professors in the Headmaster''s office had already thought of what he was going to have them associate it with, and he didn''t hesitate. "It''s in the ssroom with the signage that reads ''Charms ss (2)''." And it was at this moment that Dumbledore suddenly spoke up. "The clue you provided is indeed very important, thank you very much for your attentiveness, Jon, but now can you please excuse yourself for a moment?" He looked at Jon, his face neither showed any surprise nor frown, and his tone remained as sincere as ever. "We''re going to talk about a personal matter that happened in the past, and it''s not some pleasant incident, as you should know, it''s always a good idea to avoid such not-so-nice matters." Jon, of course, knew exactly what they would be talking about next, his heart was not half dissatisfied with Dumbledore''s concealment, precisely because he knew, so he understood these things, especially in the face of Lily, the person concerned, it is not appropriate to mention it with someone who does not know about it. He nodded, left the pinch of grey hair on the desk, and after passing on the clue, turned and left the Headmaster''s office. And with his departure, Lily turned her head and nced at the animal hair Jon had left behind, then her gaze tightened on Dumbledore. "Only a rat could have left behind such fur! It could only be a rat!" "I can understand how you feel right now, but the more this kind of thing happens, the more we have to calm down, Lily." Dumbledore advised her, appeasing her to sit back in her chair again, rather than now immediately rushing to the charms'' ssroom where Jon found the grey fur. But although Lily sat down again, her countenance did not change in the slightest, still as gloomy, hateful along with impatient. "Jon is not wrong, none of the animals kept in the wagon match the colour and shape of this fur, it''s not a matter of being calm or not, it''s the fact that he is most likely on this wagon, not only present but has been staying here for a long time!" She sounded like she was trying very hard to suppress her tone of voice, but her voice still couldn''t help but be sharp. Even Lupin, who has always been calm and gentle, looked the same, but he was obviously much better than Lily in terms of emotional control, so he did not say anything, looking at Dumbledore, as if waiting for him to finish what he was trying to say. And Flitwick at this point seems to have thought of exactly why Lily and Lupin be like this after seeing a pinch of grey hair, he let out a long sigh, originally he intended to dissuade them, but did not know what to say. "I know this pinch of hair is likely to be left behind by Wormtail." Dumbledore seriously looked at Lily and Lupin, "his Animagus form is a rat, a grey-haired rat, which is something we all know. But it is because the one who has infiltrated the wagon now is most likely him, that I want to advise you to calm down." "Think about it, how many years have we not heard a word about him? After the Dark Lord took control of Hogwarts Castle with his men seven years ago andpletely solidified his rule in the entire British magicalmunity, he disappeared as if he had evaporated." "It is reasonable to say that he had done a great merit, no matter what the Dark Lord should have rewarded him properly after gaining authority, but there is no information about him, and his name has not appeared in the magical world for seven years." "You hate him, all of us who know what he has done hate him, and he himself should know this better than anyone else. That''s why we''ve long suspected that the Dark Lord helped him go incognito for his safety, rearranging an identity that none of us could possibly guess and letting him assume a high position in the Ministry of Magic, relying on the merits of betraying his friends. We have also been looking for all those suspicious pureblood wizards, trying to find every trace about him, but after all these years, there is still no clue at all." "And now, a person from the Ministry of Magic has infiltrated the wagon under the Dark lord''s order, and that person is quite likely to be Wormtail, who has been missing for so long. Right here in this wagon, where both Lily and Lupin are present inside, do you think that with his character, he woulde to such a ce?" Dumbledore obviously thought much more thoroughly than anyone else, he was rational enough to think through all the problems, what he said just now, even Jon did not think for a moment, while Dumbledore instantly perceived the abnormal situation when he saw Jon take out the pinch of grey hair. But not everyone can be as rational and calm as he is. Even if there is no issue in what he said, it doesn''t change the fact that Wormtail is most likely on this wagon right now! And in the face of such facts, whether it is Lily or Lupin, both of them just couldn''t sit back and do nothing. "These are indeed a problem, but even if there are such issues, are we going to ignore the fact that Wormtail is right beside us?" Lily''s voice was t, but that t voice was clearly trembling. Lupin''s tone remained calm. "You''re quite right, sir, it does defymon sense for Wormtail to show up on the wagon to act as an undercover agent for the Dark Lord if he truly is the Wormtail we knew. He should be most aware of what level of hatred we have for him better than anyone else, so he must have some kind of scheme up his sleeve along with his lord, but the more it is like this, the faster we have to catch this traitor! Because only then can we quickly pry into his mind and know all their ns as well as plots!" Dumbledore went silent. He was not persuaded by the words of Lily and Lupin, and it was clear that no matter what he said now there was no way to stop their hatred of Wormtail that had been pent up for countless years in the end. Dumbledore knew there must be a problem, but he also didn''t have the means to know exactly what this issue is. And because of this, he also had no reason at all to stop Lily and Lupin from nning to find a way to pull Wormtail out right now in this wagon, even though his instincts told him that this is probably exactly what Voldemort wanted to see ... *** Paris, France. In an ancient mansion located on the outskirts of Paris, Sirius sat on the sofa in the drawing room, absent-mindedly cutting the steak in front of him, eating his dinner while listening to Bill, the oldest son of the Weasley family, giving him a report on his tasks beside him. "Charlie and the men, after all this time of visiting and investigating, have concluded that the top brass of the French Ministry of Magic is currently divided into four main factions, one is pro-pureblood supremacy faction with the ancient wizard families as well as some of the half-blood wizards who meet the criteria for the new pureblood division, these people are big supporters of the ruling theories of the dark lord, many of them want to turn the French magical world into what Britain has be at present. This way, purebloods canpletely hold all the authority." "There is also a faction led by the current French Minister of Magic, Eric Amalric, a Faction that focuses on gaining benefits, they are now openly leaning towards the pureblood supremacy faction, but in fact, they just want to use this stance to muddy the waters of the French magical world and use it to gain more benefits for themselves, and they''re also the biggest revolutionary force in the French Ministry of Magic on the surface." "Then there is the one that is working with us, led by Adele Rnd, the pro-muggle faction, they are now fiercely confronting the benefit-acquiring faction, and I heard that a temporary assembly will be held soon, trying to oust the Minister of Magic and thereby stabilizing the situation in France." "Finally, the neutral faction, which has thergest number of people, probably upying nearly half of the overall high-level people of the Ministry of Magic, are mostly purebloods or half-bloods who have more moderate thinking, with a tendency to lean towards pureblood supremacy faction, but also does not wish to bring chaos to France with such overly radical reforms; they fall into the category of those who do not want to help any sides, and eventually turn to whichever faction that has the advantage. " ---- #PsychoticPurse 6, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 155: Worst Case Scenario (2 in 1) Chapter 155: Worst Case Scenario (2 in 1) "From the current situation, it seems that the overall situation of the French magicalmunity is still smooth, and the benefit-acquiring faction led by Minister Amalric actually has a very clear idea of what they want, ruling the entire French magicalmunity on a hierarchical basis ording to bloodlines like in Britain will not bring them more benefits, they just want to use the current situation to pull in the support of those long-standing pureblood families, that is, they are using political tilt to cheat them out of money." "And even those ancient pureblood families who truly support the pureblood supremacy theory know very well that without sufficient strength to back them up, there is no way they can implement the same political policies in France as in Britain. Nor had they ever considered the idea of finding themselves a lord and choosing to obey Voldemort by surrendering the supreme authorities of the French Ministry of Magic to them." "They are very greedy for the benefits that British pureblood wizards are now enjoying, but they can only be greedy. Amalric, the benefit-acquiring faction, is actually an attempt on their part to use them as a way to judge how much resistance there will be when promoting pureblood supremacy within the magicalmunity." "And the real threat to the current situation is actually the bulk of half-blood wizards, that is, the people who will be ssified as part of purebloods and enjoy the benefits of purebloods ording to the new pureblood policy of the British Ministry of Magic." "They are not as good as the traditional pureblood families who hold more power, so they are hoping that the French magical world can be like Britain, where the social ss is reorganized, and the cake of authority is redivided so that they can get a bigger piece than the original one, and it is not impossible for them to even submit to the dark lord for this purpose." "This kind of half-blood wizards amount to the most part of the employees in the French Ministry of Magic, but they generally don''t have ess to the real core authority, so they can''t make much impact on the current situation for the time being." Bill took the information in his hand and very seriously analysed the situation to Sirius, but Sirius ate his steak without any vour and did not seem to be in the mood to listen. "How is it going with our contact with that woman named Rnd?" "That wizard chancellor doesn''t seem to want to have much cooperation with us, she doesn''t seem to want to be noticed by the Dark Lord for having too much contact with us. She is preparing to organize a temporary council meeting, and is going to use this meeting to oust that minister who only wants to make money, and then continues to do confrontation with the pureblood faction within the Ministry." Sirius snorted coldly. "Does she believe that as long as she doesn''t get too involved with us, the dark lord won''t pay attention to their side? Stupid woman." In the face of his superior, Bill expressed some helplessness. In fact, the investigation work in France was mainly carried out by Arthur, Molly, Charlie and him, which is equal to the entire Weasley family taking charge of this matter. But because of the betrayal of Percy on the wagon, even if no one in the Order of the Phoenix would suspect the Weasley couple''s loyalty, they took the initiative to avoid suspicion, and temporarily put down the responsibility at hand. So the task in France was handed over to Sirius, who came over from Britain, and Bill and Charlie remained under him to continue to investigate and summarize the intelligence. Sirius is definitely well-qualified when ites to being a fighter, but when ites to being a leader, he is not thatpetent. But the Order of the Phoenix''s intelligence-gathering work in France can''t be left behind, and what Bill reported just now is the result of their work in the past few months. "So what are we going to do here next." Sirius finished thest piece of steak, then looked at Bill dry-eyed, "Just wait and spend time with that woman like this?" Bill exined to him. "In ordance with the task given to us by Dumbledore, we need to stay here at the very least until the end of the council meeting after Halloween to see if Rnd wins or Minister Amalric remains in position at the end, which concerns the political direction of the French Ministry of Magic afterwards." "That means we''ll be here for close to a month!" Sirius grumbled grumpily, but after that, he didn''t say anything more, when dealing with such serious matters, even if he had inner resistance, at least he wouldn''t give others trouble. Dinner time briefing was over, then Sirius and Bill said good night, and were ready to go back to the room to rest when Bill suddenly took out another letter from his coat pocket and handed it to him. "When I arrived, an owl delivered a letter from Hogwarts, and the envelope indicated that it was addressed to you." Sirius took the letter from his hand in confusion and then opened the envelope in front of Bill. The letter was short, so short that he just swept a nce to read the entire content of it. And the next second after reading the letter, his whole person froze in ce like a y sculpture. After the letter was delivered, Bill, who was also ready to go back to his room to rest, looked at Sirius'' reaction and stopped in his tracks, and asked in confusion. "Did something happen?" Sirius didn''t reply, but his hand gripping the parchment was getting harder and harder, even his knuckles became white, and his fingers couldn''t stop trembling. He clenched his teeth tightly, and his gaze was filled with uncontroble hatred and fury. "-He''s at Hogwarts." Bill thought something big had happened on the wagon, and he somewhat nervously went back to Sirius'' side. "Who''s at Hogwarts?" "A lowly! Disgraceful! Filthy rat!!!" He snarled, pocketing the letter in his hand, and proceeded to stare hard at Bill out of the corner of his bloodshot eyes. "Help me prepare the floowork back to Britain! Now!" Bill furrowed his brow. "What about the work on our end? Who am I going to give all that information Charlie and I put together? It''s already pretty tight with three people." Sirius said aloud as he walked anxiously around the drawing room. "I''ll ask Dumbledore to send someone over here when I get back, but I have to go!" Bill stared at Sirius in silence for a few seconds, finally averted his gaze, and sighed inpromise. "Okay, I''ll go get it ready." The fact that Sirius had returned to Britain was not known to Dumbledore until eleven o''clock at night. Although Bill informed him first when preparing to build a floowork back to Britain, by the time Dumbledore received this message, Sirius had already appeared in Britain and applied to board the wagon. For this matter, Dumbledore was not much surprised. He knew very well that perhaps Lily might not tell the matter, but with the deep rtionship between Lupin and Sirius, he probably will write to tell him, and once Sirius knew the matter, it would be impossible for him to stay in France. Near midnight, when the students were asleep, the wagon stopped in a city alley, and then Hagrid, who is sitting in the driver''s seat, waved to a ck dog on the side of the road, which jumped on the wagon and came to Hagrid''s side. Then the wagon resumed its journey again, and Sirius changed back to his own human form. "Hey, we haven''t seen each other in years, Sirius." Hagrid greeted him happily. But Sirius''s expression was not really good, and he responded with a somewhat hoarse voice. "Good evening, Hagrid, I remember thest time we met was five years ago before I went to Azkaban." "So what''s the reason for your visit to Hogwarts this time? Visiting an old friend?" Hagrid was obviously unaware of what was currently going on with Sirius. Sirius took the cup of tea he handed over, gloom lingered on his face as he finished his tea in one gulp and proceeded to walk towards the wagon. "That''s right, visiting a friend indeed. An old friend!" Looking at the back of Sirius pushing open the door into the wagon, Hagrid felt a little puzzled, but he did not probe deeper, his main responsibility is only driving the wagon, as for other things there are naturally other people will worry about them. Sirius entered the wagon and did not go anywhere else, and directly knocked on the door of the Headmaster''s room. Dumbledore was obviously waiting for him here. "I''m going to stay and catch him myself!" Sirius did not bother to say unnecessary nonsense, as soon as he entered the door, he stated his demand. It was just that he did not see what he expected, such as Dumbledore discouraging him or saying something he expected, but just calmly nodded his head. "I have arranged a room for you, you can stay here tonight, and tomorrow at breakfast time I will announce to the students that there will be a new guard on the wagon." This made Sirius freeze, and he looked at Dumbledore and asked tentatively. "You''re not angry that I took it upon me toe back from France?" "You''re already here, it''s pointless for me to have any other emotions even if I felt otherwise, and in that case, it''s better to capture the one lurking in the wagon as soon as possible." Dumbledore said in a mild tone. He really did not appear to be that much angry, instead, he arranged everything before Sirius arrived. This instantly let Sirius breathe a sigh of relief, he respected Dumbledore, treating this old man as the closest elder, so even if he insisted oning back, he cared a lot about Dumbledore''s attitude. "Bill said that there are only two people in France, he and Charlie are too busy, you need to send another person over." Dumbledore shook his head. "No need for that, I already asked them both toe back as well when you returned to Britain, there is no need for someone to stay on in France." Sirius'' expression rxed even more. "Indeed there is no need to waste manpower there, Bill just finished reporting the situation to me five hours ago, the situation in France is stable, and there is no need to leave people there specifically." Dumbledore looked puzzled and nodded calmly. "Go back and get some rest, you have to meet with the students tomorrow to let them know who you are." "Won''t that rat freak out when I just show up at the school undisguised?" "I''ll help you make up an identity and change your appearance." Sirius felt that Dumbledore was very well-prepared, and soon he left the Headmaster''s office to find the room prepared for him in advance. And just after he left, Dumbledore silently looked at an old nk parchment on his desk. A few momentster, he took out his wand, lightly pointing at the parchment, erasing the magic that existed on it. Then, he called out the name of a portrait on the wall behind him. "Dilys, please make a visit to Durmstrang." Among a crowd of portraits, a kind-faced elderly witch opened her eyes. "What message do you need me to bring over?" "Tell Gellert that the n is ahead of schedule and that he needs to be ready as soon as possible." Dilys then disappeared in the frame, and at this time the other portraits of the Headmasters on the wall have stopped their original light snores and dozing, they all turned their attention to Dumbledore. "Things have reached the worst point then?" An old wizard with a goatee asked with a worried look. Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, looked at the burning candle on the desk, and crossed his arms in front of himself, with a deeper look in his eyes than ever before. "Much worse than we thought, he gave me the strong blow in return, Phineas. And I actually didn''t even notice anything until now, until he started disying his mocking smile to me, and I realized what he was preparing to do all along, but now it''s toote." The old wizard named Phineas eximed bitterly. "It''s all because of my punk grandson! He is simply a disgrace to the ck family!" "It''s not his fault, even if he didn''te back, things have reached a point where there is no way to undo it." Dumbledore looked a little tired as he narrowed his eyes, "However, in the face of such a worst possible oue, we are not without backup preparations" On the second Wednesday of October, early in the morning students on the wagon came to the great hall to eat breakfast and found an unfamiliar face inside the school. And during breakfast time, Dumbledore introduced the tall, handsome young male wizard to everyone. "Nigellus Dippet, a brilliant wizard, will be in charge of security on the wagon for the rest of the term." To put it bluntly, Dumbledore gave him the security job, in fact, it would not be impossible for him to take up the position of Professor for a ss, after all, the four professors in the school are basically holding several jobs. But Sirius is obviously not in the mood to teach here, not to mention that the semester has begun, and each professor has already started the process of assigning a clear workload, so it is not suitable to transfer part of the work to him now. Although the students were a little curious about the new "security guard", they didn''t ask any more questions. No one has forgotten that this academic year was not peaceful at all, first Percy''s betrayal, then the Dementor attack, and the man who is hiding in the wagon has yet to be caught, so there is nothing wrong with an extra protection force. Jon was not much surprised by the appearance of the unknown male wizard, with the information about the rat, one more person on the wagon is not strange, concealing his identity is just to prevent the rat from finding out that its identity has been exposed. Now that this big ck dog is here, all the ''Avengers'' are ''assembled'' together in this wagon. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 156: No way to go (2 in 1) Chapter 156: No way to go (2 in 1) Sirius got together with Lupin and Lily in the Professor''smon room after Dumbledore had introduced him to the whole school at breakfast. This is not the first time they have met since the prison break-out from Azkaban, as early asst semester when Lupin first came to the wagon as a Defense ss professor, they had a private get-together. They have shared hatred for a long while, all three were once most directly affected by that ridiculous Saviour Prophecy. And now they have reunited on the wagon, just as they did back then. "If the man who infiltrated the wagon from the beginning is Wormtail, then he has done only two things so far. Persuaded the third son of the Weasleys to betray; and reported the location of the wagon to the Dementors." Lupin is undoubtedly the calmest one among them all, and he knows that if he wants to find Wormtail sessfully, it is best to understand his purpose ofing to the wagon first. Lily, however, said in a cold voice. "In fact, inquiring about what he came to the school to do simply has no way to provide us with any aid, these orders must have been given to him by his lord, it is likely that he himself does not know why he is doing this. We want to catch him, we can only rely on what we know about him before." She looked at Lupin and Sirius. "All of us know that he is a very timid person, and when you guys were in school before, he was the one who was usually the most afraid to break school rules in your little group of friends. Arge part of the reason he chose to betrayter on was also because he sumbed to his fear of Voldemort." In private, Lily had no qualms about just calling the Dark Lord by his old name that no one dared to even mention. "Soing to this wagon is also certainly not his own intention, he must know that I have always been in this school, and know that I live each day with a strong desire to kill him with my own hands, this must be Voldemort''s strict order to him, forcing him toply!" "Being coerced to do it, even if he came to the wagon, he wouldn''t likely stay with us every day, watching me, Lupin, and Dumbledore every moment, it would scare the rat out of him! If he wants to hide, it must be in a ce where he would not normally meet with us every day." "And previously, Dumbledore has brought us to conduct three inspections throughout the wagon, in which we have likewise spected whether the infiltrator would be an Animagus. Dumbledore for this possibility also cast the Animagus reversal spell fully throughout the wagon, but there was no gain, which means that he found a ce in the wagon where he could avoid this magic, and this ce also meets thest condition, usually we won''t notice, and will not go there." While Lupin is the calmest among them, Lily undoubtedly for sure is the smartest among them. The reason she wasn''t able to get a clue about the infiltrator''s whereabouts before was that she simply didn''t have any information about the person, but now that she knew his identity, still he was once one of the people she knew best, then everything that could be deduced became traceable. Sirius hade to the wagon only a handful of times, and he could tell that Lily''s analysis made sense, yet he still stared. "So where is that ce?" Lily didn''t bother to look at Sirius, she had always known that this male wizard, who was closer to James than his own brother, was just as dumb as his Animagus form, a dumb guy who was only good at receiving orders and then carrying them out. Of the three people in thismon room, the only one she could discuss it with is Lupin. "We usually take sses in the wagon, the potion ss needs me to cultivate and store a lot of potion materials, your Defense Against the Dark Arts ss after the start of this year also applied for permission from Dumbledore to find a lot of empty ssrooms to keep some dark creatures, so basically we have been to every room in the wagon. So is there any room that we have not or rarely go in, and never actively think about?" Lupin had been listening carefully to Lily''s analysis, his gaze showed a thoughtful look, his brow unconsciously furrowed. The atmosphere went silent, not only Lupin was pondering, but Lily was also recalling with a cold face, wondering if they had missed any ce. Sirius was fidgeting a little anxiously in his chair, and now at this moment he could not help much, and could only wait for Lily and Lupin toe up with the results after using their brains. And in the quiet time in themon room, they suddenly heard faint, somewhat messy footsteps above their heads. The sound of footsteps made Lupin and Lily, who were originally in deep thought, all freeze. Both of their eyes suddenly lit up with a sh of brilliance. "That doesn''t have to be a room!" Lupin said excitedly. Lily''s breathing also became visibly sharper: "You are the professor of defence ss and history of magic, I am the professor of potion ss and other elective sses, we can choose any room in the wagon as a ssroom, but only one of the most special one will not be used!" Hearing the two of them talking like a riddle, Sirius was getting more and more agitated. "Alright! Just say it! Where the hell is that ce!" Lupin and Lily turned their heads together to look at him and said in unison. "Astronomy ssroom!" There is no ssroom for astronomy ss to be precise, the ss needs students to observe the stars, and there is certainly no suitable ce for this activity in the wagon, so when the period of exile in the wagon begin, Dumbledore organized the space on top of the wagon, to be used as the venue for the astronomy ss. In addition to attending sses there, Jon in his first year also applied for permission from Professor McGonagall to go there to practice, usually, it is prohibited for students to enter without permission, and astronomy sses are basically held at night, professors except for Professor Flitwick who is responsible for teaching astronomy ss basically will rarely go over there, even Flitwick only go there during the ss, not to mention Lily and Lupin who have nothing to do with astronomy ss. And in the first three investigations, although the wagon roof was also involved, it was not the focus of the search, and Dumbledore''s Animagus reversal spell was also likely not to cover this ce! After thinking clearly about the crucial point involved, Lily and Lupin did not stay any longer, they left and turned around to get ready to walk out of themon room, but Sirius moved faster than they did after they mentioned the astronomy ssroom, he had already rushed out of the room. It is now morning, and the students are basically in ss, leaving only the three of them hurrying down the corridor towards the very end of the wagon, then they pushed open the door of the room marked with the astronomy ss sign, and went up a spiral staircase from inside, and finally came to the top of the wagon. Although this ce is usually prohibited for students toe in freely, it is still scheduled by the McGonagall to carry out the regr cleaning work, the sound of movement from the top of the wagon that they just heard in themon room is the sound made by the cleaning students walking on it. The sixth graders, who had no sses in the morning, all looked at the two professors and the new security guard who had arrived today in surprise. Lily addressed them as soon as she walked up to the top of the wagon. "You don''t have to do the clean-up today, go back and get some rest." The sixth graders had no objection to this even if they were puzzled, and after they left the roof of the wagon, Lily and the gang each took out their wands. "Pay attention, if you find him, you must not let him get away." They stood on top of the wagon, the wagon was driving on a suburban road, surrounded by muggle vehicles that were asionally overtaken by them, but the people driving the vehicles seemed oblivious to the fact that this kind of vehicle should not even appear on the roads of thete twentieth century. In the distance, the vige, town, and wilderness were receding, while Lily and the gang split into three directions and did some all-around searching throughout the astronomy ssroom. Soon Lupin spotted a major clue, he called Sirius and Lily both all over. In front of him, there is a palm-sized, raised floor, and under the floor is probably less than half a square size of recessed inner space. Looking at the traces of the edge of the wooden nk break, this ce is obviously newly dug out not long ago, at the bottom, there was also ayer of cashmere-like soft pad, and the soft pad is also covered with a lot of the same grey hair that Jon previously found in the charms'' ssroom, and there are still a lot of dried chicken bones and nuts shells nearby. After seeing this ce, Lily and Sirius couldn''t help but hold their breath. "He has been hiding here before!" Sirius gritted his teeth and said. Lupin pinched the grey hairs from the cushion and muttered under his breath. "It''s him, this is where he stayed." And the more it came to this, the more calm Lily became, staring at the dry, hard chicken bones and other scraps of food in them, she said in a t voice that was obviously deliberately suppressed. "This is just where he used to hide, all this rubbish looks like it hasn''t been cleaned up for a month at the very least, and he hasn''t been back here for a long time!" "But we can''t rule out the possibility that he has not still given up on this cepletely." Lupin said while casting a spell on the movable piece of plywood, "This will help us know if he returnster on." He then restored the movable floor nk to its original state. They found new evidence that Wormtail was on this wagon, but still hadn''t really found out where he is. Lily''s suspicions were all correct, but Wormtail was also obviously more cautious, and the location in the astronomy ssroom was probably only one of his three caves. After that, they carried out an extensive inspection throughout the wagon roof but still found nothing more, and finally had no choice but to return to the wagon. The new clues found in the astronomy ssroom gave Lily more motivation, and for the rest of the day in October, they carried out aplete inspection on other suspicious areas on the wagon, but no new clues were found. This gave them strong uneasiness, and none of them uttered the most likely guess - that Wormtail is most likely no longer on this wagon! The investigation of the Lily trio, on the other hand, had little effect on the students in the school. Jon had been working hard on the Patronus Charm all this time, and for some reason, he had a vague sense of a very bad feeling in his heart, so he has been working hard. Although the school is now calm and quiet, from the beginning of the school year after the dementor attack, there has never been any other ident, but Jon''s heart still somehow felt uneasy. This uneasiness has a source, in this wagon, Jon can be said to be the person who is now most familiar with Voldemort who is in a high position except Dumbledore, even if he bes more sensible, but a person''s personality rarely changes. He is vengeful and dark-hearted, in the first half of the year he suffered humiliation caused by a piece of flesh cut off from his home territory, Voldemort absolutely will not just let it go. It seems that the less he fights back, the more Jon feels that there is a shocking storm hidden behind it. In thest week of October, five days before Halloween,te that evening, Dumbledore suddenly called Jon to the Headmaster''s office. The Headmaster''s office is still the same as before without much change, but Jon felt a different atmosphere, and this unusual feeling came from the portraits of the Headmasters on the walls. When he came here before, most of these portraits would be pretending to sleep and secretly open a small slit to look at him, but now all these portraits are empty. None of the people inside still remained in the portraits, leaving only empty frames, and the whole wall looks like a gallery store disying its wares. "Perhaps the situation now has reached the most critical scenario since the fall of Hogwarts Castle seven years ago, Jon." Dumbledore looked deeply at Jon, he did not say anything unnecessary, but directly cut to the chase and said a message like a thunderp in Jon''s ear. Even if there had been a forewarning in his mind before, Jon still looked at him with a dumbfounded face. "Professor. I do not understand, are we already unknowingly surrounded by people sent by the Dark Lord?" Dumbledore''s voice was calm, but it was because of this kind of cold calmness that he had, unlike his usual tone, it carried an inexplicable meaning that gave people a more uneasy feeling. "If we are surrounded, we just need to find a way to break out of the encirclement, even if the Dark Lord personally came, I am sure to hold him in check, and then let the Order of the Phoenix lead you guys to continue to escape, but now the situation is that we have nowhere to go." He pulled a Frenchnguage newspaper from the side of his desk and ced it in front of Jon''s face, on which a determined-looking witch was raising her fist for the camera. Knowing that Jon could not read French on it, Dumbledore read the headline in the newspaper directly. "[Interim Council of Councillors convenes in advance and will decide the future of the French magicalmunity on October 25]" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 157: Chills Chapter 157: Chills Jon looked at the newspaper that came from the French magicalmunity, the puzzlement on his face was not half diminished. "I don''t understand, professor, are you saying that this crisis ising from France? But we''ve been there once before, and ording to Madame Maxime, the situation isn''t that bad, and French wizards aren''t likely to submit to the rule of the Dark Lord voluntarily." "I thought the same as you before." Dumbledore said quietly, "that things are far from being that bad, that there are factions within the French Ministry of Magic, even if it is true that there are indeed many who support the pureblood supremacy theory, but very few truly want France to be like Britain, but things are developing more and more wrongly." He looked into Jon''s eyes. "All of this that happened on the wagon after we returned from France was not aimed at us, but rather to cut off our attention from the French magicalmunity." "Do you remember after visiting Madame Maxime and returning to school with Gabrielle, I sent someone to France to gather information?" Jon nodded, when preparing to return from France, Dumbledore mentioned this matter to him. "The people who were sent over to France from the Order of the Phoenix at the time were Ron''s parents and two brothers, the Weasleys." Dumbledore looked down deeply, "Arthur and Molly are both senior members of the Order of the Phoenix, and their two sons who have graduated from school, Bill, as well as Charlie are also exceptionally talented, so by sending their family to France to collect intelligence, I believed that they would soon investigate some hidden matters beneath the surface, but what happened in the school back then, you should not have forgotten. " Jon''s pupils shrink slightly, he is very smart himself, it''s just the information he knows is not asprehensive as Dumbledore, and now after he was reminded of this, he figured out the connection! "Percy has betrayed!" "That''s right, Arthur and Molly''s third child, defected to the Ministry of Magic and the Dark Lord, and escaped from the wagon." Dumbledore said calmly, "They are a pair of good wizards, and equally a pair of parents who love their children very much, Percy''s incident hit them hard, and although no one else within the Order of the Phoenix would ever doubt them, they still asked me to find someone to hand over the task they held to prove themselves." "The intelligence unit that had just been running in France for not long was forced to be switched at that time, and I had Sirius take over the couple''s task after that." Jon couldn''t help but hold his breath, he didn''t say anything, because he knew in his heart that by all rights he shouldn''t have known about the feud in past years, and even less about the rat lurking on the wagon being Wormtail. But even if he did not utter any words, Dumbledore already sorted out the rtionship for himter on. "You found the pinch of grey hair, which came from the Animagus form of a person, and the person who has that form was missing for a long time from the magical world, Sirius has a deep grudge against that Death Eater. Once Sirius knew the information rted to him, he would not stay in France, he wanted to catch and kill him personally. And now he''s disguised as a wizard named ''Nigellus Dippet'', looking for his enemy at the school with Lily and Lupin." Jon''s face was filled with a look of shock, and without being told any further by Dumbledore, he knew exactly the reason why these strange events were urring on the wagon during this period of time. "The Dark Lord asked someone to lurk in the school, not to get back at us through this, but to stop your investigation in France! Percy''s betrayal, and the pinch of grey hair that I found." Dumbledore crossed his arms, the afterglow of the evening sunset shining in through the wagon window, reflected by his crescent-shaped sses with subtle white light. "Sessive changes in the person in charge, resulted in the intelligence collection in France progressing very slowly, only now Bill was able to sort out thework and factions of the Ministry of Magic high-ranking figures, but there was no more deeper investigation. But in fact, there is no need to continue the investigation on the French side, I don''t know whether the dark lord is intentionally demonstrating to me on the wagon front, or the rat inadvertently revealed a w, which made me roughly guess what kind of scheme he actually has." "Remember the night Gabrielle met the Dementors?" He suddenly asked a question that seemed irrelevant to the whole thing, and Jon didn''t react at first, and only after he had thought about it for a few seconds did he murmur. "She said she saw a man who had visited their house previously in the wagon. A French male wizard?" Dumbledore said in a deep voice. "I don''t have tangible evidence on this matter yet, but it''s likely this is what the Dark Lord has been trying to keep me from investigating further in France." "If the one lurking in the wagon was really the rat, and the one that Gabrielle saw was definitely him. But as far as we recall, he was a short, fat English wizard, so why did when Gabrielle meet him he turned out to be a middle-aged male wizard who had met with her father, who most likely was from the French Ministry of Magic?" Dumbledore''s words suddenly gave Jon chills! He suddenly thought of something at this moment, something that he had ignored before. Since Harry Potter was killed that night, which means James'' secret keeper Wormtail has be a traitor, which means he has contributed so much to Voldemort, then why they never heard his name when they were in Diagon Alley as well as Hogwarts Castle? Not only him but Voldemort''s most hardcore beloved in the original, the crazy woman named Betrix Lestrange, why such a right-hand woman has never been mentioned either? Wormtail may have been discarded, but Be certainly could not have been abandoned by Voldemort, so where would they be if they were not present in the British magicmunity? Before he could think about this question, Dumbledore had already said the answer to his own question. "The rat disappeared from the British magicalmunity for a long time, and along with him, the dark lord''s many other trusted subordinates disappeared as well, before we have not been able to find where exactly he had sent his subordinates, but now since the rat can be the French Ministry of Magic employee, the other Death Eaters who disappeared with him, estimated to have gone to the same ce." Jon did not know at what point he unconsciously clenched his fists, he looked at Dumbledore''s blue eyes, listening to him utter a frightening spection. "All of them are in the French Ministry of Magic, ying different roles, bing French wizard who is in a high position in the French magical world!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 158: The First Step Chapter 158: The First Step France, the underground of ce de Furstemberg Square, where the Ministry of Magic, the political centre of the entire French magicalmunity, had been established. And at this moment, there are still two hours before the impromptu council meeting begins, but eighty percent of the council members who are mainly involved in this meeting are already all assembled in a vacated conference room. There was not only Wizard Chancellor - Adele Rnd, but also the Minister of Magic - Eric Amalric, who was her sworn enemy in the political circle, except for the Speaker of the Wizard Council - Gerald Cassel, who always remained as a neutral party, the other two groups of members of the Wizard Council were all in attendance. What is currently going on in the meeting room is obviously not an impromptu council meeting that has been brought forward, because there is neither a newspaper reporter nor all the council members present. This is obviously a secret meeting before the start of the council session. However, this secret meeting let Rnd and Amalric, who should have been political enemies, gathered together peacefully. In therge conference room, no one spoke. Nearly thirty to forty wizards were sitting here, but all of them were silent as if they were waiting for someone, someone whom everyone needed to treat with their utmost respect. The wait did notst long, and soon a handsome, tall male wizard appeared in the centre of the room. He was standing in the centre of this strange conference room, and around him, nearly 70 percent of the councillors who held the authority of the French magicalmunity present, including the Chief Wizard Chancellor Rnd and Minister Amalric, all knelt down on one knee and addressed the man respectfully. "Lord!" A high-backed chair appeared behind the man at some point, and he sat with a smile on his face right in the middle of all his minions. "I''m still ustomed to your original face, Be." Chancellor Rnd, who had always been calm and gentle, fell to her knees and her curvy body couldn''t stop trembling. She excitedly raised her face, which had beenpletely changed, a witch with ck wavy hair, a paleplexion and a demonic appearance looked at the male wizard who had one hand on her cheek and exuded a mesmerizing aura all over his body in fascination. "Lord! We have not failed you!" "Ah, that''s for sure, you, Rodolphus, and Rabastan have always been the people I trust the most, and that trust is not only limited to loyalty butpetence as well." Voldemort smiled, and along with his words, the Minister of Magic "Amalric" and the male wizard behind him also looked up at their lord with excitement. "Is the old man who is leading a group of bereaved dogs still in contact with you?" he asked. Be grimly shook her head and said. "Something must have been revealed on Peter''s end! Dumbledore asked me about Peter''s identity on the French side, and I replied that there had never been such a person in the French Ministry of Magic, and he hasn''t been in touch with me since!" Voldemort''s face showed a slightly regretful expression, but he did not seem to actually care much about the matter. "Him knowing our ns on this side now is irrelevant, since he did not find any anomalies in the final closing, there is no way to stop us anymore now, and they will have even less chance to be our resistance in the future." He stood up from the chair, and slowly opened his arms, and his handsome face was filled with the intoxication of this supreme power. "All of you, who are present here, no matter what kind of position and what kind of status you actually had in the French magical world before." He said in a loud voice. "All the promises made by Be in my ce before are all valid! Your family names will be the most powerful family lines in all of France! In the near future, this will not be limited to Britain and France, we will be the new rulers of this European continent!" The faces of the French councillors who fell to their knees were flushed with excitement. "Only a mole will look only at the immediate future! Our vision is far more ambitious than those mortals can imagine! And tonight is the first step we take to wee a world dominated by pureblood!" The male wizard who was once the most vicious dark lord in the recorded history of magic, and is now recognized as the greatest gentleman in the British magical world, raised his wand-wielding hand high. "For the purest of blood!" In the conference room, all the male and female wizards, the British Death Eaters, and the French magical councillors all raised their hands high! "For the purest bloodline!" *** Jon only felt a chill run through his body at this moment. All of this is a plot prepared by Voldemort, who is in Britain, has never boarded this wagon, and has never shown his superior power in another country. Yet he has controlled the actions of everyone! Now both Jon and Dumbledore finally understand why Voldemort''s mind was never much on their wagon belonging to the rebels, and why the previous plot in Hogwarts Castle was so smooth. Because that dark lord''s attention never focused on them all, after upying the whole of Britain, he simply did not suppress his nearly never-ending desire for power and authority. He was plotting for the whole of France, intending to be the master of the tworgest magical regimes in Europe all by himself! By controlling the magicalmunity of Britain and France, he was controlling the wizards of the small half of Europe! As for the Book of Admittance and the Quill of eptance lost from Hogwarts, it would no longer affect him halfway at all, he would have a newnd full of muggle wizards to oppress, and another school of magic - Beauxbaton would be a new taming ground alongside Hogwarts. Cold sweat was rising in Jon''s palms as he kept his gaze locked on Dumbledore. "Professor, so if the French magicalmunity does fall into his hands, what about us? How will it affect us?" "He would temporarily stop his preparations for expansion." Dumbledore said gruffly. "To begin to put all his attention on us, and the rebel forces within the newly ruled French magicalmunity, there is a good chance that the start of this operation will be tonight. The impromptu meeting on the French side is ready to be held, and to avoid any more bad surprises for him from our side, he will definitely let his men who are still in Britain do their best to destroy all the living forces we have now." "Previously, all his energy was focused on a foreign country, and to stabilize me, these several attacks on the wagon were all aimed atpleting his goal, but from here on, he will not hold back anymore. Even if he doesn''t want to kill all the children, he will definitely be as ruthless as possible, and will not leave us with any more future." Jon''s breathing became much heavier. "So what are we going to do next?" Dumbledore looked at Jon with unparalleled seriousness. "All students can not continue to stay in thisnd, next a war will begin in thisnd, you guys have to stay away from this ce!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 159: Going forward (2 in 1) Chapter 159: Going forward (2 in 1) Lily and the gang are still on the wagon looking for traces of Wormtail. Only that they never gained even a semnce of anything these days, the discovery in the astronomy ssroom at that time seemed to be thest trace left by Wormtail. Sirius and Lupin, have a hidden suspicion in their hearts that they did not say, or subconsciously do not want to believe. That is, Wormtail haspleted his goal and escaped from the wagon. Dumbledore told them in the Headmaster''s office, that he might have left, but they didn''t want to listen. Wormtail''s exposure of his identity on the wagon was indeed fishy, but it was just the hatred inside them that had intensified their urgency for revenge. They seem to have been yed by that betrayer who was once their friend, and they don''t even understand yet what his aim really is. In the evening, the dusky evening sky gradually andpletely darkened. Lily, Sirius and Lupin once again arrived at the ce where they had found the traces left by Wormtail in the astronomy ssroom. "We have once again searched the entire wagon thoroughly, but still did not find anything, that can only mean two possibilities now." Lupin looked at the enchantment left under the movable nk, which has not been triggered so far and said in a deep voice. "Either our previous guess was wrong, this rat did not rely on luck to hide on the roof of the wagon to avoid all the previous searches, but he used some kind of special method. Which he still uses to hide in the wagon, and we all failed to find him." "Or..." He took a deep breath and looked at the expressionless Lily as well as the gloomy Sirius. "He''s already left this wagon." Sirius clenched his fist the moment Lupin uttered these words, Lily looked like nothing had changed, but anyone familiar with her could see a touch of coldness and hatred hidden under her eyes. The night has gradually gonepletely dark. The cold wind at the end of October pped them in the face, giving Sirius the illusion of being whipped in the face by the tail of a rat. It was like he saw the short traitorughing wildly, but he could only stand here helplessly. Lily said nothing, she turned around and walked towards the spiral staircase. Sirius was gripping the railings around the roof of the wagon as his knuckles turned whitish from his grip, gazing at the receding scenery as he thought about something. Lupin sighed, he passed by Sirius, patted him on the shoulder, said nothing, also ready to walk down the wagon. However, just as Lupin and Lily, one after the other, were ready to walk off the roof of the wagon, although they did not say anything, they silently epted the fact that Wormtail had left the wagon. Suddenly Sirius''s body trembled and he stared dead in one direction! He shouted at Hagrid, who was driving the wagon in the front, with a near-roaring volume. "Stop the wagon! Hagrid!" Hagrid''s reaction was quick, the next second he heard Sirius''s voice, he pulled the reins tighter in his hands! Almost at the same time, Sirius turned into a big ck dog and leapt off from the roof of the wagon! Lupin and Lily, who had not yet walked down the stairs, noticed Sirius''s movement at first. They looked at each other, and then moved iparably quickly back to the wagon roof! In the direction that Sirius rushed out, arge ck dog was running wildly, and in front of him, in the light of the moon that had just risen, a grey rat could be vaguely seen desperately fleeing forward! Lily immediately gripped the wand in her hand. Without even thinking, she relied on instinct to recite the incantation! "io Flying broom!" A flying broom flew out from the wagon with great speed, and was held in Lily''s hand with pinpoint precision! She got on the broom and shot up into the sky in the direction Sirius was chasing! ... Jon frowned tightly, he still felt a little incredulous about Dumbledore''s words. "Get out of this ce? Leave Britain?" "Yes, you must stay away from the battlefield. In the French magicalmunity, even if the Dark Lord relies on such means to gain ess to authority, his position and the implementation of policies will certainly not be stable. So whether it is to us or those in the French magicalmunity, he will not hold back anything, do everything to destroy all the resistance, with the most bloody suppression to maintain his rule." Dumbledore said gruffly. "This is very dangerous at the same time an opportunity for us. He gained the authority of newnd which also means that we will gain more allies. We will not remain inactive during the time he is solidifying his rule in the French magicalmunity, and even if there is no way to defeat him by doing so, we will dy the time that it will take for him to gather authority and solidify the status quo." "This is likely to be a protracted war, in which I can not involve our Hogwarts, you guys represent the future, and only if your safety is guaranteed can I, as well as others, put all of our energy into dealing with the Dark Lord." He exined very clearly, and Jon can also understand. Not only the students on the wagon, even if he stayed behind there is no way to provide half help for the next war. Not to mention, he did not even learn the Apparition, the magic stored in the ring is simply not enough for him to use the levitation charm or general counter-spell for a long duration, as long as he gets surrounded by Death Eaters unless someone elsees to the rescue, there is no way to escape. Jon and Dumbledore looked at each other nkly. "Professor, why are you telling me all this information now all alone?" "I told you before, I will use the age line enchantment along with some age restriction on this wagon, as in that castle, there is no way for anyone whose age does not qualify to enter the wagon." Dumbledore said softly. "So afterwards, no professor will be leading you anymore. I think you can afford to take on the responsibility of leading the others down the road." Jon''s eyes widened at once, and he stood straight up from his chair. "You mean we aren''t going to leave the wagon? But you said that this wagon can not leave Britain, so where are we going?" Dumbledore was just about to open his mouth to go answer Jon''s question when the whole wagon suddenly swayed, and then stopped in ce! Through the window of the Headmaster''s office, Jon could faintly see a ck shadow suddenly jumping down from the roof of the wagon! "I have already made arrangements for the rest of your journey a long time ago." Dumbledore''s face was calm as he took out his wand and also stood up from his chair, while Fawkes spread his wings and disappeared from the Headmaster''s office. "The destination is very special, it is also the perfect time to take you guys there, while Dark Lord''s attention is on the resisting British and French wizards, he won''t expect that there will be a group of kids to find the answer to why he got that power." Just after his words fell, he raised his wand high in his hand. Then an ear-piercing whistling sound resounded throughout the entire wagon! The third-year students and above were familiar with such an rming sound, and they quickly gathered towards the great hall with the lower-year students, who encountered such a situation for the first time. And all the other adult wizards left in the wagon, McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid, and Filch, all came to the door of the Headmaster''s office. Dumbledore also came out with Jon at this time. They were obviously prepared in advance. McGonagall frowned at Dumbledore, she opened her mouth and said. "Dumbledore, really already ..." "There is no need to repeat the same question, Minerva." Dumbledore looked at her and shook his head, "Go to the great hall and gather all the seventh and sixth years, they have graduated early." McGonagall swallowed the words she wanted to say and nodded with a stony face as she hurriedly ran towards the great hall. Dumbledore turned his focus on Filch. "Argus, you go with Minerva, when she assembles the sixth and seventh years, you take them out from the rear and Kingsley wille to meet you and take you to a rtively safe ce." Filch''s face looked very ugly, only this ugly expression was not in response to Dumbledore''s order, he nodded and also hurried towards the great hall. Then Dumbledore turned to Flitwick and Hagrid and said. "We are going to meet up with Moody and the others now." Hagrid and Flitwick held their wands in their hands and followed behind Dumbledore. Finally, Dumbledore turned his head to look at Jon, who had been following along. "You should be familiar with the driver''s seat." Jon was overwhelmed by the tension, his breathing noticeably quickened a bit. "I usually do frequent Hagrid, Professor, but I''ve never driven those Thestrals nor can I see them." "No need for you to deliberately drive them, Jon." A smile appeared on Dumbledore''s face at this time, he patted Jon''s shoulder, but his tone was more serious than ever. "No matter what you encounter, or what obstacles lie ahead, remember my words now, go forward, keep going!" Jon looked at the old man in front of him, and finally nodded his head with great solemnity Dumbledore turned around and took Flitwick and Hagrid together to go outside the wagon, and before Hagrid left, he brought the Niffler Beech to Jon''s hand. "I don''t have the means to protect him anymoreter on, take care of him for me, Jon." "I will." Jon promised. Beech seems to have been informed long ago that he will be separated from Hagrid, his small eyes flooded with tears, looking at the back of Hagrid and wanted to chase, but finally did not run out of Jon''s embrace. Jon followed the three of them out of the wagon and came to the driver''s seat in front of the wagon. Dumbledore and the group jumped out of the wagon, then there a bright red-golden light shed, and Fawkes settled back on Dumbledore''s shoulders. Immediately afterwards, countless apparition sounds resounded, and the wizards of the Order of the Phoenix appeared one after another around the wagon. At the back of the wagon, McGonagall and Filch had led those sixth and seventh-year students out of the wagon, where Kingsley was waiting for them to take them to 12 Grimmauld ce. Dumbledore looked at Jon, and all the wizards of the Order of the Phoenix around him looked at Jon. They all seemed like they knew him, and everyone smiled and nodded at him. Jon saw two red-haired youths among them, that were obviously Ron''s already graduated brothers, and a couple beside them, the Weasleys, their parents. There was also a middle-aged male wizard in the mix who looked a lot like Neville, his gaze was both calm and firm. Theme Moody was short yet very conspicuous, his magic fake eye darting around and his other good eye ring at Jon. There was also a witch with bubblegum-like pink hair, she had a peachy face and waved excitedly toward him after seeing Jon''s gaze. Some of these wizards were recognizable to Jon, and many were not, but they all looked at Jon with goodwill. Dumbledore handed the reins to Jon''s hand. "Remember my words, Jon, no matter whates." Jon''s eyes have never been so serious as he received the reins. "Are we all going to go on alone next, Professor?" Dumbledore smiled and shook his head. "Don''t forget we still have Fawkes between us." Fawkes tilted his head in time to make his presence known, "I''ll let him find you guys as soon as I can after this." "But for the most part, you will have to face the choiceter on by yourselves and I believe this is going to be the best adventure for you guys ever." In the distance, the sky was covered by a dark cloud at some point. Dumbledore''s eyes looked at the ck cloud, as he said in a loud voice. "It''s time to go!" Those Thestrals which Jon could not see as if hearing themand began to run towards the front! And all the Order of the Phoenix wizards who were originally guarding the wagon got on their flying brooms and shot up into the air. The ck cloud began to creep closer and closer in the sky, and it was only through the faint moonlight that it could be seen at this time. It was not a ck cloud at all, but arge group of wizards wearing ck robes and riding on flying brooms swooping down! Their target was very clear, each of their wands was aimed at the wagon that had gradually elerated and was speeding along the terrain. But when the tips of their wands lit up with the light of various spells, the wizards of the Order of the Phoenix, who had risen into the air in advance, had also recited spells one after another! "Bombarda!!!" "Protego Maxima!!!" "Pestis Incendium!!!" "Impedimenta!!!" "..." These attacks forced the vast majority of the ck-robed wizards to change their targets and start defending against the spells of the Order of the Phoenix wizards. But there were still a small number of wizards who still tried to bypass these Order of the Phoenix wizards who were in front of them and continued to chase the wagons that were already getting farther and farther away. And at that moment, Dumbledore has blocked in front of them. He did not recite an incantation, just waved his wand and a crimson me raged out! The mes lit up half of the sky, and at the same timepletely isted all the ck-robed wizards outside this red semicircle! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 160: Tombstone Stained with Sin and Blood (2 in 1) Chapter 160: Tombstone Stained with Sin and Blood (2 in 1) The impromptu council meeting, a circr conference hall, was fully upied with wizards. The three wizards whomanded the highest authority in the French magical world, the Minister of Magic, the Speaker of the Wizards'' Council, and the Chief Wizard Chancellor, were seated right in the only opening avable in the circr conference hall, directly in front of everyone. This conference hall was not an isted room, it was surrounded by ss walls, and right outside was the administrative hall of the French Ministry of Magic. Almost all visitors to the Ministry of Magic will pass through here, so every process in the meeting will not be concealed, anyone can observe, only the most important meetings of the French Ministry of Magic will be initiated within this conference hall, to show the fairness of issuing various policies. And at this moment, wizards had already gathered outside the ss wall, and there were many magical newspaper reporters with cameras, with shing lights lit up one after another. Throughout the history of the French magicalmunity, impromptu council meetings have rarely been held, only when the Wizard Chancellor, together with more than 70 percent of the members of the Wizard Court, believe that the current Minister of Magic is harmful to the French magicalmunity it will be held. During this session, all the wizards'' councillors will judge and vote to determine whether the current Minister of Magic should stay or go. And now the current Minister of Magic - Eric Amalric has only been in office for just over a year and has already gotten his turn in such a showdown, no minister in history has had such an "honour" as him. But in the face of such a dilemma, in the eyes of some members of Congress, Amalric actually continued to sit in his chair as if nothing had happened, snapping his fingernails in boredom. This caused a lot of murmurs in the conference hall, and even the French wizards who were watching from outside the ss wall frowned and pointed at their minister. The one who presided over this meeting was naturally Rnd. She maintained order throughout the meeting and then stated all of Amalric''s sins during his tenure as minister. Surprisingly, her speech was not a long speech, and could even be described as brief. But this did not affect the final result in any way, not to mention within the Ministry of Magic, in the outside world there are already many wizards who have a lot of dissatisfaction with the political attitude of the current minister. The purebloods all know that he only wants to reap money for his own benefit, and actually does not provide any substantial aid for the implementation of the bloodline supremacy philosophy in France. The Muggle faction was even more disgusted with his attitude of publicly singing praises to purebloods, and simply put, getting him out of office was the people''s will. So when the final vote was taken, those who agreed to drive him out of the Ministry of Magic ounted for more than 90 percent of the total, and from this moment on, Amalric was no longer the minister of magic in France. Outside the ss wall, the wizards on the sidelines were jubnt, and the journalists were in a hurry to get the pictures in their cameras, wanting to quickly return to their newspaper offices to be the first to report this news. However, just as some of the council members in the hall were about to leave the hall, the newspaper journalists were about to leave. Rnd cleared her throat and said in a loud voice using the amplification charm enchantment that had not been cancelled. "Since the resolution to expel Amalric has been passed, we can now move on to the second issue of this session." Everyone who heard her words quieted down, and those councillors who were ready to leave the hall realized that most of the councillors in the meeting hall did not move at all, as if they already knew in advance and were waiting for Rnd to announce this second issue. The Speaker of the Council, who was also preparing to get up beside Rnd - Gerald Cassel froze. He turned his head and frowned at Rnd, and was just about to ask in a whisper what the second issue was and why he hadn''t been informed before when Rnd''s calm voice echoed throughout the meeting hall. "The Ministry of Magic can not be without a Minister of Magic, the second topic is about the new Minister candidate selection push." After her voice was heard outside the ss wall, the meeting hall showed an eerie silence, a small number of councillors looked at Rnd with a shocked face, some even doubted if she was under some kind of memory charm, of course, the Minister of Magic had to be re-elected, but not now at all. Gerald Cassel''s brow furrowed even tighter as he stared at the woman who suddenly made him feel a bit strange, and looked around the conference hall where most of the council members were sitting very calmly in their seats, and a very, very bad feeling suddenly rose up in his heart! "I''ll start by proposing a candidate." Rnd said in a loud voice, "As we all know, the French magical world is not stable right now, and all the wizards are arguing over what kind of future should be chosen for thisnd we live in, so it''s the most important moment for us to have a leader who can really lead us to a bright future!" Her words made the entire conference hall silent, while outside the hall, the vast majority of Muggle wizards were excited. As they listened to Rnd''s speech, they thought that she wanted to use this opportunity to run for the position of Minister of Magic, and she had been known for fighting for the rights of Muggle wizards in the magical world and had enlisted arge group of elite Muggle wizards under her, who were all working for her in secret. But her next sentence made all the onlooking wizards outside the ss wall open their mouths wide. "At present, I haven''t seen a single wizard in France who can have such ability, and if we look around us, there is only one person who is qualified to be our leader - the one who is leading the British magicalmunity to glory, the greatest gentleman!" She nced scornfully at the dumbfounded Muggle wizards and said in a still calm voice. "Now the voting begins, those who agree with that gentleman being the Minister of Magic, please raise your hands." In the conference hall, more than eighty percent of the council members raised their hands without hesitation, while those remaining council members, looked around at their fellow council members with bewildered faces, while others were already red with anger as they pointed at Rnd''s nose and began to swear. "You are betraying the interests of all French wizards!" "I propose to screen Adele Rnd to confirm whether she is under an Imperius Curse! She''s being controlled by those demons in Britain!" "This vote is null and void! Councillors have no right to vote on the election of a Minister! This meeting is meaningless except to show people your hypocritical face!" Outside the ss wall also began to boil, those muggle wizards only reacted at this moment, but Rnd''s voice still did not change in the slightest. "The vote is passed, let us wee the new lord of the future French Ministry of Magic, a very great gentleman!" The moment her words fell, a ck mist filled the conference hall, and those councillors who did not know of all this today all fell helplessly into their chairs. Outside the ss walls, some of those who were resourceful had already started to run outside the Ministry of Magic, while the majority of them still looked at the man who appeared in the centre of the meeting hall with an incredulous face! "Good evening, everyone." He sat gracefully in the chair at the very centre, and after smiling and saying good evening, he leaned back in his chair and propped his head with one hand, looking at the councillors with an encouraging look in his gaze. "I have always been very democratic, whether in Britain or France, if anyone has aint against me, they can raise it now." A pale councillor stood up from his chair abruptly. "Dark Lord! France will never submit to your rule!" "Avada Kedavra!" In this burst of shock, the former Minister of Magic, Amalric, who had already been removed from his post, expressionlessly used the Killing Curse on this old wizard, in public! No one was able to react at all, and the old muggle wizard, who was highly respected among the councillors, just fell to the ground with an incredulous and powerless expression. "Oh, perhaps everyone might have misinterpreted my words a bit." Voldemort had a smile on his face. "Mudbloods, in my opinion, do not count as human beings." *** The night wind blew the dark fur on Sirius'' body, and he stared dead ahead at the rat that was running for his life, his bloodshot eyes could no longer amodate any other creature! Lily and Lupin were flying in mid-air on their flying broomsticks, and they were high up in the air, constantly casting spells on the grey rat. But Wormtail''s body was so small and responsive that Lily and Lupin''s spells basicallynded on the dirt earth beside it, causing no direct damage to him. And when Lily lowered the handle of her broom with a grim look on her face and began to elerate at low altitude, trying to fly in front of Wormtail to intercept him, a "dark cloud" suddenly loomed over their heads! Wormtail, who was running wildly forward, became energized. He rolled on the ground and turned into a tall, thin, balding male wizard, waving his hand at the ck-robed Aurors and Death Eaters in mid-air! "It''s me! Peter Pettigrew! I havepleted our Lord''s mission! Come and save me!" However, his plea for help did not receive a half-hearted response, those wizards who flew in the sky acted as if they did not even see the situation on the ground, and continued forward in the direction of the Hogwarts wagon without looking back. The original excited expression on Wormtail''s face began to be staggered, but Sirius, who had been following behind him, didn''t stop in his tracks! Without hesitation, he leapt up from the ground, his huge body pouncing Wormtail to the ground on the spot! Lily and Lupin, however, looked at each other in unison, their brows furrowed, but without any hesitation at all, they turned around and returned towards the ce where the wagon had stopped. "Don''t kill him so easily!" Before she left, Lily said a final word to Sirius, who had already started biting the wailing Wormtail. She and Lupin had not yet beenpletely blinded by hatred and knew that the wagon needed their protection even more now, not to mention that with Sirius here, it was unlikely that Wormtail would have another chance to escape. *** The wagon haspletely disappeared in the middle of the wilderness. The wizards of the Order of the Phoenix kept the Aurors and Death Eaters firmly within their blockade! The two sides have nearly five times difference in numbers, but Dumbledore alone nearly suppressed all the wizards of the other side. The crimson mes turned half of the sky into a sea of fire, and the ck-robed wizards were unable to break through half a step further. Incantations rang out one after another, people began to fall from the flying broom, and then people were rescued by theirpanions. The battlested until midnight and ended with the defeat of the Death Eaters. Or perhaps their intention from the beginning was not to defeat the Order of the Phoenix where Dumbledore is present, but only to keep him from interfering with their Lord''s ns at such a critical time and on certain other important asions. As for the Hogwarts wagon, it will be an extra surprise for Dumbledore. The wizards of the Order of the Phoenix cleaned up the mess left behind on the battlefield, as long as it is a war it is impossible not to die, but with the protection of Dumbledore, they were fortunate enough to only lose two people this time, most of the others were only wounded. McGonagall whose robe''s cuffs were torn with a big hole looked at Dumbledore with a worried expression. "Will the student side be okay?" Dumbledore who was pouring Fawkes'' tear on Arthur''s sted, splintered thigh said softly. "Trust them, Jon created miracles twice in front of my eyes and never let any of us down." They did not continue to stay here, and after clearing the battlefield entirely, they used the Apparition together and left this wilderness. The next moment, all the Order of the Phoenix wizards appeared together on the cliff that bordered the sea. The sea wavespped against the reef. The wizards buried their two fallenpanions here, while Lily, Lupin and Sirius grabbed a confined male wizard and arrived in front of a small andrge tombstone. Wormtail, who had already turned back to his original short and fat appearance, cried and howled, constantly wriggling his blood-stained body. "Lupin! Sirius! Lily! My friends! Forgive me! Please, you guys! Forgive me! I was forced to do it! It was the Dark Lord who was forcing me! I couldn''t fight back in any way in that case!" "How do you have the nerve to call our names!" Sirius growled as he waved his wand, "Crucio!" The unforgivable curse stimted Wormtail''s soul, his screams even drowned out the sound of the wind and the waves, the surrounding wizards of the Order of the Phoenix looked at him, but no one''s face showed any semnce of sympathy. "My Lord, save me! I have done my best for you! Don''t abandon me, my Lord!" He was huddled on the ground, stretching and festering, begging and praying, but getting no response. Lupin kicked him in the face, sending him squarely in front of the two tombstones in front of him. "Look at the two! Peter Pettigrew! Look at them!" Wormtail was forced to lift his face, and he saw the names on therge and small tombstones. [James Potter] [Harry Potter] "Remember them? Wormtail, do you remember them?" Lily didn''t scream, didn''t roar, just asked in that weird, calm-to-the-bone voice. Snot and tears were streaked all over Wormtail''s face, and he was still wailing in pain, only the sound of pain was interspersed with, not sure if it was a sincere admission of fault or words in an attempt to survive. "- I''m sorry... I''m so sorry... It was my fault." Lily''s face was expressionless as she gently tapped a branch beside her with the wand in her hand, a sharp de with a glinting cold light then took shape in the next second. Wormtail''s body trembled even more, and his whole body shook like a sieve. "-I''ve already apologized. Lily, please take pity on me. I don''t want to die." Lilly gripped the sharp de. "I ept your apology." She aimed it at Wormtail''s chest. "But you need to ask James and Harry whether they will ept your apology by yourself." She stabbed down hard. "Poof!" Scarlet warm liquid spurted out, and the cold sea breeze blew the robes of everyone present there with a whistling sound. The moonlight of revenge and hatred just illuminated the two tombstones stained with sin and blood. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 161: End of Book Summary Chapter 161: End of Book Summary [Author:] I''ve never been very good at writing political-rted plots, but there are times when you really can''t get around it, and tonight I''m a bitte to update, trying to figure out how to embellish thest chapter of this volume. The actual fact is that even if I posted it, I''m not quite satisfied with it, so I have second thoughts on how to improve it. This volume is a bit of an excessive volume, all the plots are actually carried over from the previous volume, and then to prepare for the next volume, so trying to write it interesting, write appealing is really too difficult (distressed emoji). Due to the use of simr hidden hints and dark routes as the first volume, the first half of this volume was said to be dry text by many people, but after all the dark routes and hidden plots were revealed, everyone should have realized that each chapter is actually very important, in addition to some necessary details, I basically did not write any nonsense for word count. Like France, like Gabrielle, like Percy, and then the process of Jon learning magic inserted in the middle until finally these threads are linked together, I feel very good about myself, after all, the most sessful part of my first two books also has such ayout. I always found Harry Potter a cool story, leaving everything else aside, even if it had deviated from the original line, I always insisted on writing something very cool in my book. And the coolest part of this whole book, I think it''s prepared for the next volume (self-promotion)! About where the wagon will go next, the plot was buried at the beginning of thest volume, I don''t know if any big guys would be able to find out. This is also the real start of the main plot, i.e. the reason why Voldemort became what he is now, and the future trend of the whole European magical world will be unloaded in this volume. This volume will be very big and long, but the span of the timeline will not be very long, after all, there is still a volume about the Triwizard Tournament, which is my favourite part of the original book, I will certainly try to write it with some originality and style. Updates will still be 2 chapters a day Thank you for your support! [The tombstone stained with sin and blood] - the end of this volume. Chapter 162: Sea and Ship (2 in 1) Chapter 162: Sea and Ship (2 in 1) Thestrals really don''t need to be driven by Jon himself. They seem to know exactly where they are going next, leading the wagon forward. The surrounding scenery was receding, and Beech sprawled on top of Jon''s head, scratching Jon''s hair with his two little paws, the night wind blowing the hair on his body upright. Jon was taking deep breaths, holding the reins in his hands, and he still had a sense of unreality. After the opening of the third year not even Halloween has passed, and now the school students and professors are going to be separated, thest conversation between Dumbledore and him meant that the fate of those students who stayed on the wagon is going to be ced in his hands. And there was also something about finding the reason why Voldemort changed this much? Jon actually thought about this question almost every day aftering to this world, and now it seems that not only he, even Dumbledore has been trying to find out about this, after all, just like in the original book, if you want to defeat the dark lord, at least you have to understand the source of his power first. People will not change so much for no reason, something must have happened in the middle of the process, which made the once crazy murderous lunatic be what he is today. It''s just that Jon couldn''t figure out what kind of arrangement Dumbledore had made, and even now even though he was holding the reins in his hands, it was not clear where Thestrals were pulling the wagon to. And just after they had gotten far from the battlefield of the Order of the Phoenix wizards and Death Eaters, the original clear starry sky was suddenly enveloped by an unknown darkness. Jon subconsciously gripped the wand in his hand and looked up at the sky. At some point, a huge bat was gliding over the wagon! The bat''s wings are like a canvas the size of a basketball court and fully able to shroud the whole wagon quite easily, after the whole stretch, it was able to cover the sky in a shocking fashion. When Jon looked up and saw the bat, the bat''s cold eyes were also staring straight at him. In Jon''s knowledge, there is only one bat-shaped magical creature of such arge size in the entire magical world. Lethifold! An extremely evil dark magic creature, it is very scarce in poption and generally lives only in the tropics, likes to sneak up on people while they were sleeping, smothering them with the pair of broad fleshy wings and then eating them, and every time it eats a person, its pair of wings will be thicker andrger. A normal lethifold is only about the size of an adult, and the one that appeared in front of Jon''s eyes now is far beyond the "normal" range! To be able to grow into its size it must have eaten many, many people, and only human flesh can provide it with the nutrients to keep growing. This terrifyinglyrge lethifold stared at Jon for just a second before it began to dive down! The wide fleshy wings didn''t even bother to close up, it was like a ck cloth that was going to envelop the whole Hogwarts wagon from above, just like it usually smothered its prey, wrapping all the students along with the wagon in its wings in one go! "Sectumsempra!" Without a moment''s hesitation, the moment he saw its intention, Jon waved his wand and cast a spell without hesitation! The invisible de sliced through the air in a sh andnded on the wide fleshy wings of the lethifold the next moment! "Poof!" The sound of flesh, blood and cloth being cut open was heard, this dark curse created by Snape, has both an extremely fast speed and extremely great force, as long as the target does not react at the moment of incantation recited, it is almost impossible to avoid this curse. Not to mention that the target lethifold is too wide, if Jon''s curse can''t hit it, then it would be strange. However, precisely because of the bat''s vast size, the damage caused by Jon''s attack on it was almost as negligible as a scratch on a human finger. Its downward falling movement was not half hindered, and the fishy blood just sshed on the top of the wagon, then it wrapped the whole wagon into its wings! The action of the lethifold did not stop the galloping of the Thestrals, its weight seemed to have no obstacle for these inborn strong Pegasus, it was like a huge ck octopus attached to the wagon, and the pair of broad wings were still tightening. All the students in the wagon, who were all gathered in the great hall at the moment, saw the windows closed by the ck flesh wings, followed by a violent and uncontroble shaking! The younger first-year students cowered in the corner in panic, they did not know what was happening, but fear filled their hearts. Even though the senior students also couldn''t suppress their inner turmoil, they had experienced more storms than the freshmen after all, and they still had to go andfort the freshmen who were crying in this situation. "Why isn''t Jon here?" Hermione''s face looked a little pale, but she maintained the most basic ofposure. Neville handed a bar of chocte over to one of the freshmen, his furrowed brow clearly representing concern as well, but he still opened his mouth to think in a good direction. "Jon is probably with the professors, don''t worry, he''s certainly not in any danger." At this point, the students on the wagon were still unaware that their professors had left the wagon to hold off the deadly enemies for them, and the whole school would be left on their own. The lethifold''s movements did not stop there. Just as it was about to pull the entire wagon into itself, a faint silver light suddenly shone through the gap! The moment that silver light lit up, it made the lethifold''s wings, which were tightening up, abruptly rx. It was as if it had met the thing it hated and feared the most, and it let go of the wagon that was almost in its bag and rose back up into the sky. Jon held up his wand, which was constantly swirling with bright silvery light, and stood up from the driver''s seat with great difficulty. He was in a position where there was no cover on three sides, the ce where the fleshy wings of the lethifold began to bepressed most after the tightening of the lethifold''s wings. But the good thing is that Jon finally used the Patronus Charm for the first time in realbat before thest bit of space to cast the spell disappeared. Although he has not seeded in summoning the Patronus, but those wandering silver light has caused enough impact on the lethifold. This creature has almost no weaknesses, but it is simr to the dementors, inherently fearful of the Patronus Charm, which has nothing to do with how long they can grow in size, but more like a natural restraint. The unformed Patronus in the end stillcked some potency, and the lethifold still followed the wagon even after releasing it. It stared at the silver light at the tip of Jon''s wand, as if it knew very well that the Patronus Charm he used would notst long, and as long as it waited until the moment the light went out, it could swoop over and eat everyone on the wagon! When ites to this kind of situation, Jon bes calmer and calmer, he raised his wand high, so that the overflowing silver light flows around the wagon. Thestrals are still galloping forward, as if they also heard Dumbledore''sst advice to Jon, to keep moving forward! Jon can not stop casting the Patronus charm, the floating lethifold in the sky is like a jackal following the prey on the grasnd, once he showed the slightest timidity, then this creature will not hesitate to eat this most delicious delicacy. So now Jon must find a way to break through the current dilemma as soon as possible, such a high-intensity emotion required magic spell like Patronus charm, he can''t cast it forever, and before long, it will be time for him to run out of strength and has no way to continue to use the charm. He held his wand in one hand, holding the reins in the other, his brain was working rapidly, but before he could think of a way, through the dim moonlight, he suddenly saw that in front of the wagon, there was a steep cliff! Subconsciously, Jon held his breath! He gripped the reins in his hands firmly, the first thing that came to his mind was to change the direction of the galloping Thestrals, but before he put this idea into action, the advice that Dumbledore had given to him before the trip surfaced in his mind. ''No matter what you encounter, or what obstacles lie ahead, remember my words now, go forward, keep going forward! Jon did not know whether this was Dumbledore''s spiritual encouragement to him or guidance in action, but he knew that Dumbledore''s words could not be without purpose. He gritted his teeth, and did not try to tug hard on the reins, his eyes just fixed dead ahead! Thestrals did not intend to stop either, and Jon gave up on the idea of driving them to turn. Not only did their speed not diminish, but they were getting faster and faster, faster and faster as if they were going to take everyone up! The lethifold was also hoisting itself up, and it looked at the wagon with a humanistic mockery, as if it had seen the end of the wagon! Unseen by Jon, the Thestrals spread their dark wings and rose sharply into the air as they raced to the highest point of the cliff! The cords hauled on by them and the cords attached to the wagon suddenly rxed and re-tightened abruptly. Under the night moon, the wagon seemed to hover in mid-air! Jon grabbed the reins in his hands, and the entire back half of Beech above his head flew up with inertia, and he held on to Jon''s hair with his two paws in front of him! Under such a situation, Jon naturally had no way to continue to maintain the casting of the Patronus charm, the silver light at the tip of his wand began to be faint, and when it was about to go out, the lethifold in the sky above the wagon aimed at the best gap, its vast body suddenly crashed into the wagon! Under such a huge force, the wagon plummeted, and the Thestrals which originally spread their wings in the sky, did not put up any struggle or resistance, they obediently followed this force, spreading their wings, and glided down along the cliff. Underneath, there is not a tnd, but an endless sea! Jon can not see the Thestrals, so naturally, he can not see their actions at the moment, but in the first moment when the wagon began to fall, he saw the sea waves below. At this moment, his mind, for some reason, recalled a question he had asked that old man at the beginning of the year. [Then why do we have to stay in Britain, Professor Dumbledore?] [ -It is in fact inherited from the Hogwarts castle eight years ago before it was invaded, and has a very special sense to thisnd. This causes its wheels to only ever turn on the Britishnd, without the ability to reach thend outside the Isle of Great Britain.] The wheels can only turn on Britishnd. Without the ability to reach thend outside the Isle of Great Britain. "Poof!" The wagon fell into the raging sea, sshing a wave more than ten meters high. The lethifold hovering in the sky circled around the sea for a while, as if hoping that one or two survivors woulde up from the sea and serve as its dinner tonight. But to its disappointment, no one seemed to have escaped from the wagon that sank to the bottom of the sea and submerged in the waves that were churning. Lethifold did not stick around, it began to return to the direction it came from, its master who is feeding it is still waiting for it to go back afterpleting its task, now even if it is not able to eat these human pups, it can still go back and give an ount, to get more rewards. This "dark cloud" that blocked arge part of the starry sky flew away, being swept by the cold October night winds and waves constantlypping the reefs in the sea, and there is no trace of any person or wagon there. However, not far from this sea, an area away from the coastline of the ocean. A huge old wooden ship silently emerged out of the sea, and then leapt to the surface! Seawater slid off the deck and sshed down on the surface, resounding a pleasant sound of water. Jon was sitting dumbfounded at the helm of this wooden ship, looking behind him, as an ancient yellowing-white sail slowly rose on the mast. The white sail has an extremely conspicuous emblem, which shone in the light of the moon. A lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a capital "H" emblem. The white sail was raisedpletely and the rudder in front of Jon turned by itself! The long sails veered, and the huge wooden ship, which from the looks of it seemed to have originated in the Middle Ages, began to move forward in the direction it had been destined. Beech jumped down from the top of Jon''s head excitedly, and his movement also made Jon, who was in shock,e back to his senses. He had never thought that the wagon would actually be able to have such incredible changes even in the magical world! Dumbledore had told him that the wheels of the wagon could only travel on thend of Britain, but what Jon had never thought about was that, since it was not possible to travel to foreignnds on the ground, why not go on the ocean? The wooden ship sailed on the wind and waves, the sound of the waves around the sea echoed in Jon''s ears. Beech is running around curiously on the unfamiliar deck; even if he can''t see, it''s obvious that the Thestrals that were originally pulling in front of the wagon are also on the deck, as the sound of the wooden boards creaking under their hoofs was heard. All of this is telling Jon that he and the others on Hogwarts are starting a new journey! -------- [Author:] 2 in 1 chapter, the start of the new volume, grinding keyboard in preparation to write more today! --- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 163: Set Sail (2 in 1) Chapter 163: Set Sail (2 in 1) The direction of the sea ship sailing does not need Jon to control, it seems to have been set a long time ago with a targeted direction, the helmsman''s position is now obviously just for show. Jon did not stay on deck for long, he did not forget that there is still a group of students in the great hall waiting for news, they still have no idea what has happened. He fumbled and pulled the reins of the Thestrals on the deck, and Beech, who had already circled the deck three times, jumped up and returned to the top of Jon''s head, after which Jon opened a wooden door leading to a cabin in front of him. There is no difference between the interior of the cabin and the previous wagonpartments, the location where Jon entered the door is the previous entrance and exit of the driver''s seat, after entering it is still a long straight corridor. He brought Thestrals to the room where they were originally kept, where there is grass and grove, enough for them to get plenty of rest after work, and now that the wagon has turned into a wooden ship, they naturally do not need to work anymore, and they can spend afortable holiday in this next period. After leading Thestrals to settle down, he returned to the great hall. There are still first to fifth graders left here, about fifty or sixty in total, and most of them were leaning by the window when Jon came in, apparently, the changes outside had caught their attention long ago. Hearing the sound of the door opening, the attention of everyone in the great hall turned to him, and a number of students couldn''t wait to ask him about the current situation. "Are we out of danger?" The first one to speak first was Colin, a student who was rescued from the castle by Jon at the beginning of the new year and had just been advanced to the second year after the academic year started. His question was also what many people wanted to know, and everyone looked at him with bated breath. Jon did not answer immediately, but pulled out a chair and sat down, while he also gestured to all the students in the great hall to sit down first. Next, he had to exin everything clearly, although even he, up to now, still felt that the events of today were so sudden. "I will now exin our current situation, in between please be patient and listen first, after that if there are any more questions, I will answer them one by one." At this moment, the reputation that Jon had umted from the feat he had done at the beginning of the year yed a crucial role. Before, he was a leading figure among the students of the same grade, but there must be some people in the whole school, especially the senior students, who didn''t even know his name, let alone have any faith in him. But now it''s a very different story, these students who stayed on board, even the fifth grade have an obvious conviction in favour of Jon. "I''ll answer Colin''s question first." The students were looking at Jon quietly, and Jon was looking at these students seriously. "From the current situation, it seems that we are temporarily no longer in danger, but at the same time we also have to face another biggest problem - from today onwards, this wagon, or rather this ship will no longer have a professor to protect us, next all we can only rely on ourselves. " His words caused amotion among the students, not many of them even focused on the transition between the wagon and the ship, and one first-year girl asked in a voice with a crying tone. "''Is, does the professor don''t need us anymore?" Jon did not chide her for interrupting him, but said in a reassuring voice, with great seriousness. "It''s not that the professors don''t want us anymore, it''s that the current situation in Britain is terrible. Professor Dumbledore with the rest of the professors is about to engage in a war with those bad guys in the Ministry of Magic, in which none of them is sure to even guarantee their own survival, not to mention having the spare energy to keep us safe, so the professor found a way to get us to a safe ce." He turned his gaze back to all of them. "Now all we can do is take care of ourselves and not hold the professors and others back." Finally, at this point, someone started asking questions about where they are now, and the person who stood up and asked the question excitedly was George. "So where are we now? It looks like a sea out there to me?" Jon said with a nod. "That''s right, we are now at sea, nothing has changed inside the wagon, but in fact, the wagon has turned into a big ship, and because of this we have escaped the pursuit of the Ministry of Magic." This news immediately caught the attention of most people and distracted many from the sense of panic of having just separated from the adults, which could not be suppressed. "Can we go out and take a look?" Fred asked excitedly. The Weasley twins were usually the two most active in the wagon, and they always managed to pull off some sort of farce for everyone''s amusement, but they were also the two most cooped up, and usuallyined of boredom in themon room. Jon naturally had nothing to deny. "Sure, but even on the deck you guys have to be careful, I don''t know if there''s any protective magic around the guardrails to prevent people from falling into the sea." With his consent, George and Fred were the first to get restless, and the two were the first to rush out of the great hall. The other students, after seeing the two of them dash out, couldn''t stay in the great hall any longer, and together they started to run out as well, even Gabrielle waved a quick goodbye to Jon and drifted past him. The first-year freshmeng behind at the end, they had juste to the wagon not long ago, life here is not yet out of the novelty stage, so for the matter of transforming into a ship to go to sea, there are not as much impressed as the senior students. Jon followed thest of these students, Neville and Hermione also walked side by side with him, along the corridor heading towards the outside of the wagon or ship? Neville still has a sense of unreality even now. "So. Are we really alone?" Hermione looked at the closed doors of the professors'' offices, showing a lot better state of mind than Neville, after all, even the current situationpared to the environment she was in before, she did not know how much it is better. "The youngest among us is also about 11 years old, it''s not like we can''t take care of ourselves, it''s just how we''re going to be able to learn magic after this?" Jon was obviously thinking about this too. "We''ll have to figure that outter." When they walked out of the cabin, the students had already arrived on deck, the wet salty sea breeze blew up the hem of each young wizard''s robe, and the cold night wind could not diminish their enthusiasm about sailing at the moment. Even the first-year students, who were at first disinterested, began to show their smiling faces, lying at the fence and watching the big fish leap up from time to time in the waves. George and Fred were extremely giddy, somehow they found an iron hook glove and one-eye patch, and got dressed up as pirates, with one foot on a chair looking up at the sails of the wooden ship in front of them, muttering about theck of a talking parrot. Jon at this time did not have too much of such a mood, not that hecked enthusiasm for the sea, but he is very clear that there were many problems need him to solve in the uing voyage. For example, they have yet to figure out which sea they are in, and in what region their ship is sailing. Again, for example, don''t look at how enthusiastic the students are about sailing at this time, it is not clear how many of them will be seasick, and there is no Lily on board to give them the potion, which requires them to think of their own way. There are also fresh water and food in the storeroom, which also needs to be counted, to figure out how long the reserves will allow the 50 or so of them tost on the sea. There are also those magical nts and herbs in the greenhouse to take care of, and some magical creatures kept in specific rooms can not be left unattended, there is also a need to find a way to get in touch with Dumbledore and them, but this will need to wait for the news from Fawkes. In general, although they are now temporarily free of danger, there are still many things that need to be resolved, and before that Jon must also do one more thing first. He gathered all the students on deck together, and there was a kerosenemp on the mast that swayed gently under the sea breeze, illuminating this side of the deck. "Everyone, for the time being, none of us knows the end of this voyage yet, or how long it will take. But whatever the future holds, now we must determine who will lead us from here on now among us." Jon''s voice was not drowned out in the waves, and all the students present heard his words. "Professor Dumbledore, before he left this wagon, entrusted me with the task of leading all of us. However, now that the voyage has just begun, I still want to make sure that none of you has any questions or problems with me being in charge of this voyage next?" The younger kids certainly won''t have any issues, and the fourth and fifth graders who are older than Jon and have lived on the wagon for so many years in upheaval, these kids who know a lot earlier about the world than their peers are well aware that taking over the helm of Hogwarts in this situation is not a pleasant task. And what Jon did in his second year is proof enough that he can lead them, not to mention that he still has Dumbledore''s approval. No one raised any questions, George and Fred even smiled together and put a pirate captain''s hat on Jon''s head. "We will absolutely follow yourmand! Great Captain Green!" With the Weasley twins around, there was never any need to worry about how depressing the atmosphere would be. The students all shared a smile on their faces and shouted together with open mouths together. "That''s right, Captain Green!" Jon''s face also showed a smile, he did not reject the hat George and Fred put on his head and the eyepatch on his face, and asked in a loud voice. "Does anyone have any better suggestions for the name of this ship of ours?" "Our name will always remain the same, Captain!" A student responded loudly. Their eyes looked together at the ancient yellowing school crest on the long sail. Yes, whether it was once in the castle, the wagon, or now this ship, the name never changed. [Hogwarts] This is something that no one can change or hide. The wind blew all over the long sails, under a brilliant starry sky, Jon looked at the endless sea and whispered. "Then, let''s set sail!" *** "We have thoroughly searched through all the Wormtail''s memories." Lupin said. On the cliff full of tombstones, the Order of the Phoenix wizards are currently resting here, and taking this time Lupin, Lily and Sirius, the three of them are reporting to Dumbledore the clues they got from Wormtail. "After the Dark Lord took control of the entire British magicmunity, that is, seven years ago, he sent his most trusted men to France. They used various methods to imprison Adele Rnd, Eric Amalric and others, who were not that famous at that time, and then used their identities to start operating in the French Ministry of Magic, Wormtail was also among these people." "Through the various help provided to them by the Dark Lord in the shadows from Britain, coupled with ample financial support, and their personal resourcefulness. In those seven years, they quickly reached the position they had originally nned. At this time they had gained enough power, that is, after Rodolphus Lestrange, disguised as Amalric, became the French Minister of Magic more than a year ago, they began to coerce the pureblood wizards in France." "There were also several times during this period when the dark lord himself personally stepped in, and the fact that his attention was never focused on us before was most likely because he wanted to reel in these people in France." "Among these pureblood wizards, there were also characters who would rather die than give in, so they were all left alone to settle in private, and then the Death Eaters were assigned to rece their identities, while others who chose to submit, Wormtail and the rest were very cautious to temporarily block this memory with a memory charm, waiting until the need arises to lift the spell, in case someone goes against the dark lord''s wishes. " Dumbledore''s face was calm as he listened to Lupin''s narrative, and it was here that he opened his mouth and asked. "Those key positions in the French Ministry of Magic, are all controlled and held by the dark lord''s own people?" Lupin nodded and said. "Betrix Lestrange posed as Adele Rnd, and her husband Rodolphus Lestrange was her explicit political opponent Eric Amalric, along with his brother Rabastan Lestrange who became head of the Auror''s office, and Igor Karkaroff, who assumed the name of Ivan Gs at the beginning of this year became the Headmaster of Beauxbatons." Voldemort''s infiltration of the French magicalmunity has been almostprehensive, with the chief chancellor, the minister of magic, the head of the Auror''s office, and the Headmaster of the school of magic, controlling almost all aspects ofw, politics, the military, and education. Only now he began to close the, which means that the current situation ispletely irreversible, the whole of France will fall into his hands. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 164: Wormtails Efforts Chapter 164: Wormtail''s Efforts "Peter spent a good part of the year hanging out in the back of the wagon, and he found a perfect moment when you weren''t in the wagon to sneak in using some little items that the Dark Lord gave him." Lily handed a bone of some unknown creature, as well as a very worn-looking box to Dumbledore''s hands. "That bone was enchanted with powerful dark magic, with the help of this, Peter temporarily avoided the outeryer of the wagon''s defence and broke in. After that, he used this box to hide, and he was indeed the one who instigated the Weasley''s third son to betray at the very beginning, and at that time he had been on the wagon for a long time, during which he discovered the boy''s dissatisfaction with his circumstances as well as his family''s choices." "At the time Arthur and Molly were sent to France to make contact with Be, who was pretending to be Rnd, the Dark Lord was at the most critical point of pulling the strings of the top pureblood wizards in the French magicalmunity that time. If Arthur and Molly''s intelligence statistics in France proceeded smoothly, even with the cover-up of Be and these people, there was a good chance that they would find something wrong." "To avoid the risk of this, the Dark Lord ordered Peter to use the Weasley children on the wagon to create confusion and draw Arthur''s attention away from them as much as possible." "Percy then became his best breakthrough, and instead of having a conversation with Percy directly, he gained his friendship by sending Percy letters in which he recognized his talent and pushed his buttons for him being looked down upon by his own brother on the wagon and crushed by the underssmen over his head." "What really made Percy decide to betray and trust this ''pen pal'', whom he had never actually met, was a letter of appointment issued by the British Minister of Magic themselves." "This letter of appointment was received in the summer when Percy was at home, in the middle of which I suspect there was a face-to-facemunication between him and Fudge personally using floo powder, and Peter was still in the wagon at the time, he just acted as a middleman." "After returning to the wagon, Percy expressed his determination to defect, Peter had also proposed that if he made some ''merit'' on the wagon before he defects, he could get better treatment after joining the Ministry of Magic, but this offer was rejected by Percy. " Lupin followed up on Lily''s words. "The Dark Lord''s initial purpose was aplished when Arthur and Molly got word of their son''s betrayal, returned from France, and voluntarily stepped down from all their positions to avoid suspicion, handing over all the French tasks to Sirius." "And after Percy''s incident, we all found out about the problem of someone lurking on the wagon and conducted three full-scale searches." Lupin looked at the small wooden box that was already in Dumbledore''s hands. "At first, we thought there was some kind of slip-up in your search on the wagon, thinking that we had failed to notice some ces that would hardly draw our attention, but after checking Wormtail''s memory, as well as retrieving this box from his body we realized that it was this thing that helped him hide on the wagon." "A box with an extremely powerful concealment and confusion spell enchanted on it, the enchantment must havee from the hand of the dark lord, it can even evade your detection, and Wormtail did not always hide in one ce. He prepared a total of three hiding spots, one in the astronomy ssroom at the roof of the wagon, one at the axle at the bottom of the wagon, and one under the wooden steps at the back of the exit of the wagon. Once he sensed that one of them was no longer safe, he would start moving." "There were also those rat hairs that Jon found in the charms'' ssroom earlier, which he had deliberately left behind. The dark lord also found outter that you let Sirius go to France in ce of Arthur and Molly, and he ordered Wormtail to reveal his identity as a way to lure Sirius back." "In response to this, although Wormtail was extremely resistant in his heart, he still did not dare to disobey that man''s order. This time he targeted Jon, from Percy he knew that you trust this student, and also through Jon''s previous deeds in Hogwarts Castle he discerned his boldness. So he took the initiative to expose the clues rted to himself in front of his eyes. After that, as expected of him, Jon did not ignore the clue as normal students would do, and took the initiative to report to you." "This matter also achieved the effect that the dark lord expected, it was me who wrote to Sirius, after getting the news, he discarded his duties in France and returned directly to Britain, we hadpletely lost thest chance to learn about the dark lord''syout in France and to stop him from that moment onwards." Sirius'' face was a bit unsightly, the pleasure of killing Wormtail to avenge his friend had disappeared by now, they were simply being yed with. Wormtail is familiar with their characters well, their every step of the reaction all calcted by him. Dumbledore stared at the wooden box in his hand, his gaze was calm as he shook his head and said. "Hepleted his task so well, but in the end, his Lord still chose to abandon him." "Because dark lord has always known very well that Wormtail has never really been loyal to him." Lupin said with a calm face, "As Wormtail himself said before he died, his submission to the dark lord only stemmed from his own fear of him, not from any personal admiration for him or agreement with his pureblood theory." "The dark lord had seen exactly what was in his heart and was squeezing thest bit of residual value out of him by having him carry out this mission on the wagon." "Wormtail also foresaw this, but he had no choice but to please his lord whom he feared the most, and from the moment he chose to betray us, there was no second way out for him." As he said this, Lupin''s brow furrowed slightly. "Now the only point of regret is that I did not get much information from Wormtail''s mind, about what exactly is the next strategy that the Dark Lord is going to carry out against us afterpletely grasping the power of France." Dumbledore looked up at the sky with a deep gaze. "This, too, does not need to know from Wormtail''s memory. He is holding the uppermost power in France, but that does not mean that he hasplete control over the French magicalmunity." "ording to his previous means of controlling Britain, there will definitely be a bloody crackdown next, especially since the number of Muggle wizards in France is currently high, and if he wants to solidify his pureblood supremacy theory, he has to control the number of Muggle wizards to a certain extent. Neither so much that it is too much of a threat to his rule, nor so little that no one is oppressed and the lowest level of ves are missing." ---- # john, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 165: Where is the ship? Chapter 165: Where is the ship? "So,ter he is going to set off a massacre in the French magicalmunity, and we will be included by him within this target." Dumbledore said in a deep voice, "He will definitely prevent us from using this opportunity to collude with the French resistance, thus causing him more trouble." When he said this, almost all the senior members of the Order of the Phoenix gathered by his side. The Weasleys, Moody, Kingsley, McGonagall, Flitwick, as well as Lily, Sirius and Lupin, who had been here from the beginning. Kingsley asked calmly. "So what do we do next? Should we go to France first?" "Of course, we have to go to France, we can not let the Dark Lord wantonly ughter those innocent people, and the interior of Britain has been firmly established by him, if we want to develop ourselves, we can only grow our own power on the outside." Dumbledore said gruffly. "But not yet, we still need to get some other help before we go to France." The rest of the Order of the Phoenix all have stood up, they gathered around Dumbledore together. Fawkes who was originally pretending to be sleeping on the branch of a tree not far away, as if sensing a call, waved his wings andnded on Dumbledore''s shoulders. Soon, on this seaside cliff, the wizards of the Order of the Phoenix all disappeared. And in a distant ce, a bonfire was dancing on the ground, and an old man with grey hair and a long ck trench coat was sitting in a chair on the side. The dancing fire floated in his eyes, and behind him, many elderly people who looked as old as they were, could not guess what their lord was thinking right now. Soon, the sound of countless apparitions resounded through this area. One after another, the wizards of the Order of the Phoenixnded on the ground, and at the forefront were led by none other than the calm-faced Dumbledore. The old man sitting in front of the campfire looked up at him, the two of them looked at each other, no one spoke the first word, and the scene became a little cold for a while. Because those standing behind the two old men, when looking at each other, their gazes can not help but bring some scrutiny and hostility. The first to break this silence is the old man who is getting up from the chair, he extended a hand towards Dumbledore. Just when Dumbledore''s face showed a smile, the people behind the old man are showing a look of reluctance, the dark lord, who once conquered the whole of Europe before Voldemort took a step, and said in a cold voice. "Before discussing other things, first pay me the bill for the wands in the first half of the year." *** Jon quickly began to organize the works on Hogwarts the day after the voyage began. Although the wooden ship did not need to be piloted, the overall organizational structure could not be left behind. He let George as the first mate, Neville as the second mate, Hermione as theptroller responsible for ounting, supervision and distribution of various supplies on board, Fred as the head sailor responsible for the basic discipline management of students, let a fourth-year girl named Eloise Midgen manage the galley, let second-year Colin Creevey as a lookout, responsible for observing sea conditions. In fact, these are only the division of duties and titles, the reason for giving George as well as Fred such a position, is more actually for them to discipline themselves, out of the control of the professors, they will likely let go and y crazy. And the most important of these is naturally Hermione''s work. After the inventory check, the storage room is rich in supplies, food resources are notcking, and it is enough to maintain the normal life of all the people on board now for more than half a year, freshwater resources naturally will not cause trouble to those who are wizards. The Water-Making Spell is not much of aplicated spell, basically, all students above the third grade know it, and the water summoned by this spell is normally drinkable. There is also the problem of seasickness, and as expected by Jon, in the evening, after the excitement of most of the students had passed, more than twenty of them had symptoms of seasickness. But there is no good solution to this, or rather there is no need to deliberately think of a way, as long as they vomit and retch behind they will always get used to it. But this also temporarily led to half of the people on board these days having a look of breathlessness, mostly spending their time resting in their bedrooms, looking less energetic. And Jon at this time was not idle, he must now start to think of ways to solve the first problem they will face after sailing. That is, where are they going now? There is aplete map of Britain on the wagon, and on the afternoon of the second day of the voyage, Jon and his first and second mates gathered in themon room and studied that map. "I think there''s a good chance we''re out to sea from the west coast of northern Ennd." George pointed his finger at the dot on the map of the seaward city of Ennd ''Whitehaven'', "I have the impression that during the day I saw signage very simr to this name, and then the direction in which the wagon moved forward should be one to the west, and there is a high probability that the sea we are now in is the Irish Sea! " George said with conviction. Jon followed the direction of his finger to look ahead, if we follow his words, then they are now sailing in the direction that should be directly opposite the Isle of Man. But before his words could hardly sink in, Neville put a different argument to that. "It''s true that we could have been wandering the west coast of northern Ennd during the day, but the wagon was travelling so fast that there was enough time in half a day for it to travel through many different ces. By evening when you might have wandered off, George, we were not heading west, but east. That means we didn''t enter the sea from the west coast, we should be on the east coast, and this sea should be the North Sea." He pointed out the sea area between Britain and Denmark. However, George did not seem to agree with his statement, he still feels that Hogwarts should not have left Britain, and is now wandering around in the sea between Irnd and the British Isles. Two people who can not convince each other finally looked at Jon. Jon actually has a headache at this time. During the day, he was spending his energy trying to handle the Lethifold, how can there be time to determine where the wagon was, and in what direction it was running? And the whole sea is endless, there is no ce topare, and they have no way to rely on the surrounding environment to determine the location. Perhaps some of the veteran crew can rely on the stars to determine the location, but now on this ship, more than 20 people are suffering from seasickness, where can they find the veteran crew? When they were frowning at this, Colin, who was in charge of observing the sea conditions, burst into themon room. He was panting, with excitement and panic on his face. "Captain Green! I, I found a cargo ship!" ---- # john, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 166: Muggle Freighter Chapter 166: Muggle Freighter Niki Anderson is the captain of this Maersk Moller. He is a Danish man whose main job on weekdays is to steer the 5,000-ton cargo ship between Esbjerg, Denmark, and Edinburgh, Scond. The Maersk Moller is engaged exclusively in the pork export business, selling pork across borders on behalf of several pig farms. Danish pork is of high quality. Denmark is thergest importer of bacon in the UK, and Danish bacon was the first bacon to be advertised on British television and was so boastful at the time that it always had the phrase "Good bacon has Danish written all over it" on the packaging. Anderson has not held the position of captain for that long, he previously served as first mate for seven or eight years under his father, and then ventured out on his own, entered a freightpany and worked in it for many years as a sailor, and only now in his forties has he be the captain of this small cargo ship. For this route from Denmark to the United Kingdom, Anderson no longer knows how many times he has gone, now that winter has not officially arrived, there will be very few storms, so at this moment, he is leisurely setting up a beach chair to lie on the deck in the sun. The cargo ship is not too big, and the staffing is also in ordance with the most basic one, in addition to him, the captain, the ship only has a first mate, a second mate, two sailors, a total of five people; their longest voyage is less than two days, so there is no need for any tooplicated staffing. "Damn! How long has it been since you''ve hosed the deck! Hans! There''s dust blowing in my eyes from the wind!" Anderson suddenly rubbed his eyes and shouted rudely, "A seaman ought to work like a seaman! Only seamen who wash the deck clean are qualified to drink rum, that''s what I knew from my first day on board!" Apparently, Anderson is quite a chatterbox or most people who spend a lot of time at sea are chatterboxes, after all, in this era, there is not that much technological advancement for the crew to pass the time at sea, and mouth-to-mouthmunication is the mostmon way for them to rx. The seaman named Hans responded to his captain from afar but did not immediately want toe over to wash the deck clean. They will soon reach their destination, and the first mate is leading the rest of the crew to do a final inventory of the cargopartment. Anderson naturally knew they had work on their hands, and only muttered twice before lying back down to sunbathe. However, before he could rx his mind for even two seconds, a "thumping" sound like something hitting the deck caught his attention. He instantly raised his head alertly, looking in the direction where the sound came from, and actually saw two children jump up beside the edge of the deck guardrail! The older one has red hair, tall, wearing an odd ck robe, holding a small wooden stick in his hand, with a face full of inquisitive excitement, looking left and right at his cargo ship, looking at the physique and looks, he must be at least 15 or 16 years old, just ready to go to high school grade. The younger one is rtively lean, also wearing the same exact robe, holding a wooden stick, with slightly long ck hair, and a little elongated nose, as well as beautiful eyes, which have the capital to cheat women in the future, looking like only 13 or 14 years old. It''s just that the big red-haired kid gave Anderson a feeling of being out of tune, on the contrary, the young one truly has an honest and cute appearance. Not true! He shook his head sharply and blinked his eyes to look over again at the two kids. His focus shouldn''t be on that, but who are these two boys? How did they get on board? "This is a muggle ship? For the first time in my life, I''ve seen one made of iron! How do they keep something so heavy floating on the water without magic?" From the moment he first boarded this muggle freighter, George began to chatter endlessly, he seemed to have inherited his father''s hobby of being so curious and fascinated by all muggle things, despite his pureblood origins. It simply annoyed Jon so much that he regretted bringing George along, he should have known to let Neville follow him in the first ce. "Well, we''ll talk about these matters when we get back, don''t forget we''re on someone else''s ship now." Jon held George in case he took advantage of his inattentiveness to wander off on this other man''s ship, and then looked over at the middle-aged man who was staring at them in bewilderment while sunbathing on the deck. "Hello sir, we''re sorry, we might have startled you, but we meant no harm, we just wanted to ask you about something." Anderson didn''t care about Jon''s politeness, his eyes were wide with confusion as he asked incredulously. "How did you climb aboard my ship?" Jon did not intend to use coercive means easily, and besides, even if he wanted to use it, neither he nor George actually knew spells like Imperius Curse, the most they could do would be use a full body-bind curse to control this man''s movements, but to get information from him, you would have tomunicate with him. He patiently exined to this muggle. "We havee from our own ship, to introduce ourselves, I am the captain of Hogwarts, Jon Green, and this is my first mate George Weasley, because of some ident, we are lost at sea, so we took the liberty to board your ship to inquire what ce is this, or what sea is this area?" Anderson felt ridiculous. Jon''s words gave him the feeling of a child ying house; he had been on deck the whole time but hadn''t noticed any ships around from beginning to end, let alone who would let a teenager be the captain. "Where''s your ship?" Jon pointed behind him and George, with his thumb. "It''s always been there." Anderson looked in the direction of his finger and actually saw a wooden ship right next to his freighter! That ship looked like an ancient one! Vintage style, old hull, and long sails that have beenrgely eliminated in thest century, in today''s Earth''s ocean, unless deep under the ocean or in museums, you simply can not find any simr ships like it! And the most bizarre thing is that it is indeed there, less than a nautical mile away from Anderson''s own cargo ship, obviously so conspicuous, but he could only notice it under the guidance of the boy. This made a chill rise in Anderson''s heart. For some reason, he suddenly thought of his pops who had stopped going to seast year, who told him the legend of the ghost ship. ---- # john, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 167: Another Wanted Order Chapter 167: Another Wanted Order Jon hade here to ask for some help, not to try to scare people. After hearing from Colin that a muggle freighter had been spotted, he hesitated for just a moment before deciding to make contact with the people on this ship. They have to determine their current location, as well as the direction in which they are heading, and it is certainly not possible to gauge such information depending on their group of rookies, the vast majority of whom usually never even seen the sea, so they can only look for other people who can help. After deciding to make contact with the people on this muggle freighter, Jon let Neville take over the helm position. Although the rudder sailspletely automatically, it can also be forcibly manipted to deviate, except that after releasing the rudder, it will revert to its previous course. When Hogwarts approached the people on the Muggle freighter did not have any reaction, not even disembarked, and Jon and George have seen a Muggle lying on the deck of the freighter from Hogwarts. Although such a conspicuous wooden ship approached, he seemed to be unaware of it and was still talking loudly to himself and the seamen of the freighter about something. This proved that the previous enchantments on the wagon remain effective even now after turning into a ship, when sailing on the sea, even if they are close at hand, muggles would not notice them. After approaching the freighter, Jon used the levitation charm on the ring and brought George along to this boat, thus this scene just now unfolded. "This ... this is the North Sea, the sea near the eastern coast of Ennd." Anderson was somewhat terrified inside, originally he simply did not believe in those ghost stories that his pops told him, but the two bizarre boys in front of him and the old-styled ship behind them that should not have appeared in the sea in this era really can''t be exined with a generalmon sense. "It seems that Neville''s judgment was right." Jon said with a slight frown, "When we were onnd, the wagon really has been running east, and we are now in this sea between Denmark and Ennd." George, too, could tell what things are at stake, and he scratched his head and followed suit. "I can''t believe we actually turned, we''re not in the Irish Sea right now." "If we''re in the North Sea, then Hogwarts is travelling in the north direction, and we''re going to Northern Europe? Do you remember something about Northern Europe?" "Well I remember hearing Bill and the others mention at home, one of the top three magic schools in Europe, Durmstrang is in the far north of Europe, only its location is very mysterious, outsiders basically have no knowledge of it, are we going to Durmstrang? That school doesn''t have a good reputation, and rumour has it that it doesn''t prohibit students from researching dark magic." "It shouldn''t be like that." Jon mused. He had not forgotten what Dumbledore had told him once before leaving the wagon, that the purpose of their voyage was not only to avoid the wizard war in Britain and France but also rted a lot to Voldemort himself. ording to what Jon had known, Voldemort seemed to have nothing to do with that Durmstrang from beginning to end. Jon and George did not avoid Anderson when they were talking, and the captain, who had seen countless waves on the sea, listened to them and understood every word, but he couldn''tprehend anything altogether. And just as his body stood stiffly in ce, the corner of his eye redirected to the wooden ship that is supposed to exist only in the museum. Through the sunlight that had reached noon, this time he suddenly noticed the emblem on the ancient ship''s sail! Seeing the symbolposed of four animals around an "H", Anderson''s pupils shrank slightly. His unusual behaviour was keenly noticed by Jon. "What is it, sir? Do you know this ship of ours?" He asked with a gentle expression, his face filled with a look of harmlessness. George was a little surprised by Jon''s sudden question, he didn''t see the change in Anderson''s face and couldn''t figure out why Jon bothered to ask a muggle whether he recognized their ship. Anderson obviously shivered a little, he looked at Jon, and there was a significant difference in the look in his eyes from now and before. If before it was just fear stemming from the unknown, now it was a kind of horror of recognizing something. "No, no, no, it''s nothing. I... I didn''t recognize it." He stammered, speaking unconvincingly, and George noticed something was wrong this time, and he narrowed his eyes and swiped his wand. "Hey, mister, you better tell the truth." He swung his wand, and a trail of me traced from where the tip of his wand had crossed. Such a basic trick already made Anderson almost scream. Jon also raised his own wand, the tip of his wand glowing red, and he asked with a calm look on his face. "I hope you don''t shout, or we''ll have to use a few more Obliviateter. We won''t hurt you, sir, but please cooperate with us as well. I''ll ask you once again, have you seen our ship somewhere?" "You are a terrorist organization!" Anderson, who could barely stand on the deck anymore, suppressed his instinct to shout out loud and said in a shrill voice, "That symbol on the sail! It''s a symbol used only by terrorist organizations wanted by the British government!" George and Jon looked at each other. George''s face looked a little confused, while Jon''s expression slowly gloomed. Without the slightest hesitation, he waved his wand and aimed it at Anderson. "Obliviate." The next moment, Anderson froze in ce with a dull expression, while Jon dragged George back to Hogwarts. After they returned to the wooden ship, Neville released the hold from the rudder, so that it continued to return to its previous course. Neville saw the look on Jon''s face and asked with some concern. "So what''s the situation?" Hogwarts without human control, began to gradually move away from the cargo ship that came from Denmark, Jon could still see Anderson standing on the deck and hade back to his senses by this time, he looked like he was a little confused about why he was dazed on the deck, and then began to curse and reprimand the seaman named Hans for not cleaning up the deck. Jon''s face was grim as he said in a cold tone. "The Muggle government in Ennd has also issued a wanted notice against us." George from the beginning did not understand why Jon seemed to worry about this, they are not even afraid of the Ministry of Magic''s wanted notice, what can the Muggle government''s wanted notice could be counted? But of course, the thing that Jon really worried about is not being wanted itself, but rather about some of the implications hidden behind the matter of being wanted. "The dark lord and the British Muggle government have secret agreements, or it''s probably like the French Ministry of Magic, he has also arranged a part of his own people into it!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 168: Muggle Government Chapter 168: Muggle Government The rtionship between wizards and muggles has always been veryplicated. However, due to the special nature of magic, the maintenance of this rtionship has always been decided by the wizard''s side. Since the Statute of Secrecy came into effect in the magical world, the two parties havepletely severed their legal ties, and the title of "wizard" exists only in muggle folklore. But it''s not that the two parties really don''t interact with each other. In the majority of magical governments, wizards and muggles are allowed to fall in love freely. The muggles who have rtions with wizards, or who form familiester, gain the right to know about the existence of magic. From this aspect, you can see that while the "Statute of Secrecy" is strictly enforced, there is also a certain amount of flexibility in the application of certain issues. For example, today''s magical governments are actually dependent on the muggle political system, to ensure the enforcement of thew, the leaders of local muggle governments will be informed of the existence of the magical world by the Minister of Magic on their first day of office, to strengthen the cooperation between the two governments. ording to some norms that Jon learned from the original book, the exchange between the leaders of both governments is definitely dominated by the Minister of Magic''s side. The existence of magic allows them to have too much possible human memory maniption; to maintain the Statute of Secrecy, and at the same time to strengthen cooperation, letting the highest leaders such as the Muggle Prime Minister know the existence of wizards simultaneously, it is unlikely that the ministers of magic could not possibly think of imposing some restrictions on their perceptions. For example, it was clearly depicted in the original book that Fudge once visited the current British Prime Minister personally when he came to power and introduced him to the existence of the magicalmunity. This reveals a lot of the hidden underlying aspects involved behind the scene. The British Prime Minister, before bing Prime Minister, must also be a high-level political figure in the Muggle government. However, he still doesn''t really know about the existence of wizards and magic until after he bes Prime Minister. This probably means that the Statute of Secrecy is rxed only for the top political figure like the Prime Minister, otherwise, Fudge would not havee to say it in person, instead of the previous Prime Minister or other Muggles to convey it to the new Prime Minister in advance. In all likelihood, after the prime minister stepped down, a wizard would specially visit him to wipe out the memories of wizards and magic from his mind, and even during his term of office, all kinds of restrictions would be imposed in his subconscious mind and memory to prevent him from leaking the information about the existence of the magical world. After all, once a person of such status has broken the Statute of Secrecy, there is no room for reversal. The magicalmunity spent so much effort to reach cooperation with the Muggle Prime Minister, generally intending to achieve a lot of things, like making the magicalmunity''sw enforcement work to be able to connect with Mugglew enforcement. Learning magic is equivalent to ordinary people getting a gun with unlimited bullets, the dark wizard whomits a crime is equivalent to a gangster with a gun, and this kind of gangster is likely to take ordinary muggles as a shield in the process of being hunted, obstructing the work of the Ministry of Magic. So the channel ofmunication between the two governments has be exceptionally important, the criminals in the magical world may also be wanted in the muggle side of the world here, it is certainly not possible to catch the wanted person, but it can make the muggles have a vignce so that they will not suffer foolishly from the dark wizard and contact the special hotline at the sight of them. Today, Dumbledore led by Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix has be a wanted criminal under the government of Voldemort. Just after meeting the Muggle captain, he told them that the Hogwarts school crest is the symbol used only by the terrorist organizations that the British government has been looking for. This means that the Voldemort government haspleted the sharing ofw enforcement information with the Muggle government. There are only two possibilities that Jon can think of. The first is that afterpleting the seizure of power over the entire British Ministry of Magic, Voldemort did not change the strategy of the Ministry of Magic and Muggle government contacts in the past, still, let Fudge and the current Prime Minister share information, and focus wholeheartedly on stabilizing the situation in the magical world first. The second, the worst guess, that is, since Voldemort can use the seven years of time to plot to take over the French Ministry of Magic, it makes no sense that he will let go of the other government in front of him, one that he despises the most, and wants to get rid as soon as possible, the Muggle government. In the case of mastering the absolute information advantage, having Imperius Curse, Legilimency, memory magic, Veritaserum and Apparition kind of magic, it is easy to control some top Muggle officials. But Jon frowned and thought deeply for a while, he thought that if he could think of these things, it is unlikely that Dumbledore could not think of the same, like the situations in the wagon, it is enough to prove that the old man should be more thoughtful than him. Dumbledore will inevitably arrange someone or something on the Muggle government side, but from the current situation, Voldemort has the upper hand in this arrangement. Just asking for directions once, let Jon get a lot of information on the side. It''s just pointless for him to worry about all these other things, after all, they''re all already sailing at sea now, so what they should be most concerned about now is their own situation at the moment. Again in themon room, in the same set of maps, Jon marked a point in Ennd near the East Coast. "We''re here now, Neville was right, the wagon was going east all the time, the sea we sailed on was in the North Sea, and the direction we''re going now that we''ve judgedst night based on the stars is a straight line to the north." George and Neville both looked toward the top of the map. Britain is directly north of the Faroe Inds, a Danish territory, Faroe Inds further northwest is d, and if you go toward the northeast, there are Norway, Sweden, Find and other Europeannd countries. Looking at where Hogwarts is sailing now; if there is no major deviation from the route in the middle, then they should be going to either of these ces. Jon and the other two pondered for a while without being able to figure out what kind of things Hogwarts or the Order of the Phoenix has in store for them in d or Norway. But George after a moment of hesitation still frowned and recalled. "I seem to remember that in Ron''s first year of school, Charlieined to me that they were going on a mission to a very cold ce, and at that time he even asked mom to prepare several sweaters and coats for him, I wonder if this has anything to do with our destination this time." That''s all he could remember, even in the Weasley house, his two older brothers Bill and Charlie usually won''t talk about their work in the Order of the Phoenix at home, especially with George and Fred, two troublemakers, keeping a lot of information hidden from them. Jon stroked his chin, looking at the map, without saying much. Now judging the location of their position and the direction of the voyage, at least the students on board can be reassured that they are not too far away from Britain. And after this, there are many other things on board that Jon needs to deal with. For example, they are about to spend their first major holiday away from the professors at sea - Halloween. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 169: Halloween Chapter 169: Halloween On the previous Halloween on the wagon, although Hagrid would not find a special ce to stop the wagon for a feast like the opening dinner as well as the Christmas dinner, but, the professors would still make the festive decorations in the great hall. For the dinner, the students will prepare a good feast, and each professor will carry a lot of candy with them, and whenever a student passes by them, they will grab a handful of candy from their pockets and stuff it into the children''s hands. Now even though the adults are gone, Jon doesn''t intend to simplify this festive celebration. It''s important to unite the children together and keep the same sense of routine as in the past to make them feel more appreciated and secure. Early in the morning on Halloween day, the seniors of the fourth and fifth-year students got up and began to decorate the deck. After a collective vote the day before, everyone was excited to have this year''s holiday dinner held on the open deck of the ship. Many of the students who had been seasick had slowly begun to adapt, and the ocean, which they had rarely been exposed to before, evoked a sense of novelty in almost everyone. They had celebrated dinner together on the beach by the seaside once before but had never celebrated a holiday like this on the ocean. Byte evening, the deck was all properly tidied up, and today''s weather was very good, although it was starting to get some winter chill, there was no big wind and waves. Several long tables in the great hall were moved out of the cabin, the bats transformed using transfiguration flew over their heads, and the pumpkinmps hanging from the mast, the candbra floating in mid-air, apanied by the soft sound of the waves, let the Hogwarts students'' restlessness from the absence of the professors'' protection gradually released. Especially after Jon informed everyone of the exact position where they are now, which undoubtedly calmed down the hearts of those who were obviously a bit agitated before. But again, after solving the current location problem, Jon did not just forget about the tasks and duties that they, as students, had to take the initiative to assume even in the absence of the professor. Before the Halloween dinner began, Jon used the captain''s identity and started to assign tasks for everyone on this ship in the following days. "The professors are sending us overseas for our safety, surely they don''t want to see us on the ship all day without thinking, just eating, drinking and having fun, if we really acted like that, we wouldn''t deserve to be their students and be protected by them in such a way." Jon''s phrasing was harsh, and he knew that if he wanted to be truly responsible for everyone here, he couldn''t always show a gentle disposition. Even in the wagon, there was still a need for strict professors like Professor McGonagall as well as Lily to discipline these children who are not yet grown up and are yful by nature. Even if they know that the current situation is pressing, they may not be able to do anything, and doing nothing like this is obviously wrong, but in the absence of supervision and control of the situation, their hearts will still subconsciously want to bezy and give themselves an excuse to bezy. So in this case, Jon must take up a role identical to that of Professor McGonagall and Lilly. The students who had originally been indulging in these days, living happily without sses or homework, could not help but bow their heads in shame at this time. But there were still some students who expressed doubts about his words. "We don''t want to stay on the ship and do nothing, but without the professor, there will be no one to teach us new magic knowledge, so what else can we do here?" The question was posed by a fifth-year student who is a close friend of George as well as Fred - Lee Jordan. Jon could tell he wasn''t trying to make some excuse to bezy but really didn''t know what to do. "It''s true that it''s not easy to carry out the teaching for fourth and fifth year students, but the curriculum required for the students from the first to the third year is not something too advanced." Jon looked at all the students and said. "No matter what, we can''t stay on the ship without doing anything, that''s a waste of our own potential and time, and all of this is what the professors who bet their lives to earn it." "The library in the ship''s cabin ispletely open, and the seniors have already handed the textbooks that we are going to study this year along with notes, with that we can spare time to study on our own without the professor''s teaching." "The older students will have to take on more responsibility for the younger ones, and we will not only have to study on our own, but also devote some time to teach the third years and below." "All of the fourth-year students will be responsible for the third-year students'' sses, and the fifth-year students will be divided into two parts to teach the first and second years respectively." "You guys have all advanced from the lower grades and know all the specific lessons they''ve taken, and we can all talk together about how to do the lesson preparation. We don''t have as much experience and knowledge as the professors, but there are enough of us, and there are always better ways to solve problems with more people." No one had any objection to Jon''s statement. Many students need external supervision before they are willing to work hard, only some students like Hermione are passionate and motivated to learn, and even without Jon''s arrangement today, they will take the initiative to raise this matter. The professors set an example in the wagon, all these students know what it means to assume responsibility, the oldest will take care of the youngest even before, although it will make the fourth and fifth-year students busier than others in general, it will also make them all feel deserved. After the tasks of all the students on the ship were determined, Jon did not give any more long speeches, and soon announced the start of the dinner. Everyone had a great time at this dinner, and just when the feast was proceeding, someone suddenly faintly saw a light white dot in a dark sea. Soon many more people noticed the white dot. In the darkness, it was too noticeable, Jon also looked over the white dot, it must be a luminous body, otherwise, it would not be so remarkable in the darkness of the night. And soon, that white dot came closer and closer to the view of these students at Hogwarts, and also grew bigger in size. Within a few minutes, almost everyone could see what that thing was. It is a ship too! A ship simr to the Hogwarts, which should not appear in the modern sea, and its whole body is lit with a faint fluorescent, it appears like a transparent and illusory pirate ship! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 170: The ghost ship Chapter 170: The ghost ship At the first moment, Jon had all the students hide in the cabin! The moment he saw the pirate ship, an extremely bad feeling rose up inside him. It is clearly not a modern ship. With a faint luminescence, ragged long sails that look like a virtual illusion, and a skull emblem with a captain''s cap, it is clear that the hull is also made of wood, but a sense of unreality filled everywhere with ethereal transparency. As if this ship is not from earth, but a ghost ship that wandered into the realm of living! At the same time that the ghost pirate ship appeared in Jon''s eyes, a white fog rose silently at some point in the piece of the sea they are in. The sound of the waves was absorbed by the white fog, and the whole sky was also obscured as if Hogwarts was forcibly pulled into another quiet and dead world. The ghost ship is obviously aimed at them, its course from the beginning of the emergence did not have the slightest change, sailing straight toward Jon and co. The only people on deck are Jon, George and Neville, all holding a monocr in their hands, looking at the ghost ship that appears to be some distance away from them, but at an unusual speed, it''s getting closer and closer. "That ship looks just like me!" A little girl''s voice sounded from above their heads. Jon and the guys looked up and saw Gabrielle, who hade back from the cabin once again. She is indeed right, the ship''s state looks exactly the same as hers; both bodies are emitting a faint white luminescence, and look transparent and illusory. This further confirms the existing spection in Jon''s mind that this is a ship with ghost characteristics. Jon turned his head to look at George and Neville. "When you guys were at home, did you ever hear your family talk about the legend of a ghost ship in the sea close to Ennd?" George shook his head decisively. "No. Mom and Dad never talked to us about such a thing, and neither did Bill nor Charlie or any of them." After a moment''s pause, he pondered, "Even in the fairy tale books I read at home when I was a kid that had a lot to do with wizards, there were no stories about these legends." Neville, for his part, let out a deep breath. "My father did tell me something simr, he told me that the ghosts of the wizarding world are not a scattered mess, they have died once and will exist in the future almost as ghosts forever. Although ghosts no longer have the various feelings of the living, and there is no way for them to touch the entity, they still retain their former emotions and memories when they were alive, so ghosts also have their own social circle." "The most famous ghost organization within the UK is called the Headless Hunt, it is an organization jointly formed by a group of ghosts who had their heads cut off, they have harsh conditions for recruiting members, they must have their heads and bodiespletely separated to be eligible, and many times they even use their heads for polo matches. But most ghosts thought they are pretty cool, so they became the most well-known ghost organization." "This proves that there must be simr ghost organizations, far more than just the Headless Hunt. When you think about it this way, it''s not so strange to see a ghost ship out at sea, too, even though none of us has heard of it." Jon put down the monocr, his face did not rx but became more and more serious. "Are there any ghosts that have defected to the Ministry of Magic?" His question made both George and Neville flinch, but soon both of them reacted again. Neville said hesitantly. "Maybe there are ghosts who approve the idea of Pureblood supremacy, but. There should be no ghosts will go to work with the Ministry of Magic, after all, they are all dead, and be ghosts only because they are still full of unfinished attachment to this world of the living, very rarely we have heard of ghosts involved in disputes of the living." George also said with a nod. "The ghost who has died once cannot die again, so even the dark lord has no way to coerce them by force, and I have never heard that there is any department rted to ghosts in the Ministry of Magic." Both of them have a point. No one can force a ghost to do certain things, so what camp does the ghost ship that is sailing towards them right now belong to? Just a maritime organization of British ghosts, like Neville, said? Seeing their magic ship, they are speciallying over to say hello? Although there are doubts in Jon''s mind, there is also not much fear, normal ghost wizards have no way to do any harm to them just like how they have no way to kill ghost wizards, It''s just there was a special case in Hogwarts Castle before - Peeves the Poltergeist. Just as they were talking, the ghost ship was already close at hand. Jon and the group could even clearly see a cannon pointed right at them from the ship''s raggedy deck! The ghost ship is getting closer and closer to them, the front of the two ships already showed signs of a collision, but whether it is Hogwarts or the other side, neither has any intention of stopping. The next second, the two bows touched each other, but not even the slightest sense of collision came through. The ghost ship passed through Hogwarts without resistance, and both old wooden ships ovepped together! This ovep did not stop from the very beginning of the contact but was expanding, and soon the hull of the ghost ship passed through the bodies of Jon and the three of them! An icy cold feeling that had never been felt before spread throughout their bodies. It was like being poured a bucket of cold water from head to toe, making Jon involuntarily shiver. The overall hull of Hogwarts is slightly taller than the ghost ship, and after the hulls of the two ships ovepped, the cabin where the students were located has been ovepped with the ghost ship cabin and is exposed. And just as Jon and the three of them looked at the pirate ship that hadpletely ovepped with the Hogwarts at their feet, and the two ships were moving forward together as one, a sharp, rude voice suddenly sounded from below deck! "Little brats! Cry out! You have been surrounded by the great Captain Jack!" As the words sounded, a small ghost floated up from below the deck of Hogwarts! He was wearing a pirate cap with a certain tattoo of a skull on his head, one foot was intact, the other was propped up by wood, and his left arm was not intact either, instead, an iron hook was attached to a broken section of his arm, and his face had a hideous scar nted over the bridge of his nose, and one eye was covered by an eye patch of some kind. The words of intimidation to Jon and co. did note from the mouth of this small ghost, but rather from a phantom, transparent parrot standing on his shoulder! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 171: Ghost Wizard and Guide Chapter 171: Ghost Wizard and Guide The small captain wasn''t the only one. Below deck, the other ghosts that followed him also floated out from behind. These ghosts, who were obviously all dressed as seamen, each had weapons in their hands and a fierce look, as if they were really ready to rob Jon''s ship. "Hand over the treasures! Little brats!" The small captain waved his sabre, which was half his height, and the parrot standing on his shoulder shouted, "Captain Jack only wants money, not life!" Following Captain Jack''s lead, the vicious ghost seamen also shouted after him. "Hand over the treasure! You will be spared from death!" Jon, George as well as Neville, the three of them looked at each other. Gabrielle''s face did not show any panic or fear, instead, she drifted to the side of the pirate ghosts and shouted happily with enthusiasm. "Hand over the treasure! You will be spared from death!" She treated this as a role-ying yhouse. To be honest, the appearance of the ghost ship sailing towards them was indeed quite scary, but after seeing these ghostse forward, Jon and the others felt that it seemed more like a farce. Even if the ghosts can still exist in the world of the living, they have no way to cause half a substantial impact on reality, at most, they will scare the wizards or muggles who are ignorant. But whether it''s Jon or George or Neville, they are not people who don''t know what is going on. These ghost pirates may look scary, but in fact, they can''t do anything to them. Jon asked tentatively. "Well, may I ask you, Captain Jack, what kind of treasure do you need?" "Surely, nippy little brats!" The small captain tilted his head proudly, and the parrot on his shoulder said in an equally timely and proud voice, "Of course, we only want gold, silver and jewels!" "With all due respect, Captain, even if we had gold, silver and jewels to give you, your ship won''t be able to take them away." Captain Jack was indignant, and the parrot on his shoulder looked like it was jumping in anger. "How can you talk like this! Are you insulting Captain Jack!" Jon was speechless, he increasingly felt that this gang of ghost pirates who are idling on the sea without much to do, specificallye towards them for fun. And just when Captain Jack angrily swung his sabre at them, which simply couldn''t do any half damage to Jon other than being cold, a helpless voice sounded up from the lower deck. "Drake, stop fooling around, don''t forget your deal with Dumbledore." Another ghost drifted up from the lower deck, he had silver curly hair and looked like a man who died in middle age, wearing a medieval noble robe. Thest ghost that floated up, just from the dress you can tell, he''s very different from these pirate ghosts that came out before. His expression looked amiable when he saw Jon and co, he also nodded towards them with a friendly gesture. It''s just, a chilling scene urred. No idea if he nodded with too much force, his head suddenly crooked from his neck, leaving only a little bit of flesh still barely connecting his head together! This scene shocked Jon and the boys, they all took a step back, only to hear the ghost whose head almost fell off his neck re-set his head straight, and then apologized over and over again. "Ah, I''m really sorry, but I believe you should be able to understand, the executor of my execution did not have a good grasp of strength, so my head was notpletely cut off, which I am also very distressed about, because of this I could not join the Headless Hunt." He was chattering away, looking like a chatterbox. Captain Jack seemed to be very dissatisfied with the ghost who appearedter, whose style waspletely different from all of them, and the parrot that kept jumping around on his shoulder screamed. "Stupid Nichs! You ruined Captain Jack''s master n! Our ship failed to get all the gold and silver treasures! You have topensate!" "Hey! Don''t joke around with everyone here, Drake, it''s time for you to finish the job today, don''t you guys all want to find a ce to celebrate the holiday a while ago, in fact, this ce is just fine." The broken-headed ghost known as Nichs looked up with a rxed face at Hogwarts, he wriggled his neck with so much movement that it was worrying whether his head would fall off his neck again in the next second. Jon heard the ghost and Captain Jack''s conversation, he looked at the broken-headed ghost with a strange look on his face and asked. "You know Headmaster Dumbledore, sir?" "Although I prefer to be called Sir Nichs, people who are more intimate address me as Nick." He made himself known, and Jon finally registered at this time who he is 100 percent. The head that nearly failed to be cut off with a bit of flesh and bone connecting, Sir Nichs the Nearly Headless Nick, none other than Nichs de Mimsy-Porpington, the original Gryffindor resident ghost of Hogwarts! Jon had actually been wondering where all those ghosts in the former Hogwarts had gone when he was lurking in the castle. He did not see them either in the wagon or in the castle, and as a result, he did not expect to see one of them after leaving the territory of Britain. George''s eyes widened when he heard Nichs introduce himself, and he had obviously heard of this name as well. "I think I''ve heard of you before, Bill told me that when he first entered Hogwarts Castle before he went to the wagon in exile, the Gryffindor had a ghost named ''Nearly Headless Nick''!" Nichs didn''t look very pleased with this title that George addressed him, and he said with some self-loathing. "Well, I knew there would always be someone who would remember that nickname! I''ve been out of that castle for so long, I still haven''t gotten rid of it yet!" He muttered a few words, but he hadn''t forgotten, the actual question Jon had just asked. "As the red-haired boy said, I used to be the resident ghost of Gryffindor House, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but I left that castle after it was upied by someone who shouldn''t have imed it. In the end, even Gryffindor House is no longer there, so there is no need for me to continue to stay there." "After I left, I travelled through the wizarding world for a while with the Fat Friar, the resident ghost of Hufflepuff. But Dumbledore found me and wanted me to help him out with something, so I joined Drake''s fleet and spent many years drifting the seas with him. Then just a little while ago, Dumbledore wrote to me that you guys had entered the sea and specifically asked me toe and find you guys to be your guide." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 172: The Purpose of Going to Sea Chapter 172: The Purpose of Going to Sea Jon never expected to meet the ghost of Hogwarts here, he looked at Nick with some surprise in his eyes, while Neville hesitantly asked a question at this time. "But. Nick, I remember that ghosts shouldn''t be able to go just anywhere, right? My father told me that ghosts are formed because wizards have a strong attachment to the world of the living when they die, and even if they stay in the world of the living as a ghost, they can only live and walk in ces where they left traces of themselves before they died, so why can you freely go out?" Nick looked very impressed with the knowledge that Neville had shown, it''s just that there was some obvious sadness on his face when he answered the question. "For the vast majority of ghosts, it is indeed the case, like this ghost ship of Drake and the guys, they are confined to this sea for most of their lives. But the ghosts chosen by Hogwarts, especially the resident ghosts are different." Captain Jack looked like he would jump in exasperation at Nick''s remark, but it did not affect him in any way from continuing. "For the ghosts of Hogwarts, no matter what we were like before, the castle with its powerful magic is our ultimate home. It represents its recognition of us and our willingness to let go of the rest of our past and stay only in the trace left at Hogwarts Castle." "But that castle has changed since then." Nick''s voice was kind of sad, "the sorting hat became an ordinary ragged hat, Peeves disappeared from the worldpletely, and the portraits of the castle became normal objects. We became a group of lost ghosts, but as a result, we also becamepletely independent ghosts." "Everyone was disappointed and sad, Baron took other ghosts who were willing to follow him and left, saying that he was going to find a way to redeem Hogwarts; Gray Lady went to a forest alone, she kept repeating that she had done something wrong again, and we all felt that she had be a bit mentally unstable; Fat Friar and I didn''t know where to go, so we wandered around Europe together, and in between Befriended a lot of other ghosts, as well as experienced a lot of interesting things. Then, when Dumbledore found us, he asked us to help him to do something, so I parted with Fat Friar and came to this ship." Jon and the others heard the sadness in Nick''s tone of voice. For these ghosts, Hogwarts castle has more significance than anyone else, as he said before, after leaving the castle, they are now a group of lonely ghosts. But Nick obviously also knows that now is not the time to vent his emotions, and soon, his voice became lighter. "Aha, Hogwarts must have more than three of you as students now, right? Quickly call the others out, today is Halloween, a holiday belonging to the ghosts, with Drake and the guys in, we can celebrate together! Don''t worry, don''t look at Drake being fierce and vicious, but they were good pirates when they were alive, just not very brainy in most cases." Captain Jack obviously heard Nick''ster "insults", he looked at Nick with a furious face and pounced at him and tried to pull his head from the neck as if to demonstrate who the brainless one really is. The parrot that had jumped on Captain Jack''s head was also screaming. "How dare you insult Captain Jack! Captain Jack is going to show everyone who really has no brains!" Gabrielle happily floated around the two ghosts who were fighting, it is the first time she saw her "own kind", and they are such a group of interesting ghosts. Jon and the group looked at each other and smiled at this, and then George went to the cabin to call out the students who were hiding inside to carry out the Halloween dinner that was just interrupted in the middle. These pirate ghosts, as Nick said, they do seem to be a group of good and chill ghosts, although their brains do seem to be missing a lot of cells. It is the first time that many students at Hogwarts have seen such arge number of ghosts, not to mention that the Hogwarts beneath their feet has ovepped with another ghost ship. Those seamen who followed Captain Jack took all kinds of musical instruments from their ghost ship. They didn''t need to eat food, the food of the living did not tempt them at all, they stood on the edge of the deck and yed music on the ordion. The ghosts'' appreciation of music, even if their artistic tastes might deviate from the norm, but these seaman ghosts at sea were the obvious exception, ying the sea songs from when they were alive as pirates. The students were able to resonate with them through the music, which made this dinner more and more lively. The feaststed until midnight, when the students, who were already tired of ying, began to return to their rooms to get some rest. After sending Nick to Hogwarts, Captain Jack also took his men to sail their ship away. Nick bid a final farewell to them. "Less to dream of gold and silver, Drake, and also less thought to rob and scare those Muggles, the Ministry of Magic has a ghost office, they will certainlye to you after discovering the issue." "Captain Jack will not talk to cowards!" The parrot screamed. Then Captain Jack took their ghosts and left without a backward nce. The ghost ship and Hogwarts began to separate, heading off on a different voyage. Nick looked at the ship from afar, stretched out his hand towards it and waved, it is unknown whether Captain Jack had thought of showing force to deter, or in response to Nick''s farewell, the ghost ship''s cannon barrels burst with a "boom", and then the transparent shells exploded in the sky. The white fog that originally surrounded Hogwarts began to dissipate, but even at thiste hour, Jon still didn''t feel half asleep. He turned his head to look at Nick, and took a deep breath, intending to just wait for the banquet to end and then ask him some questions all out. However, before he could say anything, Nichs spoke first. "You should be the one Dumbledore assigned to lead these children, right?" He looked at Jon with some surprise on his face, "But to be honest, you don''t look the oldest one among these kids at all." Jon shrugged. "Age isn''t a criterion for selection for the most part, is it?" "True, Dumbledore never considered the age when looking for candidates." Nick''s tone became solemn. "In that case, Dumbledore should also have talked to you, about our core purpose of this voyage, right?" Jon''s face became incredibly calm, he certainly had not forgotten what Dumbledore had said to him before he left. "To. To find the answer to why the Dark Lord has be what he is!" *** [Author;] Speaking of sea songs, I''ve been listening to a 19th-century sea bad from New Zend called "Wellerman" while framing the contents for this volume --- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 173: Immortality Chapter 173: Immortality The sea was calm and the slightly chilly sea breeze blew up the ck hair on Jon''s forehead. The direct cause of so many changes in this world is certainly Voldemort. It''s precisely because he has undergone such a big change, bing sane, wise and powerful, it leads to all the present-day developments. So investigating clearly why Voldemort has undergone such a big change is not only to figure out the causes and consequences but also to n how to defeat the vilest dark lord from ancient times to the present. If you want to defeat the enemy, it is necessary to understand the enemy first. And Dumbledore in all these years is obviously not unproductive, he has not given up on investigating Voldemort''s past, the sailing this time, means that he already got some results. Now Jon and co. meeting Nick is to obtain the fruit of this work. "That''s right, Dumbledore found me that year and asked me to help him, is about this." Nick''s gaze was grave. "Dumbledore never gave up on investigating the Dark Lord''s past, especially after Hogwarts Castle waspletely taken over. He personally visited many ces and came up with a very crucial answer - Voldemort, he once gained the power of immortality!" Jon listened to Nick''s words, and his face didn''t show much of a shocked look. He knew what this so-called power of immortality would be, the Horcrux was a project that Voldemort had started when he was still a student with the name Tom Riddle, for immortality. Voldemort feared death. When he had just learned about bing a wizard and was intimidated by the magic shown by Dumbledore, he had be fascinated by such a miraculous and powerful power. But soon, like a sponge, he kept absorbing knowledge and realized that magic, even if it is powerful, it has no way to let people escape death. This was very iprehensible to Voldemort. He then got to know the existence of the Philosopher''s stone and Nics mel, but he disdained this false immortality, believing that this kind of immortality, which relies on external objects, is not a victory over death at all, but lingering under the oppression of death, once he lost the Philosopher''s stone, then Nics mel would certainly die. So he began to look for immortality that could be mastered by himself and that belonged entirely to the individual, which no one could snatch away. After continuous searching and research, finally he found a magic - Horcrux! With the most devious ughter, one could split one''s soul, and the split part could be anchored on an object or living thing to form a Horcrux. As long as the Horcrux is not destroyed, then the person who made the Horcrux will live forever. This is perfectly in line with Voldemort''s requirements, although the Horcrux is an independent artefact, what is embedded in this object is his own soul, so it naturally belongs to his own power, in his eyes this form of immortality is stronger than using Elixir of Life that was produced by Philosopher''s stone to achieve false immortality, which is not known how many times it is possible to use. Subsequently, it was revealed in the original book, that Voldemort used Slughorn''s appreciation to get information about the Horcruxes from him, then found all the information about this magic in Hogwarts library, and with the help of the Basilisk released from the chamber of the secret back then, he killed Myrtle, and made his diary into his first Horcrux! Since this Horcrux was made, Voldemort in fact is equivalent to having mastered the power of immortality. But after that, he did not stop his actions. A Horcrux simply can not satisfy him, after all, as long as the diary is destroyed, he still has the possibility of death, more importantly, Voldemort has always believed that "7" is a very magical number. He wanted to make seven Horcrux, to fulfil his own selfish desires at the same time so that his eternal life is guaranteed to be more perfect. He is also very ambitious and prideful, he has very high requirements for each item that can be his Horcrux, so his n to split his soul and make Horcrux has always been in order. This is the reason why the original Voldemort could not be killed directly, as long as not all of his Horcruxes were destroyed, then he will always be able to resurrect, such a resurrection will not even have any loss of his own strength. But now it''s all changed. When Jon sneaked into the Headmaster''s office at Hogwarts Castle and saw the four Hogwarts founders'' relics on that desk, he guessed that the Horcruxes were likely to have be a thing of the past. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have ced such valuable things in one ce, or a ce that his own enemies would try to enter by any means possible. "That power of immortality has made him exceptionally powerful, and even if someone in the magical world is truly stronger than him, there is no way to defeat him. But although he is unlikely to be killed, such a powerful force is not without any ws." Nick said seriously. "ording to Dumbledore''s investigation, he is using killing to split his soul to achieve his immortality, but the soul has always been the most fundamental consciousness of a person, and for wizards who rely on their ''will'' to power their magic, it is the key of keys." "The dark lord split his soul without restraint, and the constant killing made the raging madness consume himself, which made his dark magic more powerful, but also made himpletely lose his reason." "Those who followed him at the beginning were actually all attracted by his charisma and ambitious ideals, after all, at the beginning he did not have such a powerful power and was still a nobody in the whole magical world." "And after losing his sanity, he became even more terrifying, like a madman who only destroys, and also made more people unable to ept his existence." "Before splitting his soul, he called the people gathered around him ''friends'', butter his ''friends'' all became his ves, and he stood high above them as the lord." "The entire magical world knew that there would be no future in following a madman, and even among those around the Dark Lord, fewer and fewer were truly loyal to him; the vast majority were simply opportunists who were trying to borrow the Dark Lord''s name to help themselves gain benefits." "So at that time, even though he was so horrible that everyone dared not mention his name, he was not yet able to have the ability to defeat Dumbledore and control the entire British magicalmunity." "It''s just, in one night, all of this changed." Nick''s voice suddenly became extraordinarily low, and Jon held his breath. "A prophecy, uttered by a descendant of the Trwney family, appeared. She told Dumbledore that there would be a child who would be the Dark Lord''s arch-enemy, and the one who would survive!" --- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 174: The Month of Disappearance Chapter 174: The Month of Disappearance "This prophecy was originally only known to Dumbledore and the descendant of that Trwney family, but the Dark Lord''s men overheard it." "He did not hesitate to tell this information to his lord, and the Dark Lord did not sit idly after learning about it. Soon he pinpointed the prophesied child, the boy who had only recently been born in the Potter family!" "Although Dumbledore had helped them to hide, a betrayer still appeared among us. The Dark Lord found the Potters that night, and also found the one in the prophecy, his pre-destined enemy." Nick''s voice became incredibly low. "It was a massacre that night, the only member of the family who was intact was the mother of the prophesied boy, a prophecy that was originally viewed with great hope by the entire magicalmunity became a joke." "It was also on that night that the Dark Lord changed like never before." "After he killed the Potter family, he disappeared from the magical world, and no one knew where he had gone, not even his closest followers." "The disappearance caused many chain reactions, the wizards of the magical world thought that the prophecy worked in the end and that the Dark Lord had actually died with his predestined enemy. His subordinates also became impatient and went crazy trying to search the entire magical world until one monthter, when the dark lord reappeared." Jon''s gaze became deeper and deeper with Nick''s narrative. He caught the crux of the matter, as he had guessed before, the node where the change in Voldemort urred was on the night of killing Harry Potter. Not only Harry Potter, the prophesied saviour, was killed, but more crucially, what happened to Voldemort himself? "And right after the Dark Lord reappeared, it was like he was a different person." Nick''s voice began to be puzzled, "the most significant change is that he began to restrain the actions of his men." "After breaking the prophecy that encouraged everyone, his prestige had reached the peak of the British magical world, and this should have been the beginning of his recklessness. However, at that time he assembled all his followers." "The spectors, the wavers, those loyal to him, all attended that particr assembly. He said that their past violent actions were all wrong, making purebloods greater could not be based on violence alone, they had to have sound systems, and sound ideas, so that those who are truly capable of wielding power can see the future of their organization clearly." "He said that the ancient wizards were foolish, that they did not understand the importance of keeping the wizard bloodline pure. This is a mistake made by the ancestors, and it can''t all be borne by the current half-blood wizards. Half-blood wizards are at fault, yet they are not as faulted as those muggle wizards, after all, they still have the noble blood left in them." Jon''s face became unbearably solemn. He knew that this meeting was the beginning of Voldemort''s change and the beginning of his official transformation from a terrorist to an ambitious man! "His words surprised everyone who was there, yet it excited almost everyone just as much." "The loyalists have an absolute adoration for their lord and will simply obey whatever decisions he issues. The spectors and waverers, on the other hand, were overjoyed to find that their originally unclear pureblood status had been proven." "Those pureblood families that have been passed down in the magical world to this day are very few and far between in terms of truly keeping their bloodline wizards pure from beginning to end with no muggle involvement. They hold high the banner of Pureblood, in fact, it is simply to raise the guise that they are more noble than others." "The dark lord used to be crazy enough to make many people think that he insisted on absolute purebloodism, and once it was found that there were dishonourable stains in the family history among the people who follow him, then no matter how much merit they had previously achieved, they would be pushed into the abyss of death." "But in the present it is different. The perfection of the pureblood theory represents the legitimacy of their privileges being perfected, especially after the dark lord went further to distinguish the boundaries of pureblood, half-blood and muggle wizards, the stains of history will no longer be liquidated, and more people see the benefits, and more people feel that everything he does is not only from madness, he can really take the vast majority of people to a better future. " Jon''s mind unconsciously recalled a phrase - unite the majority and fight a handful. The memory of that dark past made Nick''s face unbearably gloomy. "Muggle wizards havepletely turned into what they call mudbloods since then, it''s just they didn''t ssify Muggle wizards who have already married pureblood or half-blood wizards at that time, as ves, other than that every muggle wizard is a ve." "But even so, they still felt that the superior wizards did not need so many ves. A purge against muggle wizards began, and all those who did not ept the status as ves were begun to be ughtered." "The Ministry of Magic was powerless to stop this, and the Dark Lord became unprecedentedly powerful after his return, much more powerful than the one who broke the prophecy before him! The wizarding government soon fell and became a loyalckey of the Dark Lord, Muggle wizards suffered a bloodbath, with many fleeing to Hogwarts Castle, which at the time had Dumbledore as its patron." "What happenedter on, you should also know, Dumbledore and the Dark Lord duelled in the castle, and Dumbledore ultimately lost to him." "Many Muggle wizards were killed, the rest could only be ves, the whole British magical world became what it is now, Dumbledore with the rest of the resistance began to exile, until now." "The Dark Lord has a huge contrast before and after, he went from crazy to rational, from powerful to more powerful only in an extremely short time." Jon said softly. "The month he disappeared after killing the Potter family." "Right!" Nick gritted his teeth and said, "The question arises in that month, where did the dark lord go? What did he do? Who did he see? These are all key, and Dumbledore has all along been investigating it, that is, all his traces during that period of time." Jon stared at Nick. "And that''s what Dumbledore asked you to help do?" Nick nodded. "That''s right, I''m a ghost, and after I don''t have the original restrictions, I can get in and out of a lot of ces that wizards don''t have ess to, and that''s my biggest advantage." "What about the result?" Facing Jon''s question, Nick slowly answered "Even if he is more powerful, he is still a living person, and as long as he is a living person, it is impossible to operate in this world without leaving any traces." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 175: The Beginning of the Massacre Chapter 175: The Beginning of the Massacre "About where the dark lord went in that month in the end, Dumbledore used many means to find." "At first, he had thought it would be an arduous task, but unexpectedly it was easy to find traces of the dark head''s brief stay in many ces." Nick said seriously. "But after exploring those ces in-depth, no valuable discovery was made, and the dark lord only stayed very briefly, mostly staying for a few hours or even a few minutes, then using magic to leave." "This is very confusing, Dumbledore listed all the locations he had been to all-together, trying to find some kind of connection, but always came up with nothing." "Soon he figured one thing out." "The Dark Lord appeared so aimlessly in various ces, it was more like he was looking for something!" "Then, Dumbledore spent a lot of energy, sent out nearly two-thirds of his men, and finally found something unusual in one ce." Nick looked in the opposite direction that Hogwarts was travelling. Jon also followed his gaze, behind them was an endless sea, but even though the sea was vacant, a bolt of lightning shed in his mind, as he thought of what Nick was looking at. "The dark lord has gone to sea!" Nick nodded seriously. "Yes, he did not use the apparition again nor did he use magic to fly directly over, but created a raft for himself, and he drove that raft, and went out to sea from the same area where you went down to the sea!" "This almost let Dumbledore at the time to overlook the past, no one would think that the dark lord who hated all muggles in the world and wanted to kill all of them, actually did not use magic but used muggle means to travel somewhere." Jon rubbed his bare chin and thoughtfully said. "This is not necessarily his own will, but perhaps the ce he wants to go, no matter what magic he uses he can not get there." "You have the exact same thought as Dumbledore''s!" Nick eximed. "He sailed alone on that raft, leaving behind all his men in Britain, so eager that he didn''t even have time to give them a message of his safety, and set off across the ocean." "After that, the dark lord''s movements became even more difficult to track up, without using any magic also means that we likewise have no way to probe using magic." "But the good thing is that Dumbledore was reunited with another extremely dangerous person, that person has a pair of eyes that can see into the future, he can know a lot of things without any reason, even if this thing has never happened in front of his eyes." "He saw certain trajectories in a fog, and then after Dumbledore sent me out to the ocean to board Drake''s ghost ship." "I did make more discoveries over the years, but I am only a ghost in the end, there is no way to behave like a living person, want to really explore clearly where the Dark Lord went out to sea on that raft, it must be done by a living person." Jon looked at the starry night sky. By now, he finally understood what the ultimate purpose of Dumbledore let them take the ship out to sea. He said softly. "We are here to retrace the path that the dark lord once took." ... The French magical world became depressed. A week had passed since the convening of that temporary council meeting that shocked everyone. During this week, all kinds of news were flying around, but what everyone knew was. The "greatest gentleman" in Britain is here. He not only showed up but also brought his pureblood supremacy theory as the new minister of the magic of France, the entire French magical congress became a surrendered government, subservient to the man''s ck robe. Originally, only eighty percent of the council members were subservient to him, but after that meeting, three of the remaining twenty percent of the muggle wizard councillors were killed for opposing in session, and the rest were stripped of their status as councillors and became the first "mudblood" ves in France. Yes, the man did not hesitate to implement the same bloodline policy in France as in Britain. The French magical government had be hispdog, and the Ministry of Magicpleted its self-cleaning on the night of the council meeting, and all the Muggle wizard employees were arrested and prepared for ve conversion. The other half-bloods and purebloods who met the bloodline requirements did not suffer any harassment. They were still working in their original positions, and everything in the Ministry of Magic was still functioning normally. But everyone knew that the moment that man appeared in the meeting, the French magicalmunity now and before had be downright two things. The day after the meeting, the operation began. The first to bear the brunt was the French Ministry of Magic. Not only were all the Muggle wizards arrested, but in the Auror office, the newly appointed Minister of Magic made an expansion of personnel. The new French purebloods who had clearly sided with him joined Auror''s ranks, and these people were the main force behind the next operation. Voldemort issued his first "ministerial order" in France. From now on all "mudbloods" lose their human rights, are deprived of the use of wands, deprived of personal property, deprived of political rights, and can only be subordinated to the noble blood for life! This order of course could not be weed. Although the Ministry of Magic and the top brass had already sumbed, the Muggle wizards would definitely not give in. And for the vast majority of half-blood wizards, even if Voldemort''s rule didn''t harm them in any practical way, it didn''t give them any significant benefits as with the purebloods. What''s more, before Voldemort came to France, it was not feasible only to make friends with half-bloods and purebloods, many of them had friendships with muggle wizards, such friendships may not be enough to make them risk their lives to speak out for the freedom of muggle wizards, but it let them fall into silence about the bloodline policy. In such a silent, depressing and odd atmosphere, the Aurors began to make their move. Abolishing the human rights of Muggle wizards was surely more than talk, first and foremost, it was about taking away the wands from their hands! Fierce resistance also followed. Every wizard understood that their wands are the basis of their survival. Without their wands, most wizards would lose the ability to cast spells steadily, which is the same as losing the ability to resist. They began to attack the Aurors who hade to the door to collect their wands, and in the face of this, the Aurors did not hesitate to respond. They used the Killing curse directly on the resisting muggle wizards! What is happening in France today is exactly what Britain once experienced. And at the beginning of the reign of the bloodline, it became necessary to ughter part of the "mudbloods" for the sake of stability. The moment the decree to seize the wands was issued, it was the beginning of the massacre! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 176: The Beginning Chapter 176: The Beginning "Your son entered Beauxbatons this year, right? Tony." Inside a gloomy Muggle residence by the ce de Furstemberg. Seven men in white robes gathered together inside the room and polished the wands in their hands. "Six months ago, I sensed that the wind in the magical world was not quite right, and after receiving Beauxbatons'' eptance letter, I did not let him report." The one who spoke was a lean, thin male wizard who calmly answered hispanion''s question, his gaze fixed on the wand in his hand during this period, as if this is the only thing in this world that can still attract his attention. "I remember him, a witty little fellow, thest time I was a guest at your house, he was showing off his newly obtained toy wand to me, he didn''t me you for not sending him to magic school?" The person who was talking to him was a chubby male wizard with sses and a spotless white robe, at first nce he resembled one of those muggle hospital surgeons. "It''s better to me me for not letting him learn magic in that school than to be a ve in that manor now." Tony suddenly smiled, that smile did not have a half-positive emotion, only endless hatred seemed to be overflowing. "Mudblood children are still mudbloods ... If they only wanted to enve me for a generation, maybe I would put up with it, but ... they are trying to make me, my children and grandchildren forever and ever a ve like those house elves! " He gritted his teeth as if to chew the words that came out hard. The hand movements of all the wizards in the room who were wiping their wands stopped; under their calm faces, there was suppressed anger and hatred, and their hands gripped their wands so hard that the knuckles of each finger were faintly turning white. An owl suddenly flew into the room through the half-open window. Someone caught a letter. "Is he still dissuading us?" The chubby male wizard asked The man who had read the letter looked up and passed the letter to the others. "No, Dumbledore wrote to tell us that he has helped to get our families settled." Tony said in a hushed voice. "He is indeed as righteous as the legends say, he is a great wizard." A silence descended on the room. Only after a long time did a voice resound. "Someone has to prove it, no?" Someone said calmly. "We have done nothing wrong." Someone said in a low voice. "They say we were born low and call us mudbloods." "They say we have no right to hold the wand and be human." "They have united with outsiders to enve their own countrymen." "They denied us of everything to make a ve of us, to domesticate us into humanoid house elves." "They said their bloodline is inherently noble and that we are filthy and not even worthy to share the same air with them." Everyone was saying different things so calmly that it was almost as if they were having an ordinary tea party, but the atmosphere was frozen to the core! The fire in the firece is pulsating, the orange-red me did not bring a semnce of warmth to this room, as if the oppressive atmosphere has suppressed even the heat. Not so tall, thin Tony stood up from the chair, and the wand tip, which had been wiped clean in his hand, was pulsating with red sparks. This signals that his emotions are not as nd as they seem, the agitation hidden under the surface of his calmness has boiled his magic and passed it to the wand. "They can kill, and so can we. They say we are inferior, but we can also use the killing curse. They can use violence to implement oppression, so naturally, we can also use violence to resist." The other seven people in the room also all stood up, and they looked out the window to the entrance that belonged to the most concentrated power in the French magical world. "Then let''s start with us to act as the first spark." The fat wizard whispered, "Blood for blood. Violence with violence." They left the room. ce de Furstenberg was so quiet in the darkness when the Exploding Charm blew open the entrance to the Ministry of Magic, the vast majority of the surrounding dark houses were lit up. Muggles living in the surrounding pushed open their windows sleepily to check the situation, only to see a dark and smouldering underground passage on the ground. Tony and the gang had broken into the French Ministry of Magic! At the first moment, they bombarded the entrance, the Aurors in charge of the night duty within the Ministry of Magic were the first to react! The glorious main hall not only represented the authority of the French Ministry of Magic but also highlighted the prosperity of this magical society. The statues of the original founders of the French Ministry of Magic in the middle of the main hall had already been demolished. A new statue was erected there. A magically sculpted perfect replica of the handsome man with a straight nose, and charming eyes, faced towards the doors of the main hall leading to all the other departments as if he was gazing at his own territory! Upon seeing the statue, the eyes of the seven men instantly turned bloodshot. An English wizard had not only be their minister and denounced them as ves, but had actually erased all the past glory of the French wizard and established his authority over it! "Bombarda!" Without hesitation, Tony recited a spell at the newly built statue, on which no protection had been applied yet! "Bang!" The sound of stone shattering resounded, and the statue of "Great Sir" turned into a pile of stone dust scattered on the ground. This scene was witnessed by the Aurors who had just arrived! These Aurors, who areposed of new purebloods and have been the strongest supporters of pureblood superiority from the beginning, did not hesitate to raise their wands at the seven people who violently broke into the Ministry of Magic. "Avada Kedavra!" A ghastly green light illuminated the main hall, and a dozen killing curses shot out together at Tony and the group! The seven hid behind the surrounding stone pirs that supported the stability of the Ministry of Magic building, and the curse was blocked by the solid pirs, sshing countless stone chips, leaving only puddles of holes in front of the pirs. Tony and the others didn''t swing their wands back, they gasped violently as they looked at each other from behind the stone pirs, their bloodshot eyes filled with determination! "Freedom! Equality! These are the two words written on the title page of thew of magic!" Someone roared. "You can destroy our flesh! But the unyielding spirit will live on forever!" Seven wizards in long white robes raised their wands together! "Since you want war! Then we will deliver war to your faces!" "Bombarda Maxima!!!" Seven voices, merging into one incantation! Their entire lower body disappeared the moment the incantation was recited! Guts and blood spurted out! Ancient sacrificial magic exponentially enhanced their spell, and a deafening boom shook the entire earth like a thunderstorm! "Boom!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 177: The Giant Pit Chapter 177: The Giant Pit The frenzied mes instantly drowned the entire main hall of the Ministry of Magic! As the political centre of the entire French magicalmunity, the Ministry of Magic was of course subjected to sufficient protective enchantments. But Tony and the others found the vulnerable point of the whole building from the beginning, and used one of the most uneptable types of dark magic, sacrificing their own bodies to exponentially strengthen the effect of the exploding charm. The Aurors'' bodies were constantly lit up with the protective glow of the shield charm, but the terrifying power of the explosion shattered their protection the moment they made contact! On the spot, about five Aurors were blown into gas, and it was not them who were most violently affected. The stone pirs used to support the entire structure of the Ministry of Magic copsed, the entire hall was shining with a dangerous red light, the ancient protection enchantments were not able to resist such a powerful force, and dust and stones began to fall from the ceiling, the Ministry of Magic has a premonition of imminent copse! Seven or eight Aurors were somehow still alive, some of them are supporting their teammates wailing in pain with broken limbs, and some of them panicked and waved their wands to use the Apparition to escape from this deadly ce. Tony and the group of seven also have disappeared. This unprecedented powerful exploding charm produced its most powerful effect at such a close distance, and they have sacrificed the lower half of their bodies, so there is basically no possibility of dodging. Just like the five vaporized Aurors, their physical bodies have returned to the world as a whole. Apparently, beforeing, even their deaths were within the n, there were only seven of them, and seven of them could not kill many pureblood goons even if they sacrificed their entire bodies. But if it is possible to destroy the Ministry of Magic within less than a week after Voldemort took power in France, this is enough to show the will of the Muggle wizards. Perhaps some will fear death and silently ept a miserable future, but there must be some who would rather die than ever give up their dignity and freedom as human beings! The Muggle inhabitants around ce de Furstemberg hadn''t fallen asleep for long due to the previousmotion when an even louder explosion sounded in their ears! Along with the explosion, the ground began to shake, and their houses shook, causing many to believe they were experiencing an earthquake. Residents in their pyjamas ran out of their houses in panic, and then they froze on the spot. The originally existing ce de Furstemberg had by nowpletely disappeared! Only a huge empty hole was left in the original location of the square! Some bold muggles who are not afraid of death walked to the edge of the giant pit, they reached out to look inside, and through the dust that has begun to gradually dissipate, vaguely, they can see piles of building debris in addition to the pit below, owls were struggling to escape from the rubble, many survived living beings smashed by still falling building debris, and turned into a bloody pulp. There is a wolf-like and human-like monster covered in blood crawling out of the rubble, howling at the sky, there are many broken teapots around him looking for the other half of their bodies, wanting to reassemble. Muggles who saw all these were all dumbfounded. And what shocked them, even more, was that several sonic booms sounded like whips beating the air, and seven or eight strange people wearing ck robes, some of them with partially mutted limbs, crying and bleeding at the same time, appeared around them. Their clothes are all torn and tattered, and even some have no way to cover the key parts of the body, some hesitantly want to go forward to ask them if they need any help, and some have gone home to pick up the phone and began to call the police. Then, countless sonic booms sounded all around exactly the same as earlier. Constantly wizards in robes appeared around the huge pit, and when they saw the pile of rubble inside the pit, everyone''s face was ugly to the extreme. Be whose face still kept Rnd''s appearance was gloomy as she looked at an Auror who is supporting hispanion with a broken leg, and without any intention to care about the casualties of these people, she asked. "You better exin to me right now what the hell is going on!" The Auror''s face was tense, his lips were white and bloodless, as he stammered. "There, there were mudbloods who suddenly attacked the Ministry of Magic, I, we tried to kill them on the spot, but they detonated an exploding charm" "Where was it detonated?" Be stared at him grimly, like if his answer didn''t satisfy her enough, she would raise her wand and take the life of this Auror in the next second! "The main hall!" Auror gulped and said, "We didn''t let them break in further back, just in the main hall!" Be slightly sighed in relief at this time. The underground structure of the French Ministry of Magic is divided into levels, just like the British Ministry of Magic. The main hall is in the middle of the building, and between the main hall and the ground floor, this part of the level, are Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Werewolf Liaison Office, Department of International Magical Co-operation and so on, although they are important, the importance is only reflected in the duties of the department. The really crucial Department of Mysteries, the Department for the Regtion and Control of Magical Creatures, and the Department of Magic Transportation are all on the floor below the main hall. In this way, the copse of the main hall will not produce too appalling losses. Be didn''t care about the property of these French wizards, but now the entire French Ministry of Magic haspletely transited into the hands of Voldemort, she didn''t want the benefits that her people had worked so hard to get for their lord to be destroyed in such a meaningless way. But even so, the current situation is also an uneptable situation. Voldemort had only just assumed office as Minister of Magic less than a week ago, but now the Ministry of Magic - the very heart of the French magicalmunity - had been half destroyed, which would certainly strike a great blow to his prestige. This will not have much effect on the final oue, but will certainly stimte those constantly rebellious mudblood ves, adding more obstacles to the era of pureblood superiority throughout France. Just as a steady stream of Ministry of Magic employees arrived overnight, a handsome man silently appeared at Be''s side. He looked at the huge crater, his face didn''t show any joy or displeasure. Then he raised his hand and aimed his wand at the werewolf who had escaped from the copsed Werewolf Liaison Office and was still howling madly in the middle of the ruins, and a deadly green light shot out from the tip of his wand. In the next moment, the werewolf who was in great misery copsed to the ground without a sound. "idental Magic Reversal Squad, Obliviators, and Muggle Liaison Office go and deal with the Muggles around the area, get them out of here, and then erase all memories of the night. Aurors now go around the square and cast a Confundus Charm and a Muggle-Repelling Charm, do not allow new muggles to proceed close." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 178: Restoration Chapter 178: Restoration He calmly issued orders. His absolute authority in the French Ministry of Magic made everyone who received the order start to act. They either ordered or forced all people around, and all the surrounding muggles were gathered to send away, andter they started to use the memory charm on them one by one. The Aurors all came to the outermost part of the square and began to cast Muggle-Repelling Charm and Confundus Charm, which caused the fire trucks and police cars that had been alerted and rushed over to the area to begin to forget what they were doing here in the middle of the night, and then drove away again. And at the scene of the giant pit, Voldemort raised his wand in his hand in front of all the people left in the French Ministry of Magic. An iprehensible aura emanated from his body, a powerful to the extreme magic even without any incantation and magic attraction has exerted a unique influence on reality. He held up his wand and waved it lightly ording to a certain pattern, then recited a very ordinary Mending Charm incantation. "Reparo." The life magic spell that almost every wizard has surely mastered worked amazingly well! The sand, dust, stones, tables, chairs and benches, and all kinds of magic items in the ruins of the huge pit all floated up in the air! Then these fragments, as if they had their own consciousness, began to swim quickly, like tadpoles looking for their mothers, and quickly returned to their original positions when they were intact. No one dared to blink their eyes as if they were afraid to miss the miracle that was magical enough even in the magical world! The Ministry of Magic repaired quickly, such severe damage, ruin-like wreckage, and in just under ten minutes hadpletely recovered into the ce de Furstemberg square before it was destroyed! The wizards present looked at the man anew, their eyes filled with awe and fervour. With a smile on his face, Voldemort extended the hand that did not hold the wand to the entrance to the Ministry of Magic, which was no different from the entrance before tonight. "Gentlemen, would you like to go in and take a look at your offices? If anything is missing you can register it with the logistics in the minister''s office, and you will bepensated for the same value." He extended an invitation, which no one refused, and no one dared to do so. The French wizards returned to the Ministry of Magic, which had just been ruins before them, but now it looks no different from it did before they left at the end of the evening. The floor was clean and tidy, the decorations were magnificent, and the statue of the "great gentleman" still stood in the middle of the main hall, as if the so-called ruins were just an illusion that had appeared before their eyes. They "visited" the Ministry of Magic, and checked the offices where they worked during the day, nothing has changed, even a teacup, a page of information not missing. Only dead things are restored, dead living things are obviously impossible to be restored. The owls left in the Ministry of Magic were horribly killed and wounded, as well as the two werewolves held in emergency detention in the werewolf liaison office, one was smashed alive, and the other died under Voldemort''s killing curse. But no one really dared to take these losses to the minister''s office. In the past, the majority of wizards throughout Europe had heard of the wizard who had overthrown the British Ministry of Magic and was known as "Mr Great Gentleman". But apart from the native British wizards, few people had actually seen his power. Now, all the employees of the Ministry of Magic were able to see it. Such a Mending Charm can''t really prove anything, but it''s definitely unprecedented! The French Ministry of Magic is huge, no one knows better than the employees and councillors who work in it all day. This destruction n of the Ministry of Magic, which was organized by Tony and the group of seven, not only did not hit Voldemort''s prestige by half, but it even raised his prestige by a notch. The power of group unity is very strong, but here in the magical world, the existence of magic greatly distinguishes the gap between individuals. After this gap reaches a certain point, the will of one person can suppress the resistance of a whole group, and not to mention that the French muggle wizards are not really united from the beginning to the end, otherwise there would not be only seven of theming to this operation. After the situation was stabilized, in the minister''s office, the smile on Voldemort''s face narrowed, and he sat expressionlessly on the main seat. Opposite him, Be, and Rabastan who controls the Auror office, fell to their knees. "Why didn''t you watch over the Ministry of Magic at this time of the day?" He spoke in a calm tone, but Rabastan''s entire body unconsciously trembled. "Lord, my lord, this is all my fault, but, but the resistance within the French magicalmunity was a little too fierce, and I needed to send more Aurors to collect their wands, so..." "What I want to hear, is not an excuse." Rabastan''s body trembled even more violently. "I admit my mistake, my lord, and I am willing to ept any punishment from you." Voldemort looked at him with an emotionless gaze and crossed his fingers together in a gesture that he would rarely make. "First go and do what you are supposed to do, contact the Muggle Prime Minister in France and tell him to control Muggle public opinion without the risk of shaking the Statute of Secrecy in any way, or... You know the consequences." Rabastan, like being pardoned, immediately got up from the ground, and then respectfully left the minister''s office. Only Be was left here. "Do you have any information about Dumbledore''s presence?" He asked in a cold voice. "Throughout the entire Britain, we have lost their whereabouts,bined with the recent movements in France, your judgment before is urate, my lord." Be said with distaste, "They are here in France!" Hearing this, Voldemort''s face revealed a smile instead. Be, who fell to her knees, looked at the handsome face, and there was an unsuppressed infatuation and adoration in her eyes. "This is good for us, all the enemies are all together, this is a most anticipated situation now. Go back to Britain and inform Lucius and Barty toe over with half of their men, and remember to arrange all their identities in advance." Be bowed her head. "I am on my way toplete it, my lord." Then, she also left the minister''s office, and Voldemort was left alone in this luxurious room. He no longer bothered to deliberately control his right hand, the originally clenched together ten fingers separated, and the hand that held the wand to cast the Mending Charm could not stop trembling. Suddenly, without hesitation, he grabbed a dagger from the table and plunged it into the palm of his right hand, nailing his entire palm on the table! Scarlet blood gushed out! "I remind you! Don''t give me any trouble while I''m doing my job!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 179: Aboard Azkaban Chapter 179: Aboard Azkaban Nick''s arrival provided a lot of fun on the Hogwarts ship. As a ghost who died in medieval times and has stayed in Hogwarts castle ever since he is undoubtedly knowledgeable. He was also the resident ghost of Gryffindor, and Nick''s personality is very open, so he soon mingled with the students. Gabrielle was the most excited to have one of her "kind" on board and now spends her days hanging around Nick and listening to his stories about ghosts. "You are definitely not qualified to join the headless hunt." Nick said firmly, "First of all, not to mention that you did not lose your head at all, just your current ghost identity is very problematic, drinking Draught of Living Ghost to be a ghost is not recognized by most ghost groups." Gabrielle''s face visibly showed some disappointment as she listened to Nick speak about the interesting aspects of the Headless Hunt, expressing the idea of this group is very desirable. "So how am I supposed to separate my head from my body when I turn into a ghost?" "This is actually very simple!" Nick snapped his fingers, "as long as you die by severing your head, but be careful when severing your head to ensure that the executioner is skilled enough to cut off your head with a single chop, otherwise, it will be like me, still attached to a bit of skull, and the Headless Hunt simply will not take you in." Gabrielle listened with a serious face and nodded repeatedly, like she was already really thinking about waiting until she became a living person, then start looking for a highly skilled executioner to give her a hand to join the Headless Hunt in the future. Jon, who was looking at the chart, looked up at them both with a helpless face. "Don''t teach children badly, Nick, she has a long life ahead of her, how can she die so early, let alone have her head severed." Nick shrugged as he drifted over to Jon''s side. "I''ve officially taken charge of teaching the fourth and fifth-year students, but as I told you before, I know all the wand-waving gestures and spell pronunciation for these magic spells, but I''m just a ghost after all, and there''s no way to give them more help when they make mistakes in practice." "This is enough." Jon said softly, "now is a special period, not wasting time and still enriching our knowledge even in this circumstance is already quite good, as for how much we can learn in the end, that only depends on ourselves." In this regard, Nick still said with great praise. "The students are very serious, you know, I was a ghost of Gryffindor House before, at that time, although the dark lord has taken root in the magical world, he has not yet upied Hogwarts Castle like now. Back then not so many of the leather monkeys focused their energy on their studies, they hated the fact that they were not able to live on the Quidditch pitch every day, stepping into a ssroom seemed like torture to them." "Times have changed, and if they are still beingzy in such a situation, they are just using the time their professors have fought for with their lives to enjoy it." Jon pointed to a specific point on the chart without saying too much on this subject. "Is this the target of our voyage?" That spot was located within the waters of the North Sea, but it was farther away from the British Isles, and it didn''t look like there were any marked inds of any kind there. "This is just the first sailing target." When ites to business, Nick was obviously much more serious. "Thisnd is not recorded in the muggle charts, so you can''t see it, there is an extremely powerful protection enchantment ced on the ind hundreds of years ago, basically no muggle other than a wizard can get close at all, and you must have heard the name of this ind before." Jon faintly froze, then he re-focused on the point on the chart, and all the information he had learned about the ind in the magical world went through his mind. "The North Sea. This is, Azkaban!" "Yes, our first target point is the ind of Azkaban, which is the first ce the dark lord reached at that time during the month he disappeared back then. From what I understand, he stayed on this prison ind for three days." Jon frowned, apparently Azkaban Ind was not a ce that made much of an impression on the vast majority of bits. "Then when hended on the ind, had all the dementors on the ind already defected to him?" Nick shook his head. "I don''t know about that. The ship that Drake and the others were piloting, some of its route passed by this prison ind, so after learning about the traces of the dark lord once, I have quietly visited that ind a few times." "At that time, this ind also imprisoned a number of Order of the Phoenix wizards, I deliberately avoided the dementors, although their ability to absorb positive emotions does not work on the ghost, if they find my presence, there is also a possibility that they will convey this matter to the other Aurors stationed on the ind." "I just didn''t find out much more after I got on the ind because there are a lot of ces that are hidden and require magic to ess, and I obviously don''t have that ability." Jon noticed the crux in Nick''s words. "There''s still a resident Auror in Azkaban?" Nick exined to Jon. "That''s for sure, there is no subordinate rtionship between the Ministry of Magic and the Dementors, the two sides are just cooperating, and since they are cooperating there needs to bemunication. And not all prisoners after being sentenced to Azkaban, are sentenced to life imprisonment, to be sucked by these dementors until they go crazy ormit suicide. Some have a prison term, and the handover of these people in and out of prison is done in coboration with the wizards and dementors together." When he said this, he paused for a moment, as if he thought of something and continued. "But after the collective mass escape of the Order of the Phoenix, a number of dementors have been allowed to enter the British Isles, the number of these monsters remaining in Azkaban now should not berge, not to mention the Auror, few wizards would be willing to stay in this kind of ce." Jon pondered looking at the chart. "That is to say, now is the best time for us to go to the ind? Then what is our goal in visiting Azkaban Ind?" Nick said in a deep voice. "Of course is to find out, that year when the dark devil came to the ind, what exactly he did during those three days of stay. ording to the situation at that time inferred, that is, after he went up to Azkaban on that asion, these Dementorspletely subjugated to him and became his followers under hismand." Jon took a deep breath and nodded silently. "At our current speed, how much time will it take to reach Azkaban?" "Two days at thetest." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 180: Before going to the island Chapter 180: Before going to the ind Nick estimated the time urately. One morning in early November, after getting up early in the morning, some students who came to the deck to rx found that the entire Hogwarts ship has been shrouded in a grey haze. No one could see the scene in front of them, but Hogwarts was unmanned, and no one needed to specifically control the course. After seeing the grey fog, Nick concluded that they are not far from Azkaban Ind, at most by the end of the morning, they will be able to reach the coast of the prison ind. So, the morning sses were temporarily cancelled and Jon gathered everyone together to start making ns for the uing arrival on Azkaban Ind. The vast majority of students were definitely still going to stay on the ship. The wagon turned into a sea ship, but it still has very strong protection magic enchantments. Dumbledore told him before he left, the age line magic spell has been in effect on the ship, and any wizard who does not meet the conditions simply has no possibility of boarding the ship, unless he/she is an extremely powerful wizard who can bepared to Dumbledore used Confundus Charm. As for whether the dementors can break into Hogwarts, no one knows for sure, but staying on the ship must certainly be safer than going to the ind. After all, if anything happens, Hogwarts can start early and move away from Azkaban Ind to continue the voyage to the next target point. So Jon started with the intention of just one person and Nick to get off the ship andnd on the ind, and among all of them only he can somehow cast a Patronus charm, although he can''t summon a real Patronus yet, he can already exert an influence on the Dementors. As long as he is not surrounded by arge number of dementors, then under normal circumstances afternding on the ind, there will be little to no danger. It''s just that he received strong opposition from most of the other people for such an idea. "We know that none of us has learned the Patronus Charm, and there is no way to help you in fighting those dementors, but Nick also said that there is no way for anyone to guarantee how many wizards will remain on the ind." Neville said seriously. "The escape of the members of the Order of the Phoenix did not involve all the prisoners held here, there must be other prisoners in Azkaban, which means that there is a high probability that the Ministry of Magic has also assigned a part of the Aurors to be stationed here. If you encounter these people then we can help you out." Regarding what Neville said, many people agreed. Hermione pursed her lips. "We believe in your strength, but one more person can still prevent emergencies, we will not drag your feet, and will not be a burden to you." Jon rubbed his forehead with some headache. "Well, what you guys said does make sense. I also believe in your abilities, but I can only take one more person at most off the ship, and if there are any more, then there is no way to guarantee that the range of my Patronus charm will protect us. We always have to consider the possibility of Dementors still remaining on this ind in thergest numbers, don''t we?" The students, especially those in the same year as Jon, Neville, Ron, Hermione and them, had a look of resignation on their faces. They are obviously discontent, only this discontent is not against anyone else, but against themselves. Obviously, they and Jon are in the same year in the school, but now it is clear that they were unable to catch up with his progress. The key is that they usually haven''t half rxed, especially Hermione, in the case of dyed learning time for a full year and a half, she worked very hard to catch up with Jon and others'' progress, while Neville, Ron and those students who learned wand casting from the beginning, there was no difference in the standard of magic spells they were taught from Jon. But still, there is an insurmountable gulf between Jon and them. Thest students who descended from the ship with Jon naturally could only be chosen from the fifth-year students, who had basically learned all the basic magic spells and had been exposed to the more advanced spells, and some outstanding students were evenparable to adult wizards who had just graduated from school. A lottery was held for the top few achievers in the fifth year, and eventually, Fred, one of the Weasley twins, was chosen for this position. In contrast to the original story, which required Mrs Weasley to worry about whether they would pass their wizard-level exams, they now consistently performed at the top of their year in school. The Weasleys are not dumb, George and Fred just don''t put their minds to their studies a lot of the time in the story, but in this period of exile, they are well aware that they are no longer in a position to research other things they are interested when they are under the protection of this many people who are sacrificing their lives for them, they forced themselves to put most of their energy into their studies. After determining the person who will step off the ship, Jon gave themand to Neville and George to stay on board and take care of the students next. After all the other students left the room, he especially kept the two of them alone and exhorted them with unparalleled seriousness. "After we reach the ind, you must arrange for people to keep a constant watch on the ind''s movement. If you find any signs of a Dementor massively storming Hogwarts, be sure not to hesitate and immediately have the ship leave the ind immediately." Neville frowned. "After leaving the ind, what will you do?" "The Hogwarts ship''s course is notpletely out of our control, the big deal is you guys just have to wander around the nearby waters for a while, and then we will look for an opportunity to return to the ship." Jon said. To this Neville and George nodded together, only Nick showed a look of wanting to say something, but after seeing Jon quietly wink at him, he did not try to say what he originally wanted to say. "Azkaban Ind is not big, it''s just that it''s filled with grey fog all year round, but as long as the distance between us is not so far apart that we are separated by two extremes, then the sparks can still be seen." Jon continued. "When you see me release the sparks, you guys control the Hogwarts to determine the subsequent action. Green sparks will represent our need to evacuate, then you can drive the ship to the coast close to the sparks, red sparks represent the situation has deteriorated to a certain extent, you should at once sail away from the coast of Azkaban Ind, leaving the range of this grey fog, before discussing what would happen afterwards." He exined everything that could happen to Neville and George, even if Azkaban is nowcking guards, this most horrible prison in the magical world is still a dragon''s den for them, so they must be prepared for all the worst. Soon, Jon and Fred two have prepared all the preparations, and geared up for the time of departure. The Hogwarts suddenly swayed a little, and then the whole ship apparently stopped. They arrived ashore. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 181: Hogwarts that has never been before Chapter 181: Hogwarts that has never been before Azkaban did have Dementors from the beginning of its presence and was used by the Ministry of Magic as a prison to hold prisoners. Its history stems back to the fifteenth century. When the fortress was first built on Azkaban ind in the North Sea, this ind has never appeared on any map, neither muggle nor wizard. There were rumours that it was magically created, and some say that it was enchanted to erge the space. This fortress was once initially the home of an infamous wizard who called himself Ekrizdis. He was extremely powerful, and his nationality was unknown. Ekrizdis practised the most nefarious form of dark magic while luring, torturing and killing muggle sailors who passed through the area for fun and research. At the time, many people believed he had gone insane, and it was only after his death that the hidden spell he cast lost its effectiveness, the Ministry of Magic became aware of the existence of the ind and the fortress, and those who went to investigate were only willing to mention afterwards that the ce was full of dementors, and refused to reveal more. Jon and Fred two stepped down from the ship after the grey fog filled everywhere in front of them. These fogs looked no different from the normal fogs that enveloped the entire Azkaban Ind and the surrounding sea. "There is magic on these grey fogs, apart from specific people or ships, others if they sail their ships to and off the shore, it is basically no longer possible to find the way back for them. After the Hogwarts sailed off the shore, it will directly embark on the next target point, and there is no way to guide them back again." Floating in mid-air Nick''s gaze fixed on Jon, and he frowned and said. "You don''t want them to have a psychological burden when they leave you behind?" On the side when Fred heard Nick''s words, a somewhat surprised look appeared on his face as he looked at Jon. Jon apologized to him with an apologetic face. "Sorry, Fred, I just did not have the luxury to ask your opinion alone before privately, so I took it upon myself. Nick is right, if the Hogwarts sailed away from the shores of this ind without waiting for us to return, then relying on Neville and the others to pilot it, there is basically no possibility of finding the original way back." "Once there is such a situation, then the probability that we both have to be left on the ind is high." Fred did not have the slightest intention of ming Jon for this, he looked a little light-hearted. "Hey, what are you talking about? How could I possibly me you for something like this? It''s not just me Jon, if you let anyone on Hogwartse down with you, they would only praise you for doing the right thing. I definitely understand what is more important between the two of us and the safety of the entire school. It was right not to tell George and the others, and if they had known, they would have died rather than give up on us to take the ship away." Fred is certainly not afraid of sacrificing, as he did in the normal timeline, sacrificing himself in the battle withoutint. But even knowing his character, Jon didn''t take it for granted that he could just decide the fate of others in private. Everyone has the right to choose on his own, even if you know very well that he will certainly choose this, it is still up to him to choose. So Jon solemnly apologized to Fred again. Floating in mid-air, Nick looked at them with a somewhatplicated expression on his face. He has been in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for hundreds of years and witnessed countless studentsing in and out of that castle. In these years, all kinds of disputes have been seen, and all kinds of friendships have been witnessed, but like the current Hogwarts, without the difference between houses, without the difference in blood, no matter what kind of family theye from, almost all of them are the students who are close to each other. In thest hundred years, there has never been such a period. The loss of Hogwarts Castle not only did not let the school fall apart but in other ways tightened the unity. Nick did not doubt that such a Hogwarts would not simply be crushed by darkness and injustice, just as the highest standard of conduct in the world, shared by both muggles and wizards, had remained true, good and beautiful since the beginning of time. There were no guards posted along the shores of Azkaban, and Jon and the two of them, along with Nick, easily made their way onto the ind. "In fact, many times people have some misconceptions about the name Azkaban." As they moved forward, Nick exined to them, "Actually, in the beginning, this name is not referred to the ind, but the castle that is built in the very centre of the ind. The name of the castle is called Azkaban, just like Hogwarts Castle." "Just because the ind itself has no name, so over time, people call the whole ind Azkaban Ind, and because of this, many people are not aware that the prison is actually a castle itself." Jon and Fred looked in the direction of Nick''s gaze, and through the grey mist that had be somewhat thin, they did see a tall, dpidated castle. The outer walls made of stone were overgrown with ck and purple nts of unknown origin, which swayed under the cold sea breeze like a withered arm stretched out from prison. Fred subconsciously wrapped up his body with his thick robe, his voice unconsciously mixed with some nervous emotions. "So what are we going to do on the indter?" Nick replied. "We''re going to find out if there are any more Aurors from the Ministry of Magic stationed on this ind?" "We''re actively going to find the Auror?" Fred''s eyes widened slightly, "Why? Aren''t we supposed to be looking for traces left by the Dark Lord on the ind?" Before disembarking, Jon had informed everyone about the additional purpose Dumbledore hadid out for them on this voyage, in addition to avoiding the war in Britain and France. "Thirteen years have passed since the Dark Lord came to this ind, and none of us knows what he did on the ind then." Nick said. Fred raised questions. "And the Aurors stationed here would know? I don''t think the Ministry of Magic would send someone to stay here for 13 years straight, right? What''s more, the Dark Lord probably would have tried to conceal this, and he would have wiped the memories of all the people who knew about it at the time, or even killed them outright." "But dementors can''t be killed." Jon mentioned a sentence, which made Fred''s entire body freeze, the twins'' brains are very bright, and immediately he thought of Jon''s meaning. "You mean, these dementors on the ind won''t be disposed of by him! They''ve been on this ind all this time and must know exactly what happened 13 years ago!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 182: Garrison Auror Chapter 182: Garrison Auror "That''s right." Jon said with a nod. "Dementors are not creatures without autonomous consciousness, they can think, although their way of thinking is different from that of humans. The most important thing is that such monsters cannot be killed, even with the Patronus Charm there is no way to destroy them, not to mention the dark lord simply can not cast this charm." "The wizard''s memory charm is also ineffective against them, and if their entire horde is present, they can be found in almost all corners of the ind. So as long as the dark lord has done something on this ind at that time, then there must be dementors who know about it." Fred continued to ask in confusion. "But how do wemunicate with these dementors? Even if they can understand human speech, they have no way to open their mouths and answer us, right?" Jon snapped his fingers. "So we''re going to find them from the resident Aurors staying on this ind." Fred''s face became excited as realization dawned on him. "Right! The Auror who is in charge of the handover between the Ministry of Magic and the Dementors must know how tomunicate with these monsters for sure!" However, Jon''s face did not look as excited as Fred''s. "Our goal is clear, the key is, the wizards who can be Auror are not ordinary individuals." He said seriously," It might not be difficult for the two of us together to deal with an ordinary adult wizard, but Aurors are all elites among wizards after all, and even with Nick around, there is no way we can be sure with many of them are left on this ind." Jon was well aware of his own strength and was not blinded by the previous false show of him humiliating several Death Eater professors in Hogwarts Castle. He was well aware that he was able to do that to that extent then, mainly relying on the near-overflowing magic power of the second gem. And now he has no such advantage, the magic stored in the ring to this day, which was absorbed from the Hogwarts students, there is no telling how much of a boost it can give him. Maybe he and Fred might be able to work together to deal with one Auror, but who knows how many other Aurors are on this ind? After giving Fred a heads-up, they followed Nick and approached the castle in the middle. Instead of sneaking directly into the castle, Nick led them around the edge to the other side of the castle. "I''ve followed Drake''s ship and sneaked onto this ind a few times before, and I''ve basically mapped out the entire ind''s terrain. The Ministry of Magic Auror''s quarters are not inside the castle, where the dementors gather most densely, and generally few people will want to go in except for an essential task." "They have built a building on a t area not far from the castle, and the Aurors stationed here are staying there." They walked along the rugged road through a scrund where the nts rarely seemed green because they didn''t find much sun all year round. And the ground was mostly gravel, with a few areas nketed in the dirt. Aftering to a rock about as high as an adult, Nick reached out to stop Jon and Fred from moving forward, while gesturing for them to look to the right. There is a small two-story building shrouded in grey mist, a faint light can be seen from the windows of the first floor. "Look, there it is, indeed there are still people here." ... Walden Mair didn''t like his job in Azkaban. He wasn''t originally an Auror either but worked as an Executioner for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures which is part of the Beast Division of the Department for the Regtion and Control of Magical Creatures. But due to the recent shortage of Auror manpower, he was transferred out of his original post and joined the Auror office as a temporary Auror, and was also unfortunately assigned to Azkaban Ind as a garrison guard, to stay here for a month until the next shift change. "Those damn dementors didn''t visit us again, did they?" Hearing the movement at the door, Mair looked up impatiently at the man who had just returned from his shift in the prison, his only fellow guard on this ind - Nott Scabior. Scabior''s face was faintly whitish, anyone who dealt with those dementors would not look much good. "They are shrieking that there is not enough food in prison and want to send the rest of their kind to the British Isles, they seem to know that those dementors in Britain are living a good life." Scabior took off his leather coat and grumbled with a frown. "It''s your turn for the next patrol, you can''t keep making excuses to send me! I''m an Auror, not a prisoner in jail!" "I''m not even an Auror!" Mair yelled. "A sinful Crup was waiting for me to sever its head, but then they dragged me here! Didn''t even ask my opinion!" "You''re already here, so don''tin about the rest, do your duty, or I''ll write a report on your work truthfully when you can get back to the Ministry of Magic." Scabior stared at Mair, without the slightest intention of bemoaning his situation at all. Mair was a little annoyed as if he did not like Scabior taking this matter to press him, but he can not do anything about it. He could only whine about something else. "Why are there suddenly so many people missing from the Auror office? It''s not like there''s been unrest anywhere in Britaintely." Scabior obviously knew something, his eyes shed, but he did not say much, just shook his head. "This is a secret mission assigned to them in the Ministry of Magic, you better pry less, and focus on staying here for a month, thenter when you return to the Ministry of Magic there will still be a chance to return to your original post." Hearing Scabior''s warning, Mair did not ask any more questions, he muttered something under his breath that no one else could hear and got up and walked towards the kitchen. He picked up two steaks that hadn''t been properly fried and were still steaming when he suddenly seemed to catch a glimpse of something luminous floating across his field of vision out of the corner of his eye. When he focused on that direction again, there was no one there. He did not raise any rm, there is no way anyone woulde to this shitty ce, that light could be a buried dead body lit up with phosphorescence, or it could be some of the ind''s remaining protective magic or something. In the cold wind howling outside the window, Nick drifted back to Jon and Fred, who were hiding behind the rocks. "Checked it out, the first floor is bedrooms, there''s no one in there right now, there are two Aurors on the ground floor, one of them looks like he just got back from prison inspection, they''re getting ready for lunch right now." Jon looked up, the midday sun pierced through the pervasive grey fog, making him squint subconsciously. "If there''s only two of them, then there''s still a chance for us to give it a try. But to be on the safe side, it''s best to wait for a time when they''re separated." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 183: Sneak Attack Chapter 183: Sneak Attack The opportunity didn''t keep Jon and the others waiting long. They ate some bread and cookies brought down from the ship behind the rocks and kept watching over the small two-story building where Aurors are stationed. Nick didn''t risk getting any closer. Although he is the best scout, he can ignore most physical limitations, but on this ind full of grey mist, the ghost''s body emitting fluorescent light at all times is a little too conspicuous. At close to two o''clock in the afternoon, a tall, stout figure, walked out of the building. Jon and Fred, who had been keeping their spirits taut at all times, looked at each other and stood up together from behind the rocks without half a moment''s hesitation. "Nick please keep an eye on the other Auror who stayed in the house, Fred and I will follow behind this one who came out and find a chance to keep him under control. If anything else goes wrong, youe to find us again in this direction." Jon quickly finished dividing up the tasks, and then he moved separately from Nick together with Fred. The Auror who went out looked extremely stout, and from a distance, you could see that his face was full of cross meat and scruff, more like a boxer than a wizard. He was cursing and swearing as he walked as if he wasining about something, but Jon and Fred couldn''t hear too clearly because of the distance. "Crunch." Fred stepped on a withered branch, he exhaled a white mist of fog in his mouth and whispered. "Unfortunately, I still haven''t learned the disillusionment charm, otherwise we could be more secure." After being reminded of him, Jon could not help but pat his head, he fumbled around in his robe pockets, and soon pulled out a cloak from it that was like flowing liquid. "It has not been used for a long time, I almost forgot, although we don''t know the disillusionment charm, we have something that works better than the disillusionment charm." Fred looked at the object in Jon''s hand in surprise. "Invisibility cloak? Where did you get that?" "When I infiltrated Hogwarts Castlest year, Professor Potter lent it to me for use, and then she never took it back, leaving it in my hands for now." Jon said, then the cloak of invisibility enveloped his and Fred''s bodies. In this grey mist, and with the cover of the invisibility cloak, even if someone stands in front of them, it is not necessarily possible to detect their existence. The one with weed-like blond hair and a sturdy body was walking in the direction of the coast, and he was gradually getting farther and farther away from the small two-storey Auror residence, and Jon was holding his wand tightly at this time. "We are in the dark, he is in the light, sneak attack is very advantageous for us, but there is no way to ensure that he is not constantly using shield charm on his body." He said in a gruff whisper, "So everything has to be done ording to the safest possible move." "I will try to break the shield charm first, after I recite the first syble of the incantation, you immediately cast the spell, even if my magic spell does not break his shield charm, your spell should be enough, and then I will proceed to use the second spell to finish up at the end." "Of course, if he''s not that wary, then everything will be better." Fred did not make a sound in response, he just nodded with a serious face. Afterying out the task the two were required to do next, Jon and Fred began to pick up their pace, gradually approaching the side of the coast which had already reached the other side of Azkaban Ind. In the ce near the sea, there is a dpidated hut on the beach stands, which looks extraordinarily deste in a grey mist and sea wind. The burly Auror''s goal was clearly here, and after he saw the cabin, he quickly quickened his pace and focused on it. "Get ready." Jon''s voice was lowered, but raised in pitch. They were only less than five meters away from the target in front of them at this time, and under such circumstances, even if their hands were shaky, there was no possibility that the spell might be released crooked. After hearing Jon''s reminder, Fred held his breath as he gripped his wand tightly and aimed it at the wide back of the Auror. In the next second, an incantation sound belonging to dark magic rang out from Jon''s mouth! "Sectumsempra!" An invisible sharp de was formed almost instantly! The distance of five meters across the field was simply invisible to the human senses as far as this dark magic considered, which was known for its potency and speed! Already close to the seaside hut, Mair''s attention was fully focused on the above, so he did not notice the sound of Jon''s incantation hidden in the cold wind. He just suddenly felt a sharp pain of tearing from his back, and then scarlet liquid apanied by the broken pieces of cloth of his robe swept through the grey mist! And just as the first syble of Jon''s incantation was recited, Fred also recited the full body-bind curse without hesitation. "Petrificus Totalus!" The bright red magic spell beam was more obvious than the invisible sharp de, and when the skin on Mair''s back was torn and blood bloomed, the full body-bind curse struck his body with pinpoint uracy! The body that was twitching because of the severe pain instantly froze. Mair''s body could not resist the effect of the spell, his arms and legs were unable to move, and he could only fall straight forward in this way. His face was filled with a look of unbelievable horror, he simply never thought that on this shitty ind, he could actually be attacked! He certainly recognized this magic spell, only that sir''s personal guard, called Death Eaters in the organization can be qualified to learn this dark magic. So who is the one who attacked him now? Someone that was sent by sir? What did he do wrong? Why would such a character make a special trip to deal with him? While Mair was lying on the ground immobile and thinking, Jon and Fred breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. It was perfect that this Auror was much easier to deal with than they had thought, with no vignce or protection at all. They removed the invisibility cloak from their bodies, then pulled out a ck cloth and approached Mair from behind, and when he was lying on the ground unable to see who his attacker was at all, they directly blindfolded him with a ck cloth from behind, then tied him up firmly with a rope, and then broke the full body-bind curse on him. "You, who are you! I didn''t do anything wrong! I didn''t betray our lord, and I''m not a mudblood hiding my bloodline! My file is very clear in the Ministry of Magic, my parents both have half-blood, and I am also half-blo--half-breed!" As soon as he was able to speak, Mair began to shout. Hearing his words, Jon had already guessed what he was thinking. The invisible sword is indeed too confusing, basically only Voldemort''s own people will know this dark magic. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 184: Veritaserum Chapter 184: Veritaserum Jon, however, did not have any intention of having half-heartedmunication with him. There are many ways to learn absolutely true information from a person in the magical world, but most of them are not something that he and Fred can master at this stage. However, although the professors had separated from them, there were still many useful things left in their offices. Especially in Lily''s office. She installed many cabs on the wall to store potions, which were filled to the brim, and each cab door was specially marked, indicating what potions were stored in it, and what kind of effect it had. Many of them are daily healing potions, apparently, she deliberately left behind to prevent students who sail alone from getting sick without the ability to brew potions and take care of themselves. And in which there are also some potions with special functions, which even include potions that the Ministry of Magic expressly forbids private production and sale. Jon this time brought out a very useful vial of banned potion from the ship - Truth Serum. It only takes three drops to make the person who drank it speak everything, it is generally used when dealing with criminals of extremely bad nature, the Aurors will use this potion for interrogation. Now such interrogation is going to fall on their own. Fred assisted by grabbing Mair''s jaw and forcibly opening his mouth. A great panic rose in the heart of this simple-minded temporary Auror, and he resisted fiercely and kept shouting. "You can''t do this! I am a half-blood! I am protected by the bloodlinew! Even if I am guilty, I can only be judged by the Wizengamot! You can''t lynch me!" But his resistance was meaningless as Jon took a small vial and raised it above Mair''s mouth, then carefully tilted the vial and dropped three drops of the Truth Serum into his mouth. This potion is very valuable, and the quantity itself is not much, so Jon used it frugally. Mair clearly felt that he was being fed something, but he simply did not have any ability to resist, even if he kept coughing he could not spit out the Truth Serum that had slipped into his esophagus. Soon the effect of the poison took effect. Mair stopped resisting, his mouth was slightly opened, gasping for breath, looking like a student waiting to answer the question. Jon and Fred looked at each other, then Jon raised his wand against his throat and asked in a voice that didn''t belong to him, and seemed much older and huskier. "What''s your name?" "Walden Mair." Mair''s voice was calm, but the tone of his speech was a bit slurred as if he was asleep and talking in his sleep, almost as if he had been shouting for a long time. "How can you prove your identity?" Jon continued to ask with narrowed eyes. "There is my Auror identity namete inside my pocket." Fred reached out and fumbled around, and sure enough, he found a metal token in the inside pocket of his robe, inscribed with not only Mair''s name but also with his status in the Auror Office- "Temporary Enlisted Auror". Jon saw this line of text and his eyebrows could not help but frown slightly. "What is a temporary enlisted Auror?" "The Auror Office recently has a serious shortage of manpower, and they forced me toe here. Gave me temporary Auror status and made me work for them." "Why is there a shortage of people in the Auror Office? What have all the other Aurors gone to do?" "I don''t know. Nott knows, but he doesn''t want to tell me." "Who is Nott?" "Nott Scabior. The legitimate Auror stationed in Azkaban with me." Jon''s frown deepened. "Are you two the only people on this ind now?" "Yes." "Do you usuallymunicate with those dementors in the castle?" "Communication... It''s all taken care of by Nott." "What method does he use? Do you know how?" "I just got here. Don''t know how." Fred gave him a hard kick in the side in exasperation. "Then what''s the use of us catching you!" "I don''t know." Jon pulled him back, his brow still furrowed, but he was clearly much calmer than Fred. "Don''t worry, we have to deal with both of the Aurors on this ind first, otherwise there is no way to enter that castle without worry. Since all the information we need is on that Auror called Nott, we''ll go back to himter. Until then, let''s ask everything we can get out of this person first." Fred withdrew his foot with some indignation, while Jon looked at Mair and continued to ask questions. "How long have you guys been on this ind? How long will it take for someone toe over for another shift?" "We I arrived here five days ago. A monthter, someone wille back to rece us." he said. "What is this cabin used for? Why did youe here?" "The Ministry of Magic personnel on and off the ind are also responsible for the operation of the Muggle-Repelling Charm and Confundus Charm around the prison. Nott asked me to check if the magic is working properly" "Does that Nott maintain shield charm on him at all times?" "I don''t know." "What is his strength?" "I don''t know." "Why don''t you know anything?" "He doesn''t trust me." "How long does it usually take for you toe and check?" "Five minutes." Jon ended his inquiry as he stood up from the ground, his gaze filled with thoughts. "The key lies in this wizard named Nott." He said to Fred, "This Auror named Mair is just a temp, which is probably why it was so easy for us to sneak up on him; he hadn''t gone through much professional Auror training in the first ce. The other guy is the main person in charge of this prison now." Fred nodded. "Nick is still watching him, shall we go back first?" "Let''s return now, we''ve almost been held up for more than five minutes, if we dy any longer, we might alert him." "What about this guy?" Jon looked to Mair and raised his wand. "Stupefy." Mair''s head lolled, and the manpletely lost consciousness. "You also give him another fill of stunning spell, let''s leave him here for now until we finish all our purposes on this ind." Then Fred also cast a stunning spell as a way to ensure that he would sleep long enough, and then the two of them put the cloak of invisibility back on and began to return the way they came. As they approached the building, they had seen Nick, hiding at the edge of the wall. Nick also saw them and drifted over without a sound. "How is it on your side?" "It has been solved, but the Auror who is staying in the house now is the main priority." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 185: Scabior Chapter 185: Scabior Scabior was reading a book. Entertainment is scarce in Azkaban, not to mention having to live with someone you can''t even talk to. That''s right, he doesn''t like Mair at all. Although both of them are half-blood, no one is more noble than anyone else in the British magicalmunity, but he idolizes Severus Snape, who could stand above most pureblood wizards as a half-blood, as an educated, motivated, and talented half-blood, he really despises a mindless half-breed like Mair. Even if their birth did not give them much advantage, as long as they are not miserable like the mudbloods, they will always have a chance to advance in the future. He personally does not have much discrimination against the mudbloods, after all, before Voldemort ruled the entire British magicalmunity, he lived in that "abnormal" magical society for many years, and at that time he also had many mudblood friends. But even if he did not agree much with the pureblood supremacy theory, so what? As long as he wants to gain power, wants to climb the hierarchy, it is necessary to embrace this ideology. Therefore, when suppressing the Order of the Phoenix led by Dumbledore, he did not hold back in the slightest, more than three members of the Order of the Phoenix were directly or indirectly brutally killed by him. It is because of this outstanding merit, he was able to rapidly advance his position in the Auror office. Lucius Malfoy, the head of the Auror office, had already hinted to him in private that after thepletion of the Azkaban mission, the ministry would very likely transfer him to other key offices in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, giving him a chance to be head of the division. It was because of this realization that Scabior did not like watching Quidditch, ying wizard''s chess, or travelling. He only liked to read books and constantly enrich himself with knowledge as a way to not miss the opportunity when he needed to take it. And this time, he felt that he might havee across an extremely crucial opportunity. Of course, if not handled properly, then this opportunity may also turn out to be a deadly danger. *** Regarding how to solve the remaining Auror in the building, Jon and the others had no better way. He obviously does not have any intention of going out and has been staying in one of the rooms on the second floor, and if they want tounch a sneak attack on him, they have to enter the building. This is undoubtedly a very risky move, after all, this is still an Aurors'' residence, and they simply don''t know whether there are any special arrangements avable inside. But no matter whether there is any risk or not, they have to solve this trouble today. "Nick follows us, you are a ghost and will not be harmed by any magic spell, so please go ahead and scout the way for us, while Fred and I will stay behind wearing the cloak of invisibility together." "If you spot the enemy and the enemy doesn''t spot you, please stay quiet and use hand signals to point us to his location, and we''ll try to sneak up on him. But if he finds you back, you give us his position out loud, with the cloak of invisibility in hand, he won''t be able to determine our position at all in the first ce, so we still have the advantage of the first attack." "The same goes for the rhythm of spell casting, listen to my pronunciation correctly, Fred. No matter what, we need to assume that our opponent is maintaining a shield charm at all times, and the very first attacks will be aimed at breaking the charm. Finally, it is important to pay attention to our own safety, and never have any idea of dying together, that is simply not worth it for us." Jon assigned everyone''s tasks down, Nick and Fred nodded together, and then the three of them were ready to start sneaking into the building. Nick was in the front, he did not even have to open the door, he went straight through the solid wooden door. After checking the entire first floor was free of any abnormalities and problems, he passed back through the door again to indicate to Jon that they could enter. Then Jon re-enveloped the cloak of invisibility in his own body and Fred''s, the two together gently held the handle to push open the door and carefully walk in. Their movements were so slight that they barely made any noise. But just as the door was opened, Scabior who was reading a book in the study on the second floor, instantly became grim. On the first day he came here, he ced a vigil on the only entrance door of the entire building, as long as someone enters and exits this ce, it will trigger the magic he left behind for him to sense. Of course, he will inevitably be aware when Mair enters the door, but if he returns, it will never be this quiet. The guy with his head full of horse shit would yell that it was too cold outside, and he needed a cup of hot cocoa or to bring him a coat down every time he walked in the door. That stomping around the door to clean the mud off his shoes was even louder like he was trying to startle all the dementors in the castle altogether. It was too quiet now. So quiet that Scabior can only suspect one possibility in the first instance, in the context of the current chaos in the magical world. Someone else had broken into Azkaban Ind, and that fool Mair had been taken care of! The next second this thought rose in his mind, he gripped the wand that had been ced on his desk with a sh. He stood up from the sofa, first went to the door of the study, and reached out to open the door gently with a slit, then his eyes were fixed on the owl cage that had been ced on top of the bookcase. There was an owl belonging to him in the cage, and it met him at eye level. After hesitating for less than a second, he went back to the bookcase, opened the owl''s cage, and released the owl, which had been with him for less than three years. He pulled out a piece of parchment from the desk, and with quick strokes, wrote a line of letters on it with a quill pen, then rolled the parchment up and let the owl grasp it in its talons. Lastly, he took out a locket from his robe coat pocket and hung it around the owl''s neck before opening the window opposite the building''s door for it. "This thing will help you fly out of the mists. Go back to the Ministry of Magic, go to Lucius Malfoy, the head of the Auror office, and be sure to deliver this letter to him, and make sure to take off with a lighter motion!" Every owl that delivers a letter to a wizard is capable of understanding human speech, and it flew out of the room with the pendant, grasping the letter and carefully pping its wings. Scabior couldn''t be sure what people hadnded on Azkaban and how many there are, but he had to make sure the message got out before he was ready to take the chance that was right in front of him. Otherwise, if he seized the opportunity, it''s okay, if not, it''s likely that all his previous achievements will not be able to offset this one screw-up. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 186: Sir Nicholas Never Lies Chapter 186: Sir Nichs Never Lies Just as Scabior let the owl out, Jon and the others reached the stairway to the second floor. The entire first floor had been searched by Nick first, there was no longer any other person or creature in, and now they just had to concentrate on the one Auror upstairs. Jon held up his wand, poked his head out of the cloak of invisibility, and gave a wink to Nick, who drifted towards the second floor with a quick understanding. At this moment, Scabior is pressing his back against the wall on the same side of the door of the room, half of his face tilted to the side, his wand held in his hand with a death grip, his eyes constantly fixed on the stairs. Without any sound of footsteps, Nick drifted silently to the second floor, a man and a ghost without any defence suddenly their eyes met! Scabior, even if he was cautious and careful, he absolutely never expected that there would be a ghost cooperating with the people who infiltrated, and Nick shouted out the moment he saw him. "He''s spotted us! In the room right after going upstairs!" There was nothing Scabior could do to stop him from delivering the message; the vast majority of the wizard''s spells simply won''t work on ghosts, and there is nothing he can do to harm Nick. Scabior knew exactly who he should really be attacking, the one to whom this ghost was delivering the message! A distinct footstep sounded on the wooden stairs, and he could easily hear that someone was speeding up the stairs, and from the chaotic footsteps it was clear that there was more than one. The footsteps were getting louder and closer, but suddenly, just when Scabior felt that the people going upstairs were about to appear at the entrance of the stairs, the sound stopped abruptly, and there was still no one in front of him! He did not hesitate, his mind has concluded that the wizard who rushed up either used a disillusionment charm on himself or cloaked in a cloak of invisibility, so he directly aimed at the narrow spot at the entrance of the stairs, his movements extremely fast from waving his wand to recite the incantation. "Avada Kedavra!" The first shot is a killing curse! Even if the enemy is not visible, Scabior is not going to hold back a bit, because the people rushing upstairs must be more than one, even if it is necessary to leave one alive for interrogation, but it shoulde after he can survive. And as the most powerful dark magic, the killing curse is not countered by any magic, even the shield charm is also invalid, it is the most optimal at the beginning of the battle to reduce the enemy''s means! But the green beam with deadly stillness just swept straight through the space of the stairway, hitting the wall behind, leaving a gaping hole with ck smoke. Under the cloak of invisibility, Fred''s brain flowed with cold sweat, that curse just flew over less than five centimetres above his head, if Jon hadn''t reached out to stop him when he was about to step on the second floor and didn''t let him go forward out of the stairs, then he would have been a dead man now. The more in such a situation, the more calm Jon is, Nick is still floating in mid-air, loudly reporting to them the location of the enemy. "He''s still hiding behind the wall! It''s directly in front of the stairway, at an angle of more than thirty degrees to the left!" Hearing the exact location given by Nick, Jon waved his wand without hesitation! He didn''t proceed to use the invisible sword curse, the opponent was hiding behind the wall, and the invisible sword curse in his hand was not strong enough to cut through the wall, but the other magic spell he knew could do it! "Bombarda!" Fred and Jon worked together wlessly, and at the same time he heard the first syble of the Explosion charm sound, the wands in his hands began to move together! "Expelliarmus!" "Boom!" A huge sound then boomed throughout the second floor with the blinding re! Scabior, even if his reaction is fast, it is not fast enough to be able to escape the scope of the explosion charm in such a short period of time, not to mention the room itself is a very small space, he also has nowhere to hide. Jon''s explosion charm is only at the standard level that an average adult wizard can use, but such an effect is enough to st the entire wall to pieces! At the same time as the wall that Scabior''s back was pressed against began to explode, his body lit up with a transparent film of light. Unlike that fool Mair, he is a formal wizard who has received professional Auror training, and it is the basic instinct of a professional Auror to maintain the shield charm to protect his body under any circumstances while performing a mission. Since Jon''s explosion charm did not directly harm him, the shield charm protected him intact, only with a few minor cracks in the light film. Immediately after, just as Scabior was about to counterattack with the help of the copsing wall and the dust filling the air, a dazzling red light struck the shield charm on him right after! Under the influence of the disarming charm, the original transparent film of light also began to be blood-red, Fred''s backup spell yed a very critical impact, so the shield charm that produced a crack shattered. That burst of sound like ss shattering in the chaos is not significant, but it was keenly captured by Jon. He did not stop, under the cover of dust quickly rushed up the stairs to the second floor, while Nick has been following Scabior''s side, and conveyed the location to Jon and them by voice! "He''s running to the window! The shield charm on his body is gone too! Cast the spell in my direction!" "Stupefy!" "Expelliarmus!" Without a moment''s hesitation, Jon and Fred both swung their wands in the direction of the source as soon as they heard Nick''s voice ring out! Two bright red lights cut through the dust and shot straight in Scabior''s direction. Scabior''s sick of this ghost who always follow him like skin, but there is nothing he can do. As soon as he heard Jon and the others chanting the incantation, he took a calcted leap out of the second-floor window! He did not have time to apply any type of cushioning magic to the ground, he could only straighten his legs to withstand the inertia of his body falling, his lower body was numb, but he did not dare to stay in ce for half a moment, and turned around and ran in the direction of the castle in the middle of the ind. The dementors that used to disgust him became his only life-saving card at the moment, as long as he could enter the castle, then he can continue to fight with Jon and them, waiting for the Ministry of Magic to receive the news to rush over to support. Floating speed can be much faster than people running with their legs, Nick has been following Scabior''s side, and is constantly disturbing him with some nonsense. "Hey, surrender man, Britain has been re-taken by us, and the dark lord is finished, now if you honestly surrender you might still be able to save your life, Sir Nichs never lies, truly never lies." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 187: Hailey and Colin Chapter 187: Hailey and Colin Hailey is an owl that is specially trained and graduated from Auror Office. Compared with the pet owls of general wizards, it not only would never get lost but also had the determination toplete its tasks. Three years ago itpleted all the assessments for wizard strategic owls, sessfully graduated, and was finally assigned to its current master - Nott Scabior. To be honest, its master is really good to it. Usually, there is food and meat, and from time to time he will also talk to it in private about himself and some heartfelt words, but in fact, when Auror is on a mission, he/she will rarely encounter a situation that requires the use of owls. So although life isfortable, Hailey has not carried out any key tasks for three years, at most, it will help Scabior deliver some letters between friends. This let the professionally trained Hailey stayzy and idle, during these three years, under its feathers, there''s a lot of fat gained without its willingness. And today finally an opportunity to show its skills arrived, it can see that its master is currently facing a very critical situation, the letter it grasped in its talons, is most likely the key to saving his life. So Hailey, after taking off from the building, was so determined that, by magic owls'' racial talent, she started flying near the ground along the nearest straight line to Britain! On Azkaban Ind, under the influence of the grey fog, it has no way to fly too high, otherwise, even with the pendant that Scabior gave it to show the way, it will be lost in the nket of fog, the best way to go outside the fog is to make sure that the ground or the sea remains within its view. When it broke through the grey fog and was about to fly out of thend area of Azkaban Ind, an old wooden ship docked at the shore suddenly caught its attention. Colin had spotted Hailey with binocrs 10 seconds before it spotted Hogwarts. After Jon and Frednded on the ind, the students who remained on the ship stayed on board with nothing to do. Neville assigned observation posts in almost all the positions from the bow to the stern of the ship, while having Colin, who had been the lookout, on standby to keep an eye on the surrounding situation at all times. Not only to pay attention to whether the spark signal will rise in Azkaban, but also to observe the appearance of abnormal creatures like dementors, to make adequate preparation the first time when a slight issue urs. But as the morning passed, Colin who held up the binocrs at the top of the mast on guard for a long time didn''t find even a single living thing around the ind. This is like a dead ind, in addition to the depressing grey fog that floats, there are no other movable objects. Even in this seawater near the coast, there is no presence of fish and shrimp, only deadly dullness remains, reminding Colin of when he was still in Muggle elementary school when his mother and father took him to the countryside to visit the tomb in their old home vige cemetery which has a sense of dpidation. But Colin never put down the binocrs he was holding. He likes to take pictures and used to long to have a camera of his own, originally this wish was going toe true when he was going to middle school, but he was coaxed by the Professor named Barty Crouch to sign the admission letter, so taking pictures has now be a luxury. But after entering the sea, acting as a lookout made up for Colin''s emotional gap in taking pictures. He loved the feeling of holding the binocrs and looking into the distance. Whenever he found a very clever angle and saw a great view, he would fantasize that there was a shutter button on the binocrs at that moment, and he could freeze the beauty of the moment with a single press. Even in Azkaban, the ind of despair and death, Colin can find a lot of alternative spectacrs. He had been observing the huge castle that loomed in the grey fog all morning, and there was something otherworldly and spectacr about such an atmosphere and oppressive feeling. So, when a small ck dot broke through the grey fog from the ind and flew towards the direction where Hogwarts was located, Colin noticed it immediately. He did not ignore this small ck dot, after a morning of vignce, he determined that there was no living creature on the ind, so now, the sudden appearance of a bird-like creature was obviously very abnormal. Therefore, at the first moment, Colin lowered the binocrs in his hand, grabbed the railing, and shouted to Neville, who had stayed on deck and not returned to the cabin since Jon and the others left. "Report! Second mate! There''s an unidentified flying creature approaching us at three o''clock by the bow of the ship!" On deck, not only Neville there, George, and Hermione who were around all heard Colin shouting. Everyone looked in the direction that Colin pointed, and even without binocrs, they had vaguely seen a small ck dot approaching their location. Even without Neville''s reminder, everyone present pulled out their wands warily. "What''s that?" George asked, with a frown. Neville narrowed his eyes with a stony expression, he could already vaguely see the creature in flight. "Looks like... It''s an owl?" "An owl?" Hermione asked calmly: "Did Jon take an owl with him when theynded on the ind?" "No. Hogwarts does not keep owls, whether in the wagon or now in the ship''s cabin. This is because the owls that are now kept and used by wizards within Britain are individually numbered, making it easy for the Ministry of Magic to check at any time that these creatures that deliver the letters are legally held by their owners, and once it is discovered that an illegal owl is delivering the letters, they have the right to see the contents of those letters." "It was difficult for us to obtain such formal identification numbers, so Hogwarts has never used owls since the exile." Neville exined, and his eyes never strayed from the owl that is getting closer to them. "So this owl, it can only be someone else''s on the ind." Justin swallowed a mouthful of saliva and looked a little nervous. "So what should we do now?" Neville, however, was unusually decisive. "Shoot it down! No matter who on the ind it is delivering the letter out, intercepting it is the most foolproof!" Under hismand, all the students on the entire ship raised their wands and aimed at the owl that was getting closer and closer to their ship. Hailey, who was in the process of breaking out of the grey fog, only just noticed the big ship beneath her when countless wands aimed at her, with their tips shing red! Its feathers were all agitated and red up, its long-ago memories of training were awakened, and it subconsciously began to perform evasive manoeuvres in the sky. However, the next second. The next second, overwhelming beams of light shot toward the direction it was! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 188: Langlock Chapter 188: Langlock It didn''t take long for Jon and Fred to get through the dust and get to the window where Scabior had jumped from the second floor. With Nick''s fluorescent body as a guide, they first saw Scabior, who was desperately running toward the ind''s central castle. Fred did not hesitate and directly jumped from the second-floor window with a fall. He is young and strong, but still, when hended, he bared his teeth for a while. Jon, however, did not follow him and jumped down, but held his wand backwards and recited the incantation of the levitation charm in a quite different tone. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The feeling of lightness spread through his whole body, and the next moment, his whole body rose up in the air and flew out of the window opening on the second floor! The cold wind blew up his ck hair in front of his forehead, flying speed in the sky is naturally much faster than running on the ground with two legs, he continued to shorten the distance between himself and Scabior, and at the same time almost in line with Fred who fell behind him, he raised his wand. Scabior did not dare to waste half a moment by looking back. He kept running forward while enduring the harassment of Nick''s tongue. "All the muggle wizards in the world have united, we have stormed the Ministry of Magic! Captured the Dark Lord! Put him on the guillotine! Don''t resist any longer!" "Bullshit!" Even though he knew Nick was talking nonsense, Scabior couldn''t help but open his mouth to retort the insult. The truth is that what he said is too appalling because Voldemort has established his absolute authority and status in these years of rule. In the Ministry of Magic work whether it is ordinary employees or Auror, all can not use words to express the might of Voldemort, with indescribable awe and fear for this man. Anyone who enjoys the authority under such a system today has all been favoured by him, and under his grace and power, almost no one would dare to think that such a gentleman with great power would also be killed one day. Hearing his unpleasant rebuke, Nick was not surprised but delighted. As long as there is a response that is profitable for him, anyway, he is just a ghost, let him curse, other than that what can he do? Once Scabior opened his mouth, it meant his mind wavered and distracted to Nick''s side, so it was enough to help Jon and Fred who were chasing after him! In the next second Scabior opened his mouth, two incantations have blown together with the cold winter wind, exploded in his ears. "Stupefy!" "Petrificus Totalus!" The red beams of light shot out one after another, one from above and one from behind, very tacitly blocking Scabior''s upper left and lower right so that no matter where he dodged he had to take a spell! Scabior did not turn around, years of career as an Auror have let him develop an unusually keen intuition. After hearing the two incantations, he did not evade to the left or right anywhere, but moved extremely quickly and lunged forward! With the inertia of running, his entire body flew forward a distance of about two or three meters and then rolled to the ground. Jon and Fred originally worked well together, almostpletely locked his body position with the spells, but all fell short, and hit the ground full of debris, sshing a fine mud and dust! And this lunge full of spirit did note without a price. The ground of Azkaban is littered with fine stones, and Scabior''s robe in front of him was cut with countless shes by those angr stones while he fell to the ground, and his palms, which were used to support his body and offload the force, to avoid causing more damage by hitting his face on the ground, were already bleeding. But even if the pain stimted Scabior''s brain, he did not stay in the same ce for half a second. After sprawling on the ground, he was about to run forward, when Jon already took the opportunity to fly ahead of him, holding his wand from the sky to block his way forward. Fred also gasped and changed from running to walking, aimed at Scabior''s back,pletely blocking his path to continue to escape. Scabior also gasped sharply, his hand clutching his wand trembling and dripping with blood, at this moment, he really saw what his enemies looks like. Jon and Fred did not hide their appearance, their young appearance made him subconsciously shrink his pupils. "You''re mudbloods who follow that group of wizard rebels!" He easily guessed the identity of Jon and the boy, with such a young appearance, and still fighting against the Voldemort government, it is difficult to find a second group like that in the world. Jon and Fred did not want tomunicate with him, too much nonsense is never a good thing, and the two did not hesitate to use the spell together. "Petrificus Totalus!" *2 This time, Scabior was finally unable to avoid it. Two bright red beams of light hit him with unerring precision from one front and one back, and the instant he was hit by the full body-bind curse, his entire body instantly stiffened, and he could only stare nkly with his ever-turning eyes as he copsed helplessly backwards. It was only at this moment that Jon and Fred let out a sigh of relief together. Unlike Mair, who was a loser, Scabior is clearly a formally trained Auror, and most likely an elite one at that. It was a lot trickier to deal with him, and in the end, if Jon hadn''t had the air advantage and blocked his way from mid-air, they might have really let him get away. Fred was breathing heavily while cursing and using rope to tie up Scabior. "You''re a good runner, aren''t you? Keep running! I almost crooked my foot when I just jumped down that time, can''t believe it, right? That Jon can fly!" Scabior can only give a response to Fred with a cold and fierce gaze, if a look could kill, Fred would have died ten times. He was tied up tightly, and only then did Jon cancel the full body-bind curse. After the spell was cancelled from his body, Scabior still pursed his lips, just staring at Jon with a gaze filled with hatred, without saying a word. Nick looked at him with dissatisfaction. "He''s still not convinced!" Fred spat disdainfully at the side and pulled the rope a little tighter. Only Jon''s heart rose with rm, he sensed that something was wrong, then without half a second''s hesitation, he used a jinx on Scabior that he learned in the same book as Invisible sword curse! "Langlock!" The Jinx hit with precision, and this silencing spell made Scabior''s tongue stick to his upper jaw, with no way to move it even a fraction. It was only then that a trace of blood flowed out of his mouth. Fred and Nick were shocked to discover only now that he had actually tried to bite off his own tongue just now! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 189: Contradictions between Britain and France Chapter 189: Contradictions between Britain and France Jon has never belittled the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic, who arergely of half-blood origin and are not treated by Voldemort as the inner core of the Auror. After all, the reason they are not trusted is simply that they don''t have the most noble blood, But in fact, there is no halfway gap in ability. As long as they have been trained as professional Aurors, these half-bloods who have be pureblood government dogs under Voldemort can also be called elite. But Jon never expected that Scabior would be able to do such a decisive thing. "He wants to die?" Nick whispered in surprise. Fred was shocked, he also really did not expect that an Auror, who is not even a Death Eater, would have such great determination. Although Jon was also surprised, he still kept his cool. "Biting off the tongue is not necessarily certain death, but it can prevent us from asking for any information from his mouth that we should not have. Judging from our age, it''s unlikely that we''ll be able to master difficult magic like Imperius Curse and Legilimency." Biting one''s tongue is not something that can be done easily by relying on one''s will, and even if one is determined to do it again, the body will deliberately try to prevent such a self-harming move. Therefore, Jon found it just in time, and Scabior only bit his tongue, not to the extent of biting it off. Having his tongue sealed, he could only stare at Jon with a gaze full of hatred to the extreme. Jon did not want to and was not prepared to drag on, he felt that on this Auror, there must be some important secret hidden, otherwise he would not be so ruthless to himself. Together with Fred, he even used magic to pry open Scabior''s mouth. Then with the transfiguration spell produced a syringe with a stic needle, and used the rest of the potion without bothering to save a bit, directly using the syringe, inserting it into the gap between the tongue and the upper jaw bonding, injecting the potion into his throat. During this time Scabior struggled fiercely, several times almost biting Fred''s hand, from the fierce momentum, there is no doubt that once he gets hold of a hand, he will certainly tear off a piece of flesh. After force-feeding the Truth Potion, Fred still felt some palpitations and gasped, he had grown up so big, still, it is the first time he saw such a person. And after being pumped with a potion, it didn''t take long for Scabior to stop struggling, he was panting and sitting in ce, and his original cold and resentful gaze had be hollow. Jon then breathed a long sigh of relief and asked with a serious expression. "What is your name?" "Nott Scabior." Scabior''s voice was a little slurred, even if his tongue was not broken, but he had bitten himself a bit hard, and blood mixed with saliva was continuously flowing from the corners of his mouth. "Is there anything you have to prove it?" "Auror''s identity namete, in my inner pocket." Fred groped forward into his inner pocket with a wary face, and soon pulled out a metal namete identical to the one found on Mair''s body. Only this te was ted in gold, and on it, in addition to Scabior''s name, his position in Auror''s office - "Squad 3 Leader" is on it. Jon nced at the inscription on the namete, then looked more seriously at Scabior. "What is the thing you would rather want to bite your tongue off to hide from us?" Scabior opened his mouth, his own will obviously resisting answering this question. But the effect of the Truth Potion which Lily had personally prepared far surpassed those inferior goods secretly sold in Knockturn Alley, and no matter how much he resisted, his mouth still opened and closed to answer the question. "That gentleman. Took half of the Aurors and half of the Death Eaters to France under false identities." Jon and Fred looked at each other, they naturally knew who the gentleman Scabior was referring to. "Why does the dark lord want these people to go to France?" Fred asked in iprehension. Scabior, who had an answer to the question, told what he knew by himself. "The mudbloods in France. Stormed the French Ministry of Magic to blow up the government formed by Sir." Fred frowned tightly, unable to think of the key to the problem. "So what''s the big secret? Everyone knows he''s now the head of both the British and French magicalmunities, so what''s wrong with bringing some people to France for support?" Jon pondered and understood the problem. "The dark lord can control both magical regimes because he is different from everyone else, and nationality is no longer restricted in his case. What''s more, how he took control of the French Ministry of Magic was not honourable, and so far those Death Eaters who took the ce of the top identity have not regained their original identities." "He is strong enough to oppress the mudbloods only, but can''t suppress those half-bloods as well as some pureblood wizards within France who might have dissatisfaction with this and try to join the resisting muggle wizards." "Once exposed, that British wizards have reced the top of the French Ministry of Magic, and he even arranged a lot of British Aurors and wizards to enter France, to suppress the rebels, then the nature of the whole problem will be different." Jon looked up as he looked at Scabior, who was still staring nkly. "The British and French wizards, no matter what level they are on, are very much at odds with each other, and this kind of conflict cannot be divided by bloodlines. When the timees, in fact, just one of the simplest words can shake the dark lord''s rule in the French magical world that has only just begun for a short time - is it the French magical world or the British magical world?" Nick said in agreement. "Not to mention the wizards, even those French-born ghosts I know, they could probably be so angry that they would explode if they heard this matter!" "The best thing the dark lord could have done at the beginning was toe to the front stage and support an obedient French wizard toe to the top and let him control the whole of France in his ce. But in this case, it is simply impossible to find someone with such strong personal power and prestige who can carry out the bloodline police, which has forced him to sit in the position of the French Minister of Magic personally." Jon calmly analysed. "But at this time there is another drawback revealed, everyone knows that his basic foundation is in Britain, then once the muggle wizards in France revolt, will he let his mene to support and suppress them?" "If theye, then the conflict between nationalities and races will overshadow the conflict between bloodlines, and the primary and secondary conflicts will be reversed, which will create a situation extremely unfavourable to the dark lord, or even serious enough to shake his unfolding rule over France." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 190: Entering the Prison Chapter 190: Entering the Prison "But if only French Aurors are used, after the bloodline cleansing, the number of French Aurors will certainly be reduced, perhaps to the extent that there is no way to maintain the rule of the Ministry of Magic, and it will certainly not be easy to suppress the resistance of the muggle wizards in the territory." "At this moment, the dark lord wants to mobilize reinforcements from his base camp, and it is necessary to hide the identity of all of them, even if there are suddenly so many high-strength and professionally trained wizards emerging, it will undoubtedly arouse the suspicion in the hearts of many people, but as long as they do not really reveal their identity as British wizards, then some French wizards will still be able to deceive themselves and cheat themselves. " With Jon exining the rtionship by breaking it through like this, if Fred couldn''t understand it anymore, then he wouldn''t still be Weasley anymore. "That is to say, the reason why this Auror guy is so afraid of us knowing this information is that he is worried that we will expose this matter and let all the French wizards know that they have actually been long controlled by the British?" Jon looked at Scabior and sneered. "If we learned of this information and then conveyed it to Professor Dumbledore and the others, even if it spread out, the French Ministry of Magic headed by the Dark Lord could argue that the Professor and the others are lying. What he is afraid of is that, after we learn this information from him, we would use his identity to give proof of this matter, since there is no actual evidence. "At that time, it will be more painful than killing him personally, as long as he has a family in Britain, the dark lord will certainly not spare his family, and then there will be no ce for him and his family in this big magical world. Am I right, Mr Scabior?" Scabior''s eyes were vacant, his mouth opened mechanically, and he simply spat out a single word. "Yes." Fred got excited, Jon''s words made it clear to him how much help they could provide to Dumbledore and the others if they captured Scabior here. "So how do we hand him over to the Professor and the others?" Jon said as he shook his head. "Don''t worry about it for now, Professor Dumbledore said that he would let Fawkes find us after his side stabilized, at that time we can hand over this Auror to him. What''s more, don''t forget that learning of this information is not our fundamental purpose in capturing him in the first ce." He stared at Scabior and continued to ask. "How do you usuallymunicate with the dementors?" "Those. Ghost things. They have their own leader. I usually only have contact with the leader they left on the ind. They can basically understand human words, if you want to understand what they are trying to say, you need a spell." Scabior''s own will has basically given up all resistance, after which he taught Jon the simple magic spell used tomunicate, and said the characteristics of the dementor leader. "It''s a little bigger than a normal Dementor. The cloak on its body is also much older" "Do these dementors recognize your faces or something else? How do you ensure that you won''t be attacked by them?" "On the first day on the ind. I went with the Auror who was on duty on the ind before. It was then they recognized my face." With thisst query cleared up, Jon had no other questions that needed answers. He used a stunning spell on Scabior and then assigned the next task. "There''s no guarantee that the cloak of invisibility will help us evade the dementors'' surveince, but since these monsters only identify friend and foe by using faces, it''s perfectly fine for us to use the polyjuice potion to take their form and enter the castle to reach the leader of the dementors. It, as the leader of the other dementors on this ind, must have known about the arrival of the dark lord in this prison back then." "There are two of them, and we happen to be two as well, this time just Fred and I will go in, Nick you stay here and keep an eye on this Auror, we will need him afterwards." Nick and Fred nodded together. Jon then pulled out two vials of the polyjuice potion he had prepared on the ship earlier to use in case of emergencies and pulled down one of Scabior''s hairs. Soon they also got a hair from the head of Mair, who was thrown on the seashore, and put them into the polyjuice potion and drank it. The two became Mair and Scabior respectively, and the two made all the preparations, and finally said goodbye to Nick and were ready to enter Azkaban Castle. "Remember, if an ident urs, be sure to escape from inside immediately, these monsters can not leave Azkaban readily, even if you fail once, we have a chance to start over again." Nick seriously admonished them. Jon nodded with a rxed look. "Don''t worry about it, I cherish my own life and won''t do something foolish like fighting to the death." Although they had not spent much time together, concerning Jon, Nick was still very assured. They parted here, and Jon and Fred walked together towards the dpidated Azkaban castle. The closer they got to the castle, the colder the temperature got, and they both unconsciously tightened their robes, blowing out a dense white mist with every breath. From a distance, they could already see the wide open castle door. The original magnificent wooden door looked like it was broken in half by some kind of explosion, and when they got closer, they could see the gaping ck fracture. This is obviously damage suffered not long ago, Jon guessed that it is likely that Sirius and Lupin broke them during their escape in the first half of this year. The floor was covered with ck stone bs, and they walked on it with clear footsteps echoing in the castle. After entering the door, there is a spacious entrance hall, almost as big as the one in Hogwarts Castle, from here you can see that the original purpose for which this castle was built was not to be a prison. And after they walked in, at the corner of the entrance hall, two extremely tall creatures d in tattered grey cloaks, appeared abruptly and floated over in their direction. At the instant of seeing the dementors, Fred''s body obviously stiffened, Jon tapped him on the shoulder from behind without a trace, to let his tense body slightly rx a bit. After the two dementors came close, Jon softly recited themunication magic spell that was obtained from Scabior''s mouth. Then, magically, he understood what the two dementors were expressing as they approached them. ''''Sorcerer. What''s the matter now.'''' Jon said calmly in Scabior''s voice. "Take us to your chief, we have some orders from the Ministry of Magic that we need to tell him now." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 191: The Lie Exposed Chapter 191: The Lie Exposed The dementors didn''t get suspicious. Or rather, this is how Scabior and they usuallymunicate with each other, no wizard wants to have more contact with these monsters, so there is basically not muchmunication. They led Jon and Fred out of the entrance hall, as they passed through the corridor, they could see the cell doors nailed up with iron bars, covered with the rust marks of age. The cells were obviously all empty. After the escape that happened in the first half of this year, Azkaban was much emptier, and the only people who are kept inside are some purebloods and half-bloods who made mistakes, and these people are locked up in the uppermost cells as well. Jon and co. kept going inside, and after walking up the stairs, they came to the third floor, and on the way, many dementors were passing them by. Even if most of them were deployed to the British Isles, the dementors that remained in the prison were still not a few. In this period of entering the castle alone, they saw no less than ten. Soon they were taken to a secluded and dark room, where a rtivelyrger dementor floated, and its robes were much more ancient, and after they entered, the cold gaze hidden beneath the cloak was fixed on them. After sending Jon and Fred to the ce, the two dementors in charge of leading the way left without a sound. ''''Sorcerer. From the Ministry of Magic. What''s the message.'''' Even with the use of incantations, trying to understand the dementor''s expression is still somewhat vague, but at least the general meaning can be understood. Jon replied in a calm voice. "Your request to send more men to Britain has been conveyed to the Ministry, but the Ministry, or rather that sir, has asked me toe to you about something." ''That Sir?'' "Yes, he asked me toe to you and wants you to take us to the ce he visited thest time he was in Azkaban prison." Jon lied without batting an eye, but Fred''s breathing apparently became slightly ragged with some tension. But of course, the dementor would not notice these details, its gaze hidden under the cloak was always on Jon. "Last time. He didn''t want us. From Azkaban. To find anything about it." Jon smiled, and there was no hint of timidity in that smile, rather it was as if he had something on the dementor in front of him. "Yes, sir does not want you to find out, but you think that your little mind can be hidden from him? Don''t worry, since sir offered to let you take me to that ce, it means he won''t me you for this matter, as long as you can take us to do what sir asked you to do in a secure manner." The dementor fell silent. It was thinking with its brain which it did not know whether it existed or not, what exactly it was thinking, Jon did not know, but soon it reached a conclusion of its thinking. "Follow me." The dementor floated and brushed past Jon and co to leave the room. Jon and Fred looked at each other, neither spoke, but both saw the moment of rxation in the other''s gaze. In fact, beforeing to the prison, Jon arranged two sets of ns. The safest and most secure is like now, using the identity of an Auror to deceive, dementors, even if they canmunicate, their intelligence is generally not high, basically relying on instinct to act. But once such means did not seed, they will have to risk a violent struggle to extract a statement. Jon has yet topletely learn the Patronus Charm, how much of a deterrent it truly has on these monsters can not be determined, and not even much certainty to detain it, so this means ofst resort is actually very dangerous. And the current situation is undoubtedly the one they want to see the most. Nick and Jon''s initial guess was indeed urate, in a ce like Azkaban Ind, Voldemort even if he wanted to hide his whereabouts, he could do little to the Dementors, and could only try to avoid them before doing anything. But the noticeable thing is not avoided, the lead dementor knows exactly where he went that year. With Jon and Fred in tow, the dementor made its way back down the stairs to the ground floor, and then came to what looked like the entrance to a cer. It floated down, and Jon and Fred climbed down the woodendder that looked like it might fall apart at any moment. Finally, they entered a closed cer, which was full of cobwebs and dust, surrounded by a dozen of wooden barrels that have rotted, it is easy to see that no one has been there for a long time. In the middle of these scattered barrels, you can see that the ground here actually has a movable door hidden under the dust. After bringing Jon and Fred here, the dementor stopped. "Right here he arranged magic. We can''t go in." There was no trace of magic on the movable board door, just a lock. Jon gestured to Fred, who drew his wand and recited a spell at the lock on it. "Alohomora." "Click." A lock-core collision sounded, and that door lock was easily opened. Only at this time, the dementor kept its eyes on Fred''s movements. "You guys. Don''t have the key." Jon narrowed his eyes slightly, the dementor didn''t look as brainless as they had previously thought. The expression on his face remained the same as he said tly. "Sir just temporarily asked us toe here, and again, for a normal lock, a standard magic spell will suffice." Just at the same time as Jon''s words fell, the lock, which looked somon that it couldn''t be moremon, suddenly exploded! Numerous dark green chains began to extend outward, piercing through Jon and Fred''s bodies. They were not expecting such a situation, except that the magic on the lock did not seem to have the slightest effect on them at all, but the dementor that was originally floating beside them seemed to be pulled by a strong force and was forcibly thrown out of the cer the next moment! The green fluorescent chains gathered at the entrance of the cer and finally formed a spider web-like blockade! The dementor was shocked by such a change, it tried to reach out its withered hand full of scars to touch the chains, and then as if electrocuted, it withdrew. Jon and Fred were also surprised by this. They returned to the entrance of the cer, staring at the chains, Jon took out a small ss vial from his pocket and carefully tried to throw it out. Without any hindrance, the ss vial simply rolled down to the feet of the dementors. "You guys. Simply don''t know.!" Through the chains, the dementor''s gaze stared deadly at them. "He didn''t let you guyse over here.!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 192: Diary Chapter 192: Diary Jon did not answer further to its words, the lie has now been exposed, so there is no need to exin. They simply do not know what kind ofyout Voldemort left here, and just made a false statement. Fred tried, stretched out a finger to touch the chain, but there was no obstruction, it simply passed through it. This is obviously a blockade specifically designed to guard against dementors, after the p door was opened, the entire cer has be a no-go area for dementors, even if they originally entered here, they will be thrown out directly. "Isn''t this equivalent to the dark lord giving us ayer of insurance!" Fred said with surprise. Jon''s face, however, did not reveal a semnce of joy but rather frowned more and more tightly. "Don''t be too happy soon, the dementors can''t get in, but how are we going to get out after this?" Fred then noticed that outside the cer, there was no longer only one Dementor that had just brought them in. More and more Dementors wereing from all parts of the prison as if they had been summoned, and the temperature around them was dropping, soon blocking the already small entrance. "Liar. You are not his men!" The dementor that had brought them in was clearly enraged to the extreme by the sound of its voice. Of course, anyone who had been deceived in this way wouldn''t quite be able to maintain a calm mind. Fred said in a rxed mood, shrugging his shoulders. "Since we are blocked here, let''s go down and see, maybe we can find some way out in the lower level." Jon also helplessly nodded, the situation in front of him is already the worst situation. Even if their lies were exposed at the beginning, it is better than now, at that time, after all, they still faced only one dementor, while they are not gathered, Jon would rely on his own unformed Patronus charm, to put up a fight to have a small chance to escape with Fred. Now the situation is different, it is estimated that the entire castle''s dementors are blocked at the door, and unformed Patronus Charm simply can not scare away the dementors gathered together. They did not bother with the dementor blocking the door that was making angry usations and returned to the movable panel door. Jon grabbed the edge of the door, and after a puff of dust, the door was easily opened. Beneath the movable panel door was a dark space, and Fred used the Wand-Lighting Charm and stuck his wand into the basement. By the faint fluorescence, they could see the uneven stone walls around them, and the ground about three meters away. After ensuring that there is no danger down there, Fred took the lead with his hands on the edge of the movable door and slowly lowered his body to jump into the chamber, followed by Jon who flew in with the help of the levitation charm. The two of them together holding a fluorescent wand, looked all around. Here is a space about the size of a basketball court, the walls are closed, no other exits were found, there is no furniture and other things, and it is empty, just like an underground cave that has never been visited. "Why is there nothing?" Fred''s voice was a bit impatient as he walked around the chamber, however, just as he reached a position near the middle, Jon suddenly pulled his arm. "Don''t move!" Fred stopped in his tracks, and less than a meter away in front of himy a book in silence. To be exact, it was a book without a title, with a tattered ck cover and a very thin thickness. Rather than a book, it looked more like. A diary. The reason why he could determine that this is a diary is that, with the help of the faint fluorescence, Jon saw a date on the book cover about fifty years ago, generally speaking, only when writing a diary, the cover will be left in this. After seeing this diary, Jon''s breathing obviously paused for a second. Fred''s reaction to his reaction was a bit strange. "This is a book? What''s wrong with it?" Jon''s face took on an expression of intense gloom that Fred had never seen before. "No, it''s not a book, it''s a diary." "A diary?" Fred''s eyes widened slightly. "Whose diary? Who would leave a diary here? It couldn''t be dark lord, right?" In thest sentence, he said in a joking tone, but Jon didn''tugh out loud, his gaze was as serious as it was, and he asked a question that seemed irrelevant to the situation at hand. "Do you know the Fiendfyre Curse? Fred." Fred didn''t understand why Jon asked this, and he shook his head. "No, we''ve only just been introduced to real dark magic this semester, and Professor Lupin taught us all about how to defend against them, so if you really want to learn a spell in that area, I''ve heard that you''re only eligible to apply for an elective with Professor McGonagall when you reach the seventh year." Jon didn''t continue to ask more questions. He began to reach into the inner pocket of his robe to search up, and soon, he pulled out a grey cloth bag. The bag''s opening turned down, and arge venomous fang fell out from inside. Looking at the fang, Jon breathed a long sigh of relief. "It''s a good thing it is always with me." Fred, on the other hand, asked in surprise. "What kind of creature''s fang is this?" "Dug out from the mouth of the Basilisk, let''s stop quizzing about this for now, it''s something that can potentially help us." Jon handed the fang to Fred, "You take it, I''ll open this diary, if there is any ident, when I tell you to stab down, be sure to stab hard without hesitation." Looking at Jon''s extremely serious expression, Fred did not ask any more questions, he took the fang from Jon''s hand with a solemn face, and then Jon reached out to get the diary. The ck cover in addition to a date, there are no other words, without too much hesitation, he opened to the first page. On the old, yellowed pages, there was only one name written in dark green ink - Tom Riddle. After seeing this name, Jon''s pupils shrank slightly. His guess was right, the diary that was thrown here is the first Horcrux that Voldemort made when he was a student in the original story! This is not the first time that Jon saw a Horcrux, in the Headmaster''s Office in Hogwarts Castle, four relics were ced on the table, three of which were made into Horcruxes by him. But among all the Horcruxes, only this diary is the most special. Because, the others, whether it is the Slytherin locket, or Gaunt''s resurrection stone ring, although it should nominally be inherited by Voldemort, he coaxed or robbed it from the hands of others. Only this diary, it''s originally his own, belonged to him from the beginning to the end! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 193: Three Pages of a New Diary Chapter 193: Three Pages of a New Diary Turning over the page with the name, on the one behind it, the alphabet letters are written all over. The owner of this diary obviously has good handwriting. [That old guy is a fool!] [I just probingly asked him about the details of the Unforgivable Curse, and he looked suspicious as if he thought that if I knew about such powerful magic, I would blow up the Ministry of Magic in the next second]. [That Moron from Gryffindor, whose name is Hagrid is even more stupid, actually raised a bunch of Flobberworm in the dormitory in private. When I found them, he begged me not to hurt them, how disgusting those damn bugs are, does he even know? When I burned them to death with the Fire-Making Spell I thought it soiled my wand!] [The people in Gryffindor are a bunch of hopelessly stupid people, more like pigs than lions.] [But it''s because there are so many stupid people that they can show how smart we are, right?] [The greatest wizard of the future will always need a little ink to record his journey, but how can those mediocre people deserve to know and evaluate my life so early?] [Well, so, from today on, I''ll record it myself.] Fred held up the fang and also looked at the contents of the diary from the side, and he skimmed his lips. "If this is really the diary of the dark lord, then it is very funny, the level of stink is beyond that of Percy." Jon looked at this first page of the diary, his gaze filled with thought. "In some ways, Voldemort is indeed proud and arrogant, but he also does have the capital to be proud. Don''t think he called everyone stupid in his diary like this, since it''s his diary, what''s written here are mental words that can''t be seen by others." "As far as I know, the dark lord as a student was always liked by many professors and ssmates, and people described Tom Riddle as a gentleman of high moral character, friendly to others with excellent grades." "So few people now actually know what the real name of the present-day Dark Lord is, and no one would associate him with the brilliant Head boy, more than fifty years ago." Fred said with contempt. "It proves he''s a good actor, hypocritical and pretentious. I heard Bill say that there used to be a lot of people like that in Slytherin House before Hogwarts Castle fell." Jon shrugged. "You see, just like Tom Riddle thinks Gryffindors are all stupid, you''re all prejudiced against Slytherin even without ever participating in the sorting. But actually, if the Dark Lord hadn''t taken over the wizarding world yet, and we would still have to sort, there would certainly be many of our fellow students being sorted into Slytherin right now, do you ever think they''re being hypocritical and pretentious?" "If Percy were to participate in the house sorting, he would definitely be assigned to Slytherin." Fred said with conviction. Jon did not discuss any further with Fred, although just from the contents this diary seems basically worthless, but, it already let Jon perceive a problem. This diary has some considerable content, but in the original, after the diary was made into a Horcrux, a part of Voldemort''s soul is embedded in it. This part of the soul is equivalent to his student life, his other self, with the same memories, and the contents of the diary have naturally disappeared. As long as the remnant of the soul hosted in the diary wants, he canmunicate with anyone with the help of this diary. But apparently, this diary now held in Jon''s hand does not have such a role, it is like an ordinary notebook, even the content is fully consistent with a mid-teen child, from the beginning of the process of recording his heart and life. He continued to flip back, and the next few pages were all about Tom spitting out the words from his heart about the "idiots" around him, mixed in with some of his unique insights and achievements when he secretly researched dark magic in private, and at this time his terrifying talent on the dark path had already shown itself. When Jon kept flipping until almost near the end, he saw a diary with content that made him feel very familiar. The contents of this one and the previous page clearly leapfrogged a long time, like a long time had passed before Riddle finally had something memorable to record. [I finally found it!] [So it''s in that girls''vatory, and it''s time to get the cleaning done!] [This school doesn''t need those lowly fools who, during the ancestors'' time of founding the school, set foot in this castle with their humble bodies and could only make up for this mistake with their lives!] [The noble Serpent King will be favoured again by his new master toplete the task he was meant to do!] [Tomorrow is the beginning of the cleansing!] The whole thing is basically Tom''s inner monologue, through the lines, one can see that he was very excited. This is obviously the day he found the entrance to the chamber of secrets, and is also the time when he really found his inherited origin, to prove that his origin is indeed honoured beyondparison. What happened after that, Jon naturally knew all about it. Tom seeded in freeing the basilisk, killing a muggle girl - Myrtle on the first day. And also used her life to make the diary into his first Horcrux. It was only after killing the first innocent that Tom''s cleansing n had to be forced to stop. Because of the seriousness of the situation at the time, it became necessary to close the school, and the orphan Tom without the shelter of Hogwarts, had to go back to that orphanage. For this reason, he decided to dump the pot on Hagrid and re-blocked the secret chamber that was opened and has not opened anymore. There were a few more pages in the diary, and Jon continued to turn further back. But on the next page, he clearly discerned that something was wrong. From this page, the handwriting became much scribbled, and the colour of the ink and traces do not look like it has existed for a very long time. Jon frowned and carefully went to read the messy handwriting. [Ignorant fools!] [I''ll be such an ignorant fool too!] [One should control magic, rather than be controlled by it!] [Horcrux are not the perfect answer to immortality ...] [I want to take it back ... take it all back ...!] Jon held his breath and turned to the next page, the handwriting on this page was even messier, making it even harder to discern what letters the jumbled strokes were writing out one after another, and it took him a lot of effort to identify them word by word. [I want to start over ... Don''t be stupid again! Don''t be stupid again ... I''m better ... I''m the real ...] [I will be stronger ... Magic is born out of soul ... My strength is my own ...] ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 194: Start again from the beginning Chapter 194: Start again from the beginning [...Different. I am different. I am me. Not like him. Not an idiot. Let me be me. Let me do it] These few words make people feel a little unsure, like a crazy person talking with his mouth full of nonsense. Jon turned to the next page, the words on this were actually a lot clearer than the previous ones as if a different person had started writing. [Step one. First get me back, from where I started to lose, from there to get it back] [Completing the missing pieces, so that I know that I am still me. It''s not toote, everything has changed, and good changes have already begun] The diary was getting shorter and shorter, and when Jon turned to thest page, all he saw was a mass of lines drawn haphazardly on the page. It was as if the person recording the thoughts had gone crazy to the extreme, and all the previous sanity was gone. Finally, he turned over thisst page, in the back of thest book cover of the diary, he saw a symbol like this. [1/5]. "What does this mean?" Not only Jon was reading, but Fred also finished reading thest few pages of the diary, but although he knew all the letters in it, he did not understand what the person who wrote the diary was actually saying. Jon turned the diary back to the back page of the one where the basilisk was released, and read the next page againpletely. "This part is most likely what Tom Riddle, the dark lord, wrote when he came to Azkaban Ind nine years ago." "He came here and all to continue to write the diary?" Fred asked unbelievably. Jon shook his head. "It''s not a diary, it''s more like he''s talking to himself in an unconscious state. But this self-talk is going to give us more information than those first few inner thoughts he wrote." "Looking at what he said at the beginning - [Horcrux are not the perfect answer to immortality....], he must have realized something and perceived the huge side effects of Horcrux." "To make such a thing, one must kill to meet the pre-condition, no matter what time of the year, the brutal killing of one''s own kind must be the most emotionally vtile, and at that time one''s negative emotions are bound to overflow. And the Horcrux is made by relying on such emotions to cut the soul, which undoubtedly weakens the person''s own subjective thoughts even more, leaving that negative emotion of killing someone to linger on." "That''s why the dark lord became more and more insane, terrifying and iprehensible the further he advanced. It is in such a state that he never notices the changes in himself." "That''s how dark magic works, silently making people change, bing something they''re not, magic manipting people like that, and the effects are almost irreversible because sanity and madness are inherently in conflict." He tapped the line on the diary [One should control magic, rather than be controlled by it!]. "But the dark lord suddenly realized on his own at this time that he is not himself at all now, but a puppet manipted by a Horcrux magic." "There''s a big problem here." Fred also followed Jon''s train of thought down the road, he already knew about the Horcrux from Jon before he got off the ship, so there was nomunication barrier. "Maybe he suddenly got enlightened?" "This actually involves a fundamental problem." Jon said with a serious gaze, "Would a crazy person think he is crazy?" Fred froze for a moment. "I suppose. No?" "Crazy people are called crazy because they have a whole set of different perceptions from the normal people, they do not think they are special, they only think that those who are normal are special. Day after day, continuously, without any outside interference, such a crazy person, for what reason did he suddenly be enlightened, know that he is crazy, and began to look for the path to be normal again?" Fred couldn''t answer Jon''s question, this question couldn''t be exined by anyone except Voldemort himself, otherwise, no one could know exactly why. Jon didn''t dwell on the answer for too long, as he turned to the next page and pointed to the incredibly scribbled words [I will be stronger ... Magic is born out of soul ... My strength is my own ...] "Look here, he''s saying that magic is born out of the soul, and indicating that he will be stronger, which means he has a way or a n to strengthen his soul." "But the next sentence is a little confusing, [I am what I am]. It just doesn''t seem like self-talk, and the handwriting on this page is so different from the two pages before and after, it''s like-" Jon frowned tightly. "Like, he''s talking to someone?" Fred shivered, and then he said hesitantly. "Could it be. Is it the one of him in the Horcruxes?" "Not quite right, the remnant soul split from this diary belongs to the Dark Lord''s student days, the boy named Tom Riddle, cocky and proud with ambition but good at disguise. He was indeed very gifted, yet he did not have the same mentality and experience as hister self, it is not like the Tom in the diary could write those words." Jon then flipped back and turned to thest page which had roughly the same handwriting as the first page of the new record and was written in a much smoothernguage. "Look at this sentence, [Step one. First get me back, from where I started to lose, from there to get it back], we can basically conclude that this diary is the beginning of the next journey of the dark lord collecting his Horcruxes back together. Now he intends to start again with a new beginning from this, [Completing the missing pieces so that I know that I am still me. It''s not toote, everything has changed, and good changes have already begun], it is also at this time that he intends to recall all the residual souls in all Horcruxes." "This means that when writing these words, it is possible that he has not yet reimed that remnant soul from the diary, even if that soul in the diary could talk to him, the words spoken would not be retained." Jon rubbed his chin with a pensive look. "This is like himself, yet a little different." There was silence in this underground chamber, and Jon''s words caused goose bumps to rise all over Fred''s body. He said cautiously. "You think, the dark lord, he was split into two consciousness of himself, one is affected by the Horcrux, bing even more crazy, and one is suddenly enlightened, want to find himself?" Jon did not answer Fred''s question, he was staring unblinkingly at the most difficult-to-identify page, which has the most confusing line of words in terms of meaning. [...Different. I am different. I am me. Not like him. Not an idiot. Let me be me. Let me do it] What was Voldemort trying to do when he wrote these words? Absorbing the soul in the diary? Or something else? And who is stopping him from doing so? ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 195: Escape Chapter 195: Escape Jon closed the diary and said gruffly. "This diary is very important. Our trip to Azkaban was not in vain." The contents recorded in the notebook, especially thest three pages of the diary, at least from the most subtle points can let Jon determine. In this world, Voldemort''s Horcruxes are no longer avable. The "1/5" written down on the back of the book cover, he was recording his return to the original integrity. The diary is the beginning of Horcruxes'' creation, but also the beginning of the change back to his self. And the four relics that Jon saw in the Hogwarts Headmaster''s office, it is estimated that, like the diary, the remnants of the soul attached to it have returned to Voldemort''s body,pleting his soul. That''s why the current "Great Sir" is in such a sane state, as well as his achievements today. Of course, the return of the soul will let him be more clear-headed and more thoughtful, but will not bring any enhancement to his own strength. Even because that crazy emotion is no longer there, his dark magic has likely regressed. The reason why Voldemort can achieve today''s status is partly because of gaining sanity by recalling the soul slices from Horcruxes, but most importantly, the reason why he got strong like that without the Horcruxes is what makes people puzzled. Jon could associate a lot with the power of the soul recorded in the diary. For example, he himself. In the first year, on the Slughorn individual lesson, the fat walrus also once said that his ''will'' is far beyond that of a normal person, inyman''s terms, it can also be tranted to describe that his soul is stronger than the normal wizard. As for why his own soul is particrly stronger than the rest, Jon naturally knows it by heart. This is most likely rted to him crossing over to this world, after all, his soul is not native to this world. And what is the reason behind the dark lord? He was also possessed by a transmigrator? This possibility is slim, because the current Voldemort does not seem to understand the plot of the original story at all, otherwise he would not have left the Marauder''s Map behind, not to mention let Sirius be arrested inside Azkaban which allowed him to join forces with Lupin to carry out arge-scale prison break. Of course, even if the novel is famous, there must be many people who have not read the book or watched the film and did not realize they had entered the body of Voldemort, who is a viin in a famous novel. But if someone who has received a modern education based on muggle ideas and concepts, not to mention that he/she will not engage in this extremely low very rule, even if he/she is a great evil, he/she will consider taking control over the entire British muggle society first, after all, muggles are most familiar with muggles. The most crucial point is that thest three pages of the diary were obviously written by Voldemort just after sessfully killing Harry Potter, during the first few days of his disappearance that month. If there really is a soul travelled over topete with him for the body ownership, then there should be only a few words left in this diary, not to mention leaving it behind at the end, directly destroying it is the safest and most secure way. Those remarks addressed, obviously are from the first perspective of Voldemort himself, which further denies the existence of two different souls in his body. Compared to the transmigrator spection, Jon believes that Voldemort may truly be schizophrenic. Some idents that should not have urred when killing Harry Potter may cause this problem to him. As for the powerful soul, and exactly how it originated, the voyage of Hogwarts has not yet reached the key point, perhaps the next journey can bring Jon the answer. However, before wanting to move on, he and Fred had to face one of the most difficult issues now. That is, how the hell are they going to get out? The diary stowed away, they thoroughly checked the underground chamber onest time to make sure there was nothing else of value, and then Jon and Fred returned to the cer. The cobweb-like dark green chains are still there. Blocked the entrance to outside, dozens of dementors also floated outside the corridor, as if they want to wait until the magic of this blockade disappeared, and then rushed in topletely suck Jon and co. dry. "Waiting like this is not an option." After strolling through the entire cer again, finding no other exit, Jon even tried to use the Exploding Charm to blow up the grey-looking wall, which left not even a trace except for a pitch-ck colour. He frowned and looked at the grim monsters outside the entrance. "George, Neville and the others don''t even know we are in here yet, and Nick, he''s watching over Scabior, but the stunning spell will onlyst until this evening at best, he has no way to use magic, so once Scabior wakes up, things will end badly." "Moreover, we don''t know how long this magic that blocks the Dementors willst, we can''t put all our hopes on it." Fred pulled out his wand with a decisive gaze. "I actually have a solution, you know the Patronus Charm, although you can''t summon a Patronus, at least you can make these dementors feel intimidated. Later I can rush out first and hold some of the dementors for you, so you''ll be more sure of escaping this prison." Jon''s brow furrowed even tighter. "Are you serious?" "Of course I''m serious." Fred changed his usual yful face, his face was filled with a serious expression, and he said with a rxed look, "You''re the captain, George and the others need you to go back and take them on the next voyage, and that Aurors also need you to control him." "What about you?" "Don''t worry, even if I don''t end up running out, I''m sure I won''t die. These dementors will definitely capture me and wait for the Ministry of Magic to interrogate me about my identity, I''ll clear my memory before I get caught and won''t give them any half-useful clues." He shrugged and smiled. "After that, I can just sleep peacefully here and wait for you guys toe to rescue me in the future, easy isn''t it." Jon red at him grimly. "You usually like to joke around, and I''m taking what you just said as a joke now, even though it wasn''t funny. Remember what I told you beforeing here?" Fred looked confused. "What?" "Don''t think about trading lives for lives, each of our lives is precious and not worth whatever exchange we make." Jon turned to look at the dementors and narrowed his eyes. "You said I am the captain, so you should listen to me, and I have a n right now that is almost exactly like what you said, but it doesn''t require a life exchange." He pointed to the dementor leader that was just outside the entrance, floating motionlessly facing them. "Do you think that it hates me more or you more?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 196: All live and one dies Chapter 196: All live and one dies "Hate you more?" "Of course, it hates me more, because from the beginning to the end, it was me who wasmunicating with it, and all the deception it received was due to me, and if the dark lord knew about it, then it would be the one to bear the primary responsibility, after all, it tried to spy on the secret and lead the way to the enemy before the matter was exposed." Jon looked at Fred. "As you mentioned, this n does have the possibility, but it should be me who rushes out to attract their attention." Fred shook his head decisively and interrupted him. "Forget it, it''s impossible, if you stay here, then there''s no point in us continuing the journey at all." "Hear me out." Jon calmly said, "I will attract their attention and let you escape, after that, I will not necessarily be in trouble, but if it is you who attracts their attention and let me escape, then you will definitely die." "I know the level of my Patronus Charm most clearly myself, and it is only one step away from summoning the Patronus out. There are many dementors here, which can greatly help me to promote the spell mastery, so I will attract attention and then find the opportunity to hide back again, there is a great possibility to summon the Patronus by using these dementors." "There are not many dementors left in Azkaban, as long as I can summon the Patronus I will definitely be able to walk out unharmed." "It''s just that we can''t keep stalling now, someone has to go and meet up with Nick and bring Scabior back to the ship, and the stunning spell on Mair might lose its effectiveness in no time." Fred stared hard at Jon. "You''re not lying to me? Like lying to Neville and George and the others on the way off the ship?" "I''ve said this many times to you since we arrived at this ind, both of our lives are very important, Fred." Jon said seriously. "Don''t trade your life for my life, and also, I myself a person who is very afraid of death, I will never go and joke with my life, unless I am really sure about this matter." Fred was silent. He naturally trusts Jonpletely, but it is because of hisplete trust, it makes him subconsciously suspects that Jon is lying and just wants him to escape first. Jon pulled out a pocket watch and looked at the time on it. "The sun is about to set, we can''t hesitate any longer. If Scabior really woke up, then not only us, everyone on Hogwarts will be finished, wasting the opportunity that the professor and the others have bought for us. Now the situation is actually very in, you escape, we all have a chance to live, but I escape, you will die!" Fred grabbed his hair, he had never made a choice like today. A few momentster, his voice became a little hoarse. "You better not be lying to me, Jon. I''ll be waiting for you on the shore with the others all the time, and if you don''t keep your promise, then I won''t go on with George and Neville and the others, but I''lle back for you!" Jon smiled, held out three fingers, and said. "Three days, three days at the most, without Auror, these Dementors will hardly find a way to get in touch with the Ministry of Magic, but if there is no response from Azkaban''s side for a long time, three days is probably the limit of the time they will notice the problem. If you don''t see me after three days, then how about doing what you said?" Fred finally nodded down heavily. They then settled on a clear n for the rest of the way, with Jon rushing out of the entrance first, he would use the Patronus Charm, which not only meant that he would be safer but also meant that he could hold back the vast majority of the Dementors. He will run in the exact opposite direction to Fred, to buy Fred time to escape the prison. After deciding on a good direction, Jon did not continue to drag on, the time was really gettingte and the further they dragged on the more dangerous it would be. "Remember to bring those two Aurors back to the ship, let Nick find a chance toe in to see me, I need him to give me some help." After giving Fred a final word of advice, Jon climbed out of the entrance to the cer without hesitation, holding his wand. The dementor leader, always with that eyes hidden under the hood stared dead at him. The more simple-minded it is, the more hatred for Jon breaks through the sky. It is not just a matter of him leading the enemy to find the secret room Voldemort left in Azkaban, but more importantly, the fact that it had spied on the secrets Voldemort had hidden in this prison would also be exposed. Although the dementors will not die, but it does not mean that they are invincible, there is still some magic in the magical world that restricts them simr to the Patronus Charm, such as the barrier set up by Voldemort at the entrance to this cer. Once Voldemort knows about it, it will definitely suffer punishment and retaliation. This caused the dementor leader at the moment he saw Jone out, simply could not control his own instinct, and his tall body lunged forward! Dozens of dementors floating around together, the cold, icy, desperate, deadly aura rushed out of the entire corridor, like countless pairs of bone-chilling cold hands pping Jon''s face. He waved his wand without flinching. "Expecto Patronum!" A soft silver light lit up at the tip of his wand! Threads of light that were not blinding kept spurting out, trying hard to coalesce, but in the end, they could only scatter around Jon''s side, encircling his body and protecting him in the middle. The dementors that surrounded Jon, unable to resist the deep-seated fear in their souls, all subconsciously retreated to a distance, including the dementor leader who hated Jon so much that he went crazy. It was with this gap that Jon spoke very fast and recited another magic spell. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The ring hanging around his neck faithfully yed its rightful role, Jon this time used all the students'' magic power that he had stored in the wagon before, to prolong his flight. He dashed through the gaps between the dementors with great speed, but not only can he fly, but all the jailers in this prison also have the innate ability to fly. A ck mass of Dementors floated higher into the air, their leader seemed to be hissing something, and almost all the Dementors present rushed towards Jon, trying to encircle him in the middle again. The n went much more smoothly than they had expected at the beginning, and the dementor leader really seemed to hate Jon to the core and didn''t even bother with Fred, who was still in the cer. Fred wore the cloak of invisibility that Jon had left for him, which, even if it could not evade the dementors'' senses, could help him a lot in such a chaotic situation. So, everything went as Jon nned, and he escaped from Azkaban prison without incident. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 197: Jon also Fell Silent (2 in 1) Chapter 197: Jon also Fell Silent (2 in 1) But Jon''s side was very rough. The deterrent effect caused by the unformed Patronus Charm was ultimately limited, and the silvery fments of light that surrounded him were constantly being worn down under the deadly coldness. The dementors, who had only kept their distance to surround Jon in the middle, began to shrink their circle around him. And Jon calcted the time, after making sure that Fred at this point in time has escaped the prison, he re-waved his wand. "Expecto Patronum." This time the silver lighting out of the tip of the wand was obviously much weaker than before, the Patronus Charm, a magic that is extremely emotionally dependent, was different from the other spells, and even if Jon was just one step away from summoning the real Patronus, it is still a failed casting. Such a failure will interfere with the next casting state if it casted in just a short time, otherwise, he could have kept using this half-assed Patronus Charm to rush out with Fred. With the renewed Patronus charm, Jon from the first floor of the main hall in mid-air took a turn, and then rushed back to the blocked cer through a gap that had been prominent in the dementors that surrounded him. The magic left by Voldemort still has no signs of diminishing and seems tost for some time, so Jon is safe here for now. The lead dementor obviously felt the naked humiliation, it went even angry and tried to get all the jailers to start impacting the chains that blocked the entrance, but not even the edge of the enclosure was able to break through by them. Jon did not lie to Fred. After learning the Patronus Charm for close to a year, he was indeed only one step away from summoning his own Patronus. Lupin analysed his spell casting and failed the Patronus charm effect, in fact, ording to the normal progress, Jon should have been able to reach the standard at the beginning of the third year of school. But those silvery fments of light just did not do coalesce into an entity, they are like wool scattered all over the ground, obviously can be woven into a jumper, but every time they are picked up, it was just kneaded into a mess, not taking shape at all. What went wrong in the middle Lupin had no clue, he had the experience of teaching thirty to forty people who learned to form a Patronus Charm, but it was the first time he saw an exception like Jon. So, it is not wrong to say that there is only one step away from summoning the real Patronus. However, in front of this step, there is a locked door in the way, if Jon can not open this door, then he will always be stepping on thest step. Of course, this does not mean that he gave up on saving himself. After he returned to the cer, in order not to be disturbed by the dementors outside, he climbed down directly into the underground chamber left by Voldemort. After using the Wand-Lighting Charm, Jon began to sort out the process of casting the Patronus Charm with a contemtive look on his face. His gestures and pronunciation are naturally standard and error-free, the only thing that can go wrong is the richness of emotion. To be honest, he has never felt that he is a dark person, and always insisted on the idea that there are many bad people in this world, but there are still more good people. Whether in thought or action, he could consider having sufficient positive energy, but how he could not meet the requirements of the Patronus Charm, was something that baffled him. Even sometimes he could not help but wonder if his own perception of himself is what is wrong, he actually is not as good and positive as he imagined ...? There was also the time when he asked Lilly for advice, she said something, which Jon still hasn''t forgotten. When summoning a Patronus, the emotions required are not necessarily all happy and positive, some feelings as long as they are positive and can touch the caster, can also meet the requirements. But Jon recalled for a long time, he still could not think, of those so-called emotions that can really touch his heart. Aftering to this world, he thought that the most striking thing that touched him was the time he got his wand in the Headmaster''s office, and at the freshman dinner. Sea waves, sandy beaches, starry skies, a group of homeless people sticking to a wagon facing the sea, singing the school song which had finally been unified in tune after nearly a thousand years. There was no moment he found more touching than this. Especially when he knew that in the right course of history, these people should have been in the warmth of the castle, cheerfully greeting a wonderful new year. But at the end of that school year, Slughorn and Dumbledore finally came to the final step in a n that had been conspiring together for several years. The fat walrus, who was always smiling, snobbish and afraid of death in the original, lurked into the side of the man who is most dangerous and should have been most capable of giving him power and honour. His former peers had spat at him countless times in private because of misinformation, and the students, who were in the dark, thought he had be a withered skeleton under a cold tombstone, turning into a star that rested forever in the sky. This has shaken Jon further. It is because it touched him, that he agreed to Dumbledore, to go to Hogwarts Castle. Although he is young in appearance, his mind is mature enough, the key thing is, he had learned lumency from Slughorn, which made him the perfect candidate. So when Dumbledore asked for his opinion, Jon actually did not have a lot of hesitation. These people are not the cold names in the book of fairy tales he read in his previous life, but one after another vivid people. They have no reservations about sacrificing themselves to protect Jon and the students, which Jon couldn''t ept with peace of mind. He always had felt that it was only wise for adults to consider what was best for themselves. The pureblood and half-blood wizards lying in the graveyard of the seaside cliffs are also adults, but instead of enjoying the benefits that Voldemort fought for them, they died for a group of "mudbloods" who had nothing to do with them, is it because they are stupid? In the eyes of "smart people" it is indeed very foolish, just like when Jon agreed to go to Hogwarts Castle, the "smart people" will also scold him for being a fool, who lived for more than 20 years in his previous life. And then after arriving at Hogwarts castle, and seeing Hermione and others'' situation on that taming ground, Jon at first did not feel anything, other than sadness. What really touched him was when Hanton said he wanted to fly once in the sky on a flying broom, Ariel said her mother knitted her knitted hat every year, but she will never have it again, and Hermione braced herself at the risk of being cleansed of her memories to tell the first years who were being domesticated that they are not ves and were never born inferior to others. We are all human, saying these words, doing all of those things as ordinary 12, 13-year-old children, they have flesh and blood, will cry andugh, have no adult soul like Jon, they had a good family, and then it was broken by the evil magical society. It''s sad just to hear it, isn''t it? Watching them first-hand and spending time with them, how could Jon be indifferent? So he took the initiative to mention to Dumbledore about saving these children, who in fact has already nned this step when he was allowed to enter the castle at the beginning. But in the end, the implementation of this n depends on whether Jon can save them or not, otherwise, it will only harm others and harm himself. After that, the thing that touched him the most was, of course, Hermione broke away from the big line, and resolutely walked towards the Dolohov scene. He actually does not have much interest in the Hermione character in his previous life, Jon originally liked the Harry Potter lore and world, but if he specifically asked if he liked the characters, he couldn''t really say much. Therefore, in the beginning, when seeing Hermione, he only thought "Oh, this little girl should have been the protagonist of this world" and so on. In that dangerous and repressive environment, who would think so much about other deeper things? But the scene where she publicly hanged in front of the entrance hall did touch Jon. One of the protagonists of a story is bound to have her highlights, and in this dark world, Hermione''s original ws have been worn away by suffering, the shining light of her personality, illuminated the entire gloomy castle at noon that day. She was only 13 years old. This has touched him again and again, and every time Jon thinks about these things and experiences, his emotions ought to definitely be positive. But his Patronus, which belonged to him, still seemed unsatisfied and never wanted toe out, which left Jon helpless. He just propped up half of his head with one hand for a long time, thinking in this manner. Also attempted the Patronus Charm for a long while, but there was still no sign of sess. Just when he pulled out his pocket watch and nced at the time on it which had already reached midnight, a bright luminous figure floated down from the top of the chamber without a sound. It was Nick. After seeing the arrival of Nick, Jon steeled himself. "Did the dementors try to stop you when you came in? "They went crazy when they saw me." Nick smacked his lips and said, "If I am still alive, I will be sucked dry by them all, but fortunately I am dead and can not die again." He talked to Jon about what happened to Fred after he left the prison. "Near the time when the sun was going down, I felt that the stunning spell on that Auror was about to expire. But I didn''t dare to leave him ande back to you guys, so I just waited, but it didn''t take long for Fred toe out and strengthen the stunning spell on the Auror, and then dragged him and another Auror to the Hogwarts ship." "By that time I knew from him what had happened to you, the other students on the ship also knew, they were very anxious, and many others proposed to get off the ship to save you on the ind, but at least I was able to persuade them." Nick had a fairly rxed look on his face as he looked over at Jon. "Fred asked me to find you immediately after the two Aurors were settled, so what do you need my help on? You already have a n to escape from here, don''t you? I saw the magic that blocked the entrance when I came in, and it looks like it won''t be long before it fails, so tell me what arrangements you have." Hearing Nick''s words, Jon couldn''t help but frown. He first climbed out of the chamber, the dementors are still in front of the entrance to the cer, blocking the entrance in front of those green chains, and just as Nick said, the green chains have be dark and light, it seems that not much timeter, it can no longer continue to maintain the effectiveness. Jon took a deep breath, he turned his head to Nick with a serious face. "I do need your help, Nick,ter you have to get back to Hogwarts immediately, no matter what you try, coaxing or tricking, to get the ship going and get the others off the ind!" Nick froze. He stared nkly at Jon, and it took him half a second to make a sound. "You don''t have a way to get out, did you lie to Fred?" "I didn''t lie to him, I have a way to stay on the ind, and continue to wrestle with these dementors, but there is no way to get rid of them, and once they find the ship on the ind, they will definitely attack the others on board, I can''t protect them, they have to go first." Nick''s eyes stared at him unblinkingly as he said with a trembling voice. "You lied to Neville and George at first, then to Fred, and now you want to start fooling me as well?" Jon rubbed his forehead with a headache. "No, Nick, I really do have an idea." "If you have a solution, why don''t you break out of jail now!" Nick''s voice got louder as he red at Jon, "Who do you think I am? Leaving me to do whatever I can to trick Neville and the others into sailing the ship! Abandon you here? I''m not capable of that! Jon Green!" "They won''t be able to sail on without you, each and every one of them, how can they sail on without you? This is only the first stop on a voyage, and not even a month has passed!" Jon tried hard to convince him. "Neville, he is excellent too, Fred and George are not that out of tune, Hermione, she has always been very calm, and there is you, you will help them." "I''m a ghost! A dead man who couldn''t even save his own life! You''re asking me to help these kids?" Nick grumpily said, "Do you know what those kids were doing when I got off the ship?" "They got every spell book rted to the Patronus charm out of the library, and all the students over the third year are ready to start teaching themselves how to summon a Patronus!" Jon froze. "I told Fred to wait three days. ..." "Yes, they are willing to wait for you for three days, but after three days, if you don''t show up, no one will leave!" Nick interrupted Jon''s words, "They n to die on this ind until you can get out of here!" "So, if you want me to find a way to coax them to sail, fine, I''ll do it, but you''ll have to figure out how! What kind of words and lies should I tell to get a group of kids like them to leave you behind and sail away?" Nick gasped violently because of the agitation, the cer went silent, and the dementors outside were also silent, coldly emitting that cold dead silence. Jon was also silent. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 198: Belonging Chapter 198: Belonging The cer went quiet. The dementors that were blocked outside the entrance, however, were getting more and more agitated. Unlike the other Dementors, the leader of the Dementors, who is the tallest and has the most aged cloak, has his eyes fixed on Jon, who is looking nkly at the increasingly dull green chains. "What do you think you are in Hogwarts, Jon?" Nick''s voice slowly became calm as he stared at the boy in front of him who still maintained a calm outward appearance and asked. Jon looked a bit at a loss for words at his seemingly easy-to-answer question. He opened his mouth to answer a rey that seemed like it would simplye out of his mouth, but there was no way to spit it out in one single breath. "I- I''m part of Hogwarts, right?" "Everyone is a part of Hogwarts, and so am I, so are Fred, George, Neville and the others, and so are the other professors, including Dumbledore himself." Nick said in a bitter voice. "But they each y a different role in an organization like ours, some are the hope for the future, others are the pirs of the present, and a few are the leaders. What about you, Jon, what position have you felt you have been in this school all along?" Jon gave little thought to the question as he said softly. "I''m no different from Neville and the others, we''re no different." "So what are you doing now? If you''re no different why are you on this ind? If there''s no difference, why aren''t you on the ship waiting for the others to return? Counting the years since I died, I don''t know how many people I''ve met in this world, we haven''t known each other long, Jon, but there''s something wrong with you that I actually found out at the beginning." A chilly aura had begun to permeate the cer, and Nick''s voice echoed through it. "You haven''t been able to position yourself clearly! You are no different from Neville and the others in terms of identity, both of you are Hogwarts students, but if you are really no different, then why did Dumbledore ask you to lead the ship on this journey?" "You are always trying to help others in the school with what you can, even always taking the most dangerous tasks on yourself, isn''t that why you are here?" Jon took a deep breath. "Professors, since they cany down their lives to protect us, if I think I can do this with my ability, of course, I will shoulder it. I was taught from childhood that I can''t just get what others give for nothing, and since they can protect me, then I can likewise protect others." "But they are professors, it is their duty as professors to protect their students, and what are you, Jon?" Nick looked at him, "You said yourself that you''re no different from the others, so why are you trying to do what only professors are supposed to do?" "Because I have the ability to do it, and if I can go do it, then why wouldn''t I do it?" "Those who have the ability can contribute more, but while taking on more responsibilities, you should likewise recognize your own identity. If you are in a normal Hogwarts, with Dumbledore, with other professors in the situation, you are indeed no different from Neville and them, a student to be protected, but in the present, others are being protected by you, you are the leader! Why didn''t those students want to leave, didn''t they know how dangerous it would be to stay on this ind for a longer duration? It is because they know, that no one on this ship can count on themselves, they no longer need your ability, but you yourself! You keep trying to help them as much as you can, and it feels like you''re just taking pity on them, trying to reach out to help a group of people who have nothing to do with you. You try to be nice to the whole of Hogwarts just because the professors are nice to you, and you want to return the favour. I''m not saying it''s wrong, but has it ever urred to you that being on board, or having you around them, is actually the biggest help to them?" Nick concluded with a loud question "Belonging! Jon, after all, you''ve done, why do you still have no sense of belonging to Hogwarts?" His question left Jon dumbstruck. Because only today, when Nick said it, Jon seemed to understand what exactly he wascking. From the time he came to this world, he was like a casual spectator, even if he is in Hogwarts as one of them, he always subconsciously thought that this is not where he belongs. He is a transmigrator, every time he sees a person who he had read about in the book, the feeling is always novel. He pitied what happened to these people today,mented how originally they should have lived afortable and happy life, and every emotion he felt was actually from a bystander''s point of view, like a story emotionally moving your heart. All these emotions are of course positive, but they don''t really belong to him, because he never puts himself into them. It was as if he had seen from one book to another, what began as a fairy tale waster a bloody reality, so he imposedpassion and wanted to help these people in any way he could. But such help is like a passer-by travelling to a certain ce, pulling out a phone when an ident is seen on the road, he knows he will not stay, and in the end, he still has to go to his original destination. But he to the world, or Hogwarts is he really just a passer-by? When thinking about this issue, Jon''s face showed thoughtfulness, but his hand subconsciously gripped the chestnut wand. Suddenly, a sound like something breaking sounded. "Ka-chow!" At the entrance, those green chains, which had dulled to the extreme, finally had no way to continue to maintain! The icy cold of death and despair, like the cold wind at the mouth of the valley, surged out, and the jailers, who had long been impatient, rushed into the cer from the entrance, squeezing,pletely blocking off the exit where they could escape! Nick''s face became anxious, he himself is a dead man, the dementors of course could not affect him a bit, but Jon is different. However, Jon''s hand holding the wand did not move, he acted as if he was surprised by Nick''s question until the leader at the forefront of those dementors with great anger and pleasure hade to him, he finally reacted and waved his wand. "Expecto Patronum!" The incantation sounded exactly the same as usual, and the always-standard-as-usual spell-casting action didn''t change a bit. But this Patronus charm is different from all the previous ones. The previous mild silver light actually shone a little blindingly, the entire cer was illuminated as if it were day! Those chaotic fments of light, in a never-before-seen trajectory, began to float, converge, and finally gathered together! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 199: The Big Liar Chapter 199: The Big Liar Silver light coalesced into shape. A lion with a mane fluttering in the wind and a cold gaze, lying beside Jon! But the silver light floating in mid-air, only half consumed, the other part is also rapidly transformed into a solid, only less than a secondter than the lion. A small badger continued to jump in mid-air, leaving a dot of silver light andnding on Jon''s shoulders! The moment that lion appeared, the closest dementors to Jon had begun to hiss in pain, they were like being roasted on a fire, the already tattered robes, constantly have shreds of cloth fluttering down from the bottom, and eventually turned into a wisp of ck gas! The most tormented, naturally, is the dementor leader who originally could not wait to suck Jon dry. Its withered hand was already touching the corner of Jon''s coat, the moment the lion and badger appeared, the front of the finger was as if it had been lit, and the ck gas kept floating away! The lion slowly stood up from the ground, it faced the dementors who just rushed into the cer a few seconds before and began to scramble to get out again, fiercely showing its silvery fangs! The little badger standing on Jon''s shoulder leapt down and mounted the lion''s head, and together the two animals drove the dementors out of the cer! Nick watched the scene in shock from the moment Jon began to summon the Patronus. He stared dumbfounded at Jon, who was also dazed in ce and stammered, unable to even say aplete sentence. "You-you, didn''t lie to Fred! And that''s-that''s" "Two Patronus?" Jon helped him finish the unsaid words. Even Jon found it hard to believe because he had gone through many books and notes on the subject under Lupin''s guidance to learn the Patronus Charm. From ancient times to the present, there are many examples of Patronus undergoing changes after having different experiences, but it is unprecedented for a wizard to be able to summon two Patronus at the same time. And, what''s more, a lion and a... Badger? If only a single animal had appeared, it might not have reminded them of anything, but what the lion and badger meant to Hogwarts as a school, no one knew better than Nick, who had been the resident ghost for hundreds of years. Jon naturally knows what this could mean. Hogwarts has a total of four animals representing the qualities of different houses, now bravery and loyalty are present, then will the other two also possibly appear? After all, if you can summon two kinds, then why can''t you summon four? Jon didn''t think long on this question deep enough to ponder, he hadn''t forgotten where they are currently at. "Let''s not think about it so much now,e on Nick, let''s wait until we get back to the ship." Nick nodded with aplicated look on his face and followed Jon''s side as he walked out of the cer. The corridor outside had be empty, and only the silvery fments of light remaining in mid-air told what had just happened here. When approaching the castle gate, the lion and badger who were chasing the dementors returned to Jon''s side gently. These two animals, one leading and one behind, the lion in front of lead, and the small badger at the back followed, together with Jon they left Azkaban. On the way, Jon tentatively stretched out his hand to touch the lion Patronus in front of him, the big guy who was half a man tall as if it could sense his thoughts, took the initiative to stop and let Jon touch its mane. The Patronus is not as illusory as the ghost, Jon can really touch the entity of the lion, but the texture is obviously not like normal fur, there is a big difference with the real lion. "Why are there two Patronus? Or why a lion and a badger?" All the way, Nick has been rambling and repeating these two questions, but even Jon himself could not give him an answer. He himself does not know why he can summon two Patronus, and it also happens to be two of the symbolic animals of Hogwarts. But after sessfully summoning the Patronus, he finally understood a bit why it was so difficult for him to learn the Patronus Charm. Not only his mentality has been a problem that has not been solved. Others have only one, he has two, and there may be two more, so the process is more difficult andplicated, when you think about it, isn''t it quite reasonable? They did not stop on the way, passing through half of Azkaban Ind, and finally arrived beside Hogwarts in the second half of the night. The Patronus charm will be cancelled soon, so Jon did not bother to call out to the people on the ship, and let them put down the steps, but directly used the levitation charm and flew to the deck with Nick. "Well. Let''s discuss everythingter when everyone wakes up tomorrow. I''m going to loosen the rudder that''s anchored the ship first, we can''t continue to spend the night on this ind, those dementors will probably search the whole ind soon and find us, we have to leave immediately." Jon while talking to Nick, walked towards the rudder position by halfway, and just as he approached the mast and was about to reach the helm position, a subtle but firm voice came to his ears with the sea breeze. "Expecto Patronum." In the moonlight, Hermione was at the bow of the ship. She waved her wand step by step, reciting an incantation, but only a few silver sparks asionally exploded from the tip of her wand. Jon and Nick did not make a sound, they looked at each other, Jon crossed his arms in front of his body, half of his body leaning against the mast, just listening as the girl kept reciting the incantation sound. "See, it''s the same old thing I told you before, at the end of the pronunciation, don''t add your own habitual intonation. There is also swinging the wand, this upward stroke should be grasped to this position." He pointed out the girl''s problem in casting spells as if it were a side issue. Hermione froze. She turned her head, looking at Jon''s eyes gradually from dumbfounded to surprise, and finally, her body and voice could not stop trembling. "You actually did not lie to Fred." Jon spread his hands and blinked his eyes with an innocent face. "Hey,e on, don''t think that I''ve lied to you before like I''m a massive liar with an addiction to lying." However, Nick on the side did not spare any half-heartedness to demolish the stage on the spot. "He''s a liar! I proved that when I first found him, he tried to get me to trick you guys into sailing the ship first! If I hadn''t taught him a lesson, he might have been sucked to death by the dementors by now!" "Oi oi oi, no one takes you for a mute if you don''t speak, Sir Nichs, you are a ghost, you should try to reduce your presence." "I *spit*!" *** [Author;] I''m also a big liar () --- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 200: Escape and Resistance Chapter 200: Escape and Resistance "Have something first, Tom." A haggard-looking Sara carried an omelette and grilled sausage and ced it in front of her husband. Tom was reading the newspaper, but all he saw in the newspaper was that the man who was hated and feared by countless French muggle wizards was smiling icily in the front page article. [Seventy percent of the mudbloods have had their wands seized, and Mr Minister announced the establishment of temporary re-educational camps] Looking at the two lines of bolded and erged news headlines, the two hands of Tom gripping the newspaper unconsciously clenched up. Sara held his hand, her face was full of pain and bleakness. "Why don''t we just go, honey, escape from here and go somewhere else." "That''s what those British muggles thought when they fled to thisnd of ours." Tom''s voice was agitated, "Where can we escape now? North to Belgium or Hond? South to Spain or Portugal? Ennd and France have fallen into his hands, do you think the Ministry of Magic of these countries can stop him? Where can we escape to when the timees!" Sara shed silent tears as she clutched her husband''s hand, filled with trepidation and anxiety at the changes that had already turned her whole world upside down in just under a month. They were originally a happy and promising family of wizards. Both husband and wife were muggle wizards who graduated from Beauxbatons. Tom was recruited into the French Ministry of Magic right after graduation due to his excellent grades, and with his outstanding ability, even without any political background, he was already the head of the office at the age of just over thirty. The wife, Sara, worked as a tailor in a magic robe store, working quite leisurely and taking care of the children who had not yet reached school age. However, such a life was shattered just three weeks ago. No one knows what happened at that impromptu council meeting, but overnight, the dark lord who ruled Britain and was notorious in the hearts of muggle wizards all over the world suddenly became the Minister of Magic in France. The whole Ministry of Magic from top to bottom became his loyal followers, and all the original muggle employees were searched and imprisoned. On the night of the meeting, Tom sensed that the atmosphere inside the Ministry was not quite right, and escaped from it in time to avoid a disaster. Now he has taken his wife and daughter to hide in the countryside in Rouen, avoiding the search for those Aurors who seized the wand. After more than a decade in politics, Tom knew very well what would happen to the muggle wizards under the bloodline policy after the wands were taken away, and they would all be fish for the ughter and turn into ves under the Dark Lord''s government! But even though they are far from Paris, Tom''s current situation is still extremely dangerous. The Aurors, who had more than doubled their manpower, were searching for muggle wizards all over France, and as long as they didn''t escape, it is just a matter of time before they are discovered. "Is Julie still not up?" Tom put down the newspaper in his hand and wiped the tears from his wife''s eyes. Sara sniffled and gathered her emotions. "She wasn''t awake when I went to check on her, so I didn''t call out to her." "Then let her sleep a little longer, she''s been frightened these days." Just as they were talking and getting ready to start breakfast, Tom suddenly looked up keenly. Outside the window, a few dark shadows suddenly shed by! His entire nerves were instantly tightened, but his hands moved slightly and unmistakably to put down his knife and fork, and then grabbed Sara''s arm. Sara looked at him, both did not speak, but the tacit understanding cultivated over the years together long ago allowed them to know exactly what was happening just by looking at each other''s eyes. With a look of horror on her face, she rose from her chair in some panic and turned around and walked towards the stairs leading to the first-floor bedroom at a fast pace. Tom restrained his trembling hand, pulled out his wand, which was always in his coat pocket, and then moved extremely carefully to approach the wall where the front door is located. He pressed himself against the wall and waved his wand over himself as he recited the spell in a very soft voice. "Protego." An invisibleyer of shield formed on the surface of his body, and the closer he got to the door, the more he could hear the movement outside the door, and even vaguely heard an intermittent exchange of voices. "-He is hiding here ." "Exactly. I used Legilimency on that muggle woman to look through her memory just now." Tom''s palms were sweating as he gripped his wand, but this time his otherwise trembling hands stabilized instead. He turned his head to look at his daughter who had already called up and Sara who was clutching her hand and looking at him from the stairway to the first floor with tears on her face which filled with fear and worry. He opened his mouth and suppressed his voice to shout. "Go immediately!" Julie, who had just been called up from bed, seemed to have guessed her father''s next fate, and she was about to cry out with red eyes, but Sara covered her mouth. Both mother and daughter were in tears, and Sara raised her wand. The knock on the door and the sound of her saying the spell name sounded almost at the same time! "Apparition." She took Julie with her, and their bodies twisted together for an instant, yet in the next second, with a sound like a whip striking the air, the two of them appeared abruptly in the same ce again! The Apparition charm is blocked! Sara and Tom''s faces werepletely filled with despair, and such a violent movement naturally made the people outside the house notice that something was wrong. "Damn it! They''ve found us and are trying to escape!" Tom raised his wand at the door with a determined look, but before he could even recite the incantation, the deafening sound of an explosion came crashing down on him! "Boom!" The main door was instantly blown to smithereens, and along with it, arge portion of the surrounding walls copsed. Sara and Julie on the stairs leading to the first floor let out a piercing scream, but Tom did not hesitate to cast a spell on that puff of smoke in front of him over and over! "Expelliarmus!" A red light shed, piercing the smoke, but as if it was swallowed up, it did not set off half a ripple. Just in the next second, a voice of three reciting incantations simultaneously sounded from behind the smoke. "Avada Kedavra!" *3 The ghastly green light that was countless times more blinding than the red lightpletely dispelled the grey smog, and Sara, who was heading for the flying broom while escorting her daughter to the first floor, screamed out! She abandoned the idea of escaping and ran down the stairs like a maniac. The good thing is that the long office life did not wear out Tom''s vignce and reaction, at the moment he heard the sound of the incantation, he rolled over to hide behind the sofa. The three killing cursended on the cushions of the sofa, directly exploding it to pieces, and countless feathers fluttered in the air. Sara rushed to her husband''s side, she grabbed Tom''s arm with one hand, apanied by her daughter who ran along with her and was crying out, full of anger and deadly hater, she raised her wand together with her husband. If you can''t escape, you can only resist! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 201: The Rebellious Witch and the Honest Wizard Chapter 201: The Rebellious Witch and the Honest Wizard "Tom Griezmann, you''ve made a rather serious mistake." Three male wizards broke into their house, and the one in the lead smiled with a sneer on his face as he looked at the family of three who ducked behind the sofa with their bodies shaking. "What I like most, is when you mudbloods resist, as long as you resist, then we will have an excuse to kill. Otherwise, the only thing that we need to do is take away your wands and bring you to the re-educational camp, which is something that would disappoint me." "Cruise!" Tom called out the name of the male wizard who had spoken, which made it obvious that he and that man had known each other previously in the Ministry of Magic as fellow staff members. "Do you know what you are doing! You are betraying your own country! Betraying your own countrymen!" He roared, but the French Auror named Cruise waved his hand with a disgusted look. "It''s sickening to hear my name out of your mouth. Do the country and fellow countrymen matter to a wizard? Why must we differentiate ourselves by the boundaries drawn by muggles? These are just the brainwashing that you muggle-bred wizards have carried out to cover up your inferiority to the entire magicalmunity and all wizards, only bloodline is the only division that distinguishes wizards!" Tom looked at him in shock, hearing these words spoken by Cruise made his whole heart flutter in shock. "Who said this! This is a way to divide us! We are all fellow countrymen! We are all French wizards! This is the identity that we all share, not that bloodline that doesn''t make any sense!" Only at this moment, he noticed the two wizards standing next to Cruise, both wearing the uniform of the French Auror, but their faces are unfamiliar to him. "Who are these people? They are not French wizards?" The male wizard standing on Cruise''s left side said with a grim face and a hoarse voice. "Stop talking all this nonsense and finish them quickly, we have two more to visit today." Cruise shrugged, it looked like he didn''t have a problem with the male wizard giving orders, and he raised his wand at the Tom family. "Farewell forever." "Stupefy!" Sara screamed and tried to counterattack in advance, but her stunning spell just hit the film of light in front of the Aurors, without even creating a crack, and was easily blocked. The spell-casting gap between untrained wizards and Aurors is huge, and Sara who can''t even use the shield charm properly, and who is only skilled in life spells rted to cutting clothes and household chores, aren''t their opponent. "Confringo!" The incantation of curse sounded, and Tom suddenly held his wife and daughter under his body, trying to rely on his shield charm and body to save their lives. However, because he was too nervous, he did not hear that the voice that recited the incantation sounded with a light and brisk female tone. "Boom!" An even louder explosion rang out than when the Aurors had just broken through the door and the wall that had already been half-copsed nowpletely copsed! The Cruise and the two were unprepared for this sneak attack that was clearly aimed at them, the shield charm on them lit up with a reddish-yellow glow, then onlysted a few seconds before the spell shattered with a bang, the massive impact of which shook them all to the ground! "Che! If you have an ability why don''t you pick a fight against someone your own size instead of bullying a normal family?" Behind them, a young witch with a pale, peachy face, dark, and shiny eyes, wearing a rebellious style shirt, patchwork jeans, and brightly coloured hair with a tinted gradient, waved her wand and said provocatively to Cruise and the others. A middle-aged male wizard in a grey robe, equally paleplexion and scrawled hair, with a gentle face, stood by the witch''s side. "Talking too much nonsense can easily jinx things, just like them, if they hadn''t dyed so long, they wouldn''t have been able to wait until we came over, so hurry up and do your job." The witch who seemed to have a mboyant personality unexpectedly obeyed. "Dumbledore told me to listen to you, Professor Lupin, so, of course, whatever you say." They raised their wands together and used spells on the Aurors who were woefully getting up from the ground. The battle between wizards actually has many simrities to gun battles in modern warfare, the main thing is to grasp gun fire suppression first. As long as you use the spell first and break the shield of the other side, you will have absolute initiative, as long as your spell does not stop, then the enemy can only try to dodge, and it is difficult to dodge while taking out energy to counterattack. Of course, this only applies to the majority of ordinary wizards, if the strength gap is very high, it is not included in the general context. But Cruise and the others obviously do not belong to the group that has the high level of strength, and even their strength is obviously inferior to that of Lupin and Tonks who rushed over. The Anti-Apparition Charm that they had deployed all around the area, which was originally used to restrict Tom''s family''s escape, had now be an obstacle to their escape. In the end, all three were knocked unconscious by the spell and fell to the ground. Tom held his wife''s arm and wrapped his daughter in front of him with another hand, looking at the man and woman who had entered his now-tattered home in a trance. He originally intended to die, before using the spell against them, he knew very well what resistance meant for the current French muggle wizard. Yet these two people in front of him, like a godsend hero, saved their family. "Thank you. Thank you." He said thanks with a sincere face, but his gaze which was full of relief from the disaster was mixed with doubts in addition to joy. Lupin saw this doubt in him and said in a warm voice. "Hello, Mr Griezmann, I am a professor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry led by Mr Dumbledore and a member of the Order of the Phoenix, my name is Remus Lupin, and this is Nymphadora Tonks." "Now the situation isplicated, forgive me for only being able to briefly exin the situation to you today. The Dark Lord dispatched several of his loyal subordinates, Lestrange and others, to upy the top positions in the French Ministry of Magic many years ago, including your Chief Wizard Chancellor and the former Minister of Magic, which is why he was able to take the entire authority of France in his hands so easily." "But there are not only a few wizards in France who fight for justice. The students of thete master alchemist Nichs mel - Mr Javier Iniesta - along with Dumbledore as well as the Headmaster of Durmstrang - Mr Gellert Bagshot also joined their forces and prepared to resist the Dark Lord''s evil reign in Europe." "We are rescuing the muggle-born wizards who have been ughtered and taken away by Aurors, I wonder if you would like toe with us to meet Mr Iniesta and Dumbledore?" Tom and Sara looked at each other, and naturally, there was no surprise in their response. "Of course we are willing." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 202: Wizard Equality Front Chapter 202: Wizard Equality Front Something simr to what Lupin and Tonks are doing is happening all over France at this time. Even though Voldemort hasplete control over the upper echelons of the France wizards, his control over the country is not absolute. Some people will be obedient because of fear, and there are definitely people who resist because of discontent. The people who are rebelling are the very people that Dumbledore is trying to unite with, among these people the most high-status, and also the most well-known person, naturally, is Nics mel''s former student - Javier Iniesta. To be more precise, Nics mel never epted any disciples or heirs during his lifetime, except that decades ago, he had taught in Beauxbatons for a period of time as a professor of alchemy, and finally donated all his sry for those years of work when he left to help Beauxbatons build a fountain park in the estate. It was also during this time that all the French wizards who followed Nics mel''s sses could im to be his pupils, except that Javier was truly one of the most talented, liked by that master alchemist, and had the highest achievements. Before Voldemort ruled the whole of Britain, Dumbledore had met this gentle male wizard in Nics mel''s house, so it was clear that he was not some kind of reputation-fishing person who was taking advantage of Nics mel''s name. Furthermore, Javier has previously worked in Beauxbatons as a professor of charms ss as well as deputy headmaster. However, at the beginning of this year, before Voldemort made his official debut in the French magicalmunity, Madame Maxime was expelled and a male wizard with no reputation at all in the French magicalmunity was parachuted into the school as the Headmaster, and then Javier was inexplicably put on a charge for privately researching dark magic and taking students to do human experiments, thus being wanted. For nearly half a year, he had been in exile and hiding in various parts of France, while always inquiring about the political changes in the Ministry of Magic, and the dramatic changes within Beauxbatons alerted him. As a matter of fact, on the night of the temporary council meeting, after Voldemort openly announced his appointment as the French Minister of Magic, he immediately reacted. With the fastest speed, he went to the homes of several of his muggle wizard friends and students, gathered them together, and began to hide from Auror''s pursuitter on. Tony and the group who openly attacked the Ministry of Magic at the beginning were also the people they contacted, but these people reacted more fiercely and acted much more aggressively, wanting to blow up the Ministry of Magic to let more French muggle wizards resist. But the Ministry of Magic which was destroyed overnight was restored to its original state by Voldemort, and what they did was blocked from the public, so few wizards knew what kind of feat the seven men had carried out. After a small-scale rebellion and the gathering of several muggle wizards, Dumbledore had people get in touch with them. At the very beginning, they were still disputing whether to join Dumbledore or not. Not only the pureblood wizards under Voldemort''s rule were resistant to the presence of British wizards in France, but these muggle wizards were also so. But in the end, it was Javier who decided to meet with Dumbledore to facilitate the unification of the two parties. The final meeting together actually had three parties, with another supposedly new Headmaster of the Durmstrang School in recent years, an elderly male wizard named - Gellert Bagshot. With Dumbledore leading the remaining Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix, Javier leading the French resistance wizards'' party, and Gellert leading the surviving members of the North European acolytes and new members of the "Alliance" (the official name of the acolytes), they met together in Lyon, the secondrgest metropolitan area in France. Their demands are all absolutely unanimous: to defeat Voldemort, to free all enved muggle wizards by abolishing all blood distinctions, and to give equal rights to all wizards, regardless of their origin. Thus, on the same night, the Wizards Equality Front (Wizards equal front) was established. Dumbledore and Javier joined forces in France to save the French muggle wizards who were being hunted down and killed, using the French wizardingmunity, which was in chaos, as the front line of the war. Gellert, on the other hand, operated in Northern Europe, safeguarding their logistics and nonbatants, while contacting other wizard regimes in Germany, Belgium, the Nethends, Find, Sweden, etc., to gain their support. This is the starting point of Voldemort''s reign of blood very over all of Europe, and the time Dumbledore has been waiting so long to rebel. After so many years of operation, the entire Britain has been solidly rooted by Voldemort, so wanting to overturn his rule from within Britain, is too difficult. But once Voldemort began the external invasion, it will force more people to stand against him, the Order of the Phoenix can use this opportunity to obtain support from the outside, and finally, reach the purpose of reiming the British Isles. This is the direction set by Dumbledore and is also the goal of the resolution of all members of the Order of the Phoenix. After the official establishment of the Wizard Equality Front, this new organization also began to function. The first and foremost goal they face today is to rescue as many muggle wizards as possible, bring them together, and filter out those who can bebatants, as well as their families who can serve as logistical support personnel. After ruling the French magicalmunity, Voldemort established two political and military centres that he used to radiate his influence over the entire French magicalmunity. One is naturally the French Ministry of Magic located in Paris in the north, and the other is the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic within the Pyrenees in the south. The Wizard Equality Front people simply saved plenty of muggle-born wizards in areas far from these two centres. Dumbledore was temporarily settled in Lyons, where he worked with Javier to assign work and meet and appease the rescued muggle wizards. After a busy day, he was a little tired lying on the cushioned chair, closed his eyes ready to think about some things, but not long before he justy down, the office door was knocked on. The old man, who was already over 100 years old, sat up again, put on the crescent-shaped sses and let the person outside the door in. McGonagall clutched the materials in her hands and ced them in his office. "Those of us left in Britain have been in private contact with quite a few of the muggle-born wizards who are enved, there are still a few of them who still have thoughts of resistance, while most have been affected by the envement pact for a long time and have chosen to live in peace with the status quo." Dumbledore shook his head. "Let Kingsley, who remains in Britain, think of a way to solve the pact on those who still have thoughts of resistance, we are still too short of people, especially wizards with fighting ability." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 203: Midnight Snack Chapter 203: Midnight Snack "There is also a message from Mr Iniesta, he reported that all the muggle-born wizards in France who can be rescued now, have already been rescued, the rest have basically had their wands seized and taken to that reformatory camp, while some others have escaped from France, can we proceed to the next step of the n?" Dumbledore rubbed his forehead with some headache. "His men, have not given up the idea of breaking into the re-educational camp as the first step?" McGonagall said with a frown. "It does not seem like they have, they look like they can''t wait any longer and put the re-educational camp as the first priority, followed by Beauxbatons." "They are too impulsive and don''t understand the Dark Lord''s determination." Dumbledore said in a hushed voice, "That re-educational camp is the heart of the Dark Lord in maintaining the bloodline rule, and it''s even possible that he might personally be there. There are too few of us, and even fewer wizards trained in professionalbat, there is no way we can break through that fortress he has built up, let alone Beauxbatons after that." McGonagall''s face was also filled with worry. "So what do we do now?" "Although we established a unified organization, the leadership is actually not clearly divided, and there are many people under Javier who do not trust us. Before doing anything else, it is necessary to ensure the coordination of unity of movement in the front, which from the current situation, there is no way toplete in a short time." McGonagall looked at Dumbledore, she opened her mouth and looked like she wanted to say something. Dumbledore blinked and smiled. "We''ve known each other for so many years, Minerva, there''s nothing to hold back if you have any thoughts." "I think you should be more assertive, Albus." McGonagall said seriously, "In this situation now, our main opinion can only be dominated by you." "But don''t forget that I''m actually a loser." Dumbledore spread his hands and said. "If I had not lost at the hands of the Dark Lord before, the current situation would not have reached this level." McGonagall said sharply. "But that''s-" "I know, I know, you have been following me for so long, of course, you will feel that way." Dumbledore interrupted her gently, "but others will certainly think differently, we can not force everyone to think the same, of course, it is not impossible to do, but if we did so, how are we different from them?" McGonagall fell silent. Dumbledore said slowly. "If you don''t agree from the heart, then the so-called obedience is worthless, Minerva." McGonagall let out a long sigh. "Well, I see." "However, since Javier said that almost all the people have been saved, then we can slightly distract ourselves to take care of some things on our side." Dumbledore''s tone suddenly became lighter, he raised a hand, and Fawkes flew to his arm in silence. McGonagall caught on to what he was referring to, and a happy and slightly worried expressionced her face. "Yeah, I wonder how the kids are doing." "You have to believe in them, and Jon." *** Jon did not know exactly how far Dumbledore had carried things in France, and on the night he returned to the ship from Azkaban Ind, he made a rare fuss at George as well as Neville. After returning to the cabin from the deck with Hermione, he realized. Not only Hermione herself, the other students who stayed on the ship, in addition to the small children in the first and second years, the other three grades actually gathered in the great hall and practised the Patronus Charm in a unified manner. "It''s three o''clock in the morning! Three o''clock! How old are they? You want them all to be dwarfster on without going to sleep at this hour?" "I''m your captain, okay? Do you really have any trust in me now? I said I would definitely think of a way toe back after three days, why don''t you guys believe me? When have I ever lied to you?" Nick, who was on the side, wanted to say something, now that there are many people here, he still chose to give Jon some dignity. In the face of Jon''s admonishment, not only did the faces of Neville and the rest didn''t show a bit of embarrassment, but they looked a bit excited. Fred even quietly turned around and wiped his eyes with his sleeve, he was really prepared to stay on Azkaban Ind forever if Jon was really lying to him. Gabrielle, who was floating in mid-air, even hugged Jon''s arm and wiped her tears and cried out. "They all said. You are in danger and trying to send us away, Gabrielle wanted to help, but can''t do anything." "Don''t listen to them in the future, they are all big liars, I''m fine, how could something happen to me." Jon reassured the little girl. "George and Neville didn''t ask us toe over to learn, we all came voluntarily." Ron exined weakly as he smiled along. Jon red at him. "So now that I''m back, why don''t you all get to bed? What are you still doing here? Waiting for a party?" At once, someone cheered. "This is indeed the time to celebrate!" "Yes, Captain, you are back, who can sleep? We are also hungry, let''s go to the kitchen and prepare something, let''s not talk about a banquet, let''s take it as an extra midnight snack." Watching all of their eyes looking at him, Jon''s face could not help but ease down as he said helplessly with his hands stretched. "You all already decided, can I still refuse? If you want to eat a snack, move quickly, or it will be breakfast." The students in the great hall all instantly cheered. They walked out in a line and began to divide the work clearly and went to the deck to set up the arrangements while letting the group that usually had the best cooking skills go to the kitchen. Jon looked at their departing backs, and his face could not help but reveal a smile. He also did not stay idle but called out to Fred. Fred''s expression was a bit sheepish, whether Jon had the intention to lie to him in the beginning or not, but now that he has kept his promise ofing back, the "rumour" that Fred spread, even if his skin is thicker, now he does not want to directly face Jon. "I''ll give you credit for the past few days, and I''ll find you for other thingster." He said wickedly, but Fred was relieved to know that Jon was not really angry. "Where are that Scabior and the other guy? I forgot about them before, now that Hogwarts has the age line magic that Professor Dumbledore helped us cast, you shouldn''t have been able to bring them on board." Speaking of that, Fred turned smug. "How hard can it be for me? I''ll show you them." Fred led Jon out of the cabin to the right side of the ship''s bow, and Scabior and Mair together were tied to the arms and hung over the bow. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 204: Next Stop Chapter 204: Next Stop Hanging people on the bow of the ship is indeed something that''s in line with Fred''s style. They still remained more cautious, even if the Scabior and Mair''s whole bodies are tied up, but they have not forgotten to maintain the Stunning Spell on them at all times. Just one after every few hours is enough to keep them unconscious, the physical quality of the wizard is stronger than the muggle, but it is not to the point of inhumanity. Not to mention the ability to maintain clear consciousness after a prolonged period of time without eating or drinking, just hanging like this for a long time will definitely causeplications. Of course, Jon is not some kind of guy who can''t bear to kill people or anything else. They used the truth serum on the ind to interrogate these two Aurors, of which Scabior alone killed three Order of the Phoenix members at minimum gruesomely to show his attitude towards the bloodline policy. Maybe the previous owner of the wand that one of the students on board is holding right now, was killed by him. Not to mention Mair, a purely brainless murderer, the typical wicked person. If they both died, Jon would not even frown a bit, maybe there will be a celebratory dinner at night. It''s just that these two people are obviously more useful alive than dead, so Jon can only find a way to preserve their lives. Bringing them on board is certainly not doable, so he added some remedial measures to Fred''s program of hanging them. Simply changing the direct hanging method into a hanging cage, and then locking Scabior and Mair together in it. Mair would be willing to eat some food and water, as he feared death and would not dare to resist as long as he could live, but Scabior obviously knew that for him now, death would be a pretty good ending. So, the job of feeding Scabior was simply handed over to Mair, it is not as if people can''t eat when they are unconscious, it''s just they can only have some liquid food. After making sure that the two Aurors couldn''t die, Jon joined the other students to eat a meal that they didn''t know whether to count as a midnight snack or breakfast. Then he went back to his dorm room to rx and take a solid nap and only woke up at noon when the sun went up. The Hogwarts has already gone far from Azkaban Ind, and travelling out of thatyer of grey haze gave them a feeling of a sudden transition to a different world. Jon called Nick over as he ate his lunch. "Did Fred have a chance to talk to you about what we got on this trip?" "He told me when he brought those two Aurors aboard with me." Nick sighed as he nodded with a thoughtful lookced in his gaze. "If that diary was really left behind by the Dark Lord personally, then the purpose of his trip to the sea was actually to strengthen his soul?" "And to recover the fragmented souls from the Horcruxes. I believe he took this diary out to sea with him, and then chose to recover the soul fragment in it in Azkaban." Jon analysed. "Then he left his diary behind, which had lost the ability of the Horcrux, perhaps out of nostalgia, or perhaps because of something else, he did not destroy the diary, but sealed it up." Nick replied. "This is something we need to report to Dumbledore as soon as possible, he should know more hidden secrets than we do." Jon wondered how he could do that, he hadn''t forgotten the promise Dumbledore had made before they went to sea, he promised he would have Fawkes find them once they were settled. Now they have basically lost themunication channel with the magical world, and have no idea how the situation in Britain and France turned out to be. If we calcte the time, and if everything is going well on Dumbledore''s side, it''s about time for them to contact Hogwarts. Themunication link between the professor and them is one-sided, Jon could do nothing but wait, but at present, they have to face the next main issue. "Where are we heading next?" He took out a map of Europe and marked the current location of Hogwarts on it. They are currently at the northernmost end of the North Sea, and the sailing direction is still heading further north, if they keep going without turning, then ording to the current position, they should end up going somewhere at the North Pole. Hearing Jon''s question, Nick''s face showed a serious expression. He stared at the chart and used his transparent finger to trace a route around the North Sea in a curved pattern. "Well, you know, the space where ghosts can travel is by the traces they left behind in their lifetime. Although I did not have this part of the restriction after I left Hogwarts, following that ghost ship, together with the others I could only follow the area where they sailed. They have been wandering around this sea near Azkaban to Britain, because they have only travelled this area while they were alive, so with them, I was mainly doing reconnaissance around Azkaban Ind, and only knew in advance that this was the first stop of the Dark Lord out at sea. As for after he departed from Azkaban, Dumbledore only told me about the ship''s preset destination path, we would keep heading north, out of the North Sea and into the Norwegian sea. I''ve never been to that ce, but our next target won''t be an ind, I believe, it will be a tall tower located in the middle of the ocean." "A tower?" Jon looked at Nick with some surprise. "Is it a building built by a wizard as well?" Nick spread his hands. "What exactly is that tower, I''ve never been there, so I''m not sure, maybe Dumbledore should know something about it, after all, the route of this ship was set by him together with another person. But I suppose he should know just a little more than we do, and certainly, it will be very limited. Otherwise, he would not let you guys use the opportunity toe to sea to look for this issue, the dark lord has always been watching him, and the secret activities he can do is very limited, so he always kept a restraint, or once the fact that we discovered the clues is exposed, it will certainly cause the dark lord to be alerted." Jon''s eyes looked at the Norwegian Sea, which was near the North Pole; now it is already the end of November there is less than a month left before Christmas. The closer they got to the north, especially still on the sea, the colder and damper the atmosphere had be. But fortunately for the wizards, keeping warm would not be a problem, and the ship carried plenty of supplies to keep them out of trouble on top of that. After sailing away from Azkaban, the life of the students on board returned to their daily routines. Except, in addition to the usual study, they now also have an extra fishing hobby. Maybe it has something to do with the identity of the wizard, they can always find some strange fish out of the sea. Just four days after leaving Azkaban Ind, a dazzling golden-red light suddenly lit up in the great hall during a quiet lunch hour. Atst, Dumbledore got in touch with them! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 205: Big Parent Chapter 205: Big Parent Fawkes'' appearance filled the students on board with surprise. These children, who had been brought on board the wagon since they were 11 years old, had lived and studied at Hogwarts for all these years and had never been separated from the professors for such a long time as they had been during this time. They were no strangers to Dumbledore''s pet, and a number of students had excitement written all over their faces after seeing Fawkes, and then Jon picked up a small bag of green powder from its Talons. Phoenix can sing, but certainly can not speak, Jon is not familiar with him to be able tomunicate with him like Dumbledore, being able to understand the meaning just by eye contact. But even if there is no hint, Jon recognized what thing Fawkes brought here. He did not avoid the other students, he chose the firece in the great hall, pinched out a small pinch of green powder from a small bag, and sprinkled it into the firece fire. The next second, under the eyes of the students on the entire ship, the original orange fire instantly became a light green, followed by a familiar face everyone familiar with formed from these green mes. Dumbledore''s face still has that same gentle smile, and he doesn''t look much different, there''s a burst of fire flying behind him, and it looks like he''s not the only one around. The students cheered. They all called out to Professor Dumbledore, and everyone looked like they had a lot to say to him, Dumbledore smiled and everyone spoke one after the other. Even if you include the sixth and seventh-year students who have graduated early, there are less than a hundred people on the whole wagon, so he can name everyone, as well be very familiar with everyone''s personality. He chatted with all of them, not about war, death or the situation there, but as if nothing had changed between now and then. The students talked about the recent fishing contest where Justin, a third-year had won, and how he had somehow managed to catch a small shark by mistake; that many of them are learning the Patronus Charm, and some of them have even been able to summon fments of light; that even at sea they are not rxing, and that by the time of this year''s final exams, everyone will surely be able to meet the usual professors'' requirements for attainment, if there is still a final exam this year. Dumbledore agreed and said that he would give Justin a gold medal and hang his name in the honour room of Hogwarts; expressed his amazement that they could already learn the Patronus Charm at such a young age, and seriously thought that he would consider adding the Patronus Charm to the regr Defense Against the Dark Arts ss in the future; and finally winked and pretended to be serious, saying that there would definitely be a normal final exam this year and the requirements would not be lowered, but probably would be raised, so that they should not neglect. He was like a big parent to all of them, giving people the most reassuring warmth no matter what time it was. The exchangested for more than an hour, in the middle of which Jon also added another pinch of floo powder, and only when it was time for the students to go to ss normally they finally left from the great hall reluctantly. Only Jon and Nick were left alone here, along with Fawkes, who was standing at the table stealing nces at a grape vine Jon had brought to him, with a haughty look of both wanting to eat but also wanting to put up a show. "Looks like you''re taking good care of them all, Captain Green." Dumbledore apparently heard this new title for Jon from the other students and said with a smile. Jon shrugged. "There is nothing to take care of them, and we are not children who stay with our parents carefree all day, we know how to take care of ourselves." Dumbledore''s expression looked a little emotional, he had been Headmaster for decades, and it was both reassuring and sad that the students in Hogwarts today are having the toughest time possible and still being cheerful. "We have just departed from Azkaban Ind." Instead of unnecessary pleasantries, Jon got right to the point. "Despite the twists and turns, the gains were just as great. What the Dark Lord once left on that ind was found by us, and we can have Fawkes bring it backter, and in addition to that, there were some unexpected gains." He told the story of taking Scabior and Mair captive, while also including the words he had inquired out of them. "-The two of them should bring some help to your side Professor, so we brought both of them back, and they could be taken back by Fawkes as well." "This is indeed an unexpected delight. During this period of time, there are more and more strange Aurors in France, and we can guess that the Dark Lord has mobilized the British forces to reinforce the situation here, but just relying on our words, I guess few people will believe it. With these two people you caught, it would be considered as evidence." Dumbledore whispered with a serious gaze. "But there is also a point you guys should pay attention to, even if you hide your true identity and wait for the events that happened in Azkaban to reach the Dark Lord after, he must be aware that we did this. This suspicion does not require evidence, because the only people who can go against him and have the ability to do so are us. I will try to keep an eye on him on the French side, and you need to pay attention next, he certainly must know better than anyone else what ces he went to at that time, and what kind of arrangements he made." Jon nodded and said as he went along with the subject. "After we left Azkaban, Nick mentioned that we would be going to a high tower in the middle of the ocean next?" "That''s right, I tried to go up to that tower once, under another identity, and the old wizard who lives in it is a bit inconsiderate in his attitude, but generally a nice person to be around." Dumbledore said, "I can feel that there are some special arrangements on that tower, which I didn''t investigate in detail, when the Dark Lord prepared it, he must have taken me as a precautionary object for defence. So no matter what you encounter, you must not easily put down your guard." Sure enough, as Nick said, even if the trip was designed by Dumbledore, there is no way to have a clear understanding of how exactly their voyage will be followed. After all, their destination and direction, are derived through prophecy, which inevitably will produce a lot of unexpected surprises. "Is everything going well on your end? Professor." "That you certainly don''t have to worry about, we are all good here, and gathered a number of people with the same goal." Dumbledore''s gaze deepened, "Looking on the bright side, I don''t think it will be long before we will meet in advance, Jon." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 206: Big Fish! Its a Big Fish! Chapter 206: Big Fish! It''s a Big Fish! The first contact made with Dumbledore did notst long, at noon time, Dumbledore said he had more things to do, ending the floowork call. But although the time was short, it was clear that the students on the entire ship became much more energetic. Fawkes took away the diary that Jon had found from Azkaban as well as both Scabior and Mair, the floo powders they got right now also gave them ess to a two-waymunication link with the professors. However, before ending the call, Dumbledore also reminded Jon not to use this floowork at will if it wasn''t for something urgent. Voldemort started to monitor and control the floowork throughout France, and if it is used too often, it will be easy for him to discover that something is wrong. Hogwarts is not sailing slowly on the sea, in December, they havepletely left the scope of the North Sea, and reached the area of the Norwegian Sea. The further the north the further the weather is much colder. The good thing is that although the students have be a little tired of such a day-to-day sailing life, the initial feeling of the novelty of the sea and scenery also became boring, but in general, everyone''s spirit is still positive. Especially with this year''s Christmas just around the corner. They had already spent Halloween at sea and looking forward to theing Christmas, and also just in the second week of December, less than three weeks apart, the second Hogwarts fishing tournament had begun. Jon has no intention of not approving it, after all, on the ship everyone''s entertainment is really sparse, and only fishing has never been used as a pastime onnd before, but he still felt speechless about holding the second fishing tournament at such a time, especially upon hearing what George said when he applied for approval of this event. "It is too superficial for us to organize the fishing tournament ording to the period of time, we have to organize our fishing tournament ording to the sea, there must be a difference in the fish species between the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea, which certainly provides significance in holding the second tournament now!" What a wonderful speech, Jon spat a few words in his heart, but of course, he did not disagree. The fishing tournament, a new entertainment activity that appeared only after they sailed the sea, brought great enthusiasm to the students on board. This time, more students participated in the tournament, the rules of the tournament are to prepare their own fishing rods using magic, the tournament time is on Saturday when there is no ss a whole day, and at the end, the ranking will be based on one''s weight of the catch. There were no fishing rods on board, so, of course, the participants made their own fishing rods using transfiguration magic, which raised the bar for some underssmen who were not up to par in their transfiguration studies, but they could also go to the upperssmen for help. The winner of the first fishing tournament was Justin, it is said that when he was still at home, he used to go fishing with his father on the river, so that, along with a wealth of theoretical experience, by coincidence he caught a small shark (the shark was able to break free of the hook and rip off the line, but at the moment it showed its head off the sea surface, Justin precisely shot it with a full body-bind curse). Of course, the number of students who participated in that first fishing tournament was small, and everyone had never fished before, showing some timidity, but now there are many people were tickled with interest, during this period when they left off from Azkaban Ind, they umted a lot of real-world experience and mentality change. When the tournament began, the deck was filled with students, the participating students found their own positions all around the deck and finally began to hang bait on the hook upon the signal of judge Nick. Jon was among the spectators, he had never even touched a fishing rod before, so he did not participate in this tournament, but it is still quite interesting to see the grimace and crestfallen expressions of these little fishermen when the hook is empty. Justin, the previous champion, is very enthusiastic to win this title once again, but his luck doesn''t seem that good, and this time he didn''t catch a single fish all morning, only a few worms were caught. "A seventh Lobalug! Good job, Justin! You''ve had the most bites this morning, but unfortunately, we''re in a fishing tournament, not a bug fishing tournament, and bugs don''t count for weight within the catch." Nick floated in mid-air, looking at the fat worm that was twisting its body on Justin''s hook, and praised loudly. It''s just that his praise caused a group of people around him to roar withughter. "Maybe the fish in the Norwegian Sea don''t like you, they probably love me a little more." Ron, who is beside Justin, said smugly, he had a good catch in his bucket and could rank at least in the top three among a group ofpetitors. Jon looked at the bugs that Justin threw into his bucket in exasperation and said to Gabrielle and Hermione beside him with some confusion. "It may not be Justin''s bad luck, a creature like Lobalug should not have been caught." "Why?" Gabrielle was full of curiosity, "They don''t have mouths? Can''t eat bait?" Hermione, who often soaks in the library, exined to her. "Not because they have no mouth, this bug is a magical creature ssified as xxx level by the Ministry of Magic, they generally live only at the bottom of the sea, Justin''s fishing rod plus the length of the line obviously simply can not reach the bottom of the sea." The transparent little face of Gabrielle, who understood, was suddenly covered with amazement. "Then how did he catch it?" Just when Gabrielle had just raised a question and Justin had just thrown the fish hook into the sea, a huge force suddenly pulled the hook! His hand-made fishing rod instantly bent into an arc, almost missing the catch and letting the rod out of his hand! "There''s a big one on the hook! There''s a big one!" He shouted excitedly. Everyone''s eyes around him were attracted by him again, and many people leapt forward to see, but no one went up to help, the rules stipte that to be counted in the score you must catch it with your own hands, but of course, there are no restrictions on the use of magic in between. While holding on to the fishing rod, he reacted iparably quickly and pulled out his wand, and aimed it at the location where the line touched the surface with a great experience. Ron, who was still mouthing off, now can only look on the sidelines with envy, looking at the force of the struggle of this fish alone, he can be sure that its weight will certainly be worth the bucket he caught all morning. Justin did notpete with the fish in the sea, after the big fish was hooked, it is the start of the fisherman''s skills, he was trying to drain the strength of the fish, and the force from the fishing rod suddenly became much lighter. He almost effortlessly lifted the hook. But what emerged from the water with his hook was not a big fish at all, but an arm that is identical to a human! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 207: Starr Chapter 207: Starr Justin caught a human being! This was the first impression that came to everyone''s mind when they saw the hand. However, when the upper half of the owner of the arm fully surfaced, the students realized that it was clearly not a normal human being. Her skin was iron grey, her dark green hair was long and wispy, her eyes were yellow, so were her broken teeth, and she wore a pebble strung with a thick rope around her neck. This is a Mermaid (Merpeople/Selkie), and it is evident from the ugly appearance that this is a Merpeople that can only be found in the northern waters of Irnd and Scond, where they have evolved to adapt to life in cold water. The Merpeople who live in the warm waters of the lowertitudes are the only ones who are as beautiful as in fairy tales. The students stood stunned, they all basically saw this creature for the first time. And the mermaid, after grabbing Justin''s line and showing up at the surface, gibbered out a paragraph that no one could understand. Justin was bewildered, but he could feel that the mermaid''s tone did not sound very good, and she should be scolding him. The mermaid also found that her condemnation was like ying the piano to a cow, and had no effect at all, so she couldn''t help but take a deep breath and speak in not-so-skilled English. "This whole morning! You''ve been torturing me! Seven whole Lobalug! I- Which I managed to catch, only to have you hook it from my basket!" Her voice was crisp and pleasant, sounding very nice, not at all in line with her appearance which could even be described as somewhat scary. Faced with such an usation, Justin''s face filled with embarrassment. "Sorry, I just wanted to fish, I didn''t expect to hook them, I will return them to you." When he said this, his expression was a little hesitant, and finally, he opened his mouth with some indecision and asked, "Maybe it''s a bit offensive, but... Can I ask how many pounds you weigh?" However, the mermaid just screamed in a high-pitched tone. "Bugs! Lobalug! Just! Return them! " "Okay, okay, here you go, take it all back." He muttered and dumped all the Lobalug in the bucket back into the sea. The mermaid red at him, then proceeded to use the harpoon in her hand to skewer each worm, with uncanny precision, into her own harpoon. The Lobalug grows a venom sac, and Merpeople love to apply the venom from its sac to their weapons, to improve their attack power. Just as the mermaid got her prey back and was about to dive back into the sea and leave, Jon suddenly called out to her. "Hey! Fairdy, may we ask you some questions?" The students all looked at each other when they heard how he addressed this mermaid, but the mermaid who didn''t look like she originally intended to have more interaction with the people on the ship, stopped her own movements that were ready to leave. She looked very pleased by it and tilted her head to look at Jon. "You have a vision. Very good little boy! Talking to you more might not be the same as interacting with other wizards. They''re quite annoying." "That''s for sure, your beauty is obvious to all, isn''t it?" Jon turned his head and winked quietly at the others, and every student he saw nodded repeatedly against their will. Looking at Jon lying without blinking his eyes, Hermione couldn''t help but scowl, thinking about how he had just said some time ago that he never lied to anyone. However, it is unknown what Gabrielle thought of seeing everyone nodding, with a tangled face she stroked her long silver-white hair and touched her white teeth. "We just came from the North Sea area, I wonder why, after entering the Norwegian Sea, it feels like there are more magical creatures around?" Jon did not care about the other people''s views, but looked at the mermaid and asked. "Norway''s Ministry of Magic control over magical creatures is not exactly strict." The mermaid replied in rusty English, "And it''s a long way fromnd. There are very few muggle ships passing by this route and there is a wizard who feeds them now and then." Hearing her answer, Jon narrowed his eyes slightly. "A wizard? Does he live in a high tower?" "The tower is called Starr." The mermaid said the name of the high tower, "But. How do you know? Few wizards know of this ce." "We are trying to visit that tower. Are there many wizards living in that tower?" "Mr Stoker is the only one who lives there." "Then, I wonder how the character of Mr Stoker is, and whether he would ept our visit." "Mr Stoker is very kind to us all. He also helped to heal our people, so he certainly won''t refuse you, wizards" Being able to get this information, Jon was already satisfied. "Thank you for solving these doubts of mine, fairdy." "It''s nothing. I wish you all the best in your next voyage." The mermaid seemed to be in a very good mood being ttered by Jon, and after expressing her blessing, she sank to the bottom of the sea and disappeared. Getting this information is certainly a pleasant surprise, since entering the Norwegian Sea, Jon felt that the sea magical creatures all of a sudden increased a lot, some will often catch some fish-type magical creatures even before the fishing tournament begins. This is really not a normal phenomenon, they are not far from the next destination, the tower named "Starr". Regarding the encounter with a mermaid, both the participants of the fishing tournament and the students on the sidelines were talking excitedly about what had just happened. Justin was still arguing with judge Nick about whether the mermaid was considered his catch or not. "She weighed at least 100 pounds! I caught her all by myself! This definitely needs to be included in my catch!" Nick was flipping through the tournament rulebook with a hesitant look on his face. "Yeah, I can understand your feelings, Justin, but you didn''t seed in catching her, did you? And 100 pounds was just your estimated weight, she didn''t mention it, and we didn''t actually weigh her." "That''s not fair! I fished Lobalug all morning to get this mermaid toe up! Mermaids are fish too! It must be counted in my haul, even if it isn''t 100 pounds, just 50 is enough." Justin pleaded. "With her size, she''s definitely got to be 50 pounds, right? Just count that as 50 pounds for me." However, after Nick called the panel of judges for a rigorous discussion, the weight of the mermaid was not included in the harvest, after all, it was the mermaid herself who grabbed his line, and he did not reel her into the ship (in fact, the moment Justin was scolded for asking the weight of the mermaid, he had thought of jumping in and tying her up to the ship to weigh her). However, to make up for it, the panel of judges decided that all the weight of those Lobalug he caught earlier could be considered his catch, although they didn''t weigh much at all, it was better than nothing for Justine, it gave him a push to try hard in the afternoon. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 208: Durmstrangs School Trip (False) Chapter 208: Durmstrang''s School Trip (False) Justin didn''t turn things around in the afternoon in the end and win the championship for a second time, but he at least ended up scoring better than Ron and took third ce, while Ron came in fourth. The winner of this session fishing tournament was actually a young girl in the second year - Luna Lovegood. She had never fished at all before, and this time she participated in the tournament purely to apany her roommate Ginny, even the fishing rod was created by Fred after Ginny asked for help. Perhaps because of the novice protection or simply because of her good luck, she eventually got the Championship of the second Hogwarts fishing tournament. As roommates, Ginny and Gabrielle acted much happier than Luna, as if it was their victory. In the end, all the fish caught in today''s tournament became the students'' dinner tonight. Right after dinner that night, Jon called out both George and Neville and climbed up the mast together. "Look at this pattern." He pulled out a piece of parchment which depicted a crest consisting of a two-headed bird and a deer head with Cyrillic letters. "We''re going to change all the patterns on the sails and anything with the Hogwarts school crest into this." Neville and George, are both of them from pureblood families, so they recognized what this crest is even though they spent their time on the Hogwarts wagon after the age of 11, closed and studying like everyone else. "This is. Durmstrang''s school crest?" Jon nodded. "That''s right, it''s Professor Dumbledore''s insurance n for us, there''s no way that the things we did in Azkaban won''t reach the Dark Lord''s ears, he must know that someone is looking for the path he took in the past, so we''ll have to make the necessary disguises, especially if we have to visit a wizard who has an ambiguous attitude about which side to lean afterwards. " "A week ago, the Durmstrang Institute did send a magic ship out to the sea openly and brightly, saying that they are going on a study trip, but in fact, that ship returned to the school immediately after going to the sea, and the identity we are going to assume now is that Durmstrang Institute ship." George asked with some surprise. "Howe Professor Dumbledore know someone from Durmstrang? That school has the worst reputation among the three wizarding schools in Europe, and although that reputation has gradually shifted to Hogwarts Castle in recent years, they''ve always maintained a history of studying dark magic." Jon could certainly guess some inkling on this, he didn''t forget the person who Durmstrang used to be the alma mater of, although that person was expelled halfway through. "Never mind whether they are studying dark magic or not, now that we can use their name to wander the seas, we have to be grateful for the favour they did." With that, he waved his wand and aimed it at the Hogwarts school crest on the long sails, and the next second, the four animals surrounding the "H" crest turned into a two-headed bird and a deer head. "Professor Dumbledore delivered some hair that belonged to the current Durmstrang Professor of Transfiguration, and after tonight, I''ll be pretending to be him. You all need to pay attention to your dress code as well, and we need to announce this to all the students on the ship when the day is up." Neville''s said with some apprehension. "Appearance and dress code are fine, but what about ournguage? Durmstrang is located in Northern Europe, there shouldn''t be many students who use English as their mainnguage, right?" "That''s certainly the trickiest problem." Jon obviously thought about it too, "But certainly we can''t let everyone on the ship go down at that time, we can screen some of the students who know othernguages to visit that tower. Even if someone ends up finding out about the problem, we can bite the bullet and say that most students who have sailed are of Dutch origin." Throughout Europe, in addition to Britain and Irnd where English is used as a nationalnguage, other countries have their own mainnguage, but there are still many people who know and use English as amonnguage and as a firstnguage, the most widely spoken being in the Nethends, where seventy percent of Dutch people speak English. Of course, even if they speak English, there are differences in ents in different countries and regions, but Jon can''t do everything so meticulously and wlessly, at least the identity of the professor Dumbledore arranged for him, is a British man, which makes up for one of the biggest holes. They spent some time, changing the insignia and decorations on the entire Hogwarts ship, and worked until about 11 o''clock before going back to rest. Early the next morning, which is also a weekend, Jon gathered all the students to the great hall, they need to talk about the identity they are going to y and about all the things that they might encounter in advance. And in front of them, he drank the polyjuice potion and turned into a middle-aged male wizard with a big beard and a rugged and tall body. "Professor Johnson, this is what you will call me for the next few days, and from now on there will be no Jon Green on board. Take care of yourselves, you should better think of a Dutch name for yourselves to use when you meet outsiders, and then students who only speak English will im to be of Dutch origin." "Also, any students who are proficient in a secondnguage besides Englishe to me and report it." Jon set the task down, and giving themselves a Dutch name made the students feel rtively fresh and novel, especially since someone with knowledge exined to them the various quirky and interesting Dutch names. As for the students who knew foreignnguages, there are actually quite a few of them. A dozen students came to Jon to sign up for this, they either have one parent who is from another country, or they lived abroad for a long time when they were little, and mastered a foreignnguage through exposure. For example, Hermione knows some simple French, her parents had promised her that they would take her on a trip to France after she started high school, and out of advanced preparation and interest, Hermione taught herself somemon French sentences in elementary school. And Luna, because her father used to be the editor-in-chief of "The Quibbler" (this newspaper in the early days of Voldemort''s rule had a hard time sustaining itself for a while, butter it was dered to have vited the "Blood Advocacy Act", and from the person in charge the editor-in-chief to the reporter was either taken into Azkaban, or became a wanted criminal), to dig out juicy news, some of thenguages of the countries around the British needed to be explored, and Luna herself is rtively proficient in Spanish. And the Weasley twins'' best friend in the same ss - Lee Jordan, a ck boy whose father had lived in Germany for a while, so he knew a little German. It was certainly impractical to bring all the students on the ship with him when he visits the tower, but he could pick some of them who knew othernguages and were a bit more resourceful and bring them along. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 209: The Tower Connecting the Sky and the Sea Chapter 209: The Tower Connecting the Sky and the Sea Hogwarts ship sailed for a week in the Norwegian Sea. At this time there is only a week or less before Christmas, and the temperature is significantly getting lower again. In addition to fishing in recent days, the students have added a new nighttime leisure activity - sitting on the deck to watch the moon. The closer to the North Pole, the bigger the moon bes than what could be seen at normaltitudes. And the stars were so bright that the whole sky looked like it had been washed with water, very picturesque. Now everyone is familiar with Jon''s new face as a bearded wizard, and the students who see him either call him Professor Johnson or Captain Johnson with a smile. And on Thursday evening of this week, among the students who were looking for a ce on the deck to watch the stars tonight, suddenly someone vaguely saw a structure like a pir, standing on the surface of the sea, with its top hidden in the clouds, appearing directly in front of them! It is a tower. A tower that stood not onnd, but directly in the sea! The students had never seen such a towering structure, which was like a long pir connecting the sky and the sea. Someone hurriedly called out to Jon, and Jon''s heart fluttered after seeing that tall tower. It is indeed really too high. This tower is obviously the objective of Jon and their current stop, Hogwarts sailing in the direction straight towards it. Jon squinted his eyes and took out his wand as he looked around. It is clear that a powerful Muggle-Repelling Charm has been ced on the tower, which is simr to Hogwarts Castle''s disguise magic, in the eyes of those with magical powers, it will present itself, in the eyes of ordinary Muggles, it should be something different or simply does not exist. After getting closer to the tower, the Hogwarts sailing speed became significantly slower. The surrounding sea also showed a significant difference from the rest of the sea, from time to time there will be a thick and long body floating around the ship, causing the students to cry out in surprise. That is a kind of sea serpent ssified as an xxx level magical creature by the magical world, its body can reach more than 100 feet long, several times more massive than the basilisk, with a horse-like head, but its nature is very docile, never hurt people, but some muggle stories recorded them whimsically for their brutal behaviour. Here there are clearly more magical creatures, further away, Jon can even faintly hear a long, soft song, which is a merpeople song. After carefully observing all these phenomena with his eyes, Jon did not stay any longer and gathered all the students. "This time Nick please stay on board to manage all the students, Fred and George you two also stay on board. Neville, Ron, Hermione, Lee, Luna you five follow me off the ship, pay attention not to forget what I have instructed you before, when speaking English try to be rusty on purpose, Ron you just speak normally, after all, you are pretending to be of Dutch descent, change your hair colour, red is too eye-catching." These candidates and ns have been finalized previously. Of course, these preparations can only be used if the owner of this tower is willing to receive them in a friendly manner, otherwise, they can only think of another way. The sky is getting darker and darker, and at this moment Hogwarts has docked at the side of the tower. On the deck, Jon and the co. can only see less than a meter sea area outside the ship, there is a small tform outside, and in front of the tform there is a rotten and ancient wooden door, on the top frame of the wooden door, there is a kerosenemp swaying in the cold sea wind. Jon nced at the rest of them, did not say anything more, just nodded lightly, and then took the lead to the door of the high tower through the diving board built off the ship one by one. After he arrived at the door, the kerosenemp above his head suddenly stopped swaying, and Jon could clearly feel that there was a line of sight looking at himself from that kerosenemp. "I have forgotten how long it has been since I had received a human presence here." A soft, warm voice rang out from that kerosenemp, "Greetings, guest, are you here to visit Sir Stoker?" Although thismp could speak, Jon did not show much surprise, there are many ways to make dead things conscious in the magical world, and the most popr ones are portraits, and there are countless kinds of furniture that will obey the owner''s orders, so a weingmp is not umon. But the attitude shown by thismp made Jon rx a little inside, the attitude of the created living thing towards visitors is still gentle, then it proves that the owner of this tower, Mr Stoker with the title Sir, should not be quite difficult to get along with. "Yes, could you please inform him? I am the professor of Transfiguration of Durmstrang School - Jeremy Johnson, this time I took my students on a study trip and found this tower, so I thought of bringing my students to visit the owner of this ce." "Professor, and students!" Kerosene Light spoke in a high-pitched tone, "Cool! I think Sir Stoker would be happy to entertain you!" Then it looked like it took a deep breath and suddenly shouted. "Rabier! Open the door! Rabier!" The voice was so loud that it remained loud even over the roaring sea and the tumbling waves. Its shout was soon answered, and the wooden door in front of Jon was opened from the inside, and an elderly house elf looked at Jon with a wary face, and then looked up at the kerosenemp. Jon keenly noticed that a small dark shadow flickered from behind the doorway the moment the door was opened. "This is the professor from the wizard school, he and his students are travelling and wanted to visit Sir Stoker when they came to the neighbourhood!" The kerosenemp said cheerfully. The house elf named Rabier looked behind Jon at the Hogwarts, and on the deck, the students nced their way curiously. "My lord does not reject visits from strangers." Rabier''s voice was a little shrill, but his tone was fairly even. "But he doesn''t like noise, and there are so many of you, so we couldn''t entertain them all." A smile appeared on Jon''s face, he hadn''t thought about letting all the students enter the tower from the beginning, as he didn''t know whether it would be safe or not. "Ah, that''s for sure, don''t worry about it, we won''t trouble your Sir, I''ll just bring five of my best students to visit. After all, they are brought out to see the world, and if they can meet a reclusive wizard in the middle of the ocean then naturally they should gain some insight." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 210: Sir Stoker Chapter 210: Sir Stoker Neville and the others who followed behind Jon were invited to enter the tower under Rabier''s sidelong invitation. From the outside, the whole tower is very long and narrow, giving the impression that the interior is at most like the vast majority of lighthouses on the sea, with rooms in the centre with a spiral staircase built around the walls at best. But in fact, Undetectable Extension Charm is a practical spell that almost every wizard tries to learn, a convenient magic that allows them to build a house without having arge space. After entering the door, there is a not-so-small foyer, or rather this whole floor is a foyer. The floor is covered with a cashmere carpet that looks warm, and the firece on the wall has a dancing me emitting light and heat, allowing people like Neville, who was originally shrinking his neck in the cold outside, to rx his body as soon as he entered the door. In the middle of the foyer is a spiral staircase that winds upward and leads to the ceiling. Rabier led them straight to the stairs, after both of their feet stepped on the wooden stairs, the spiral staircase began to move up automatically like the stairs in Hogwarts Castle, without the need for Jon to take his own steps. The steps went up quickly, and in addition to the foyer, they could only asionally see the furnishings of other floors further up, most of which were enclosed around, with only one door on each floor and this nearly endless spiral staircase connected. Jon estimated in his mind, they probably climbed upwards a distance of 40 or 50 meters beyond when the spiral staircase which was still not reached the top, stopped abruptly. Here is also an open space, the floor is covered with more borate cashmere carpet than the foyer, with a mild warm light chandelier illuminated here, and on the coffee table in the centre, the kettle jumped up to pour water into the teacups, several silver tes containing a variety of pastries, floated and arranged on the table. After Jon came to this floor, as if casually sweeping a nce he looked at the in firece, and did not find any small box with green powder on the mantel. Only one person is sitting in this lounge-like room. An old man with sses and silver hair is sitting on a single sofa chair, with a ck cat in his arms, looking at Jon with a smile on his face as he walked forward with Neville and the group. "Mr Johnson? Wee to Starr, it''s the first time in all these years that a professor from a magic school hase to visit me. Bring the children and sit down, I have not much to entertain you in my humble abode, I can only serve some tea and snacks." The various furnishings in this tower are not something that can be afforded by those who live in a humble abode, and most of the things are considered antiques that are worth a lot of money even in the magical world. "You are kind, Sir Stoker, we should be the ones to feel sorry for our presumptuous visit." Jon sat on a single sofa diagonally opposite Sir Stoker, and Neville and the five of them sat together on the long sofa. They did not touch the tea and snacks on the coffee table, Jon chose to bring five people from the ship, and they are all brainy, even if Luna has a "Loony" nickname in the book, she just has an entric personality, not stupid, Lee Jordan spent all day with the Weasley twins, so he''s also quite clever. There''s no need to mention Neville or Hermione; even Ron has been more stable these past two years than he was at the beginning of the school year. "My ancestor had given a knighthood during the Muggle''s Capetian dynasty because of the long supply of curing potions to the royal family. Since then, Sir Stoker has been the title for every generation of my family, even in the magicalmunity." Sir Stoker spoke calmly about his origins as a wizard who still held a knighthood. "My real name is Tobia Stoker, and this Starr High Tower is also an inheritance of my family, it''s just that my previous family would rarelye here, and my father even forgot that there is such a tower in our family on this sea. It was onlyter when I inherited the family line I found it, because I have a huge interest in astronomy, I sold the family property in the magical world and then expanded and inhabited this tower. However, this ce is far fromnd, and it is rare for wizards to go out to sea by ship, I have never gone back since I came to Starr, and there is basically littlemunication with the outside world, I don''t know how you know this ce of mine, Professor Johnson?" His question is not abrupt or impolite, because Jon could reach here only because he knew about this ce in advance, otherwise, there is no way toe to this ce even if someone wandered around this area. This sea is already close to the North Pole, there will rarely wizards travel using a ship, let alone travel to the North Pole through the ocean. But Jon was obviously prepared for this. "I have a friend named Richard Williams, I wonder if you still have any memory of him?" Sir Stoker''s face showed an expression of surprise. "That''s for sure, he''s the only wizard who has visited me in thest ten years or so, was he the one who told you the location of Starr Tower?" Jon noticed the "ten years" time period he said, and nodded quietly. "He and I had a casual conversation, and he inadvertently mentioned to me that he had been entertained by you when he was travelling as a young man. Recently I came to this nearby sea with my students on a study trip, and thought I would bring them to visit you for a little while to gain some insight." Richard Williams is naturally the identity Dumbledore assumed, he learned of Voldemort''s voyage route several years ago, and he came to the tower in hidden identity to visit once, but that time he did not gain anything. After learning the reason why he could find this ce from Jon, Sir Stoker''s attitude obviously changed a bit. His attitude was a bit more eager, inviting Jon to have dinner with him. In this regard, of course, Jon had no reason to refuse, from the situation in front of him, there is no problem in the behaviour of this Sir Stoker who lives in the high tower. He initially remained wary of Jon and them, just because no one would normally notice this tower, and after Jon gave a reasonable answer, he regained his friendly enthusiasm. Jon didn''t notice anything wrong with his gaze or the expression on his face, nor did he notice that his mind, which had been operating under lumency, was being spied on. This certainly does not yetpletely dissipate the wariness in Jon''s mind, but some things can always be put on the table to ask out. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 211: The Guests and the Host Chapter 211: The Guests and the Host "Durmstrang? I have heard of this school, you have concealed your school premises with ancient magic, and it is probably located in remote Northern Europe, but I have heard that it is the school with the most extensive student intake in Europe among the three magic schools, and I also heard that it even takes in children from Bulgaria at its farthest reaches?" The table was well stocked, and Jon sat with Neville and the others at the table, listening to Sir Stoker''spliments to Durmstrang as well as snapping questions. Jon smiled and gestured at Luna. "Say hello to Sir, Anaya." Luna nodded slightly toward Sir Stoker. "H, Seor. (Hello, sir)" Sir Stoker revealed a faintly surprised expression. "You also ept students from Spain? I remember when I was still in France, all the students over there went to Beauxbatons." "Parents always want their children to develop better don''t they?" Jon said lightly, "Some of the parents of the kids, obviously, believe in us more than Beauxbatons. Of course, Beauxbatons is also an excellent magic school, but we have a very different focus when ites to magic." The old man in front of him said that his family''s knighthood was conferred by the Capetian dynasty (a French dynasty), so he would be a Frenchman, and French wizards usually graduated from Beauxbatons, so Jon maintained his "arrogance" in respect to Durmstrang, while also giving Beauxbatons some recognition. Sir Stoker smiled as he raised his ss, with red wine swirling gently in response to his gesture. "That''s for sure, parents want nothing more than the best education for their children." The most crucial factor in maintaining the atmosphere of the conversation was the willingness of each person to chat to keep the session going. Jon naturally had an agenda, and he couldn''t wait to get closer to this Sir Stoker. And it was not clear for what kind of purpose Sir Stoker wasmunicating this enthusiastically, but it was obvious that he also wanted tomunicate more with Jon. They ate and talked until Jon brought up a sentence that seemed casual. "This ce where you live is a little too remote, and that friend of mine Richard would not have been able to find this ce if he had not liked to travel on the ocean in the first ce, let alone have us sit here and enjoy dinner today." "Personally, I like my ce to be quiet and peaceful, I guess." Sir Stoker said with a smile, "plus this is a good ce to observe the sky and study astronomy despite its remoteness, which is why I chose to move here. It was indeed a coincidence that your friend found this tower, and before him, it was only when I forgot to renew the Muggle-Repelling Charm that had expired 15 years ago that a Muggle ship found me here." Jon raised his ss and frowned unnoticeably. He couldn''t tell if Stoker was lying or not, and if the man really had guessed what they hade here for and was intentionally circling the truth to conceal it, then his deceitful and unblinking acting skills were good enough to match Jon''s. "I heard that among the three magic schools in Europe, no matter which one it is, the conditions for recruiting professors are extremely strict and harsh, since Professor Johnson can be a professor of transfiguration, he must be talented and knowledgeable." "You tter me, I just got lucky." "Then I wonder if Professor Johnson has any research in ancient runes, besides his achievements in Transfiguration?" His tone was casual, but Jon was keenly aware that this might be the key to his so enthusiastic attitude towards himself the traveller. Jon pondered for a moment, which looked like he wanted to be modest. "Due to my personal interest, I have dabbled a bit in runes, but I am not proficient." His answer caused Sir Stoker''s eyes to light up slightly. It was just that he didn''t say anything more rted to this aspect after that, but turned the topic to the changes and customs of the magical world in recent years. When he heard Jon say that the pureblood policy practised in Britain nowadays, Sir Stoker showed an unusual surprise. The expression on his face was obviously not faked, and it looked like, as he said, since he had moved to this tower, he had never left and had no more contact with the wizards onnd, and simply did not know how the British magicalmunity had changed today. After learning in detail from Jon about the bloodline rule that Voldemort practised in Britain, he showed a scornful gesture and did not seem to agree or ept it. In fact, from his willingness to follow the customs of his ancestors, and has been using the title given by Muggles, it can be seen that he actually does not have much disdain and discrimination against Muggles and wizards whoe from Muggle families. This made Jon feel somehow odd while not being out of expectation. He certainly did not doubt that Dumbledore''s information was wrong. The Hogwarts could not be on the wrong path, prophecy is the most unreasonable talent in the magical world, and the one who could provide Dumbledore with urate prophecy has the title of prophet, he was even able to predict the appearance and explosion of the mushroom bomb at the beginning of World War II, so it was unlikely to be wrong on this route. This was especially confirmed after he obtained the diary from Azkaban. But this attitude of Sir Stoker and the way he treated them and his words, it didn''t look like he had any contact with Voldemort whatsoever. He did not even seem to have heard who Voldemort is. ording to him, Voldemort had just graduated from Hogwarts, that is, in the fifties, when he hade to the tower from the maind, during which, in addition to Dumbledore''s visit under a pseudonym, he had never seen another British wizard. A few times, the Nordic wizards came to him unintentionally, but they obviously didn''t talk about a dark lord who was on the rise in Britain at the time. But if Voldemort had reallye here, whether it was to plot the tower or something on the tower, or even Sir Stoker himself, if he showed the slightest sign of non-cooperation, given the state of Voldemort who had just reabsorbed his own Horcrux at that time, Jon did not think Sir Stoker could survive after losing the use of the value. If he submitted to Voldemort personally and did something for him, it can only be exined that he is now acting like this. But his acting is too good, at least Jon from beginning to end did not find any crack. He had doubts in his heart but did not show them, the dinner ended in such an apparently "happy host and guest" atmosphere. Afterwards, Sir Stoker kindly invited Jon to bring his students to stay in the tower for a few more days, he rarely had outsiders here, plus he felt that he had a good conversation with Jon, so he wanted tomunicate with him more. Jon showed some hesitation, he said he had other travel ns to take his students next, but it was a good experience to stay and visit this tower for a few days. So he agreed but made the excuse that he had to go back to the ship tonight to arrange for the students who stayed on board, and then this night, he did not spend the night in the tower. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 212: Assistance Chapter 212: Assistance In fact, there was no need for Jon to exin and arrange anything more on the ship. The reason he chose not to stay on the tower the first night was just for insurance. If the friendliness at dinner was all pretended by this Sir Stoker, who in fact figured out Jon and the group''s identity at the beginning, then tonight he would definitely try to report this matter to Voldemort. The entire Hogwarts students, there is no doubt that the value is huge enough to tempt Voldemort, as long as the students can be captured in his hands, he can make Dumbledore throw in the towel, which will be of great benefit to the next consolidation of his reign in France. And this first night is the most dangerous. Not that after tonight if there is no problem the suspicion on Sir Stoker can be ruled out, but if he has a problem, then there is no reason for him to continue to wait. The further you dy, the more things will go wrong, reporting the findings as early as possible is a must, then even if something goes wrong, he will still receive the credit. A night has passed. The whole night was as calm as the sea they were in, without any surprises. So early the next morning, Jon took Neville and the group back to the tower with him again. They were still greeted by the house elf named Rabier, who led them into the living room. Sir Stoker was having breakfast, and he even made sure to prepare a portion for Jon and the gang. "This tower is actually very big, some of the floors have been converted into a pasture where I keep a lot of poultry as well as pigs, cows and sheep, which are usually tended by Rabier, thereby ensuring that I can be self-sufficient even if I live such a life far away from people." Breakfast was sandwiches, with an omelette and milk, although Jon and the group had all already eaten on the ship, they did not refuse what was served. "I''ve made all the arrangements on the ship, Sir, and will bother you for the next few days by staying over." Jon exchanged pleasantries and spoke without much ado, and then asked with a smile. "I wonder if you could show us a glimpse of this tower? You know that children of this age are very curious, but since we epted your invitation to stay, we have to respect your rules." Sir Stoker wiped his sses, his movements were serious and elegant, he was dressed and groomed as meticulously as a proper nobleman, and he said calmly in the face of Jon''s query. "Don''t worry about it, Professor Johnson, I''m not hiding any dangerous things in the tower." He was straightforward, his gaze was clear and one might even say sincere, "I understand your concern about being responsible for the safety of your students, but it is also true that I am not a dark wizard who hides here for the convenience of dark magic experiments, my only interest in life is solely rted to astronomy, and after graduating from Beauxbatons, I have even forgotten how to use Apparition. " "All ces in the tower, you cane and go as you please, I can guarantee that there will be no danger. But the reason why I am willing to ask you guys to stay is, there are indeed some things I wish to ask for your help." Not spending much time with this Sir Stoker, the two had only known each other for only as long as fromst night to this morning, and Jon could clearly see that he is someone who is not very good at socializing and getting along with people. Not only his words are straightforward, and even his actions are the same, Jon had thought that the reason for his hospitality to himself and the rest had "ulterior motives", at least he would grind another two or three days before revealing some clues, but unexpectedly he expressed his need for help in the early morning today without hiding it. But if you think about it, a few decades "old otaku" having such a character is normal, a long time withoutmunication and interaction with outsiders, even if he was a social genius, his words would still make people suspicious. Jon is naturally happy to speak more explicitly. "You can directly express what help you need, Sir, we have epted your hospitality, and we will certainly not refuse what we can do to help." Sir Stoker put down the knife and fork in his hand, and instead of answering Jon directly, he got up and said. "If it is convenient, Professor, can you go to a different ce with me alone? These students of yours will be shown around the tower by Rabier, and they can also ask for anything they need directly from him." Jon nced at Neville and the group, then nodded and said in a slightly stern voice. "Don''t cause trouble in other people''s homes, and don''t forget that we are guests." Neville understood, and with his head held low, he agreed. "We''ll take care of that, Professor Johnson." Then Jon followed Sir Stoker and left the living room. And after they left, the only people left here were Neville, and the other four along with the elf Rabier, well, or maybe you can count the ck cat too. Luna, who was obviously more curious about the ck cat, tried to wave at the cat, but the cat plopped down on the arm of the sofa and looked at everyone with an indifferent look. "ck animals have bad omens in certain ces." She whispered to herself, and only Hermione, who is sitting next to her, heard what she said. Hermione first nced at Rabier to make sure he did not hear Luna''s obviously somewhat disrespectful statement, then lowered her voice and said. "It''s a matter of custom, for example, the raven is also ck, but in Britain, it''s a symbol of good luck, and muggles used to keep some ravens with their wings clipped off to make sure they didn''t fly away from the Tower of London to ensure the country doesn''t suffer bad luck." Lee overheard their chatter from the sidelines and couldn''t help but sputter. "If I am a raven and have my wings clipped to keep from flying away, then I certainly wouldn''t still be in the mood to bless them." "So it''s just an allegory and a symbol." Hermione said, "People only care whether the symbol exists, but will not consider whether its existence is reasonable." While they were chatting, Neville began to make his first move. In Jon''s absence, he is the one in charge of making decisions to act among the five students. He looked at Rabier, who had been standing at the side respectfully. "Can we have a casual tour?" "Of course, you can, my lord has said that you can go anywhere in this tower without restriction." After getting confirmation from him, Neville brought Ron, Hermione and co. out of the living room, went down the stairs and began to wander around in this tower. As Sir Stoker promised, Rabier did not stop them from going somewhere, but also did not let them loosepletely, and kept following them, saying that it would provide convenient to give them services at any time. But Neville is not some ordinary 14-year-old boy who grew up in protection and care, and from the way Rabier is acting now, he can clearly understand that Sir is actually not giving them as much freedom of action in the tower as he verbally said. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 213: The Beauty of Nature Chapter 213: The Beauty of Nature The whole tower is indeed very big. ording to Rabier''s introduction to Neville, the living room they were in is on the 52nd floor, while the whole tower has 77 floors, each floor is about 4 to 5 meters high. That is to say, if the floor height is not extended using the Undetectable Extension Charm, then this tower above the surface of the sea must be at least 300 meters high. Of course, there are not many buildings onnd that exceed 300 meters, but there are certainly no less either, but it is important to know that this tower is built on the surface of the sea, or the depths of the Norwegian Sea. People who know a little bit about architecture know that the foundation of a 300-meter-tall tower in such an environment is basically not something possible to do. But in the magical world, there is always magic to solve these problems. The task left by Jon to Neville and the group is actually nothing too dangerous, he just simply asked them to stroll through the general rooms of the tower as much as possible to see if there is any questionable ce within the tower. Unlike the situation in Azkaban, where Nick had already explored part of the prison, and they had a clear goal when they entered the ind. But this time when they came to this ce, it can be said that they know absolutely nothing, about what Voldemort did when he stayed here, they must find out on their own. Neville and the group wandered a few floors down and saw the vegetable garden and pasture used for self-sufficiency that Sir Stoker had introduced to them at breakfast. They also entered a study full of books on the 36th floor. Rabier did not stop them from leafing through the books in the study, which are basically some magic books rted to astronomy, and nothing more. Just while they were in the study, Luna spotted another ck cat nestled on top of the bookshelf. "How did this cat get here ahead of us?" Ron, who was standing nearby, asked curiously. Luna said softly. "It''s not the one we saw before." Ron observed thezy, motionless ck cat with wide eyes for a good long while, but could not tell the difference. "What evidence do you have to prove it?" "This one''s whiskers are only as long as my thumb." Luna held up her thumb topare, and said in a serious manner, "But the one we saw before had whiskers simr to my index finger." Ron looked at Luna with a weird look on his face. He had heard of this girl who was known as a "crazy or weird girl", his own sister is in the same dormitory with her, and have a good rtionship, but Ron did not expect her to be weird to this extent. Which normal person would be so concerned about the length of the whiskers of the first cat they saw? Rabier, who was following them, overheard the conversation and exined without being condescending. "My lord originally raised two ck cats, but they are ordinary cats, not a cat with magic lineage, so they have long since died, and now all those still living in the tower are their offspring, though there is no detailed number of how many are in the tower, which has not been investigated for the time being." Hermione was a little curious why Luna would be so interested in the ck cat they saw today. "Are you interested in keeping a cat?" Luna shook her head and spoke somewhat baffling words. "I find unique creatures interesting." *** After Sir Stoker led Jon out of the living room, he stepped directly on the staircase that moved on its own and kept going up. They soon came to the very top of the whole tower. "This tower used to have no name, and it was only after I came here and took up residence that I gave it the name [Starr]." When the word star is used in some human family names, it is dubbed as [Starr], so this tower is known as the [Starr Tower] now. From the way the name was chosen, it could be seen that Sir Stoker was indeed not lying about his love for astronomy, and he did have an extraordinary love for the starry sky above his head. He guided Jon to a wooden door on the top floor. "This is the best ce to observe the sky and the ce where I usually spend most of my time." They walked inside, and within there is a modest circr room, at most 13 or 14 square feet by visual estimation, surrounded by a circle of bookshelves full of documentation notes and books ced neatly on them. In the centre of the room, there is a set of tables and chairs, and on the table-top, there is a lot of parchment painted with star charts, this ce is also very neat and tidy, it is just unknown whether it is the personal habits of this Sir, or the elf Rabier is diligent enough. Next to the table and chairs there is a woodendder leading to the ceiling, and right above thedder is a p door. Sir Stoker invited Jon, and they climbed up the woodendder together, then pushed open the p door to the rooftop at the top of the tower. It was cold here. After walking up, Jon subconsciously wrapped his body in a thick robe that Sir Stoker had reminded him to put on before going upstairs. In the deep sea, near the North Pole, in such a high ce as this, all the cold elements are simply gathered up. The wind around should have been strong as well, but apparently, the same wind protection magic on the flying broom was ced here, so that the cold was barely less harsh. Likewise, what one could clearly perceive along with the cold was a breathtaking view. Undetectable Extension Charm is obviously not used in this open space, so the space is very small, only seven or eight square feet at most, which is also upied mostly by an astronomical telescope-like thing in the middle. The moment when he first came up here, Jon could feel the mind-blowing experience brought by the openness of the visualndscape. The sky and the sea have been connected into a line, both azure, just seems to be able to make people feel soothed. In the distance sea, there are sea serpents that have thick and long bodies snaking up and down through the clear seawater, and somehow vaguely, several ant-sized merpeople are seen hunting an unknown sea creature jointly on the surface of the sea. The Hogwarts is docked next to the high tower, and from Jon''s current perspective, it looks like a big model. Jon keenly noticed that after arriving here, Sir Stoker''s emotions became much more unconcealed and agitated. He opened his arms wide and squinted his eyes to meet the soft sea breeze that had been mitigated, his silver-grey hair was flying wildly, and the hem of his well-fitting trench coat was blowing in the wind. "There are endless mysteries and knowledge to be explored in the magical world, but there are times when it''s not just magic that''s wonderful, isn''t there, Professor Johnson?" Jon looked puzzled at the old man in front of him, who obviously came from a pureblood wizard family but carried the title of Muggle noble title, and nodded in agreement. "The wonders of nature are indeed fascinating." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 214: Rune Slab Chapter 214: Rune b The view from the high tower was great, but Sir Stoker had obviously brought Jon on this visit for more than just the view. They came to a stone wall enclosure, which did not look any different from other ces, but after Sir Stoker gently pushed the outermost surface of a stone wall, a stone b obviously different from other ces was revealed. It is a stone b with an overall ck colour, carved with dense, hidden writing on it. Jon did not lie before, when lurking in Hogwarts Castle, to understand the "ve pact" signed by the muggle students in the castle, he did study the ancient runes for a while. But this is purely out of interest, and the study does notst long at all, so he simply did not achieve much significant progress, only barely knew and understand basicmon runes, with that, he can only recognize some runes in front of him and know the general meaning of some lines and uses. "I found this b five years ago, during a special astronomical observation I found it by chance due to the rare star alignment that day. You should remember what I told youst night when we first met, that although this tower was left to me by my family, all my past two generations of family members had actually forgotten that such a ce even existed." Sir Stoker suddenly and strangely did not continue to talk about this stone b and instead chatted about the history of this tower. "It didn''t stand this high at all when I first came here, only about twenty floors were exposed above the sea, and the rest of this nearly fifty floors high were built slowly by myself alone after I came here and determined to resettle. It took close to twenty years in total, and it was onlypletely finished in 1976." Jon frowned slightly, catching the implication of his reason for introducing this. "In other words, the top of this tower where we are now was actually built by you eighteen years ago?" "To be more precise, it was twenty years ago." Sir Stoker said seriously, "I hadpleted this spot before 1974, and thetter two years were mainly for the arrangement of the various floors." The two-year gap had no impact on the problems that arose from this matter itself. "You, newly built this floor in 1974, but suddenly five years ago you found this b hidden behind the wall which you knew nothing about?" Jon stared into Sir Stoker''s eyes, and he seemed to suddenly think of something. Sir Stoker nodded with a somewhat gloomy gaze. "Here''s the problem, this tower is ancient, but I can be sure that every piece of material from the twenty-seventh floor onwards was made by my own hands with magic to construct and build this tower. I am certain that at the beginning I did not leave anything hidden on this floor and never brought any outsiders here before, but just five years ago, I found this stone b covered with ancient runes" His voice was sullen, and his face looked grim. After such an incident, of course, no one''s mood can be good, a home built by their own hands, but suddenly one day they found something that they have never seen before. To put it another way, it''s like in your own home, in a private bedroom that you basically don''t let outsiders in to visit, suddenly one day you find a book under your pillow that you''ve never even read or touched This will certainly give rise to a great sense of panic and insecurity, ordinary books will not harm people, but with the stone b inscribed with ancient runes, there is no way to guarantee the danger it has. No matter who, the first thing thates to your mind can only be that someone has sneaked in. That''s what Sir Stoker thought, and that''s what Jon was thinking now. He had been looking for what Voldemort had done when he came here that year fromst night until now. But judging from the owner of this tower - Sir Stoker''s performance, he looked like he simply did not know Voldemort as a person, and never remembered that at some point in time, someone had visited him at home. But this b obviously appeared in this time interval, Jon has good reason to suspect that Voldemort avoided this old Sir and sneaked into this tower back then. Of course, from Sir Stoker''s current representation of his strength, Voldemort should be able to easily kill him, but for some reason, he left him alive, and just secretly made some unnoticeable changes in this tower. And five years ago, the stone b inscribed with an ancient rune that Sir Stoker inadvertently found, is evidence. Both the visit of Voldemort and the appearance of the stone b can be linked to each other by logical and meticulous reasoning, although it cannot be considered absolute, but it is very likely. From Sir Stoker''s point of view, why he was so impatient after learning that Jon was a professor of magic school can also be exined. The only direction he could take to catch the man who sneaked into the castle is this b of stone. But ording to his own words, he only studied astronomy deeply, and in other areas of magic, he is just at the level of an ordinary wizard, which caused him to have no way to understand this stone b inscribed with ancient runes at all. Therefore, he needs the help of a professional, and Jon''s current identity means that he is a professional "professor" who can''t be more professional. As for why this Sir when he encountered this kind of thing, instead of going back to thend to find someone to solve this problem is still breaking his head here with no apparent result, it is expected that he has his own reasons. "So, Sir, you want me to help you decipher what is written on this te and investigate the origin of this thing?" Jon asked. Sir Stoker nodded his head gloomily. "You should be able to understand my thoughts now, there is no way I can ept that such a thing can happen in such a ce where I have spent most of my life living and which belongs to me alone. I have to investigate the origin of this te, so I need your help, Professor Johnson." Jon looked at the te and asked the question in his mind. "Since you found this te five years ago, why didn''t you go back to thend in the meantime to find someone who specializes in runes to investigate it?" Sir Stoker took a deep breath and said with a serious look on his face. "I once swore that I would never leave this tower in my life if I don''tplete my research goals." Only then did Jon''s face show an expression of understanding. If you think about it, who would want to spend their lives in such a ce where there is nomunication with the outside world at all? Unless one really has deep obsessions with certain things. From the top of the tower they are now in, it is roughly evident that Sir Stoker''s vow should be rted to the starry sky above their heads. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 215: The same is true for General Counter-spell Chapter 215: The same is true for General Counter-spell But Jon did not have a fetish for digging into other people''s privacy. He was not interested in what oath Sir Stoker had made, only interested in this suspected stone b left by Voldemort. Jon squatted down and looked at the dense ancient runes to figure it out carefully. In fact, the majority of the magical world''s runes are known as Ancient Runes. In Hogwarts Castle under Voldemort''s control today, there is still a "Study of Ancient Runes" elective subject avable in senior sses of pureblood and half-blood houses. The script on this b is obviously Ancient Runes, and Ancient Runes is just like the majority of old scripts, also divided intomon characters and rare characters, and there are many rare characters, which even experts specializing in this field may not be able to fully recover and decipher in their lifetime. Because these characters are magical when they are created, and back in ancient times, especially when wands were yet to be invented, magic runes were an important aid to ancient spell casting. Many talented wizards kept inventing new magic runes, but there were no magic schools created at that time, and the transmission of magic was still maintained in the oldest master-apprentice system, so, many magic runes were buried in the background of such times. In fact, there are archaeologists in the magical world who visit the relics or graveyards of wizards around the world, not for substantial wealth, but for the knowledge belonging to the ancient wizards. Jon stared at the b for a long while, but in these dense, almost a few thousand ancient rune characters, he only recognized a handful of characters that looked familiar, and there was no way to put together aplete sentence. Without being able to find clues from the meaning, he took out his wand and gently tapped the tip of it against the b. Then, the ancient runes all lit up with a faint shimmer, as if Jon had triggered something. "All of these ancient runes still possess magic power on them." He said in surprise. Sir Stoker said with a serious face. "The reason for the constant uneasiness in my heart is also this, even if I don''t understand it, I have some rough understanding of ancient runes and know that the runes left in the magical world nowadays are basically just characters themselves, and the magic power that was originally attached to them has all been worn away with the passage of time. Nowadays, there are very few wizards who can still write ancient runes with magic power, except for the professors who specialize in teaching such courses in magic schools, there are not even a few to be found in the entire European magical world." Jon''s eyes, however, glowed a little as he stared intently at those runes on the te. "Not to mention being able to write so many." "Right, the person who left this b must have a deep study in the field of ancient runes, such a person would not be unknown in the magical world, so why did he arrive at my ce and leave this behind?" Sir Stoker''s tone was full of confusion. But this point added further support to Jon''s spection, someone who could write and possess so many ancient runes, not to mention the European magicalmunity, in the entire Western region, such a wizard could be counted on one hand. Voldemort is obviously a person of this level. This stone b is most likely something he left behind! Jon did not have that deep attainment in ancient runes, but in the library on the Hogwarts wagon, there are a lot of grimoires about the ancient runes, and now they are still in the cabin of Hogwarts. He canpletely study now, after all, there''s no need for him to read and write the ancient runes, he rather just has to recognize them relying on the wealth of materials avable in the library, which may take some effort, but is not impossible to do. "When I came out for this trip, I also brought some materials rted to ancient runes on board to read, if you are willing to be patient, Sir, I can bring the materials over and study this slowly." Hearing Jon''s words, Sir Stoker''s face showed a joyful look. "I certainly have enough patience, Professor Johnson. Don''t worry, if you can help me to solve the secret on this b, I will reward you with a generous reward." "Payment or something is not necessary, if I can figure out these ancient runes, it will be considered as a return gift for bothering you these days." Jon did not continue to talk overly, after which he did not stay any longer and turned around to leave with Sir Stoker. On the 17th floor down, they met Neville who happened toe out of the pasture after observing the living conditions of the cows, Jon called up Neville, Ron and Lee the three boys, and returned to Hogwarts with them. As he send them off from the tower, Sir Stoker was evidently curious about the Hogwarts ship staying on the seaside, Jon could see that he had the idea of visiting, but Jon didn''t make an invitation. Even if the ship has been well-prepared, he will not easily take an outsider up until he can guarantee the safety of the students, although, from the current point of view, this Sir Stoker is indeed still a good person. After returning to the ship, Jon immediately gathered Nick and George together and told them what he had found on the high tower. "Actually, I know quite a few ancient runes." Nick said, "In the time when Hogwarts was first founded, magic runes were not all that forgotten in the magical world, and although I had never written them myself, I can still recognize quite a few." Hearing Nick''s words, Jon pondered for a moment, and eventually, he dismissed the idea of trying to bring Nick with him to the High Tower. "You have no way to hide your identity, you being a resident ghost in Gryffindor in the past is not even a secret, it''s not worth the risk to bet on whether this Sir will recognize you for this matter. However, although you can not go to that tower, but I still remember some of the ancient runes at the beginning of a few sentences." Jon tried and wrote the very first sentence of the ancient runes that are on the b, on parchment and held it in front of Nick''s eyes. "Can you decipher any information based on this sentence?" Nick, who apparently really knew a lot of ancient runes, said conclusively after just one look. "I''ve seen this opening before, it must be ancient runes about sealing magic spells, usually ancient wizards would use this kind of magic rune to seal something valuable." Jon''s eyes glowed. "Then do you know how to break this kind of magic rune?" "This kind of magic rune is actually simr to the Locking Spell and the Unlocking Spell of the current modern-day spells." Nick exined, "A lock that has been enchanted with a locking spell generally cannot be opened by an unlocking spell, but if the magic power of the caster is strong enough, then this locking spell can be easily broken, even without the unlocking spell, a General Counter-spell is enough to do the same." "But now few people can still be able to write the unlocking spell which can reverse these magic runes, moreover you said that there are as many as thousands of characters in that stone b, so the magic power attached to it must be extremely powerful, which is even more difficult." Listening to Nick''s words, Jon not only didn''t frown, he instead got a mental jolt. "What did you just say at the end? Nick!" Nick froze. "I said this isn''t easy to crack." "No, I meant the end of thest sentence!" "Uh, a General Counter-spell is enough to do the same?" Jon hammered his palm with his fist in excitement. "Yes! A General Counter-spell is enough to do the same!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 216: Maledictus Blood-Curse Chapter 216: Maledictus Blood-Curse Jon brought Neville and the rest of the group, carrying arge stack of books on ancient runes, and returned to the high tower. He did not immediately tell Sir Stoker the meaning of the magic rune on the te, after all, the meaning of the content was something he learned from Nick, and Nick''s existence couldn''t be revealed to the outside, he could only first pretend to look and rummage through these ancient runes books that he brought with him to the tower. Sir Stoker did not let him work directly at the top of the tower, although the scenery there is better, it is almost Christmas, so the weather is too cold, and the warmth of the room with a firece is morefortable. Taking Jon to his own private study, Sir Stoker took out a copy of the ancient runes from the stone b at the top of the tower to provide him with a convenient cross-reference. Jon pretended to casually flip through those ancient runes books, but the corner of his eye was focused on the books that were kept in this study. By simply looking at the titles of the books, he could tell that most of them were astronomy-rted books, not only written by wizards but also many books published by Muggle publishers. This Sir does have an extraordinary love for astronomy, from the time he first met with Jon, he made this clear, and it does not seem to be a lie. And when Jon was ready to withdraw his gaze, ready to pretend that he had suddenly made a discovery inadvertently, he saw some books that are quite different from other astronomy-rted books, located at the far corner of the bookshelf. These books were grouped together, and from the book covers they also looked older, obviously not the work of modern wizards. And what attracted Jon was the title of one of the books. A Study and Exploration of the Maledictus Blood-Curse. Jon''s unusual behaviour at this moment was eventually noticed by Sir Stoker, who followed his gaze and also saw the ancient collection of books on the bookshelf. "My grandfather''s grandfather used to be the vice dean of the magic mdies and injuries hospital in France, and the main direction of his research in his life was rted to the maledictus blood curse. This is an extremely bizarre and dreadful curse, from ancient times to the present there has never been a way to lift and cure it, and this ancestor of mine has only left behind this information, if you are interested, you can always look through it during the time you stay in the tower." Sir Stoker said generously. Jon retracted his gaze from those books, he simply had some impressions of such curses like maledictus blood-curse, in the original book, the big serpent Nagini, which was made into a living-horcrux by Voldemortter, was ultimately turned into serpent form due to maledictus blood-curse. Jon is not interested in this type of curse itself, the maledictus blood curse. "Thank you for your generosity, Sir, let''s get back to what we started with, about the content of the ancient runes left on that b, I have found out some clues." Jon looked at Sir Stoker, and his face indeed showed an expression of surprise. "You''ve got a clue so soon? I originally thought it would take at least a while." "It''s really a matter of good luck, and we apparently had pretty good luck, as I found the same content as these magic runes on the te from the book I was flipping through at the beginning." Jon restated the information he got from Nick to Sir Stoker. "The b is supposed to be a seal or lock." "A seal? A lock?" The smile on Sir Stoker''s face gradually narrowed and his brow tightened. "You mean that the stone b itself exists actually to protect and hide something?" Jon said with a nod. "Yes, the ancient runes on the b are actually a kind of magic used for sealing and locking, it prevents the b from being opened easily, thus preventing someone from finding what is hidden under it." With Jon''s narration, Sir Stoker''s face became more and more gloomy. He obviously could not quite ept such a thing. The tower, which he had built with his own hands and lived in for decades, had actually hidden something in it under his nose in such a silent manner, and he didn''t know anything about it. Jon saw the change in Sir''s face and asked with a serious look on his face. "Can you be sure that it was not you or someone else in the tower who arranged this stone b?" Sir Stoker said with unparalleled firmness. "I simply can''t even recognize most of the magic runes in it. In this tower, besides me, there is only Rabier who has been taking care of my life and living, and there is even less chance for him to have done it." Jon stroked his beard thoughtfully and said. "If you''re sure it wasn''t yourself, then it''s only possible that someone slipped in without your knowledge." "Professor Johnson." Sir Stoker suddenly looked at Jon seriously, "Can you ... unlock the ancient rune magic on that b?" His words were pleading like he simply could not ept that in his own home, there would be something hidden that he knew nothing about. Jon honestly said. "I told you before, Sir, I''m not a master of ancient runes, and if the professor of ancient runes who worked with me at school hade over, there might have been a way to unlock it, but my knowledge of runes is only out of interest, and there''s really no way to unlock this b based on my understanding of runes." Hearing Jon''s words, Sir Stoker had a frustrated expression on his face at first, but at thest sentence, he obviously heard certain different meanings. "There is no way to unlock this b based on your understanding of runes ... you mean to say ..." Jon said very frankly. "It''s true that ancient runes are not my strong point, but I do have some other tricks that can resolve these magic runesced with magic. However, this method will damage the ancient runes on the b and eliminate the magic power attached to it ..." "I don''t mind, Professor Johnson! In fact, if you can erase the magic on this b, that would be even better." Sir Stoker said, "I just want to know who hid such a thing in my house, and what his purpose is." Jon was certainly not surprised by his decision. The two then left the study and re-entered the top of the tower where the cold wind was blowing. Jon quietly put the ring that was hanging around his neck back on his finger on the way and went back to the stone b, where he gently touched the first ancient rune of the first line with the finger that was wearing the ring. That ancient runes flickered for an instant, and then the magic that was originally enclosed on it was transferred to the second gem iid on the ring. There is no limit on absorbing magic power attached to magic artefacts for Jon, unlike absorbing magic power from an enemy''s spell with a General Counter-spell, which can only take magic power from someoneparable to or weaker than himself, magic power attached to magic artefactscks control of the will, so the ring can absorb it much easily. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 217: The Part Under the Sea Chapter 217: The Part Under the Sea Simply by absorbing the magic power of ancient runes on the first line, the gem that had beenpletely used up by Jon in Azkaban actually shifted from blue towards red to a degree visible to the naked eye. This is a change that has never been seen even when Jon absorbed the magic power of all the students in the fourth year on the whole wagon! This proved that the person who inscribed these ancient runes was extremely powerful, definitely surpassing most people in the magical world. This is a key piece of evidence. Jon does not know how many wizards have this magnitude of magic power, but he can be sure that the former Voldemort must have been this powerful! And he passed by this tower in that disappeared month. When all kinds of coincidental traces are added together, some suspicions can be solid evidence. Now not only does Sir Stoker desperately want to know what that person had hidden in his house, but Jon is also very interested in knowing what Voldemort actually hid. What is hidden in this high tower is highly intriguing to him. Of course, while obtaining the truth, at the same time, you can have the opportunity to stockpile sufficient magic power, which Jon does not mind at all. The thousands of ancient runes on the stone b, each containing a unique magic power, which Jon couldpletely eat little by little. It''s just that the gem has now been iid on the ring after all, and the ring is worn on his hand, with him as a transit point for absorbing magic, and there is no way to be like at that time in Hogwarts Castle, a direct one-time direct absorption of a powerful amount of magic, so he can only digest it slowly, character by character. "I need some time Sir, the number of ancient runes on the b is too many, there is no way to deal with it at once." Sir Stoker could also see from the side that Jon''s method did work, although he didn''t understand how Jon was able to erase the magic in it by just touching the magic rune with his finger, he knew clearly that Jon was not lying to fool him. "Don''t worry, Professor Johnson, as long as you are not in a hurry, I can afford to let you stay with me forever, and even if those students you left on the ship are not very well organized, you can bring them with you here, as long as there are no more than a hundred of them, I have plenty of room for them to stay here." Sir Stoker obviously showed his sufficient sincerity, but Jon did not intend to bring all the students on board the Hogwarts with him to the tower. It''s not like they are really on a tourist holiday, and besides, there is no way to guarantee that Voldemort has made only one arrangement in this tower. If it''s not for the need for people to help him explore the tower in its entirety, Jon didn''t even want to bring up Neville, Hermione and the others at first. And just when Jon and Sir Stoker are at the top of the tower re-examining the stone b with ancient runes. Hermione and Luna, two havee to the first-floor foyer. After Jon took three boys back to the ship to move books, the two girls continued to wander down the tower with Rabier, even though the boys came back, they did not regroup with them but divided into two groups, the girls continued to go down, the boys went up from the living room. Rabier can''t follow them all the time, there are a lot of chores to do in this tower, not to mention that it is now close to lunchtime, and he has to prepare seven people''s lunch alone. So now Hermione and Luna are no longer followed by anyone else. "It is hard to imagine that there are so many rooms, but there are only two people, that Sir and the elf are living here." Hermionemented. They havee down this way, if not for those stairs are like elevators and able to carry people to move, their legs would have long been numb. Even now, the two girls didn''t feel much rxed, when Rabier followed them, he would prepare tea for them at any time, but now they no longer can go to someone to ask for tea. But Luna did not seem to hear Hermione''s words, her eyes have been staring at the corner of the foyer, where arge potted nt was ced. Hermione followed her gaze and then saw a ck cat under the potted nt. The cat was lying in the corner and looking at them with eyes reflecting the fire''s light. "The elf named Rabier said that these cats in the tower were bred from two ordinary ck cats before they died, you are interested in them?" Hermione asked. Luna shook her head. "No, I just feel like these cats don''t like us." Hermione''s face showed a puzzled expression, she approached the ck cat lying in the corner, squatting down, reaching out to pet its fur. But, the ck cat seemed very disgusted and stood up, lightly avoiding Hermione''s hand, and left with an elegant stride. Hermione didn''t feel much frustration at being "rejected brutally", her parents had promised to buy a cat for her as a pet when she grew up, so she had some research on the habits of this animal. "You can''t exactly say that it doesn''t like us, but most cats basically have this kind of nature, even to their owners who adopt them." Luna didn''t say anything else, and it did seem like she had just made thatment casually. They wandered around the foyer a few times, not making any extra discoveries on the borate decor of the ce, except that as Hermione stood in front of the window and saw the cid sea outside near her eyes, a thought suddenly struck her. "We are not onnd, if you consider the principle of building a house on the ground, the foundation of this tower must be rooted in the ground at the bottom of the sea." She looked at Luna with a thoughtful look. "This also means that the first level we are in, which is located on the surface of the sea, can''t actually be called the first level of this tower. Below our feet, there should be other floors." Luna showed full interest in this discovery of Hermione, she looked like she thought a tower divided into two sections by the sea is cool. "So if there are floors below, where is the entrance? We''re all done with the stairs." Hermione did not answer, apparently, she also doesn''t know where the entrance is. But generally speaking, if the floor located below the surface of the sea really exists, then the ess to it will basically be on the first level above the sea, which is the foyer they are in now. "Let''s look for it." Hermione said. The two girls separated, and they began to search in the foyer which they had already circled a few times. Luna lifted the carpet, but did not find any tunnels or ps underneath, Hermione tried to touch the potted nts and various ornaments around, she felt that since such entrances are not on the surface, they must be hidden in an inconspicuous ce. However, when they searched, and Hermione looked at an ordinary portrait, Rabier suddenly appeared at their side. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 218: Conspiracy Chapter 218: Conspiracy Lyon, France. Dumbledore looked at the parchment in his hand with a stony face. He frowned tightly and said quietly. "Have we got our people to corroborate this message?" McGonagall took a deep breath at the side. "ording to the word from Mr Iniesta, they secretly sent someone to try to contact the first batch of muggle-born wizards who are being reformed in the re-educational camp, and all of them have beenpletely turned into different people. The Dark Lord hadpletely and utterly brainwashed the whole lot of them, and each one of them had be a fervent supporter of the bloodline supremacy theory, believing that muggle-born wizards were born to be pureblood ves, and had almost exposed the people who had contact with them." Dumbledore looked at the parchment in his hand in silence, listening to the results reported to him by McGonagall, before speaking again after a long dy. "The ones who were put into that re-educational camp were all adult wizards, who had already formed their own set of solid world-views, and it is simply impossible to achieve such an effect so quickly with simple brainwashing. It is highly likely that these people were controlled by an Imperius Curse, or had their perceptions forcibly altered by a Memory Charm." "Such means can only have a short-term effect, the willpower of adult wizards is not like that of children, a prolonged Imperius Curse will wear them down, and if the memories and wishes thrown into them by the Memory Charm have great contrasts with their original cognitive ones, then they will regrly fall into self-doubt, deny themselves, and evenmit suicide." McGonagall face paled, she could hear the miserable future of this group of people from Dumbledore''s mouth. "These people have obviously fallen into his hands ... Isn''t he going to oppress them? Why he still wants to take their lives!" Dumbledore let out a long sigh. "What is the reaction on Iniesta''s side?" "Those French people have long wanted to rescue theirpatriots, and now they are even more impatient, when I was here, a number of people gathered around me, saying that we must take a stand as soon as possible, if we dy any longer, then the so-called Equality Front simply does not need to continue to exist, they will not just watch theirpatriots turn into humanoid house elves, they will act on their own. " Dumbledore listened to McGonagall''s narrative with a calm face, and then he slowly spoke. "That''s what he wanted to get in exchange for this batch of human livesing out of the re-educational camp." McGonagall suddenly froze as she mused over Dumbledore''s words, and then her eyes widened. "He wants us to initiate an attack on that re-educational camp!" "From the way, he''s acting now, it seems that''s what he''s after." Dumbledore crossed his fingers together with a stoic look on his face, "Iniesta should be able to see this as well, his methods are straightforward, using these muggle-born wizards without any half-hearted disguise, but even if someone could see this, what would they do?" "There is no way to suppress the anger of those French wizards, and even if we exin all the pros and cons to them, they won''t even consider that." McGonagall''s lips trembled. "But why does the Dark Lord want us to attack the re-educational camp? What good would that do him?" "Remember after we pushed out the two Aurors Jon and the others captured from Azkaban earlier, and you were all wondering why the French wizards who were subservient to the Dark Lord hadn''t reacted at all?" Dumbledore suddenly talked about something else. Two weeks ago, at the beginning of December, the Wizard Equality Front, pushed out Mair as well as Scabior, they broke into the French wizard radio station (the magical world has its own radio station operating, will they have their own TV channel in the 20th century?) They then fed the two wizards with a Truth potion, and in front of all the French wizards who were listening to the radio, they revealed the fact that the Auror force of the French Ministry of Magic had already been upied by British wizards. The French Ministry of Magic under Voldemort''s control also reacted very quickly, and they cut off the radio when the Wizards'' Equality Front ter shortened to "Witching Horizon") was ready to repeat the broadcast for the second time, so how many French wizards who had defected to Voldemort knew about it that day, Dumbledore''s side did not know. It just that there was no dramatic bacsh afterwards as they had originally expected, much to the dismay of many of the wizards on the Witching Horizon. "I actually have a fairly reliable source of information here." Dumbledore said, "After we got the word out over the radio, those French pureblood and half-blood wizards actually created a bigmotion, but all of them were suppressed by the Dark Lord with bloodshed." "While using the pureblood theory to unite a group around himself, he still did not forget the means he used to establish his authority when he first rose to power. Subservience rewards profit, defiance bestows death." "With personal strength that no one can match, he can certainly make some voices disappear this way, but he can''t erase people''s inner thoughts. These thoughts may not be a problem in normal times, and as time passes, some things will be slowly forgotten, while others will be habits." "But in France today, he has not yet reached the level of solid rule that he had in Britain." "He had to have another thing happen to get everyone''s attention, something that was not only big enough to get the attention of every French wizard but preferably something that would also increase his prestige and unshakable position of dominance in the hearts of the French wizards." Listening to Dumbledore''s narrative, and linking the cause and effect, McGonagall naturally got the answer to her question. "So he wanted to attract the attention of those French people on this matter, which is why he wanted to lure us to attack the re-educational camp?" "That''s right, now the only organization in all of Europe that is clearly opposed to his rule is us. He needs a big victory to solidify his position in France, or rather to establish his presence in Europe. And to eliminate as much of our living forces as possible, when we are already numerically inferior." "Is he so confident that he thinks he can certainly defeat us?" Dumbledore''s gaze was very in. "I once lost to him, he led the elite wizards in the number of nearly three times more than us, and we have only just recently joined as a group, taking in a lot of wizards who have no experience to fight, and that re-educational camp is still a fortress he built with his own hands. If the gap between the two sides is so big to this extent, if he still doesn''t have confidence, then he wouldn''t have reached the achievement he has today." McGonagall''s face became extremely stony, and her voice carried a strong sense of frustration. "Then we, really have no chance at all?" Dumbledore did not immediately answer this question of hers, he gently tapped the back of his other hand with the index finger of his hand, a momentter as if he was murmuring, he said. "Whether there is a chance ... still depends on Riddle himself ah." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 219: Building Blocks Chapter 219: Building Blocks Northwest France, at the northernmost tip of the Cotentin Penins, near the coast near the Strait of La Manche (English Channel). A pitch-ck castle, undetectable by muggles, was built here. This fortress does not have a long history, andpared to many ancient castles in Europe that have a history of thousands of years, it is not even called a baby as it was only just built and sprung up this year. But in today''s French magical world, no castle is more famous than this one. But in fact, this castle has never been named since it was built, and it is just a residence for a new establishment, it''s just the name of this new establishment is unforgettable to every French wizard. Re-Educational Camp. After Voldemort finished collecting the wands of all the French muggle wizards, this re-educational camp was officially established. All the muggle-born wizards who are over 16 years old and have been deprived of their wands will all be brought here to receive the pureblood supremacy theory discipline and reform. The new ideology will be imposed on all wizards to give them a new form of thinking. "Humanoid house elf" - this is the uniform name of the muggle wizards who came out from here. In fact, for the magical world or wizards, there is no need for these kinds of muggle-born wizard ves. House elves are generally only kept by pureblood families in captivity, but it doesn''t mean that other wizard families can''t afford to keep them, they are simply ves who take care of their lives and clean up after them, which is simply dispensable for them. The biggest benefit for purebloods and half-bloods is the jobs and social resources that these people who lost their rights as human beings left behind. These resources will be shared by all the wizards who obey Voldemort''s rule, while the biggest purpose of the muggle-born wizards who have be ves would be to be dispatched to all walks of life as oppressedbour. As long as they don''t die of hunger, there is no other human cost at all, and they can also be squeezed to death. Thus, the cost of all kinds of magical utensils began to fall, and the most obvious manifestation is the various magicalpanies that produce flying brooms, floo powder, quill pens, parchment and other such essential items began to develop rapidly. The cost dropped, and the price remained the same, causing their profits to skyrocket, and the direct beneficiaries of thesepanies and interests are purebloods and new school purebloods. As for the half-blood wizards, they were not sidelined due to these influxes of cheap, if not costless, manpower in the market. Because the "mudbloods" are forbidden to own wands, which means they can only perform some basic crafting processes, and the key steps still need to be done by the half-bloods who can cast spells with their wands. In addition to the status and social rights that have be second-ss citizens, the substantive benefits let the half-bloods still feel that the bloodline supremacy theory still has its "truth". So the French wizards, who were a bit scared at the beginning when they epted Voldemort''s rule, got such a result under very low expectations, making them feel that the days were actually not that bad. It''s just that such a not-bad life, who exactly is sacrificed to get that, they have no ability to make a decision, anyway, they can''t see, so they pretended like it has nothing to do with them. The root cause of all this change in France is the castle called "Re-Educational Camp". Since the official start of the re-educational camp, the French minister rarely appears in the Ministry of Magic, although no one has urate information, most people believe that the gentleman who brought all this change to their lives is in this castle. Indeed, Voldemort has always personally been in charge of the re-educational camp. He even summoned the head of the British Ministry of Magic''s Obliviator Headquarters, one of his right-hand men, Gilderoy Lockhart, to France in order to get the first batch of "thorns" to change their minds quickly. Lockhart did not join the Death Eaters, which means he did not enter the real core of Voldemort''s subordinate circle, but this did not prevent his excellent memory magic skills from "shining" throughout the magical world. At first, he was just a prisoner who illegally used the Memory Charm on wizards to tamper their memories for his own benefit. Aurors caught him in one case red-handed, so there was no need for him to even be judged by Wizengamot due to the fact Wizengamot was extremely busy at that time, and he was put directly into Azkaban until Voldemort, who had nothing better to do, saw his criminal history and became interested in the wizard, who could not perform any other magic spells that well, but had repeatedly used the Memory Charm like a pro. So, Lockhart met the "greatest gentleman" in the magical world. When he was brought before Voldemort, he was scared to the point of pissing his pants, really scared, not some adjective. He swore he was just trying to get onest shot, and then he was ready to change his face and leave the dangerous and crime-prone Britain to continue his life in luxury in another country. And then he was caught. The Aurors'' operation quality and work efficiency are extremely high in Voldemort''s government, as there is no chance for half-bloods without the ability to enter the Ministry of Magic or Auror office, and most of the positions held are reserved for pureblood lords; the half-blood wizards in position due to their ability once made a mistake, they will be subject to a policy involving a crime of ipetence and be disciplined together with their family members. The most distasteful thing for Voldemort is personal ipetence and mediocrity, he even specifically added a "crime of ipetence" in the magicw. Once the crime was determined, even for the slightest mistake, they need to go to Azkaban to squat for six months (generally a person with a weak ''will'' will be sucked crazy in three months). So it is not unusual to find highly educated Aurors like Scabior in the Auror office or Ministry, and there are very few jolts like Mair who have low ability to still be able to live well. This is why Lockhart was spotted by Auror and subsequently fell into the. But after that he got lucky. Originally, ording to his guilt, the minimum sentence should be three years in Azkaban, but Voldemort recognized his talent in the memory charm, gave him a pardon, and arranged for him to work in the Obliviator Headquarters to pay for his crimes. After entering the Obliviator Headquarters, the frightened and disorderly Lockhart worked diligently, turning from a dashing criminal into a social animal. His excellent memory charm has solved many stubborn elements, giving the Order of the Phoenix under Dumbledore a great blow. After all, there is nothing more painful than bing fanatical pureblood dogs after being caught struggling for freedom together with their closerades. There are also some "mudblood" thorns in Hogwarts Castle, all of them were also handed over to Lockhart to solve, in whose hands the "mudblood" rarely remain disobedient. It is also because of such a feat, his promotion was like a rocket, only three years after joining the Ministry of Magic, he became the head of the office from the ordinary staff. Even now he is still not forgotten by Voldemort and was summoned to France, to contribute to the pureblood cause. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 220: Nothing Under the Sea Chapter 220: Nothing Under the Sea But as Dumbledore analysed, the memory charm, a means of forcibly changing people''s minds, is not a permanent solution. The first batch of wizards who were released from the camp is indeed just a group of sacrificial victims, and this group of sacrificial victims can certainly attract the required prey to the people who made this move. Unlike the outside world''s imagination, there is actually no longsting wailing inside the re-educational camp, nor is there any gruesome torture and brutality. Compared to the prison, this is more like an alternative school, and Voldemort is the school''s Headmaster. He is sitting in a windowed Headmaster''s office, his eyes looking at the wavespping at the seaside reef outside the window. "The Dementors left behind in Azkaban, is that all the information reported up?" The man''s voice is very quiet, making it hard to hear what kind of emotions he actually has at this moment. And under his feet, Rodolphus Lestrange, who is the nominal chief of the re-educational camp, hung his head down, not daring to look directly at the gentleman who seemed to be very easy to get along with. "These are the statements given to us by their leader himself, Legilimency and truth potion are all ineffective against them, my lord, we have no way to determine the authenticity of this information, but I think they should not dare to lie to you." Voldemort''s face looked nd as he picked up the statement recorded from the dementors on his desk again, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly. "Two wizards and a ghost forced their way into Azkaban Ind, captured the Aurors who were stationed on the ind, then used an extremely powerful Patronus Charm to repel the Dementors from the castle, and finally disappeared without a trace with their captives." Rodolphus did not hear a hint of sarcasm in the man''s tone, and if he had dared to look up, he would have noticed an ironic sneer overflowing on his lord''s face. "After receiving the dementor''s confession, I sent a small team to check out the situation in that prison my lord. From the signs left there, the dementors should not have lied, our men did find traces of two extremely powerful Patronus charms being summoned in the prison." "The two men who broke into the prison both consumed the polyjuice potion, and they assumed the appearance of Scabior and Mair, but there was no way for the ghost''s appearance to be altered, and through Dementor''s description, we found a profile of the ghost, who being-" Voldemort casually tossed the statement back onto his desk. "He is one of the resident ghosts who escaped from Hogwarts castle." Rodolphus looked at his lord with astonishment, he had just found out about Nick, and there was no mention of him in the statement. Voldemort analysed it with interest. "Let''s see, that stupid woman Gray certainly will not go to help Dumbledore to do this kind of thing; Baron, he took most of the ghosts away to figure out their own way, the fat friar is a good old man, but his character is not worthy of being entrusted with such a task, if I am Dumbledore, then the only one choice is Nearly Headless Nick." Rodolphus swallowed nervously, he nodded his head and said. "My lord, your wisdom is unmatched in the world, it is Nichs de Mimsy-Porpington, he is the ghost who appeared at the prison and assisted the other two in kidnapping Aurors." "Kidnap Aurors?" Voldemort raised his voice. "If that''s all Dumbledore sent them over there for, it''s nothing much. Lift your head and look at me, Rodolphus." Rodolphus shuddered and looked up to meet his lord''s gaze. In that man''s dark pupils, there was only indifference like dead water. "At a time like this, I must stay here, so send your men to Azkaban once again right now, there is a hidden cer on the first floor of that prison, find it, there is a p door found under the barrel in the cer. Open that door and go into the room behind it to look for a diary for me. If, they can still find it, bring that diary back to me immediately." "If there''s nothing in there, send someone north along Azkaban, across the North Sea, to find a tower called Starr in the middle of the Norwegian Sea, and see if there''s anyone else there besides an old punk who only studies astronomy." His tone was not intense, and could even be called calm, but Rodolphus heard the gloomy coldness in it that was enough to make half of the magical world tremble. "If. What should our people do if there is someone else in that tower?" Voldemort stared at him. "Except for one person to immediately apparate back to report to me, everyone else has to stay behind to keep an eye on those people, and I will personally go over in a few moments after that!" Rodolphus heavily re-bowed his head. "Yes!" *** Hermione, who was looking for clues to the floor below at the foyer on the ground floor, was suddenly startled by a voice that rang out from her side. "Miss Granger." Without a sound, Rabier appeared at Hermione''s side, and he looked at Hermione calmly with those big, wide, scary eyes. "Lunch is ready, we should go to the living room to eat." Hermione''s whole body was shocked with a shiver, and onlyter it eased up. Luna, who hade over to the side, looked at Rabier and tilted her head with a thoughtful gaze. "Mr Rabier?" Rabier turned his head to look at the girl with light blonde hair. "Just call me Rabier, no elf is entitled to be called Mr." Hermione and Luna looked at each other, and Hermione discerned what she was thinking. "We are rather curious about one thing." Luna spoke softly and asked, "Is this floor we''re on now, the very bottom of the whole tower that we can reach? Is there a floor to go to in the part that is hidden in the seawater as well?" There is nothing to hide, from the current point of view, that Sir Stoker''s attitude towards them can bepletely described as friendly. Even if this tower really had a section under the surface of the sea, it was not something to be hidden. Faced with her question, Rabier''s ugly face did not have any change of expression, he just shook his head and said. "To resist the corrosion of the seawater on the tower, hard stone foundations were erected under the surface of the sea, and there is no way to reach it as there is no undersea floor." His answer is reasonable, and his behaviour to this unusual question is also very calm, whether it is Hermione or Luna, neither saw any problem. Originally, it was just a whim and some curiosity, since they had already got the answer from Rabier here, they did not persist in this issue. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 221: Star Sea Chapter 221: Star Sea "This Sir is really weird." On the fifty-eighth floor, Ron, who had just walked out of a room, whispered to Neville and Lee beside him and muttered. "He doesn''t look like he''s short of money at all, so why did he bothering to this ce in the Norwegian Sea to suffer? Even if he really wants to study astronomy, won''t it be easier to move to Sweden or Find, where he can see the same starry sky as this?" Neville shook his head and said. "Everyone has different ambitions, maybe Sir Stoker experienced something when he was young that pushed him to live secluded here." As they were talking, Lee looked left and right with a suspicious look on his face, and both Neville and Ron noticed his unusual behaviour. "What are you looking for?" "I always feel that someone is watching us all the time." Lee said with a frown. His words made Ron''s body subconsciously shiver, originally he didn''t feel anything, but after Lee said it, he didn''t know if it is a psychological effect or this time he became aware of it, he also had a feeling like he was being watched by something at all times. Neville patted the two of them on the shoulder, gesturing for them to look in the direction of the corner of the stairs. There is a ck cat that looks exactly the same as the ones they have seen before. It was crouching in the shadow of the corner, looking at Neville and the rest of them with eyes that glowed faintly in the dark. Seeing the ck cat, Ron breathed a sigh of relief. He walked in front of the ck cat as it watched him approach, and instead of leaving, it just kept staring at him. "There are so many cats in this tower, and all of them are pure ck like this, looking just like this one." Ron said while trying to reach out and touch the head of the ck cat that had scared him. But the cat did not want to let his hand touch its body, with a leap it scurried away from Ron''s side, and then darted down the stairs. Ron shrugged somewhat uncertainly. "It doesn''t seem to like me." "Come on, let''s continue to look one more floor up, it''s almost lunchtime." Neville urged Ron, and the three of them continued up the stairs to the fifty-ninth floor. There was only one closed room here, and the door was unlocked like the rest of the floor, so they easily pushed it open and walked in. The room was dark, unlike the other rooms that automatically lit up with candlelight upon entering, here it was dark even after all three of them walked in. "Why there is no light here?" "Maybe that Sir forgot about it when he was working on this floor." "Or maybe this floor has some big secret he can''t tell, wait for me to take my wand out." Lee was about to wave his wand and use the Wand-Lighting Charm when the centre of the originally dark room suddenly lit up with a faint dot of light. At once, all the attention of the three of them was attracted by this light. The light was originally only the size of a grain of rice, but it continued to expand, and soon under their witness, a fireball emanating light, with a surface that seemed to be constantly burning appeared in front of their eyes! And at the same time as the fireball appeared, there were also countless points of light flickering around. The entire dark room seemed to amodate a sea of stars, a ball of light of different colours constantly surfaced around them, and then ording to a fixed track to the centre of the fireball, they began to rotate. And gradually smaller balls of light emerged around these balls of light that were obviously smaller than the previous one, and these balls of light began to rotate around them. Neville''s eyes reflected this splendid scene, and he said in shock. "This is. This is a sr system!" Even Hogwarts in exile has never suspended its astronomy sses, and they had already learned about the nines of the sr system (Pluto was removed in 2006, and it became eights) in their first year, and even learned about the moons that revolve around thes. So at the sight of this star system, Neville and the others did not feel unfamiliar. However, the evolution of thes in the room did not stop there. After the entire sr system emerged around them, together with the sun in the middle, the entire sr system began to shrink, and soon the sr system became a sphere about the size of the original sun. All kinds of other star systems appeared around them, whether they had learned them or not, surrounding them as if they were in a sea of stars. Not only Neville, Ron and Lee both were also shocked by the scene in front of them and stood speechless. And at that moment, someone outside suddenly pushed the door open from outside the door. Sir Stoker, who had juste down from the top of the tower with Jon, stood in front of the door with a smile on his face, looking at the three children who are in the middle of a sea of stars. He did not get angry, nor did he reprimand, but spoke and asked. "Isn''t it fantastic?" Lee said excitedly, "It''s fabulous!" Ron''s face looked fascinated: "I''ve never seen anything so beautiful!" "There is nothing in the world, more mesmerizing than this starry sky above our heads." Sir Stoker looked at the stars floating in the darkness, his eyes lit up with a faint light, and there was clearly a frenzy hidden under that calm gaze. Jon stood at his side, also looking at the starry stars in the room that had been modelled and brought this breathtaking scene to the earth, neither disagreeing nor denying Sir Stoker''s words. He was surprised at the view in front of him, and even more surprised at Sir Stoker''s ambition. This sea of stars, even with magic can not be created overnight, and except for the sr system, the location and orbits of thoses in every other star system are not information that can just be obtained. This room must have cost Sir Stoker a lot of effort, and to spend so much energy to create such a room, there is no other better exnation than personal passion. Astronomy is an important direction for wizards to understand magic and observe the world. But this direction is basically impossible to bring any substantial improvement to the wizard himself, so although the astronomical knowledge of the magical world has always been developing, they have no more understanding than the muggles who have been on the moon or two. Because they have never left the earth and gone to space, not many wizards are interested in the starry sky above them, and their research on the stars is mostly rted to divination. They hope to discover thews that affect the people on thend from the orbits of thes so that they can make prophecies. But Sir Stoker is obviously not a diviner, his understanding of astronomy is more like just pure love and fondness. Love to the point of some obsession and even fanaticism. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 222: Muggle Philosophy Chapter 222: Muggle Philosophy Lunch was sumptuous. One could tell that Sir Stoker was in a good mood, and at the table, he and Jon talked about many things, most of which were about his life at sea over the years. "Actually, at first I wanted to go a little further north and find a ce to settle in the Arctic Circle. But, it would be a problem to even make a normal living there, with a firece burning all year round, which would be a heavy burden not only to me but also to Rabier, so I eventually gave up on that idea." Jon didn''t say with ttery, but with sincerity. "The scenery here is very pleasant, and if I ever retire in the future, I will consider spending my old age in a ce like this." "In fact, when I first came here, my life didn''t flow that well." Stoker recalled, "Because this is not part of the muggle''s shippingne, this ce was ssified by the Norwegian Ministry of Magic as a marine magical creature sanctuary, there were a lot of magical creatures that used to be in the nearby sea have been driven to here." "And those merpeople, the Ministry of Magic did not order them to move, but they were forced to migrate here, originally they were living in the seashore area, but now that area of seawater is heavily polluted by muggles, and it is easy for them to be found, so theyter migrated to this ce in group one by one." "And because of this experience, they did not treat me well when they learned that a wizard had moved in here to live. It wasn''t untilter when one of their n members was identally injured and strayed to my tower where I helped to heal him that their impression of me somewhat changed." What he said made people a bit saddened, not only do thend humanoid magical creatures like Centaur, Giant, and other magical creatures races have less and less space to live, but even the ocean is the same. As long as the wizards decide to maintain the Statute of Secrecy, such a situation is unlikely to change, as muggles expand their ess to nature, they will always get a clear understanding of the world, after all, the Earth is only so big in total. Sir Stoker suddenly and coldly asked. "Professor Johnson, I wonder what you think of Muggles?" Jon did not hear much deeper meaning in his question, it felt like it was just a casual inquiry. "I have no prejudice against muggles." He said, "Although Durmstrang was more after the ancestry at the establishment of the school, in fact, in the school, everyone is very open to the issue of ancestry, everything is mainly based on ability." For this Jon is not talking nonsense, Durmstrang''s school style is a little strange, as long as you are good enough to y within the rules, then you can get more resources than others, not as fair as Hogwarts, but it''s also not based on ancestry. Sir Stokerughed. "I don''t think most wizards actually have any prejudice against muggles, except for those arrogant, cocky, stubborn old things. But in the end, the reason why those old-minded people loathe muggles is also because of historical issues; in the past, muggles were indeed foolish and especially did a lot of things that hurt wizards." "It''s just that since the beginning of this century, the muggle world haspletely changed." While talking about this, Sir Stoker became enthusiastic, he seems to have a deep understanding of the history of muggles. "Muggles are not as ignorant as before, they are actually beginning to gradually understand the world, and in a very different way from us, using their own perspective to understand the rules of the world." "It seems to me that for wizards the rules of the world are not fixed, our consciousness can change matter. When we have a stone in front of us, if we close our eyes and start thinking whether the object we see with our eyes in front of us is a stone or not, our ''will'' will drive the magic to make changes to the world, if we are firmly convinced that the stone is a sheep, then even without the presence of a wand and an incantation, if our ''will'' is strong enough, the stone that was there before we closed our eyes would be a sheep after we open our eyes." "But for muggles, it is different, in their eyes, the rules of the world are fixed, the stone is stone, there is no way to change it even a little with their strong ''will'', the matter is the basis of the world and possesses primary characteristics, while consciousness is secondary, the human consciousness can not directly produce any changes to the world." Jon looked at Sir Stoker with some surprise. He didn''t expect that there are actually wizards in the magical world who know so much about the theory of muggles, and also such a wizard hase from an ancient wizard family. "About whether the rules are fixed or not, it is actually all about the philosophy of who dominates the matter and the ''will'', I never thought that you, Sir, would have understood the muggle concept?" Neville and the group sitting nearby were all basically listening in confusion, with only Hermione blinking in a half-understood manner. And after seeing that Jon was actually apparently not unfamiliar with what he was saying, Sir Stoker had a surprised look on his face. "Professor Johnson also knows something about the Muggle concept of understanding the world?" Jon blurted out casually. "I was actually a Professor of Muggle Studies for a while before I became a Professor of Transfiguration, so I have some idea about these. But I need to correct you on one point, Sir, in this issue of whether the rules of the world are fixed in matter as well as ''consciousness '', the muggles are actually not unified." "While there are many muggles who believe that matter came before ''will'' and ''will'' can only be used to understand the matter, there are also many muggles who believe in the existence of an omniscient and omnipotent God in this world, and even among wizards there is no shortage of such people, is there?" Sir Stoker said irrefutably. "Indeed, there is also arge group of such people among the muggles, in fact, our existence proves that what they believe is not wrong, maybe the so-called omniscient and omnipotent God is a wizard with unprecedented magical power in ancient times?" "But the biggest group of contributions in the Muggle world are people with a different kind of thinking. For us what they believe in is definitely wrong, and matter can bepletely changed ording to the ''will'' of the wizard. But for them, what they believe ispletely correct, because without magic they can indeed only passively understand the matter and rules of the world, rather than changing them." "It is because of this difference in understanding of the world that the magical and muggle worlds have developed in two very different directions, except that while the development of wizards has been going on for thousands of years, and the magic we have mastered is gradually being perfected, the development of muggles has just begun." "But it is just at the beginning of these past decades, they have made a feat that wizards have not done or even thought of doing for thousands of years." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 223: Astronaut Chapter 223: Astronaut "Stepping out of the Earth!" Sir Stoker''s voice became slightly agitated. "They created a machine structure called Rocket, through the power generated by the burning of the material, they got free from the ground and flew upwards until they flewpletely out of the earth and went to the starry sky that has always been looked up to by wizards, and never been reached by any of us!" Neville and Ron, who were obviously both learning about this for the first time, couldn''t understand the previous discussion between Jon and Sir Stoker about philosophy, but they could understand what Sir was talking about now in this sentence. "They''ve gone to other stars?" Ron asked, wide-eyed. "They''ve had peoplend on the moon, and the machines they''ve created have even reached Mars." Sir Stoker said with glowing eyes, he looked like he could not wait to break away from his wizard status and join the muggle space crew as an astronaut. "But the wizard in the magical world never had such an idea, so the study of astronomy researchers has always been the way of observation, still just using a telescope ced on the ground." Jon said with relief. "Magic gives wizards convenience, but also limits some ideas, and it''s not a question of whether wizards want to or not." "I have always believed that after all this time, the main theme of the magical world is still always revolving around lineage, and it''s a shame that there are disputes over status." Sir Stoker said without mercy. "The mystery of magic should not be limited to this, this ability we are born with should not be wasted on how to kill our own kind, but to seek progress and explore the world, not just the ground we are on, but the truth of all things." From the time he had known this Sir until now, he had struck Jon as more of a cynical academic than some noble wizard. Such people are really rare in the magical world because magic is the core of wizards, so what the vast majority of wizard experts study is mainly rted to spells, transfiguration, potions or magic herbs and creatures, and few of them focus on the so-called truth of the world. In fact, it is also due to the fact that wizards can influence matter through their own ''will'', which leads them to be less interested in the matter and their motivation to explore iscking. Sir Stoker is clearly the "weirdo" among wizards. He obviously grew up in a wizard family, but he is more like a muggle scientist who studied natural science first and then came into contact with magic halfway. And Sir Stoker continued to chat further on the topic of Muggle philosophy and scientific development at the table, and then Rabier led Jon, Neville, and the others to the floor where the rooms prepared for them are in the tower. And after taking them to this ce, the elf Rabier did not stay much, this tower is so big, and he is responsible for a lot of work, so he has no time to follow Jon and them all the time. After he left, Jon gathered Neville and co. to his room, and first checked the room all up and down to make sure there was nothing capable of monitoring and listening, such as active portraits or other surveince means here, then asked in a serious tone. "What did you guys find this morning?" Before lunch, the girls who had explored the lower half of the tower separately had shared their results with the boys who had explored the upper half, so Neville shook his head and said. "We basically went through all the floors of the tower, but did not find anything special, if we have to mention something odd, it is the ck cats in this tower, which are especially numerous, we encountered no less than seven in total." Jon pondered and rubbed his chin. "Did those ck cats disy any special behaviour?" Ron shook his head. "No, these cats except for not purring much, and often staring at people from the corner without making a sound somewhat creepily, they''re just like any other ordinary cats, and did not behave in any special way." Hermione''s face showed hesitation, but eventually, she spoke. "I was with Luna when we went down to the foyer on the ground floor again, suspecting that there is actually a floor under the surface, and just as we were trying to find the passage, the house elf suddenly came over. We questioned him about this, and he told us that the parts of the tower under the seawater are all solid, there is no floor, and people can''t get in." Hearing Hermione''s words, Jon frowned slightly. "Did the elf have any reaction on his face when he found out that you were looking for a passage to the floor below?" Luna replied. "No, he didn''t seem to be lying, nor was he purposely trying to stop us." Luna''s feelings should be urate, but despite this, Hermione''s spection still made Jon suspicious. They are now in the depths of the Norwegian Sea, the average depth of this sea is more than fifteen hundred meters, and if you want to firmly anchor the tower at the bottom of the sea, a very long part of it is bound to be hidden in the sea. Thinking of it, Jon looked up and said to Lee. "Now, you im to substitute me to return to the ship to hand over some things, and then go back to find Nick, let him help us dive into the sea, to go underwater to see, what the tower looks like in the part under the sea." Lee nodded with a serious look on his face and then left the room. Neville said tentatively. "Actually, I don''t think this Sir looks like a bad guy, and it feels like he''s actually-" "A bit simple?" Jon filled in the words that Neville hadn''t said on his behalf. "Right." "This Sir is definitely a bit simple, since we visited him yesterday evening, we''ve known each other for barely a daybined, yet he''s already talked to us so much." Jon said. "For all the good feelings he just expressed about muggles, if I had been a wizard who insisted on pureblood philosophy, then maybe I would have already shed with him." Neville looked like he was feeling a little guilty. "He trusts us so much, it''s not good for us to carry out these small activities in his house." Jon patted his shoulder. "I can understand where you''reing from, Neville, but it''s because Sir has treated us well that we should find out exactly what''s wrong with this tower, it''s not just helping us it''s helping him too." He enlightened Neville, but in fact, there was an inexplicable wave of doubt inside Jon. So far, the information they had found since arriving at the tower had been simple, yet equally straightforward and useful. Like the stone b at the top of the tower, as long as it is cracked open, then you can get the answer to what Voldemort left on this tower. But the more it is like this, the more it makes people feel that something is wrong. Will the dark lord will truly simply hide something here, taking such great lengths toe to this tower to write down those ancient runes? ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 224: The Tower Under the Sea Chapter 224: The Tower Under the Sea Nick, who was on the ship, soon got the message from Lee. After learning what Jon needed his help for, he didn''t stay and immediately floated down from the ship to the ocean. For the ghost, the seawater would not be a hindrance, without any magical assistance, he dived into the water. After entering the seawater, it was like reaching another world. The sun''s light was refracted by the seawater, forming fantastic-like scenes under the water. There are many sea magical creatures around the tower, and there are also schools of fish swimming around, Nick who went into the water did not cause any fluctuations in the water, so they were not disturbed at all. Nick drifted towards the direction of the tower underwater, from afar he saw four or five merpeople, and they were hunting in the direction opposite to him. He did not want to disturb them, the owner of the tower, that Sir and the surrounding merpeople''s rtionship is very good, so if these merpeople find any problems, it is difficult to guarantee that they will not go and mention it to that Sir. The underwater part of the tower was not hidden, and Nick could easily see the rough stone surface. From the appearance, these columns are indeed solid, with no signs of hollowing out in the middle, and the overall body is very thick, probably about three times the diameter of the exposed part on the surface. This is also understandable, just like building on the ground, the foundation at the bottom will indeed be thicker and broader than the top. To make sure his judgment is urate, Nick tried to cross through those stone surfaces, and a few momentster he emerged from the other side of the stone pir and did not reach the space inside. Such attempts had given him the judgment that this part of the tall tower under the sea is indeed solid, there is no ce for people to enter. But for the insurance, Nick did not immediately return to bring this result back but continued to drift down to the sea, the stone pir is obviously rooted in the bottom of the sea, and what it hides under the seawater is bound to be more than just this part. And the deeper he went under the sea, the more the surface of the stone pir was wrapped by more and more algae as well as underwater nts, by this sight alone, Nick is not quite able to tell if this is the same as the part near the surface. He got close to the algae, and through the algae wrapped in a part of the exposed stone surface, it can be seen that there seems to be no difference between here and the part above. Just when Nick was ready to try to get rid of some algae to further verify the situation, a sudden voice took him by surprise. "Hi! Are you- Ghost?" Nick looked back and found that somehow, the merpeople who were originally hunting on the other side hade to him. The one who opened his mouth to speak was a merman, whose English sounded even less proficient than the female mermaid Justin had caught earlier. And besides this merman, there are also three others of hispanions present, holding pitchforks in their hands, they look like they can''t speak English at all, just jabbering in a merpeoplenguage that Nick doesn''t understand. "Are you new here? We have never seen you before." The English-speaking merpeople frowned and looked at Nick with suspicious expressions. Nick, after all, has lived as a ghost for hundreds of years, he did not show any rmed expression, but blinked and exined. "I am the ghost of the ship that came to visit Sir Stoker, a student''s things fell into the sea, so he asked me toe to see if I can help him to retrieve them." His statement made sense, and the merpeople did not get suspicious when they heard it but said enthusiastically. "You are the guests of Sir. Need. Do we help? For this sea. No one knows it better than we do." Nick said with a wave of his hand. "No, it''s not that important, I just wandered around and didn''t find it, then it should have sunk to the bottom of the sea, it''s too much trouble to go to the bottom of the sea to find that, thank you for your kindness." For the sake of Sir Stoker, these merpeople were very friendly to Nick. After a short exchange with them, Nick does not stay longer, he has actually explored more or less, this part of the tower hidden under the surface of the sea is not anything special. After saying goodbye to these merpeople, he returned to the surface, the merpeople also left, and the sea around the stone pir regained its tranquillity. But such tranquillity did notst long, a small school of fish came swimming through this area. They moved with the water current and shook a piece of algae attached to the tower, in which a small piece of decaying algae was driven by the current, slowly falling off from the stone pir. And the ce it originally covered, illuminated by the refracted sunlight of the sea, faintly glowing with a metallic lustre Nick returned to the ship and told Lee all about his experience under the sea. "I did not find any problems in the submerged part of the tower, but it is really too long, at most I only observed about two or three hundred meters of distance, and it is unknown what condition it is further down, and the bottom is also all covered by some algae; if someone is really using the space inside, it is unlikely that it will not be cleaned, I did not find any traces of being cleaned there. " After getting the information from Nick here, Lee quickly went back and repeated it to Jon. To this Jon did not show much disappointment, the matter of Nick checking was just to help him rule out a suspicious option, and it did not eliminate his suspicion of the whole tower. "Don''t do anything else this afternoon, if you still wander around the tower as you did in the morning, it will raise suspicions, just rest in the living room and wait for my news from the top of the tower." Around two o''clock in the afternoon, Sir Stoker found Jon again and went to the top of the tower with him, continuing to do the work of removing the magic power on the ancient runes in the stone b. In fact, although Jon needed to absorb the magic power of the ancient runes gradually, the speed wasn''t that slow. In one morning''s time, if he didn''t stop at all, he couldpletely eliminate a quarter of the magic power on this stone b. That is to say, the fastest he could finish all the work is two days, only he intentionally slowed down the process of absorbing magic. To try to make the magic on the stone tepletely ineffective, ording to the principal analysis of the ancient runes, simply does not require Jon to absorb all the magic power on it. ording to Nick''s judgment, he only needs to eliminate more than half of the magic power on the stone b, which will basically destroy the magic power maintenance of the locking/sealing magic, which means he can sessfully open the stone b even now if he wants to. As for why Jon is trying to drag out time is because he is betting that Sir Stoker can''t be with him all the time like this, and when the day is over, there will always be a time when he is not there. Strictly speaking, the ownership of the things hidden here should belong to Sir Stoker, and he does not have any reason to im or check. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 225: The Thing Under the Slate Chapter 225: The Thing Under the te Perhaps he is treating a gentleman with a small heart. But Jon knew very well that everything about Voldemort and rted to him would not affect just one person. He could not be more careful, at least until he saw what was under the b, he had no way to be sure that Sir Stoker would still treat them as he did until now. The whole afternoonter this day, Sir Stoker followed Jon''s side, watching him eliminate the magic on the b without leaving. But just as Jon expected, in the early morning of the next day, Sir Stoker did not follow him all the time. He said hello to Jon, and went to sort out some materials and star charts in the office room at the bottom of the tower, saying that Jon could always call him if he needed anything. And Jon was waiting for this opportunity. Yesterday he deliberately slowed down, only a quarter of the ancient runes on the stone b were absorbed, but today from the morning, he did not hold back, solving half of the rune''s magic power in one morning. The original light blue gem has be significantly redder, although not as blood-red as when he first got it in the Hogwarts library, but the magic on the te is still half left, absorbing all of it should be able to reach the point where it is not far from the previous amount. The main reason is that the quality of the magic power of the person who wrote these magic runes is really high, even far more than the magic power of those wizards who created the forbidden books in the library. This huge magic power not only filled the magic power in the ring''s gem but also revealed those forbidden books that originally lost their magic support. Previously on the wagon, relying on the magic power of students below the fourth grade, Jon only retrieved a forbidden bookpiled by Snape on Invisible Sword: Sectumsempra, he did not get any more forbidden books. But now the contents of all the books appeared in the gem, allowing him to take a look, which is an unexpected joy. But what Jon valued most is the b itself. After fixing lunch, Sir Stoker asked Jon about the progress, about which Jon did not hide a thing. He truthfully informed him that the ancient runes on the te had been half solved, only he didn''t say that it would be basically enough if half of it is finished, rather he said that the result would be avable tomorrow morning at the earliest. To this Sir Stoker did not be suspicious, he really does not seem to know much about magic other than astronomy. Neville and the others actually have no more tasks in the tower, Jon did not let them return to the ship in addition to not wanting Sir Stoker to see a problem, but also because they also didn''t want to leave Jon alone, afraid that he will encounter any idents again and bear the burden by himself. "I am willing to ept your help, but you must likewise promise me that if something happens in my absence, you must return to the ship first, or at least let those of us who remain on the ship, know what has happened in the tower." Faced with Jon''s serious reminder, to which Neville made a promise. In the overall situation above, Neville is still the most reassuring, his character right now is not like a Gryffindor, but more like Hufflepuff. After returning to the top of the tower, and continuing to work on the magic runes for more than an hour, the b finally showed signs of loosening. Although there were still some of the thousands of magic runes flickering with the shimmering light of magic, the connection between them and other runes had beenpletely severed, and the sealing magic that was supposed to be effective had now bepletely ineffective. Jon slightly rxed some frown, he took a long breath, and then slowly took the stone b off the wall. And underneath the stone b, there was a narrow hole, and inside the hole, there was a wooden box ced openly. Jon did not hesitate, he took the wooden box out of the hole, the box was not locked, and could be opened directly. What was hidden in the box was simple, a rolled-up, old parchment, and a tube of paper that looked like it had been rolled up and treated like a bottle. He first picked up the parchment, spread the whole thing out, and quickly nced at the contents. But the words written on it were all in French, and Jon is not a multilingual genius, he simply could not read the content, his eyes quickly skimmed down, and soon his eyes settled on a name in the lower left corner of the parchment. This should be some kind of pact with magical effect, and the signature of the signer of the pact was in English that Jon could read, and this English name happened to be, coincidentally, incredibly familiar to him! [Tom Riddle] Jon subconsciously held his breath, he guessed right. What was hidden under the b was really rted to Voldemort, although he could not see what was written on this parchment for the time being, Jon did not hesitate to carry it in his arms. His behaviour can be said to be stealing, but even if it is stealing, it is necessary to figure out the contents of the above, to determine whether Sir Stoker can be trusted or not. Just as he had hidden the parchment and was about to pick up the tube of paper and open it up, there was a sudden sound of movement on the stairs behind him. Jon''s reaction was calm, and his hands moved quickly, quickly opened the paper tube''s lid, and after ncing at the contents, he immediately put it back in ce, then closed the te and turned in the direction of the stairs. By the time he arrived at the stairway, Sir Stoker also happened to climb up. "I was just about to find you, Sir, with good news." Jon said as if nothing had happened, "When the magic runes on the b have been broken more than halfway, the sealing magic attached to it has failed." Sir Stoker''s face clearly showed excitement as he walked quickly in the direction where the b of stone was located. "Then what are we waiting for? Let''s see, which guy has hidden something in my house!" He couldn''t wait to get to the stone b and then took out the wooden box in front of Jon, and subsequently opened the box. Looking at the paper tube inside the box, Sir Stoker had a grave expression on his face as he took it out, opened the lid and poured out what was inside. It was a ss vial like a test tube, and a silvery liquid was stored inside the vial. The liquid was more like smoke, floating in the middle of the vial in a fantasy-like state. "What is this? Some kind of magic potion?" Jon had been paying attention to Sir Stoker, the change of expression after seeing the vial of potion-like substance, he could only see the confusion on Sir''s face and did not notice anything unusual. He narrowed his eyes and said softly. "It does look like a potion." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 226: Memory Chapter 226: Memory "Can you tell what this vial of potion is? Professor Johnson." Sir Stoker asked with a serious look on his face. Jon is not that specialized in potions, and for a moment he could not think of any potion that is silver. But the gem of the ring contains more than half of the entire Hogwarts library collection of forbidden books, as long as this potion is not some private and exclusive recipe, then it is highly probable to find clues in those forbidden books on potions. He weighed his words. "I have some superficial understanding of potions, but you should know Sir, that there are too many types avable for something like potions, the amount is quiterge and varied, and at the moment I can''t think of any potions that correspond to it. But as long as the potion is still avable, we can slowly study it and find out its effects." Sir Stoker nodded. "That''s right, I also have some books on potions in my study, all left behind by my family and collected when I was on thend before, we can use these materials to study it." It is not clear whether his words were intentional or unintentional, but they have blocked off the words of Jon who originally wanted to take the silver potion away and figure out exactly what it is in private by himself. Jon preferred that he was intentional, although Sir Stoker is simple but not to the point of naivety, he certainly will not trust Jon unconditionally, and this time it should be to guard against him. And he has actually shown enough trust, not directly taking the potion away, but rather expressing his desire to work with Jon to study what kind of effect this vial of potion actually has. This method is considered a sort that Jon can ept, after all, he has already got the pact signed with Voldemort''s real name in advance, and he has a feeling that the biggest problem should be in the pact. Not many people on the ship know French, the good thing is that Hermione had taught herself French for a while, and now she is also in the tower, there is no need for her to trante all the contents of the pact, as long as they can tell a general meaning it is enough. Jon and Sir Stoker did not continue to stay at the top of the tower, they took the silver potion back to the study. The vast majority of books in the study are indeed associated with astronomy, but there are also some books rted to magic spells and potions. But Jon just looked at the cover of these books that can be seen, which are basically ordinary potion books that can be bought in the outside world, books and knowledge that slightly involves deviant or taboo potions are not recorded here. Therefore, Jon''s attention was not focused on the potion books that Sir Stoker took out, he was staring at the vial of potion ced in the middle of the desk, constantly searching the forbidden books on potions in the ring. Potions with silver colour are very rare, even if all the forbidden books about potions were quickly browsed, Jon could only find four or five kinds. And the characteristics described in these several potions are very different from the vial in front of him. There is indeed a liquid stored in the ss vial, but the silver colour is like smoke floating around, giving a feeling like a dream. Sir Stoker naturally could not find any results from thesemon potion books, he frowned deeply and opened his mouth to propose. "How about we open the vial, part out a few drops of the potion, and find something to experiment with its effect?" There is nothing wrong with this proposal, in the absence of a way to find the exact information of the potion, they can only start by trying to deduce its effect through experiments. "I''ll do it, after all, I have experience in preparing potions, and it''s safer for me to do it." To be safe, Jon took the initiative to take this job upon himself, to which Sir Stoker also nodded in agreement. He took the ss vial, and then carefully opened the cork. And just after Jon opened the vial, the liquid in the ss vial, the original free silver smoke suddenly flew out of it! The smoke broke away from the liquid and coalesced into a silver thread in the air at a speed visible to the naked eye, then rushed towards Sir Stoker''s head with a clear target! Jon reacted extremely quickly at the beginning of this mutation and pulled out his wand, and when the silver smoke flew out, he did not hesitate to cast a spell at himself and Sir Stoker''s body. "Protego Maxima!" A variation of the shield charm, which could protect an area instead of a single individual. However, after the silver thread coalesced into shape and rushed towards Sir Stoker''s head, a terrible feeling suddenly rose up in Jon''s heart! Before this thing has been kept in the liquid, Jon''s inherent impression is that it can only be stored in the Pensieve, so his thought has never headed in that direction. But now, he finally recognized what this is! This is nothing to do with the potion at all, but rather a wisp of memory! A wisp of memory drawn from Sir Stoker''s mind! The shield charm is intended to resist the spell, so of course it can''t prevent the memory from returning to its owner''s mind. The wisp of silver smoothly rushed into Sir Stoker''s mind, and in that instant, Sir''s gaze showed a nk look. Jon quickly distanced himself from Sir Stoker, but instead of rashly aiming his wand at Sir, who had worked with him on examining what the vial of potion was, he held his breath and asked with unparalleled seriousness. "It is a memory, isn''t it, Sir Stoker?" The bewilderment in Sir Stoker''s eyes didn''tst long, and soon his face turned a little grim, then from grim, it turned into thoughtfulness, before finally meeting Jon''s gaze calmly as he said with a smile. "Why are you suddenly so nervous, Professor Johnson, it''s just an ordinary memory, I''m still me, it won''t turn me into a different person." Jon did not rx his body which was tensed up at the moment, only that the look on his face was not growing that serious either. "Yes, memories don''t change a person in most cases, but since the memories in the vial are yours, Sir, does that mean that you put that b up there? Only that you forgot about it?" Sir Stoker, who really didn''t seem to have changed much in personality from before he got that memory back, raised an eyebrow and said politely. "This memory, how I put it there is a bit of a personal thing that involves me, so I''m sorry I can''t answer that for you, Professor Johnson. But that doesn''t stop me from thanking you, I really appreciate your help to me, if you need anything you can just mention it, as long as I can do it, I will definitely help." Jon did not speak for a while, he looked into Sir Stoker''s eyes, and the atmosphere stayed quiet for half a minute. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 227: Doing Things and Dealing Chapter 227: Doing Things and Dealing Jon slowly opened his mouth and said. "It''s nothing Sir, I just helped a little bit, the reward or whatever if you think it''s possible, can you give me that b? I''m still interested in the ancient runes on it." For this request of his, Sir Stoker showed quite a generosity, he said readily. "That''s certainly no problem, you can take that te away with you at any time if you want." Then he stood up from his chair and said politely. "Because of this memory, I have some personal matters to ascertain, can you excuse me for a moment, Professor, of course, you and your students can still tour around this tower as you please." "That''s fine, go ahead and get busy." Sir Stoker walked out of the study and disappeared from Jon''s sight as he walked past the corner of the stairway. Jon looked at his departing back and slowly reached into the inner pocket of his robe and pulled out the corner of the cloak of invisibility, but then he also touched the pact that he had hidden in advance. Without dwelling on it for long, Jon stuffed the cloak of invisibility back in and walked quickly down the stairs to the lower level instead. He arrived in the living room, where Neville and the four of them were still having afternoon tea and chatting, and the house elf, Rabier, was not there. "Come and help me out, Hermione." Jon didn''t bother with any unnecessary nonsense, he ced the pact directly on the coffee table. "Trante as much as you can read on it, interpret the context for me." Everyone could see Jon''s seriousness, Hermione did not linger, she looked at the old parchment with a serious expression, and quickly read it. Soon she got a preliminary result. "This is a pact, there are many professional terms on it, which I do not know many of them. But the approximate meaning of the pact is that it helps the signer of the pact to maintain a bnce, a bnce between beast and man. The term should mean blood curse." Jon''s brain spun quickly, he quickly thought about his previous visits to Sir Stoker''s study, where he saw those materials about the treatment of Maledictus blood curse. "That is to say, this pact is roughly a treatment n about curing a certain kind of blood curse?" In response to Jon''s question, Hermione nodded affirmatively. "Yes, if you take out the professional words that I can''t understand, it does look like a healing n, but this pact needs someone to maintain it, and it has to be a Stoker." Jon''s face became more and more serious, and the expression on his face was cloudy and uncertain, after a moment of thought, he immediately took the pact back up, and then said without hesitation. "Now you go back to the ship immediately! Then sail the ship away from this sea!" Neville and the others looked at Jon''s gaze with obvious iprehension, but because of enough trust, they would not ask why they had to do so but asked. "And what about you?" "I have to ask for some rifications on something from Sir Stoker, you can absolutely rest assured, I got some small gains from this tower and will not be in danger like I encountered on Azkaban Ind, but you can not stay, that will rather limit my ability to fight." Jon''s speech was fast, and his tone was serious, and Neville and the others could hear that now is not the time to joke. Five people immediately got up and left the living room, Hermione walked to the corner of the stairs, her lips pursed as she turned pale and looked at Jon to finally remind. "You must be careful." Jon did not make any perfunctory and promised with immense seriousness. "I''m sure I will." Neville and the others did not stay and disappeared from Jon''s sight along the descending stairs. And Jon did not remain there, but went in the opposite direction as Neville and the others, and went up all the way to the top floor. He climbed up the stairs in the study to the top of the tower, where Sir Stoker stood beside the gap covered by the stone b, his face was gloomy as it had never been before. After seeing Jon walk up, his original gloomy look gradually dissipated, and he turned to look at him calmly instead. "You''re not the professor of Durmstrang who brought his students out for a study trip, am I right?" Jon also said tly. "You''re also not a mere Sir who wants to be reclusive and just focus on astronomy, are you?" Sir Stoker stared at Jon and was silent for a moment, and then he suddenlyughed. "It''s ridiculous, we both originally thought that the identity shown by each other was real, and then used this seemingly real identity to uncover a mystery jointly, but when our purpose was achieved and the mystery was uncovered, we found out that you and I actually all had ulterior motives." Jon''s voice gradually became cold, after figuring out part of the problem, he actually did not have much energy to chat with this Sir in front of him for so long. "You''re helping the Dark Lord!" "Not doing much." Sir Stoker shook his head, "I haven''t lied to you, professor, you must be a professor at another magic school. Although Ie from a pureblood family, I don''t agree one bit with the theory of so-called pureblood supremacy, and I really dislike that man Tom Riddle, but I had to make a deal with that man somehow." He looked up and stared intently at Jon, the sky had be somewhat overcast at some point, dark clouds loomed over their heads, and the sea breeze, which had been abated by magic, gradually began to be faster, blowing up the robes they were wearing, making the sound of fabric being jerked. "You took that deed?" Jon''s right hand stayed tucked in his sleeve at all times, the hidden hand clutching the end of his wand tightly. "Such a powerful dark lord can''t have a Maledictus blood curse, right? What is he trying to bnce by getting you to make this pact?" *** Without a moment''s pause, Neville and the others stepped on the stairs that could move on their own and darted away towards the lower part of the tower. However, just when they had descended to a distance of about the twentieth floor, the staircase that was still moving suddenly stopped. Not only did it stop, but immediately after it began to drive sharply in the opposite direction, to the top of the tower! Neville reacted quickly, or rather all five of them reacted quickly, holding hands together, and then stared at the gap in the passing floor as the stairs went up. "Jump!" Neville shouted. The five of them jumped together down the stairs that were moving rapidly, with huge inertia that threw them off a considerable distance, eventually colliding with the wall before stopping in their tracks. "He wants to keep us?" Ron asked in disbelief. Lee rubbed his arm, which was sore from the impact, and sucked in a cold breath. "It must be the discovery that Jon made that caught that Sir''s attention, and he wanted to keep us behind to restrain Jon!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 228: Under the Night Chapter 228: Under the Night Lyon, France. In an estate concealed in a busy street, hundreds of wizards in white robes are gathered together. The white robes have now be the uniform of everyone in the Witching Horizon, the symbol of the seven men who first rebelled against Voldemort''s rule in France, and have thus been inherited. Dumbledore didn''t stop the n to attack the re-educational camp, which was supported by the majority of the people in the Witching Horizon. He was well aware that it was not a matter of reason, the newly formed, united by multiple resistance groups must need a real war to form a sense of cohesion. At first, he had worried about failure, because the Witching Horizon side did not have any advantage, either in terms of numbers or in terms of high-endbat power. Voldemort''s state is unstable, but no one knows except himself how much strength he can retain if he reaches the worst-case scenario, and how far he can fight Dumbledore. But after seriouslymunicating with one of the main war factions to gain a better understanding, Dumbledore was able to see the situation clearly. Some wars can not be avoided by knowing the odds are low at the beginning, he can only rely on his own existing prestige to suppress the different voices. But this is not the solution to the conflict, if the internal voice can not be unified, then it is not possible to talk about solid development. Voldemort is constantly strengthening his rule in France, absorbing more new blood, and they are already on the weaker side, yet still not moving forward, so there is no future to speak of. Then simply let go, if it works, it will signify the purpose of Dumbledore bringing most of the members of the Order of the Phoenix to France at the beginning. In this new battlefield opened up by Voldemort, directly maintain a head-to-head stand-off situation. Even if they fail, they can also try to preserve the main force, withdraw from France, pull back to Northern Europe, and unite with the wizards of Northern Europe under Grindelwald''s hand to continue to do confrontation. If they win, all within the Witching Horizon will be happy, and if they lose, then at least the voices within the organization can be unified, and they can take a step forward. No matter what happens, it is much better than their previous exile in Britain, only being able to make some small moves. Dumbledore has always been sure that Voldemort''s ambitions will not stop at ruling the entire British Isles, he is obsessed with and enjoys power and authority, and when he has be the dictator of the British magicalmunity, he would want to get the whole of Europe, and after getting the whole of Europe he is bound to want to be the master of the world. If he had settled down and stayed in Britain, it would have been difficult for Dumbledore to get external support, and no organization would have given them too much practical help simply out of moral obligation. And Voldemort''s invasion of France is the opportunity that Dumbledore has been waiting for a long time, an opportunity to confront Voldemort on the frontal battlefield. The Hogwarts on the wagon even if it can still absorb fresh blood, as long as the dark lord is still alive one day, it is destined to only cause small disturbances to the Voldemort government, without any hope of subverting him. But when he now began to unfold his fangs to the outside world, and forcefully eat half of the meat of France, Dumbledore and the British wizard in exile are finally not alone in the fight. Voldemort''s pressure will prompt all the resistance to unite together, and as long as they unite, then there is hope to subvert him! That''s why Dumbledore was in France at this time, instead of returning to Britain. If Voldemort didn''t experience any defeat, the British magicmunity must be stable, nearly ten years of absolute rule has forged his absolute authority and prestige, whether this authority is due to awe or fear, before experiencing a Waterloo-like defeat, such a prestige will not fade. Dumbledore considered everything before uniting French wizards and Nordic wizards in France to establish the Witching Horizon. And this newborn organization must now go through a baptism of war. There is no doubt that even though there was opposition to the operation at the beginning, Dumbledore is still leading them as the leader. Just like Voldemort has absolute prestige, today''s Dumbledore even if his reputation is not as good as before, no one in the entire Witching Horizon can surpass him. "Perhaps some of you are now still thinking that Dumbledore, a poor old man, has been beaten by that man, he suffered defeat, afraid to make any attempt to resist, always worried that he will lose again." Dumbledore''s voice was not very loud, but it reached the ears of every wizard present clearly. "But no one actually wins all the time, just like fifty years ago, many people thought that I would not win that duel, or just like ten years ago, no one thought that he would seed in conquering Hogwarts castle." "I never thought failure is something to be ashamed of, what is shameful is not daring to face your defeat." "People may suspect that Dumbledore is old and has long since lost that courage of his youth, but no one would doubt that Albus Dumbledore would give up the righteousness of his heart, so even if we had different opinions before, you never had any disapproval against me." "I lost Hogwarts Castle and became the most failed Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in history. That time, I lost a lot of people, I experienced countless people''s life and death, but what I did fear was, I couldn''t do anything when one by one, originally familiar faces copsed in front of my eyes." "I''m afraid that scene will happen a second time in front of me, I don''t care if I personally win or lose, what I care about is how many of our like-minded friends will be left alive after a defeat." Javier Iniesta, who was standing next to Dumbledore''s left-hand side, frowned inwardly as he listened to the not-exactly impressive, and arguably even somewhat demoralizing speech. "But I have often said this to others - death is just the beginning of another great adventure, I have many times said this to enlighten others, and I have never been afraid to go through this part of my life journey." "I will feel sad, sad for the departure of my friends, but that is only sadness about a parting." "We will certainly have many people leave us next whether we can achieve victory or not. But you have climbed to the top of this journey in the world of the living, and in another adventure, you can raise your wine goblet and show off to countless other travellers what a great journey you have been a part of!" "If after tomorrow, this ce would be littered with tombstones, it would represent the fact that we are holding a jubnt banquet for the beginning of another adventure." "And if there happens to be a seat belonging to me in this ce, I hope you will not record my name and biography on it, just inscribe the phrase [a failed Headmaster], which will be enough." In the manor, the wizards in white robes looked at the old man who was smiling at them, but their bodies were involuntarily warming up under the cold temperature, and everyone was holding their wands tightly in their hands, with sweat soaking out of their palms. That is not in fear, scared or shrinking, they are in excitement, thrill, in impatience. The sky did not know when it became dark, the night gradually fell, around the obscurity of light. Dumbledore whispered, saying thest sentence before leaving, the still not quite passionate words. "My friends, when the night falls, it is also the time when the stars shine." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 229: The Matagot Cat Chapter 229: The Matagot Cat "We can''t continue to stay here, we have to find a way to leave!" Neville was calm, he looked at the stairs that were still going up and said in a serious tone. "The more that Sir does not want us to leave this tower, the more we have to leave!" Ron frowned at the stairs which looked like they wouldn''t stop at all. "But we don''t know how to fly like Jon, and the only way to the exit is this one staircase, so how are we going to get there?" Five people fell into a moment of silence, they are trying to think of a way, but for a while, there were no good ideas. Hermione pursed her lips, she looked at the fast-moving staircase as if they were chains hooking her soul, somehow her mind thought of the beginning of this year, Jon no matter what saved every one of them that day. She had been prepared tomit suicide in advance, at the moment of being hung in the entrance hall by Dolohov, Hermione knew very well that only two paths were waiting for her in the future. One is to be cleansed of memory and be like those senior students, turn into a ve from the heart, while the other is to die. Rather than being inferior to even a dog by being a ve from her whole being, she would prefer death! The boy who imed to be a Hogwarts professor did not break his promise of "another Hogwarts professor" who never lied and saved her in full view of everyone in that castle. The feeling of having someone to lean on was magical, and it makes you want to cherish that feeling. But Hermione was never a girl willing to be a parasite, she did not want to spend her life being protected by someone, and she did not want to spend her life hiding behind someone else. So aftering to the wagon, she doubled her hard work, like a sponge constantly absorbing knowledge, not expecting to be able to be as good as the boy, but at least not to be a burden to him and others. Her eyes were fixed on the moving staircase, just when the other four were at their wits'' end, Hermione suddenly spoke. "The stairs can be structured into a ramp by adding a t surface at right angles! We need a board, a big enough board, as long as we sit on the board, even if these steps constantly move up, we can use gravity to keep sliding down!" Neville''s eyes suddenly lit up. "Good idea, Hermione!" He then turned around and without half a moment''s pause removed one of the door panels on that floor by Severing Charm. The panel wasrge enough, and there seemed to be more than enough room for the five of them who were yet to be adults to sit down. Luna raised another query. "But this ce is still dozens of floors above the first floor, the further down we go the faster the speed will be, and when we finally rush out from the stairs, no one will be able to withstand that force." Hermione took out her wand and whispered. "Jon had once mentioned that in addition to telling me not to forget those natural sciences I learned while at Muggle school, I must also keep in mind that I am still a wizard. You''re all wizards too, and when somethinges at you extremely fast, there''s actually a very simple spell that can negate its speed." Lee was the first to respond. "Impediment Jinx! Impediment Jinx will help slow us down!" The solution to the problem and the afterthought all no longer a problem, Neville and the rest of the five of them quickly applied a levitation charm to the board and then carried it together to the stairs that moved up. The width of the board is just narrower than the width of the stairs, the entire spiral staircase, from the top floor to the first floor there is no in-between obstruction for it, but considering the corners collide against the stair rail, Hermione still proposed to cut off all four corners of the board into a rounded arc. After doing all the preparations, they did the final countdown together. "Three, two, one!" Five people loosened their hands together and ced the board, which was lightened by the levitation charm, on the stairs that kept moving, and then moved quickly together to sit on it! Like an esctor, the stairs constantly moved up, but the overall downward slope added a force to the board, this force and gravity together, after Hermione and co sat on the front, it began to slowly slide down! At first, the speed of the slide is not fast, but with the increase in inertia, they went down faster and faster, and soon exceeded the speed of the staircase itself! The wind blew all of their hair, and Hermione''s long chestnut hair fluttered backwards like a g at the end of the board, and on the way down the slide, she kept watching the floor they were constantly passing. "This is the ranch! 17 floors! We''ve already passed the 17th floor!" She had to increase her volume to be able to give the alert to Neville and the others. However, just at that moment, several unnoticeable dark shadows suddenly skipped by in the corner of Hermione''s eyes! Her heart couldn''t help but rise with an extremely bad feeling because at this time she suddenly remembered some slightly weird points that they found while observing the whole tower before! ck cats! There are many ck cats in this tower! "Watch out!!!" She suddenly gave a warning to Lee, who was sitting at the front, and just as her shrill voice shouted out from her throat, those ck figures had already swarmed to the front of the stairs, blocking their way! The boys sitting in front, Lee, Neville, and Ron, all three reacted quickly, and they then gripped their wands and pointed them forward as soon as Hermione shouted out! "Petrificus Totalus!" "Stupefy!" "Impedimenta!" Their incantations were uniformly released, and three dazzling red rays instantly illuminated the entire space around them. But the ck figures in front of them did not have any intention of dodging. The three spells hit them with unmistakable precision, and then, under the shocked gaze of Neville and the others, the ck cats, whose bodies had be thick and whose eyes were glowing blue, were not only unaffected by the effects of the spells but also split into countless copies in the next second, just like dandelions that had been scattered! In less than a second, the ck cats, whose number had multiplied,pletely blocked their way down the stairs, while the ck cats at the very front flew up in the air and pounced on the Neville trio at the front of the board! "Impedimenta!" The moment the ck cat flew up, Hermione did not hesitate to use the Impediment Jinx, but the target of the spell was not the ck cat, but the board underneath them that kept sliding down. Those cats that originally seemed cute and petite, at this time are like small Panther-like ck cats bursting out with a strong force,bined with the force of the board sliding down, directly knocked the boys sitting at the front off! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 230: The Sealed Door Chapter 230: The Sealed Door Lee held Neville and Ron with a death grip, among the five, his age is the oldest, and also the most physically strong, under his desperate hold, instead of letting Neville and Ron fall apart, they rolled down to a floor they were supposed to pass through by the group of ck cats knocking them out of the board! In an emergency, Hermione used the Impediment Jinx to greatly slow down the speed of the sliding board, and because of this, the impact on the boys rolling down was not so great, not to the extent of falling to the ground and getting injured. With Neville and their help in blocking, after using the Impediment Jinx, Hermione also extremely timely directly pounced ahead with Luna, both directlyid on the board, resulting in the ck cats who pounced in the follow-up, passing over Hermione and Luna''s head, and with "bang" crashing into the stone wall! At this point the effectiveness of the Impediment Jinx on the board also gradually disappeared, the original declining speed already started to elerate again, with the girls continuing to go down towards the ground! Also in this ce, the boys and girls were forced to separate, the ck cats that have split into dozens or hundreds, also quickly divided into two groups, a teampletely blocked Neville and their way to the stairway, and the other team followed the board, chasing after Hermione in the direction they left! Lee, Neville and Ron pressed their backs against the wooden door of the 15th floor, looking at the ck cats who had surrounded them and were slowly approaching, they wheezed sharply. "What should we do?" Lee asked. Ron wasn''t sure if it was because he was tense or if he was being deliberately emphatic. "We can''t get caught by them! We mustn''t! Absolutely not!" Neville didn''t let the situation force him to give up thinking, and he immediately aimed his wand at the locked door behind them. "Alohomora!" A sound of a lock cylinder springing inside the door lock rang out. "I remember that house elf said that from the 20th floor all the way to the 13th floor it''s all vegetable garden and pasture, and the floor we''re on now should be within that zone. Whether it''s the vegetable garden or the pasture there should be a lot of space inside, we just have to go in and there''s still a chance that we can hide!" As he said, he used his shoulder to force open the door of the room that had been unlocked, and then Lee, Ron and Neville stumbled together into an open meadow. This room has a blue sky simted by magic, while there is an endless emerald green grass on the ground, and in the distance, there is a herd of sheep grazing leisurely turned their heads in confusion and looked at the three uninvited guests. Immediately after, more uninvited guests broke through the door, breaking the tranquillity of the meadow. *** Hermione clung to Luna, both of them holding their wands in their hands, and the board was getting closer to the ground floor. "Listen to my voice! Luna! When I count to three! You need to use the Impediment Jinx on the board immediately! I''ll block those cats behind!" Luna who had gotten out of Hermione''s thin arms was staring ahead with a focused face and nodded her head in total seriousness in agreement. "I''ll do it!" Soon they had gone down from the fifth floor to the second floor, and those ck cats followed them, when they saw the corner of the second-floor stairs, Hermione and Luna turned back to back, two people holding their wands one looking ahead and one looking back. "One! Two! Three!" "Impediment Jinx!" Luna has only just entered her second year this semester, but Impediment Jinx is not a difficult spell to learn, after going to sea, Jon also repeatedly stressed the need to not waste the time, so when she was at Hogwarts she had already mastered it under the tutge of senior students. The Impediment Jinx worked smoothly and began to slow down the board once again, but, as they slowed down, the ck cats were still moving forward at breakneck speed, and the distance between the two that was originally pulled apart was rapidly shortening! And when Hermione and the girls were about to pass by the second floor of the tower, Hermione''s wand was aimed at arge vase in front of the second-floor staircase. She used transfiguration! Even if she has been trying to acquire knowledge for more than half a year, there is no way to remember all the magical creatures that are so isted in the magical world. But even if they can''t tell what these ck cats are, the effect of the spell they just cast on these cats has been seen by Hermione. Regr magic is not only ineffective on them but also will cause them to split, since direct magic spells should not be used on them, they should use the indirect effect of transfiguration! Transfiguration spells are the fastest functioning spell of all magic spells, in the next second Hermione waved her wand and finished reciting the spell, the vase began to stretch up the stairs rapidly, and the pottery turned into wooden branches and grew more and more dense, interlocking, and finallypletely sealed the gap between the ck cats and Hermione and Luna! There are even a few ck cats in the forefront, due to ack of dodging they directly entangled into those thick wooden vines, screaming and sealed into the wooden wall! All this happened only in two or three seconds, and at this time, the board was slowed down and finally slid down to the foyer on the ground floor. Hermione grabbed Luna''s arm, struggled to stand up, and together they ran to the door. "We have to get the word out so that George, Fred and the others on the ship can figure out how to get Neville and the others out, and then figure out how to help Jon!" She said while her entire body bumped into the tworge doors, which did not move at all. Hermione braced her half-tingling body and aimed the tip of her wand at the door handle. "Alohomora!" However, this time the Unlocking Charm did not y any role, the two doors remained as if they were welded to the ground, without budging. Hermione''s face began to turn pale, she thought of the kerosenemp that weed them in front of the door when Jon brought them to the tower. It is not just a magic prop to wee guests, but also has the duty of guarding the door! Her hand gripping her wand began to shake, and the pain that had been ignored out of urgency now began to eat away at her senses. "Confringo!" She tried to use the dark curse that she had once seen Jon use on the door, but the tip of her wand only gave off a few sparks and nothing more. There''s no such thing as a half-learned spell; if you can, you can, and if you can''t, you can''t. In the direction of the stairway, a disturbing sound is getting louder and louder, apparently, in such a violent collision, the hurried transfiguration spell that she cast, with Hermione''s magic power simply can not maintain for too long, the group of ck cats will soon break out! And just at this desperate juncture, Luna who has been quietly watching stood in front of the ordinary wall portrait that Hermione tried to examine before only to be interrupted by Rabier. "If Sir is really a bad guy, then what the elf has said to us before, are not some of them also lies?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 231: The Windbreaker Sent Out Chapter 231: The Windbreaker Sent Out "To be honest, at first when I met him, I didn''t even think that person would have such achievements." At the top of the tower, Sir Stoker calmly looked at Jon, he also held his wand in his hand and faced Jon head-on. "He was courteous, talkative, and although he seemed strange at some times, he generally did not seem difficult to get along with." Jon did not risk making a first move, he was not sure what reliance Sir Stoker has now, and the pact is still in his hand. It is easy to destroy the magic on the pact, just use the second gem on the ring to absorb all the magic power attached to it. But this pact is used for separating something like a blood curse from that person using the Sir Stoker family and the tower as a medium, after being destroyed, what kind of effect does it have on Voldemort, in addition to Sir Stoker in front of him, only Voldemort himself knows. Jon now has to capture him, and then give him the same Truth Serum just like the two Azkaban Aurors, to rify all the causes, and then decide how to deal with the pact. He slowly raised the wand in his hand. "I remember what you said, Sir, except in astronomy, you are not proficient in other magic, and because you have not stepped out of this tower for decades again, you have even forgotten how to use the Apparition properly." Sir Stoker looked at him with his head held high, the calmness on his face didn''t change a bit. "So, are you ready to fight me? Professor." "Of course, I don''t want to fight you." Jon looked at him coldly, "But will you honestly listen to me, and drink the Truth Serum and tell me all that I want to know, after?" "You even need me to drink the Truth Serum to believe the words thate out of my mouth, it seems that you guys really made this trip just for me." Stoker said indifferently, "But are you that confident that you will be able to ask about him from my mouth after I drink the Truth Serum? He doesn''t even trust me, the person who assisted him toplete the pact, and went to great lengths to extract all my memories about him and hide them here, so why do you think he won''t do anything to protect this memory besides that?" "Whether there is protection or not, I will naturally know after you drink the Truth Serum." The moment Jon''s words fell, he waved his wand without hesitation. "Petrificu-" However, just as the tip of his wand shed with red light and the full body-bind curse was already halfway through its recitation, Jon suddenly frowned. He abruptly stopped the original movement of reciting the spell, and his body dodged to the right quickly! A dazzling beam of light brushed past him and flew into the dark cloudy sky. The house elf in this tower - Rabier without a sound appeared behind Jon at some point, full of hatred, stretching out his fingers to use magic on the wizard! And just as Jon dodged, Sir Stoker didn''t hesitate half a second, he aimed his wand in the direction Jon was dodging, and the sea breeze that gradually fierce up blew the sound of his spell, and the spell itself flew towards Jon with it! "Stupefy!" Even if he is not proficient in many magic spells, he certainly didn''t forget these most basic magic spells. While Jon was trying to get that memory in his head, he also wanted to retrieve the pact that Jon had secretly taken away! This Stunning Spell is very ingenious, which forced Jon not be able to avoid it at all in this narrow space at the top of the tower. "Finite!" In Sir Stoker''s eyes, Jon did not swing his wand, he even pronounced the pronunciation of the General Counter-Spell wrongly, but as soon as the sound of his incantation fell, the Stunning Spell that flew towards him was erased without a trace at a distance of twenty centimetres before his body! In such a sudden situation, whether it is Sir Stoker or Rabier all froze. But in their daze, Jon did not stop his counterattack, his wand tip was aimed at Sir Stoker''s hand, and the fastest and most effective instantaneous spell was recited from his mouth. "Sectumsempra!" The invisible sword instantly formed in the air, it met the sea wind, cut through the wet and salty air, and flew towards Sir Stoker''s arm like a lightning bolt! And just as Jon''s incantation sounded out, Rabier shrieked out, as if sensing danger, he desperately clung to his master''s arm, followed by a distortion of space that sucked both him and Sir Stoker all into it! "Bang!" The sharp sword fell short and chopped down on the stone wall behind where Sir Stoker was standing, and countless pieces of debris burst up and spilled down to the sea from the high altitude. At that moment when Sir and Rabier disappeared, Jon''s face had be grim. He had no way to stop the Apparition magic of the house elf, and as long as Rabier took Stoker away, even if they did not escape from the tower, just by hiding inside this 77-story tall tower, Jon had no way to find them. At that point, he could only take the pact away, and then give it to Dumbledore to study when he next contacted him. But what Jon did not expect was that Rabier did not take Sir Stoker away, they did not even leave the top of the tower, and after the distortion, they reappeared in a ce not far away from that ce. Sir Stoker''s face was cold as he held his wand towards Jon, while Rabier threw his arms around him and cried out in pain and pleading. "Let''s leave! Master! Let''s leave! As long as we can hide! We can escape anywhere! You can continue your research wherever you are!" The expression on Sir''s face, however, did not waver a bit, and that gaze even vaguely revealed a scowl. "You can escape on your own, Rabier, you''ve done enough to deserve rest after all these years of care." He violently ripped off the trench coat that was flying wildly with the gale, and shoved it into Rabier''s hands, "From today, you''re free! The Stoker family no longer needs your services!" Rabier stared at the trench coat that was thrown into his hand with those big eyes, staring dumbfounded. To be given a piece of cloth by one''s master, any house elf understands what such an act means! Yet soon he reacted, screaming, crying and throwing the windbreaker like a madman as if he was throwing away a hot piece of coal! "No! Rabier doesn''t want to ept this!" He stared at Jon with resentment and hatred to the point of distortion and stretched out his fingers to release the magic belonging to the elf continuously. However, those beams of magic had no half effect on Jon, after absorbing magic power from the stone b, he has more than enough to use on himself to be immune to the most spells of an adult wizard and a house elf. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 232: Close at hand but out of reach Chapter 232: Close at hand but out of reach Jon coldly watched the pair of master and servant''s actions, he was not in a hurry to do it now, not on pity or anything, but rather doubtful of Sir Stoker''s decision now. He did not feel that the words of this Sir''s dislike for Voldemort is a lie, before retrieving that memory, what Sir Stoker showed, is certainly his true self, and he clearly said that he does not agree with the pureblood theory. And he has been living on this tower for decades, regardless of what has happened onnd, no matter what kind of benefits and status the pureblood wizards have got are irrelevant to him, and he can''t get a single Knut. He has only ever shown a fanatical gesture to astronomy, but what could Voldemort give him in astronomy? "I really want to know what exactly did dark lord promised you to make it worthwhile for you to fight so desperately for him? I believe in my personal judgment, and I also believe that the generosity and kindness that you have shown before today is not a pretence, Sir, someone who turns people into ves like this, is worthy of putting your life on the line?" Jon''s body had slowly risen as he asked this question. Although he wanted to know the answer, it does not mean that he would give up getting the answer to this question using another method. The gusty wind from high altitude blew his ck hair, and the effect of the polyjuice potion had ended at this exact time. Jon did not intend to continue to conceal his identity, the pact is obviously very important to Voldemort, and he knows very well after this, it is no longer possible to hide the whereabouts of the entire Hogwarts. The shrinking of the body, will not affect him with the broad robe he wore, and the sound of the wind yanking the fabric gave a "ttering" rattling. Looking at the boy who is looking at him indifferently from high in the sky, Sir Stoker''s original grim face showed a shocked look! He guessed that this "Professor Johnson" is in fact someone else disguised identity, to climb this tower of his. But he always thought that Jon''s true identity is actually a professor from that Hogwarts school that''s on the run! But he never imagined that the one whoughed with him, helped him solve the thousands of runes on the stone b, whose General Counter-Spell is immune to most magic, and can still fly at the moment, only by looking at his appearance, he is actually a teenage boy at most! Jon''s exposed identity shook Sir Stoker to the core. He can believe that this is Jon''s true identity because, with the strength shown by the other party now, there is no need to hide. It is such a boy leading other children about the same age as him, in the fight against the Dark Lord who already has enough strength to annex the entire European magical world? A sense of absurdity rose from the bottom of Sir Stoker''s heart, and at Jon''s questioning, he looked like he had no intention of hiding. "If you had told me before you removed the disguise from your body that you are actually still a student, a fourth-year student at most, I would have thought you are insulting me." With messy white hair flying behind his head, Sir Stokerughed, heughed with such recklessness, even a bit of madness. "Because your understanding of Muggle philosophy and mine is the same, I always thought before taking that memory that maybe we could be a nice pair of friends, and even if you might take your students to leave this tower afterwards, we could still discuss and exchange the future of wizards'' perception of the world through correspondence!" "Even after I just got that memory back, I still had an illusion about you, Professor Johnson. I thought maybe you might truly only be a Durmstrang professor who brought his students to the sea for a study trip, and the pact that wasn''t in the box was simply left behind and still hidden in the hole under the b, only to have youe here to obtain it. Is it possible for you to let me know your real name, Professor Johnson?" For this request of his, Jon did not refuse, he had also thought before that this Sir is a very good person and is still one of the very few wizards to truly study the Muggle society. He also reflected on his previous thoughts of the pureblood wizards on the magical world as a result of this. If it wasn''t for the Voldemort thing, they might have actually be a pair of memorable friends. "Jon Green, a third-year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and captain of the Hogwarts in exile." Sir Stoker''s face,shed by the cold wind, was beaming with a smile as if he was happy to have met a new like-minded friend. "Ha, Captain Green, I''m d there''s still someone willing to listen to a man like me at this time of year." "I was a pure outlier at my alma mater, Beauxbatons. As a wizard from an ancient wizard family, I was quite unimpressive in all magic-rted subjects, but I showed great talent in astronomy, and I could memorize star charts with a nce that others needed to memorize for a long time, and I could even simte thes'' orbits around the sun ording to the patterns of their movements. Orbits of thes around the sun and their rotations." "But this was a disappointment to my parents, who had high hopes for me, and who were proud aristocrats with high expectations for themselves, and who saw astronomy as a mere hobby, and would never admit that their child was an ordinary person." "My ssmates at school also saw me as an outlier because I didn''t like Quidditch, I didn''t like magic spells, I didn''t like alchemy, and I ran to the astronomy tower full of star charts whenever I could." "But I never took any of that to heart; when I was in the fifth year, my Muggle Studies professor said in a private conversation with me, ''Magic dominates the entirety of a wizard''s life, and as a result, obscures our eyes from the world, which the Muggles started to see.'' Heter resigned from the school and joined some kind of Nordic wizard group at that time, I won''t evaluate how he was as a person, but his remark gave me a new perception." "The study of wizards in astronomy is really too narrow, the only means for wizards to observe the stars is through the magic telescope, but the means of muggles to understand the world is changing day by day." "After I graduated from Beauxbatons, I hid my identity and worked at a Muggle university for a long time, and in those days, I saw the first Muggle, the man named Gagarin, travel to space, and just as my parents passed away, and after I finished their funeral and was ready to start moving into this tower, the first Muggle to go to the moon appeared in North America, called Armstrong!" Sir Stoker opened his eyes wide. "It made my whole body tremble with excitement! And also saddened to the core by the ignorance, arrogance, and self-importance of the magicalmunity!" "I was jealous to the point of crazy at those muggles who could personally travel to that profound starry sky and see the trajectory of the stars with their own eyes. I tried to improve the flying broom and break free from the constraints of Earth, but the cold high altitude and the thin oxygen limited my ns!" "And just when I had given up my illusions about the near, yet unreachable stars, that man named Tom Riddle found me!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 233: Soyuz 3 Chapter 233: Soyuz 3 Hermione was reminded by Luna''s words. ording to the current situation, the words of the house elf are not really credible. And in any case, in the absence of a way to open the door, the only thing they can do is count on this. They walked quickly in front of the portrait where they were stopped by Rabier as soon as they probed it yesterday. This looks like a very ordinary portrait. It shows a woman with a sun hat, without a Developing solution applied to it, and the woman is not able to move. Hermione stared dead at the portrait, without rashly touching it, but the sound of movementing from the direction of the stairs grew louder and louder in their ears! Luna was also looking at the portrait, but her focus and Hermione''s were obviously different, she was staring at the eyes of the woman in the portrait, the right eye to be more precise. "Her right eye is not identical to her left eye, it doesn''t feel like it is painted on-." Just as she finished these words, a jet-ck tide finally surged out from the stairway entrance! Muscr, ck cats with blue ghostly light in their eyes, resembling small panthers, surrounded Luna and Hermione. Hermione knew they could not wait any longer, she grabbed Luna''s hand and stood on tiptoe to touch the right eye of the woman in the portrait that looked different! A kind of feedback with great suction appeared on the unusual eye on the frame and spread through Hermione''s hand just at the moment she touched the eye, the ck cats rushed towards the two girls! And just when their ws were about to touch Luna and Hermione''s robes, the next second, the two disappeared instantly from the spot! Several "plop" sounds rang out, and the ck cats all hit the portrait of a woman with a sun hat, but they did not disappear together. They did not notice that the right eye of the woman in the portrait was only left with a dark, empty hole, the original iparably realistic and beautiful turquoise eyes have disappeared. At the same time, in another dark and overwhelming ce, Hermione and Luna two simultaneouslynded on the ground again, stepping on the solid ground. The surroundings were dark, nothing could be seen, and Hermione could only be sure she was beside Luna as she grasped her arm. Hermione then raised her wand, and just when she wanted to use her Wand-Lighting Charm to check out the surroundings, an inexplicable buzzing sound suddenly rang out, followed by countless lights lighting up around her one after another! It is a ce with metallic colour all around, the free space is very cramped, all kinds ofplex instruments are lit up with their own light, and on the wall, a metal te is put together, and Hermione and Luna both stared nkly and saw the name of the ce they are in - [Soyuz 3] *** In the night by the coast, the cold sea wind carried the seawater,pping the reefs on the shore. On this empty rocky beach, through the obscure moonlight, one can vaguely see that the surrounding air is showing an irregr distortion. But those French Ministry of Magic Aurors who flew from time to time from the sky on their flying brooms, patrolling back and forth around, did not notice this scene. Lupin, with his group of seven people in total, hid behind arge rock, and the effect of the disillusionment charm was gradually eliminated, and they revealed their own forms. Looking at the Aurors, who were high in the sky, riding a broomstick and heading off in another direction, he said in a gruff voice. "Is there any news from the people we sent into the re-educational camp earlier?" The squad''s second-inmand, a French male witch, said in a deep voice. "Thest time a message reached us was four days ago, after which we had him stay hidden and wait for this night when we break into this prison." "Then let''s wait for a while." Lupin took a deep breath, "Repeat our mission onest time, wait for a signal from the squad cleaning the flies overhead, and we will blow up the gate of that fortress." "ording to the information obtained from previous reconnaissance, a wide-range shield charm was applied all around that fortress at all times, a design deployed by the Dark Lord. Dumbledore will help us to crack this shield charm first, and the rest, we will have to rely on ourselves." Everyone in the squad nodded with a solemn look, and at this time, not only them, in the western part of this re-educational camp, there are dozens of squads like Lupin and them, lurking in silence. The cold wind pped their faces, but it did not make their bodies shake in the slightest. Lupin''s body pressed against the cold stone wall, and while waiting for the signal to be sent, he thought about how his students are doing today. Dumbledore did not conceal from the Hogwarts professors the goal of Jon and the rest of them after they went to sea, so in fact, many professors are worried about this group of children, in which the oldest being only 15 years old, and the youngest being 11 years old, about whether they can take care of themselves at sea while still burdened with such a daunting task. Dumbledore did not give much exnation andfort, but after Fawkes brought back the two Azkaban Aurors from the ship, the professors no longer have any doubts about Dumbledore''s decision to do so. After receiving Scabior and Mair, people in the Order of the Phoenix naturally carried out a new round of interrogation on them, including how they were captured by a group of children. The result of the interrogation with the truth serum was beyond everyone''s expectations. Originally Lupin and they thought that the students would have spent a great deal of effort to catch the two Aurors, and perhaps even the entire ship''s students had joined the battle to capture them. But the truth is, there were captured only two students and one ghost! They all heard exactly which boy yed the key role on that prison ind. Lupin has a deep impression of the boy who used toe to his office to ask for advice on Patronus charm when he was on the wagon, not just because he went deep into that fallen castle to rescue those children in the second year. It was hard not to be impressed by his desire to learn about magic and his unique talent. And now he''s leading other students, living on a vast sea, and has teamed up with another to capture two trained Aurors alive on the enemy''s home turf. Whether it was Lupin, McGonagall, Flitwick or even Lily, they all felt incredulous at Jon''s performance. Because this boy, who is only fourteen this year, has done too many things that even adult wizards are not necessarily able to do. Just as Lupin''s thoughts had drifted off into the ocean, in the distance, a dazzling red spark suddenly rose into the sky, followed by a bloom under the dark clouds! Instantly, he and everyone around him clenched the wands in their hands! His students had already done so much, then as a professor, surely he couldn''tg behind, could he? ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 234: The Smartest Student Chapter 234: The Smartest Student The moment the sparks exploded under the dark clouds, a piercing whistle sounded in all directions. The first to be targeted were the Aurors on sentry duty in the sky. The members of the Witching Horizon, who had hidden around using the Disillusionment Charm began to clear these sentry points outside the fortress bit by bit. Theyunched a sudden attack with almost no forewarning at all, and almost no Auror was able to react, and almost everyone was attacked by several spells at the same second. The shield charm was shattered by the first spell that came into contact with it, and then the next spell hit those Aurors, and at the same time, a dozen figures fell from the sky like kites with broken strings! Even if there were a few who relied on extremely fast reactions and superior flying skills to avoid these spell attacks, they simply could not resist the next round of attacks that rained down on them. The first phase of the Witching Horizon''s offensive had a remarkable effect, as the nails guarding the outside were removed, after which they were able to proceed with the next section of the n without fear. But before actually storming into that fortress, one person was needed toplete a task that only he could do for them. The old man with silver hair and crescent-shaped sses on his face, dressed in a white robe, just walked up to the main entrance of the fortress in a dignified manner. No one heard him recite the incantation, everyone only saw him gently wave the wand in his hand, and the next second the sky was lit up half with fire! The mes ignited the dark clouds in the sky, making the air tremble. Immediately after, a sound as if ss shattering sounded abruptly, and the original shield charm that wrapped around the fortress copsed with a bang! Lupin, as the first squad in charge, led his squad and remained close behind Dumbledore at all times. He raised his wand high in his hand and sounded the first battle cry for the beginning of this battle! "For freedom!!!" The guy who always looks like Mr Nice Guy with a gentle look on his face, at this moment let out a howl like a wolf. His roar was like a ze thrown into dry wood, instantly igniting a big fire. Male wizards, female witches, old ones, young ones, middle-aged ones, countless voices mingled together with iparable unity. "For freedom!!!" The sound was as if a sword that could not be sheathed piercing the ck dark clouds, apanied by an unprecedented explosion! Nearly hundreds of Exploding Charm were fired together at the location of the main entrance, then the iron gate was blown apart by the tremendous impact in a sh, and flew into the long corridor inside the fortress! Lupin led his squad to the forefront, and they roared in indignation as they attacked this binding cage. And alongside them, people were pouring in, Sirius, Lily, McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid, Kingsley, Tonks, Moody ... There were familiar faces, but the vast majority were unfamiliar faces, nevertheless, at the moment they all had the exact same goal, to vent their anger and exuberance at the prison that operated under the guise of a re-education camp! The French Aurors as well as the British Aurors in the re-education camp reacted quickly, they were on alert at all times, and the number of people stationed here is only more numerouspared to the members of the Witching Horizon who had stormed in. They were already on the ground floor when Dumbledore broke through the shield charm, and now they are blocking in front of all the Witching Horizon wizards! There was nomunication between the two sides, and the first second they met, like water and fire that will never blend together, they erupted with an intense sh! The dazzling spell lights illuminated the interior of the fortress as if it is daytime! Countless people fell right at the beginning of this battle, and even countless more filled in from behind. Outside the fortress, members of the second wave of the Witching Horizon rose into the air on their flying brooms! The general offensive on the ground floor continued, but it was certainly not the only offensive route they prepared and relied on. Countless people are charging forward, and only Dumbledore stood alone in front of the fortress entrance, he did not follow the flow of people into the re-education camp but tilted his head to look at the topmost floor. There is only one room, with very bright lights revealed inside. In front of the window, a man is standing there, his face showed no anger, no gloom or even indifference, there was only a smile on that handsome face. Dumbledore looked up at him, and he was looking down at Dumbledore. ck eyes and bright blue eyes look at each other, there is no dialogue, and there is no need to have any verbalmunication. The next moment, firelight flickered, as Dumbledore appeared in Voldemort''s office. The mes in the firece burned very vigorously, the room warmed up perfectly, sound instion effect is exceptionally excellent, despite such violent explosions, not even half of the impact was felt here. As if, the room and outside the room are two different worlds. Voldemort saw Dumbledore and then sat down leisurely on a chair, he leaned backzily, looking at the old man''s gaze with a yful look. "I guess you must have tried everything to stop them, but you are still not as good as me, Albus, they will not listen to you wholeheartedly." Dumbledore calmly looked at the man sitting in the chair, his voice seemed like it was not mixed with other emotions, as he said softly. "You guessed right, Riddle, I tried to stop them, but it did not work. But in thest two days, I have figured out that this is something that they are willing to do, something that they would rather die than regret, and I have no reason and even less right to stop them. What''s more, are we necessarily bound to lose?" Voldemort''s ten fingers crossed, he narrowed his eyes at Dumbledore''s aged face. "Do you think I really care that much about the battle down there? My Professor Dumbledore?" "Compared to you, even if all the wizards in France died, what would that even cost?" Dumbledore slowly and methodically raised the wand in his hand. "You believe that when I came here to face you, you had already won?" Voldemort suddenly burst outughing. "What else would happen? Albus Dumbledore? What else can you count on? Let me guess it?" He trailed off. "Who did you send to make those little moves in the ocean? The loser who is most closely rted to you, and who even had to give up his own family name now? Yeah, he''s the only one who reassures you the most, and he''s probably the only one with that kind of power!" Hearing Voldemort''s sarcastic remarks, Dumbledore''s face not only did not show a semnce of anger, but he even smiled. "You really have always been the smartest one of my students, Riddle." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 235: Difficult Chapter 235: Difficult The smile on Voldemort''s face gradually faded. He looked at Dumbledore with a dangerous light in his narrowed eyes. "I certainly don''t think I''m truly invincible, Dumbledore, but since you''re here now, you won''t have the same opportunity tonight as you did that night in the Hogwarts castle tower." A wand appeared in his hand at some point, and a strange fluctuation trembled in the room, then a spider web-like crack appeared in the window reflecting the firece without warning. Dumbledore''s face still has that same smile, as he slowly said. "Some things, even if there is already a definite conclusion in mind, do not use definitive tone, Riddle, this world is very miraculous, so miraculous that almost no one has truly understood it." Voldemort no longer wants to continue this nonsense. He had been nning to wait and have Dumbledore appear before him at this time for a long time, and did not feel that anything else could go wrong in this, nor did he feel that anyone else could cause an error to arise. A wisp of ck mist rose around him, he stood up, and the chair originally underneath him seemed to slowly melt as if it were ice, the rising ck mist surged around him, and the sheer magnitude of this vast power seemed to make the whole fortress began to wail! "You know nothing at all about the true end of magic, Dumbledore, what is the true essence of magic? Where exactly does magic stem from? What is the nature of this world? And what exactly is a wizard? You are not yet at the level where I am, so what qualifications do you have to teach me?" "Boom!" The windows around the room were all shattered, the cold wind flew into the original warm house, the fire in the firece swayed wildly, and Dumbledore''s white robe and Voldemort''s ck robe were all blown around with a "whirring" sound. Dumbledore looked at Voldemort''s face, he sighed lightly, his wand had long been held in front of his body. "You are blinded by an unknown force, before seeing the magic, the world, and other people, have you seen yourself?" "That''s enough!!" The man whose ck robe was dancing wildly said in a cold voice, he was already floating in mid-air, and a thick ck mist was rising under his feet. "Further talk is useless, which of us is right, there is a better way to prove it!" Crimson me rose from the tip of Dumbledore''s wand, and the leaping fire was like a flickering star in the cold wind! ck and crimson, as two waves confronting each other, at the junction of confrontation, everything melted. Dumbledore gently waved the tip of his wand, and the next moment, the whole room seemed to be randomly kneaded and moulded like y-Doh, it changed into the shape of whatever he wished. This room that belongs to Voldemort seems to be out of his control, but he did not make a half-hearted countermeasure, the rising ck fog directly exploded the roof, and then supported its owner to soar into the sky! "Avada Kedavra!" The killing curse, which has no counter, swept down from the sky to the ce where Dumbledore stood. Dumbledore did not dodge, a table at his side automatically extended, shielding his body. The effect of the spell itself was resisted, but the spell''s self-contained power exploded the table board to smithereens, shreds of wood flying in the background, and then swept up by the cold wind, floating away. "Transfiguration, this is the means you always pride yourself on? The power to change material form is indeed a very useful technique, but do you still remember how I cracked it ten years ago?" The cold voice came from high in the sky, ck fog as if infinite spread out, and together with the dark clouds it isted the sky, covering the top of Dumbledore''s head. The power that cannot be described in words, which canpletely suppress the wizards who are fighting in the re-education camp, caused wizards near unable to be able to easily breathe due to physiological and spiritual pressure. Even Dumbledore also felt the substantial pressure. He understood why Voldemort would be truly confident that after luring him here, his n would be a sess. Voldemort''s state has now reached his peak, and even stronger than when he fought with himself in the astronomy tower of Hogwarts Castle at the time. This is not an increase brought to him by growth with time, but he is adapting to some kind of power, a gradual process. Dumbledore gripped the wand in his hand, since that defeat, he seldom took out the Elder Wand to use, especially when facing Voldemort. But in fact, in the beginning, when he chose toe here, he never thought he could beat the dark lord in front. Voldemort is not a fool, he went to great lengths to attract Dumbledore to lead his men to this fortress, and, it is certain, he will not pick his poor state when he prepared this n, only after he had a certain degree of certainty he would have begun to n it all. Dumbledore''s only purpose now is to hold Voldemort''s full attention and buy time for the Witching Horizon wizards below. As long as they seeded in rescuing the muggle wizards in the re-education camp, the purpose of this project will be achieved, and afterpleting the task of escorting them, he will then find the opportunity to get away and put an end to today''s n. But Voldemort obviously also saw what Dumbledore had in mind, and he also has only one purpose. That is to kill Dumbledore, in front of everyone right now. Kill him! This is the perfect opportunity he has been nning for a long time, a rare chance. So at the beginning of the battle, he did not hold anything back, trying to solve this in the shortest possible time, topletely remove this biggest nuisance to him in the magic world right now. Dumbledore was under great pressure, this nearly ten years of contact with Voldemort allowed him to understand the ups and downs of Voldemort''s state. When he was at his worst, Dumbledore felt he could easily defeat him, and when he was at his best, he seemed so powerful that he couldn''t describe it and felt like Voldemort had superimposed two of himself, which can be described as the existence with no rival in the magic world. And at the beginning of the year, when Dumbledore met Voldemort in the British Ministry of Magic, his state was clearly in a slump, which is also the reason why there was no fight between them back then, and Dumbledore took the advantage of it to let Jon infiltrate in Hogwarts Castle, and it also guaranteed the sess of Azkaban''s jailbreak n. Now it is very different, the thick ck fog seems to be boundless so that under the attack of Voldemort, Dumbledore can only defend himself passively with a furrowed brow. Tonight''s battle going to be tougher and more difficult than he originally expected! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 236: What about the moral law in your heart? Chapter 236: What about the moralw in your heart? Under the same night sky, in the distant and deep sea, Sir Stoker looked at the starry sky overhead with a fanatical expression. "He bluntly stated his purpose on the first day he found me, he learned from an unknown source about my ancestor''s research results on the Maledictus and other blood curses, and wanted to acquire it from me, and needed my help toplete the required steps in which a member of the Stoker family had to participate." "And in return, he would grant one of my wishes. At first, when I heard his words, I didn''t think much of it, because beforeing to this tower, I had never seen him nor heard of his name, so how could I believe when a man suddenly came to me out of the blue saying he could grant me a wish." "The process of the pact had to be done voluntarily by me to make it valid, he was not able to force me with any force or magical means, and perhaps because of this, he showed full patience for my mistrust, asking me to tell him what I wanted the most first, perhaps he could really do it? " "I didn''t have the slightest hope in him, I just got tired of his pestering and said that if he would let me travel to the stars, then I would do it for him." "He thought I was deliberately looking for an unachievable wish in a perfunctory manner, telling me that as long as I could name a wizard in this world who could do this, then he could do it too, or else he couldn''t help me with a wish that had no way to be fulfilled." "I told him that there are no wizards who can do it, but the muggles can, and threw him the newspaper about the first muggle travelling to space." "He looked at that newspaper for ten minutes in silence before he left my tower. I didn''t meet him for three days straight after that, but when I thought he would have given up after three days, he came back to me again with something else!" Sir Stoker''s eyes seemed to burn, the excitement and exhration in them were undisguised. "He brought a muggle aerospace vessel! A real spaceship that had been piloted by muggles, that had rushed out of the we live on and made its way to space!" "He stood at the top of the tower, alone, with a ship like a mountain floating beside him, and I never thought it could actually appear before my eyes! In that manner, no less!" Through Sir Stoker''s depiction, Jon is also stunned, he can fully imagine how that scene would have been at that time, he never expected, Voldemort actually managed to get a spaceship (rocket) over! "From that moment on, I knew beyond doubt that if my dream really had a chance of being realized, it could only be done by that man before me!" "He told me that it was just a deposit, and as long as I agreed to do him this favour, then the ship could stay, but if I wanted to actually travel to the stars in it, I would have to wait until he aplished his purpose when he would let the muggles who could pilot the ship, take me anywhere it could reach!" Sir Stoker looked at Jon as he gradually calmed down, his voice and gaze beginning to regain theirposure. "With such temptation right in front of me, how can I possibly refuse to agree to his conditions? I fulfilled his request, made this pact with him, and willingly let him strip all memories of this matter in order not to leak it, and asked him to hide it under that stone b." Jon also gradually regained his bearings after this shocking information, took a deep breath and continued his words. "But what you and the dark lord did not expect was that you, who had lost your memory about this matter actually found this stone b again by yourself and tried every possible way to unlock the secrets on it, and then you met me." Sir Stoker looked at Jon with a sincere face. "Give that pact back to me, Jon Green. We''ve shared a good talk, and I can see that you''re unhappy with the malformed development of the magical world today. The outdated mindset of wizards needs a revolution, and someone has to break their arrogance and conceit, to open their blinded eyes to recognize the world." "As long as that ship is present, we have such a possibility! As long as one wizard actually reaches that ce called space, then everyone in the magical world will know how vast this starry sky above our heads is, and how wonderful the world we are in is!" "Give me the pact, the pact I made with that man still stands, and it will be the beginning of a new era, the one you and I both want to see!" Jon looked at him and did not open his mouth to give a reply at first, his gaze full of confusion and iprehension. "Perhaps when he first found you, you didn''t know who he is or what kind of man this man really is, but Sir, you just got a memory back and didn''t forget what we had talked about, right?" "I told you what that dark lord had done in the magical world, how he used bloodlines to divide the sses between wizards, turned people into ves, and became a dictator. You told me that you hated ssifying people by bloodline and that you loathed oppression no matter what pretext was used to do it, those were your words. And then what, what are you doing now? You know what he did, and you want to help him like this?" In the face of Jon''s questioning, Sir Stoker''s face clearly showed a sh of shame, but such emotions did not stay long, and he became a little broken, even hysterical. "All things in the world have a weight of their own, a part of the wizards enved and the opening of the horizons obscured by narrow-mindedness for all wizards, if ites to a situation where one has to choose between the two, then the former must eventually give way to thetter!" "Even the development of Muggle society follows this code, only if the vision is opened and the mind is liberated, then it will promote changes in the system and society in general! I believe that the magical world will not vite this pattern, I am making the right choice, for the sake of the future of all wizards!" Jon''s gaze at him changed to one of pity. "Stop deceiving yourself and making excuses for what you are doing against your heart, Sir, in fact, you are aware that you are doing something wrong, but the desire for the stars has taken all of your being, you imed that the wizards are blinded by magic, but you yourself only see this starry sky above our heads?" "If you really know the muggle philosophy a little more deeply, then you should have heard of this saying. [Two things awe me most, the starry sky above me and the moralw within me] You are only looking at the starry sky, but what about the moralw in your heart!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 237: Two Selves Chapter 237: Two Selves Sir Stoker was silent, he couldn''t say a word. Jon''s questioning was like a sharp spear poking into the depths of his mind. He knew very well what Jon was saying is right, his morals, his philosophy, all of which made him ashamed of his choices today. But shame, embarrassment such thoughts did not help to change the current situation in any way. "The pact on the Maledictus blood curse is actually essentially a restraint." Jon floated above the high tower, he held the old parchment in his hands, looking down at the master and servant sitting paralysed on the ground. "The dark lord found you and signed his true name on this pact, representing that there is another, originally not his soul in his body that is haunting him and seizing his body, and he needs the research of your ancestor to help him bnce the two souls in his body." "What I want to know is simple, Sir Stoker, at the time of establishing the pact, you must have already understood about the two souls that were kept in his body, who is the one who upies the dominant power in the body of the Dark Lord? And who is the other soul that was kept away?" Sir Stoker''s face was full of struggle, his eyes were filled with blood, and his messy white hair fluttered in the wind. He misjudged Jon''s methods, this kind of flying in the air, as well as the ability to erase magic power, has never been passed down in any spell book, ording to his idea if Jon had the ability to subdue him in the first ce, then why bother working with him all these days to ovee the secret on that stone b? However, everything is now no longer redeemable, the pact is in Jon''s hands, and he simply does not have any chance of taking it back. As for those memories in his mind, Sir Stoker did not lie, these memories that were stored separately were subjected to extremely strict protection by that man. Regardless of whether using Legilimency to ess his mind or feeding him the truth serum, Jon had no way to get any information relevant from his memories. He sat dishevelled on the ground, with only a nk look of death on his face. "Can you ... defeat him?" Jon could see him wavering, he knew very well that Sir Stoker is by no means that kind of hopeless bad guy, he is on the contrary very pure, otherwise he would not have talked to him so much in a bitter way. "Not until the final moment, it is not clear whether we can defeat him." Jon did not lie or be perfunctory, he said with a serious face. "But it''s because the oue is unknown that it''s worth trying hard, isn''t it?" Sir Stoker looked like he had made up his mind about something, and he let out a long sigh. "There is not much I can tell you, because even at the time of the pact, what I know is very, very little, and it is possible that those things were known to me before, only that part of the memory has been erased forever afterwards." "You are right, that man with my ancestor''s research did not try to separate the souls of man and beast, but rather between man and man, but the souls he separated were actually all his own." Jon frowned tightly, repeating Sir Stoker''sst words "His own?" "I can conclude that even after making the separation, those two souls are definitely the same person, only they have different minds, and the consciousness that found me and made me make this pact is the one in which he keeps taking the active role." Sir Stoker looked at Jon. "My ancestor did not really solve the Maledictus blood curse, he created this pact to separate the consciousness of human and beast, to extend the time of full bestiality of the pact signer so that they can live beyond 30 years. He knows about this as well, so he must also be looking for other means topletely solve this hidden problem in his body." "If you want to do something about it, destroy this pact, that will bring the originally separated consciousness back into contact, they themselves are naturally opposed to each other because each consciousness wants to get control of the body, which will cause him big problems." "Finally ..." As he spoke, the paleness of his face and the disillusionment in his gaze had subsided, and Sir Stoker''s face became calm as he rose to his feet with Rabier''s assistance. "I''ll give you onest piece of advice as a friend, Jon Green, you better get out of here now, take those students of yours, and leave immediately. The control of that pact you have is not in my hands, it is independent, and that man up there must have left something behind that I don''t know about, and he doesn''t trust me, or anyone else." Jon didn''t have time to think about what he was saying about this pact from his mouth, but his face suddenly turned hard, and he stared into Sir Stoker''s eyes. "Neville and the others didn''t leave this ce?" "After that man came here, this tower is only nominally under my control, but in reality, I don''t know exactly what kind of arrangements he left behind in this tower, but what I am sure of is that after the secrets on the stone b are unlocked, those arrangements he left behind will start to work, and you don''t have much time left now. " Jon gave Sir Stoker a deep look as he put away the parchment and, without any dy, turned and flew straight into the high tower. He used the Amplifying Charm with his wand against his throat, and instead of taking the stairs that looked like they were in a state of chaos, he flew straight down one floor at a time. As he passed each floor, he shouted out the name of each of Neville and the others, yet he never had any luck at all up ahead. Just when he had flown to the 20th floor, the tower suddenly began to shake! That trembling feeling obviously came from under the tower, and the movement became louder and louder so that the whole tower began to be shaky! Jon''s heart suddenly became iparably anxious. As if he had already guessed what might happen next, he shouted in an almost roaring voice while still descending. "Neville!!!" "Here! We''re here!" Finally, Jon heard the response, in front of the door on the 15th floor, three sheep were running wildly out of a room without a door, the transfiguration spell effect on the three sheep is failing as they changed back into the human form of Neville, Ron and Lee while they are shouting at Jon to make a response, and behind them, there is arge group of ck cats in pursuit! After seeing their situation, Jon waved his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The spell instantly took effect, and the vast majority of ck cats all suspended in mid-air, they subconsciously waved their limbs, but could only float in mid-air seemingly weightless. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 238: The Tilting Tower Chapter 238: The Tilting Tower "Where''s Hermione and Luna?" Seeing only Neville and the two boys here, Jon frowned. Using Lee''s transfiguration, pretending to be a sheep in the pasture, along with those ck cats'' entanglement for a long time made Neville and the group exhausted and panting. They continued to run with Jon in the direction of the first floor, while Neville spoke. "Hermione. They two and we got separated! But they must be downstairs ... some of these cats chased them downstairs." His words did not reassure Jon, but a feeling of foreboding rose even more in his heart. Without saying anything more, they continued to run downstairs, Neville and co. of course have no way to use the levitation charm to fly up, but the good thing is that there are no more than a few floors left. Jon didn''t try to fly in front this time, to avoid any further idents by letting Neville and co out of his sight, and went to the ground floor together with them quickly. On the way they did not find Hermione and Luna, there was no response to shouting. And after seeing the empty and messy foyer on the ground floor, all of their faces became grim. Jon was the first to break the silence, the tower shaking more and more seriously, they are not even able to stand firm on their feet, and may fall to the ground at any time. "You guys go out first, I''ll try to find them. It''s too dangerous here, something could go wrong at any time!" Neville and the boys all had ashamed expressions on their faces, Jon was not with them, and they could not even protect the two girls, which made them feel ashamed. As for Jon''s arrangement, none of them had any objection. All three knew very well that their continued stay here would not only provide little help to Jon but would also bring him more trouble. However, when Neville and the boys reached out together to push the door, the two doors didn''t budge. "The doors are not opening!" Ron shouted. At this time, the ceiling chandelier is shaking, there have been fine stones falling from above, as thin spider web-like cracks began to spread along the four sides! Jon gritted his teeth, suppressing the almost fearful worry in his heart, brushed past Ron and Neville, and stood in front of the door while the spell still remained on his body! "Bam" a loud sound heard as if something invisible was broken, and then the two doors were opened without resistance! The wet and salty sea breeze came in front of them and there was the huge Hogwarts ship right before their eyes. The sea is no longer as calm as it used to be, there seems to be some kind of horrible beast churning up the water under the sea! The rising waves kept pping the tform in front of the high tower, and the white waves appeared as if they were pouring down in front of Neville''s eyes! George and others who were watching the situation of the high tower on the ship at all times noticed the strange movement of the nearby sea at the beginning. Hence, they long ago brought the diving board up to the front of the tower, and when they saw the high tower shaking violently and the door opening with a bang, they waved their hands at Jon and them excitedly. "Quickly! Hurry up! This tower is going to copse!" Jon reached out and pushed Neville and the boys toward the diving board, but he turned around and prepared to return to the tower. "Get back to the ship! Tell George to sail the ship far away from this tower immediately, it must be far away!" "You want to go back to Hermione and the girls?" Jon said with immense seriousness. "I promised Professor Dumbledore that I would not let this ship be without one person, and if it had to be one less, it would only be in my absence." Ron, Neville and Lee stood on the diving board, staring nkly at Jon. But just as the next wave mmed up and exploded around them, a voice, muffled by the sea breeze and only faintly audible, suddenly came from the far side of the ocean! "Over here. We''re here." Jon, who had already retreated to the door, stopped abruptly, his body floating upward and soon floating up. On the other side of the tower, he saw Hermione, who was swimming in the direction of the Hogwarts ship in the sea clutching Luna''s arm and struggling desperately! He had a look of surprise on his face and finally emphasized to Neville once more. "Get back to the ship! I''m going to save them!" He flew up and dashed in the direction where Hermione and the girls were, and soon came above the two girls. Luna did not look like she was in very good shape, her face was blue, and her eyes were tightly closed, but there was obviously the rise and fall of breathing. Jon used the magic stored on the gem to increase the strength of the levitation charm applied to himself. Then he took Hermione in one hand and the unconscious Luna in the other, and scooped them up from the raging waters. The good thing is that the weight of the two girls is very light, and Jon did not feel the difficulty of flying along with the aid of the levitation charm, and soon he took them back to Hogwarts. George has been watching Jon''s movements, after seeing himnd on the ship, he immediately swung the sledgehammer in his hand, and a hammer knocked away the wooden sticks stuck on the side of the ship! The set course of the ship began to start revolving on its own, the Hogwarts immediately deviated, passing the high tower that had clearly begun to tilt, heading in the direction of the north. And just as Jon put Hermione and Luna down and took a breather, suddenly someone pointed in the direction of the top of the tower and eximed. In the dark night sky, the top of the tower shimmered with a faint light, before the light, there is a small ant-like figure, throwing a piece of something from the tower. The piece of stuff flew down, Jon had a strange feeling and raised his wand, and when it was about to fall into the sea, he aimed at it and used the levitation charm. The next second, it was steadily suspended in mid-air not far from Jon, it is a stone b, and there is a small part of the stone surface shimmering with the magic rune glow. Jon reached out and took the te, and there was a note attached to it, with a beautiful line of English written on it. [This is what I had promised to give you] Jon looked at the te, with a silent expression, and then he raised his head to look at the top of the tower that had tilted almost more than thirty degrees of angle. There is a human silhouette there, standing over there and waving his hand in the direction they are sailing. An inexplicable feeling of sadness rose from Jon''s heart. He knew that if he wanted to, Sir Stoker could easily escape from this tower without even having to face his coercion and questioning, that Rabier could take him anywhere he wanted to go. But obviously, his choice at the moment is to die rather than leave this tower that carries his dreams and beliefs. Under the dark clouds, above the waves. Tobia Stoker calmly watched therge ship gradually disappearing, his gaze shifted from the sea to the sky above his head and he said softly. "Following a master like me, you must be quite disappointed, right, Rabier." Rabier, as he always did for countless days and nights, stood respectfully right behind the old Sir, and he shook his head and said. "Master is the greatest person in this world, Rabier is forever proud to be the master''s house elf!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 239: The Pact that disappeared like the wind Chapter 239: The Pact that disappeared like the wind A gap was broken in the ck dark clouds at some point, revealing a bright starry sky within. Sir Stoker looked at those flickering points of light as if his whole world was left with these unreachable things. Under the surface of the sea, the Soyuz 3 spaceship hidden under the tower was activated by some unknown program, it broke out of the sea, like a sharp knife cutting through bamboo, and the tower named "Starr" continued to be destroyed by the bottom to the top. The whole ce is shaking, the elf Rabier obviously can take his master from here at any time to leave, but ultimately he chose to respect the old Sir''s wishes, apany him and be part of his dream together, and die on top of the tower. The Soyuz 3 spaceship, which had previously been kept under seawater without a chance to be freed from there, seemed to undergo tremendous pressure, and the fuel-generated boost only made at most a third of it rise to the surface! Sir Stokerughed out loud, and he opened his arms as if to embrace all the things in front of him! "Starry sky! Is there anything more beautiful than you in this world?" The next moment, an explosion loud enough to make the sky tremble rang out! The sea boiled for hundreds of meters around, and the entire tower was engulfed in crimson mes that continued to surge upward and tear the sky apart! The impact of that huge explosion sent shock waves across the sea! Higher than any high wall in the world, the waves rose to the sky, and then fell to the sea like a waterfall! Hogwarts although already deviated, but it still has not escaped from the range of this explosion. The shock wave that spread in all directions came in contact with the hull of the Hogwarts, however, a transparent light shield appeared on the surface of the ship, with violent ripples it ultimately saved the entire ship without encountering direct damage. Although the ship''s hull was shaken by the aftermath of the explosion, as well as the waves of the sea, there was nothing that could be done to iste it with the protection magic. The good thing is, Jon has let all the students return to the cabin in advance, and stay in their own dormitory, firmly grasping the four-poster bed nailed to the floor, therefore although the swaying of the ship was great, it did not bring greater impact on the students. And Jon did not return to the cabin, he floated in mid-air, his feet did not step on the deck, and thus he was not disturbed by the shaking, he just stared at Sir Stoker and saw him off for thest time. Hemented how pure the old Sir held his ideals, but also very unashamed of what Voldemort did. Because of the pact, he could not use magical means to force Sir Stoker to work for him, so he used the "exchange" method toplete the pact, and brought this spacecraft, which was unknown how he got it as a prepaid "deposit ". Voldemort promised to help him fulfil his dream when he achieved his ambition, thus Sir Stoker made a pact with him. The carrier to space, the spacecraft was sent to Sir Stoker by him as a sign that he could fulfil his promise. But this itself is extremelyplex, wanting to lift off and soar into space is countless times more troublesome than building it, it is simply unlikely that a wizard can control it without a proper decade of education, nor is it something that can be solved by grabbing one or two muggles over. Unless in the future Voldemort not only ruled the magical world but also all the muggles have be ves of ves, then Sir Stoker''s dream has the possibility of being realized. Otherwise, even if this thing is mind-blowing, it is just arge toy hidden underwater. What''s more, Voldemort also added some hidden means to it. Jon can roughly guess, Voldemort should have linked some kind of magic to the pact and this spacecraft, once the te suffered damage, the pact was taken out, and then the spacecraft hidden under the tower will be automatically activated. It is under the sea with no one to pilot, no one to assist with the takeoff, and there is no possibility of any sessful ascension, the only thing that will happen is just an explosion in the ce, all the living beings in the tower will be blown up. And the pact itself will be protected by the magic, and drift in the sea until the day Voldemort found it again. From beginning to end, Voldemort did not have any intention to make a fair deal with Sir Stoker, he learned about the spacecraft from Sir here, should also have gone through a detailed study, and found that if you can not rule the Muggles, then controlling this big guy into the sky is purely a fool''s errand. So Sir Stoker has been kept in the dark, even if Voldemort can really end up ruling the world, it is unknown how many yearster from now it will happen, and whether he will still remember and fulfil his words in this tower or not is also unknown. The entire spacecraft exploded with the tower, and its impact still continues to reflect in the sea. But Hogwarts'' forward direction has not changed in the slightest. Jon looked away from the tower that has disappeared, as a huge mushroom cloud rose up. Snowkes began to fall from the sky in bits and pieces, and the snow is getting bigger and bigger, like a silent send-off ceremony. There were vague sad songsing from all around. It was the merpeople who were mourning, they were mourning for the tower that once stood in the storm, for the elegant and funny old Sir. "Your ideals and greatness are no less than Dumbledore''s, Sir." In the wind, snow and waves, Jon murmured, which was like a eulogy to himself. "None of us will ever forget you, never before in the history of magic has a wizard taken such an interest in this astral sky as you have, and your name will be left to be remembered by all those whoe after you." He took a deep breath and took out the old parchment that, even amid the rain and snow, was still clearly written and not the least bit torn. "But your death requires someone to pay the price, and will certainly pay the price!" He fiercely gripped the pact with his five fingers! The ring that was worn on the finger lit up with a faint light, and the next moment, the magic on the old parchment was instantly gone! The pact, which had been maintained for more than ten years, was destroyed, and the parchment, like a crushed dead leaf, turned into countless scattered fragments, apanied by the wind and snow, and flew into the raging waves ... Under the same night sky connected to the coast of the sea, Voldemort who was originally suppressing Dumbledore, looking for an opportunity to try topletely solve the biggest problem in his life, suddenly trembled! His voice was mixed with unprecedented panic and a harsh roar! "Who the hell did you send to that sea! What did he do? What has he done?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 240: The Black Meteor Chapter 240: The ck Meteor High above the sky, in the ck fog. Voldemort''s handsome face revealed a paleness that had never been seen before. His left hand began to shake uncontrobly, forcing him to pull out a sharp broken de from his ck robe and violently pierce the palm of his hand! Scarlet blood sshed out and spilled from the sky down to the ground! Yet the self-inflicted act that would inevitably have worked in the past did not stop the other restless mind at this moment! "Idiot! Don''t get in my way at this time! I''ll kill him right now! I''ll kill him right now!!!" His expression suddenly became extremely distorted, his handsome face was so hideous that it was frightening! "Rubbish! He should have died 10 years ago! It''s only because of your ipetence that it has been dragged out until now!" The sharp de with a cold glint pierced through Voldemort''s palm and stuck solidly in his hand bone, but its owner apparently had no time to care about it. Half of the fierce facial expression and half of the cold side formed a stark contrast, the ck fog around repeatedly changed between fierce intensification and rxation, which made Dumbledore keenly aware that Voldemort''s current body problems, were definitely not his disguise to make him take a chance! Crimson me instantly burst in the darkness of the night like the dazzling light of the day, dispelling half the darkness of the sky, and also broke through the grim nketid by Voldemort overhead! Only at this moment, Dumbledore truly used his full strength. He knows very well at this time when confronting Voldemort if he really let loose, and fights hard, he is likely to repeat the same mistake as 10 years ago in the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower battle. The Witching Horizon''s operation this time is only to save the muggle wizards in the re-educational camp, and as long as this purpose seeds, then they will achieve the greatest victory. And the basis for all this activity to go smoothly, it is necessary for Dumbledore to hold back Voldemort, and once he loses the battle again, it is not only him who dies, but all the people who came here can''t walk away unscathed. So in this battle, Dumbledore insisted on the principle of dragging the time in the beginning, under the premise that he could remain alive. But now the situation has obviously changed dramatically! All the words Voldemort just said, he has clearly been listening to each word from the very beginning, the sea thing can only be a new discovery on Jon''s side! Such an excellent opportunity, Dumbledore will certainly not give up! Before it was Voldemort who wanted to keep him and kill him, but now it has given Dumbledore the hope of killing the dark lord! A crisp cry rang out in the clouds! With a melodious song, Fawkes''s feathers glowed with gold and red on the surface, as he rushed into the burst of ck fog that wrapped around Voldemort! Red light enveloped the entire ce, blooming like a blossom in the dead of night! "Partis Temporus!" High temperatures filled every corner, scorching the rocks at the top of this ck fortress into crimson as if they were soaked inva. Voldemort obviously can no longer maintain the floating state in the sky, he began to fall from the sky at great speed, the now thinner ck fog still protecting him in the middle, as he fell from the sky like a ck meteor! The wizards in the fortress, who were waving their wands, stopped their actions due to the startling scene in the sky. Everyone knew exactly what that ck meteor meant, and the French Aurors and British Death Eaters guarding the re-educational camp were filled with disbelief and at the same time, an unparalleled fear rose in their hearts! Voldemort had lost! This was the only message they could get from this scene. And contrary to them, the wizards of the Witching Horizon erupted in violent cheers! The crimson that shone into the ck fortress lifted everyone''s spirits, and they shouted Dumbledore''s name, then raised their wands to point at the Aurors and Death Eaters who were still frozen in their tracks! "Drop your wands!" Lupin, whose robes had been torn to rags in the battle and whose hand was still trembling and dripping blood as he held his wand, shouted. The wizards shouted together. "Drop your wands!" The guards who hade back to their senses panicked, each of them knew that the tide had turned, and if their lord should ever lose, no one would be able to hold the fortress by them alone. But not many people really intend to just put down their wands and surrender, they are very clear that as the most direct oppressors and aplices, if they just surrender, then what is waiting for them, in the end, is liquidation. Without hesitation, the Aurors and the Death Eaters, who were still defending the fortress, turned and fled! The Voldemort diehards who came to France from Britain rushed like a madman towards the ce where the ck meteor fell, while the vast majority of the others leapt down from the windows and immediately apparated away from the fortress after leaving the Anti-Apparition Charm zone. Some tried to chase after the escaped wizards, while others wanted to open the cells immediately and release all the captive muggle wizards. But themotion was quickly stopped by the Iniesta who stayed around, as long as Voldemort is no longer a threat, these remaining people will not pose a big resistance to them, so the first thing they have to do now is quickly rescuing all those imprisoned in the re-educational camp. Just when the situation in the re-educational camp has be one-sided, Voldemort also fell from the sky down to the ground. He is not yet as bad as those French Aurors who escaped thought, to the point of being killed directly by Dumbledore. But his condition is not much better either. Nearly half of his body is not under his control, his left hand with a short knife still inserted in the palm of his hand constantly trying to grab the wand in his right hand, the body''s breath is obviously extremely sluggish! In the sky, Fawkes is like a hawk that has its eyes on its prey, and even though Voldemort has fallen to the ground, he still kept on chasing after him! The front end of the sharp beak aimed at the location of the ck fog, and fell straight down like a shooting star tailpiece! "Fool! If we keep going like this, we''ll both die! Is this the result you want to see!" Voldemort, who was like a madman with the left and right sides of his body doing different movements in a highly uncoordinated manner, roared and shouted. At the moment when Fawkes'' pointed beak had touched the edge of the ck fog, the twisting and incoordination in his body suddenly stopped! Without half a moment''s hesitation, he raised his wand high! "Avada Kedavra!" A ghastly green beam of light erupted from the tip of his wand, and at such a short distance, Fawkes simply couldn''t avoid it, and just ran head-on into that unforgivable killing curse! "Boom!" The dazzling light on Fawkes'' body instantly copsed, and his originally unstoppable body was blown far away like a rag doll. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 241: Dawn Chapter 241: Dawn Voldemort gasped violently as he pulled out the short knife that was stuck to the bone of his hand with great force! Blood spurted out, and the knife body dripping with blood was thrown to the ground. Dumbledore silently appeared in front of him, the wand in his hand lit up with a luminous light blue light, a makeshift Anti-Apparition Charm, which can temporarily block the space around the user. Voldemort''s bloodshot eyes looked at him with resentment, and his voice had be hoarse and shaky with exhaustion. "It''s not Grindelwald! He has no way to get that pact from that old waste! Even if he found it, there''s no way to destroy it! Who did you send to that tower! Who was it!" Dumbledore had a smile on his face as he looked straight at Voldemort in the eyes. "A man countless times better than you, Riddle." Blood kept dripping from his palm down his fingers to the ground, but Voldemort seemed to be in no mood to care about the damage caused by this little self-inflicted injury. His pupils shone with the light of hatred. "Infiltrating Hogwarts Castle to save those students, going to Azkaban Ind and catching those two losers, and now tearing up that pact on the Starr Tower, it''s all the same person, isn''t it!" Under Voldemort''s feet, those in gravel noiselessly scattered, they gradually linked together, and Dumbledore has not spared a nce at these stones, just stared unblinkingly at Voldemort. "I can tell you the answer, but this is obviously not a suitable ce, Riddle, are you interested in a walk with me?" In fact, even though Dumbledore said this, he did not have any interest in capturing Voldemort alive, Dumbledore would not kill in most cases, but it does not mean that he would suddenly show mercy in such a great opportunity, and would leave Voldemort alive. Under Voldemort''s feet, those stones linked together and enclosed walls have grown to the position of his calf in a silent manner. Just after Dumbledore''s words fell, the stone blocks rose abruptly! Surrounding Voldemort''s body, as if to wrap him in it, turning him into a "stone man"! High-end transfiguration spells are the fastest spell in terms of casting speed, and also the most inconspicuous magic, for normal wizards, there simply won''t be enough time to react! However, just when the blocks of stone were about to wrap around Voldemort''s whole body, the ck robe on his body suddenly fell down softly, and under the robe, there is no trace of his physical body! Just a seemingly murderous statement, but in fact more like a loser fleeing words to save his reputation still lingered in ce. "Don''t becent for too long! Dumbledore! Tell that man! I remember him! I will make him pay! Pay a price that will strike fear into the hearts of all!!!" At the moment of seeing the ck robe fall, the voice sounded, Dumbledore abruptly moved forward and grabbed the ck robe that was about to fall to the ground within the stone enclosure. He frowned tightly and saw the ground where Voldemort originally stood, a few still faintly flickering ancient runes made of blood remained. While Dumbledore was attracting his attention to kill him, he was also secretly nning his escape route, even if the problem of the soul in the body is temporarily solved because of the life and death situation, the chaotic magic can''t be calmed down overnight. Therefore, even if Voldemort''s hatred for the person who secretly destroyed his hard work one after another is iparable, he was also rational enough to know that Dumbledore simply will not reveal the identity of this person. He must first escape from here, the impact of his defeat at the hands of Dumbledore tonight alone is already bad enough, so it is absolutely essential not to let the situation deteriorate any more. Holding the ck robe, Dumbledore raised his wand, and lightly tapped it in various locations, trying to find Voldemort''s escape point, but no matter which way there was no trace to explore. This situation is totally unexpected, even Dumbledore himself never thought things would develop to this point, so from the beginning he was not prepared to keep Voldemort behind; from the beginning what he had been nning was how to leave under the entanglement of the other side after the wizards of the Witching Horizon had sessfully liberated the muggle wizards from the imprisonment. Inside the re-educational camp, under the leadership of Iniesta, the wizards of the Witching Horizon had found the floor where the muggle wizards were imprisoned and released all theirpatriots by unlocking the magical bindings there. The faces of the rescued muggle wizards, which had already be numb, showed their bewilderment and confusion, and only after they were actually brought out of this "prison" did they show their dream-like joy of being free! The atmosphere of enthusiasm soon swept everyone, the sea breeze still blowing wavespping the shore reef, the dark clouds covering the sky without knowing when it has dissipated, revealing a bright and shining starry sky. No matter who it is, they are cheering, no one knows whether Voldemort is dead or alive, but everyone knows exactly what this victory means for them. It was like a dawn in the darkness, although it only illuminated a corner, countless people believed that it is the dawn before the sun rises! *** In The French Ministry of Magic, less than three minutes after the failure to defend the re-educational camp, nearly two-thirds of the council members received the stone-cold news. Coincidentally, everyone returned to the most centre of authority in the French magical worldte at night, and a temporary and urgent meeting was held. The whispers in the meeting room were like flies chirping, filling the entire meeting room. Sitting at the forefront, Be, who was not only the wizard chancellor but also the deputy minister, continued to wear the appearance of Adele Rnd, who was a nail buried by Voldemort within the French wizardmunity, a nail that no one had ever shaken. But at the moment, this nail is obviously starting to loosen, because the survival of the Lord who personally hammered her into this part of France is now unknown! "You want to betray the Minister!" Her shrill and grim voice silenced the whispers of everyone present. Faced with her questioning, without knowing exactly in what condition Voldemort is now, no one dared to be the one to take the lead and bluntly say what is on their mind, in the end, someone stepped forward and said politely. "Our loyalty to the Minister will never change, ma''am, but that''s exactly why it''s important to make sure he''s safe and sound." Suddenly, a voice that was cold to the core rang out. "And if I die?" In response to this voice, there was only silence, and everyone looked in the direction where the voice had sounded. A man wearing nothing but a tattered robe and with blood dripping from his palms appeared in the meeting room without a sound, his face was expressionless as he looked at everyone, holding his wand in his other intact hand. "I-I-" The councilman who was frozen by Voldemort''s sudden appearance was just about to exin in a panic that he had absolutely no other bad intentions just now, was greeted by a deadly green light! "Avada Kedavra!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 242: Two Meetings (2 in 1) Chapter 242: Two Meetings (2 in 1) All the members of the council who were in the room with ulterior motives, when they saw the male wizard who was panicking about how to exin in one second, had turned into a cold corpse in the next second, caused their bodies to tremble sharply, but no one dared to express the fear in their hearts with their voices. The entire meeting room fell silent, the man standing in the middle although looking iparably wretched, yet no one dared to rise a hint of defiance in their hearts. "This time there was a little ident that I did not anticipate." Voldemort''s cold and emotionless voice echoed throughout the room. "The re-educational camp has fallen, and we have suffered some setbacks that we hadn''t originally anticipated, but I don''t want anyone to have doubts about the future of Pureblood. That makes you look short-sighted, sickening, stupid and ipetent, and when dealing with such people, I usually only treat them in one way, and that way you should have seen just now." The councillors were obedient, and no one dared to be the second to die. The meeting room was quiet, only the sound of sticky blood "tick-tick" falling on the floor heard from time to time. After sweeping the room with a cold gaze, not seeing anyone dare to raise their heads and look directly at him, Voldemort spoke again. "Failure is a failure, I will not deny my own failure. Next, Adele will rece me to be in charge of all the duties of the Ministry of Magic for the time being, everyone should face her as they face me, I have to deal with some other matters. The mudbloods are bound to rebel in the meantime, and I don''t care what kind of efforts you might put in, myst bottom line is to keep Paris!" His voice returned to calm, but that calmness held a chilling note in it. "If you can''t even defend Paris, then when I return, there will be no need for the French Magical Council to exist." Nobody failed to understand the horror behind Voldemort''s words, if the French magical council did not need to exist, what about them, the councillors? Would simply be dismissed from office and sent home? The councillors'' faces were pale, but everyone did not dare to show half a look of frustration, and there were voices everywhere making oaths, and everyone sitting here expressed their determination to live and die with Paris. In the face of their statements, Voldemort simply looked with a cold stiff face and finally said. "I hope that in the end, you will not let me down." Then, his whole figure disappeared from the meeting room. In the next second, in a pitch-ck room, Voldemort''s figure suddenly appeared. After returning to this private and secretive room, he was finally able to remove all his disguises and curled up on the ground like a boiled prawn! Then he went crazy and used his right hand, which was still bleeding, to pound on his left hand! "Give up those illusions! These are mine! You''re mine too! It''s all mine! Don''t you dare think of stealing it from me!!!" He hissed and roared, his distorted face no longer able to return to its previous coldness and calmness. The next moment, his neck suddenly twisted to one side, that bloodied left hand raised uncontrobly, and soon half of his body once again underwent that bizarre loss of control! "It was you who first reneged on the agreement we made at the beginning! I helped you! After helping you so much! You tricked me like this! And you sneakily signed that pact! I won''t trust you anymore! Absolutely not!!!" "There can only be one me in this world! There will never be another Tom Riddle! There will never be another Voldemort!" "So let me eat you! If we be one, then we are truly invincible! Come on! Come on!" "You are the one who should be eaten!" In the space filled with boundless darkness, where there was nothing but dead silence, Voldemort bickered in two very different tones, his two hands seemed to belong to two different minds, and his body rolled on the ground struggling to the death On the other hand, thest muggle-born wizard who had been freed from the dungeon was also taken away from the already empty re-educational camp. At Lyon''s headquarters, all the wizards were celebrating this unprecedented victory achieved during tonight''s operation. Dumbledore did not hide the fact that Voldemort was not dead, but no one was dissatisfied with the result, except for the slight regret expressed by some people. Everyone believed that since Dumbledore can now defeat Voldemort once, there will certainly be a second and third time in the future. That falling ck meteor, lets people really see that the dark lord who has been invincible in the magical world for nearly a decade, is not exactly invincible. It was like removing a huge mountain from everyone''s heart. In the beginning, joining the Witching Horizon and deciding to resist was just an act of desperation, as the only option avable was to fight to the death. But now, everyone could truly see the hope. Simrly, due to this, Dumbledore was finally seated in the leadership position in the Witching Horizon this time thoroughly and firmly. In the magical world, the strength of the individual is still the basis of all the right to speak, and Dumbledore who originally began to lose the right to speak as a leader due to his defeat at the hands of Voldemort, once again regained his ce at the top tonight, and even to a higher level than before his defeat under Voldemort. This is beneficial to Dumbledore, the Order of the Phoenix and even the entire Witching Horizon. After dealing with the casualties overnight, the wizards who survived and were rescued were having a party to celebrate the night that will surely go down in magical history. After the meeting of the top management of the Witching Horizon, an internal meeting was held within the Order of the Phoenix. After sending off the French wizards who were still full of excitement and a part of the people who came from Northern Europe to support them, those who were left behind were the ones who truly trusted each other. Dumbledore looked tired, he leaned back in his chair, his eyes were not overly excited and joyful, while others were happy and joyful, but it was very clear that the things he would be happy about, and others were not quite the same. McGonagall wore her long hair loose, a spell had nearly grazed her scalp during the battle at the re-educational camp, scattering her hair bun, and she hadn''t had time to fix it until now. Lily''s face is still as cold as ever, as though only the death of her few enemies in this world could touch her heart, and the tattered robes she is wearing look like they have endured a very gruesome battle. The wound on Lupin''s arm has been bandaged with the help of Tonks, his face is as pale as ever, but there is a smile at the corners of his mouth the whole time. There is no visible injury on Flitwick''s body, but his cherished wand was cut in two during the fierce battle, so his original high mood slightly carried a trace of regret. On both sides of the long table, there are Moody, Kingsley, Tonks and so on, most of them carrying varying degrees of injury, but there was no semnce of depression and gloom felt in this room. They were waiting for Dumbledore to tell them in detail, how in the end he defeated the invincible Dark Lord, however, when Dumbledore opened his mouth and said the first sentence, it let everyone''s expression freeze. "The person who really defeated him is not me." Dumbledore smiled and bluntly stated this fact, "From the words he said and his performance at that time, the person who defeated him should be Jon Green." The meeting room fell into a pin-drop-dead silence. This silencested for a full ten seconds or so before a mour that seemed to topple the roof resumed! "Do not joke like this, Albus, although it is okay for you to joke now, Jon is still a child, after all, the fact that he caught two Aurors before is enough to shock us." McGonagall thought of Dumbledore''s entric character again, trying to give everyone a bigugh here, so she wanted to maintain the seriousness of the asion and spoke out to stop. Everyone else alsoughed and felt it was a bit more credible that Dumbledore was just joking, everyone present knew Jon and had a good impression of the boy. But this does not mean that they will simply believe such a ridiculous statement. After all, not to mention the fact that Jon could not join Dumbledore and Voldemort''s battle, he did not even here tonight, so how could it be possible to defeat Voldemort from thousands of miles away? However, Dumbledore personally did notugh with them, his expression was very serious, not a bit like trying to joke about it. "You should all remember what Jon''s other purpose was when they went to sea, other than to avoid the scourge of war." His face brought the scene back to silence once again, everyone could see that Dumbledore was serious, he would not joke with such an attitude, but the wordsing from his mouth, it is more incredible than the majority of jokes. "It is to find the reason why the Dark Lord became this strong." Compared to the others, Lily is undoubtedly the one who keeps the calmest thinking among these people. Through Dumbledore''s words, in fact, as long as their thinking became free without a prejudice for a second, they could roughly guess the key to the matter. "He took the students and found the critical thing at sea that can affect the strength that the Dark Lord can exert?" Everyone held their breath and looked at Dumbledore. Dumbledore nodded. "I guess this is the biggest possibility, exactly what happened, still need to wait for Fawkes Nirvana toplete, he was hit by a killing curse, and needs time to grow again." His words made the people in the room for the first time unsure of what to say, even if such an exnation is reasonable enough, but no one can ignore the significance of what this matter itself represents. How old Jon is, everyone here knows very well. A 14-year-old boy who should only be in his third year this academic year, captured two Aurors with another student not long ago, as well as breaking into Azkaban has been enough to make people feel shocked. Now, even the defeat of Voldemort also has a lot to do with him or can be said to be directly rted. This further made the people unable to use words to describe the feeling in their hearts, at the same time it intertwined with some emotions simr to embarrassment. They have always considered themselves as protectors, wanting to protect the future hopes of the magical world, but in the end, it is a child who is trying to solve the problem that they were all unable to solve. At this time Dumbledore continued to speak. "But there is also another thing in front of us, as the most directly affected person, the dark lord understands exactly what has gone wrong in this matter more than we do. The previous incident in Azkaban had raised his rm and he sent someone to pursue this matter, only at that time the object of his suspicion was the Durmstrang Headmaster." "This means that the students are in a dangerous predicament, and the Dark Lord was bound to have handled them with the same standard as he treated that person, and now something like this has happened which might even cause him to personally block the path ahead of Jon and the others." His words drew everyone''s attention to this matter. The situation certainly would be like this, after such a defeat, Voldemort will certainly do everything possible to find the person who caused him to meet such a heavy setback, and the current trajectory of the Hogwarts voyage is in ordance with the original route Voldemort took when he went to sea, so as long as he wanted, he would be able to find some traces. Of course, this is also given Voldemort''s current condition, in the premise that he still has the strength to personally intervene in this matter. What kind of state Voldemort is in now, no one knows except himself. "Do we need to send someone over to protect them? If the Dark Lord really goes after them, then they simply have no way to resist." Flitwick said gloomily. Sirius, on the other hand, made a different suggestion. "Now is the perfect time for us to grasp the fruits of this victory to expand, if we divide the manpower out again, it will not y any role at all if we have fewer people, and there will definitely be a shortage of personnel on this side. What I think is that since they have found the key to influence the strength of the dark lord, we should just pick them up and settle them in the rear side, which will not only be more convenient for us to protect them but also will relieve the pressure of shortage of manpower." In this regard, many of those present were moved, But Dumbledore shook his head to deny it. "It''s precisely because ites to this, their voyage can not be abandoned halfway. We also won''t have to send more people on board to protect them, that ship was originally transformed from the wagon, andter it was patched up by me with extremely perfect age restriction magic, as long as they don''t leave the ship, then their safety can be temporarily guaranteed." "Only the route afterwards will require some changes, no longer following the same path that the dark lord has taken before to repeat, now that we''ve determined the ultimate destination, we can choose a safe path again." "At the same time for the sake of final insurance, I will let Fawkes stay there, if there is any further ident that they can not solve, we can also timely be informed." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 243: The Sadness of the Era Chapter 243: The Sadness of the Era When the sun rose, the entire Hogwarts ship remained silent. A series of unexpected circumstances during the night although it has nothing to do with most of the students on board, the sound of the earth-shaking explosion still let them not sleep a sound sleep the whole night. Jon slepttest night but was one of the earliest risers. It was not that he was not tired, rather he wasn''t in the mood for sleep. At 9 o''clock, he sat cross-legged on the deck alone, silently looking at the direction they had sailed from the south. Hogwarts is still heading north, and now there are no more than a few days before Christmas, which along with heavy snow pouring on the sea caused the temperature to drop to an extremely low level. Jon wore a thick robe, with arge umbre over his head to block the snow, and when he was staring out at the sea, Nick came to his side at some point. "Still thinking about that Sir?" Ghosts don''t require rest, so Nick isn''t wrestling under the warm covers like everyone else, making life-or-death decisions about whether to get up or not. He had learned from Nevillest night about Jon''s experience in the tower with them, so he could probably guess what Jon was thinking at the moment. Jon nodded and didn''t have to hide his thoughts. "Because Sir Stoker, he truly can''t be considered a bad guy." He mused. "Hees from a pureblood wizard family but has always presented himself with the title of a Muggle dynasty, and has also delved into many ideas and theories associated with Muggles, which in the magical world, even wizards whoe from Muggle families may not have such a degree of knowledge, and one can tell that he is a person who seeks equality. And he is very ideal, and the ultimate goal of his ideal is also to open up the horizons of the wizards, for a better future of a magical world; He gave up everything in the world for his ideal, and ultimately obsessed with this ideal and dream, which allowed the dark lord to use it to entice him to make that final wrong choice." Jon said in a low voice. "I honestly don''t think someone like Sir should end his life so simply. There are very few wizards in the magical world who can really sprout the idea of seeing the nature of the world through magic, but he had to die for a political struggle that was inherently wrong. He would have been better suited to be a professor at a magic school, whether it be astronomy or muggle studies, I think he would have been able to handle it, and in that environment, it would have been more conducive to his research and would have allowed his ideas to inspire more young wizards. I thought about maybe inviting him to Hogwarts and asking Headmaster Dumbledore for a position as a professor, although maybe Hogwarts isn''t the right ce for him right now, and living here is more like being a hostage to him. But he has not given me the opportunity to ask, after knowing that I will not return the pact to him, he believed that his ideal will never be realized, which to me is mixed with a kind of guilt and selfpensation. He actually knew all along that he was doing something wrong by helping the dark lord, but his desire for the stars overpowered his sense of right and wrong. It was only at that moment he intended to use his life to pay the price for his wrong as well as to bury his ideals in this way." Jon seemed a bit ranting in his words because Nick didn''t even know what kind of person Sir Stoker is and what he looked like until now, but at this moment, through Jon''s description, his mind also had a clear outline and impression of this Sir in general. "He does sound like a very great man. But some things are like this sometimes, maybe I''ve experienced long enough and seen enough people and things, I don''t have as much sense of sentiment as you do, Jon, and it''s a little sad at best." Nick said softly. "Those who have left their names in history, not only because of their own outstanding ability but also because they were born in a time that suited them. But this Sir, who has the same title as me, is obviously unfortunate, just like myself back then, I was taken to the gallows, and he was forced to choose to serve one of the sides in the war, if afterwards the Dark Lord seeded in defeating us, became the master of Europe and world, and kept his promise, then he would certainly leave a strong mark in the history books of that new magical world and even start a new era. But now the time obviously did not stand on the same side with him, before the dark lord could demonstrate signs of sess, he had already died, which is not his sadness alone, but also the sadness of this era." Nick patted Jon''s shoulder, his illusory hand did not touch Jon''s body, but the burst of cold touch still gave Jon feedback. "We are the winners in this episode, which means we will continue to go on, as for those who deserve to be remembered, someone will give them a fair evaluation in the future." Jon looked at the sea that had returned to calm and murmured. "This is a victory for us, but for the entire magicalmunity, the loss of a man like Sir Stoker is a defeat for all ..." Nick sighed and did not bother to answer Jon''s remark, and together they looked at the sea to the south, as if the tower still stood between the sky and the sea ... ... On the edge of the border between the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea, a few days after Jon left this area, there was still some messy rubbish floating around in the sea, and asionally a few ck cats could be seen struggling in the ocean. After a few days, the rubbish drifted elsewhere with the current cycle, with the ck cats alsopletely dead in the sea, their bodies and rubbish together followed the waves to drift. During this time, more than a dozen wizards wearing ck robes riding flying broomsticks passed by here, they were led by two people who looked like a pair of brothers, after determining that there was once a tower here, they caught one merman who had experienced the big explosion and fled, and only dared to return to the sea in the past few days, and learned about the things that happened here some time ago by using Legilimency. When they learned that there was a ship docked there, but after the whole tower was blown up, the ship also disappeared together, the two brothers'' faces became more gloomy. They dispatched one of their men to go back to report, while the others continued to head north in pursuit. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 244: Boys and Girls Experience Chapter 244: Boys and Girls Experience A few weekster, when the first month of the new year just began, the merpeople who returned to the sea, spontaneously tried to find Sir Stoker''s body who had been quite kind to them at the bottom of the sea, but there was no luck, and they weren''t able to find his body. Later on, the merpeople were able to pick up some broken bones at the bottom of the sea, not knowing whether they belonged to Sir or the house elf, Rabier, who followed Sir. To express their gratitude and nostalgia for that Sir, several merpeople tribes gathered together, and they carved a statue of him on the surface of the sea in line with the appearance of that Sir. The merpeople and Sir were old neighbours, they all knew Sir''s preferences, so they carved a stone statue of Sir holding a star map in one hand, holding a telescope in the other, looking solemnly up at the sky. They found a way to stabilize the statue on the surface of the sea so that he would not sink to the bottom of the ocean and never see the stars, nor drift away from the sea with the waves, and be found by the muggles. Time passed day by day, and it is not clear when, at night when the merpeople showed up on the surface of the sea to enjoy the sea breeze, they would often see a hazy person sitting there near the statue of Sir. That person almost looked identical to Sir when he was alive, and he didn''t make any response when the merpeople tried to call out to him, just sitting quietly, staring at the bright starry sky in silence. It was as if that was all that existed in his world. ... After leaving the sea where the tower is located, the life of the students on board gradually returned to the right track. In the first few days, the students who stayed on the ship during those days, listened to Ron and Lee with great interest as they recounted the experiences of the group in the tower. "In the end if not for Jon, we might have really died there, those ck cats forced us into the ranch ..." Ron was speaking in a colourful style when a fourth-year girl reminded him. "ording to the characteristics you described, those ck cats are a magical creature that looks like a cat and is known as Matagot, a magical creature that basically only lives in France and has a very high level of threat." "Well, regardless of whether it''s called Matagot or a ck cat or whatever, their numbers seem like they can increase indefinitely regardless of what we did." Ron went on to say. "Neville, Lee and I were forced into the pasture, it was a grasnd used for sheep, although the ce is big enough, it was just a little too empty, we were chased by those ck cats and ran around the sheep several times, then Neville came up with an idea, saying that if we continue to run on, even if we are not bitten to death, we will sooner orter be exhausted, so we can only try to take on the sheep form and be part of the herd. " "But neither Neville nor I have learned anything about human transfiguration, luckily Lee did! And he said that during his third-year finals, Professor McGonagall specifically praised him for his excellent skills in human-to-animal transfiguration." George and Fred on the side pierced it down without mercy. "He''s bragging! Professor McGonagall has never praised his transfiguration skills." Ron also said in exasperation. "Yes, and what happenedter showed us that he was blowing his brains out! But at the time, Neville and I didn''t know about it and hearing his assurances like that, we put the technical task in his hands. We rushed into the flock and then took he took the opportunity to turn us into sheep, we disguised ourselves as sheep who were frightened and fleeing, and those ck cats were really fooled." "They tried to find us using the smell, but the smell of sheep around us was too heavy and had helped us cover up the smell. Our n had gone well up to this point, but there was a problem with Lee''s transfiguration." "He turned us into sheep with no tails or hooves! Those ck cats soon noticed this and found us out, we could only continue to escape, and finally luckily found the opportunity to escape from that room when we heard Jon calling for us, otherwise, now we are estimated to have turned into poop to be pooped out!" Lee did not justify his bragging, rather he said proudly. "In that situation, I have to reassure you guys first before anything else, and there was no other better way, besides, didn''t it turn out well? My Transfiguration bought us enough time until Jon arrived to save us!" He said it as a matter of course, not at all ashamed that he had to be saved by a student who is years younger than him. No one at Hogwarts will treat Jon as an ordinary third-year student, in the hearts of everyone on this ship now, in the absence of Dumbledore, he is the leader to lead the journey, and everyone can absolutely trust and rely on him. After the boys'' experiences were told, everyone was curious about what happened to the two girls as well. Through Ron''s narration, they all knew that the five of them were separated in thest most urgent moment, so where did Hermione and Luna go at that time? "Do any of you know what happened under the ocean and what that thing flew up and ended up bombing the whole tower?" Hermione questioned others before saying what happened to them. The people around them all shook their heads. They are, even if most of them are children from muggle families, basically, no one can recall things like rockets and spacecraft, not to mention that Britain itself has not invested much of its energy and prestige in this. "That is a rocket that can send people into the sky, simr to the magic world''s flying broom, only it can make people fly higher and faster, even out of the we live on." Hermione exined to them. "That Sir hid such a thing under his tower, when Luna and I escaped to the ground floor but could not open the door, we broke into the cab of that rocket when there was no way out." The students looked at each other. "You guys entered inside the thing that exploded!" Luna said with an affirmative nod as well. "Yes, there were a lot of shing lights and instruments, we went in and were looking for an exit to get out back to the sea, but before we could find it, the instruments suddenly shed red and there were shouts everywhere all around us like a fierce ghost!" Luna''s voice was already very wispy, and when she told this story it gave people a sense of fright. Hermione helplessly revised her numerous times. "That''s not the cry of a fierce ghost, Luna, that''s the sound of an rm, an alert sound of muggles in an emergency. When we heard that sound, we felt something was wrong, and there was no way for us to do anything else in that situation, but to risk breaking a piece of ss inside the rocket with a Severing charm and going into the sea from inside." "We were very deep under the sea, Luna almost failed to make it up, because there was no oxygen we almost choked to death by the seawater, good thing I have some swimming experience, and eventually was able to return to the surface with her, and was picked up by Jon." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 245: The Tip of the Iceberg Chapter 245: The Tip of the Iceberg The rocket explosion brought a great shock to the Hogwarts students. Not only because they encountered such a danger, but when they learned that the rocket itself is a pure muggle creation, which was brought into the magical world, the idea of "magic is better than muggle (science)" that has always existed in their minds has also been shaken at this time. If it''s magic, how many people need to use the Exploding Charm together to reach such a scale for this magnitude of explosion? To cause this kind of explosion, is this the ultimate purpose for which that rocket was created? Or, are there other more horrific weapons than it avable in the Muggle world? These questions caused many young wizards who had been brought up in the ordinary world to think about the wonders of this world. They thought about the ordinary world they had lived in for 11 years before; after they had been brought to this magical society they barely had any interaction with the muggle society that they could only reminisce about in their memories. Perhaps, in their view now, ordinary people or things, in fact, no longer seem that ordinary? While they discussed the experience of Neville, Hermione and the group, such thoughts sprouted in their hearts. Jon stared at a letter. A letter written by Dumbledore to him, delivered by Fawkes. The letter stated exactly what happened the night Jon brought out the pact from the tower when Dumbledore led the wizards of the Witching Horizon to attack the re-educational camp, and it focused more on the abnormal changes that happened to Voldemort, and what he said during the battle had beenpletely penned in the letter. From Dumbledore''s records, after taking into ount the time and semantics expressed in Voldemort''s words, his abnormal changes were 100% caused by Jon and the group! The bizarre changes greatly resembled the inability to control his own body, obviously, in line with what Sir Stoker had finally said to him, after the separation was broken, two consciousness in his body started topete for the right to control. To be honest, Jon was not aware at that time he destroyed the pact that it was so opportune, that is, right in the middle of the ultimate showdown between Dumbledore and Voldemort. Originally he simply did that due to the death of Sir and his own chaotic emotions at that time, intending to use the pact to clearly bring some bad influence upon Voldemort, so that he could feel what he had done was not without any cost, since life had been lost due to him, it is necessary to suffer the consequences. Originally, ording to the most prudent approach, he would have kept the pact until his next contact with Dumbledore; after handing him the pact, then Dumbledore would have decided how to dispose of it. As a result, his error can now be considered as a correct choice. In contrast to it being his good luck and Dumbledore''s exnation, Jon is more willing to believe that this is the retribution for Voldemort. He repeatedly looked at the contents of Dumbledore''s letter, and his mind spected, what kind of situation Voldemort is now in. ording to Sir Stoker, and the situation shown after the pact was torn, he certainly has two separate consciousness in his body. Moreover, Sir Stoker said with great certainty that he could tell that there was two consciousness within Voldemort. It''s a matter of consciousness rivalry, who co-exist in the same body, and neither side is willing to give up control of the body until now. So, two consciousnesses, one of them is bound to be Voldemort''s own original soul, but where is the other one from? Jon gently rubbed the slightly rough surface of the parchment, thinking about the problem. The most reasonable answer is that this other one is also Voldemort, but this consciousness originated from the Horcrux, the small part of the soul that was originally separated from Voldemort. After all, in the history of magic, the wizards who tried to make Horcrux are very few, let alone creating such arge number of them like Voldemort, and eventually collecting them all back again. After all, wizards who try to create Horcrux must be people who fear death, and after the Horcrux is sessfully created by splitting their souls, the weaknesses in their souls will be magnified, which will stop them from risking more and giving up immortality that they have already achieved, and reverting back into being an "ordinary person" who will experience old age, sickness and death. Voldemort obviously somehow figured this out back then, and he collected all the split souls in the Horcruxes so that he could once again re-integrate the divided souls into his own consciousness perfectly? If those split souls resisted, thinking that they are the real "Voldemort" and the true owner of the body, then won''t they sh with the original main soul and resist when they are merged? But if there was really such resistance, there must be more than one split soul, and now the soul that is fighting with Voldemort for the right to control the body, which Horcruxes he came from? Or, when the Horcruxes fused back to the main soul, there was an ident, and the split souls jointly pushed out a consciousness that could rece them all to fight against the main soul? Jon thought a lot about the secrets of what happened to Voldemort, the secrets that he had uncovered seemed to be the tip of the iceberg, but learning this part of the puzzle made him more curious about the iparablyrge part of the unknown horror hidden under the iceberg. He destroyed the pact, which is equivalent to breaking the barrier between the two souls in Voldemort''s body, what will happen after that? Two souls fighting for this sole identity and the right to control, and eventually die together? This is an ideal oue, but also the least likely one, Jon vaguely felt that the most real case would be, one soul devouring the other one so that the original unstable state of Voldemort became more stable and powerful! ording to the information obtained from Sir Stoker''s mouth, this magic pact that was supposed to be used for the treatment of the Maledictus blood curse, could not essentially solve the problem of the coexistence of two sentient spirits in one body. Voldemort only used this pact as a temporary means of separation, he must have looked for other ways topletely solve this problem. So has he found a method? If so, is he now nning to use it? A series of questions filled Jon''s brain, making him feel that although the current situation is indeed a rare good opportunity for them, the future is still full of unknowns and dangers. There are still many things that need to be solved, the Hogwarts voyage is not over yet, and the arrival of the good news from Dumbledore will give Jon some mental uplift at best, but it will not allow him to rx and cken. Jon would love to find time to carry out a floo powder conversation with Dumbledore, for which Dumbledore obviously also made arrangements. Early the next morning after Fawkes brought the letter, Jon contacted Dumbledore in Lyon, France from the firece of Hogwarts. ---- #Hugegreenpickle, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 246: The Compensation of Fate Chapter 246: The Compensation of Fate In the Great Hall, the bright yellow fire after sprinkling the floo powder soon turned into a cluster of green mes. Immediately after, the me changed into a human face, and Dumbledore''s face that has not changed much appeared in the firece. On this asion to meet with Dumbledore, Jon did not bring all the students together. Some of the things that are happening onnd won''t bring any benefit to them to know it early when they are on the sea, and the issue regarding Voldemort''s pact, before things are made clear, there is a need for a certain amount of secrecy. So it was just Jon and Nick in the great hall for this meeting, and the rest of the students were in ss. "I asked Fawkes to bring you the letter that you should have read, Jon, but we should leave the contents of the letter aside for now, there is another very important thing you need to do." Dumbledore had a serious expression. "On the Headmaster''s office in the cabin, on my desk, I put a crystal orbmonly used to keep divination, but that orb did not contain any divination information, rather it has the voyage route mapped out for you guys to follow. But in line with the recent events, you must change the next route." Jon frowned as he followed his thoughts, on the letter yesterday, the battle regarding the attack on the re-educational camp was very clear, especially what Voldemort said to Dumbledore. He could think of the reason why Dumbledore had to make such an arrangement. "The Dark Lord, he''s going to send people to find us?" "Not going to." Dumbledore corrected his words and said seriously, "He is bound to have sent someone there already, he should have noticed the problem after we showed those two Azkaban Aurors in public, and at that time he probably would have already sent someone to look for you guys, and he spected you as another person, someone who is also very powerful." Jon caught what Dumbledore was trying to emphasize. "The men he sent out were based on the standard of his guess of us being that powerful foe?" Dumbledore nodded. "Not only that, after this incident, he is likely to go over to you personally. Of course, it also depends on to what extent he is recovering from his current state, and whether what was hidden in the past is important to him or not." "But no matter what is going to happen, we have to stay absolutely cautious on this, because the situation on the French side needs us to expand the sess of that battle, plus Hogwarts itself was protected by the age restrictions I ced on it for the sake of the safety, I didn''t send more people on board to protect you guys all the time. But I''ll let Fawkes stay with you guys from now on, and once the worst happens, you need to let Fawkese to me immediately, and I''lle and deal with the things." Jon and Nick looked at each other, there was no objection to Dumbledore''s arrangement. Jon did not fall into blind confidence because of his several achievements after sailing, even if he can put aside Voldemort for a short while due to his condition, if he had to face the elite Death Eaters head-on, he would not be able to gain many advantages, especially in the case of not knowing how many people there are on the other side. Of course, after Sir Stoker kept his promise and gave him the te on which he had only absorbed just a little more than half of the magic power while there were still a lot of magic runes left on it, as long as he maintained sufficient magic power in the gem, even if he really met them in the end, he could stay calm. "Then how do we change the voyage?" Nick asked Dumbledore about this. "As long as the magic on that crystal orb is erased, the whole ship''s automatic navigation will disappear, which, Jon, you should be able to do easily. After that, you can determine the final destination following the nautical chart on the crystal orb, and then choose the direction of travel by yourself, but this can only guarantee your safety in the process of travel, after finally reaching the destination there is a great possibility that you will encounter risk when you have to act ording to the circumstances, and if you encounter problems that cannot be resolved by you, contact me immediately." Dumbledore has arranged things properly, and Jon only needs to do ording to his words for now. After finishing these things, Dumbledore looked at Jon with a wink and a smile. "Now that we''ve talked about the key points, we can talk about what has happened. So can you tell me about what has happened to you guys these days?" To this Jon naturally did not hide anything, he began to tell how they arrived at that tower, untilter met Sir Stoker, to the discovery of the stone b, and finally the confrontation at the top of the tower was told in full. Dumbledore listened very carefully and when he heard that Sir Stoker died along with that high tower, after being blown up by a rocket that started from under the sea, his gaze clearly showed a trace of regret. "He was a great man." Dumbledore said softly. "But the Dark Lord buried the ideals and aspirations of his vision for the wizarding world and all wizards for himself." "If he had requested you and wanted toe to Hogwarts as a professor, would you have granted his application?" Jon asked. Dumbledore''s answer was not half hesitant. "That''s for sure, Jon. A talent for magic would perhaps attract the attention of most wizards more than anything else, but Sir Stoker himself possesses a mind that the vast majority of wizards do not, and a professor at a wizarding school must not only teach his students magic but also impart the right philosophy to them about magic and the world. This is what Hogwarts previously did not have. Since the loss of Hogwarts Castle and the beginning of the exile, I have been thinking about whether it is right or wrong that magical education has not changed much since the beginning of time. If it is wrong, then what is it that weck? I would love to make improvements in this area, but because of the turbulent times, there has never been the right opportunity or person to do something about it. Sir Stoker is obviously a very suitable candidate, if he is willing toe to Hogwarts to teach, I don''t have any reason to refuse." Jon said with some sadness. "But Sir, he is dead, I had a chance to save him, and his house elf had a chance to save him, but he himself has chosen to give up his lifepletely." Dumbledore sighed. "You''ve done well enough Jon, it was his own choice, you imed that what he had done had received little recognition in his life, but in the end, you praised his beliefs, didn''t you? This is perhaps fate''s finalpensation for him." Finally, Dumbledore mentioned the matter of the pact. "Luck is on our side, you broke that pact at the right time. If it had been a little earlier, the Dark Lord would likely not have confronted me head-on, and if it had been a littleter, then my own life would have been in question." ---- #Hugegreenpickle, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 247: What to Do Chapter 247: What to Do Jon didn''t try to im credit for that and calmly said. "It can only be said that the Dark Lord earned what he deserved, the destruction of the pact came at just the right time to hit him the hardest." Dumbledore smiled and shook his head. "The timing of the pact''s destruction may be a coincidence of fate, but the ability to find and get the pact so quickly relies on your personal ability Jon. When I talked to McGonagall and the others about this, they all expressed disbelief, and to be honest, I was actually very shocked inside as well." "The most major reason for you guys to leave Britain is just to ensure all of your safety during the war, following the trail that the dark lord has taken before to find some unknown clues are just a matter of convenience. Exactly what you will find is not something I, as well as others, have high expectations of." "The diary you found in Azkaban, as well as the two Aurors that you caught already surprised us, and the current oue is a result that no one expected." "McGonagall, Flitwick and the rest of them at first very much questioned whether I was right to let you lead these children on a sea; they felt that even if we couldn''t have a professor apany all of you personally, it would be wise to at least have a sixth or seventh-year Prefect to lead the overall trip." "They were not doubting your ability, just thought you are only 14 years old ultimately, some responsibilities and burdens are simply too heavy on your shoulders, and somewhat cruel." Dumbledore''s face filled with apologies. "They were truly thinking for you, I also thought they were right, even if you are outstanding, but I should not pile so much pressure on you. But in the end, I didn''t take their advice because I have to be responsible for the other students as well, and it would be a dereliction of my duty as Headmaster if I didn''t make a choice when the most suitable person to lead them is ced in front of me." He looked at Jon and said softly. "Nick and I talked about how you were in Azkaban and how you finally summoned the Patronus in the previousmunication. I began to question the decisions I made myself since then, the burden ced on you is indeed too much, even if you are mature and stable, but is this appropriate or not? Now it''s time for you to express your true thoughts to me, Jon, you''ve done more than enough to be considered good for the burden you''re carrying now, do you think it''s too much?" Jon didn''t show much deep thought or apprehension about Dumbledore''s apology and inquiry, he even spoke with some disinterest. "I honestly don''t feel like that, Professor, I don''t feel like that''s too heavy on me, I''m just doing what I feel I should do and can do. Just like you are now at this age, are you really supposed to be burdened with the expectations and hopes of so many people?" Dumbledoreughed helplessly at Jon''s rhetorical question. "I''m only in my early hundreds, which isn''t actually considered too old for a wizard." "Well, I am not too old, but I am not too young either, right? You have contributed enough to this magical world when you were young, but now why do you want to burn out your remaining years? Doing what you think you should do is exactly what you think is right, isn''t it?" Dumbledore looked at him. "So that''s what you think?" Jon met his bright blue eyes and said with unmistakable seriousness. "All the students on this ship feel the same way, Professor, they are all doing what they feel they should do and can do, and if I were them, I would spend all day soaking up in books and trying not to be a drag down everyone else, and if they were me, then they would be willing to take all this responsibility and risk to do all the things I have done. " The atmosphere fell silent, Dumbledore lost in thought as he looked at this great hall where Jon sat, which was cleaned and tidied by the students, leaving no trace of oil on each table. A good long whileter, he spoke with great emotion. "Losing Hogwarts Castle is the biggest failure in my life, but at the sight of today''s Hogwarts wagon, I often wonder, which is actually better suited to a school, the current Hogwarts or the former Hogwarts." Jon replied. "I don''t think there''s any point inparing them, Professor. In times of peace, reasonablepetition is exactly what is needed to promote more progress, and in times of turmoil, the only way to ovee the myriad of difficulties that stand in the way is unity. Both of which, no matter which period of Hogwarts you led, has been quite a bit more or less sessful when ites to this." Dumbledore looked at Jon with a dumbfounded smile. "There are times when you say things that are more thought-provoking than even I, an old man who has lived for over a hundred years. Nick and I talked about your sess in summoning a Patronus, but he said that there is something strange about your Patronus, and deliberately kept a lid on it, saying that you should tell me about it yourself, so. What did you summon forth?" To this Jon scratched his head, he was not sure exactly what to say to Dumbledore about this "Nick was right, it is somewhat different from the others, but I couldn''t exin exactly why it is different from the others, I can''t even describe it with words clearly, why don''t I just use it once to show you, Professor, at our next meeting?" "You are both very good at arousing people''s curiosity." Dumbledore said with a feigned frown, but that frown soon rxed again, "But the more ites to this, the bigger the surprise will be in the end when I know the answer, isn''t it?" Jon shrugged, he didn''t actually know if the double Patronus thing would be a surprise or a shock. "Let''s hope it is." "Well, that''s it for today, there''s still some work that needs me to go over there personally. By the way, I can give you a little advice on the choice of routeter on." Dumbledore said with a wink. "The ultimate goal of this ship, is in the Arctic Circle, and if you guys aren''t going to follow the original nned route, you can try to head closer to the Norwegian coastline and continue north along the coast, the coastline near the area where Norway and Find meet, there may be someone who can provide you with some help, and he has always wanted to see your face. " When he said this, his eyes looked at the wand held in Jon''s hand deliberately for a while to increase his interest and curiosity. Jon could not help but be a little bitter, he actually disliked this kind of half-information. "Professor you can''t make it more clear?" Dumbledoreughed happily. "Since you guys want to give me some surprises, then, of course, I can prepare them for you too!" ---- #Hugegreenpickle, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 248: The Lord Lost Chapter 248: The Lord Lost The headquarters of the Ministry of Magic, the most central government agency in the entire British magicalmunity, is proceeding with the day''s work in an orderly manner. The Atrium of the Ministry of Magic remained as busy as ever, with all sorts of witches and wizards emerging from the different fireces in the walls and disappearing in the elevators to the different floors and offices. asionally one could even see a few goblins wearing the uniforms of the Gringotts, stepping out of the elevator. They obviously maintained full restraint when looking around, and even the pride of the goblins, which had not been put away even when they were defeated in the war, was carefully hidden, and they showed enough politeness to the wizards who received them. In the minister''s office, the head of the Department of Magical Affairs, who was responsible for the logistics and more of the entire Ministry of Magic - Gris Rozier - was directing four or five half-blood employees with an unpleasant look on his face, carrying the same number of parchment scrolls as them, which are as tall as half a man, as he walked in the direction of the entrance to the elevator with hurried steps. On the way, all the wizards who saw the head of the department consciously made a spacious path. In this magical world where the hierarchy is extremely strict, the first lesson that adult wizards who really enter society have to learn is to distinguish what kind of people can be messed with and what kind of people cannot even be crossed paths with. The head of the Department of Magical Affairs is very different from the regr head of the department, as he is responsible for the logistics and administration of the entire British magicalmunity, and the person who can hold this position is certainly a member of a pureblood family with a very high status and is a close confidant of that gentleman, a figure that ny-nine percent of the people in the entire magicalmunity cannot afford to offend. However, just as Gris led his men to the entrance of the elevator, all the wizards who had already entered the elevator consciously came out and gave him space to go up first. In the elevator, a chubby figure, on the other hand, did not budge a bit, showing absolutely no awe-inspiring gesture like the others. Gris, who was anxious about a bunch of things, looked down at the pair of feet wearing borate leather boots, and his originally tightly frowned brow was more deeply squeezed together. He thought it is some rash young man who just entered the Ministry of Magic after graduating from school, every year there are actually quite a few such people, and only after suffering, they can know what this social order nned by the sir, is actually like. But just when he had figured out in his mind who to ask to carry out the Cruciatus Curse punishment on this rash fool, and raised his head. He saw the iconic walrus-like moustache, the ever-smiling face, and the well-endowed figure, and Gris'' originally tightly furrowed brow melted away like ice and snow that waited for the spring flowers to bloom. "Aha, Mr Slughorn, you just came back from outside?" Almost two years had passed, Slughorn still did not change much from before, and he looked at the head of the Department of Magical Affairs whose face changed faster than the London weather after seeing him, he nodded his head with a smile on his face. "Mr Banderas, the head of the Spanish Department of International Magical Co-operation, insisted on having a meeting with me at a muggle caf in London to negotiate about the export tariff on flying brooms, and he said he is not quite used to the atmosphere in our Ministry." The expression on Gris'' face became gloomy for a few seconds. "Is the Spanish Ministry of Magic still not adapted to the right order?" The elevator had begun to move downward, and the few employees who were carrying the parchment scrolls with a levitation charm, rather sensibly, stood together in the corner, leaving the two big men, second only to that gentleman in the magical world, to discuss something that, with their bloodline, they could never be exposed to in their lifetime. Slughorn patted Gris''s shoulder. "Don''t be so sensitive, Gris, that Mr Banderas is also a pureblood, it''s just that he''s genuinely not very used to the atmosphere on our side, and this meeting I had with him went quite well." As he spoke, his eyes nced just appropriately at the files the half-blood employees carried and asked in a joking manner as if trying to lighten the mood. "What big outflows and inflows have the ministry had again? I don''t recall that we are supposed to have anyrge-scale construction activities or welfare payments during this period." At this time, the elevator had reached the floor where the data filing office is located, and Gris gave those employees a cold nce, they immediately understood and left the elevator with the archives themselves, ready to go to file these freshlypiled bills and data. After clearing the idle people, Gris'' face turned back to the gloomy look again. He stepped out of the elevator with Slughorn who walked in the direction of the head''s office as well, with no one else around. "There are some big troubles over in France, about all these things, I guess you will be informed soon too, sir." A puzzled look shed across Slughorn''s eyes, and his mouth asked in surprise. "The situation over in France? Isn''t that thest ce where problems should arise? Onlyst week I finished signing all the duty-free contracts for magic items with the France Department of International Magical Co-operation, and even deeper cooperation is also proceeding, what else can go wrong?" Gris did not answer Slughorn''s question first, after alertly returning to his office, he poured a cup of honey tea for Slughorn before he spoke gruffly. Saying out a report that would be enough to make the whole British magical world shocked beyond belief. "Lord lost to Dumbledore!" Slughorn''s pupils, who had just got his cup of tea, shrank sharply. His reaction was not half false, it is unlikely for the British side to know what happened over there in France immediately, especially the kind of thing like Voldemort losing to Dumbledore, it is essential to block the whole information before ites here. It is also impossible for Slughorn to get in touch with Dumbledore anytime and anywhere to understand thetest progress, so he indeed just learned about it from the mouth of Gris. Gris did not mean to hide it, even if the news is blocked further, it is not possible to block it off from someone of Slughorn''s status, it''s just that he knows about a few things earlier because of the convenience of his duties. And recently he was under a lot of pressure, decades ago, he also used to be a student under Slughorn when he was the head of Slytherin when due to family heritage issues, he received a lot of care from the fat walrus, so when it came time to find someone to vent, this once friendly older man is undoubtedly the best target. "Today is not April Fool''s Day, Gris, and such a joke is not funny." Slughorn said seriously. Gris let out a prolonged sigh. "I wish it could just be an April Fool''s joke, sir, but our lord has truly caused us some worrisome difficulties this time." ---- #Hugegreenpickle, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 249: Doubt Chapter 249: Doubt "I just got this news today, headed by Dumbledore, the French rebels united with British terrorists to form a terrorist organization - the Wizard Equality Front, and stormed our lord''s newly built re-educational camp in France, which was used to reform Muggles. In the battle with Dumbledore, our Lord was badly wounded." Gris took a deep breath. "Just now I mobilized a massive amount of supplies that have to be sent to France, to stabilize the situation on the French side; right now our lord has gone to deal with his injuries privately, so the French Ministry of Magic is temporarily under the control of our people." Slughorn''s face showed a worried grimness, but in reality, he was iparably puzzled inside. He did not feel that Gris would lie about such things, such a major incident like this, even if the information was blocked with full force, it would not be blocked to the high-ranking Head level personnel unless Voldemort saw through Slughorn''s identity as an undercover agent and wanted to use this matter to set him up to catch him red-handed, this possibility is not great, but there are some chances. Compared to this spection, Slughorn actually more inclined to Voldemort truly experienced a fatal defeat. It''s just that he didn''t understand how he lost in Dumbledore''s hands, which is still a problem that many people can''t figure out. On the British Ministry of Magic side, unless Slughorn personally asked Voldemort himself, it is estimated that it is not possible to get the exact answer, but he can use the contact between him and Dumbledore, to seek the answer to this question. This does not contribute much to his undercover work, but Slughorn is very curious, about how exactly Dumbledore defeated this unstoppable dark lord. For the sake of safety, he had always used a single-linemunication method to pass information to Dumbledore and did not ask much about the situation in the Hogwarts wagon. Almost two years have passed, and he also wanted to know how far the student he took in the wagon, had now grown up. He wondered if he had practised that magical levitation charm even more brilliantly? Slughorn thought about these things in his mind, but his eyes looked at Gris seriously. "This kind of thing, you should not discuss with me in private, Gris." "I understand, sir, but our lord originally didn''t intend to keep it from you." Gris waved his hand and said, his face filled with sorrow, "We need to provide a lot of support to the French side, all morning, I was approving the issuance of personnel and supplies for various departments, and even then it is not clear whether they can stabilize the situation in the absence of our lord or not." Speaking of this, his countenance turned ugly. "If after giving so much aid, they still end up failing our lord''s expectations, then I don''t think there''s anything wrong with appointing English men as councillors and senators in the French Ministry of Magic afterwards!" Even though he spoke in such a way, of course, it is nearly impossible to implement such a tyrannical idea, even if the French Ministry of Magic is foolish enough not to thoroughly backstab Voldemort when the system is not thoroughly divided, it is still not possible for them to let the British men take over all the positions. Slughorn sighed softly. "Let''s just try to do our own job properly, not dragging our lord''s feet is the greatest contribution we can make." Gris rubbed his swollen temples and nodded helplessly, he knew that Slughorn was right. They can have the current glory and status, in fact, it is all dependent on Voldemort''s individual strength, when ites to the current situation, whether it is to maintain their own interests, or truly be loyal to Voldemort, what they can do is quite limited. Unlike the British Ministry of Magic, the French wizards, with Lyon as the core, are spreading the results of the battle to the surrounding areas, and the wizards of the Witching Horizon are starting to reim the French magical world with unparalleled vigour. Before the attack on the re-educational camp, Dumbledore and Iniesta prepared two sets of ns together. One is if the battle is lost, they should maximize the preservation of living forces, and quickly retreat in the direction of Northern Europe. Another is, if they achieve victory, then how to get the maximum fruits of victory. These two ns, of course, also subdivided into different situations and the most likely to encounter scenarios, and what they currently gained with the help of Dumbledore, is one of the best situations they had anticipated. So, the day after they sessfully captured the re-educational camp and freed the muggle wizards inside, they continued their operations without any rest or pause. Most of the rescued muggle wizards had suffered inhuman abuse and humiliation, but they had not been brainwashed to the extent of "humanoid house elves". These people certainly can produce excellentbat power due to hatred, but they need some time to recuperate, so they temporarily stayed at the Lyon headquarters and handled the logistics work. And those wizards who had fought to capture the re-educational camp the night before embarked on a new battle the day after. Grenoble is a city in southeastern France. It is a world-famous snow sports paradise that attracts snow sports enthusiasts from all over the world every winter, and now, it is the most densely popted time of the year for the city. But excluding tourists and travellers, the city''s resident poption is only a hundred thousand people, including the surrounding suburbs, it only adds up to less than 400,000, so the scale of the city is not really thatrge. In the magical world, Grenoble is thergest magical nt and herbs cultivation base of the French Ministry of Magic. In the southwestern suburbs near the city, there is an area that once seemed to be nned for arge ski resort, but for some reason, the project was suspended halfway through construction. Afterwards, no one took over the project, and this piece ofnd was abandoned, looking run-down. Because of its remote location in the Alpine mountains, not many people noticed even if it was abandoned. Even if by chance, someone passed by here, and saw this piece of ruins, they will soon suddenly remember that they have other urgent things to do thus leaving in a hurry. Obviously, this ce is subjected to the Muggle-Repelling Charm and other masking spells, this is where the French Ministry of Magic cultivates and researches the magical nts and herbs. And at this moment, a fierce battle is taking ce here! "Fumos." Lily recited the incantation of the Smokescreen Spell with a cold voice that seemed as if it would never fluctuate much at any time. In the next second, a dense white smoke enveloped an entire greenhouse and rendered those long vines, which were originally driven by the employees of the French Ministry of Magic to attack them, to lose their target of attack. The Ministry of Magic employees, who were notified only today and were ready to urgently relocate, was blocked in these dozens of greenhouses by Lily, Kingsley and the men they led. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 250: If Harry is not dead… Chapter 250: If Harry is not dead¡­ The Magic nt Research Institute in Grenoble is very important to The Witching Horizon, which has already gained a firm foothold in France. The dozens of greenhouses used to cultivate hundreds and thousands of magical nts here supply more than 70% of the herbs used in the French Magical Mdies and Injury Hospital, the Magic Potion Development Office, and the Beauxbatons'' Herbology ss. Once this ce is obtained, the Witching Horizon canpletely relieve the dependence on the materials provided by Grindelwald from Northern Europe, achieve self-sufficiency in herbal medicine and potion supplies, and also inflict great pain on the French Ministry of Magic. It is also because of the importance of this ce, the responsibility for the implementation of the offensive operation of this area is led by both Lily and Kingsley, two squads cooperating together. The smoke caused a great deal of trouble for the employees hiding in the greenhouse, and before they came here, Lily and the team had alreadyid down an Anti-Apparition Charm in advance, limiting their escape routes. Then, together with the other team, they surrounded and drove all the wizards in charge of this research institute to the same greenhouse, and finally, the two of them led the others to block the front and back exits respectively, intending to let none of these people escapes. As thergest herbal cultivation ce in the French magical world, where the profits generated were so abundant, the ones who stayed here were of course all from pureblood wizard families who had grasped the rights after Voldemort''s arrival. They are following Voldemort, the greatest benefit gainers, so they know very well that even if they surrender, they are bound to get liquidation, so even if they are forced into such a desperate situation, they didn''t give up resistance. Trying to rely on the long vines to temporarily block Lily and other''s advance, which was ruined by the Smokescreen Spell, and also trapped them in the centre of the greenhouse, then a desperate male wizard picked up a pot with wide leaves, from the appearance it looks like a very ordinary potted nt. "Since there is no way to live anymore, then all of us can die here!" He shouted like a madman, and then, under the horrified gaze of hispanions around him, he yanked out the roots of the nt buried in the pot with a violent vigour! A hideous baby face emerged from the soil, its limbs are all in the form of roots, but its overall shape is biased to maintain the basic human shape. The key thing is that after this ugly humanoid nt was pulled out of the pot, it let out a scream that seemed to tear through the eardrums! "AHHHH!!!" A sound wave that could almost be seen with the naked eye emanated from the centre of that humanoid nt, in all four directions! The male wizard, who pulled it out of the soil with his own hands, almost instantly when the sound was heard, his entire body fell to the ground in a daze, his body kept twitching, and blood kept gushing out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth! The employees of the French Ministry of Magic who were with him also failed to escape such a fate, and even the smoke that filled the greenhouse was driven away by the sound waves, leaving the surroundings of the humanoid nt hollow in an instant. However, the scream did not affect the men brought by Lily and Kingsley, who had already rehearsed all the possible situations beforeing to this nt Research Institute, including this adult Mandrake. This herb is very precious, but the sound it emits is also deadly enough on its own, especially the adult mandrake, which is an extremely dangerous nt. The employees stationed here may not have any great skills, but they can use the magic nts cultivated in the greenhouse to create some unexpected trouble. The mandrake nt was not outside Lily''s expectation, and after forcing the group closer to the greenhouse, Lily had everyone put on their pre-prepared magic nnel earmuffs. Both exits had been blocked, so even if they gave up their hearing, it wouldn''t have any effect on their spell casting and entrapment, and such a precautionary move would save the lives of many people. The majority of the wizards on the Witching Horizon were unharmed, except for a few who were a little dizzy from the faint sound that prated through their magic earmuffs which stimted them. Lily dispelled the smoke screen in the greenhouse, revealing a miserable scene inside. The nts that were kept on the wooden shelves and nted in pots were spilled all over the ground, and the pots were all broken by the strong sound produced by the mandrake, and the nts in thend, which seemed to have their own consciousness, all desperately shoved all their stems and leaves into the soil, hoping to escape such torture. Those employees of the French Ministry of Magic have fallen to the ground scattered, almost all of them bleeding from seven orifices, no longer breathing, only one or two people, because of strong enough willpower, their bodies are still unconsciously twitching, keeping life behind. But even if these two people are still alive, Mandrake''s damage to their mental health is permanent, which basically means that they have be idiots. For these people''s tragic situation, Lily, Kingsley, and including people who followed them, none of their faces showed sympathy. Perhaps in the past, there might have been good-hearted wizards who believed the words of those pureblood wizards who were caught and cried on their knees, saying that they were forced to torture the muggle-born wizards, but after seeing what happened to those who were locked up in the re-educational camp, no one felt pity for these purebloods who are working in the Ministry of Magic. Even if it is true that some of them have not personally oppressed the muggle wizards, as long as they are in such a position and status, that in itself is a kind of oppression. After leaving people to clean up the mess, Lily and Kingsley came together to the ce where the ounts would be kept, waiting for Lyon to send someone over to organize and receive all the herbs and supplies in the institute. Looking at all kinds of herbs names written, as if there is no end to the long parchment, Kingsley still felt like he is dreaming. "We were chased east and west for so many years like a bereaved dog, and just overnight, we actually got the opportunity to counterattack." Listening to his sentimental words, Lily''s face did not show any expression, but her hand that was gathering those ounts was obviously a bit more forceful than before. She did not speak, but she unconsciously thought of Jon. She naturally had a deep impression of the boy she brought to Hogwarts, not only because of his outstanding talent and ability. Every time Lily sees his clear eyes, she can''t help but think of her own son. It is also because of this that she gave Jon the cloak of invisibility that had been passed down in the Potter family, half-borrowed and half-given, although she usually wouldn''t show any expression or feelings in her words she still treated most students Jon''s age quite well. Lily did not say a word as she sorted out the materials in her hands, while silently thinking in her mind. If Harry is still alive, then won''t he be about the same age as Jon? ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 251: The Uninvited Guest Chapter 251: The Uninvited Guest The current Lily, whose emotions were too introverted, didn''t notice that she treated Jon a little differently than the other students. Of course, even if she knew, she wouldn''t bother to give it a thought. In this world where the trajectory of history has deviated, Lily is actually the one who has lost the most, even though she is still alive. *** In the Norwegian Sea, due to the passage of the Antic Ocean''s warmer and colder currents, the sea surface will not freeze even in the cold winter months. Just because the sea does not freeze, does not mean that the atmospheric temperature has not dropped below 0 degrees. It has been close to half a month since they departed from the tower. During this time, Jon and Nick studied the crystal orb that hid the voyage route in the Headmaster''s office and absorbed the magic in the crystal orb after acquiring the final destination. After that, the entire Hogwarts automatic navigation function disappeared, and then the false helmsman''s position that was originally given to Fred only as abel became official, and he finally managed to take up his post. As a magical ship, the Hogwarts could rely on magic to solve the problem of sailing power, so there was no need for them to sail the ship using wind-driven long sails. And after the removal of the ship''s autopilot function, Jon and the others studied the chart for half a day and finally following the advice given to them by Dumbledore, re-nned a new route along the coast of Norway. Then they turned the direction, following this new route to sail north, and in the meantime spent Christmas at sea and weed the 1994 New Year. Perhaps their modified voyage helped them, they didn''t encounter any idents for more than half a month, and the journey was smooth and even boring. During this journey, they also encountered a few Muggle cargo ships, but Jon did not interact with them any more. Just when the time entered the end of January 1994, they were already close to the northernmost point of the whole European continent, Colin, who had been in charge of the lookout work, suddenly raised an alert to the people on deck at noon in the middle of the day. "Directly south of east at an angle of 30 degrees! Wizards are riding flying brooms!" Jon soon learned of the news and made his way to the deck with a stony expression. It ispletely a rare phenomenon to encounter a wizard on the sea, especially a wizard riding a flying broom. Through the binocr, he also saw two male wizards riding brooms in the sky, their robes fluttering behind them by the cold wind. These two men at first flew in the direction of the west, but soon they also found Jon and the ship they were on, and the two men seemed to have some kind of conversation with each other, and then together they veered their broom heads direction and flew towards the Hogwarts. Jon lowered his binocrs and narrowed his eyes. He did not recognize the two wizards, and the distance is still too far, even with binocrs he could not see very clearly, and there are no obvious markings on their dress. But from what he already knew about the current situation, Jon didn''t mind guessing things in the worst possible direction. "Neville, George, tell everyone to follow what we''ve rehearsed before, change into robes immediately, and all students who can''t speak foreignnguages must stay in their dorm rooms!" As he gave the order, the whole ship operated very quickly. To deal with the unexpected situation, Jon has already carried out a lot of rehearsals with them on many different scenarios, so everyone''s reaction speed was fast, and they clearly knew what they should do now. Every student waved their wands at the robes they were wearing, and after a few seconds of incantation, the robes all turned blood-red and had a double-headed eagle and a deer head emblem embroidered on the chest. Most of the students returned to the cabin after doing this, there are a few, like Luna, Hermione, and the students who can speak foreignnguages put a fur cloak over their robes. As for the emblem on the sails, they have never changed it after leaving the tower, so the emblem of the double-headed eagle and deer''s head is still on it. Jon, on the other hand, drank down a vial of the polyjuice potion that he always kept surplus, and soon he assumed the appearance of that professor of Transfiguration from Durmstrang - Johnson. Just as everyone on the ship got ready, the two male wizards on flying broomsticks came closer and closer, and before long, they flew up side-by-side with the Hogwarts ship. The two male wizards, both with blond hair and blue eyes, typical European looks, wearing dark blue robes with no clear identification, were stopped by an invisible push when they tried to lower their flying brooms to the deck, making it impossible for them to get on board. Jon knew it was the age restriction magic that Dumbledore ced at y, and as he looked at the two male wizards, he greeted them in a loud voice against the sea breeze, in the French he had learned from Hermione. "Good afternoon, gentlemen." "Bonjour! Monsieur! May we speak in English?" The older-looking male wizard, who seemed unable to understand what Jon had said, asked loudly in English with a distinct Scottish ent. The sea breeze was strong today, and even if they weren''t going very fast, they had to shout out as much as they could to make sure the other party could hear them. Jon''s expression remained unchanged as he asked in English anew. "What can I do for you two?" "I honestly can''t imagine that there are wizards out there who choose to travel by ship! We are Helgi and Heinz from Edinburgh, could we possibly have a chance to go down and visit your ship? Sir." The young male wizard asked with a whistle looking a little excited. Jon shook his head in response. "I''m sorry, but this ship is owned by the Durmstrang Institute, and I don''t have permission to let anyone else on board without the school''s permission." Helgi and Heinz looked at each other as if they were expressing their disappointment to each other, and then the older male wizard named Helgi went on to ask. "You guys are professors and students from Durmstrang?" "That''s right, I am leading my students on a school trip to teach them a few topics on the ocean that are not avable onnd." Hearing Jon''s answer, Helgi and Heinz looked at each other with little doubt. Then they praised Durmstrang''s teaching style, and even though they were denied the request to visit the ship, they politely said goodbye and rose into the sky with their flying brooms under control again. And just as Neville, who remained on deck, breathed a quiet sigh of relief, thinking that they are just two wizards who came to the sea to pass off some steam due to their boredom. Under the cover of the sea breeze, "Helgi" and "Heinz", who had their backs to Jon and the others, were having an unseen exchange with a grim expression. "-Do they look like them?" "I don''t think so. That man spoke proper French." "Whether they are the one or not, let''s report this ship to our superiors." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 252: The Lestrange Brothers Chapter 252: The Lestrange Brothers After the two wizards left, Jon didn''t rx as much as Neville and the others did. "Don''t go straight ahead, deviate immediately and go close to the Norwegian coast." To this Ron asked suspiciously. "Something wrong with these two?" Jon did not exin much, he just calmly said. "No matter how normal they appeared to be, two Scottish wizards riding a flying broom on this sea, that''s a big problem as it is. In any case, let''s stay close to the coast for now, just in case." Jon is well aware that their situation today is very different from their two experiences in Azkaban and the High Tower. Before it was them in the dark, and Voldemort''s arrangements were in the light, which gave them plenty of time and a fairly safe environment to solve some problems. But now what they did at sea has been exposed, it will bepletely different, Voldemort will certainly send sufficient manpower to search for their whereabouts, and ultimately whether it is out of revenge or not wanting them to continue to look for his purpose at sea, he will certainly choose to catch them all together, or even kill them on the spot. It is a very critical situation for Jon and them, otherwise, Dumbledore would not have been so careful and left Fawkes with them. Because, if Fawkes stayed in France, it would have helped the wizards of the Witching Horizons. Even if the others felt that the two wizards did not exhibit any unusual behaviour, they still carried out Jon''s order faithfully. They had been sailing along the area close to the Norwegian coastline ording to Dumbledore''s advice, and now as long as the direction of sail was turned to the east, it would only take about two days at most to reach the northernmost harbour in Norway. ... Rodolphus Lestrange and Rabastan Lestrange, two brothers, received orders from Voldemort to take a small squad of four Death Eaters out to sea on the day when Jon and the others first entered Sir Stoker''s High Tower. Because they had nevere to the sea, they were not able to use the Apparition directly to quickly explore all the ces that Voldemort told them to go. On the same day that the tower was blown up and Jon and the others escaped from there, the two Lestrange brothers arrived with their men at Azkaban. The Dementor leader, who had withheld all information rted to the mistake he had made, personally showed them the way and took them to the underground chamber that Voldemort had used to hide the diary. There they did not get any useful information, when breaking into Azkaban Castle, Jon and Fred both disguised as two Aurors, with these, it is not possible to distinguish their identity. However, these dementors nevertheless provided the two Lestrange with information that sounded somewhat unbelievable. "That person summoned two Patronus?" Rodolphus frowned tightly and looked at the dementor leader with an expression simr to hearing that someone had been hit by the Killing Curse but survived. His brother Rabastan also raised his voice in disbelief and emphasized. "Are you sure it was one person who summoned two Patronus? Instead of the other one actually came over from somewhere else?" Patronus is not necessarily required to follow their master after being summoned, and with Dumbledore developing it, many wizards within the Order of the Phoenix are using some advanced applications of Patronus. This includes but isn''t limited to, having them help deliver messages, take charge of vignce, or even conduct support for coordinatedbat. These are not like Snape''s creation Invisible Sword: Sectumsempra, which can be learned by anyone as long as they know the incantation and the method of casting it. People with dark and tyrannical hearts have no way of summoning such things as Patronus, which led to Voldemort''s men, almost all of them have no way of stealing this skill, after all, they can''t even summon the most basic Patronus. But even if they have not eaten pork, they have certainly seen a pig run, there''s no history of a person summoning two Patronus, and although they are unclear about whether someone can do it, there is absolutely no record of it in the officially recognized history of magic! That''s why the reaction of the two Lestrange brothers was so great. It is also because of this, no matter how the dementor leader is sure that one person summoned two Patronus, and imed that another ghost or person can''t summon it without them knowing, the Lestrange brothers have remained sceptical. They suspected that at that time, there might be someone in a stealthy state next to that person and was not detected by the dementors, which led to the illusion that the two Patronus were actually summoned together, making the dementors believe that one person had summoned two. Of course, if it is true, this can be said to be a very important clue, after all, the ability to summon two Patronus is unique, so they just have to identify the person who can summon two Patronus, this can help them to identify that person easily. It can also be argued that this clue ispletely irrelevant, because in the general concept of wizards, the Patronus Charm, although powerful, is only very effective against some dark creatures, and in a normal wizard duel, this spell does not y as critical and effective role as other spells. However, after learning about Nick''s appearance from the Dementors, they quickly confirmed the judgment of the Aurors who hade to Azkaban Ind before, that the ghost is precisely the resident ghost of Hogwarts Castle. Afterwards, they got on their flying brooms and continued to search around the area that Voldemort had marked out for them, and because they couldn''t use Apparition, they had to ride their brooms and keep flying on the sea. The Death Eaters carried out a two-shift program, dividing into two groups of personnel, one constantly flying on the sea toward the target, and the other taking a break in Britain, waiting until the shift change time, then the Death Eaters on the sea would apparate to Britain and bring the ones who had taken a break back to the point they had previously flown to continue their journey to the target. Although Jon and co. travelling on Hogwarts, which could sail around the clock without using human power, but flying is always faster than on the sea, plus they stayed on the tower for three or four days, so on the fourth day Jon and co. left the tower, the Lestrange brothers and the gang found the sea where the tower was located. But the tower has copsed, and even if there are still traces of magic on this sea, they can''t find the building and an old man named Stoker that Voldemort asked them to find. Something has gone terribly wrong! That''s the first thought that rose in the minds of the two Lestrange brothers, and then, as expected, when they were about to capture merpeople to ask what had happened there. A Howler from Voldemort reached their ears. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 253: Death Order Chapter 253: Death Order There was no roaring voice in the Howler, only a voice that seemed as cold as a cier sounded. "The one at sea is not the loser who left Nurmengard. Find that person as soon as you can, and if you cannot find that person on the ocean, send a separate team to wait for them at the end of the Arctic. I hope to get good news from you eventually, and if you mess it up, you better die at the North Pole!" After listening to the contents of the Howler, Rodolphus and Rabastan looked at each other. Along with this Howler, there was a message from France. Three days had passed since the night the re-educational camp was captured, and only now they had realized the full story of what had happened, as well as Voldemort''s defeat at the hands of Dumbledore. Lestrange brothers are not some fools, from the tone of Voldemort in the Howler, they could get a meaning beyond the words. The problem over the re-educational camp didn''te from the frontal battlefield, but from this sea, which they were searching! This made Rodolphus be very nervous and gloomy. Things are starting to get deadly. Originally, when they received this mission, the Lestrange brothers had the intention of returning to Britain from France with great sess and a semi-vacation at their leisure. Because at first when they got the news from Azkaban, Voldemort identified the person who was investigating what he had done on the sea as Grindelwald and let the Lestrange brothers lead people to track him down, simply to let them find his whereabouts, and eventually Voldemort would personally go over to face this big man who had stirred up the world fifty years ago. But now things have gone astray, that person at sea is not Grindelwald, and with the current state of Voldemort, and the meaning expressed in the Howler he had sent. It sounded like this matter is going to bepletely handed over to the Lestrange brothers, and he issued an extreme order that is no different from a military order. This undoubtedly brought great pressure on them. "What do we do?" Rabastan asked uneasily. The Howler that hadpleted its role, after bringing Voldemort''s voice, turned into a wisp of grey ash and flew down into the sea. Rodolphus'' face was also grim, and he let out a prolonged sigh. "What can we do? Lord gave us instructions on what to do, so we have to do it. There was never a choice for us, we can only try to do our best to get this done, no, it must be done!" His tone was very resolute, but also from that resoluteness, one could hear a hint of lingering misgivings. Even if the one they are now looking for and hunting is not Grindelwald, it will never be some unknown weak person within the magical world. And the ocean is so big, so how can they be sure that the person will definitely follow Voldemort''s original route and will definitely go to the end of the journey? The good thing is, their lord now is not a brutal and unreasonable madman, will not give them a task that can not bepleted, and then force them to die, that is simply pointless. While receiving this Howler, the Lestrange brothers also gained the right to mobilize all the Death Eaters in Britain. Although for the entire ocean, even if all the wizards in the Ministry of Magic are mobilized, it is like a drop in the bucket, in any case, they have nothing to lose when ites to life. Regarding the high tower located in this sea, Rodolphus did not neglect the clues that can be found. He let the Death Eaters capture a lot of merpeople from the surrounding area and brought them to himself and invited the wizards who could understand merpeople''snguage from the Ministry of Magic to interrogate these merpeople, so as to understand what really happened here not long ago. But the Hogwarts ship did not stay at the tower for long, only five days or less. Even if the merpeople know that such a ship visited Sir Stoker, those who know are only a very few in number. Most of the merpeople, only saw the rocket flying from the bottom of the sea that day and producing a big explosion, back then they fled in a hurry when the big explosion urred, only returning again when the explosion subsided. As for the cause and effect of the explosion, that, even fewer people would know. Therefore, Rodolphus got very few clues from the merpeople here, the only thing he could determine is that the tower that originally stood here has copsed. And the old man named Stoker who lived in it, whom Voldemort spoke of, had no bones left. In fact, if he can stay here longer, and have enough patience to interrogate more merpeople, then he can obtain the clue that there was a big ship under the g of Durmstrang that appeared in this sea. However, Voldemort''s Howler is like a knife hanging in the heart of Rodolphus, after some interrogation without any results, he did not dare to dy and stay, and immediately led people to continue to search along the route provided by Voldemort towards the north. Such a search continued for more than half a month, they rode the flying broom day and night to the north, and their flying speed is very fast, too fast that they have already deviated from Hogwarts ship which had sailed in a different route. So, when Jon and the others had just reached the northernmost part of the Norwegian Sea, Rodolphus led the Death Eaters deep into the waters of the Arctic Ocean. Even after reaching the final destination marked for them by Voldemort, they did not find even a single wizard''s shadow. This situation inevitably made the Lestrange brothers'' hearts rise up in fear. They are afraid that the person had given up heading to the final goal, so they will never be able toplete the death order given to them by Voldemort, and ultimately there will be no way toe up with any results to deliver. Compared to this possibility, they prefer to believe that the person who caused Voldemort great trouble deviated from the original route, going somewhere else within the Arctic. To confirm their suspicions, Rodolphus dispatched a great number of Death Eaters to search widely in the Norwegian Sea to this part of the sea inside the Arctic Circle. If any suspicious people and vessels are found, they will immediately report it to them, and if they meet a wizard, it is necessary to find out the details of the other party by all means. It was under these circumstances that Hogwarts was spotted by the two Death Eaters who called themselves "Helgi and Heinz". The two Death Eaters didn''t notice any ws in Jon''s response, but even if there was no w, ording to Rodolphus''s instructions to them, as long as they encountered a wizard, regardless of who it is, they had to find out the details and report it back. So, they did not skip this matter, after pretending to leave, they followed the Hogwarts dangling far away, while reporting what they encountered and where they were located. ---- #Charles Tormis, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 254: The Prisoner Walking Out of the Castle Chapter 254: The Prisoner Walking Out of the Castle The person who got the word from them is the younger of the Lestrange brothers - Rabastan. Even if this sea area near the Arctic Ocean is only smallpared to the real ocean, the Antic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, it is not something that the Death Eaters can keep an eye on every minute of the day. Rodolphus analysed, if that person''s destination is still located at the Arctic Circle, then even if they deviate from the route, they will not be too outrageously far off, and certainly will still be around the centre of the route that their Lord gave them. Therefore, he divided the sea into two parts ording to the route given by their Lord, from the middle boundary of the Norwegian Sea to the east coast of Greend, and from the middle boundary of the east coast to the west coast of Norway. Rodolphus led the search throughout the west, Rabastan is responsible for the east part, while in the Arctic Ocean at the final destination, they also left a part of the manpower in case of emergency. His arrangement can not be described as solid, but even if there are not enough Death Eaters, and there is no way to cover the entire sea, due to the convenience of the Apparition, it is possible to carry out a quick search, and once a person in one ce found the problem, then the other people in other ces can quickly provide support. It was also under this arrangement that Rabastan, who was in charge of the East Norway area in general, got the report that there was a self-proimed Durmstrang Institute wizard ship sailing in a location close to the northern coast of Norway. The first instant he saw this report, Rabastan sensed something strange about it. Not that he could see anything problematic from this brief report alone, but given the current state of affairs, Durmstrang''s stance is in opposition to that of Voldemort. A magic school that allowed students to study and research dark magic and was rumoured to never admit muggle-born students, stood in opposition to Voldemort, who implemented a pureblood policy, is something that eludes many people who are unaware of the truth. But in fact, the root cause of this situation emerged from just one person. A man who was once expelled by Durmstrang, the dark lord who disturbed the entire magical world fifty years ago. But he became a loser, ording to the crime hemitted, he should have been prohibited from walking out of the Castle called "Nurmengard" for life, but nine years ago, that is, six months after the fall of Hogwarts Castle, the Castle at the depths of Austria''s uninhabited forest, suddenly copsed. And the prisoner who self-imprisoned in it, his life and death are also unknown, disappearing without a trace. Over the years, ording to Voldemort''s orders, there has actually been a team of Death Eaters investigating the information of that loser, and they found some signs in Northern Europe, like the disappearance of the Wand family - Gregorovitch, which is on par with the British Ollivander family - and the re-activation of the organization that should have been forgotten in history ''The Alliance'' (the official name of the Acolytes), are indicating that the man who came out of prison did not forget his ambition for the world. It''s just, Voldemort''s attention has been focused on how to plot to get France in the past few years, without any too in-depthyout for Northern Europe, other than pulling in some pureblood-inclined politicians of Northern Europe''s Ministry of Magics'', to suppress this gradually re-emerging power in Northern Europe. But these people ultimately have no means to confront this former dark lord, and this year, when Voldemortpletely staged his cards and ate the whole of France, Durmstrang also has a new Headmaster "Gellert Bagshot" took office and joined the Dumbledore-led establishment Witching Horizons. They are ultimately a little concerned about the impact of the "Grindelwald" name, if it reappears in the magical world, after all, fifty years ago, he made too much noise and became a taboo beyond even Voldemort now, it could be described as an attempt to stab the magical world''s sky. It is precisely because of this, he turned into a global enemy at that time. Even now, once the announcement of his official re-emergence spread, it will also bring great trouble to Dumbledore''s side. The behemoth that is separated from Europe by an ocean - the Magical Congress of the United States of America, will never allow such a thing to happen, regardless of how you put it in, he once trampled the head of the Congress under his feet, so they would not allow it to happen, no matter what. That''s why Grindelwald chose to be "Bagshot", his other family name and did not directly appear in the frontal battlefield in France, and has been providing logistical support to Dumbledore from Northern Europe. But even if many Death Eaters areughing at the former dark lord for turning into a fearful, toothless tiger because of his, such performance, in fact, everyone understands that this man must also be regaining his strength. Now although he and Dumbledore''s stance seems to be the same, there are still many people who suspect that he and Dumbledore still can not walk together, or he will not gather his former subordinates, making ''The Alliance'' that has been buried in the dust of history to reappear. Exactly what kind of ideas and purposes he has now, no one knows for the time being, but what is clear to Rabastan is, since it belongs to Durmstrang, then this whole ship must be Grindelwald''s goons. Grindelwald''s goons, that is, Voldemort''s enemies, and possibly the culprit behind all this! This is the root of the suspicion in Rabastan''s mind, so the first instant he got this information, he began to check all the information on the Durmstrang side. Finally, he got some clues from a daily newspaper of the Finnish magicalmunity. There was a report before Christmasst year, and it also upied the front page of this newspaper, detailing that Durmstrang''s Professor of Transfiguration, Spence Johnson, had led the students who couldn''t spend Christmas at home to sail on a ship for a different kind of Christmas holiday. That article provided some corroboration for the male wizard on that ship who imed to be a professor of the Durmstrang school, and the timing of the ship''s voyage made it unlikely that they had travelled to Azkaban to capture the two Aurors; not only the timing was wrong, but the distance was also too far. Durmstrang''s school site has always been a secret, but the general location should be right in the far north of Europe, north of Scandinavia, north of Sweden or Norway. From this location down to the sea, it would take quite a while just to sail to Azkaban, which is not exactly chronologically urate, which undoubtedly abates some of the suspicions of Jon and the group, but now that the Lestrange brothers have been under the death grip of Voldemort, even if there is only a slight possibility, they will do whatever it takes to verify it. So that afternoon, Rabastan personally brought people to meet up with ''Helgi and Heinz'', near the coast of Norway. ---- #Charles Tormis, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 255: Jons Scruples Chapter 255: Jon''s Scruples Jon has not been idle during these times on the ship. In addition to having already absorbed all the magic of runes in the stone b that Sir Stoker had given him as promised, he also took a lot of time to study the forbidden books stored in the second gem. Because of the sufficient magic power, he was able to ess the contents of almost all the forbidden books at any time. For such a treasure of knowledge, Jon certainly will not sit on the treasure mountain without using it. In addition to some matters on the ship in which he had to intervene, the vast majority of the time, he stayed in the library, in addition to reviewing these forbidden books, he also tried to write out the books that are now missing in Hogwarts by hand. But the reason why the forbidden books are forbidden is not just because the knowledge it contains is forbidden; forbidden books are rare in the magical world due to the existence of knowledge itself which can''t be written without the help of magic. And only a Grimoire written with magic could carry forbidden knowledge, so Jon''s attempts were mostly unsessful, but nevertheless, he did not fall behind in learning new magic. About the sea of forbidden books, which contains all kinds of strange and bizarre dark magic, Jon did not be fascinated, he simply and directly chose the magical world''s most notorious, but also the most widely circted three Unforgivable Curses - the Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Killing Curse to start with. The unorthodox curses and spells may work wonders in some situations, but in most cases, the most practical are these three unforgivable curses. Perfectly contains the three effects needed to kill, torture, and control, and there is no counter spell avable against them yet. But when ites to learning dark magic, it''s not just as simple as oveing its difficulty. Jon had already reported to Dumbledore that he intended to dabble in the field of dark magic when he was preparing to learn the Invisible Sword Curse before. There is indeed no way around it, almost all the spells that have the most lethal offensive nature are all tied to dark magic, and no wizard can avoid it if he wants to learn lethal magic. Of course, everyone who learns dark magic is not defined as a dark wizard, rather a person who has studied dark magic to the extreme and curses at the drop of a hat is known as a dark wizard. Dumbledore at that time agreed with Jon''s exposure to dark magic, but he also gave a cautionary note. Regarding his advice, Jon always kept in mind how the side effects of dark magic can change a person''s perception very subtly. Dark magic is basically based on violence and abuse, and the emotions needed to cast such spells are naturally tyrannical and malicious. It is because of this form of spell casting that frequent use of dark magic can change a person. Whether you hurt someone with the intention of revenge, protection or some other brighter purpose, it will not change the influence of the emotion itself, otherwise, there would be no way to use dark magic anymore. Because of this, Jon was extra careful when learning the three unforgivable curses, and asked Nick to apany him throughout, so that he could observe if any special changes would arise when practising and experimenting with the spell casting. But Nick felt somewhat unnecessary for him to be so careful. "Dark magic does deserve caution, but there is no need to be cautious to this extent, Jon." After observing Jon''s close-to-a-week practice of the Unforgivable Curses, all without any significant results, Nick finally couldn''t help but speak up. "Let''s think about it another way, the reason dark magic can affect a person''s character is that when using them, the wizard''s emotions are extremely negative, like how your emotions are extremely positive when you use magic like the Patronus Charm?" Jon stopped practising as he listened to Nick''s train of thought and nodded thoughtfully. Nick continued. "Whether it is too negative, or too positive emotions, all can bring a great impact on the wizard''s character, but after using the Patronus Charm, did your character be kind of optimistic, in the face of all things you are sure to first think of the good side, met with everything full of hope?" Jon shook his head. "Of course not." "Yes, the Patronus Charm, as the most positive magic spell, can not bring you such a change, the effect of the Unforgivable Curses will not be exaggerated likewise." Nick said with iparable seriousness. "As long as you are a human, it is impossible to be happy all the time, even if a person behaves as a saint and never does anything bad, it does not mean that he does not think about doing bad things in his heart, that is his negative emotions. It is only because people can control their instincts and thoughts that some of them are more noble. The Patronus Charm is for you to vent the joy and positive emotions in your heart, while the Unforgivable Curses are for you to express the resentment, grievance, and anger in your heart in the form of magic." "This does not have to be hidden, it also falls into one of the most important human feelings, what you have to do is not to deny this emotion, but not to let it be the whole of your feelings, it is something to do with the degree of control, although it is never going to be easy to achieve the perfect degree of control as one might think." "I have seen a lot of people, there are many Hogwarts students who throughout history studied a variety of dark magic in the library in private, by which, part of their minds was affected by the darkness, which manifested in their characteristics quite obviously. These people were hungry for power and addicted to it, the power of dark magic made them uncontroble, and when they quarrelled with people, encountered problems and broke rules, the first thing they thought of was using their formidable power to do evil with malice." "These people are true dark wizards, dark magic and the emotions it represents have already be everything in their lives, they have no self anymore, it''s not that they are controlling the magic, it''s that the magic is controlling them." "But you obviously won''t be like that Jon, you''ve learned that Invisible Sword Curse before too, when ites to all problems, the first thing thates to your mind in the first second was how to use this magic to cut that issue in two?" "Since you didn''t have such a thought even after you learned the Invisible Sword Curse, what are you worrying about with the Unforgivable Curses? After you learned the Killing Curse, will you immediately think of using the Killing Curse first to solve all the hindrances you encounter at first moment? It will only be one of your means of solving things, not the only one." Nick looked at Jon with certainty. "So, have a little confidence in yourself, be bold and learn, and bring out the emotion you feel when you are most angry and want to kill the most, that''s what the Unforgivable Curse needs, that emotion can''t be all you have, but it certainly exists, right?" ---- #Charles Tormis, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 256: The Biggest Crisis Chapter 256: The Biggest Crisis Nick has spent nearly a thousand years in this world as a ghost. Enough time for a conscious creature to see many things clearly, Nick is also worthy of the years he spent. He has met enough people, read enough books in the Hogwarts library in his idle time, and travelled to many ces after leaving Hogwarts Castle. With so much experience, Nick can actually teach Jon a lot of things, such as now. His words allowed Jon to let go of his original restraint in learning the Unforgivable Curses, and things are exactly as he said. The Unforgivable Curses are just a magic spell, yes many dark wizards have sunk into darkness because of it, but many great people have used it to forge their own glory. Jon pondered the words that Nick had said to himself and no longer suppressed the emotions that he had been afraid to let loose. His target is a tightly bound crab fished from the sea, which is treated as a white mouse, his mind could not help but think of Hogwarts Castle, the muggle-born students with numb, dead eyes. That memory, although still crystal clear, it has happened more than a year ago, what has truly mobilized his emotions is the scene half a month ago, before the copse of the tower. The old man and his family''s house elf stood at the top of the tower, between the dark clouds and the blue sea, and the moment the rocket that held all his dreams and wishes flew out of the sea, everything was like a bubble, in the loud noise and zing heat dissolved into nothingness as if it had never existed. It was sad and memorable, and there is not even a hint of positive emotion in the scene that makes asting impact. All he felt at that time was a kind of anger, an anger at the development of the era and the dream of Sir was destroyed, an anger that noble ideas were stifled for despicable ambition. Such anger can bring many emotions, which are all negative ones, hidden emotions that are not known to outsiders unleashed from repression! Jon''s face did not show any change, rather he became more and more calm, calm like a dead deep pool. He waved his wand and indifferently recited the unforgivable curse under his breath. "Avada Kedavra!" A ghastly green beam of light shot out from the tip of his wand, crossing the short distance of lesser than 5 meters in the blink of an eye, and then hit the crab that kept waving its crab pincers, precisely in the centre of the bullseye drawn on it. The next second, the crab ceased to show signs of life, there is no injury on its body surface, but as if the soul was directly erased, there is no sound and no more movement. This is the best performance that Jon has had since he started learning the Killing Curse. This poor crab has been suffering in his hands for a week, the first few days the Killing Curse cast on its body is not even as good as the Stunning Spell, at most, it will let it spit out a few bubbles, and then its pincers started to swing to show how alive it was, there was not even a sign that its spirit was affected. Now, it can finally peacefully end its life. Nick who was watching from the sidelines, praised Jon''s performance with great excitement. "Your talent is really one of the top three among the students I''ve seen, Jon! As long as you can figure out the hurdle in your heart, no magic will be difficult for you no matter what. It only took you a week to kill a life with the Killing Curse, even the most evil dark wizards I''ve seen didn''t learn the Killing Curse as fast as you did, let alone the fact that you''re only 14 years old!" Jon rubbed his forehead somewhat helplessly. "Are youplimenting or scolding me, I can''t quite tell it." "Of course, I''mplimenting you!" Nick said with a broad smile, "Don''t forget what I said, don''t be so burdened by the Unforgivable Curses, even if it is notorious, it is still magic used from the hands of a wizard, as long as you control it and not it controlling you, then there will be no problem." Jon looked at the wand in his hand, the old chestnut wood wand body has a lot of marks left by age, but you can also see that its sessive owners have protected it well, and there is not much damage on it. "But casting a spell on a crab is definitely different from casting a spell on a person, and there is no way I can use it now in normal practice, so there is no guarantee that it will still be this effective in realbat." Nick nodded his head in recognition. "You''re right, practice and actualbat are ultimately different, but if it can be used in practice, it''s just a matter of experience and habit to use in actualbat, both of which can be solved naturally with more use." Just as they were chatting, the door of this charms'' ssroom was suddenly opened from outside. Neville stood outside the door panting, his face carried a somewhat disturbing pallor, and he looked at Jon with a grave expression and said. "You previously asked us to keep an eye on the two wizards who were dangling behind us, they are now apanied by many more people!" Jon''s gaze immediately sharpened. Those two wizards did not leave and always followed far behind their ship was something he knew, so the situation that urred right now, Jon actually anticipated it. Although some things can be anticipated in advance, the solution can not be that easy to find. Right now he can only choose to meet them head-on and act ording to the situation. "I''ll go over and take a look." Jon and Nick together walked out of the charms'' ssroom, and when they came to the cabin corridor, Fawkes also flew to his shoulders. No matter what kind of situation they encounter, he is the biggest reliance on the entire ship. In the case of Voldemort''s unknown state and whereabouts, Fawkes on board is the same as Dumbledore on board, and as long as there is Dumbledore on board, then Hogwarts ship is in total protection. When he came to the deck, there were not many people gathered there, most of the students were still in ss, and only George, Neville and Colin, who were assigned to keep an eye on the two people remained. Even without any special indication from Neville and the others, just by squinting from a distance, Jon could see a group of wizards on flying brooms approaching at their back, not concealing their whereabouts. Because the distance was still far away, the number of people could not be urately visible, but from that ckened range, the group approaching Hogwarts had at least two dozen people. This caused Neville and others to be nervous, and Jon also looked grave. This could be said as the biggest crisis they will encounter after sailing. More than twenty wizards, the probability of all of them being the most elite Death Eaters under Voldemort is quite high, how to deal with them, is an iparably serious question. ---- #Charles Tormis, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 257: Terrorist Organization Chapter 257: Terrorist Organization Fawkes didn''t apany Jon the whole time after he reached the deck. A hidden ce was specially arranged for him, after all, Hogwarts is now still disguised as Durmstrang''s ship, and the Phoenix is too conspicuous in the magical world, the vast majority of wizards will associate the Phoenix with Dumbledore, not to mention Voldemort''s men. Jon''s heart started to calm down, this group of wizards obviously didn''t have good intentions, and even if they didn''t see through their disguise, they didn''t need a reason to attack them, Durmstrang''s name is notpletely safe-haven. So aftering to the deck, Fawkes was asked to stay on alert at all times, to keep an eye on the gestures that Jon would give him, and once the situation turned bad, he would immediately go to Dumbledore, to bring him to their aid here. The speed of the flying broom flying in the sky is obviously much faster than the ship sailing on the sea. Those wizards in ck robes were getting closer and closer to Jon and them, and Jon had long since turned into Johnson''s appearance and waited. He had George enter the cabin to suspend all sses and keep the students on alert in case the worst-case scenario happenedter on when the students inside the cabin were not half-prepared. Only Neville and Colin remained beside Jon, this lookout with some expectorant spots on his face looked a little nervous, but after seeing Jon whose expression remained unfazed by the current situation in front of them, his emotions were greatly lightened, he took a deep breath and became as rxed as he could be. At this point, Rabastan and his men had already flown to the ship''s side and flew alongside Hogwarts. Without any words of greeting, he first tried to directly drive the flying broomstick down to the deck, but just like Helgi and Heinz before, no matter what, he was unable to control the broomstick down as if there is a film that can not be destroyed enveloped the whole ship, which made them unable to enter. Jon''s originally nd face became noticeably colder than before. "It''s rude to barge in without the owner''s permission, isn''t it? Gentleman." His gaze swept over Rabastan''s face, while also looking at Helgi and Heinz, who were following behind them and with whom they had met only yesterday. Helgi and Heinz looked at Jon''s cold gaze as if nothing wrong had happened, they certainly had nothing to be ashamed of, their politeness yesterday was just a pretence, and now that they had an absolute advantage in numbers, there was no need for them to carry on acting like that. For Jon''s questioning, Rabastan appeared not to care in the slightest, and after failing tond directly on the deck after attempting to do so, he stared Jon right in the eye. "Professor Spence Johnson? Did you extend this study trip that was originally scheduled to take ce over Christmas break? It''s already the start of the academic year, isn''t it? Why haven''t you returned yet?" Jon squeezed the hand concealed behind his back without moving and extended his index finger in the direction where Fawkes is. Fawkes got on his cue and in the next moment, disappeared from the ship without a sound. "We are on our way back to the school, and even if we didn''t choose to return, we could still begin teaching at sea, and what does this have to do with you." Jon''s voice was icy as he asked, "Who are you guys? European Aurors?" There was sarcasm in his words, and there was no semnce of timidity in the face of Rabastan''s overwhelming numbers. Not only did Rabastan not show the slightest look of annoyance on his face at this moniker, but he also said it with a smile. "Perhaps it won''t be long before we can truly be the European Auror. But for now, Mr Johnson, whether this is your real name or not, I suggest you immediately withdraw all protective magic on this ship and let us enter to search and be questioned, if we can confirm your identity and the purpose at sea, then all things are fine, after all, we and Durmstrang not yet had any head-on conflict, but if you want to try to resist. It is an attempt that can easily be regretted!" The insanity and threat in his words were not disguised, and behind him, the twenty or so wizards in ck robes had raised their wands in unison and aimed them at Hogwarts! Even if they have seen a lot of big scenes, still being pointed at by so many brightly shining wands, caused Neville and Colin subconsciously swallow a mouthful of saliva. At this time, George, who had settled the lower grades in the cabin, also came out, and he was followed by a dozen third, fourth and fifth graders. They just came to the deck, then felt the weird atmosphere around them, and when they saw the wands aimed at them, they did not hesitate to pull out their own wands! Jon at this moment has be an anomaly among everyone present, he did not try to pull out his wand, and his eyes never left Rabastan''s eyes. "Even if you guys didn''t report your identity, with such an arrogant and cocky tone, no one can find a second group like you guys in the whole of Europe or the whole world." He said indifferently. "Your lord has just lost to Dumbledore, as his dogs you actually didn''t know how to put your tail between your legs for a while and still dared toe out to bite and bark?" Even though it was said in such a casual tone, it somehow caused an evil fire to rise in one''s heart, making Rabastan''s face be fierce. In fact, he is simply unable to determine whether this ship, in the end, has any rtionship with that person who ruined their lord''s great n at sea. But the Lestrange brothers today would never let go of the slightest possibility of it being turned out to be urate, and if that possibility turned out to be true, it is their own lives that are now on the line!! That is why he brought so many people, he has determined that no matter what, he must search the bottom of this magic ship that is obviously from Durmstrang, and at the same time dig out the memories of the person in charge of this ship, to find out whether the people on board have anything to do with the person they are looking for! As for finding the wrong person, and the ship just carrying an ordinary professor with students out on a study trip, who cares? They are Death Eaters. Before they seized Britain and France, they were recognized as a terrorist organization. A terrorist organization kidnapping a magic school ship, what''s wrong with that? Even if they directly sink the ship and kill everyone on board, there is no problem! The first time they met, Jon also found out that Rabastan and the group obviously came with the malice of never letting them go, which is why he gave a direct sign to Fawkes, asking him to go to Dumbledore immediately. And now, he is going to stall for time. ---- # Happy Good Friday Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 258: Delaying Time Chapter 258: Dying Time The dimly lit candles jumped in the narrow passageway. Dumbledore stared at the stone wall in which ancient runes were densely inscribed, which are far moreplex than the stone b that Jon got in the tower, with nearly tens of thousands of runes aligned on the square stone wall, like imposing some kind of protection for the space inside. Except for the sound of the candles'' leaping fire, the secret passage was quiet. Such silencested for an unknown period of time, Dumbledore observed those runes while tapping on them using his wand, and from time to time an obscure luminescence lit up on those characters. "He came here." Dumbledore murmured softly. Just then, a shing gold and red light suddenly appeared in front of him, Fawkes pierced the blockage of this secret passage that sealed the space. Dumbledore turned around and looked at Fawkes with a grave expression, without verbalmunication, the information needed to be conveyed was already known to him. "There are more than twenty Death Eaters surrounding the students?" His voice didn''t sound much tense. "Did they follow my advice and sail close to the Norwegian coast? How close are they to the northernmost coastline of Norway?" Fawkes cocked his head as if conveying to Dumbledore something about someone he had found. Dumbledore could not help but lightly chuckle and turned around to study the stone wall again. "Since he''s around, there''s no need for me to go over there, he actually always wanted to meet Jon ever since he enrolled and got the wand." The dark secret passage returned to that burst of solitude. At Hogwarts ship, Jon didn''t know exactly what Dumbledore had nned. But Fawkes had been gone for a while and had brought no reply, causing some unease in his mind. "Petrificus Totalus!" Rabastan led the Death Eaters, no longer giving him any more time, dozens of Full Body-Bind Curses shot out from in front of the tip of their wands, targeting straight at Jon and other students on the deck who had juste out of the cabin! But their spell had no chance ofnding on the deck and was blocked by a film of light that glowed with the colour of the spell itself when it was still four or five meters away from the entire ship. The original protection possessed on the wagon is also inherited on the Hogwarts ship, and the variant shield charm enchantment is extremely effective in protecting the students from most situations. In this regard, Jon didn''t find it surprising, and neither did Rabastan, who used the spell to attack. It would be a strange thing for such a magic ship to have no protection at all. To deal with such a protection is actually very simple, there is no counter spell against the killing curse which canpletely ignore all kinds of shield charms, but Rabastan is just arrogant, not stupid yet. Now they simply found this ship suspicious, and these people on board are not willing to cooperate and want to resist is also a normal thing. If he ordered everyone to use the killing curse directly to kill the people on this ship, then it would not help him and his brother. Voldemort gave them a death order, to find the person who is ying small tricks on the sea behind the scenes, and bring him alive or dead, but now they are not sure whether this ship is the target they are looking for, so naturally, they can not kill them until it bes impossible to capture them. Jon certainly could also think of this, but he could not bet on the sanity of the enemy. There are so many students on board, what if a Death Eater can''t control his hands and use a killing curse? And although the shield charm enchantmentid out by Dumbledore personally could withstand the attacks of all these Death Eaters for a while, but once the Death Eaters'' attack reached the saturation point, the spell that protected the whole ship would shatter subsequently. So he actually began to think of a backup response, Jon does not know what happened on Fawkes'' side, why there is no reply until now, but if it''s just a matter of dragging out the time, he can still have some way. "How far are we away from reaching the Norwegian coast?" Jon whispered and asked Fred, who had been in charge of controlling the voyage beside him, and Fred said quickly. "Two to three hours will be enough for us to dock, there is a deep water port adjacent to a cliff." Two or three hours is not a long time and not short either, Jon took a deep breath and looked at Fred with iparable seriousness and urging. "Then dock as fast as we can! At sea, if they sink the ship, there is no way for everyone on board to escape! The only chance we have is to return tond, I''ll try to hold them off as long as I can!" Hearing what he said, not only Fred, but even George, Neville and others'' faces also looked incredulous like they couldn''t ept why things had turned out this way. "Didn''t Fawkes go to find Professor Dumbledore? Why he is not back yet." "Maybe he was stopped by something and didn''t find the professor, or maybe the circumstances that the professor is in don''t have the luxury of even arriving to help us, but we can''t always pin our hopes on the professors." Jon said, turning to always look at the Hogwarts ship''s side where Rabastan and others kept following along, they wouldn''t stop at this point even if they didn''t intend to kill them all with the killing curse, the tip of each Death Eater''s wand had a burst of magic''s wave brewing. The best way to deal with the shield charm is undoubtedly to use a wide range of sts to attack every point of its protection, thus depleting its saturation. The shield charm on Hogwarts even if it can withstand one or two twenty Exploding Charm attacksunched together, it is impossible to withstand more than three rounds of stacked power, unless Dumbledore is on board, otherwise the ship''s protection simply can not sustain itself. Jon did not wait any longer, he already exined everything to the Neville and group, just when Rabastan and the group recited the "Bombarda" in unison, the next moment, Jon also held the ring that always hangs in front of his body, after absorbing all the magic on the stone b, the gem already filled beyond the capacity to y its intended role! "Finite!" Jon''s magic power was mobilized by the General Counter-Spell, but the source of the magic power rushing out is not the wand he held in his hand, but the ring that always remained cold. His own magical power triggered the external magical power stored in the second gem, and the effect of the general counter-spell applied to him was amplified beyond limits! The moment he used the general counter-spell, Jon stepped up to the side of the ship and stood in front of Rabastan and all the Death Eaters'' Exploding Charm! This crazy behaviour, which was even crazier than a madman, made all the Death Eaters widen their eyes. No one can resist so many shots of Exploding Charm without any defence, not even Dumbledore and Voldemort! ---- # Happy Good Friday Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 259: Exactly the same Chapter 259: Exactly the same In their eyes, Jon''s current behaviour is purely a wish to die. What can be done with a general counter-spell that is not even cast with a wand and is even pronounced wrongly, or released in advance? Although they did not have the idea of killing, if the opponent was already in the way of the goal, then the death eaters had no reason to rush to try to avoid him, not to mention the fact that no spell can be aborted by the wizard themselves when the incantation has already been pronounced. Everyone''s eyes were filled with mockery, George on Hogwarts, and Neville''s face was full of unexined rm. They had no idea what Jon was up to with such a suicidal act. However, just before the deafening roar of the Exploding Charms, and the blinding light just lit up, as if there was a rubber wiping away the stains on the page, the burst of light disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye! The entire world seems to have suddenly quieted down, the Death Eaters still maintained the gesture of releasing the Exploding Charm, but there was no sound of the explosion that they had already prepared to hear in advance as if it could tear the eardrums. In the distance, seagulls were sweeping low along the sea, the cold sea breeze blowing across the sea, carrying the sound of surging waves. Everything was so peaceful, but in the next moment, such peace was shattered by Jon''s voice! "Wingardium Levios!" Themon levitation incantation which couldn''t be more generic and couldn''t be mispronounced by any standard wizard rang out with wrong phics. Jon''s entire body flew up into midair, holding his wand high above and aiming it at the Death Eaters. It was only then that Rabastan and the others finally came back to their senses! The exploding charms were bizarrely erased, and this professor named Johnson was able to float up into midair just by an incorrect levitation charm, which made Rabastan''s heart leap with fear and at the same time, his heart rose with a sudden burst of ecstasy! This man has a problem! A big problem! This is obviously different from standard magic, although he is not sure that Jon is the one who Voldemort asked them to look for, it has greatly raised his suspicion! And this kind of thing also does not need any tangible evidence to prove, as long as there is suspicion, that can represent everything. Coupled with the taunt that Jon had just made to him on the ship, Rabastan sternly aimed his wand at Jon, who had already flown into mid-air! "Catch him!" The very next second his order was given, Jon waved his wand and recited the incantation for the next spell. "Sectumsempra!" No trace of the spell appeared, only an imperceptible buzz emanated from the air! In the next second, in the direction that the tip of Jon''s wand was aimed, the Death Eater who had previously imed to be Helgi''s body suddenly burst open with countless wounds! "Ah!" He screamed out in pain, scarlet blood spilling like rain from mid-air to the sea! The pain was so severe that he could no longer maintain control of his flying broom, and then his whole body fell helplessly from mid-air and plunged into the sea! "Go save him! Heinz!" Rabastan did not mean to give up on hispanion so easily. The Invisible Sword curse is an extremely powerful dark magic, but it does not belong to the Unforgivable Curse, because the inventor of this curse, when he created it, also created the counter spell together. The male wizard named Heinz turned his flying broom and swept towards the sea, while the remaining Death Eaters, led by Rabastan, together turned their attention to Jon! "Expelliarmus!" "Sectumsempra!" "Stupefy!" "Petrificus Totalus!" "..." All sorts of spells wereunched towards Jon! More than twenty of them are enough to form a dense curtain of bullets, blocking the space where he could dodge altogether. But Jon did not have the slightest intention of avoiding them, he just deliberately pulled away from the Hogwarts ship that is gradually travelling into the far distance, and while these Death Eaters used a spell on him, he did not make any defensive move, but just chose to return fire! "Bombarda!" When the magic spells were less than twenty centimetres from Jon''s body, they were once again erased without a trace, just like the previous explosion charm. While Jon''s explosion charm yed its intended role! These death eaters covered themselves with a shield charm in advance, the shock wave generated by Jon''s explosion charm could not break such defence after dispersing, but their charm could only protect them personally, not the flying broom below them. The violent explosion blew the tail of a Death Eater''s broom apart on the spot, and the magic broom lost control, like a kite with a broken string. At this time, Heinz just rescued Helgi from the sea. Not only this one Death Eater but also three or four brooms, although they were not that badly damaged, they were also damaged by the explosion charm, the original normal flight began to be crooked, forcing their owners to try to stabilize to keep hovering in the sky. Rabastan''s face became as gloomy as water at this moment. He suddenly remembered an incident at this time, an incident that happened in Hogwarts Castle a year ago. At that time, he, his brother and his sister-inw were still in France eroding the central power of the French Ministry of Magic, when three major events had urred within the British magicalmunity. In one day, first, there was a massive jailbreak in Azkaban, then Dumbledore himself went to the Ministry of Magic under Whitehall to meet with Voldemort, and then in Hogwarts Castle, a rebel from the Order of the Phoenix infiltrated and saved part of the Mudbloods in a pompous manner! And that rebel who disguised as a mudblood student, at that time showed an extremely bizarre general counter-spell. The spell was as if he had cast it on his own body and was so amazingly effective that no matter what the magic used on him, they were ineffective except for the Unforgivable Curse! The most crucial thing is that at that time, that person also flew like this without the help of any external power, just by using a usible levitation charm. All these things, when Rabastan just returned to Britain from France at the end ofst year, he knew from other people''s mouths, and at that time he just took it as a strange story to listen to, because no matter whether it is the strange general counter-spell or the levitation charm that can make the wizard himself fly, both are too bizarre. And now, this "Johnson" who ims to be Durmstrang''s Professor of Transfiguration, the method he used is exactly the same as the rebel who infiltrated Hogwarts Castle a year ago! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 260: The situation can be reversed at any time Chapter 260: The situation can be reversed at any time This discovery made Rabastan''s body couldn''t help but start trembling. If the man in front of him, who imed to be Professor Johnson, was still only a suspect, then now, he could be 100% sure that the one his lord had asked their brothers to look for on the sea is him! And the more it came to this. Rabastan became more and more cautious. The excitement of finding the target did not overwhelm his reason, through the ability shown by Jon, the rtionship between him and Dumbledore''s rebel group was confirmed, but it also made him more aware of the difficulty of capturing Jon. The number of professors in that school in Hogwarts Castle might not be as high as the number of Death Eaters at this moment, but the ones who might be professors are all elites in various fields of the magical world. They failed to take down Jon when he was at thend, letting him leave from their own doorstep freely, now in a situation where the sea is wide open and the birds are flying, Rabastan knows clearly that the task given to them by their lord although seems only one step away, it is the most difficult step to take andplete. The ability that Jon is showing now is enough to put him in an invincible position. Immunity from most magic, as well as not relying on any magic tools but relying on himself to fly. In such a situation, unless a wizard of great strength like Voldemort or Dumbledore arrives in person. Otherwise, they can only rely on absolute numbers to block Jon''s movement. Rabastan looked around the Death Eaters around him, the battle has just begun not long ago, they already had two personnel on the wear and tear, and there are several people''s flying broomsticks affected not just lightly. With the current manpower, it is certainly not possible to carry out a full blockade on Jon, he needs support! After thinking about this, Rabastan did not hesitate and immediately gave a wink to a Death Eater beside him, who then used the Apparition to disappear from this area of the sea and left. Since he can already be sure that this Johnson in front of him is the person Voldemort asked them to find, it is possible to gather all the manpower here without having to waste energy in other ces. In addition, Rabastan''s gaze also became extraordinarily ruthless, the target can already be confirmed, then there is no need for them to keep their hands! From the current situation trying to capture Jon alive, is more difficult than reaching the moon, and they were not ordered by Voldemort to capture Jon alive. So, the first killing curse of the battle, the tip of Rabastan''s wand shone with a dreadful green light! "Avada Kedavra!" The green light seemed like it could prate the entire sky, cutting through the azure sky and sea. And with Rabastan leading the way, the other Death Eaters no longer had the slightest reservation, and the spell ssified as forbidden filled the entire sky as if they were using the mostmon full body-bind curse! Jon''s reaction speed is also very fast, at the moment when Rabastan''s gaze showed ferocity. He abruptly released the control of his own gravity, and his whole body entered into a state of free fall, falling towards the sea. In the next moment, more than twenty green beams passed through the location where he had just floated and then disappeared in the ce where the sea and sky were connected. Jon''s body that was falling about to contact with the sea, he regained control of the levitation charm on himself and hovered in mid-air just less than twenty centimetres from the sea. After the first wave of the spell fell short, Rabastan and the group did not stop their attack, and immediately spread out in trained formation, forming argework of more than twenty people targeting Jon''s location. They drove their flying brooms to block as much space as possible where Jon would be able to dodge and then re-raised the wands in their hands! "Avada Kedavra!" A second wave of lethal attacks followed, and this time Jon reacted much faster. He pushed his body along, looking for the gap left by the spellsing from all directions, and dodged in mid-air, while at the same time actually having the strength tounch an additional counterattack! "Wingardium Leviosa!" He waved his wand and once again recited the incantation that was quite contrary to the pronunciation of the normal levitation charm incantation. In response, the Death Eaters who were pointed by the wand were not even the least bit wary. The levitation charm is never an offensive magic, even if Jon is using that very bizarre one, it can only make him fly up. However, in the next second, something happened that made everyone present stare in disbelief! In the direction in which Jon''s wand was pointing, the wands in the hands of three Death Eaters suddenly rose uncontrobly into the air and flew towards the sky. It was as if a disarming charm was used, but the shield charm on their bodies didn''t show the slightest sign of being triggered, as if the levitation charm wasn''t even worth being defended against. The three Death Eaters who suddenly lost control of their wands were so shocked that their first reaction was to manipte the flying broom underneath them and grab their wands back. But just as they made such a move. The three wands that flew into the sky suddenly fell again, like three flying arrows, stabbing straight into the sea! There was not even a ssh, the wands simply fell into the sea. Without the wand, the three Death Eaters basically lost the ability to cast spells, they were at a loss in mid-air, while others subconsciously gulped, looking at Jon countless times tenser than before, everyone could not help but clench the wands in their hands. Throughout the entire magical world, it can be considered unheard of and unseen before, making it simply difficult to defend against. Shield charm can resist almost all offensive magic spells besides the unforgivable curse, but in the eyes of regr wizards levitation charm certainly does not belong to the offensive magic! And Jon, who is near the surface of the sea, quickly pulled away from these Death Eaters, in fact, he also knows in his heart that such a means can only be effective if he uses it at the beginning when it is unsuspected. Once these people are prepared, the force generated by the levitation charm is simply not enough to take the wand out of their hands. But now, along with the two Death Eaters who he knocked down earlier including the one sent away by Rabastan, there are already six people who have lost their ability to cast spells. Jon does not need to solve all the people present, he just needs to reduce the opponent as much as possible, so that he could easily break through the defensive web that they used to block him, and then whether it is the hunter chasing the prey, or the prey consuming the hunter''s strength while waiting to counterattack, the status can be reversed at any time! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 261: Plan Chapter 261: n When Jon first got the second gem from the Hogwarts library, because of inexperience, he was worried that the magic contained in the gem would not be enough to support him when using the levitation charm as well as the general counter-spell on himself during the fight. So at that time, to be on the safe side, he simply decided to use all the magic power in the gem. All used up, to ensure stability. From the point of view of prudence and caution, his approach is definitely not wrong, but afterwards, when Jon tried to use only a little magic to test out the power enchantment limits of the ring, he realized how much he had wasted and it pained him. When the intensity of the magic is increased to a boundary point, if there is not enough support from his own understanding, then even if he put all the magic power of all the wizards in the world into it, the effect produced will not be increased by one iota. ording to what Jon figured out afterwards when using the ring to enchant a spell to increase the magic strength to reach the boundary point, in fact, it would only consume less than 1/10th of the full magical power in the second gem. At that level, not only the effect would have reached its maximum, but even the duration of time that the spell wouldst would also have reached its maximum. Further up, it will only depend on his future understanding of the levitation charm and the general counter-spell to go to the next level. Now, even at this level, by the magic power that was absorbed from the stone b, which is filled within the gem, Jon has enough confidence to keep on consuming the Death Eaters, whose number has dropped to only a dozen in front of him. But he is not blind, he saw the scene of Death Eater Apparating in front of his eyes, and he knew that Rabastan must have asked for other support. When he rescued those muggle students from Hogwarts Castle a year ago, the impact must have been great, and the abilities he used at that time must have been circted in the magical world. With his unique use of the levitation charm as well as the effect of his general counter-spell, it is estimated that it is not possible to find a second one using such a spell right now. So, when he decided to hold these Death Eaters back, Jon did not hope to continue to hide his identity, and he even deliberately wanted to reveal his identity, to draw the attention of the Rabastan and others all to himself, to buy time for the Hogwarts ship to sail to the shore. But, to be able to lurk in the French Ministry of Magic for such a long time and be in a high position, and trusted by Voldemort, Rabastan is never a fool, Jon''s n is not straightforward but also by no means subtle. He had to think about how to use other methods to restrict this slippery loach Jon to death at this moment when his brother''s support didn''t arrive yet, as for chasing after that ship, they can do that after dealing with him. But when he began to think carefully, by recalling all the actions taken by Jon until now, it was not difficult to perceive why he behaved in such a proactive manner. He wanted to protect the ship. To protect the others on that ship! After thinking of this, Rabastan did not hesitate for a moment to change the strategy, he immediately divided a small group of Death Eaters, letting them pursue the Hogwarts ship that has gradually disappeared from their field of vision, while others continue to surround Jon. Rabastan is very clear, with their remaining manpower they should not even dream of killing or capturing the man in front of them, they now just need to ensure that Jon does not get out of their field of vision and keep their own people from decreasing in number, then they can keep pestering and waiting for Rodolphus to bring over the support. They are waiting for backup, and Jon also is thinking about keeping on stalling. He did not know what exactly is going on Fawkes''s side, but he certainly knew that as long as Dumbledore knew their current situation, he absolutely would not be indifferent, he just did not know for what reason now, the support that should have been here didn''t arrive yet. A one-man versus many-man tug-of-war carried out under this sky, and whether it was Jon or Rabastan, they did not find a raised ck reef on the not-so-raging sea. Compared with other ces, the sea around this reef seems unusually calm, on top of the reef there is a person with silver hair, a slim old man, slim to the point that can even be described as shrivelled dressed in a dark robe is sitting there. He looked at the sky that has been used as a battlefield, his gaze seemed to be as deep as the night sky, looking at the dense spells and constantly dodging Jon, it is unknown what was going on in his mind. And in such a chasing battle, Rabastan soon found a new problem. They are constantly attacking Jon, who is also constantly fighting back, in which, he used a lot of spells, in addition to the ordinary disarming charm, full body-bind curse and stunning spell, there was also dark magic like Invisible Sword Curse and sting Curse. But even if the battle has reached this level, he did not have any intention of using a Killing Curse. Such a problem made Rabastan could not help but be alerted. Although all these years previously he did not fight with the Order of the Phoenix led by Dumbledore in Britain due to his mission, he knew very well that these exiles who have be bereaved, although rejected Unforgivable Curses, they never tried to hold back by not using them And with the magical skills that Jon is showing now, in addition to the bizarre general counter-spell as well as the levitation charm, the other spells that he has used are at most on a par with ordinary adult wizards. Not to mention other more powerful wizards, there are plenty of people even among the Death Eaters who could use more spells than this. Such spell-casting can''t be feigned, which when considered in conjunction with Jon''s current battle results gives a great sense of contrast. Rabastan did not know the reason for this, but he knew that this was definitely not a normal phenomenon. Therefore, his spell-casting movements became more and more careful, and his dodging movements of the spell released by Jon also became more and more cautious. After lurking in France for so long, he developed the habit of trying to think in the worst direction, when he encountered a problem that he did not understand. And his actions have fallen on Jon''s eyes. Jon is aware in his own heart that no matter how much he spent time studying certain spells. The actual fact is that there are a lot of people who possess a lot of experience and knowledge when ites to magic than him; his magic power has yet to grow to its peak, and his spell-casting habits and knowledge of magic are not likely to be as fluid as these old-fashioned death eaters. Rabastan obviously does not know his background, Jon narrowed his eyes, calcted the time since he drank the polyjuice potion, and a n suddenly rose up in his heart. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 262: Transformation Chapter 262: Transformation As for the small group of Death Eaters that Rabastan had split off to chase the Hogwarts ship, Jon wasn''t worried. Or now he has no heart to worry about it. He now as a leader, has done everything within his ability, but just as they can not count on the professors all the time, the ship''s students can not all count on him alone. The Death Eaters chasing them over are only a team of three, with the help of the protective force spread over the Hogwarts ship, if Neville and the others still get caught alive so simply or have any casualties, then it can be said that there is no future to speak of for the Order of the Phoenix and the Witching Horizons now. Instead of caring about the others, Jon now needs to consider more about how to solve these people in front of him in the case of Dumbledore''s dyed arrival. ording to the scruples of Rabastan at the moment, Jon actually has a n in his mind. "Be careful." After another round of Killing curse flurry, Jon pulled away from them at great speed, and Rabastan said with a gloomy face to the people around him. "There is something wrong with his spell casting, and the strength he has shown is seriously inconsistent, you guys pay some attention, don''t fall for his trick." In fact, not only Rabastan, but the other Death Eaters also felt a strong sense of inconsistency from Jon''s spell casting. So far no one has any suspicions about Jon''s identity shown at the moment, even Rabastan, who has guessed that the big case in Hogwarts Castlest year was also his work, only thought that Grindelwald and Dumbledore have some unspeakable conspiracy in private, and he was transferred to Dumbledore''s force. Because that ship does have a number of young wizards; if it is really Dumbledore''s side, how can they feel at ease letting so many students under their protection, led by a single professor out on the sea? So Rabastan made a guess, all in the premise identifying Jon''s current identity as Durmstrang''s professor. It is in such a premise, Jon''s various spell casting performance was a little too stretched out. The other Death Eaters in the scene can see that such magic skills are at most only at the level of ordinary adult wizards, and even some students who have just graduated from magic schools with outstanding performance, are stronger than Jon on some points. A regr magic school professor with such bizarre magic spells, is his magic skills merely this? Rabastan felt that there must be something wrong in this, and at his reminder, the other Death Eaters all felt that there must be something wrong too! Their spell casting and evasion of Jon''s spells also became more and more cautious. Even though some of Jon''s spells were obviously unable to break the shield charm on them, the Death Eaters did their best to dodge them to prevent any possible trickery in this seemingly ordinary full body-bind curse. Naturally, Jon noticed that the pressure on himself had be much lighter than earlier, and these Death Eaters became cowering, which could not help but make the corners of his mouth curl up in a sneer. He took a covert nce at Rabastan, who was surrounded by the crowd and silently counted in his heart the time that his sip of polyjuice potion couldst. Under normal circumstances, that vial of potion wouldst at least 12 hours of transformation, but Jon had only taken a casual sip at that time, less than a tenth of the amount in a vial. That potion''s potency will subsequently weaken in about an hour''s time, from the time he met Rabastan, and the time he drank the potion to calcte, the time now is just about the same. Just as Jon''s robe was swept by the gale, the whole person was like a cannonball, cutting low across the sea, once again dodging the Death Eater''s killing curse, and just as he was about to raise his wand in his hand to counterattack. Through the corner of his eye, he saw the big hand holding his wand, undergoing subtle but iparable rapid changes! Originally rough, wide palms began to be delicate and slim, and the jumper which was still very tight on the body a few seconds ago at this time began to be obviously loose and lined up. Jon felt his face beard disappearing, the previous messy hair began to be soft, and his body became lighter. His face changed into his original face! This change did not interrupt his counterattack, but because of the impact caused by the body transformation, caused the uracy of his sting curse to be extremely skewed, flying at least five or six meters away from the nearest Death Eater! And such a transformation all happened right in front of the eyes of Rabastan and the other Death Eaters. A middle-aged wizard with a rugged appearance, thick hair and a thick voice had turned into a 15-year-old boy right before their eyes! Rabastan was frozen. A sense of absurdity rose in his mind, a sense of absurdity as if the world had changed while he stayed in France all this year, and the next generation of British young wizards are actually monsters. As an elite Death Eater, he could not have failed to recognize the kind of change that had just urred in Jon''s body, which was obviously the effect that would have been presented only after the polyjuice potion effect expired. So, there was actually not a single adult wizard on that ship? And they have been tangled for so long, and so far from the beginning, five of his men have been incapacitated, only by a kid who has not yet graduated from the magic school? After thinking this through, Rabastan''s expression instantly turned as gloomy as muddy water as he came back to his senses. What he felt was not a sense of humiliation, but an indescribable fear. Now Rabastan, in his deepest heart felt like he had be a viin in the novel and confronting the young and talented protagonist at the moment. At this young age, he has already grown to this extent, so if he is given more time, and he has grown up, then what..... This boy must not be allowed to live! Rabastan face turned ferocious, at the same time, he finally unveiled the doubts that he could not figure out before. The reason why even after fighting for such a long time, Jon has not yet shot a single killing curse on them in return, using out those sting curses, the invisible sword curse and ordinary spells like full body-bind curse, which are also so very average in potency! What a bullshit conspiracy! It''s obvious, that this kid doesn''t even know how to use the Unforgiven Curse yet! The unforgivable curses might seem like a rotten street trick that every dark wizard has learned now, but this is ultimately top-ss dark magic, not something easily learned by a cat or a dog. If he can really elevate his spell casting to the same level as the elite who have been trained for a long time, then Rabastan will have to wonder again if his young appearance might be a fake skin again like a nesting doll! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 263: The Failed Killing Curse Chapter 263: The Failed Killing Curse After all, he is still young. Just now when Jon''s polyjuice potion effect expired his hand shook and caused the sting curse to miss its mark, which is already an indication of panic in Rabastan''s eyes! "We''ve been tricked! Don''t have any scruples! He''s just a brat who hasn''t even grown hair yet! Kill him! Kill him right now!" Rabastan''s yell woke up all the Death Eaters, who were shocked at the youthful appearance of Jon, the oldest of them could even be Jon''s grandfather by seniority! After hearing Rabastan''s words, a burst of shame also surged in the hearts of everyone present, they did not think as much as Rabastan, at this moment what they can feel is only humiliation. They are a group of well-trained, battle-hardened elite wizards, but they were actually pestered and teased for so long by a student who had not yet graduated from a magic school, and seemed to be intimidated by him? No, they would never admit to being intimidated, it was only out of caution, and now it just turned out that their excessive caution was unwarranted! Never before had Rabastan''s orders been so faithfully carried out as in trying to kill Jon, something that every Death Eater wanted to do today. Andpared to them, Jon now acted like he was a bit flustered. He rose from the surface with great speed, re-pulled himself up, and then flew off in the opposite direction of the Death Eaters as if he was arge, panicked seagull! This action of his gave the Death Eaters encouragement and cheer, and the change in status made them inwardly elevate their posture in the battle. Rationally speaking, the advantage that Jon had built up from the beginning of the battle was due to his spell-casting methods which were different from those of other wizards, but other than that, it seemed that he had nothing to be proud of now. A chase that was not too far apart began to favour the side of the Death Eaters, who no longer cared about the spells that Jon used. In addition to the sting curse, which still requires them to be careful and protect their flying brooms, Rabastan and his men no longer tried to dodge the other magic spells. The Shield charm in front of them is enough to offset Jon''s counterattack. The old man sitting on the reef in a withered form shook his head in slight disappointment, but he soon smiled dumbly to himself again. In fact, so far the boy''s performance has exceeded almost ny-nine percent of his peers, and even the old man himself at Jon''s age, can not guarantee to do better than he did in this situation. But perhaps Dumbledore gave him too much emphasis on the boy''s excellence, so he was somewhat disappointed by the situation right now, because, in his mind, the expectations he had for him were extremely high. Today, Jon''s performance was very good, restraining the vast majority of them in ce, buying time for the other students to escape, and in the process, making five Death Eaters who were stronger than the average adult wizard lose their ability to cast spells, but not quite up to the expectations that the old man had in mind. Just when he thought that this bit of fun for the day wasing to an end and had got up from the reef and pulled out his wand, the sound of an incantation suddenly stopped him in his tracks. "Avada Kedavra!" Jon, who was being woefully chased in the sky, suddenly turned around, aimed the tip of his wand at Rabastan, who was in the middle of the group, and recited the incantation of the Killing Curse! When he heard the unforgivable incantation sound through the wind, Rabastan''s entire scalp felt like it was going to explode! Even the rxation of seeing Jon''s true appearance did notpletely remove his long-standing vignce. The moment he heard the sound of the incantation, his entire being abruptly lowered the front end of his flying broom, disying a vertical drop technique that would be amazing enough to be called impressive even on the Quidditch World Cup field, and instantly changed his position! Yet all that rang out was the sound of an incantation, the curse that foreshadowed death did not shoot out of Jon''s wand. This made Rabastan first think he was being teased, and his already gloomy face became even colder, but just after he looked up and saw Jon''s face that was showing panic, the anger in his heart turned into sneering mockery. "Can''t use it, huh, kid, do you think the Unforgivable Curse is a magic that can be mastered that easily?" He pulled his broom back up and spoke loudly and sarcastically against the howling wind. "It takes the greatest of evil! You need to have a strong determination to kill! Do you have any of these? I guess you haven''t even killed a chicken yet, have you? Can you guarantee that you won''t be scared to pee your pants when you see human blood?" The surrounding Death Eatersughed wildly. They were like a group of hunters who were chasing an escaped rabbit and enjoying idle talk andughter. The weak rabbit, in addition to running, would only turn around and bare its ridiculous big teeth to try to intimidate them and provide them with some fun. Everyone thought Jon''s failed spell was a hrious attempt, except for the old man who had risen from the reef and narrowed his cloudy eyes. The only one in this world who could be said to have surpassed him in the achievement of dark magic might be that rising youngster. With his vision, he could naturally see that this seemingly failed incantation of Jon''s actually could not have failed in the first ce. But not everyone has his vision, Rabastan''s guard which was tight from the beginning nowpletely rxed again. He smiled broadly and called out the thugs around him. "Guys, let''s give this little friend another performance of what a real - Avada Kedavra! - is all about!" A dreadful green light instantly shot out from the tip of his wand, followed by the killing curses of the other Death Eaters! They no longer know how many killing curses they fired in this chase, their previous attacks were in vain, and Jon''s dexterous mobility was as disgusting to them as a fly that could not be hit. But now this round even if they can''t hit, the Death Eaters are filled with a sense of superiority, a sense of superiority after a failed and ridiculous spell. Not surprisingly, this volley was also dodged by Jon, but this time he showed a different reaction than the previous times as if he was already too weak to continue to maintain such a flight. This caused a bright light to appear in Rabastan''s eyes, he felt that the time has almost arrived, Jon has now be a grasshopper after the autumn, jumping more vigorously than ever in the past, but this would only end in death! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 264: Killing Curse Chapter 264: Killing Curse And the very next second that this thought rose in his mind. The boy, who seemed to be at the end of his rope, suddenly found an opening to turn around again and aimed the tip of his wand at Rabastan! Rabastan''s body could not help but tremble, but he restrained his instincts and did not dodge or evade with a gaze that was full of sarcasm as he stared at Jon. "Avada Kedavra!" The incantation of the killing curse sounded the same as the previous one, and at the same time, there was Rabastan''sughter! But the moment hisughter sounded, a not-too-blinding, even dull gloomy green light beam instantly crossed the boundary between the sky and the sea! It seemed to segment the sky and the sea, and theughter came to an abrupt end as if it was the end credits for the final curtain of this stage y. Rabastan''s heart suddenly stopped for half a beat the moment he saw the ghastly green light up. After that, this half-beat never eased up and lost its vitality forever. The Death Eater, who had lurked in the French Ministry of Magic for nearly a decade, had not had time to enjoy his well-deserved reward and status yet, slipped slowly from his flying broom under the cold sea breeze. Every Death Eaters were incredibly stunned in ce as they watched Rabastan fall into the boundless sea with eyes that seemed to never close, full of unanswerable doubts! The cold wind blew the edges of the robes of everyone present, and it was so quiet that it seemed like a deserted sea. Until a mournful roar suddenly overwhelmed all the wind and waves! "Rabastan!" A crackling sound continued to ring out around the area, each sound made signifying the arrival of a Death Eater. The support that Rabastan had sought at the beginning finally reached this battlefield, but unfortunately, he no longer had the chance to see it. Rodolphus'' entire body was trembling, his eyes filled with incredulous red veins as he looked at the sea into which his own brother''s body had been lost! He actually tried to rush over at the first instance when he got the news, but previously when he was bringing people deep into a sea near d, they got into a dispute with a tribe of merpeople, and only after they killed all the merpeople in that vicinity, the Death Eaters from the Rabastan team arrived here as a support. The scene of his own brother being struck by the killing curse was seen when he just Apparated here. Lestrange''s family is very big, but Rabastan is the only biological brother of Rodolphus, he never thought one of them would die on this mission, but the reality is as cold as the cold wind pierced his heart. His face was as pale as a white paper, and his eyes, already dominated by hatred, stared deadly at the teenager who simply floated in mid-air, without any semnce of the previous show of embarrassment, with only a look of indifference and ridicule. "You deserve to die." Rodolphus''s lips trembled, as if squeezing out these words from his throat, and then he suddenly roared out. "You deserve to die!!!" The men who were behind him, along with Rabastan''s men, rounding up to nearly a hundred Death Eaters raised their wands at Jon! Jon, however, had no intention of running away, or rather he had given up on the best time to escape in the first ce. He had been wondering what kind of trouble Dumbledore''s side actually ended up in, as Fawkes has been away for so long, but there is still no news. But just as he pretended to flee in disarray, to induce Rabastan to put down his guard, he saw the ck-robed old man standing on the reef out of the corner of his eye. Jon did not recognize the old man''s face, but he could use his brain. Combined with Dumbledore''s advice to him when he met with him before sailing along the Norwegian coastline, as well as the situation in Europe as a whole and Dumbledore''s personal rtionships. If he could not guess who the old man was, then he did not deserve to be a transmigrator. At that moment he finally figured out why Dumbledore has not responded to his request, or that his response was actually here from the very beginning. Well, it''s just that it was watching from the sidelines from the beginning. Just as dozens of wands were aimed at Jon, azure fire suddenly surged up from the sea! As if the entire sea was on fire, the blue fire was like a wall in front of the Death Eaters and Jon, the old man standing on the reef, thus divided the battlefield into two areas. He attracted the attention of everyone present, even Rodolphus, who always had his eyes fixed on Jon, also turned his neck to look at the old man on the reef who looked ordinary and even made people feel that a stronger sea breeze could blow him off. "First I want to make one thing clear." His voice was not loud, but it was as if he could let the sea breeze carry his words to everyone''s ears. "Who gave you permission?" The blue mes began to stir like a monstrous wave! "To attack someone who bears my name in my territory!" "BOOM!!!" A sound that was countless times more explosive than an exploding charm exploded here! It was like the world was on Azure fire! All the Death Eaters were surrounded by this fire! The fire swirled around as if forming a giant tower, locking up the prisoners of another Dark Lord! The high temperature caused the men in the blue tower to let out an ear-splitting shrill, and there was no way for them to offer any semnce of effective resistance to such magical mes, and their shield charms melted away like butter on an iron saucepan; all of these happened in almost the blink of an eye. At this moment, all the hatred has been pulled out of Rodolphus by the desire to live, and the moment this blue sea of fire burned up, he recognized who this old man is. Even if few people have remembered his name and deeds now, he is not a stranger to Rodolphus! Back then, when the whole of Europe was choosing their sides, the people from the Lestrange family had chosen to join his camp at that time. He had no thought of resistance, just as he would not have thought of the term "betrayal" in the presence of his Lord. Escape! This was the only thought Rodolphus had when he came to his senses! The Lestrange family couldn''t do without him now, it would be a dead end for everyone in his family which has many enemies! He roared, gathering all the Death Eaters around him who were still able to raise their wands. "Follow me! Break the spell! All use the General Counter-Spell at the same time!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 265: Lets go, Ill take you to Durmstrang Chapter 265: Let''s go, I''ll take you to Durmstrang The instinct to survive took over the minds of all. Rodolphus'' words were also heard by those around him, and those Death Eaters who managed to hold their wands up under the heat and searing pain, gripping their wands that had been roasted dry in just three or four seconds. At this moment, their spell casting no longer had any unity, a jumble of incantations rang out, thenbined together to bring a more potent general counter-spell, but the blue mes that surrounded them all were not half-suppressed or receded, only the movement of constant inward expansion and squeezing was hindered slightly. But from the beginning, Rodolphus never thought he could rely on them to break the magic. They didn''t even reach the threshold to deal with the enemy at his level, of all the wizards in the world, only his lord and Dumbledore are qualified topete with this weak-looking old man. After hindering the blue mes for a moment, he did not hesitate to wave his wand again! ''Apparition!'' It was unknown whether it was due to an oversight, or deliberately done by the old man, this space was not blocked in advance. After buying himself enough time to breathe, Rodolphus used Apparition to escape without half hesitation! As for Rabastan''s revenge, as long as he is still alive, there is still a chance for revengeter! After seeing Rodolphus'' action, all those Death Eaters who had the chance to find some strength at this time were not fools. They followed behind their leader and used Apparition to leave the sea of fire. The old man seemed to have no intention of stopping them, only after letting a dozen Death Eaters leave, he raised his wand abruptly, the blue tower of mes wrapped those who are still in the middle, and without giving them a way to escape, it rushed into the sea! The hot fire and cold seawater came into contact, but there was no violent conflict, instead, it was like they seemed to be fusing together, and sank to the bottom of the sea without a sound. Jon stared at this scene. He could guess that this old man is very strong, strong to the limit of the kind, but with only a single spell, he was able to crush so many Death Eaters simply without the strength to fight back, is still a little too outrageous! The sea calmed down, but Grindelwald didn''t immediately go up andmunicate with Jon, his face calmly stared at those Death Eaters who disappeared, after a long silence, he suddenly snapped his fingers. A huge bubble suddenly gushed up in the sea, like a giant beast burping in the ocean, and at the same time, dozens of death eaters looked like they only had a weak breath left as they floated and surfaced on the sea. The number of those who floated up was obviously much less than the ones Grindelwald had just trapped and dropped in with the fire tower, with at least half of them missing. This could not help but let Grindelwald let out a snort that made Jon a little uncertain. "It seems the issue is not insignificant, even in the face of me only dare to sneak to save some people away" In his words, which were more like self-talk, Jon somehow seemed to hear a hint of disappointment in them, as if he was disappointed not meeting the person who was supposed to appear. Just then, there was another Apparition "thud" sound, and an old man with two young men who looked at most five or six years older than Jon, who seemed to have just graduated from a magic school, appeared beside Grindelwald. As soon as these people appeared, they bowed respectfully to the old man. "Take these people back to Durmstrang. Hasn''t Hans beenining about theck of suitable experiment materials? Tell him that if he ever nags me about this again, he should go back to the North Pole and study those stinking bears." The old man and the young men faithfully carried out his orders and started to collect the Death Eaters floating on the sea. After finishing these things, Grindelwald turned his head to look at Jon. In the face of the more oppressive and aggressive gaze than Dumbledore, Jon did not show much obvious nervousness and difort, and even smiled in response and blinked. "Come with me." Grindelwald''s voice, however, did not appear to be much gentler, but more a kind of peaceful. Jon flew to his side and tangled for a moment to determine what he should call the old man. "Sir, my ssmates." "I''m just going to take you to them now." Hearing such a reply, Jon said nothing more, he allowed Grindelwald to grab his arm, and then his whole body was engulfed by the sensation of being squeezed into a flushing toilet. Then, his feet stepped on the solid ground. Grindelwald brought him to a cliff near the sea, where there were weathered pieces of debris everywhere, and likewise a lot of people around. As soon as Jonnded on the ground, he heard someone calling his name from not far away. "Jon!" The students of Hogwarts, all grouped together, Neville, George, Fred, and Hermione, all waved at Jon after seeing him. After sweeping a nce at the students, to determine no one is missing and no one has any injuries, Jon let go of thest breath he held in his heart. Then he looked at the others on the cliff. In addition to the Hogwarts students, there were several male and female wizards standing here wearing blood-red robes. Jon recognized this type of robe, they all changed their robes into this style when they pretended to be Durmstrang faculty and students, and now these people, apparently, are all genuine Durmstrang Professors. The person leading these people is a straight-backed old witch, she seems to be older than Professor McGonagall, and her face is full of wrinkles left by the years, but no matter the mental outlook or her cold gaze like a knife, it does not let people feel a little bit of senility and ageing. Three Death Eaters were lying on the ground, and Jon was sure they were not breathing, and it was not clear whether it was fortunate or misfortune that these people had died,pared to their colleagues who would be subjected to experiments. "Vinda, take Ullerson and Larsen and bring these Dumbledore students back to the school; Andres, go and inform the Norwegian Ministry of Magic people that this area can be taken off guard, and the others go and collect that ship." Grindelwald handed everything down and then disappeared off the coast as if he had no intention ofmunicating with Jon and the others The cold face of the witch known as Vinda looked slightly softer as she came to Jon and the others. "Come on, I''ll take you to Durmstrang." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 266: The Northernmost Wizarding School Chapter 266: The Northernmost Wizarding School Jon did not know what kind of discussions and arrangements were made between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. But now they certainly have no reason to refuse to go to Durmstrang, whether it is a visit or something else, under the leadership of the witch called Vinda, Jon and others were brought along with the Apparition, and disappeared on this coast. Soon, they appeared at argeke surrounded by mountains. This is a cold and windy ce, the temperature has definitely dropped below freezing, but theke is not frozen, and several dark ck ships that are slightly smaller than Hogwarts docked on the shore. The sails on these boats all had authentic double-headed eagle and deer head emblems depicted on them, and they are clearly the property of this northernmost wizarding school in Europe. "Later your ship will be brought here as well. Come on, follow me inside the castle, the school has prepared a special dinner for you tonight." The witch whose full name should actually be Vinda Rosier said to the Hogwarts students who had stopped by theke. Jon gave them the lead and followed her towards the pitch-ck castle not far from the alpineke. Hermione frowned slightly, she visibly showed some uneasy look, walked quickly to Jon''s side, lowered her voice, and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear. "I have seen in the library books; in most of the introduction to Durmstrang, it stated that this school excludes muggle students admission" Such things are naturally clear to Jon, he said softly. "Hogwarts Castle also used to treat students of all origins equally. The rules can be changed, and in the end, what kind of changes are made, depends on what the person who holds the rules is thinking." His words eased some of Hermione''s concerns, but those previous experiences made this smart girl be a lot more wary, she trusted Jon''s judgment, but it didn''t mean she would let her guard down. A group of people soon reached the castle. Compared with Hogwarts Castle, Durmstrang Castle is obviously quite small, from its appearance it is only four stories high, the white snow covered on the ck stone walls has not yet melted, and in the whistling could wind, it exhibits an ancient destion. Regarding the history of Durmstrang, Jon had learned something about it. This wizarding school was founded by the great Bulgarian witch - Nerida Vulchanova. But just like how those other wizards who founded the wizarding school didn''t have a good ending, Nerida died mysteriously not long after the establishment of Durmstrang, and no one has investigated the cause of her death to this day. The person who subsequently truly shaped the style of the school was its second Headmaster, Harfang Munter. Munter developed a reputation for duelling and various forms of martial magic for Durmstrang, which is the root of the reason why this school is so open to dark magic. In contrast to the academic atmosphere of a normal magic school, the students and faculty of Durmstrang are keen on wizard duels and magical spells with powerful attacks. And such spells are more or less rted to dark magic. But being open to dark magic is by no means equal to being a dark wizard. For some students who behaved abominably and lost their minds to the study of dark magic, regardless of who was the Headmaster of Durmstrang, they would not be tolerated, and this led to it also being the school that expelled students annually the most among the three top wizarding schools in Europe. Rosier led Jon and the group plus two ghosts, Nick and Gabrielle, into the Durmstrang castle. They were greeted at the castle''s foyer by two male wizards who also wore blood-red robes, and one of them made everyone at Hogwarts flinch when they saw his face. He is the one Jon has been pretending to be by using a polyjuice potion, the Professor of Transfiguration named "Spence Johnson". After seeing the genuine Johnson, Jon''s expression was also a bit odd, he originally thought that his fake identity may not exist and that it is simply a smokescreen released jointly by Dumbledore and Grindelwald, but it never urred to him that there is actually such a Professor in Durmstrang. In response to Jon''s and the group''s somewhat strange gaze, the genuine Professor Johnson showed much more cordiality. Perhaps, he is also a British native is the reason, when seeing the Hogwarts students, his face had a gentle smile at all times. He looked very rugged in person, with a thick beard and a big belly in front of him, a bit like a normal human-sized Hagrid. "Wee to Durmstrang." By his side there stood a tall, thin, cold-faced, middle-aged male wizard who could be heard expressing a wee in rusty English that didn''t sound perfunctory, but which also failed to give much of a sense of festivity. "The Headmaster shouldn''t have made youe here this time to wee them, you should have stayed by the firece and got that gloom emanating from your body burned." Johnson grumbled, while giving Jon and the others a kind smile, "I''m d you''re here as guests, boys." The Hogwarts students thanked him politely and then followed the three Durmstrang Professors into the castle, which was far warmer inside than outside. A long red carpet was spread on the floor of the foyer leading to the corridor, and the surrounding walls were hung with some Scandinavian-style murals of knights in full armour carryingnces and pulling the reins tightly, pirates jumping off ships and shouting with notched axes, and pretty girls in white sarongs with gands on their heads. Hogwarts students curiously looked at the surrounding furnishings, the vast majority of them have been staying in the Hogwarts wagon since they enrolled, and have never been to the real wizarding school castle. Even Hermione, who had spent more than a year in Hogwarts Castle, was curious about the surroundings, as they were not qualified to walk in the corridors like this in the previous "school", and also wondered what the real normal ce for young wizards to go to school actually resembled. As they gradually went deeper and deeper into the castle, they finally saw the students of Durmstrang. It seemed like they were just getting out of their sses, and from time to time, students about their age came out of the ssroom with books and parchments in their arms,ughing and talking. In day-to-day situations, it looks like they won''t be wearing the blood-red robes that are characteristic of Durmstrang, and their dress code is not shy, and when they walked out of their ssroom, there were already many students who saw Jon and them, and their eyes showed curiosity. But after seeing the cold-faced Rosier, a group of students who had the guts toe up and strike up a conversation also avoided it with unhappy looks on their faces, showing that this witch has a lot of respect in the hearts of these students. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 267: Portrait Chapter 267: Portrait The Hogwarts students for now brought to the castle''s Great Hall. The hall was simply prepared for them, and it looked like Durmstrang had been prepared to pick them up well ahead of time. Rosier did not restrict their freedom but most students were still a little nervous about being in unfamiliar surroundings and none of them was in the mood to walk around and stroll through this castle. Jon, however, was curious about every wizarding school, and he mentioned to Rosier his wish to take a look around the school. In response, the Durmstrang deputy headmistress did not refuse, just asked Jon if he needed a guide. Jon declined her kindness, did not intend to follow a guide and wanted to follow his own interests, in turn, Hermione also did not want to sit in the great hall, so she went outside the Great Hall with Jon. Andpared to when they first arrived here, there are fewer Durmstrang students in the corridor at this time, they seem to be in theirst ss of the afternoon, after this ss is dinner time, a banquet organized in honour of Hogwarts students'' arrival. "Actually, there''s nothing to be curious about this school, even if the customs and cultures are quite different, the three wizarding schools in Europe are basically pretty much the same, what we should really focus on is what they''re learning as we speak." After walking out of the great hall, Jon spoke in a whisper to Hermione as he walked up the stairs with her. "As I told you earlier, Hogwarts Castle used to be an open and equal school before, and it became what it is today only because Voldemort became Headmaster, and the current Headmaster of Durmstrang is also not a normal person, so I am really curious about what kind of different changes he has made to this school." Unlike Jon, Hermione did not know the true identity of the old man referred to as "Headmaster". "The Headmaster of this school. Is he a very famous person?" Even if she is good at learning, only a year or so has passed since she was rescued from Hogwarts castle and brought to the wagon, and she is not yet able to even be aware of the history of the wizarding world fully. Jon shrugged. "Of course. Notoriously, Professor Dumbledore prevented the Headmaster of this school from ruling the world while the current Dark Lord was still attending the school." Hermione''s eyes widened. "Professor Dumbledore and he was in a hostile rtionship?" "The kind that loves and hate each other, I guess." Jon said casually, "They used to have a good rtionship, but then they parted ways due to philosophical disputes, and then after that, the only reason Professor Dumbledore gained so much fame was that he won a duel that decided the future fate of the wizarding world." "So now," Hermione asked hesitantly. Jon said calmly. "From the looks of things, it looks like they''ve made some kind of deal to get back together. But to be honest, if one has known the ambitions of the Headmaster of this school and what he did back then, I don''t think he simply wants to help Professor Dumbledore to defeat the Dark Lord, he should have other ideas of his own, or rekindle the ideals that he had before he was defeated by the Professor." Just as they were talking, they arrived at the corridor on the second floor of the castle, and a portrait of a wizard dressed in a ck robe wearing a wooden mask suddenly shouted. "State your names! Outsiders! This is Durmstrang, and there is no room for you to spill your guts!" He spoke English with a slight Welsh ent, which both Jon and Hermione could understand. They did not ignore the portrait, most of the portraits in the magic castle are actually another manifestation of the people in the painting, that is to say, they have normal human thinking, only most of their behaviour is somewhat exaggerated andical. "Hello sir, we are students visiting from Hogwarts." "Aha! So it''s a spy from Hogwarts!" The masked wizard excitedly started walking back and forth in the picture frame, "What do you want? Still upset about the results of the Triwizard Tournament held in Durmstrang that year? It''s no use! The championship belongs to Durmstrang! You can''t win back the Triwizard Cup!" It was like he was immersed in his own world, and even if Jon just exchanged amon greeting with him that couldn''t be moremon, he coulde up with all kinds of strange and weird responses. "If Luna is here, she''d love to interact with this portrait." Hermione muttered. "The moon! What moon? You''re nning to seize the Triwizard Cup on the night of the full moon, partnering with the werewolves to invade Durmstrang! Surely that''s despicable Hogwarts! I''m going to report this to Grindelwald immediately, oh no! It''s Headmaster Bagshot! We won''t let your tricks seed!" He screamed and ran away from his frame, shouting "Bagshot is the greatest of all Headmasters, he will stop your plot" as he rushed across the other portraits. The people in the other portraits all looked at the impudent masked wizard with annoyance, and then a group of people crowded in a frame and looked at them whispering in anguage that Jon and Hermione did not understand, simr to German. One of the well-dresseddies in that portrait red at the other ones as if embarrassed by their rudeness, and then she said to Jon with an apologetic expression in somewhat rusty English. "I apologize to you for the behaviour of Shackleton, my boy, that''s how he is, having been expelled from Hogwarts and then admitted to Durmstrang, he gets a little jumpy when he hears the name Hogwarts." "That''s okay, ma''am." Jon thought for a moment, "Can I ask you about the sses that are usually required to be taken at Durmstrang?" "It''s certainly not a secret." The noblewoman looked amiable, and said with interest, "Although I have not been to other magic schools, the curriculum of all three European magic schools should not be different, the main courses are basically charms, transfiguration, defence against dark arts, potions, herbology, astronomy, etc., it''s just that Hogwarts'' curriculum has a more bnced focus; I heard that Beauxbatons pays more emphasis on alchemy, while our Durmstrang includes duelling magic in the regr curriculum." That is obviously not the information Jon wanted to know, and he raised an eyebrow and continued to ask. "And besides this?" "Other than this." The noblewoman smiled and said, "Because of our Headmaster Bagshot''s unique hobby, he has made Muggle Studies a major course and apulsory subject for students from the first year onwards, and he even ''invited'' a real Muggle teacher from the Muggle world for this purpose." When she said "invited", her face was visibly embarrassed. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 268: Where Are the Hogwarts Guests? Chapter 268: Where Are the Hogwarts Guests? Jon and Hermione could hear that this so-called invited muggle teacher certainly did not voluntarilye here to be the professor himself. But a wizard, especially one of Grindelwald''s level, has many ways to get a muggle to "volunteer" to teach at a wizarding school if they want to. This sounded a bit surprising, but it''s not that important information, but Jon confirmed some of his inner suspicions. Grindelwald''seback is definitely not just to help Dumbledore, and he definitely has the idea of trying to achieve certain goals on his own, otherwise, he wouldn''t have chosen to return to Durmstrang to be the Headmaster, and he wouldn''t have emphasized the importance of the Muggle Studies ss at the school. In the second-floor stairway where Jon was talking to these portraits, a footstep sounded from somewhere above them. And simultaneously with the sound of footsteps, there are several boys talking sounds, but their conversations are not in English, so Jon and Hermione couldn''t understand what they are talking about. Soon, those boys came to this corner of the second floor and saw Jon and Hermione together. A total of three boys, all look tall and big, apparently older than Jon and Hermione, all holding a flying broom as tall as they are. The boys had a curious look in their eyes, and one of them greeted them, but it was obviously a Germannguage, which Jon could not understand. Luckily, the kind noblewoman briefed Jon and Hermione on what that boy has said, and the boys looked at Jon and Hermione with an expression of understanding. "Greetings, guests of Hogwarts, my name is. Viktor Krum." Of the three, the most athletic boy with short, lean hair greeted them in extremely rusty English. It was just when he greeted, his eyes unconsciously went towards Hermione and somewhat ignored Jon in contrast. Hermione noticed his behaviour and couldn''t help but wrinkle her tiny nose, then took a half step back and moved closer to Jon''s side. Jon rather paid attention to his name. Viktor Krum, a champion of the Durmstrang School in the original Triwizard Tournament, and a star Quidditch yer. It just, if Jon remembered correctly, his grandfather seemed to have been killed by Grindelwald, and he himself had shown an aversion to Grindelwald. Well, now the Headmaster of the Durmstrang is Grindelwald. It seems he has little choice, even if there is a deep hatred, he can not directly rebel, right? "Hello." Jon smiled and also greeted them, drawing his gaze from Hermione to himself. "We''re exploring Durmstrang Castle, are you guys going to y Quidditch?" The three boys looked at each other, and Krum suddenly opened his mouth and said something to his other two ssmates who didn''t know what to say, and then his two mates nodded to Jon and Hermione as a greeting and left downstairs. "Today there is Quidditch practice. Scheduled. It''s not. Important activity," Krum said, showing a very hospitable attitude, "but since you''re guests of Hogwarts. I can show you some around the castle." His English is not quite perfect, it''s like a foreigner speaking not proficient English. And even when he was saying this, his eyes could not help but sneak a nce at Hermione, until Hermione red at him directly and fiercely, he panicked and pretended to be serious again. "My name is Jon Green and this is Hermione Granger, I''m d you could show us around." Jon didn''t care about the adolescent boy''s awkwardness; he is curious about this Durmstrang under Grindelwald''s control, and a student who obviously doesn''t like Grindelwald or even has a grudge against him would be just the right person to talk to. They walked along the second floor of the corridor, Krum as if he wanted to show himself in front of Hermione, took the initiative to find the topic, babbling something in English that would make people creepy, and introduced them to the ssrooms and history of Durmstrang. The exchange could not be one-way, and as he introduced Durmstrang to Jon and Hermione, he naturally learned from Jon how they hade to the school. Jon did not exin too much about this, only mentioning that it was the Headmaster of Durmstrang who saved them from the Death Eaters'' pursuit. He could obviously see when he mentioned the "Headmaster", Krum''s face couldn''t help but stiffen for a moment. This was enough to prove that the information in Jon''s mind about the boy had been correct and that he certainly wasn''t on good terms with his Headmaster. "You are absolutely safe if youe to Durmstrang. We are allies with Hogwarts led by Dumbledore. Read the newspaper about how Dumbledore had a good battle in France, defeating that Dark Lord in a duel and bringing a great reversal in the situation." Krum usually pays attention to some highlighted news in the newspapers, Northern Europe naturally will not hide what happened on the battlefield in France in the coverage, as a joint partner of Dumbledore, a part of the witching horizon, the defeat of Voldemort is certainly something to be greatly publicized. "So those people under the Dark Lord must be wanting to capture you guys as a hostage. But don''t worry, they surely won''t dare toe over while you are here." Krum patted his chest while saying that he also nced at Hermione as if he could give them a sense of security on his own. Just as they continued to walk ahead, a cold voice suddenly sounded behind them. "What is the fifth school rule of Durmstrang." When Jon heard the voice, he flinched, Hermione turned her head in confusion, and Krum froze. He took a deep breath, so as to ease his emotions, and then turned around with his head down, and did not even dare to look up at the man. "Be, be respectful to the faculty, sir." Grindelwald''s gaze was a kind of indifference, it was not that he had any special emotion towards Krum, but he looked at anyone with such an expression, under normal circumstances. "Then what are you doing here now?" Krum showed bewilderment, Jon could even feel his aggravation, Grindelwald''s words were like a deliberate attempt to find fault with him. He gathered up a great deal of courage before he spoke. "I''m, showing Hogwarts'' guests around the school, Sir Headmaster." "A guest from Hogwarts?" The corners of Grindelwald''s mouth curled up in an odd curve. Then, in a t tone, he uttered a sentence that directly made Jon, Hermione, and Krum freeze in ce! "He is your professor, the professor of Durmstrang Transfiguration ss, where is the guest from Hogwarts." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 269: Straightforward and affirmative Chapter 269: Straightforward and affirmative "Professor?" Krum looked at Jon incredulously. "If he''s a professor of Transfiguration ss, then what about Professor Johnson." "If I want to recruit two professors for the Transfiguration ss, do I need to apply to you?" Grindelwald''s voice was t, but it was this t tone that made Krum''s whole body shiver in fear. He is muscr, but not some dunderhead, and knows that this Headmaster in front of him doesn''t have much patience left now. "I admit the punishment, Sir Headmaster, I''ll go to the confinement room for detention now!" He bowed his head and confessed his mistake with an iparably sincere attitude, without any half-heartedness. In response, Grindelwald did not express any more of his attitude, and Krum then gave a final bow and walked quickly in the direction of the confinement room with hurried steps. Unlike Krum''s fear in the face of Grindelwald''s high-handedness, although Jon had scruples in his heart towards this former dark lord, there was no fear to speak of. After all, since Dumbledore dared to hand over the Hogwarts students'' safety to him with confidence, it proved that he would not harm them at least. But regarding Grindelwald''s words just now, Jon got a headache. In the beginning, he did not react to how the identity of a fake professor still needs to be validated in the real Durmstrang, butter on, he seems to have figured something out. After dealing with Krum, Grindelwald did not stay in ce to talk to Jon about the meaning of it and walked straight in the direction of the stairs. Jon was in no mood to stroll around the castle, so he quickly followed Grindelwald and asked cautiously "Sir, can I know what kind of arrangement did Professor Dumbledore made with you?" Faced with Jon''s question, Grindelwald did not talk as briefly as he did before, it''s just that even while answering Jon''s question, he did not stop and still continued to walk forward. "After what happened today, your voyage will end here, next you and your students will be temporarily settled in Durmstrang until the situation in France ispletely divided, and then whether to teach you guys independently at Hogwarts again will be considered." Jon''s face showed a look of confusion. "But we still have onest stop, we still haven''t visited the one at the North Pole?" "If Voldemort had shown up to see me today, then I would have gone to that ce, only it wouldn''t have been you guys who went there, and since he didn''t show up today, there''s no point in going to the North Pole." That is a name that has been long absent in the magical world, but Grindelwald just called it out without any avoidance. Jon did not feel any surprise, even if the current Voldemort may be a little stronger than Grindelwald, but it is not that much stronger, the wizard of the same level will not feel intimidated just by a name. His words are also considered to give Jon an answer to some doubts. At the surface of the sea, Jon could feel that as long as Grindelwald wanted to, he could havepletely prevented Rodolphus and the others from escaping, and all the Death Eaters who were there could have been left there, but he seemed to be deliberately trying to let them go. It is probably to ce the bait out to catch the big fish Voldemort, but unfortunately, Voldemort did not appear until the end. Since he did not dare to risk meeting Grindelwald there, it also means that thest remaining location in the Arctic is not too important for him, or he already had sent Death Eaters in advance to take away the important things there. Then, for safety considerations, interrupting thest part of Hogwarts'' voyage is also a matter of course. Anyway, as long as the location is known, then if you still want to investigate, there is always time to send others over; under the circumstances that Voldemort has discovered them, it is not worth letting Jon and a group of children take the risk anymore. But Grindelwald''s words were obviously problematic, although they seemed to be lightly mentioned, Jon still perceived the implications in them. What do you mean by saying that these students of yours will be settled in Durmstrang for the time being? He would not be a student of Hogwarts? Jon then opened his mouth and asked tentatively. "Sir, I actually didn''t quite understand what you said to Krum about me being a professor of Transfiguration at Durmstrang just now. Isn''t that just an identity that I assumed before?" As he asked this question, Grindelwald suddenly stopped in his tracks. He turned his head to look at Jon, and Jon didn''t avoid meeting his gaze either. But those eyes, which seemed like they would always remain sharp and cold, did not seem so piercing at this time but instead gave Jon a kind of... The illusion of gentleness. "Today at sea, was it your first time killing someone with the killing curse?" Grindelwald asked a question that seemed irrelevant to what they were discussing. Hermione looked at Jon in shock; none of the Hogwarts students knew exactly what kind of battle had taken ce between Jon and the Death Eaters while they were away. Jon didn''t evade the question and smiled in response. "It''s the first time I''ve used it on a human." "It was pretty well done." It is extremely rare, if Rosier and those old people were here, it would be sufficient to drop their jaws, apliment came from Grindelwald. "Even when I was your age, I hadn''t exposed myself to the sphere of the Unforgivable Curses in the dark magic, let alone sessfully learning it." "That ship disguised as Durmstrang and the identities of the other students are, of course, false, and I wouldn''t bother admitting it even if Dumbledore wanted to, but your identity as a professor of Transfiguration is not something that you can just simply take it if you want and leave it if you don''t need it." Grindelwald''s words were calm, yet they revealed a hint of an unquestionable tone. "Since Dumbledore let you bear the title under my name, it is not that easy to remove, in the future you will be here in the school together with Johnson as a professor of Transfiguration. Of course, although you are talented, your level is indeed still somewhatcking, in the future, if you have any questions on magic you can always visit me." After saying that, he left without looking back, leaving only Jon and Hermione who had beenpletely frozen in ce. It was as if they had been under a full body-bind curse and did not move for ten seconds or so before Hermione turned her head to Jon with a strange look on her face. "He wants to snatch you away from Hogwarts and bring you to Durmstrang?" After digesting the information with difficulty, Jon fell silent. He was tempted to analyse Grindelwald''s words from other angles, that there was actually another meaning in them, but all the reasons seemed to pale inparison to reality no matter what. Grindelwald is not even half a euphemism as Dumbledore, he is very straightforward, and certainly, wants to steal people from Dumbledore! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 270: How to refuse? Chapter 270: How to refuse? Even though he had returned to the great hall, Jon was still caught up in a bout of self-doubt. He certainly will not be doubting his own ability or anything, instead of letting the uninformed people doubt that he is actually being self-absorbed now, let''s quickly think whether he has reached the point of being this sought after? The so-called let him stay in Durmstrang as a professor is actually simply trying to get him to move to a different foyer and jump ship from Hogwarts. The first thing Jon thought about when he came back to his senses was not whether he was okay with it or not, but whether this matter was Grindelwald''s own intention or the result of his discussion with Dumbledore? In the next second, this question arose; he reached a positive answer to himself. It is absolutely unlikely that Dumbledore would discuss this matter without consulting him, it must have been decided without consent, and this must be Grindelwald''s own decision. Then Jon began to think about the second problem. How should he refuse it? To be honest, despite theck of details, the conditions given by Grindelwald in his words just now were already generous enough. It was almost as if he was nning to teach Jon personally and take him as a student. It is not the ordinary kind of teacher-student rtionship, but more like the kind that had a teacher-apprentice legacy back in the day. Grindelwald''s ability is unquestionable, and his power is recognized by everyone in the magicalmunity, if he is chosen to be his teacher, Jon can definitely learn a lot. But Jon never considered staying in Durmstrang from the beginning to the end. It''s not like he''s some two-bit person who''s been at Hogwarts long enough and feels ready to move on to something better when he''s done. Jon will always remember if that summer, Lily did not timely intercept him in the orphanage from the hands of Barty Jr, then he may still be in Hogwarts Castle today as a ve, how could he have achieved what he has now? What''s more, if ording to the legacy of the teacher-apprentice rtionship, he already has a teacher, even if Slughorn now has no way to teach him something, but this rtionship between teacher and student, Jon will never take the initiative to break off, even if Slughorn may not mind him finding another teacher for himself. It''s one thing not to mind, and it''s another thing to do it yourself. But Grindelwald is also obviously not such a nice guy to talk to, the old man who once almost literally ruled the European magical world has an unquestionable overbearing temperament. He didn''t just talk to Jon in a discussing tone, it was more like a personnel appointment, and such an appointment Jon didn''t seem to have the power to choose. This undoubtedly gave Jon a headache, even in the morning in the face of those Death Eaters, it did not give him such a headache. When he got back to the Great Hall, the Hogwarts students were sitting at the long table that Rosier had arranged for them to chat, not knowing yet that they would be staying in this school for some time toe, and wereparing the differences between Durmstrang and Hogwarts. "We''re going to be here for a while, the voyage that follows has been temporarily cancelled and Durmstrang will be recing Professor McGonagall and the others, teaching us about magic until the situation on Professor Dumbledore''s side in France is stabilized." Jon did not conceal and told the situation they would be facingter. To this Neville and the others expressed their surprise. "Why aren''t we going to the North Pole now?" "ording to what Durmstrang Headmaster said, there is no point for us going there now." When Jon said this, he seemed like he was thinking about something, except that Neville and the others were so engrossed in the news of staying at this school that they didn''t notice it. George asked worriedly. "But I don''t think they use English to teach in this castle, do they? We''d have anguage barrier." Jon shook his head. "Since Durmstrang has already epted us staying, then in these matters, they must have made their arrangements, teaching matters certainly do not need us to worry, we should now think about how to get in touch with Professor Dumbledore once, to hear what he has to say." Jon is consciously aware that he cannot reject Grindelwald''s will, this matter still needs Dumbledore toe forward to solve. Hogwarts students have begun to discuss the matter of staying in Durmstrang. They have nothing against this idea, from October before Halloween on the sea, to now February, four months have passed, they have long spent enough time at sea, and now they can return to thend and still stay in a wizarding school that is famous as Hogwarts, for them, it is a very novel thing. To put it bluntly, although they have been using the name of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that is led by Dumbledore, in fact, these students have never attended sses in a proper fixed ce, a stable ce for teaching and living, it is a luxury for them. And now even if this is someone else''s school, they finally have a ce to stay, and what makes people happier is that they should be able to take flying ss here, right? While the Hogwarts students were talking about this, a somewhat chaotic sound of footsteps began to sound outside the Great Hall. The students of Durmstrang entered through the door, and it was alreadypletely dark outside, because this wizarding school is located in the northernmost part of Europe, the day is very short in winter, and the sun disappears in the sky early. The students had obviously finished their sses for the day, and they walked into the Great Hall talking to each other while casting curious nces at the Hogwarts students. Along with the students, the professors of Durmstrang entered the great hall. The team of faculty is much more luxurious than Hogwarts in exile, in addition to the Rosier they met at the beginning as well as the Johnson and the tall, thin male wizard who greeted them at the castle door, there were about seven or eight more professors who arrived at the long table on the high tform. Only, they just walked up to the chairs, but none of them had any intention of sitting down. Among these people, Jon instantly saw a man who appeared out of ce with the others, dressed in an extremely modern suit. This should be one that the portrait of the noblewoman mentioned to them, a Muggle Studies professor "invited" by Grindelwald personally. He is chatting with a female professor beside him, and from the asional smile, you can see they are having a good time. Well, what''s that saying? Since you can''t resist, you might as well enjoy it with all your heart, and I guess this Muggle Studies Professor is now in such a state of mind. And just as Jon was observing the Durmstrang professors, Grindelwald also walked into the great hall, and under the respectful eyes of all, he sat down on the main seat in the middle of the high tform. After he was seated, the other students and the faculty of Durmstrang sat down together. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 271: The New Transfiguration Professor (2 in 1) Chapter 271: The New Transfiguration Professor (2 in 1) "As you can see, tonight Durmstrang will wee a new group of guests." Without unnecessary courtesies, Grindelwald directly began the main topic of the evening. "All of them are students from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is being led by Dumbledore, their professors are fighting on the front lines of France to uphold justice for all wizards, and for the sake of their safety, they are temporarily allowed to board with us." "I expect you to be polite and friendly with our guests, after all, Durmstrang educates a group of brilliant wizards, not a group of uncivilized barbarians." He spoke with a high volume, enough for the entire great hall to hear him even without the Amplifying Charm. The Durmstrang students are obviously very rule-oriented, no one dares to talk to each other below while their Headmaster is speaking, everyone is sitting upright, and even the youngest first years are sitting with their backs straight, which shows a great difference from Hogwarts. "Dinner can be served." After seeing that he did not intend to speak directly in front of all the students in the great hall about appointing him as a Professor of Transfiguration, Jon let out a long sigh of relief. If it is truly announced in front of such arge audience, then Jon really does not know what to do, anyway, he could not reject Grindelwald in front of the public, without giving him a little honour. It is estimated without even having to wait for Grindelwald to get angry, the row of Professors sitting on the high tform, more than half of them would stand up and shine a green light at him. After Grindelwald''s words subsided, all kinds of food appeared on each long table. As if to take care of Jon and them, at the table where the Hogwarts students are, there are a lot of apparently fish and potatoes kind of British speciality "food". However, the Hogwarts students did not want to touch those hometowns'' food but only picked up some Munich sausages, German-style roast pork knuckles and other food. After the meal, the atmosphere in the great hall rxed a lot, and there were even some bold Durmstrang students havee to the long table at which the Hogwarts students are seated. "Hello, my name is Diane Rosier." A tall girl with blonde hair, who looked about the same age as George, Fred and the others, introduced herself. She spoke fluent English and behaved politely, and hearing the family name Rosier, they could actually tell that she should be rted to the deputy headmistress of this school by blood and is a Frenchman. "May I sit here?" She looked over to the empty seat next to Lee Jordan, Lee was ungentlemanly feasting on the pork knuckle that he had just half snatched from George, they were not short of food at Hogwarts, but it wasn''t that good, and a big meal like tonight''s was something you could only touch at the usual Christmas dinner. "Oh, sure, be my guest." Only at this moment did Lee divert some attention from the pork knuckle, seeing that the visitor is a gorgeous girl, his movements began to be civilized again, with two light coughs, wiping the corner of his mouth that was full of oil with a napkin on the side. It was not that Lee fell in love with this girl, but they are, after all, guests visiting Durmstrang, in other people''s schools it is always necessary to pay attention to the honour of Hogwarts as Hogwarts students. Diane sat down in a seat next to Lee, George, Fred, and a few other students in the fifth year. She obviously chose this ce intentionally, in her eyes these Hogwarts students who are not led by their Professors, must be led by one of the older students. The girl from Durmstrang didn''t have any ulterior motives, she was just a little curious about these Hogwarts students like Jon and them. Not only her but in fact, the majority of Durmstrang students are also curious about these students who have been in a run. They have more or less seen some news from Britain over the years, and in the newspapers, the Hogwarts wagon is naturally wanted by the Ministry of Magic, always on the hunt. Compared to the Hogwarts students who yearn for thefort of campus life, the Durmstrang students are more interested in hearing from them about the adventures on the run. But this is after all a Northern European wizarding school, the students who can speak English are inherently few and far between, and the students with outgoing personalities among that few are even less, so only a handful of them are willing toe over tonight tomunicate. Diane is unique among them, shees from a French pureblood family, because of the familyposition issues, she is fluent in English, French and German, and she is also the Head girl of the girls in Durmstrang, so there is no problem with the personality and speech, which made her the first person to contact Hogwarts students. "How did youe to Durmstrang? Did Sir Headmaster send a team to pick you up from France?" She asked with great interest as soon as she sat down. George shrugged his shoulders and said. "No, we left Britain just before Halloweenst year, sailed along the North Sea to the Norwegian Sea for almost three or four months, and then were picked up by the professors from Durmstrang just today." It wasn''t some secret to be kept regarding their trip. Long before this dinner party began, George and the others had got together and discussed with Jon, making it clear what things could be said and what things should be kept to themselves, and not to be disclosed easily unless they are specifically asked. "North Sea to the Norwegian Sea? Did youe by ship?" Diane opened her mouth and asked next. "Yes, we stayed on the ship all this time and didn''t go anywhere." Fred said, while pushing a grilled fish away with disgust, due to the reason of holding quite a few fishing tournaments and the spoils entering everyone''s stomach, now basically every student at Hogwarts probably won''t be interested in fish and shrimp kind of food for a short time. "Don''tin, at least in the North Sea, you and Jon walked off the ship together to Azkaban Ind for a stroll, we are the ones who have been staying on the ship without going down." A girl in the same year named yained. Hearing her words, Fred''s face began to turn into a frown. "Hey, don''t say that, there''s really nothing to hang out on that prison ind. But you know, it was an exciting fight back then... I took down two British Aurors! And stormed into Azkaban Prison and went toe-to-toe with those Dementors!" He was obviously showing off this to Diane, who just sat here, and without disappointing him, Diane did show a look of surprise and interest. "You took down two Aurors all by yourself? And still managed to defeat the Dementors?" Fred reaped what he wanted, he coughed lightly, pretending not to care and waved his hand. "Can''t exactly call it a one-man effort, with a third-year student around to help out a lot." While he was saying that, he also kept winking at George, Lee and the others, and the fifth-year students were all holding back theirughter, and Fred was actually not lying, the third-year student had indeed contributed the most. But Diane does not understand the inner story of this, the third-year students in Durmstrang only just managed to master the stunning spell and general counter kind of spells, not dragging the feet in the face of Auror is considered quite good, so she just assumed that Fred was being modest. Just when she looked at Fred with an impressed expression, thinking he is the leader of these students at Hogwarts, a childish voice unmercifully demolished Fred''s pretence. "Liar! Nick told me that those two guys were mostly subdued by Jon, and you just helped provide backup on the side!" Being a ghost, Gabrielle naturally could not enjoy the meal tonight, she didn''t even know whether she could taste it, do it had been a long time since she had tasted human food, she sadly floated on the table for a long while, and after being consoled by Jon, she saw George sitting down with a Durmstrang student, so she curiously floated over. Then she heard Fred''s "grand speech", to which, of course, the fair Gabrielle will not let people hog Jon''s merit. Fred looked helpless and spread his hands. "I''m not lying, didn''t you hear me? I specifically said it was Jon who put in a lot of effort." Gabrielle crossed her arms in front of her body and looked at Fred with a sceptical expression, although she is not that old, she is not some little girl who can just be fooled. Diane, however, was somewhat bewildered and did not catch the conversation between them, and it was indeed that no normal person would even think that a third-year student had defeated two Aurors. "Jon is he. Third-year student?" "Hey, we don''t usually think of him as a third-year, he''s our captain, Captain Green." Fred said with a smile. The joke just now was purely a rpse of his nature and did not mean to covet Jon''s merit. He pointed toward Jon, who was splitting a steak on his te not far away, frowning and thinking about how exactly to refuse Grindelwald''s invitation. "See? That''s him." Jon''s looks are distinctive, good-looking, with soft but tough features, but it''s precisely because he''s handsome that he gives off the impression that he can live off his face like former Lockhart, and that his magical talent might just be so-so. The most crucial thing is that he is only fourteen years old this year, at this time at most he is regarded as a teenager, among all the students of Hogwarts, both big and small, he is not particrlypelling. Jon didn''t care what Fred and the others are messing around over there, he didn''t rx too much just because Grindelwald didn''t announce his appointment as Professor of Transfiguration at the beginning of the dinner. Even if it is the first time he had met him today, Jon had always known that Grindelwald is not a good wizard like Dumbledore. Although he is not crazy to the extent of Voldemort, he was once also known for evil and can be said to bepletely indifferent to the weak and worthless people''s lives. Jon, with his reasoning and whatnot, had the good sense to know that even if Grindelwald had some appreciation for him, he is not in a position to make a demand or refusal now, not to mention that this matter itself is still good for him. And just as the dinner had reached the end, Grindelwald, sitting in the main seat, pped his hands, and the whole great hall instantly fell silent. "The time is alreadyte, everyone, before ending this dinner today, I have onest announcement to make." His calm voice spread to every corner of the great hall, and at this moment, a bad premonition rose in Jon''s heart. "In addition to weing Hogwarts students to Durmstrang tonight, I''ve found a new Professor of Transfiguration to share the pressure of Professor Spence Johnson from his usual overwhelming workload. Jon Green, starting tomorrow, will be the new Transfiguration professor, and I will make specific arrangements afterwards regarding which grades he will be responsible for." Hearing Grindelwald''s words, the Durmstrang students in the great hall showed a puzzled expression, not understanding why a new Transfiguration professor should be brought to them at this time, but there was no bigmotion, except that they were all looking left and right to find out who the professor named "Jon Green" is. In the raised seats of professors, these professors, including Johnson, whose position was divided up, all looked a little strange but not surprised, apparently, they had already known the news in advance during the dinner just now. The long table where Hogwarts students were seated, all looked nk, the announcement made by Grindelwald was not in English, and they did not understand what he meant, only the Durmstrang girl sitting at the long table looked at Jon with disbelief. Jon had a headache, he also could not understand Grindelwald''s words, but that did not mean he could not guess what this old man had announced, he rubbed his temples, knowing that he could not avoid it today no matter what. "Won''t you stand up and acquaint yourself with everyone? Mr Green." Grindelwald looked in the direction of the Hogwarts long table, this time he spoke in English. Following his gaze, the eyes of all the students in the entire great hall had all focused on him, only after seeing all these students from Hogwarts, they were even more puzzled because no adult wizards were sitting at this long table. The students of Hogwarts finally figured out that what is going on in the great hall is rted to Jon, and they all looked at Jon in bewilderment, except Hermione, no one understood why Grindelwald would mention his name in public. Under the spotlight, Jon calmed down and rxed with a sigh instead. He stood up from his seat with a vacant look on his face and looked at Grindelwald. "Is this thing truly couldn''t be discussed with Professor Dumbledore before making a decision?" Grindelwald at this time actually showed a sh of an unobtrusive smile. "Of course, I will inform him, with my rtionship with him for so many years, would I snatch his student?" All the students in the great hall, whether it is Durmstrang''s or Hogwarts'', looked at each other, they somewhat did not understand the conversation between the two. Are you snatching or not, don''t you know that in your heart? Jon secretly rolled his eyes in his mind, and at the same time could not help butment. Professor Dumbledore, if you don''t do something, your students will be abducted! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 272: Jon Green is crowned! Chapter 272: Jon Green is crowned! The dinner was over, and Grindelwald and Durmstrang''s professors had left the great hall, while the rest of the students were walking towards the door one after another. Only their walking movements were abrasive, and as they moved forward, they couldn''t help but look back, not at anyone else, but at their newest young Professor of Transfiguration who was appointed today. Jon didn''t get up, he was propping his face up with one hand, fiddling with the silver fork in his hand in one way or another, as if he was struggling with something. The Hogwarts students didn''t leave either, they were in the process of learning from Diane what exactly Grindelwald had just announced. "G, Professor Green." Diane did not exin much to the others but carefully addressed the boy, who is three years younger than her. Even if someone might have doubts due to Jon''s age, no one dared to go against Grindelwald''s decision. As long as the Headmaster of this school is willing, he can even let a house elf be a Professor of Transfiguration, and all the students will have to be respectful to that house elf. Hearing the girl, who is half a head taller than himself, address himself like this, Jon felt out of ce listening to it, and he wrinkled his face. "Just call me Jon, no need to call me Professor Green." Diane, however, shook her head firmly. "This is a school rule, students can''t call the Professor by his name, or they would be punished by being sent to confinement." Jon was at his wits'' end, he hadpletely lost his swing. "Then call me whatever you want." And it was at this time that the Hogwarts students learned from Hermione how Jon had gone from Captain Green to Professor Green. "Cool!" George patted Jon''s shoulder hard as he eximed in admiration. "Professor Green! That''s so cool Jon! You must be the youngest wizard school professor in the history of the magical world!" Fred and Lee both were also excited like it was they themselves who are going to be Professor, gesticting and pretending to be doormen yelling. "Standing before you is! Great student leader! The valiant captain of Hogwarts! The youngest professor of Durmstrang! The crowned Jon Green!" Gabrielle also cheered in mid-air in fear that the world would not know. "Crowned Jon Green! Crowned Jon Green!" The other Hogwarts students, Neville, Ron, Justin, Lavender, Hanton, and so on, also looked with proud expressions, after all, a Hogwarts student became a Professor in Durmstrang, this is indeed a proud thing. Jon looked at them with a helpless look. "What are you guys so happy about? Wanting me to leave Hogwarts and join Durmstrang so badly, is that it?" His words instantly calmed everyone down, and Neville looked at Jon nervously. "What do you mean by leaving Hogwarts?" Jon said breathlessly. "It means literally, can''t you see? This Headmaster is trying to make me a Professor at Durmstrang, so I don''t have to go back to Hogwarts to attend school, by making me a member of this school." Diane, who was on the side, corrected seriously. "You''re already our professor now, Professor Green, and since Sir Headmaster said so, that''s something that can''t be changed." This time the Hogwarts students couldn''t be happy any longer. Their faces, which were still excited, now slumped along with Jon''s. "That won''t work! Jon is a student of Hogwarts, and without Professor Dumbledore''s consent, you guys have no authority to take him away!" Fred said angrily. Diane said as she spread her hands. "That''s not up to me or you, it''s still up to Sir Headmaster, and Sir Headmaster already stated that he would inform Dumbledore." Jon finally put the silver fork back on the long table, the fork as soon as it touched the long table disappeared, probably because a house elf in the kitchen has long been staring at him to see when he will return the fork. "Take it easy guys." Heforted Fred and them, then looked at Diane, "Can you show me the way to the Headmaster''s office please?" For this request of his, Diane certainly had nothing to refuse. The Hogwarts student amodation had been arranged just before the dinner started, and now a special Durmstrang prefect took them there, so there was no need for Jon to make any further arrangements for the others, and he directly followed Diane in the direction of the Headmaster''s office. On the way, Diane couldn''t help but look at this boy, who is obviously three years younger than her and couldn''t help but ask before they reached the halfway point "Why did our Headmaster appoint you to be our professor?" "That would be a question to ask your Headmaster in person." Jon didn''t hide his stance, "To be honest, there must be many of you who have doubts about me bing a Professor, and I actually don''t want to, but you should be able to see that I can''t express my opinion on this matter at all." Diane nodded at first, then quickly shook her head again. "As long as it''s an order from Sir Headmaster, no student in the school will question it." "Not daring to question it with your mouth and doubting it in your heart are two different things." As they spoke, they had arrived at the door of one of the rooms on the fourth floor of the castle, and it was here where Diane stopped leading Jon. "I can only take you here, the curfew will start soon in the castle, and students are not allowed to be outside at that time, I have to get back before that." "Thank you very much for your help." Jon thanked her for her help and then watched as the girl trotted off through the corridor. He stood alone in front of the door and had just taken a deep breath to knock on the door, when the door, which had been closed, suddenly opened by itself. Jon hesitated for a second, and then he reached out and pushed the door openpletely. This is a veryrge office, the entire room is cylindrical, with towering bookshelves ced around the walls, the top of the shelves have been up to more than five meters high to the ceiling, the bookshelves are filled with books densely packed, giving a sense of total oppression. The room was not bright, and a familiar light to Jon, a whitish green light filled everywhere, and as soon as he entered the door, he saw a bird with golden red feathers standing on the desk. Fawkes! Fawkes also saw Jon, and he swung his wings and glided down to Jon''s shoulder. Then a more familiar and unmistakable voice sounded from the direction of the firece. "I''m asked you to protect my students, Gellert, ''protect'', I don''t think you have any other weird understanding of this word, right?" Jon looked in the direction of the firece, the green fire formed the face of a man, it is Dumbledore! His voice was calm, but in these calm words, anyone can hear the meaning of raising me. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 273: Win-Win! (2 in 1) Chapter 273: Win-Win! (2 in 1) "My English is very good, and certainly my understanding of the word ''protect'' is not even a little off. It is because of this that I am saying that letting Green stay at my side as a Professor is the greatest protection for him." Grindelwald''s voice was t, he casually picked up a cup of tea on the desk and took a light sip. At the same time on the opposite side of him, a chair suddenly slid out, like a skater on the ice skating rink, with a beautiful rotation, it came to Jon''s side. Fawkes had jumped on Jon''s head, the haughty phoenix acted like Hagrid''s Beech and was very much fond of using his hair as a temporary base. Jon sat down carefully in the chair and listened to the conversation, which could be considered a meeting between two of the top names in the wizarding world. Dumbledore in the firece also saw Jon entering, and he shed a smile, giving him a small nod of greeting. "He''s very talented, as you are well aware, and I also became well aware of that when I saw him fighting those Death Eaters during the day. Are you sure you can guarantee his safety if he stays with you, consistently at the forefront of the battlefield?" Grindelwald said slowly. "Especially when he has also done something like that, what would happen when that student of yours learns his identity from the mouth of the men who fought him today, do you think he will hate him as much as he hates you?" Dumbledore was notpelled by Grindelwald''s sophistry. "Well, maybe you''re right about all that, you''re trying to protect him better by keeping him in Durmstrang, that''s fine with me, Jon - he has done enough, I do think a safe environment is what he deserves. But what does that have to do with the fact that you want him to be a Professor of Transfiguration? Won''t he, as a Hogwarts student, be able to live temporarily in Durmstrang?" Grindelwald put down his cup of tea and said in a loud voice. "Of course not. With a talent of his, what would he learn by staying with other third years and taking sses with them? He needs special teaching, Albus, this school except me, no one else can fully develop his talent, do you think I will teach him everything without anypensation?" Dumbledore sounded like he was being sarcastic and joking. "Oh, you are that stingy." In response, Grindelwald snorted in disdain. "So, here''s the thing. To not waste his talent, I will have to teach him something, but because of my stinginess and the fact that I won''t teach someone for nothing, not to mention that this one has already taken one of my things, is it an unreasonable request for him toe to my school as a Professor and help my future students shine?" His words, obviously seem like a rogue speech, but what he said seemed reasonable, and the tone was full of unquestionable rhetorical questions and statements, like blocking all the words of rebuttal from Dumbledore. Dumbledore, however, did not bother to look at Grindelwald but shifted his gaze to Jon. "The British Ministry of Magic has established a Centaur liaison office for hundreds of years, but during all this time no Centaur has ever walked through the doors of the Ministry of Magic tomunicate with the wizards, because the so-called liaison office is just wishful thinking of the wizards who feel that they are just trying to make contact and create a better rtionship between the two parties. What you are saying is just what you think, Gellert, I actually don''t mind about you trying to poach Jon from me, what I do mind is whether you respect the boy''s own ideas or not. Has he ever told you what he thinks?" Grindelwald leaned back in his chair as he too looked at Jon, his gaze not pushy or threatening, but calm with some interest in it. When the choice was thrown to Jon, then in front of himself and Dumbledore, how would he choose? When Jon heard Dumbledore''s words, he had be somewhat confused. How can I make a choice when I''ve already been pushed into the vortex? You two can''te up with a decision, so do you want me to make a decision? "Do not feel embarrassed, say the truest thoughts of your heart." Dumbledore said softly, "Gellert is not wrong, since he intends to teach you something, it is good for you, and in Durmstrang you can also have the safest learning environment. If you don''t want to stay there, Fawkes is right there with you, and he can bring you back whenever you want, and this old rascal is not as good as he used to be and can''t prevent you from leaving. So there is no problem with any choice you make, I will respect your opinion." In the face of Dumbledore''s debunking, Grindelwald was not bothered, he just picked up the tea that had been refilled at some point and took a sip. Jon rubbed his hands on his thighs, he frowned for a moment, and then tentatively opened his mouth to ask. "I can truly decide whatever I want?" "Of course, I''m not a rotten old man to cheat a child." Dumbledore smiled and winked. Jon took a deep breath, under the eyes of both Grindelwald and Dumbledore, he said in a positive tone. "I don''t want to stay in Durmstrang by myself. Even if Professor Dumbledore said I had done enough, I had no intention of spending time alone in the safety at the back watching my ssmates and Professors head off to battle. My talent maybe my own, but without Hogwarts and Professor Lily, the Jon Green right now would probably be in that castle sweepingvatories and doing dishes for the purebloods!" Dumbledore''s face, which was made of the green hearth fire, did not change its smile after hearing Jon''s speech, only a touch more helplessness and a touch of relief was added. The expression on Grindelwald''s face also has little to no change, although he does not know the background of Jon, but from his performance of the day, it can be seen, his sense of belonging to Hogwarts is strong, so when the power of choice given to Jon, then he is not destined to stay in Durmstrang. Just when it seemed like this matter was about to be concluded in this way, Jon, however, as if he hadn''t finished his sentence, then said. "But, I think, being a student at Hogwarts and a professor at Durmstrang, those two identities aren''t that conflicting, are they?" An awkward smile appeared on his face, the thickness of his skin obviously not yet tempered enough. "It''s not like Durmstrang is in short supply for the position of Professor of Transfiguration, I can learn first by following Headmaster Bagshot, and then return to Hogwarts to continue the struggle for the liberation of Ennd when the situation in France stabilizes, andter if Durmstrang needs me, I will, of course, be obliged to take on the role of Professor." After Jon''s words fell, the Headmaster''s office fell into a burst of silence. Fawkes, who was lying on top of Jon''s head, and wasbing his brightly coloured feathers with his pointed beak, as if he sensed the sudden silence in the atmosphere raised his head to look curiously at what is going on. The jumping green fire did not change back to its normal bright yellow colour, which proves that Dumbledore''s floowork connected to this Headmaster''s office from France had not been interrupted, and the image did indeed remain in a non-static state. Jon at first just feel embarrassed, and after not hearing any semnce of a response, he was tempted to shrink his head into his robes. This may seem like a win-win n that neither dissociates from Hogwarts nor makes Grindelwald disgraced at the same time, but in fact, the only person who really wins is himself. With the title Durmstrang''s Professor, following Grindelwald to learn something, and then returning to Hogwarts, doing so with an empty glove! Just when Jon thought that both Grindelwald and Dumbledore had been shocked by his shamelessness, a burst of unrestrainedughter suddenly rang out in this Headmaster''s office. "Hahahahaha! I''d love to know how you taught him up, Albus. He''s smart, much smarter than you were in your youth!" Instead of receiving the imaginary scolding like "you want to eat on both sides", he was praised, which made Jon, who was already nning to be an ostrich, raise his head again and look nkly at the situation in the Headmaster''s office. Grindelwaldughed, and Dumbledore''s smile became somewhat more helpless. "I agree." Jon froze, and the expression on Dumbledore''s face in the firece showed surprise. They looked at Grindelwald, who had by now curbed his smile, and listened as he repeated what he had just said again, as casually as he could. "You can take the two identities of Hogwarts student and professor of Durmstrang together, and I also will allow you to stay and leave Durmstrang at will." If not for Grindelwald re-emphasized it again, Jon would even have thought it was just his own ears ying tricks on him, and even now he still looked at the old man leaning back in his chair with an incredulous look, and then turned his head to look at Dumbledore. Didn''t you just say that he is stingy, Professor? Dumbledore looked at Grindelwald, the surprise on his face had turned to seriousness as he asked on Jon''s behalf. "What about the price?" Grindelwald yed with his wand in his hand and gave a softugh. "The price? Of course, there is a price, this world has always been fair since he can get more, then likewise he has to pay something, it is up to him to decide whether what he gains and what he pays is worth it or not." He turned his head to look at Jon. "Since you want to have both, I canpletely agree, Durmstrang is not reallycking a professor of Transfiguration as you said, but if you want to follow me to learn something, then after this until you leave from this castle, it is necessary for you toplete whatever goals and tasks I assign to you in the future." The request seemed very simple, so simple that it seemed like it could be agreed upon immediately by most people, but Jon hesitated and stated. "I won''t do something that I am morally against doing." "If I wanted to give you a hard time, I wouldn''t have dyed so long just due to the business with Albus." Grindelwald said tly, "But you should not treat it as a simple promise, if you promise now and then fail toplete tonight''s pledge, I will have a way to take back whatever you have learned from me." For these words of Grindelwald, Dumbledore did not make a sound, he just looked at Jon, because only he himself can make a choice in this matter in the end. After getting Grindelwald''s assurance, Jon did not continue to tangle, since he dared to put forward such a "win-win" solution, he also dares to make this promise. "I promise." Jon''s answer did not exceed Grindelwald''s expectations, he turned his head to look at Dumbledore in the firece. "So, this oue tonight, are you satisfied with it as well?" Dumbledore smiled again. "As I said, I will not interfere with any of Jon''s choices, as long as it is his own will." "Then why are you still here?" Grindelwald unceremoniously gave the expulsion order, "I''ve already handed down the list you had sent over, the supplies needed will be prepared and sent over the day after tomorrow at thetest, and the matter rted to your students has been resolved, so hurry up and disappear from my sight." Dumbledore was not half impatient, the smile on his face remained the same, but the green me in the firece has be increasingly faint, and then quickly disappeared. The Headmaster''s office returned to darkness for a second, followed by a bright yellow fire rekindled in the firece, illuminating everything around. Fawkes, who had been lying on top of Jon''s head, also swung out his wings and disappeared after lighting up with a golden-red light. Now in Durmstrang, as long as Grindelwald is around, then naturally there is no need for Fawkes to stay by Jon and the students'' side all the time, he can go back to France to provide a little more help to the wizards of the Witching Horizons. Grindelwald and Jon were the only two left in the Headmaster''s office. "You can keep the title of Professor, and you don''t have to be responsible for the specific teaching work. As for the third-year sses, you can follow them if you want, and if you don''t want to, the faculty in Durmstrang won''t bother you. Juste and see me tomorrow afternoon, before dinner." After giving Jon a clear exnation about his arrangement, Jon still had no intention of leaving the Headmaster''s office. This could not help but make Grindelwald, who had already bent his head down to read those letters in the office, raised his head again. "Do you have other business?" Jon asked hesitantly. "Sir. You were just talking to Professor Dumbledore that I have something of yours with me?" Grindelwald put down the quill in his hand and looked at Jon. "Dumbledore didn''t say anything to you?" Jon shook his head. "Professor Dumbledore never spoke to me about it." "And yes, it really isn''t something to brag about either." Grindelwald said softly, "Chestnut wood with phoenix tail feather core and fourteen inches, a not badbination." Hearing his words, Jon took out an old wand in his hand with a startled look. He recalled the scene when he had got it in Headmaster Dumbledore''s office on his first day on the Hogwarts wagon. At that time Dumbledore clearly showed a distinctive reminiscence about this wand from other wands. Jon had previously spected that the original owner of this wand might have had a good rtionship with Dumbledore, so its original owner is in fact Grindelwald? ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 274: The Same Wand Chapter 274: The Same Wand "Back then when I travelled to Ennd, I specifically went to Diagon Alley Ollivander to choose a new wand, which is the one you hold in your hand." Grindelwald said indifferently. "It did function very well, I basically seldom used the one I bought at Gregorovitch after I got it untilter I got another wand that worked even better and reced it, and then all three of my wands fell into the hands of Albus." Jon looked at the wand in his hand, he had actually always felt that the wand he is using is even older than the one in the hands of Neville, Ron and others, it just before he did not think in terms of age, simply thought that the previous owner of the wand did not pay much attention to its maintenance. Unexpectedly he got the definitive answer here from Grindelwald today. Now he finally understands why not only Dumbledore, even Aberforth when he saw the wand in his hands showed thatplicated expression, he said he once wanted to break this wand but was prevented by Dumbledore. ording to Grindelwald, this wand is his choice after going to Britain, that is to say, in the dispute and chaos at Dumbledore''s house, this wand likely took the life of Dumbledore and Aberforth''s sister Ariana Dumbledore. "I actually did not expect that this wand, he would actually take it out and give it to a student to use, because it has a different meaning to him." Hearing Grindelwald''s words, Jon shook his head and said. "No, sir, Professor Dumbledore never took this wand out, we choose wands from an old wooden cab in the Hogwarts Headmaster''s office, at that time this wand of yours was ced in the innermost part of the cab, I just happened to see it, and thought it suited me, then picked it up." When he said this Jon shrugged his shoulders, he raised the wand in his hand, and the tip of the wand, which already had obvious signs of wear and tears burst out with a brilliant cluster of silver flowers. "And, of course, it also chose me." Grindelwald looked at the spark that clearly represented the cheerfulness of the wand, and a momentary trance appeared in his eyes. The reason he went to such lengths to poach Jon from Hogwarts over to Durmstrang was not only because he saw Jon''s talent, but there was also another main reason, which is the wand he is holding in his hand. Even if there is a difference in the technique of making a wand, there is a strong connection between a wand and a wizard, and the three European wand-making families are united at this point. Because this is indeed a real thing, in the case of poor adaptability, some wizards even if they are strong, have no way to disy their magic to their full potential with such a wand, it is due to ack ofpatibility. And while a wand may be used by several different wizards, it is rarely perfectly suited to two wizards. It is believed that if such a thing happens, there must be some simrity between the two wizards. Simr to a wand with the same core, it is rare for a wizard to get a wand with the same core and the same origin as another wand, which in itself represents an identical choice. Now this wand once used by Grindelwald is perfectly adapted to Jon, which represents an implication, not only to Grindelwald, but even Dumbledore in the beginning also thought deeply for a long time. At that time, Dumbledore specifically asked a wizard from the Order of the Phoenix to go to that Muggle orphanage and retrieve all the information about Jon, just to see if there is a possibility that Jon is the orphan or something from the distant Grindelwald family members. But unfortunately, the pair of men and women who had abandoned Jon werepletely traceable, and both of them had nothing to do with the Grindelwald family even if they were traced back to the past five generations. There is no connection to be found in blood, then only certain characteristics ovep, but as far as it can be seen, at least Dumbledore did not find any simrity in character between Jon and Grindelwald. Perhaps, both have leadership qualities that can be counted. It is also because of the rtionship of a wand, which let Grindelwald''s mind actually have some different thoughts, which led to this y about which side Jon would ultimately be part of in the end dispute. Aftering out of the trance, Grindelwald again fell into thought about one of Jon''s words. "You felt it fit you the moment you saw it? What kind of feeling was that?" Jon recalled. "It was just sort of like being electrocuted, and I couldn''t help but look toward that wand. The wand was ced very close to the inside of the cab, and I could tell that was Professor Dumbledore''s way of not wanting to bring it out for his students to choose, but I couldn''t help but pick it up and ask the professor if I could choose this?" Grindelwald looked at Jon as he asked more deeply. "When you were fighting the enemy, have you ever experienced a different kind of intuition even though you didn''t see their wands aimed at you, hearing the sound of the incantation first?" Jon scratched his head as he nodded and replied. "It is true that sometimes this kind of gut feeling will appear, but not always, it is the kind of feeling which suddenly covers the body with goosebumps, with a distinct burst of sensation in the heart." "Did Dumbledore provide you guys with divination ss?" Grindelwald asked. Jon shook his head. "Not for the lower years, but after you advance to the fourth year, those who are interested in this subject can study under Professor Potter." Grindelwald snorted. "So, you call that a divination ss? That can at most be called a divination hobby group. In fact, if Albus''s student theory is to rece bloodline with talent, then it might be able to attract more superior supporters. Because the superiority of bloodline never existed, but the more naturally gifted wizards are indeed much more powerful than the ungifted ones, and divination is the kind of magic that demands the most in terms of innate talent." Jon understood the deeper meaning of Grindelwald''s words and blinked. "Sir, you mean to say. I have a talent for divination?" Grindelwald''s face became calm as he took up his quill again. "Having a talent does not mean that you can necessarily make good use of this talent, it still depends on how you develop it. Of course, if you had chosen to follow Albus on that wagon for the rest of your life, it would never have even been possible to develop it." Seeing that his attention had shifted to the letter on his desk, Jon had the good sense not to bother around the office anymore, and said "Good night, sir." Then he left the Headmaster''s office. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 275: Percys Day (2 in 1) Chapter 275: Percy''s Day (2 in 1) The next day, the Hogwarts students began to be sorted out in an orderly manner ording to their academic year. They weren''t assigned to attend sses with Durmstrang students as a group, not because they are following a different curriculum, but because of the difference innguage and the need for professors who understand English to teach them specifically in English. Jon followed Neville and the other third years to attend the ss and listened carefully to the lesson, in the charms ss, he found what Grindelwald said yesterday is indeed true, the normal third-year course in fact does not provide much benefit to him, he read the forbidden books hidden in the ring to learn by himself, which provided much greater improvement than in the ss. After discovering this, he did not continue to waste the rest of the time, all alone, asking around together with fumbling, he arrived at Durmstrang''s library. The library is basically the most important and valuable ce for any school, and Durmstrang also has an independent librarian. He is an elderly wizard who looks old beyond his years, with an arched back and a face full of wrinkles carved by the years, and when Jon entered the library, it looked like he had just finished cleaning the shelves and walked back to the registration desk with a hobbled gait. "Hello, sir, can I inquire what kind of books I have ess to in this library now?" When the old wizard heard Jon''s words, he trembled and put on vintage spectacles, frowned and looked at Jon''s face carefully. "Students'' permissions are all standardized, only books on this floor can be borrowed, those forbidden books on the second floor that are rted to dark magic need the professor''s permit." His voice was hoarse and dull like a broken bellow getting pulled. Jon hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively. "So if I am a Professor. Do I have ess to the second floor? My name is Jon Green." The old wizard''s frown deepened as if he thought Jon might be some kind of student who hade over to cause trouble, and his eyes had moved away from him, as he picked up a piece of parchment on the table and said in annoyance. "So there are really students in the school who believe in that rumour of me getting that whatever Alzheimer''s thing? Tell those jerks that I do have some memory loss, but not to the point of being dumb that I can''t tell the difference between a student and a professor! Well, I''m getting old now, when I was younger, if I found dishonest brats like you, I''d usually use a Cruciatus Curse to make you obedient. Huh? There''s another person in the school ying around on the job, are the wizards nowadays so bad? It takes two people to teach transfiguration magic." Suddenly, he seemed to spot the name of the new professor on the notice that Rosier had sent over. Cloudy eyes widened for a moment, and he reached up to hold the old-fashioned spectacles on his face. "Jon Green?" Then he looked up from the piece of parchment again and looked at Jon. "What did you just say your name is?" Jon smiled wryly. "The one you just mentioned, it''s Jon Green." Wizards generally live quite a bit longer than muggles, and this old man looked this old, so he must have been close to two hundred years old at least. He should not have attended the dinner yesterday due to his age and went back to rest early, therefore did not know what the new professor actually looked like, on ount of his age, Jon still maintained his respect in general for such an old person and didn''t take his words and behaviour to heart. The atmosphere remained frozen for a few seconds, the old wizard''s gaze still full of suspicion, Jon''s age is really not right with the identity of the professor, but he felt that no student in this school would dare to impersonate a new professor. The atmosphere was frozen until two students who hade to the library in pairs bowed respectfully to Jon as they passed by him and shouted, "Good morning, Professor Green." Only when they had done so did the mood gradually improve. The old wizard called out to those two Durmstrang students. "He is the new professor of Transfiguration who assumed office today?" The two students, too, addressed the old wizard''s inquiry respectfully. "Yes, Mr Alpha, Sir Headmaster had announced Professor Green and Professor Johnson would jointly assume the Professor of Transfiguration position at Durmstrang yesterday." After hearing the words of the two of them, the old wizardpletely had no more half-hearted doubts about Jon''s identity. In this school, no one dared to make any joke about Grindelwald. "Professor Green, the identity of the professor certainly allows you to walk through this library unhindered, you can read at your leisure if it is in the library, but if you want to borrow and take the books out, you need to first bring the books you want to borrow to me, so I can register them for you." After learning that Jon is a Professor of Transfiguration that Grindelwald personally appointed, the old wizard did not show the slightest doubt. As long as Grindelwald made a decision, not to mention letting a boy as old as Jon be a professor, even if a monkey were to be ced on the podium to give a lecture, he would have no problem with it. This extremely high level of belief and obedience, coupled with his age, made Jon suspect that he was probably a die-hard supporter of Grindelwald fifty years ago, and to this day, such loyalty has not changed. Many people had absolute loyalty to Grindelwald because although his ideals were not eptable to the vast majority of wizards, the demands he made were all true for the future of the entire magical world. Therefore, besides those who gathered around him due to the drive of interest, those who were truly convinced by his ideals and willing to share the same goal with him and follow him were not few, and those people had absolute trust and loyalty to him. After getting permission from the old wizard, Jon did not stay long on the first floor of the library. It''s not that he didn''t want to read the books on the first floor and there was nothing that could help him there, instead, he was simply curious about the difference between Durmstrang''s Forbidden Books section and Hogwarts''. Walking to the end of the bookshelves on the first floor, where there is a wooden staircase surrounded by ropes, Jon went through the gap that only one person could pass through and climbed the stairs to the second floor of the library. Compared with the first floor, this area is obviously much smaller, with only five rows of bookshelves, and some tables and chairs being ced against the wall. Jon approached the bookshelves and did not touch the books above. This is not simply because he was worried that these books carried some curse-like magic, but also because he could clearly feel the ring he is wearing on his body is fidgeting. The ring''s anomaly came from the second gem Jon had found in the Hogwarts library. What kind of magic did the original owner engrave and enchanted on this gem? It seemed to be particrly interested in the magic on the books, obviously, there is still arge part of the magic absorbed from the stone b stored within it, and Jon felt it wriggling to extract the magic from these grimoires like a child who wanted to be fed milk as soon as he approached the bookshelf. Grindelwald treated him quite well, not only rescuing him at sea but also agreeing to such a harsh requestst night, not to mention the need to repay his favour back, Jon certainly would not do such a bad thing as "eating up" a whole forbidden area the very next day. After observing the titles of all the books on the shelves with his eyes, Jon was sure that the forbidden books here and the ones he brought out from Hogwarts Castle are basically the same, only the category of dark magic is a bit richer. After all, it is an inheritance passed on in the school generation by generation, so they do have a lot of lead over the outside world in the study of what Durmstrang calls "martial magic and duelling". Moreover, before Grindelwald assumed the Headmaster post, the traditional attitude of Durmstrang was that only students from wizard families would be enrolled, and some of those students would have inherited some corresponding unique secrets from their original families, and it is not difficult for some people to donate the legacy of their original families to the school. Thinking about this, Jon couldn''t help but think of the Weasley family. The Weasley family has a long enough history, even if their financial strength is not worthy of the name pureblood family, but it is impossible that such a family will not umte some kind of ancient legacy. However, it is unknown whether these things were brought along by Ron''s parents, the Weasleys, when they fled into exile, or have been snatched away by Voldemort''s Ministry of Magic. If it was snatched, then since Percy has now defected over, these will be returned to him, right? Jon couldn''t help but narrow his eyes when he thought of this. It is estimated that Percy is now living a pretty good life. **** "I''m certainly having a good time." Underneath Whitehall, London, British Ministry of Magic, in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Improper Use of Magic Office, Percy looked at a male wizard in front of him with an expressionless face. "I appreciate your concern, Mr York, but right now we''re discussing work-rted matters. Can you pass on the information regarding that Woond Road case to me now?" The male wizard called Mr York nced at him disdainfully, and with a wave of his wand, he sent the parchments that had been floating around him over to Percy''s side. Then he deliberately cancelled the magic applied on these materials, wanting to let the materials scatter on the ground and see Percy picking them up wretchedly. But Percy seemed to have guessed his intention in advance when the materials flew over, he directly held them up with his hands, said thanks, and then turned around and prepared to leave. Mr York, who did not achieve his goal, grunted coldly, even if there is a lot of dissatisfaction in his heart and contempt for the only one who can legally take the Weasley family name, he could not just bluntly show it. As the poster boy established by Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic, no one dares to find trouble with Percy explicitly, because now hitting Percy is like punching Voldemort in the face. Percy didn''t have the slightest indication for all this unpleasant inconvenience at all, he carried the materials, but after turning around, there was an imperceptible sneer on his face. He likes to watch these so-called "new school purebloods" act like this, the more they try to disgust him, but still put on a false mask to show favour to himself, the morefortable Percy''s mood will be. After betraying Hogwarts, he lost his family and family love but gained something far better. On the way back to his office, almost all the employees had to bow their heads and address him with awe as "Mr Weasley." This is the privilege of pureblood wizards in the Ministry of Magic, they are born to be superior to half-bloods, this is an eternal ss gap, and it allows Percy to enjoy the vanity and respect that can never be enjoyed on the Hogwarts wagon. With Voldemort''s endorsement, hepletely seeded the Weasley family''s pureblood status under Voldemort''s rule, which means that as long as he doesn''t make a big mistake, then in this Ministry of Magic, even Minister Fudge can''t embarrass him explicitly. As he barely walked to his office, from a distance, he suddenly saw a group of people dividing in chunks from the middle ahead of him, and then three wizards wearing ck robes with the Dark Mark on their chests walked up to him with a cold and indifferent expression. "Percy Weasley?" The witch in the lead called out Percy''s name. Percy''s face showed obvious bewilderment,belled with the Dark Lord''s Hallmark, even Aurors are not qualified to wear robes embroidered with this crest in the entire Ministry of Magic, except for that gentleman''s personal guards, that is - Death Eaters! "Yes, it''s me." He still maintained the most basicposure, although the Death Eaters are terrifying, he knew very well that he had not made any mistakes and had not caused any problems in his duties. "Do you have any questions about who we are?" The witch asked as she stared into Percy''s eyes, the two male wizards behind her both tucked their right hands in their sleeves, obviously gripping their wands. Percy swallowed. "No doubt, ma''am, I recognize the Dark Mark." "Give me your wand ande with us." Percy did not have any intention of resisting, he knew that even if he wanted to escape now, there is no hope of escaping, so he directly pulled out his wand and handed it over. The three Death Eaters then took him into the elevator in front of everyone in the Ministry of Magic to a courtroom on the same floor as the Wizengamot High Court. A young man was already sitting in the courtroom, and Percy was no stranger to his face. Barty Crouch Jr. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Charms ss professor, that gentleman''s hardcore fanatic who even murdered his own parents to prove his loyalty. This madman is responsible for Hogwarts'' mudblood admissions work, so he has been used to wearing a mask of a hypocritical smile to the public, and it is because of this that he appears to make people shudder. But now on his face, even that mask of hypocrisy no longer exists, his expression is full of iciness and gloom, and when Percy met with his gaze, there was a feeling that his eyes had been stabbed. After being pushed into this trial room, the three Death Eaters respectfully retreated, closing the door in the process, leaving only Barty and Percy behind. Percy''s hands and feet went cold, and the moment he saw Barty, he already felt something is not right. The appearance of the Death Eaters may still be possible that the gentleman needs his voice, to aplish a certain purpose by belittling Dumbledore, but now the person he is meeting is Barty Crouch Jr., so it is basically certain that this time what he will encounter, definitely not something good! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 276: Interrogation Chapter 276: Interrogation "Mr Weasley?" Barty Jr. asked faintly. Percy nodded and took a deep breath. "Yes, I''m Percy Weasley." Barty Jr. gestured to him at the chair opposite, the one that usually only prisoners of the magical world would get to sit in. "You should be able to recognize who I am, no need to be too nervous, we just have some questions that we would like to seek your assistance with, after all, in some ways, you are the real professional." His fairly polite words settled Percy''s mind a bit, but his tense body never rxed away. Percy followed Barty Jr.''s instructions and obediently sat down in the iron chair that was opposite Barty, the shackle chains on the armrests were cold, and even if Percy''s hands weren''t shackled, the coldness had nearly prated into his flesh. Barty Jr. picked up a piece of parchment from the desk in front of him that looked like some kind of profile, and he nced at a certain line in the parchment and stared up into Percy''s eyes. "Jon Green. This is the name you reported up to the Auror when you first came to the Ministry of Magicst September, saying that he was directly connected to that case at Hogwarts Castle earlierst year, no?" Hearing the first question of Barty Jr., Percy''s heart once again breathed a long sigh of relief, and he said calmly. "Yes, sir, at that time I reported to Aurors that it was Jon Green who brought those muggl- mudblood students back to that wagon along with two other professors after the case at Hogwarts Castle, and Dumbledore announced to everyone that it was all Jon''s credit that they were able to get those students free." Barty Jr. listened to him recapitte his statement at this moment, with his head down to look at the one in his hand, then went on saying after his words. "At that time, Aurors gave the judgment that a third-year student, regardless of the circumstances, could not perform to that extent, so the presumption is that this student named Jon Green was just a smokescreen put out by Dumbledore, the real infiltration of Hogwarts Castle was done by someone else?" Hearing him talk about it, Percy became a little agitated and raised his voice in volume. "I stressed to the Aurors who asked me about this, that Dumbledore generally does not lie to his students, especially this kind of lie that may also bring unnecessary danger to Jon Green, so there is a high probability that this is not a smokescreen, or at the very least, Jon Green made a major contribution in that case, but none of them paid any serious attention to my words! Have you managed to find some new evidence?" Barty Jr. put down the material in his hands, his face was obviously a little more unpleasant than it was just a while ago. "You will not be held ountable for this matter, and they will be duly punished for the dereliction of duty of the Aurors, but we have more important things to understand in the next few hours." He stared at Percy, and his eyes narrowed dangerously to slits. "Tell me everything you know about this individual named Jon Green, his habits, his preferences, his personality, his socialization at school, all of it." Under the re of this stare, Percy''s breath caught in his throat. He sensed that things were not that simple, if it was just that the Death Eaters had found clues that Jon had infiltrated the Hogwarts castle, then the person interrogating him here today should not be Barty Junior, he should have been sitting in the Auror office, chatting with Lucius Malfoy over tea. Then there''s only one possibility now, that there''s even more serious problem is at stake! And that problem had a lot to do with Jon Green! Percy did not hold back, he said everything he knew about Jon. But in fact, at the time of his defection from the Hogwarts wagon, Jon had only been on the wagon for a year in total, and in his first year, Jon had not shown any outstanding performance. At that time he was privately learning lumency and ring-rted magic with Slughorn which most were unaware of, and if it were not for Jon and Ron being in the same ss, Percy at that time would not necessarily even remember Jon''s name. And in Jon''s second year, he was away from school until he took Hermione and the group back to the Hogwarts wagon, and Percy had no way of knowing more information rted to him. So the information Percy can provide is very limited, at most, it just can let Barty Jr. understand that it seems that in the first year, Dumbledore has not paid much attention to Jon individually, but in the second year he disappeared for a while, and only the after that period of time when he infiltrated Hogwarts Castle, there was a major change. Barty Jr. looked disappointed, and Percy noticed the disappointment on his face, and theposure he had been able to maintain turned into anxiety. "Mr Crouch, is it possible for me to know what Jon Green has done?" He spoke carefully as if in fear of arousing the displeasure of Barty Jr. But despite that, Barty Jr. stood up from his seat in boredom. "What you shouldn''t know, don''t ask!" He no longer maintained the minimum politeness he had previously, and grumpily reprimanded Percy, then raised his wand and swung it violently at the iron door. The door was jerked open, and Barty Jr. walked out quickly, and Percy stood up after him, but before he could leave the iron chair, the pair of shackles on the armrests suddenly rose up on its own, and with a "click" sound, they took hold of his hands! "Pull out his memories of Jon Green and keep them in separate archives for me! Then get that idiot Lockhart over here and alter the memories of this interrogation as well." After hearing this order in the interrogation room, Percy fell back into the metal chair with a pale face, and soon two of the three Death Eaters who had brought him here also walked in. They looked at Percy, who was already sitting limply in the chair and did not show any sympathy, and the witch in the lead just pulled out her wand. "Is there anything else you want to say? Soon all your memories of us and this interrogation will be gone." Percy breathed raggedly, his eyes filling with a bloodshot as he looked over at the witch. "Jon Green! What the hell did he do!" The witch and herpanion looked at each other, and she said indifferently while aiming the tip of her wand at the spot of Percy''s temple. "This is something that you shouldn''t know, but soon Lockhart wille over, so it''s okay to tell you. That former fellow schoolmate of yours, he killed Lord Rabastan Lestrange!" The next moment Percy heard these words, his entire body jerked stiff and his gaze became routed. A silvery fment of light was slowly and forcibly, pulled out of his brain! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 277: What the hell does he want to do! (2 in 1) Chapter 277: What the hell does he want to do! (2 in 1) The three meals served daily at Durmstrang were all excellent. In the morning, Jon and the others ate toasted bread smeared with warm goat cheese, which was sweet and salty, creamy, with a strong milky taste, which tasted like milk sweet, with a side dish of vegetables like cucumber along with sliced salmon. Lunch was already halfway through when Jon arrived at the great hall from the library, and the table had been filled with smoked salmon, dried cod and other hot seafood dishes, along with savourymb chops. It is estimated that because of the proximity to the sea, the proportion of seafood on the menu is quite a lot, but Durmstrang''s house elves are great at their craft, and even after having sampled enough seafood in the past few months, the Hogwarts students no longer felt resistant. Jon learned about their sses today from Hermione at the table, Hogwarts students received a good reception, except for a few professors whose English ents are a bit strange, there was nothing that made them ufortable. After lunch, all the Hogwarts students were organized together and went to theke behind Durmstrang Castle to receive their first flying lesson in their lives. To save the energy of the flight ss Professor, the flying lesson was turned into a big one because everyone had the same starting point when it came to controlling the flying broom. This was not the first time Jon touched the flying broom, he had been taught by Dumbledore when he was travelling with him in France, and he had learned the most basic methods of using the flying broom. After all, some ces are not essible by means such as Apparition and Floowork, and can only be visited via walking or other means like flying. After taking the flying lesson, Jon did not dy any longer, he went directly to the door of Headmaster Grindelwald''s office and knocked on the door of the room. When he entered, Grindelwald was reading a newspaper from France called "Starlight Daily". This newspaper agency was established in recent months by Dumbledore''s Witching Horizons organization as a magical daily newspaper, and the symbolism of "Starlight" refers to the concept that every wizard should be equal and free like stars even when the night looms over them. The daily newspaper Starlight is now fighting a war of public opinion with the magical press under the control of the French Ministry of Magic and also reports on the current war situation. "In fact, Albus never would have anticipated that he would at one point lead an organization with political significance." Grindelwald put down the newspaper in his hand and looked at Jon who walked in with a smile that had a hint of what looked like gloating. "He''s spent his life trying to stay away from anything that has to do with politics other than some honorary position, and even in the days when he was at the height of his poprity when countless people wanted him to be the British Minister of Magic, and people believed that if he came to power, he would give everyone what they wanted, he still didn''t have any intention of running for the post. He was just a mascot-like head known as Supreme Mugwump of the so-called International Confederation of Wizards." Jon was a little puzzled. "Professor Dumbledore probably prefers to be a Headmaster in a school?" "It''s just he got sick of all the scheming in the political sphere." Grindelwald put down the newspaper in his hand, "To be able to triumph over those who seek high positions for fame and fortune, you have to be more vicious and smarter than them. Just like how Albus never resorted to using the Unforgivable Curses, such a thing, went against his heart''s wish, so even though more people wanted him to, he kept away from it." "But now he has to do it, if he is still not willing to shoulder this, then the so-called defeat of Voldemort can only be a joke." Grindelwald looked at Jon and said calmly. "That''s why I want to teach you something. I would never deny the excellence and greatness of Albus, but all people have their own ws, too much idealism is his biggest w, and he knows exactly what his biggest w is. But if he doesn''t insist on that, then he won''t be called Albus Dumbledore." "You have been following him all the way on that Hogwarts wagon, so you might have been unknowingly influenced by such a mentality of his. I can tell that from the curse you used out at sea yesterday, you have sessfully cast the curse, but it was obvious that you did not confront your enemy with a firm idea of killing from the start, which is bad and is the biggest w you have when using the Unforgivable Curse. Because your emotions are not stable; temporary killing intent may let you sessfully cast that curse, but the human memory will fade with the passage of time, sooner orter your memories and feelings of the scene that makes you have a killing intent will be blurred, once there is no way to immerse yourself in such a scene, then even if you use the killing curse, it will only make people''s noses bleed at most." Grindelwald said these words while standing up from the chair, and the long trench coat and ck round hat hanging on the coat rack not far away flew to his body by itself. Seeing that he looked like he is going to head out, Jon immediately followed him. "Where are we going?" Grindelwald did not head for the door, he came to the firece and pinched up a small cluster of green powder. "A secret ce, do not ask too many questions, you will know when the timees, grab some floo powder and listen to the name of the ce I will say, then you repeat my words." He sprinkled the floo powder in the middle of the fire, the original orange fire instantly turned into a ghastly green. Grindelwald stepped into the midst of the me in which one could not feel any semnce of burning heat while saying a destination with unmistakable rity. "Ramo Hans'' abbey." The next moment he was swept away by the green mes and disappeared in front of Jon. Jon also did not stay, he also sprinkled the green powder into the fire which turned back to orange, after the me turnedpletely green, he walked into the green me and recited the name of the monastery. A barren mountain range in the far north of Norway, there are withered trees and snow that can be submerged to the knees of people, the only living creatures here are crested eagles that are gliding in the sky. And in this deste mountainside, there is a dpidated human building, that is a monastery which has been abandoned, the building is in the middle of the ragged wooden fences for the protection of the building from wild animals, but thisyer of protection is not even a little defensive, as any medium-sized animal will be able to break it. Grindelwald led Jon out of the monastery, with each breath they exhaled, a white mist will form in the air, lingering in the cold wind. Jon tightened his robe, he was not thinly dressed, but suddenlying from the warm confines of the Headmaster''s office to such a ce left his body temporarily unustomed. Grindelwald, however, seemed unaffected, and he walked ahead of Jon, leading him out of the dpidated convent and into the dry woods. Jon followed behind him, not asking again where they are going on this trip, but was just a little curious, about what exactly Grindelwald wanted to teach him by bringing him out. Just as they walked into the dry woods, from a distance Jon saw some things overhead in the depths of the woods, as if something were hanging. Those things being hung on the branches of dead trees, each one of them is not small, and it reminds Jon of the winter of his previous life, in the countryside in front of his home his grandma would hang the pig legs and body to air-dry them and prepare the red meat. When Jon''s attention was on the "bacon", a thin figure, somehow suddenly appeared in front of him and Grindelwald. An old man of great age, his appearance alone made Jon feel that he is not much younger than that Durmstrang library administrator. He is unusually short, as tall as Professor Flitwick, but much slimmer, which, together with the aged face made him resemble a bone-thin monkey. But distinguishing from his appearance and bodynguage, his emotions were extremely exuberant after seeing Grindelwald, and he gesticted with his hands and said something in the Germannguage that Jon did not understand. "My supreme and greatest lord! You are like a ster star in the sky! You guide the future of the magical world! Your contribution must be passed down for all eternity! All wizards must appreciate your name before they learn magic." He babbled on and on with his mushypliments until he saw Grindelwald''s hand impatiently fondling his wand, and he honestly stopped talking. "Sometimes I really want to sew up that broken mouth of yours!" The old dwarf smiled cheekily. "Then I won''t be able to recite the incantations to help my lord. It''s better to let me exert my remaining capacity and sew up my mouth the day my lord''s ideal is realized." The old man spoke before turning his gaze to Jon. "Who is this child? A rtive of my lord''s?" It was inevitable that he would make such spection because even after Grindelwald became the Headmaster of Durmstrang, he never brought any child to this ce. "Ask less about things you shouldn''t ask." Grindelwald did not mean to introduce Jon''s identity to him, and the old dwarf man obediently retreated to the other side of him, while not forgetting to observe Jon''s face, as if trying to concoct corroboration for his suspicions. Jon didn''t understand a word of their conversation, and after noticing the old man''s gaze, he just returned a polite smile. "How many are still alive?" Grindelwald suddenly asked the old man without making a nce. As they proceeded to walk deeper into the woods, the old man named Ramo Hans reported to Grindelwald with some embarrassment. "I have tried to stay and be as careful as possible, but all I can say is that these people are just a little too weak ." "The number." "Fourteen!" Hearing Grindelwald''s voice getting softer and calmer, Hans immediately said honestly, "14 people still have their breath." Although he hadn''t expected to hear much of a satisfactory number, the number fourteen still caused Grindelwald''s gaze to be unmistakably eerie. "You''re eager to go back to the Arctic to study those stupid bears?" Hans became visibly horrified as he exined in a panic. "It''s really not my big hand! My lord! You know, this kind of research needs a lot ofparison samples to add to it in the very beginning! It''s not something that five or ten individuals can fulfil! If we''re lucky, we might make a major discovery on the first sample we study, but if we''re unlucky, we''ll have to continue to do what we''re doing now." Jon could not understand the conversation between them, but the further they went in, the more Jon could smell a strange odour. The smell was not very obvious, the cold air and snow masked and retarded the flow of the vast majority of things so that the smell was not emitted as quickly as it would have been under normal conditions. But gradually, the smell is getting stronger and stronger as they moved forward, even the cold environment seems to have no way to cover up the smell. Jon frowned at this indescribable smell, his mind could not help but recall an article he read in his previous life about Eskimo''s special cuisine of pickled puffins, they would peel open the belly of the seal, put hundreds of puffins into the stomach of the seal, and then sew the opening, then bury it in the frozen soil to let the seal''s stomach acid to ferment the puffins. After a year or two, they would dig it out again, pull out the puffins from the seal''s stomach, and finally use their mouths to suck from the puffins'' anus to suck out the already fermented and decayed internal organs. It was said to taste simr to chaff and natto. Jon has never tried this anti-human food, but he imagined in his mind the taste of such food would resemble the vour he now smells, simr to fermented rotting meat, at the beginning it just feels stinky, but after getting closer it will make a person gag. And after they got a little closer, Jon finally saw what the "bacon" that had been hanging on the tree actually is. It is indeed simr to the meat preserving procedure as he expected, hanging some kind of meat on the tree to dry, but thatrge piece of meat is not some kind of pig, but a human being! People with their chests and stomachs peeled open! Just as Jon imagined the pickled puffin to be made by peeling open the belly of the seal, these people''s bodies were also "opened"! Through the half-open, half-hidden gaping opening, one could faintly see the various internal organs that had been frozen into a pile of ice! There is no more white snow on the ground, there is scarlet red everywhere like the Dead Sea of hell! Jon could not smell a bit of blood when he truly walked in front of the scene that was like purgatory on earth as if the devil who hadmitted all the sins had blocked everything in the snow and ice, it just this scene alone is enough to make normal people lose their minds. Jon recognized the faces of these people hanging in the trees, simr to "bacon" waving with the cold wind. All these people were at sea yesterday, the death eaters brought by the two brothers Rabastan and Rodolphus, they were riding on the flying broom yesterday, waving their wands to hunt him, but now they have be cold rotten meat! Jon stared nkly at this scene for two or three minutes, during which Hans had impatiently tried to lead Grindelwald onward, but was deterred by his cold gaze. It was not until three minutester that Jon turned his head again, his lips turned white, as he looked at Grindelwald''s eyes as he had never seen him before, with iprehensibility and inability to ept. He was truly shocked at this time, the "dark lord" title, in the end, had been intertwined with cruelty and blood, and after more than thirty years, this man who came out of that castle now. What does he want to do! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 278: Evil Deeds (2 in1) Chapter 278: Evil Deeds (2 in1) The expression on Grindelwald''s face in response to Jon''s gaze remained calm. "What''s wrong with this?" His casual words sounded as if he was asking about a sparse and trivial matter. Jon took a deep breath, his face brimming with seriousness and gravity. "I don''t think these people don''t deserve death, but even if you are going to kill them, you don''t have to use such cruel methods. The least one can do is give them the dignity of being human." Grindelwald looked like he had no intention of giving Jon an answer to this question, and he stepped forward into the snow that had been stained with blood, as Hans followed him with small, quick steps. "These are my prisoners, what I want to do with them is up to my personal will, you don''t have the right to tell me what to do with my own property." As they continued to walk in, a shabby hut surrounded by dead trees appeared, a house made entirely of wood, the boards nailed together in tatters, with no way to withstand the cold wind, the rain and the snow. "There are still 14 living individuals in that hut, your task today is to ask them all the information they know in their heads. They are fated to die as well, these people as Voldemort''s cronies must have to provide us with a few values before they die." As he said that Grindelwald threw a cloth bag to Jon, which is filled with the truth serum. Jon caught the bag in silence, but he did not want to approach that wooden hut at the moment. The scene here has already caused him both mental and physical difort, even his original impression of Grindelwald which was still good also started to crumble, all this abuse against prisoners has reached the point of anti-human behaviour. Grindelwald seemed to see what Jon was thinking, he did not have any intention to exin or be offended, he just said tly. "Do not forget your wordsst night, you promised me in front of Albus, now not even a day has passed, and you want to renege?" Jon took a deep breath, lifted his head and gave Grindelwald a deep look, then walked towards the wooden hut without looking back. He certainly did not forget his promisest night, and since he promised to do it, and he is capable of doing it, he will do it. Watching Jon walk into the wooden hut with the cloth bag, Hans skimmed his mouth and expressed his disdain for Jon''s reaction just now. "Why did you bring him here, my lord, a child who doesn''t know anything? Isn''t only a maximum of three people supposed to be aware of the research here?" Grindelwald looked over at him, his gazeced with a terrifying indifference. "If you are smart enough to know that I brought someone who should not have been brought to such an important ce, it means that this person can bring me much more value than this ce itself; can you understand? Ramo Hans. He is too naive, and needs some exposure to some things." Hans''s body unconsciously trembled under the attention of that gaze. This old dwarf, whose hands were already stained with the blood of more than three figures of wizards, could only avoid his lord''s gaze in fear at this time, then he said with iparable reverence. "I can, can understand, my lord!" Grindelwald withdrew his gaze as he walked around to the corpses that had been hung on the branches of the trees that had been gutted open out in the ice and snow. "So after sacrificing so many samples, can you tell me some of your findings now?" When talking about serious business, Hans also became solemn. "The samples you sent are excellent material, since yesterday after receiving these individuals, I have been examining all night by our previous suspicions, and indeed there are some gains that have never been found before" Jon did not know what Grindelwald and Hans are talking about outside. He pushed open the door of the hut and a smell of blood that simply could not be suppressed rushed to his face. The floors were littered with scarlet blood, and several pieces of what looked like minced meat and guts were littered in various ces, looking dirty and messy. But what caught his eyes the most was the group of people cowering in the corner. These people are all Death Eaters who participated in the siege against Jon yesterday, they are both men and women, but there is no swagger they had at sea, everyone is dishevelled, their robes are torn and tattered, their faces are all covered with ck and red dried blood like scars. Their eyes looked faded as if they had been kissed by dementors and sucked out of their souls in the body, but when Jon came in, these people seemed to have some semnce of a living being once again, trembling all over, with eyes filled with fear and despair as they looked at Jon. Jon took out his wand, he did not cast a spell on these Death Eaters, but aimed it at the middle of the hut, and used a cleaning spell on the long table full of the debris of flesh and blood. The filth stained on it is too thick, even if he used the cleaning spell there is no way to clean it all up, but Jon also did not insist on more details, sweeping away all the flesh, leaving only slightly blood mps in the cracks which can not be cleared away, he ced the cloth bag Grindelwald gave him on the table. From the cloth bag, he pulled out five vials of truth serum, two thick books with nk pages of notes, and a shorthand quill. "Spare me. Could you spare me?" A blood-soaked witch pleaded in a hoarse voice. "Let me die, please, give me a quick and easy death!" It was like she didn''t even have the strength to speak, but that desperate and humble plea didn''t stop Jon from moving his hands. When entering the wooden hut, Jon had a lot on his mind. He did not feel that Grindelwald is a violent lunatic like Voldemort, and he certainly would not have any perverted fetishes, or else he would never have had any cooperation with Dumbledore even if he had walked out of the prison. Then why is he treating these Death Eaters so cruelly? Human magic experiments. There is only this one exnation, this kind of experiment is not unfamiliar to Jon, not that he has seen or learned it somewhere, but in those forbidden books from the Hogwarts library, there are no fewer experiments than this. Even some of the material substance of the book itself is made from the flesh of such experiments. In the medieval era of ignorance and barbarism, you can''t expect the wizards who were also in that same environment to be all very human. No matter what kind of group, as long as it is human, it is possible for him to constantly refresh the lower limit of being human. Grindelwald must also be using them to carry out some kind of magic experiments, such experiments may not necessarily be evil, but the practice itself is extremely anti-human. But Jon had no words toment on this, these "experiments" were his enemies, yesterday if possible, these people will not hesitate to kill and torture him, and Grindelwald was not wrong, they are his captives, how he wants to dispose of them, Jon did not have the right to me and order. What''s more, Grindelwald saved him from these people. Listening to the witch''s plea, Jon pursed his lips, he didn''t have the slightest intention of speaking, and just silently opened a vial of truth serum and proceeded to draw some from it with a dropper. He went to the nearest male wizard, who had his mouth open and was gasping heavily for breath and dropped three drops of the potion. The male wizard had no intention of resisting, and he had no room to resist. It is unknown what spell the old man named Hans used on them, these people obviously still seem to be able to move their arms and legs slightly, but they have been sitting limply on the ground, without any sign of struggle. After being fed with the truth serum, the male wizard''s eyes became even more vacant and dazed. Jon hovered the quill on the table to the notebook, it will take the initiative to record all the conversations in this room next, without the need for people to manipte by hand. Looking at the male wizard who had entered the state of answering questions, Jon once again let out a long breath as he asked. "What information do you know that would be of value to us?" The male wizard was silent for about a second or two as if giving his brain time to recall and react, and then his mouth opened and closed as if he were spilling beans, and then he told all the things he had known. The shorthand quill rapidly moved in the notebook, except for the cold wind blowing through the hollow of the wooden panels, emitting a "whirring" sound in the hut, only the sound of these Death Eaters breathing heavily, the sound of the quill scratching the paper and the male wizard''s emotionless words were heard. He gave a lot of information, including his name, "Billis Carrow", and that he had cousins who work as professors in Hogwarts Castle. He said of all the secret missions he had done for Voldemort, as well as the nasty and shady collusion between the upper-level pureblood officials. Stated some of what he knew about the British Ministry of Magic''s round-up n against the Order of the Phoenix. And as he kept recounting, Jon''s face, which was still a bit ufortable and sympathetic, became increasingly cold and eventually turnedpletely expressionless. "-A week ago, the higher-ups decided to carry out a special investigation on Britain. A week ago, when the task of eliminating the remaining forces of the Order of the Phoenix in the British territory was sent to us, I was at half-breed Kruger''s house, his wife was fantastic, and he was so ipetent that he could only watch me y with his wife. But that day his son, who had just started his first year at Hogwarts, came back on leave for some reason, and when he saw me defiling his mother, he raised his wand at me like a madman. Krueger was scared, he tried to stop his son, and the stupid woman at my crotch screamed, they bothered my good time, plus the task handed down to me from higher up made me very restless as there was a chance of me dying, so I didn''t hold back and killed Krueger and his son." His voice was as calm as it could be, not just due to the effects of the truth serum, but the fact that he himself felt such a thing as ordinary. "The stupid woman kept struggling, she had never resisted like that before, and she cried and howled that I had ruined everything for her, which made me even more furious. They only cared about their own grievances, but never considered my mood or feelings, so I killed her too." "They are all half-breeds, not like the mudbloods who can be manipted at will, so I paid off the people from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement who came over to investigate and set the Krueger house on fire to produce a y about an idental experiment to cover it up." "But that woman is too addictive to me, I don''t want to forget her, so I cut off her head, and preserved it, and now it is still hidden in the secret study of my house." Jon''s hands have long been clenched into tight fists, listening as the male wizard finished speaking of one of his countless crimes as if he had done an insignificant thing. He suppressed the desire to take out his wand and use the killing curse on this scum of the earth, but instead gritted his teeth and asked in a shaky voice. "So, what about the results of your battlest week regarding the Order of the Phoenix encirclement?" "Those people were so cunning that even after we deployed many people, we only ended up catching one of them." "Who was it!" "Emmeline Vance." Jon remembered this name, she is an amiable old witch, this witch was among the group of members of the Order of the Phoenix who said goodbye to him the night the Hogwarts wagon separated from Dumbledore and the others before Halloweenst year. "You caught her?" Jon stared intently at the male wizard. "We did catch her at first, but she resisted fiercely and made several suicidal moves. At the first moment we tried to capture her alive she bit off her own tongue, cutting off the possibility of us feeding her truth serum. These people''s memories are also very difficult to extract, and there is no way to break through their mind''s defences with normal Legilimency. So. We chopped her up and threw her off to feed the Lethifold." "Bang!" Jon mmed his fist down on the wooden table! The already creaking wooden table shook violently, almost being broken apart by him, and the shorthand quill that was being recorded on it went up, before falling back down on the table and continuing with the recording. Jon could no longer hold back his desire to kill, he took out his wand, and the knuckles of the hand that held the wand became white from too much force! He waved his wand at the male wizard, but at thest moment, he changed his original spell casting, and the incantation in his mouth changed. "Crucio!" One of the Unforgivable Curses burst out from the tip of his wand andnded on the male wizard. The torture that originated from the depths of the soul is simply something that nobody could bear, the intense pain instantly made the male wizard sober up from the state of being hypnotized, and his whole body spasmed and curled up like a boiled prawn! But Jon did not stop the movement of his hands, his expression was as cold as never before, his eyes were horrific, and the same incantation sounded again. "Crucio!" "Ah!!!" The male wizard let out a miserable shrill howl, his skin clung to his bones as if it had shrunk, veins wriggling like earthworms, twitching under the ghastly white skin! Jon gasped violently as he stared at the male wizard who had been tortured into an inhuman state, but the fury in his heart did not seem to have been vented at all but instead piled up more and more. The other Death Eaters were shivering as they watched the scene, and Jon had the desire to leave everything in the wooden hut right now and turn his head and leave. He wanted to flee from this most bloody darkness and truth, wanted to erase all memories from the time he was brought here by Grindelwald. But in the end, he did not take any action to move his feet. Instead, he remained silent for a long while; and finally took an extremely long deep breath, and returned to his emotionless gaze to look at the next Death Eater. "I''m sorry, I lost myposure a bit, let''s continue." ---- #LongDongDonkeyKong, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 279: Intolerable nausea Chapter 279: Intolerable nausea Outside the hut, Grindelwald and Hans both heard the screamsing from inside. Hans asked with some concern. "Should we go in and take a look, my lord, those experimental subjects are very precious, if he can''t stop himself from killing one-" "Then kill one." Grindelwald''s voice was cold, he looked at the bodies hanging in the trees and fell into a long, deep thought. "Any news from Erik?" Hans nodded cautiously. "Eric has made some discoveries in the ciers of the Arctic, but he said that recently there were suddenly a lot more Death Eaters there, which forced him to move theb." "Death Eaters?" Grindelwald''s gaze deepened. "Keep in touch with him, tell him to keep an eye on those people''s movements in addition to his normal research, and if they''ve been at the North Pole with no intention of leaving, let Erik report back to me with his findings." "Yes." *** Once a person bes evil, the extent of the evil theymit will exceed everyone''s imagination. Jon always felt he understood this truth, he never treated everyone as a kind or normal person, and he can only adhere himself to being a person who still has a little conscience. That''s why after seeing those disembowelled Death Eaters, he felt difort at first, any normal person would feel sick after seeing their own kind being treated in this way, which has nothing to do with thought or morality, just a human instinct. But after recording what each of these still-living Death Eaters did to others in the hut, Jon felt that creatures like human beings sometimes don''t even have instincts. The first witch who opened her mouth and begged him for mercy learned a wicked spell from an ancient grimoire that could keep her young. This magic requires a lot of human blood for one of the early rituals, and it must also be the blood of a virgin toplete. So she secretly killed seven muggle girls under the covers, originally only five of them had to be killed, but there were two victims she chose wrongly, who did not meet the conditions of being a virgin. She used their blood toplete thest step of the spell, making her skin smooth and radiant, even at the age of 40 there are no wrinkles and blemishes on her face, she is still as young and beautiful as a young woman in their twenties. The oldest of these wizards is a man in his sixties, he likes to make some alchemical props rted to the human body, but some such items have very demanding requirements for the human body itself, such as the need for a pair of eyes that were born blind, the right hands of two identical twins, the skull of a baby that has just turned 100 days old few seconds ago. He will specifically follow these requirements to find objects that can be obtained and obtain what he wants. And then use the memory charm to modify the memories of the victims and their rtives, so they will believe that their body parts are missing only due to an ident. Counting the male wizard that Jon interrogated at the beginning, these three are the three most vicious of the 14, the others are not as perverted as the three of them, but they are all also viins with the blood of innocents on their hands. Grindelwald gave him two notebooks, which have beenpletely filled with all the information these people said out, all the information have been collected without using up all the five vials of truth serum, there are still three vials left. When Jon walked out of the wooden hut with these things, the sky outside was alreadypletely dark, and the starry sky was much brighterpared to the lowertitudes. He stepped on the snow, the cold wind with the smell of grass and trees blowing past him, the hem of his robe blown with a "tter",ing out of the room full of fishy smell, let Jon suddenly have an illusion of being out of a different world. Grindelwald did not leave, he stayed here throughout the whole evening. After a trance-like nce at the snow-covered ground, Jon walked back to him carrying the bag that contained the notes and the remaining truth serum and handed out these harvests. Seeing him walk over, Hans asked with a look of anxiety and uneasiness. "How many did you end up killing?" Jon''s face was in a state without any semnce of expression even now, and his voice was calm and numbing. "None of them died, all alive." Hans''s face then showed an expression of gratitude and rxation, then he hurriedly and quickly strode towards the hut to inspect his precious guinea pigs. Grindelwald took the cloth bag from Jon''s hand, his expression was normal as if he had taken Jon toplete some meaningful social practice activities. "Full of harvest?" Jon did not say anything, he looked like he did not know what to say, and there is no way he could recount those sickest sins. Grindelwald did not care about Jon''s silence, he led Jon in the direction of the monastery where they came from. "Perhaps it may be because it was always he who had educated you guys, in fact, you are very much like Albus when he was young. You both think you have seen people through, even if people are bad, how bad can they be? But in fact, the answer to this question is that there is no lower limit at all, because you are not bad enough, so you simply can not imagine how bad a truly evil person can really be." "It is also theck of this aspect of the concept, you also have a wrong perception of dark magic, and sometimes even if you can use it, it is extremely unstable." Jon asked only at this time with a slightly gruff voice. "Not being bad enough is also a mistake?" "It is certainly a mistake." Grindelwald did not hesitate to answer, "If you are just an ordinary person, it is no problem to be a good person without any ulterior motives, but if you are a leader, you have to be evil enough." "Except you have to be different from those in that wooden hut, you have to be vicious with a bottom line. It is important to distinguish those to whom you should return the greatest malice and those to whom you should return the most basic goodness." "After what you''ve seen today, you should understand that you can''t guarantee that you''ll always win. If one day, you lose, then the people around you will end up like the people who were bullied and tortured by these demons, even worse than them." Jon did not speak again, he followed Grindelwald''s side, all the way to the abbey, and remained silent as if he was thinking about what Grindelwald had said to him, but also as if he was thinking about the appalling things he heard in the hut in the afternoon. They went inside the abbey and approached the firece, which was dusty and had not been lit for many years. Grindelwald did not bother to take the Floo powder over the firece, but looked at Jon and said calmly. "Don''t hold it in, if you want to vomit, vomit clean here and now, or if you vomit in my officeter, I won''t guarantee that I won''t do something to you." Hearing his words, Jon finally stopped holding back, he held the side of the firece, and after a dry heave, proceeded to vomit the darkness of the earth. That intolerable nausea at the most bottomless evil in people. ---- #LongDongDonkeyKong, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 280: The Final point (2 in1) Chapter 280: The Final point (2 in1) The North Pole is not like Antarctica, where there is a continent covered with ice and snow at the pole. The closer you get to the Ny Degree Pole, the more of an ocean it bes. But that is only in August and September in the summer, January daily temperatures ranged from minus 20 degrees and 40 degrees below, so that the vast majority of the Arctic Ocean sea surface all frozen, turning into a huge cial "continent". In this frozen ocean, some ciers show no signs of melting no matter what season they are in, especially in this area near the pole. Rodolphus is on such a huge cier. He wore a thick leather coat, with a bear skin woven hat on his head, and his face waspletely devoid of the brashness and rage of the past, instead, it was haggard and pale. The wet and salty cold wind drove the ice and snow wandering on the ice field, broken ss pieces of ice constantly pped on his leather coat and face, covering his scruffy face with ayer of icy frost. "Head, we, how much longer we have to guard here?" On his other side, a Death Eater with his hands and neck all shrunken into his thick robe asked with chattering teeth, "My wife gave birth to a baby in December, and I haven''t had time to go back and check if it''s my seed or not." Rodolphus'' face was full of indifference, and he pointed his wand at the increasingly faint mes in front of him, before answering in a hoarse, emotionless voice after the tiny mes had steeply red up. "When our Lord feels that there is no longer any point in guarding this ce at all." After the campfire roared, the Death Eater who barely stopped shivering couldn''t help but continue to ask. "Then when will our lord decide that there is no point in being here?" Rodolphus raised his face which looked like it had been numbed by the wind and snow and looked at him with eyes that were so empty that they were frightening. "If you think you need that answer, how about I get you in touch with our lord, and you can ask him about it personally?" Looking into those eyes, the Death Eater didn''t know why, but his already warm body couldn''t help but shiver again, and he quickly shook his head and said. "No, no, head, I should not have asked too many questions." A quietness once again regained its ce on this cold cier, and the only traces of their presence were covered up by the howling wind and snow. All of a sudden, under ayer of ice not far from Rodolphus and his men, a human head emerged from it. He rode a flying broomstick seemingly out of a huge cave while shouting loudly to Rodolphus. "We have found a strange blue gem! Head! You''d bettere and see it! It''s embedded inside the ice!" *** More than a month had passed since the Hogwarts students arrived at Durmstrang. During this time, the Hogwarts students have basically gotten used to living and studying in this castle. The Durmstrang Professors treated them equally, even if they were taught separately, they never distinguished their curriculum from that of the school''s own students, and even if some of the professors did not speak English, they let them attend the full curriculum as much as possible. This includes the Muggle Studies ss taught by a real Muggle and Durmstrang''s own special "martial magic and duelling" ss. Many Hogwarts students have had contact with the Muggle professor. This professor is very enthusiastic, especially when he knows that most of the Hogwarts students are from pure Muggle families, and they have a lot ofmonnguages. In mutual preference, they learned the name of the professor - "Derrick Smith ", an Englishman who originally worked as an assistant professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany. A number of Hogwarts students were curious about the reason why he came to teach at a magic school like Durmstrang, but for this question, Professor Smith was always evasive and never answered squarely. He just said perfunctorily that the Headmaster Bagshot had invited him over from the University of Munich with great sincerity and paid him a high sry. He is just a little over thirty years old, and both his parents are still alive. However, ording to him, his family still doesn''t know that he has changed his job to be a professor at a wizarding school, and they think he is still teaching a muggle subject at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. However, from his words, the Hogwarts students did not feel that this Muggle professor now had some dissatisfaction with his job, instead, his words were full of gratitude to Grindelwald, and at the same time, they also felt regret andmentation for not being able to learn and use magic. As for "martial magic and duelling", most of the spells taught there are actually dangerous spells or curses that are forbidden at Hogwarts. In fact, those can all be called dark magic, and as arge genre of magic, it broadly epasses all spells with the intent of hurting people. Dark Magic can be divided into three categories, "Jinxes, Hexes, and Curses", ording to their degree of severity. The three Unforgivable Curses, namely, Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Killing Curse, belong to the range of the most sinister and powerful "curses", and the three effects of these Unforgivable Curses have be the most significant representatives of the "curses" - they can cause extreme pain, gainplete control, or even cause death to the target of the curse. Due to the nature of those curses, onlymon curses like sting Curse and Curse of the Bogies which have their own counter spells and can be treated are used in wizard duelling; so Invisible Sword Curse which Jon learned before belonging to the scope of "curses" that can be used in wizard duelling. Inparison, the effect of the "Hex" is far inferior to that of the "Curse", and it can be learned in the lower and middle years of the magic school, such as "Knee-Reversal Hex", "Weakening Hex", "Impediment Hex", which can cause undesirable and harmful damage to the human body in the form of "Hex". The "Jinx" is considered to be the lowest rank of dark magic. In the Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts ss, the spells that students learn in their first year of school, such as the Anti-intruder jinx, Defensive jinx, Dangling Jinx, etc; which can affect people without destroying them, all belong to the "Jinx" category. So, not all dark magic is considered illegal, "Jinx", "Hex" and even many "curses" are perfectly fine to use. Even in Hogwarts, they are taught. The reason why Durmstrang''s reputation in the outside world has always been rtively notorious is that it teaches "martial magic and duelling" ss that is clearly borderline hical, and some of the dark magic that is forbidden for wizards to learn under British magicw is also taught here because it is not forbidden by the Ministry of Magic in this part of Northern Europe. In addition to a small number of people, like Neville, who was a bit worried about learning these magics, other students did not have any resistance and were very active in the ssroom. As for Jon, in this period, he no longer went to third-year sses with Hermione and the students or meet them in the ssroom. Only at dinner time, they can see Jon a few times, and these times, although in the appearance andmunication, Jon did not have any change, it gives people a feeling that he has changed a little from the past. This kind of change, let''s say, is more like a difference in temperament and mentality. And after the start of March, Jon appeared in front of them less and less time, there were many times, Hermione and co did not know whether Jon was still in Durmstrang castle or not. This afternoon, while the students of Hogwarts were in ss, Jon was also in a unique "ssroom". Near the outskirts of Paris, a much younger Grindelwald stood alone in the middle of the stepped grandstand, with ck mes dancing around him (read the note at the end), his hands sped behind his back, his eyes burning at the young man standing on the steps, and asked softly in a sarcastic tone. "Scamander, do you think Dumbledore will mourn for you?" ck mes surged! In all directions as if rising walls of me, covering the entirety of the surrounding area! The wizards around the grandstand felt the deadly threat and kept retreating, and among them, only two were out of ce with the wizards present. Jon and Grindelwald didn''t have the slightest intention of moving, the heat that had baked the air into a distortion seemed like it had no effect on them at all, and the people fleeing around them had no way of seeing them at all. mes raged around the young Grindelwald, his expression turned to one of disgust, but his voice was unmistakably clear and calm as he said. "I hate Paris." "Boom!" The wall of me exploded, and the scene was nearly identical to the previous means of saving Jon on the sea, only in this memory, the power was much more unrivalled. The raging ck mes had enveloped both Jon and Grindelwald who stood close by, the towering fire that shot up into the sky above, morphing into giant dragons and winged demons, intent on ravaging the city as if it were a fierce beast. "A wizard is a mentality-driven being from the beginning to the end." Grindelwald beside Jon said lightly, "The more intense, clear and powerful your inner emotions are, then the stronger the magic you use will be." "At that time I was, as my words imply, so fed up with the Paris city that my anger was able to manifest itself by a magic most suited to it, me. Protego Diabolica is a very practical magic, not only can it have infinite scope for spreading, but it can also distinguish precisely between friend and foe, and will only go for enemies who are at odds with my thoughts, and most importantly, it is the most intuitive form of manifestation of anger and loathing, and it can also maximize this human emotion." Jon listened attentively, but he could not help but mutter in his mind. Are you sure that your anger and loathing simplye from Paris? And what did you mean when you said that to that young man named Scamander earlier? Of course, this is something he dared to think only in his mind, and certainly won''t say out loud. And just as the ck mes began to spread towards the lines of defence of Paris city, there were suddenly countless orange-red fires lit up around, and Grindelwald''s memory of this came to an abrupt end. They exited from the Pensieve, but Grindelwald''s teaching is far from over. "Those who only use the Killing Curse in a wizard duel are basically brainless fools." He didn''t know whether this was a sarcastic remark about someone or just a casual mention. "Human emotions are diverse, and so is magic. The killing curse is indeed the most straightforward and simplest form of negative emotion manifestation, but it doesn''t mean that it is an all-purpose spell, and no matter what the situation is, you can always use it." "You can specialize in a certain kind of magic, but you shouldn''t limit your learning only to that, the more magic you can learn to use, the more ways you will have to deal with when you encounter various situations." Jon''s face showed anticipation. "Can I learn that Protego Diabolica magic of yours?" Grindelwald said with ack of surprise. "Don''t assume that magic itself is powerful, you must have seen the basic spell of this magic somewhere else - Fiendfyre." Jon blinked, he did know about Fiendfyre and how terrifying this dark magic can be, it is recorded in those forbidden books inside his ring gem. But the Fiendfyre, and Protego Diabolica that was used by Grindelwald could clearly be seen as two distinct spells, not only did the form of magic manifest differently, but most importantly, the Protego Diabolica was controble, while something like Fiendfyre could burn even its owner to death after it was conjured up. "Protego Diabolica. It''s a variant of the Fiendfyre?" "You can interpret it as abination between Fiendfyre and Protego Maxima, except that the two spells have been changed even more by me, to the point that they have changed in essence, but you should still be able to see what they have inmon." Grindelwald tapped his desk as he looked at Jon. "It is certainly possible to teach you, but Jon, it is time for you to do the second thing I require you to do." Jon, who had be excited when he heard Grindelwald''s affirmative words, looked at Grindelwald in confusion. "What do you want me to do?" Grindelwald leaned back in his chair and looked at Jon with an inexplicable expression on his face. "Continue the journey that Albus gave you originally, and go in that direction of the North Pole to find thest site where Voldemort left behind something." Jon looked at Grindelwald in startled surprise, and only after half a second did hee back to his senses. "I thought you said there was nothing of value there anymore?" "For the rest of us, there is indeed nothing of value worth going there anymore, but for you, it seems to be a little different." Unusually, this time he did not state it in a certain tone. "But this time I won''t force you to do it, you have the power of choice to decide for yourself whether to go or not. Of course, even if you decide to go, those ssmates of yours will definitely not be on board with you, and they will remain in Durmstrang for their safety." Jon thought for a few seconds, but he couldn''t think of a reason why Grindelwald would say such a thing right now. "Sir, you mean to say that the ce at the end of the Arctic may not be important to the Dark Lord anymore, but it can provide some help to me personally?" Grindelwald did not say anything more, he just calmly said. "Albus should have mentioned to you that I always see some sight that others can''t." *** Note: About the ck me, I researched and found that in the script of Fantastic Beasts, this me is indeed ck, but I presume that it was changed to a blue colour in the film to distinguish it from the darker tone of the scene, but in the game, it is also mentioned as ck, so it is written as ck --- #LongDongDonkeyKong, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 281: Sailing North (2 in1) Chapter 281: Sailing North (2 in1) Lyon, France. The winter cold had not yet dissipated here, and Lily and McGonagall were walking together through a secluded alley. "Albus has determined to abort the n to attack Beauxbatons?" Lili looked at McGonagall. McGonagall was frowning, her frown had not been rxed since she arrived in France, except that one night when they conquered the re-educational camp. "There is no choice, we have identified the current Headmaster of that school, he is one of the Dark Lord''s diehards - Igor Karkaroff, and all the preparations in that school have long beenpleted in advance; if once it is determined that there is no hope of being able to defend it, then he will activate the means left behind by the Dark Lord and let all the muggle students die together." Lily squirmed her lips as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, it just turned into a calm question. "So we''re just going to watch and pretend that Beauxbatons in our rear don''t exist?" McGonagall said in a deep voice. "Don''t worry, Albus won''t allow such a thing to pass, he wants to liberate that school more than any of us, and calling all of us together this time must have something to do with it." As they spoke, they hade to the end of the alley, and facing the drab wall, neither of them had any intention of stopping and went straight through the wall. After passing through the cold, liquid-like wall, what came into view was a wide space identical to the Atrium of the British Ministry of Magic. Many wizards areing and going, the Witching Horizons in these times has basically upied all the ces except Paris where the French Ministry of Magic is located; under the circumstances that Voldemort is staying hidden, and Dumbledore can step in at any time, they basically did not encounter any big casualties. Thanks to this, those French wizards who were liberated in the upied areas began to restore normal order to their lives. The purebloods and half-bloods who hadmitted serious crimes in that period were liquidated, and the property they had plundered which originally belonged to the muggle wizards was all returned, and the status of the wizards returned to what it had been before Voldemort came to France. This is something that is worthy of the excitement and thrill for all the members of the Order of the Phoenix. But they are also clear; France can be transformed so smoothly, mainly because of the reason that Voldemort''s rule over thend is very short. Many people are not ustomed to the new rules, so it would be easy for them to change back to the previous state. But the situation in Britain is different, Voldemort has been ruling there for up to ten years, so it is not just a matter of how to counterattack back, and even if they seed, it will be a matter of how to ultimately remove the influence left by the rule of the bloodline. Of course, now that Witching Horizons has not even fully upied France, it is not yet time to think about such a long-term problem. McGonagall and Lily headed all the way down the main lobby, and they went further into a hallway where they happened to run into Lupin and Tonks, who also looked like they had just returned. "You really should get a new outfit, Remus, from the beginning when you and I went on a mission together to now, you are wearing the same outfit, half a year has passed, and it is the only thing that has not been changed." Tonks, who has gradient-coloured curly hair and is dressed like a teen emo girl, is ranting and educating Lupin. Lupin nodded repeatedly, the gentle smile on his face did not change a bit. "Only half a year has passed, and long before that, there were times when I have not got new clothes for five or six years." "Can youpare it with before and now? You are now representing Witching Horizons, and Dumbledore, wearing such old clothes will make people think that we are still on the same weak side as before." While they were chatting, they also saw McGonagall and Lily who had alreadye behind them. Upon seeing these two female professors, Tonks subconsciously curbed her casualness, and secretly stuck her tongue out and greeted McGonagall and Lily. "Good afternoon, Professor Potter and Professor McGonagall." Lily and McGonagall both looked at her and Lupin with odd eyes and then nodded in response. Lily shed a smile at Lupin. "Listen to her more, you are really not that young in age." She said this with some rather deep meaning, causing Lupin''s face to look a little embarrassed, but at that moment, arge hand suddenly rested on his shoulder from behind to sort of relieve him. "Man, tonight after the meeting, do you want to have a drink? We haven''t seen each other for two or three months." It was Sirius, with a cheerful smile on his face, like he had just experienced something happy. "When you were chasing those Aurors in the morning, you just finished drinking and broke the rules and used the forbidden dark magic, I''ll report that to Dumbledoreter!" The stern words came from his side and Flitwick who was with him, due to his short stature, was not noticed by anyone at first. Sirius, on the other hand, grinned broadly and wrapped an arm around Flitwick as well, letting him lean against the side of his thigh. "Hey, Professor, don''t lecture me like before when I was still in school, I am already old enough to know how to behave!" "I don''t think so!" Flitwick said in a dismal tone. "What''s all the bustle here?" A hoarse-voiced greeting came from behind them, and a limping Moody came along with Kingsley from the other end of the long hallway. "Looks like it''s an importantbat meeting tonight, all the important people are here." Moody said in a loud voice. This already not spacious corridor became crowded, the Hogwarts professors and the senior members of the Order of the Phoenix did not continue to stay there, they walked together to the conference room at the end of the corridor, opened the door and walked in. There is a long table which can seat 20 to 30 people in the conference room, and when they entered, Dumbledore was already sitting on the main seat of this long table, and the position on his right was already upied by Iniesta who is the leader of the French wizards. After McGonagall''s group was seated, the meeting, which gathered all the senior members of the Witching Horizons, officially began. Dumbledore, as always, kept the good habit of never talking nonsense in the assembly, and his first words were the main topic of tonight''s meeting. "All of France, except for Paris, where the Ministry of Magic has been contracting its defensive garrison, and Beauxbatons, where students are used as hostages, all other areas where wizards gather have been liberated." Dumbledore''s voice was not loud, but it rang clearly in the ears of everyone on either side of the long table. "The current Headmaster of Beauxbatons has been identified as Igor Karkaroff, and although he has remained highly regarded by the Dark Lord when we sent someone to make contact with him, he had implicitly stated that if we upied all of France, then he is willing to automatically give up resistance and hand over Beauxbatons to us safely. Whether his words are trustworthy or not, there is a possibility that we can peacefully conquer Beauxbatons, and we must fight for it." "So the next goal of the war that we are about to carry out is strategically before us more clearly than ever." "And now we''re going to conquer Paris!" It was also on the same night that the top brass of Witching Horizons was having a crucial meeting on a key issue. Jon had made all the preparations in Durmstrang. He did not refuse this task of Grindelwald, nor did he have any reason to refuse. As an innate seer "prophet", Grindelwald can in many cases see fragments of the future that others can not see, for example, the route of the Hogwarts ship this journey, is enough to show the power and uracy of his prophetic ability. And this time, he asked him to travel to the North Pole, and Jon did not think it would be a mistake. As for the possible dangers on the North Pole If he didn''t even dare to take this risk, he wouldn''t have agreed to infiltrate Hogwarts Castle back then when Dumbledore asked. What''s more, this time Jon is not without a means of protection, Fawkes suddenly appeared Durmstrang one night to send him his own feather. Jon had not looked for Dumbledore to tell him that he is preparing to leave the Durmstrang news, but now Fawkes had personallye over to give him his feather, which could only mean that another person who knows the news had disclosed it. Jon''s heart welled up with warmth a bit, more than a month of time spent with Grindelwald made him seem to develop a negative outlook when he is still young, and now his heart has be much more neutral and bnced, otherwise, he might have be a little bit like that old man. But at least when ites to himself, this once defeated and imprisoned old man has been truly more helpful than harming, such help Jon certainly will not forget. This time to the sea, as Grindelwald said, he will not take Hogwarts students, and Jon even intends to hide this matter from them, in case Hermione and others in Durmstrang do not stay in peace and want to go with him. Although he won''t bring the living, Jon intends to take Nick with him. No matter what kind of situation, the ghost is more convenient in action than the living, and Nick has existed for so many years, so he has a lot of experience and can provide a lot of help to Jon. After all the things are ready, just when Jon was nning to leave by night, there was a little ident. The ident came from Nick, with whom Jon had agreed to meet at theke behind Durmstrang Castle, who came with another "person", a ghost to be exact. Gabrielle, carrying a small schoolbag, was flying around happily above Jon''s head. "Travel! Travel! Arctic! Arctic!" Jon didn''t bother with her but looked at the culprit with nk eyes. "We agreed that you won''t tell anyone about this?" Nick looked guilty as he argued. "It''s not my fault, it was Gabrielle who had overheard the conversation between us at the time and then took it upon herself to follow us." Gabrielle floated in mid-air and rubbed Jon''s hair, making him feel a cold chill on his scalp. "Why wouldn''t Jon want Gabrielle to follow? It''s not like Gabrielle is a bad kid who likes to get into trouble." "What if you get lost in the Arctic?" Jon said helplessly, "It''s a big ce, so if one of us gets separated, it would be hard for us to find each other if you can''t cast a spell." With a serious expression, Gabrielle raised one of her arms. "Gabrielle promise, absolutely and definitely not to disappear for a second from Nick and Jon''s sight!" "It''s pointless even if you promise, go back!" "Ah! Gabrielle is bored being in the castle every day." The little girl''s eyes flushed red, it is not clear whether it is Crocodile tears or true feelings. "Ginny, Luna and the girls have to attend sses during the day, and there is no one Gabrielle knows in Durmstrang, and the ghosts in this school are talking all old and very mean, and Nick does not take me to y, and it is harder to find you, Jon." She looked like she was about to cry out, but Jon remained unmoved, but after some hesitation, he changed his mind in the end. The ghost state of Gabrielle is basically still very safe, even if they have any problems, it is possible to let Nick take her back, the only thing that is notpletely safe is her being running around and lost in the Arctic ice field, which is something that Nick can watch on the line. Nick has hundreds of years of experience dealing with Peeves'' ghost, Nick is still very good at taking care of children professionally, besides it was originally him who caused the trouble. In the end, the voyage crew was finalized, and Jon no longer stayed, he, Nick and Gabrielle together re-boarded the Hogwarts ship which stayed at Durmstrang Lake after nearly two months. No one came out to see them off on this trip, and no one knew that Jon would embark on such a distant voyage. Grindelwald, the only person in this castle who knew, was just standing quietly in front of the window of the Headmaster''s office, looking at the Hogwarts ship that had started sailing towards the centre of theke. Once again, a glimpse of Jon inadvertently appeared in his mind, the scene from the near future. The golden hall, under the gaze of the wizards from the four corners of Europe; scarlet blood, like demonic flower petals blooming. And amid his reflection, the huge Hogwarts ship, under the night that had fallen, silently disappeared from the surface of the Durmstrangke. At the same time, on the northernmost coastline of Norway, near the border area of the Arctic Ocean region, an old wooden ship, suddenly jumped up from under the surface of the sea, with towering long sails slowly falling from the top of the mast, with four animals around the "H" mark glowing in the moonlight. Gabrielle wore a long triangr pirate hat that Jon helped her to conjure up and was standing spiritedly in the bow on one foot with great vigour, the sea breeze blew up her white dress, just like a cape "whirring". "Hogwarts! Depart!" Her childish voice couldn''t prate the sea breeze and didn''t even startle the seagulls resting on the reef. "First Mate Nichs! Keep an eye on the surroundings!" Nick''s neutral voice came from the mast. "No problem, Captain Dcour!" "Second Mate Green! Hold the helm! Keep the course to the north!" Jon, who had now been demoted two ranks from captain to second mate, also took control of the rudder and responded with a feeble voice. "Aye, Captain!" "What the hell! Jon, you''re not cooperating at all! You''ll be punished with no rum for a week!" "I''m not allowed to drink since I''m still a minor." "Then you''ll be punished by being fed salted fish for a week!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 282: Journey to the North Pole (2 in 1) Chapter 282: Journey to the North Pole (2 in 1) This time, there was not much turmoil in the sea voyage. After a few days of ying "pirate games" with Gabrielle, the Hogwarts ship, which was artificially controlled by Jon, entered the Arctic Ocean''s sea direction. As the temperature dropped further, they can already see some asional scattered ice floes on the sea. As a ghost, Nick and Gabrielle certainly will not be afraid of the cold, after seeing the ice floes, the two ghosts began to be more enthusiastic. Even if Nick has survived for so long, he still has not seen all the world''s beautifulndscapes, including the Arctic Circle, it is the first time in nearly a thousand years that he has visited this ce. And after entering the sea with ice floes, the Hogwarts'' sailing speed also slowed down, after all, although this ancient wooden ship has magic protection, it is not some professional icebreaker, and it is necessary to pay attention to avoid all the hard ice. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Nick took Gabrielle to fly around the sea around Hogwarts ship a round, leaving only poor Jon on the ship, wearing thick robes, and a bear skin coat, blowing a cold wind and watching them fly back and forth. Not that he could not fly, but the temperature was more than ten to twenty degrees below zero, and without any warming measures, there is no normal human who could endure the low temperature while flying at a high altitude. Jon also has no intention of letting himself bear this kind of suffering for the sake of simply seeing the beautiful scenery. Besides, even if he is outside he has quite a few things to do. In this period of time in Durmstrang learning from Grindelwald, he has already grasped the three Unforgivable Curses basic, while simultaneously reinforcing the knowledge and mastery of the two of hismonly used "curses", sting Curse and Invisible Sword Curse. Before leaving, he also learned from Grindelwald his unique secret magic "Protego Diabolica". But he could barely use it to form a circle of fire around him, not to mention being able to burn a big building to the ground like Grindelwald, it was even far from being able to be used in actualbat. So Jon did not waste this period of time on the ship, in addition to getting familiar with the dark magic learned from Grindelwald, he has also been reading the various forbidden books in the second gem of the ring, not only Grindelwald said this visit would not be all that safe, he himself always felt that mastering some more means is certainly not wrong. Such a voyagested about a week or so, apanied by more and more ice floes around, finally, the Hogwarts ship travelled to the point where there is no way to go further. A group of big ice floes blocked the way in front of them, if they want to continue forward, they have to get off the ship and rely on other ways to travel next. As for the ship, Jon had anticipated something like this as soon as he started to prepare to leave Durmstrang for this trip, the Hogwarts ship had no way to send them directly to the final destination, whether it is floating ice floes or the lowest temperature in August and September, or now in the middle of March at the end of winter, the ice floes will be their biggest obstacle. The good thing is that when he was still in Durmstrang, he had already prepared, to be exact, Grindelwald helped him to prepare. When embarking on the ship, Jon brought only a few things, in the second year when he infiltrated Hogwarts Castle, Dumbledore prepared a robe that was enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm on all pockets, which Jon still has kept with him, some of the necessary supplies, such as food, fresh water can be stored in this robe. The biggest thing he had brought with him, besides that, was the brand-new flying broom in his hand. Firebolt - the broom used in official Quidditch matches of all kinds - represented the highest level of craftsmanship, with a streamlined, beautifully crafted handle made from ash wood and finished with a diamond-hard polish. It is said that every single detail of the broom shaft has been refined to perfection to achieve a streamlined shape that is unparalleled in terms of bnce and precision. With a speed of 150 miles per hour in under ten seconds and a stunning braking mechanism, it is a dreame true for any Quidditch yer. Such a perfect broom, which included a footrest, holder and twig hoop, all built by a goblin, was a travel gift given to Jon by Grindelwald before he went out. With it, Jon can travel safely through these unsafe ice floes under the cold air currents, harsh winds and ice in the Arctic Ocean, and reach the ice field where people can walk. As for the Hogwarts ship, which has no one to sail, it can return to the Durmstrang Castle by itself, back to theke, and when Jon and they want to go back, naturally, they no longer need to take the ship. Standing on a piece of ice floe as big as a ser field, Jon watched the Hogwarts ship that brought them from Ennd to Norway, and from Norway to the Arctic Ocean return, there was an indescribable emotion running through his heart. But this ship is equivalent to the home of all Hogwarts students, although the ship is sailing back, the journey of Jon and co are far from over. After watching the Hogwarts ship disappear from view, Jon led Nick and Gabrielle together, to the very centre of this ice floe, then he released the protective cover on the Firebolt broom and finally checked the condition of this top broom. Gabrielle took this time to fly high and look at the magnificent cluster of ice floes from the cloudless sky. "Look guys! There''s a white whale over there!" From a distance, Nick and Jon heard a shout of rm from her overhead. They looked in the direction Gabrielle was pointing and saw a whale with a prominent and rounded forehead, a short beak, and a very pale, almost white body colour leaping out of the sea with its head and tail arched. This whale is very beautiful, and not afraid of human beings, swimming on the edge of the ice floe where Jon is situated. Gabrielle decisively floated down from mid-air and flew towards the whale. Jon had already geared up the Firebolt, and before riding on the flying broom, he kept wrapping the scarf around his neck and head. Even if the Firebolt broom had powerful wind avoidance enchantment on it, it was not possible to fully reach the level of allowing the wizard riding it to circumvent the temperature, wind and snow, Jon had to add multipleyers of protection to himself so that he could avoid having his body frozen in the sky. "White, White, if you want toe with me, just nod your head, and I''ll plead with Jon to take you with us." When Jon had wrapped himself up tightly, he heard Gabrielle whispering to the white whale. Jon took his broom, and walked over to Gabrielle, rolling his eyes. "Even if it turns into a chicken and pecks rice in the sea today, I can''t possibly hold a whale and fly in the sky." When she heard Jon''sment, and the white whale also didn''t have any intention of nodding in response to her, Gabrielle was filled with disappointment and drifted away from the white whale with a resigned look. Jon mounted the Firebolt broom and skilfully manipted it to rise into mid-air. Gabrielle grabbed the side of his scarf and didn''t have to float by herself to stay with Jon. This is not for her own amusement, but Jon and Nick specifically asked her to do so, and then the Firebolt elerated up, Nick, a ghost who has lived for hundreds of years can control his mobility to keep up, but Gabrielle, a "little ghost" is not necessarily able to do so too. There was no major incident that needs Jon to use the highest speed of the Firebolt to travel over the Arctic Ocean, he had plenty of time to spare on this trip, and as long as he could get back before September this year, there is no time limit for other things. After experimenting with the winds and snow withstood at different speeds, he kept his speed within a hundred kilometres per hour and kept flying in the direction close to the North Pole. The ice floes beneath them were so extensive that Jon flew for a whole afternoon without seeing arge continuous ice field. Now it is March 21, the vernal equinox is not that far away, and at this time the pole of the Arctic will begin to enter the pr day, with 24 hours of daylight, and with the passage of time the scope of the pr day will continue to spread to the lowertitudes. Jon and their current location are obviously still on the outskirts of the Arctic Ocean, so at close to six or seven o''clock in the evening, the sky began to darken. Without the intention of rushing through the night, Jon found a suitable ce tond, pulled out the folding tent from his pocket, and gave himself a temporary nest on a huge ice floe. After the sleeping ce was ready, he started a fire to heat some hot water, so that he could eat something hot by the way. Nick and Gabrielle, of course, do not need him to eat, the two just after Jonnded, they went around together to help him explore the condition of this ice floe. Just when Jon has just boiled the water, Nick and Gabriellee back together, it''s just they brought a living creature back with them. It was an Arctic walrus that looked like it had been attracted by the fluorescence emanating from both Gabrielle and Nick and broke away from the pack and made its way to Jon''s tent with them. "Look! Jon, this is my new friend, the tusked beast!" Gabrielle floated gleefully around the walrus'' head. Jon poured boiling hot water from the pot into the cup while looking at the walrus'' beard with interest. "Don''t give someone a random name, this animal is called a walrus." He fished out a bag of raw meat from his pocket and threw a piece from it to the walrus that wasn''t afraid of ghosts or people. Seeing something to eat, the walrus also grunted and pped its hind limbs and slid over on the ice. "The whale you saw during the day, is called the Beluga whale, and the bear you called White Jr., is a pr bear." Since being idle, Jon couldn''t help but teach Gabrielle sagely and give her some general knowledge aboutmon animals. Gabrielle shook her head. "How about we call it White One, White Two, the tusked beast, it sounds good!" "When people call you a silly girl in the future, don''t mention that you know me, it''s too embarrassing." "No! When I meet people in the future, I will say that I was taught by Jon Green!" Everything else aside, at least bringing Gabrielle along gave Jon a lot ofughs during the trip. After ying with him for a while, Gabrielle went with Nick to look around for any other novel and interesting animals. Jon clutched the hot cocoa in the mug near his neck, and when he saw that the walrus hadn''t left, he stretched out his hand and waved at it. It is unknown whether it is because Jon has just fed it, or the walrus itself is not afraid of strangers, after seeing Jon''s beckoning, it moved forward again with a grunt and came to Jon''s side. Jon gave it another piece of raw meat for the sake of it listening to him and then touched its whiskers while it was chewing its food. "Aha! Teacher, I''ve actually wanted to touch it for a long time." He whispered something that sounded unexinable to outsiders, and the low murmur of his words was hidden among the wind and snow. The walrus did not resist, as if it knew that the person in front deserved it for the food he provided, and allowed Jon to whisper some unintelligible words as he patted its long tusks and thick skin. The next day at dawn, Jon drilled out of the tent and restarted the fire to prepare hot water for washing, while looking around for the walrus, that listened to his ramblings for hours and hours; it seemed that the walrus should have long disappeared, it was estimated that in the middle of the night, it would have returned to its own flock. Gabrielle and Nick, of course, do not need to sleep, they yed the role of night watchman through the night, just so that Jon can sleep a good night in peace. After a simple breakfast, Jon mounted the Firebolt and continued on his way. In this way, he has been flying for three or four days and finally came to an almost endless ice field, extremely extensive. After determining their current location, Jon controlled the flying broom tond and re-calcted the next target point. On this trip, Jon''s goal was not to go directly to the end of the previously nned destination of Hogwarts ship, instead, Grindelwald marked a new location for him. ording to him, there are still Death Eaters stationed in this area of the North Pole, so Jon should meet with his people stationed at the North Pole, and understand the number of enemies and the general situation, before deciding on the n and strategy afterwards. ording to the marker points Grindelwald had recorded for him, Jon put his wand upright on the ice and then whispered while letting go. "Point Me." The next moment, his wand fell down in the northwest direction. After re-determining the direction, Jon did not hesitate, once again mounted on the Firebolt and rose into the sky, leading Nick and Gabrielle to fly together in the direction the wand pointed. This time the voyage was not as long as before, Jon especially stick to the ground not far in height, after flying for about four or five hours, he finally saw a fortress sculpted out of ice! A small ck g was also hung on the fortress, which was emzoned with the emblem of the Durmstrang double-headed eagle and deer head, which seemed unusually conspicuous in a white ice field. Jon circled around the ice fortress for a while, before finding the location of its gate, and then slowlynded. Afternding on the ground, he once again confirmed the message on the map before knocking heavily on the door of the ice fortress. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 283: The Sledge Chapter 283: The Sledge The wizard who was stationed here at the North Pole by Grindelwald is called Eric. He is a male wizard who looks very young in appearance, only in his twenties at most. He weed Jon and the others into the castle made of ice, which was warm inside, and the firece dug out from the ice wall was burning with a vigorous fire, and the heat didn''t affect those ice blocks in any way. "Sir Headmaster has told me in advance that you woulde, but to be honest, I am still surprised that you are so young." Eric seemed to be a very talkative person, and he invited Jon to sit at his leisure while picking up the teapot and pouring him a cup of warm ck tea. Jon thanked him and took the cup of tea from him. "I didn''t expect Mr Eric to be so young as well." This was not some modest remark from Jon, but he had always thought that Grindelwald''s men were a bunch of old men and women, and given Eric''s current age, it was obvious that he had joined the Acolytes only in thest few years. "I just graduated from Durmstrang six years ago, and in terms of age, it is indeed a great deal of trust that Sir Headmaster has ced in me by letting me carry out some important task in the Arctic alone." A curious expression appeared on Jon''s face. "So, what kind of work are you doing here?" Eric smiled. "I''m sorry, Sir Headmaster has explicitly instructed me on this matter, and I can''t tell you about it yet, because as of now, my research is just a little too ordinary to make it feel like anything worth continuing." At his answer, Jon''s heart was scratched with curious ticking, but on the surface, he nodded with understanding. "Well, then let''s get to the point, Mr Eric, what information do you have for me about the Death Eaters?" Eric waved his wand in his hand, and a piece of parchment as big as a table-top flew over from a nearby wooden cab and unfolded in front of them. A map was drawn on the parchment. "In the Arctic Ocean, the vast majority of the area is upied by floating ice, the location of these pieces of broken ice floating on the surface of the sea is not fixed every moment, and will continue to drift with the temperature as well as seasonal changes, so it is difficult for people to urately locate the ces here. But we are now in the ice field, which is a huge area of ice connected to the centre of the pole, even in the highest temperature of August and September, the ice here will not melt. So in this ice field, I made a simple map, which will help you to identify the main activities of those Death Eaters." Eric used the tip of his wand to point to a few prominent red dots on the map. "These are the ces where I have found Death Eaters staying for long periods of time, but they seem to rarely appear above theyer of ice, instead they dive deep into the solid ice hidden underground, probably on guard, or maybe they are looking for something." Then he turned the tip of his wand to thergest of the red markers. "This ce is where thergest number of Death Eaters had gathered now; when they first came here, they did not pay much attention to this ce, but just two months ago, arge part of the Death Eaters scattered all over the Arctic gathered here, as if they had made some new discovery here." Jon listened carefully to his exnation, the map depicted very clearly, Eric said nothing wrong, but there is a very puzzling point on this. "Is there anyone else here besides Mr Eric?" Eric showed a smile, he caught the exact question Jon wanted to ask. "You think it is basically impossible for me to monitor and find out the location and trajectory of so many Death Eaters simultaneously by myself, is it? This question is actually very easy to answer, forgive me for a while, you will soon be able to know." Jon shrugged, unconcerned about it. The research base in the North Pole here would obviously hide some secrets about Grindelwald, just like that Norwegian monastery. Even if Eric refused to answer this question of Jon, he would not feel anything. Today''s lunch is naturally settled in the ice castle, Eric''s handicraft is very good, he is Italian, and the pizza he made is very delicious, Jon also had the sense not to ask him why he did not add pineapple to the pizza. After the meal, Jon rested on the couch for a while longer while Nick took Gabrielle with him to wander around the ice castle, and then they prepared to take that map and say goodbye and leave. Although Eric seems to be a rtively easy person to get along with, Jon is not here to make friends on this trip, and Eric did not stop him either, he just suggested something to Jon. "When you leave from here and continue to move ahead, you will be in the scouting range of the Death Eaters, they are not many in number but have always insisted on patrolling the surrounding area, if you still ride your flying broom like this, you will be very conspicuous and have a great probability of being discovered by them, so you''d better leave your broom with me first and move around here in other ways instead. " His suggestion was undoubtedly correct, and Jon ced the Firebolt in his hand down and looked at Erik. "So you have a better means of transportation?" Eric smiled mysteriously. "Follow me." He led Jon and the others to the back door of the ice castle, and after going outside from there, they saw a pure white sledge cart parked in front of the door, and what acted as the driving force in front of the sledge was not some sledge dog. "White Two!" Gabrielle shouted excitedly. Yes, it was the two pr bears with the reins on them! Jon looked at this unique sledge cart with amazement, but then he said hesitantly. "Pr bears are inconspicuous here, but this kind of animal, even if it can be tamed, it is not suitable for pulling a sledge when ites to endurance, right?" "Well, of course, but this is not an ordinary pr bear." Eric said while pping his palm, the two pr bears like soldiers who received orders, stood up from the ground with their feet upright and naively saluted Eric! Jon was even more surprised, seeing this scene, he recalled the question he had asked this morning. "You''re able to see what these bears see from afar!" "They are natural scouts in the Arctic, the Death Eaters basically won''t notice them, and they don''t run slow and are different from ordinary bears, with enough endurance to be perfectly equal to even the most specialized sledge dogs." Eric stood next to the sledge. "Of course, even if it is pure white, a sledge is also will attract attention, so I also specially prepared a wide enough stealth cloak for you, you can cover the whole cart when the bear is running up. So that even if a Death Eater spots you, the odds are they will only think it''s two bears ying around are high." ---- #mark tribolta, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 284: The Death Eaters on the Ice Field (2 in 1) Chapter 284: The Death Eaters on the Ice Field (2 in 1) Eric prepared adequately for Jon, not only the invisibility cloak that could cover the whole sledge, but he also added some small spells to the sledge''s skid so that it would not leave traces on the ice surface. He also gave Jon a goggle to protect his eyes from the sunlight reflected from the snow and ice. After expressing his most sincere thanks, Jon finally waved to Eric, and then the two pr bears in charge of pulling the cart in front of him marched on all fours and ran in the direction of the Arctic Pole. And in front of the ice fortress, after watching the back of the sledge fade into the wind and snow, Eric re-entered the fortress, which had been isted in the Arctic for five whole years. He did not stay in his room, but came to the utility room, then opened a piece of moving floor, went down the steps cut in the ice, and finally came to a secret chamber under the ice. He put on the gloves and changed into the most familiar white coat, the original gentle smile on his face faded, as he looked at the ice wall in front of him, in which strange-shaped creatures were frozen, and his smile turned into a maniacal and obsessive. "Aha. I''m back, my darlings." The sleigh cart, spearheaded by the pr bear, sped across the ice field. Gabrielle looked very happy. Along the way, she had proposed three times to adopt a beluga whale, twice asked for a pr bear, and once pleaded for a walrus ride, all of which were refused by Jon. Now she finally had two legitimate pets and was sitting proudly on the back of one of the pr bears, letting the cold wind curl her long silvery hair, like a g flying backwards. Jon did not bother to interrupt Gabrielle''s happiness at the moment, ording to the map Eric had given him, they were now some distance away from the area where the Death Eaters had chosen to scout, so there was no need to be so cautious for the time being. "There''s something wrong with his research in the Arctic." After staring at that map for a while, Jon''s gaze turned to the bear underneath Gabrielle, while deliberately lowering his voice, he spoke to Nick beside him. Nick frowned slightly. "I took Gabrielle to wander around the ce after lunch, and nothing unusual transpired. But that does present the biggest problem as well." Jon pondered for a moment, and then he asked quietly. "Have you ever heard of any bear-like magical creatures throughout your time in Hogwarts Castle before?" Nick followed Jon''s words to think, but soon he shook his head. "No, I at one time got along quite well with the Professor of Care of Magical Creatures ss at Hogwarts, he and I talked a lot about magical creatures rted things, but I have never heard of any bear magical creatures. The only thing that seems to have been recorded is the creature called the panda in another continent, a kind of animal that has the blood of extinct magical creature." But soon he patched up his judgment again. "But the world is a big ce, and there are many kinds of magical creatures, so no one can be sure that they know all of them, not even a certain Hufflepuff student who was once expelled. Not to mention the fact that this is in the far Arctic, where few wizards can be found, so there may be a pr bear magical creature species that no one knows about. Are you suspecting that young male wizard of hiding something mysterious on these two bears?" Jon''s gaze was deep; it was unknown what he was thinking. "Just some unfounded suspicions, and it''s certainly not about the mystery or doubt concerning that young male wizard named Eric." He didn''t say anything more but focused his mind on studying the map. Grindelwald''s purpose for having hime to the North Pole on this trip was very clear: to go to the location where Hogwarts'' originally established voyage would have reached at the end. Jon had the destination of that ce deep in his mind when he was on the ship, at a ce twenty to thirty miles northeast of the North Pole. And this ce was also marked with a prominent red dot on the map Eric gave him, at the same time not far from this red dot, is the ce where he had deliberately emphasized that not many Death Eaters had gathered there at the beginning, but now the majority of them in the Arctic had gathered there two months ago. The two locations are very close to each other, probably less than two miles ording to the scale estimate on the map. Jon is still about 400 miles away from the North Pole, the two pr bears can maintain a speed of 35 miles per hour without rest for a long time, that is, if he does not take a break in the middle, it will take about 13 or 14 hours to reach the destination. But of course, Jon will not be that inhuman to himself and the bears, it was already more than three o''clock in the afternoon when he set out, and even if the daytime is long as he gets closer to the pole, ten hourster the sky would certainly be dark. So for today''s goal, he settled on a ce not far from the pole, which is rtively far from several spots where the Death Eaters are stationed, a good ce for concealment. After continuing on for about two or three hours, Jon asked Gabrielle toe over and no longer let her continue to wander around the sledge, and concealed her under the cloak of invisibility. The invisibility cloak Eric prepared for them, obviously cannot bepared with the one Lily lent him. The invisibility cloak in the magical world is made using only two manufacturing processes, one is to directly peel off the hide of the Demiguise and weave it into the fabric, and the other is to use a Disillusionment charm on special fabric. The invisibility cloak made of Demiguise fur is more expensive, and its invisibility effect is better, but as time passes, the invisibility effect on it will weaken until it will bepletely ineffective. The invisibility cloak made with Disillusionment charm is cheaper, but the specific invisibility effect depends on the caster''s personal level, and the shelf life is even shorter, basically not more than three months, after which the invisibility cloak willpletely be an ordinary cloak. The one that Eric gave them is obviously the invisibility cloak made with a Disillusionment charm, and because of this, the fabric wasrge enough for him to envelop the entire sledge. Just as they continued to drive forward for an hour, Jon and Co. finally met the first Death Eater since they arrived at the Arctic Ocean. ... Mike followed Voldemort and began to fight for him since the 1970s, and it is because of his long enough seniority, plus enough loyalty, he has a prominent identity and position today. But with it, he also has to do more important and dangerous tasks. Just like this trip to the North Pole, before he was transferred here, he had already heard that dozens of his colleagues had died at the hands of the wizard who had been renowned worldwide fifty years ago, and even Rabastan, who had just returned to the homnd to receive the reward from their lord after making great achievements in France, had died at the hands of a boy. Yes, at the hands of a boy. This news simply can not be suppressed, at least among the Death Eaters it is amon secret. After all, many of the Death Eaters who saw the scene at the time escaped with Rodolphus, and before the hush order was issued, they had already passed the incident to the rest of their colleagues. A boy who looked at most fifteen or sixteen years old used a killing curse to kill Rabastan Lestrange on the sea, a great man of great status even among the purebloods. The vast majority of Death Eaters who did not witness that scene reacted with disbelief upon hearing the news. Rabastan dying under the killing curse is nothing, after all, no one has ever survived under this curse, but what is really unbelievable is that the person who used the killing curse is a child who is still in magic school! Until it was ordered by the top, to let all those who know about it shut up and to prevent the news from being spread, those who were still suspicious all believed that it was true. This can''t help but make some people wonder in their hearts, is the boy who killed Rabastan a student under Dumbledore or not? At this age, he could use the killing curse; if hees from Hogwarts Castle, where Voldemort took charge as Headmaster personally, they could easily throw a ck pot on Voldemort, suspecting that he had received some advice from Voldemort by chance. But this incident also let the group of Death Eaters who were transferred to the North Pole all raise their vignce, from the incident of Rabastan''s death to now, it has been so long, but they still have not rxed their vignce, always faithfully patrolling in their designated areas, at most, will only secretlyin in their hearts, after such a long time there is no change, why the people above still didn''t let them withdraw from here. Mike this afternoon also thought of this question in his mind once again. In fact, many people suspect that their head, Rodolphus is resentful of his brother''s death, but did not have the guts to go to the territory of the wizard who saved the boy to kill him and could only try his luck here to bet that they wille again. But Mike only thinks that this is Rodolphus''s fantasy. No one is stupid, they have been attacked in the sea once, as long as a person has a little brain they will guess that there will be an ambush here in the Arctic, and will note over in a short period of time, even if they doe over, there must be a wizard at the same level as their lord will follow, such a wait-and-see is meaningless. With this in mind, Mike, whose entire body was shrunken in his robe, was suddenly attracted by two pr bears running side by side. The two bears seemed to be chasing each other, one in front of the other, running wildly on the ice field. Mike did not feel anything special in his mind, here pr bears are certainly the mostmon animals, these stupid bears as if they had never seen people, they gathered at all their locations, and basically, a few such bears could easily be found crouching in their vicinity. The Death Eaters didn''t care about them, and some even wanted to use them to practice their magic, but unfortunately, although these bears look bulky, their movements are actually very flexible, moving left and right on the ice field to easily avoid any spells flying at them, and those Death Eaters who are interested in killing will at most find a few Arctic foxes and seals which are easy to deal with that this bear. Watching the two stupid bears running further away, Mike shoved both of his hands into his sleeves and continued to walk on foot on the ice field, silently thinking about when such a day woulde to an end. What he didn''t know was that there were six eyes just staring at him as he passed by. The concealment of the invisibility cloak is certainly very useful, although the effect of the invisibility cloak made by the Disillusionment charm is generally very poor, but, this is Arctic, every single aspect here is white, so even if the effect is poor, it will not have any impact. The sunlight shining on the ice field during the day will cause a great impact on people''s eyes, the Death Eaters are not familiar with the situation here, so many people''s eyes are getting sore, and so far they have not slowed down. Not to mention at night, the darkness is the best protection. "That guy looks a little dumb." After that Death Eater was no longer visible, Gabrielle whispered. Jon patted her head. "Just as dumb as Gabrielle." "Ah~ No! Gabrielle is the smartest!" Unlike Jon who was ying around with Gabrielle, the expression on Nick''s face became serious. "The Encounter with the Death Eaters represents that we have entered their reconnaissance circle, next we have to be more careful." Jon pressed Gabrielle''s head so that her hands could not hit him, and he also nodded with a serious countenance. "Let''s slow down a bit, it''s not like we''re in a hurry anyway." His words attracted Gabrielle''s attention, the little girl who wanted to get back on him just now, volunteered to slow down the two "sledge drivers" in front of the sledge. This little thing; Of course, Jon did not refuse her. The two pr bears are indeed very special, not only do they have enough stamina, but they can actually understand humannguage, and after receiving Gabrielle''s instruction, they automatically slowed down. And so it went on until darkness fell, and Jon and co. were only less than a hundred miles from their destination. Without choosing to keep travelling through the night, they arrived at the previously intended location, and pitched a tent, while also allowing the bear, which had been running for almost seven or eight hours, to stop and rest. Without bothering to do anything else, Jon went into the white tent to rest after putting the cloak of invisibility over the sledge. Tomorrow they will reach their final destination, so it is best to get a good night''s sleep tonight to refresh. However, things often do not go as nned, after about four or five hours of sleep, Jon was woken up by Nick, who was on watch outside. "Someone''sing, Jon! We better find a ce to hide quickly!" Jon sat up extremely fast, he only took off his jacket when he slept, and now he can just put it back on and get out of the tent. After he got out of the tent, he knocked on the top of the tent with his wand, and it disassembled itself on its own and then fell neatly on the snow. "They''reing!" Gabrielle, who was lying next to a raised snow mound, shouted to them in a whisper. Jon and Nick immediately walked bowed in the direction of Gabrielle quickly, while walking, Jon also pulled out of the invisibility cloak from his pocket that Lily had lent him, and after getting to Gabrielle''s side, he enveloped it over them all. ---- #mark tribolta, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 285: Bears Paw Chapter 285: Bear''s Paw Norm Greengrass is not very keen on being a Death Eater. The reason why he joined the ranks of Death Eater was just to disy the Greengrass family''s allegiance to Voldemort as a sign of support. Noam, whoes from a pureblood family, does not care much about the so-called bloodline theory, nor does he care about power and wealth, and his ambition from childhood to adulthood has not changed, which is to travel around the world to try all varieties of food. Yes, he is just a simple foodie. But born in such a family, he has no right to make a choice, since he has grown up enjoying the Greengrass family''s luxurious lifestyle, he must make his own contribution to the family as an adult, just as his aunt assumed the role of the half-blood head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, the Greengrass family is still more liberal than other pureblood families, they know that Norm''s interest does not rest there, so they gave him a promise that as long as he stays as a Death Eater for three to five years, after that period has passed, he can resign from his position and do what he really wants to do. Noam epted this dly, to have such an agreement already let him satisfied enough. After joining the Death Eaters, he and his colleagues didn''t have muchmon interest, so he didn''t hang out with them in his free time, and he still thought about how to eat a delicious meal every day, even after being transferred to the North Pole. "It''s absolutely delicious, I read it in a muggle cookbook earlier, so don''t think this trip isn''t worth it, I promise you won''t regret it." Norm urged Hanks, if those bears weren''t so hard to catch, he wouldn''t have partnered with another Death Eater to catch them with him. Hanks actually was not that interested in food, but the night patrol made him hungry, the Ministry of Magic provided them with dry food which is not that bad, but after continuously eating them for so many days, even the most delicious things will be tiring to eat. So after hearing Noam''s passionate narrative, he decided toe together on this trip, a change of vour to beat the taste buds. In a frosty wind and snow, the two men together held two wands with dim fluorescent light close to the pr bears named "White Two Type I" and "White Two Type II" by Gabrie after Jon suggested for her to name them. "These bears are too wary. You go around and encircle them with me from the opposite side. Don''t use a killing curse, it will spoil the taste, just use a sting curse and make sure you can just blow them up. We will only eat bear paws anyway." Norm whispered orders to Hanks, what he didn''t notice was that just in front of him on the snow mound, six eyes were hiding behind the cloak of invisibility, watching them silently. Jon heard what they were talking to each other, and it was only at this time that he realized what these two men are doing over here in the middle of the night. They did not notice anything wrong, but simply wanted to eat roasted bear paws! To be honest, it was Jon''s bad luck, there are so many pr bears in the Arctic Ocean, but Noam took a fancy to the two that pulled the Sledge for them. But regardless of whether to attribute this to luck, Jon felt that the two Death Eaters hunting bears in the middle of the night is a bit of an oddity. Not only Jon, but Gabrielle also heard the conversation between the two Death Eaters, she did not dare to make a sound at this time, just turned her head to look at Jon pitifully. It is the only two "pets" she got aftering to the North Pole, so of course she won''t want to let others blow them up and bake their paws to eat. Jon just winked at her, indicating that she should not act rashly, and Jon also has no intention of sneaking up on them. The two Death Eaters have nned to sneak attack the bear from two separate points, although they are separated, they are not far apart, and they always held the wand in their hands, maintaining a state of alert, so if Jon initiates a sneak attack, he can, of course, take down one of them 100%, but there is no way to guarantee that the other one will also be left behind. If another Death Eater escaped sessfully, and the news that Jon hade to the North Pole would also be brought back, then his next steps will be difficult if he wants to continue to move forward. So Jon did not act recklessly, of course, this does not mean that he will give up the two bears who have done a great service for them. Or rather, these two bears simply didn''t need their help to be rescued. Soon, the two pr bears'' actions also confirmed Jon''s thoughts. When Nick woke Jon up, the two pr bears had also woken up with him. But they didn''t show any other movements, still lying on the ice looking asleep. And when Norm and Hanks hadpleted their encirclement and were about to attack them, the two pr bears got up from the ground with a "dawdle"! The expression on Norm''s face was frozen for a second, and then he immediately reacted. "Confringo!" The fiery light exploded in the direction his wand was pointing, but the two bears'' reaction was more sensitive than anyone else''s! They ran and slid on the ice, very easily escaped the range of Noam''s sting curse, and then very tacitly separated and ran wildly in different directions. "What are you staring nkly at!" Noam looked a little exasperated and shouted, which woke up Hanks, they did not give up easily and ran together in the direction where one of the bears had fled like they intended to eat the feast tonight no matter what. When they werepletely out of sight, Jon lifted the cloak of invisibility off their bodies and looked at the wrecked ice surface. The aftermath of Noam''s sting curse had unfortunately tipped up the corner of the sledge that was originally nketed with an invisibility cloak, so if they hadn''t gone after the bear and stayed in ce, they would have been able to spot the anomaly. "Are they going to be okay?" Gabrielle asked, still worried. Jon at this moment is full of confidence in the two bears, through yesterday''s and today''s performance, he has determined that these two pr bears are by no means ordinary domesticated animals, they not only have far higher intelligence than more than half of the animals but also in terms of physical qualities they are far beyond the normal pr bears. "Don''t worry about them, they''ll be fine. Instead of worrying about them, we should worry about how we are going to travel the next part of the journey on our own." Jon pulled out the map in the dark and then used the Wand-Lighting Charm. "Whether this is because of our bad luck or those two eaters have other purposes, we certainly can not count on the two bears to return, so the road after this can only be walked by ourselves." Relying on human foot power to walk a hundred miles in this world of ice and snow; if an ordinary person tries to do that, then it would be considered a kind of suicide. In the absence of intermediate supply points, no one can walk so far, let alone in the Arctic. But for Jon, this may be a little difficult, but definitely not an impossible thing. ---- #mark tribolta, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 286: Help (2 in 1) Chapter 286: Help (2 in 1) Jon used the Smashing spell to destroy the sledge that they had been riding before. There is no way to take this thing with them, and there is no point in taking it with them, and it is easy to reveal their whereabouts by leaving it here, so destroying it is the best choice. After that, he did not intend to find a ce to continue the interrupted sleep but nned to spend the night first far away from this originally believed to be a safe ce. Without dwelling on anything, Jon directly used the magic stored in the ring''s second gem, using a levitation charm to fly in the air, then cloaked the invisibility cloak on himself, as well as Nick and Gabrielle''s bodies. Although he also used a magic spell to protect his body from the wind and cold temperatures, the cold temperature is still notpletely shielded, so Jon can only slow down his flight speed while maintaining a low altitude of only about five meters above the ground, and began to continue to move toward his destination. Just six or seven hours after he left that area, Norm and Hanks, who had failed to catch a bear, came back with a haggard face through the wind and snow. "I feel like my spell was close to hitting that bear just now, but it just somehow managed to dodge it!" Hanks''s face filled with indignation, he simply wanted to eat a midnight snack but never thought that he not only failed to eat a midnight snack but also worked hard all night. Norm''s face although showed some disappointment, there is not much negative emotion, even if no Death Eaters have noticed it before, but this foodie is not a brainless person, the two bears today did not behave like any ordinary animal at all, nor can there be any ordinary animal that can escape under the pursuit of two Death Eaters. He said with a thoughtful face. "This is not our problem, is it possible that these two bears themselves are very problematic?" His words caused Hanks to visibly freeze, and he didn''t quite manage to follow the lead for a moment. "You mean, these two bears are some kind of magic breed?" Norm shook his head as he looked through the wind and snow towards the camp where Jon had been stationed before, the uninterrupted snowfall hadpletely covered the traces left here before, and from the looks of it, not a single problem could be seen. "When we went after the two bears, I had a vague feeling that there seemed to be something hidden around in here. But at that time I did not pay much attention to that feeling." Listening to Norm''s tone that does not sound like a joke, the expression on Hanks'' face also became serious. He clearly knew that his partner, although he usually shows particr enthusiasm only for eating, in fact, his mind is quite smart. "Are you saying that these two bears are under the control of someone?" "It could be that they are under control, or it could be that they are actually human beings of some kind themselves." Norm said in a spective tone while waving his wand to search this snowy area nearby. Daylight had fully dawned, and Hanks also did not stand idle, he and Norm together used a spell to scatter the surrounding newly covered snow on the ice, but never found anything. Jon dealt with the aftermath very cleanly, basically leaving nothing to provide clues as evidence. Yet just as Hanks frowned and pushed aside a patch of snow, Norm suddenly reached out to stop his subsequent movements. This Greengrass wizard who was forced to join the Death Eaters crouched on the ground, reached out and grabbed the pile of snow that was swept away by Hanks, and gently kneaded them in his hands. But these "snowkes" were very strangely not clenched into a ball by his hand, it seems like some kind of powder of hard objects that just mixed up into the snow on the ground. This scene made Noam narrow his eyes, and made Hanks hold his breath. "We seem to have found some big clue, Hanks." Norm said softly. Hanks and he exchanged a nce, and both of them in unison discerned the thoughts in the other''s eyes. Together, they aimed their wands at the white bits of powder on the ground and used the spell in perfect unison with their voices and waving gestures. "Reparo!" The powder that was subjected to the Repairing Charm lightly flew up from the snow, they are obviously only part of a destroyed object, and many have been blown to other ces by the wind and snow. But with these alone, it was already enough to build a part out of its original bottom frame. "This is." Hanks said hesitantly, staring hard. Noam added the words he had not finished. "A sledge!" After determining what exactly it is, Norm''s face became grave. "This matter must be reported!" Jon was not yet aware of the fact that his whereabouts had been exposed. He has indeed cleaned up neatly enough, even crushed the sledge dust with a Smashing spell, and even separated it and scattered it into the snow. But even if he did enough, Noam and them still found the problem from the two pr bears, thus finding these clues. There is no shortage of elites among the Death Eaters, just like there are many elites like Scabior in Auror. The ability to control the entire Britain plus Hogwarts Castle on behalf of Voldemort needs a basic source of talent, and almost all these people who have joined the Ministry of Magic other than some purebloods are elites. But whether or not he is aware that his whereabouts have been discovered, Jon can do nothing to change now. Unless he abandoned the mission given to him by Grindelwald and turned back directly to Durmstrang, he needed to find a way to reach his destination located near the pole. And trying to find someone in the Arctic, especially someone in a cloak of invisibility, is not an easy task. At least after Jon began to use the levitation charm that night to start the journey, he had not encountered any human traces for three consecutive days, not to mention the Death Eaters and gang. In the early morning of the third day, Jon rubbed his face as he drilled out of the tent in which he had been sleeping, and then he saw Nick and Gabrielle sitting side by side in front of his tent, staring at the sky with a look of awe. Jon also followed their gaze up to look, half of the sky is full of brilliant colours, and the beauty of the magnificent hue is enough to make all those who see this scene stop and look. The beauty of nature was on full disy at this moment. "It''s Aurora Borealis." Jon rubbed Gabrielle''s head. Gabrielle''s hand propped up her chin, and her big eyes reflected the magnificent sky. "If only mama, papa and sister could see it too." "Yes, there will be a day like that for sure." Jon said softly. The gorgeous sky didn''t stop Jon from continuing the journey, and the three-day journey brought them closer to the end of the line by more than eighty miles, with only twenty to thirty miles left to go. If they speed up, basically they can reach the established target point tonight. And from this day onwards, Death Eaters began to appear around more and more frequently. In just one morning, Jon ran into four Death Eater squads, which was more than the total number of Death Eaters he had encountered before. This made Jon feel that something was wrong. Even if the Death Eaters are likely to arrange maximum defence in the most central locations, ording to the information Eric gave him, there were less than a hundred of these Death Eaters staying at the North Pole in total. If they deployed reconnaissance over hundreds of miles out, it should not be possible to still be so heavily defended in the core. Unless they are aware of his presence, then only they will arrange most of their men to the most sensitive ces at this moment! rm rose in Jon''s heart, but his pace forward did not stop, and they even deliberately elerated their speed. So half an afternoon earlier than nned, Jon and co. had arrived a mile away from their destination. Not that he did not want to continue to approach, but the group of guards in charge of this area has been changed, the one who is responsible for defending this ce is no longer Death Eaters, but dozens of Dementors! They can ignore the existence of the cloak of invisibility, and simply rely on their special sense of smell to emotions to determine the location of people, which can not help but hinder Jon''s progress. But it is also because of the sight of these dementors, the suspicions in Jon''s mind in turn also verified. These Death Eaters must have found something! Or else dementors simply can not appear here, this creature is born to feed on the positive emotions of people, in Azkaban their food is the prisoners, in Britain they can privately look for any suitable feeding objects. But now this is in the Arctic, in addition to the Death Eaters, who else can these dementors contact? Of course, there are also Muggles who have established scientific research stations in the Arctic, but not to mention whether the Dementors can find the location of these ces, just the number of those people certainly can not support the long-term existence of these multiple numbers of Dementors. They must have been temporarily mobilized in thest few days, and for no reason how the Death Eaters will recruit these things that all the humans detest? It can only be that they have found a strange movement in the Arctic and want to rely on these dementors to assist in finding Jon''s trail. Jon didn''t think that after his own identity was revealed on the sea that day, information about him won''t be investigated clearly. His summoning of two Patronus in Azkaban was seen by so many dementors who were present, so there was no possibility of them concealing it. And for a wizard who has learned to summon a Patronus, especially two of them, Dementors will no longer be a threat. These Death Eaters would not be unaware of this, so the arrival of these Dementors was not to provide them with any help in battle, but would only have the purpose of helping with reconnaissance. Looking at the dementors, Jon was lost in thought. For the current him of course it will not be difficult to deal with these things, but once the Patronus is summoned, it will certainly attract the attention of all the Death Eaters. Jon now does not even know what is at the end of that ce in the end, so he does not intend to risk exposing his whereabouts now. But if not exposed, this defence circle formed by the dementors is certainly not that simple to go past While Jon was contemting, his eyes suddenly turned to Nick. "Ghosts are not affected by dementors, right?" Nick did not hear the meaning of Jon''s words at first. "That''s for sure, at that time in Azkaban you saw it, didn''t you? Those dementors couldn''t do anything to me, I was already dead, so how could they absorb what they wanted from me a dead person?" "And as a ghost, you surely don''t have a vour they can smell on you either, right?" Jon asked seriously. It took Nick a moment to realize what he wanted. "You want me to help scout over there first?" He quickly shook his head, "these dementors are unable to harm me, and can not smell me, but they are not blind and can certainly see where I am unless I put on the cloak of invisibility. But as a ghost, I have no way of picking up the physical object like a cloak of invisibility." While he said this, his eyes suddenly turned to Gabrielle, at the same time, Jon''s eyes also turned to Gabrielle. Gabrielle had not reacted at this point and was looking at them with wide, perplexed eyes, with a blink. "But Gabrielle can, she''s not exactly a real ghost and can selectively touch physical objects!" Nick said excitedly. "And she also perfectly has all the characteristics of a ghost, will not be affected and detected by the dementors, and can go over with me!" But at this point, Jon hesitated instead, and he looked at Gabrielle. "But as you said, Gabrielle is not a real ghost, so will she be in danger if she goes over there with you and gets discovered?" "No!" This time it was Gabrielle''s own answer, she heard Nick and Jon discussing whether she could help, "At school, Ginny tested it with Luna, and Gabrielle couldn''t be hit by the spell! So it would definitely be safe enough to help!" Jon, however, said with a frown and shook his head. "They must have used small spells like stunning spells and full body-bind curse on you, if the death eaters found out, they will definitely use a killing curse, whether you are immune to the killing curse or not, no one can be sure." "Yes." Nick shrugged, "I can be sure of this, Gabrielle can resist the killing curse, but the price is that her soul will be essentially changed, never again return to her body in this life and be human again." Nick''s words made Jon no longer even think about the idea of Gabrielle and Nick cooperating together and avoiding these dementors. But obviously, even if he didn''t want to, Gabrielle wouldn''t just leave it at that. "Gabrielle can promise to be safe!" "Gabrielle''s promise is invalid!" Jon tapped down her raised hand and began to think of other, better ways. Gabrielle''s face instantly bulged with anger, like a steamed bun. This time Nick organized the wording and opened his mouth to try to persuade Jon. "In fact, you do not have to think of this matter as being that dangerous, Jon, with me, as long as Gabrielle held up the cloak of invisibility properly, then basically there will be no problems arising in the middle. After all, Gabrielle certainly wouldn''t want to simply stay behind and feel like a burden on this trip, you always have to give her a chance to contribute as much as she can, protection is necessary, but protection can''t be too much, right?" Hearing Nick trying to talk for herself, Gabrielle nodded her head like a chicken pecking at rice, then turned her head to look at Jon with bated breath. Jon was silent and thought for a moment, and then met Gabrielle''s gaze. "You seriously want to help?" "It would mean that Gabrielle is being helpful to everyone, wouldn''t it?" The young girl said in an almost pleading voice. Jon finally relented, and he nodded reluctantly. "Okay, but you have to promise to listen to Nick!" ---- #mark tribolta, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 287: The Labyrinth Under the Ice (2 in 1) Chapter 287: The Labyrinth Under the Ice (2 in 1) At this point in time, it was already the end of March, and where Jon and co. were located was only about four or five miles away from the pole. The pr daylight had expanded here, so there was no point in having to wait until it got dark any longer, nor would it likely get dark. Gabrielle shrouded in a cloak of invisibility took Nick with her and flew in the direction where the dementors are guarding up. After they left, Jon did not move lightly, he used the cloak of invisibility made from the disillusionment charm that Eric had given him, draping it over his own body. Because of theck of means of long-distance contact, plus the North Pole is a ce where it is extremely easy to lose direction, he did not have any idea to go somewhere or intention to do anything at this time, and simply waited in ce for Gabrielle and Nick to return. Gabrielle and Nick, cloaked in the invisibility cloak, easily crossed the dementors'' defensive circle, then they continued to fly forward and soon saw that not far away, there were a dozen tents stationed in an area. That is exactly their destination for this trip. "Why won''t these people just go home during the break?" Under the cloak of invisibility, Gabrielle asked in a small voice. "Don''t they know that ''pop'' appear and ''pop'' disappear magic?" Nick lowered his voice and exined to her. "The Apparition''s instantaneous range is limited, the farther the distance the higher the possibility of splinching, the distance between the Arctic and Britain has far exceeded this safe range. So for the sake of insurance during this period, it is considered the most prudent decision to stay here even if it is still a break time." Gabrielle let alone attending sses, she hadn''t even opened a single spell book during her time at Hogwarts, so she didn''t seem to be able to understand some of the terms that came out of Nick''s mouth. "What''s a splinch?" "It''s when your head has teleported to a designated ce, but your body didn''t follow along." Gabrielle looked surprised. "Won''t that just kill you?" "The magic power will maintain the connection between different parts of the wizard when splinching, but this connection can''tst long, if the split parts can''t be recovered in a short time, then the wizard will truly have to die." Looking at the cluster of tents that had been getting closer and closer, Nick cautioned in a soft voice. "Well, we are not out for a school trip, so if I don''t speak first, you have to keep quiet and watch my gestures tomunicate." Gabrielle who made a promise behaved obediently, her two small hands held on to the cloak of invisibility to prevent the cold wind from blowing this cloak directly away, even if she is still a child, she also knows the importance of this matter. Soon, they drifted into the cluster of tents, only after they had entered, they found that the tents there were not as many as they had seen from a distance, only a dozen in number, and most of them stood up in a circle in one area, and two big tents remained separately on one end of the circle each. The cluster of tents gathered in a circle were obviously ordinary tents, and their entrances were not closed, so Gabrielle and Nick could clearly see a wizard holding a wand sitting in each tent, and their attention was basically focused on the area enclosed by them in the middle, and from the outside, what could be seen is a snow-covered ice patch. As for the two separate tents on either side, every once in a while, there would be peopleing in and out, and those who came out would directly use the Apparition to leave, and Nick could clearly hear the voices of many people talking from inside. It is obviously a resting ce for those Death Eaters scattered outside on patrol. Both tents must have been enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm to allow quite a number of Death Eaters to rest inside. Judging from the situation, those Death Eaters behaving unusually in the ordinary tents holding their wands and constantly on the alert for something can give them some clues. Nick instructed Gabrielle with a gesture, the two ghosts wandered around the camp of the Death Eaters, and after making sure there were no other discoveries, they set their sight on the snow area which was encircled by tents. "Could they have also used the cloak to hide something there?" After moving slightly away from the camp, Nick signalled that it was okay to talk, and Gabrielle spected wildly. Nick did not respond to her words at first, he was looking down in deep thought as if hesitating about something. The Death Eaters'' actions were so obvious that he could certainly see that the area enclosed by the tent is bound to have a problem, but there is no way to guarantee whether it is a real problem or a decoy. If they move any closer, will they risk triggering some kind of rm? But after thinking again and again, Nick still decided to go and investigate exactly what is going on, so they could give useful information to Jon when they go back. But he still has to make the necessary protective measures, he let Gabrielle support the cloak in the back, and he hid under the cloak in front, then cautiously approached the area towards the middle of the tents. They spent close to half an hour before making their way to the open space, in the middle of which the Death Eaters were staring at them, but nobody saw through the cloak of invisibility. Gabrielle also behaved very nervously, after all, they are being stared at by so many enemies, and she is still just a small child, at least in the ghost state her palms cannot sweat, or perhaps the wind will blow off the cloak of invisibility when her hands slip. After searching all over the ce without finding anything at all, Nick turned his attention to the patch of ice beneath them. He frowned and pondered, then gestured toward the ground to Gabrielle, who quickly understood what he meant. If there is no problem above the ice, then the problem is most likely below the ice! After determining the next scouting goal, it was still Nick who took the initiative to go below while Gabrielle held up the cloak and rode on his neck, and the two ghosts cautiously dived into the surface of the ice. After they went down, they can only see solid ice everywhere in the surrounding area, this ice field located in the Arctic pole has arge amount of permafrost, from ancient times to the present day tens of thousands or even millions of years without melting, so some of the ice is likely to be frozen with some strange and bizarre things. But the ice where Nick and Gabrielle are now is rtively shallow, surrounded by some very clean ice, where they didn''t see anything unique and strange. After submerging under the ice, Nick did not stay still, he was extremely cautious and still did not let Gabrielle take off the cloak of invisibility, the two still remained hidden in the cloak of invisibility, and began to scout this area of the ice. And this time, they soon made a discovery! Under the ice surface in the middle area encircled by Death Eaters, they found a secret passage in the solid ice! It was obviously carved out artificially, and ording to Nick''s judgment, it was also reinforced by special magic to prevent the tunnel from copsing or being frozen again. Such a discovery cheered them both up. Without leaving immediately, Nick and Gabrielle together continued deeper down the secret passage. They had agreed with Jon before they left that they would be sure to return within five hours, regardless of what happened, and there was still plenty of time left, which means they could explore even deeper. Along that winding secret passage, they had been floating for about ten or twenty minutes when they came across a fork in the path. The authority to choose the way forward was given to Gabrielle by Nick, and the little girl used her fingertip to point out the way, and then finally chose the path on the left. After deciding on the way forward, they moved on, but without proceeding even for a few minutes, they once again encountered another fork in the path, which led to three different directions. This made Nick frown deeper, he now finally felt that this is not a secret passage under the ice, but abyrinth! No signposts, nor any information, if not them being ghosts, any person whoes here will not be able to avoid the situation of getting lost. Without choosing to stop here, this time they picked the middle of the path to go down, and soon there was a constant fork in the path to confirm the suspicions of Nick''s heart. This is indeed an undergroundbyrinth, if there is no map, trying to find a correct path from such aplexndscape will be extremely difficult. Even if Nick used the advantage of being a ghost, after floating for more than an hour there was no end in sight, and he began to take Gabrielle through the ice to wander around, but there was no additional valuable discovery. They can only tell that thisbyrinth is really vast, ording to their speed, at least they would have been able to cross a muggle city downtown, but they still did not find the path that ispletely sealed. After determining this, Nick no longer intended to take Gabrielle to continue to float around. They have to bring this information back to Jon so that he can decide how to make the next choice. After deciding to return, they went straight up, trying to float out of the ice. Still, after flying for half an hour, just when Nick almost thought that there was a problem somewhere and that they had actually been teleported to somewhere else, they finally returned to the ground. Only at that moment, he realized that he and Gabrielle had actually gone so far under the ice! After getting back on the surface of the Arctic ice, they drifted around for quite a while longer before finally navigating back in the right direction by relying on those dementors and subsequently made their way back to the starting point where they had separated from Jon. "They were guarding a hugebyrinth that is under the surface of the ice, and the two of us, Gabrielle and I, floated together for a long time without being able to tell how big thisbyrinth really is." Nick gave Jon an ount of what they found. Jon listened to him while taking out the map that Grindelwald had given to him at the beginning. It clearly marked the end of their trip, and the final end point is exactly in the spot where Nick had described thebyrinth located. After recounting the findings, Nick also gave his judgment. "ording to the details on the map, there is indeed a high probability that is our destination for this trip, but we can''t rule out that this is actually an illusion created by the Death Eaters." "The target of their defence is a little too clear, under such a defence, as long as people have eyes they can see what they are actually protecting, and where is the target of this protection, so I decided that it is also possible that this so-calledbyrinth is actually a trap." After hearing his words, Jon refolded the map and put it away in his coat pocket. "Actually, these two guesses of yours can be equallybined. Thatbyrinth is our destination, and the purpose of these Death Eaters is likewise not to protect thatbyrinth, but to capture or kill us." Nick was a little confused by Jon''s words, but that was normal because neither the students on the ship nor the ghosts knew yet exactly what effect the pact that Jon had torn up after getting it from the high tower had managed to achieve. Nor do they know who he actually killed that day on the sea. "Isn''t what''s here very important to the Dark Lord?" Jon shook his head and exined what Grindelwald had told him privately before. "When that time the one who showed up at the sea to look for us was Death Eaters, not the Dark Lord himself, it means that this location in the North Pole is not that important to him now, or it is also possible that he has already taken the important things in advance." Nick pondered on Jon''s words, and after a few moments, he continued to ask. "So what are you going to do?" Jon patted the falling snowkes on himself. "What else can we do? Did wee here to simply look at the scenery and go back? Didn''t you already make sure there wasn''t a single person in thatbyrinth? This proves that these Death Eaters themselves didn''t dare to go deeper into it, if they went down they would also be lost inside, so there is nothing to be afraid of." After saying that, he patted the hidden pocket sewn on his robe at his chest, which had a feather radiating warmth. "And we still have a guaranteed means to escape, so it''s perfectly fine to break in." Jon is certainly the ultimate leader in this one-man, two-ghost crew as this is the trip he decided, since he has made the decision, Nick did not question any more but began to shift his thoughts to think about how they can enter thatbyrinth under the ice safely and securely. "The entrance to thebyrinth is sealed off on the surface of the ice, and Gabrielle and I still remember where it is, but the Death Eaters guarding it are very vignt, and there is their main base camp in the Arctic right next to it, so their support wille quickly once a situation arises." "These Dementors are easy to deal with." Jon looked up at the tall ck shadows wandering in the distance, "Patronus can expel them all, but after that, our movements will have to be fast, we can''t give the Death Eaters too much time to react." Jon said with some regret. "Unfortunately we didn''t bring that Firebolt with us, otherwise it would simply be toote for them to prepare if we directly elerate at full speed and try to rush through there." As long as they wish to cross these dementors, they cannot remain hidden, the Patronus Charm will cause too muchmotion, so Jon can only think of a speed approach. "About how thick is the ice at the entrance location of thebyrinth?" He then asked. Nick pondered and made a measurement using the sting curse Jon usually used. "Two sting curses, or three smashing spells, would be enough to break through that ice." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 288: Bellatrix Lestrange (2 in 1) Chapter 288: Betrix Lestrange (2 in 1) After getting all the information clear, Jon didn''t continue to dwell on it. Even without the Firebolt, he could still rely on the cloak of invisibility coupled with the levitation charm to break into thatbyrinth using an element of surprise. And the Patronus Charm is not only used to deal with dementors, but this charm can also give Jon more assistance. After determining the goal, Jon enveloped the cloak of invisibility over his, as well as Nick and Gabrielle''s bodies, and then recited the spell of the Patronus Charm without any scruples. "Expecto Patronum!" The most difficult step in the process of mastering this charm is undoubtedly the process of starting it from nothing to something. In contrast, after sessfully casting the Patronus Charm once, summoning them once again was not something that could be called difficult. The silvery light emerged in all directions, like a school of fish floating at the bottom of the sea, swimming and gathering around Jon. Soon one towering and one small figure appeared in the freezing sky, and the lion and badger were thus summoned by him again. Even though this is the second time seeing them, Nick''s face is still filled with an unspeakable expression. In the medieval magical world, to be able to sessfully learn the Patronus Charm magic, is enough to be qualified to be a member of the Ministry of Magic''s predecessor, the "Wizard''s Council". If some wizards who believed in fate and divination saw this back then, they might treat Jon as some legendary figure in the world. Because this truly goes against thews of magic. In contrast to Nick''s amazement, Gabrielle''s performance was much simpler and more straightforward. It was her first time seeing Jon''s Patronus, and she was not exactly aware of what summoning two Patronus actually mean. She just thought the silver lion looked majestic, and the little badger standing on the lion''s head looked very cute. Just when she had the guts to try to reach out and touch the mane on the lion, the two Patronus had rushed out. They leapt through the air, and almost in the blink of an eye, they had arrived beside the dementors. The silvery light was like a deadly poison to the dementors, and the moment they saw the two Patronus, the memories of that day in Azkaban prison came flooding back to them. After learning who to guard against at the North Pole, almost no Dementors were willing to take this duty, after all, there is no "fresh" food to enjoy at the North Pole, yet they still have to face the wizard who can summon two Patronus. These Dementors have seen even more Patronus, especially when Sirius escaped from prison, the prisoners who were imprisoned in Azkaban had summoned dozens of Patronus. But this lion and badger have brought a very different feeling to the dementors than the other Patronus, it is a kind of fear that can not be described in words, there is no talk of death for Dementors as soon as they exist, so they have never known what is called the fear of death. But in the face of these two Patronus of Jon, it brought them a fear simr to that of death! This fear had no cause, yet it did exist, so it made the dementors panic, and that''s also the reason why the dementors, which required so many Order of the Phoenix members to summon their Patronus to suppress at that time, would scurry away under the repulsion of Jon''s two Patronus. But perhaps because the dementor leader felt some deficiency regarding lying to Voldemort about certain things, it still forced dozens of dementors to join the Death Eaters in this ice field. But they came here to help the Death Eaters to keep a lookout and did not have to brace themselves to fight with Jon to the very end. After seeing the lion and the badger, the dementors who were on patrol all rose up into the sky! The cold wind blew their dark cloak, but of course, such creatures can not feel the cold, and the only thing that can make them feel fearful right now is the two Patronus hovering beneath them. Neither the lion nor the badger had any intention of pursuing them, and after dispersing the dementors'' defensive circle, Jon''s Patronus didn''t stop for a moment, but flew straight to where the Death Eaters'' camp is stationed! Their speed was so fast that they crossed this distance of nearly four miles in just ten minutes! And those Death Eaters stationed in the tents, after seeing the dementors flying overhead, were immediately alerted! From one of the two independent tents, Rodolphus came out with a grim and icy face. A dark green beam of light suddenly rose behind him, after the green light reached the highest point, nearly the ce where the human eye could not observe, in the sky above the North Pole, a gigantic Dark Mark that seemed to envelop half of the sky appeared! At the same time, all the Death Eaters patrolling all over the North Pole raised their heads and saw the serpent shuttling through the skull, each of them stared gravely and raised their wands in their hands, saying the word Apparition and disappeared from where they were. The next moment, nearly a hundred figures emerged around a cluster of tents, and without any need for Rodolphus to give any further orders, the Death Eaters, who had all gathered together, raised their wands together and aimed at the two silver figures that were rushing towards their location in the distance! "Avada Kedavra!" The sound of the incantation of killing curses rang out from the mouths of all these death eaters in unison, followed by a ghastly green colour that stained the entire white world! Nearly a hundred unforgivable curses, formed a huge pir of light, the curse as fast as lightning, in the blink of an eye crossed through this cold space! The lion and badger didn''t even have a single moment to dodge, the deadly green light prated their bodies though it didn''t cause even a half-hearted effect. And, soon the two Patronus went straight to the territory that denoted death and rushed headlong into the group of Death Eaters! The silver lion was like a real beast, it opened its mouth full of fangs and sharp teeth and rushed into the very front of the Death Eaters'' line-up! There was an enormous impact, which caused the shield charm of these Death Eaters to burst out with a blinding sh, followed by a "cracking" sound of breaking ss. Close to four Death Eaters'' shield charms were smashed through and immediately after that they were pounced on by the lion, the feeling that their internal organs were being crushed made them unable to suppress the fishy sweetnessing up from their throats. "Poof!" The thick blood and mined meat dyed the snow-white ice field like a bright plum blossom tree-dotted on pale paper. And the little badger made its presence fully known as it stretched out its long, thin, curved ws with a silvery glow, and the moment its ws came into contact with the Death Eater''s shield charm, a crack visible to the naked eye spread in all directions on the shimmering shield! Immediately afterwards, itpletely tore off its seemingly harmless, naive and honest appearance, revealing two rows of sharp, pointed teeth! "Ah!!!" The Death Eater who was bitten hard on the neck let out a miserable wail, the sharp teeth pierced his artery, a spectacr and bloody image countless times more than the damage caused by the lion, presented in front of every single Death Eater! Like a fountain of blood gushing out, still warm liquid sshed on the cold ground, giving this solid ice that has existed for millions of years a trace of the fading of life. The Death Eaters shouted and kept casting various spells on the two Patronus who were like tigers in a sheep herd. And as the highest leader here, the top of all, Rodolphus, yet watched this battle with cold eyes from the very beginning to the present scene of extreme bloodshed. He held his wand in his hand but did not have the slightest intention of casting a spell on the two Patronus, instead, he kept his face expressionless and looked at the patch of ice that was encircled by a dozen Death Eaters in the middle. The Death Eaters who were guarding in front of the ordinary tents did not leave their posts, still, they could not help but be distracted by the bloodymotion next to them and did not notice that the cold wind of the North Pole seemed to be a little colder than before. Just when they were horrified by the Patronus badger biting through the throat of one of their fellow colleagues. A figure in the sky suddenly plunged downwards from above! Jon appeared as if out of thin air, without any advance warning or sign, he was like a big bird with a broken wing, falling straight down from mid-air. His face was white and blue, the absolute rush of speed in the Arctic cold pped him in the face akin to using knives. But now of course he certainly wasn''t still in the mood to feel this difort on his body, instead, he was dead set on the location that Nick had identified for him in advance, and his body kept falling along with the attraction of gravity while he waved his wand! "Confringo!" The sound of the sting Curse was not significant despite the constant whistling of the wind and snow, but it yed out precisely as it should have done! "Boom!" In a sh, the sheet of ice where Jon was falling was like being hit by a heavy hammer, a dense spider web of cracks appeared! Ice debris flew in the sky like a fog gushed out here. During the time he spent studying with Grindelwald, regardless of the fact that he hadpletely grasped the three Unforgivable Curses, his understanding of dark magic had also deepened. This led to the fact that no matter whether it was the sting Curse or the Invisible Sword Curse, the power Jon used today was much stronger than he had before. Yet, even with the enhanced sting Curse, the appearance of these cracks that were sted out still did not create a sufficient entrance for Jon to pass through, so he waved his wand again without a moment''s pause! "Confringo!" The second shot of the sting Curse was released from his wand once again almost in a second! But the Death Eaters here are not a bunch of cooks, the second they heard Jon''s second curse incantation sounded, they also waved the wand in their hands. "Avada Kedavra!" "Finite!" The targets aimed at by both the Killing Curse and the General Counter-Spell were naturally Jon himself. They obviously discovered Jon''s intention of sting through the ice and subsequently made a clear judgment. Killing Jon was of course the main thing, but if they couldn''t seed in killing him, then they had to stop him from blowing up the ice! At the same time as those miserable green spells shot out from the wand, Jon''s originally falling body suddenly paused in mid-air for an instant. Several killing curses brushed past his body, and those general counter-spells, before they had time to affect the sting curse and Jon''s wand tip lit up, at the same time an invisible force radiated from Jon''s body, and those counter-spells with the same essence and source of power, all immediately wiped out clean by that spell! Before the Death Eaters could understand exactly how Jon had used the counter-spell to cancel the counter-spell, the sting curse had already shown its deserved effect on the ice! The iceyer, which had already burst out with a huge crater on it, was broken into pieces all around, and under the sting curse, it finally could no longer maintain the surface, which had already be extremely weak. There was a loud shattering sound, and the ice surface, which was as smooth as a mirror a few seconds ago, was blown out with arge crater of about three or four meters in diameter! Jon''s speed did not slow down, he has long been judged ording to the information given by Nick how many rounds of spells could actually break through the iceyer. Two shots of sting curse were just sufficient. Immediately after, before the Death Eaters could organize a second wave of attack, Jon''s body disappeared into the ice crater. The Death Eaters whopletely encircled the ce stopped their Spellcasting action, and the two Patronus who were fighting in the crowd of Death Eaters also dissipated, leaving only a mess. Rodolphus remained unmoved from the beginning to the end as he saw those Death Eaters obstructing Jon, after the task failed, his face did not show any unsightly changes. He just coldly said. "A bunch of rubbish!" No one dared to refute his words, even though at this time many people are thinking indignantly in their hearts that if they are all rubbish, then what were you doing? Rodolphus did not bother with these Death Eaters on the surface of the ice but walked to the ice pit that Jon had already dived into. He did not make a sound, just quietly looked at the deep hollow, while pulling out an old envelope from his pocket. The envelope suddenly burned in his hand by itself, and the orange-red me wrapped the whole envelope in an instant, then left only a cloud of ashes. The cold wind raged in the ice field, and those wounded Death Eaters were helped up from the ground by their intact colleagues, fed potions, and ready to be transferred back to Britain. But no one wanted to suggest chasing after Jon, who had already entered the ice crater. Right at that moment, a twisted figure suddenly appeared beside Rodolphus. It was a witch with a curvy figure, delicate appearance and demonic makeup. She wore a close-fitting ck gown with a wide open cor, and her long ck hair hung in big waves behind her. Every death eater at the sight of her, can not help but shiver. Because this woman is, no, should be called a lunatic, even among the Death Eaters, a vicious organization she can be described as a lunatic. Betrix Lestrange! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 289: King vs. King (2 in 1) Chapter 289: King vs. King (2 in 1) The time when Jon dived into the ice crater, to be precise, was already 9 p.m. ording to the time zone of London. It was just that because the pole was being nketed by the pr day, there was no difference between day and night for him at all. But for the wizards who were in France, the situation was very different. For the employees of the French Ministry of Magic, it was definitely an extremely difficult night. After the "rebels" had upied all the territories except Paris, the French Ministry of Magic began to implement the highest state of alert, and not a single pureblood member dared to leave the underground square. Not only that, the Pureblood wizards who actively responded to the Pureblood Supremacy Policy as soon as it was promulgated were also gathered here. Most of them had fled in fear before the Witching Horizons took over the cities they were in, avoiding the fate of being liquidated, but they could only hide in the French Ministry of Magic in fear now. All the French Aurors were required to be on standby at the Ministry of Magic 24 hours a day, together with the unidentified support Aurors, who never spoke English but also never in French, were also guarding the French Ministry of Magic. This is the final bottom line Voldemort drew for them, all other ces in France can be lost, but only Paris can not fall into the hands of Dumbledore. Whether it is Voldemort or Dumbledore, both clearly understand, what exactly it means if all of France is upied by the Witching Horizons. If the Hogwarts wagon which was formerly in exile from society for nearly a decade is a strategic defence of Dumbledore, then after the victory in the re-educational camp, the organization led by Dumbledore has entered a strategic stand-off situation with Voldemort. And once the entire territory of France is lost, it means that Voldemort''s momentum has been lost, and even his prestige in the British territory will be greatly shaken, thus leading to Dumbledore''s strategic attack. So whether or not it is possible to secure Paris, for Voldemort it is highly significant, it is his bridgehead to try to rule the whole of Europe and is also the start of his opening up the fangs of ambition. Likewise, Dumbledore needs to liberate Paris. It would not only deal aplete blow to Voldemort''s personal reputation, but would also allow this defeat to shake the Bloodline Supremacy Theory, which is the basis of bloodline rule, and directly shake the foundation of his rule, thus providing a good foundation for his subsequent attack on British territory. Therefore, this group of pureblood wizards in France was still insisting on defending the Ministry of Magic, and the wizards of the Witching Horizons also would not stop their attack. On the night of March 29, at nine o''clock, an explosion at the only entrance to the Ministry of Magic caused all the people stationed there to be rmed. The violent vibration made the whole ground tremble, and every floor in the French Ministry of Magic was shaking, and broken stones and dust were scattered everywhere. The sound of thismotion made many French wizards think of that one night six months ago. It was just a few days after Voldemort had proimed himself as the Minister of Magic, a midnight that was even darker than tonight when seven muggle-born wizards in white robes blew up half of the Ministry of Magic with their own lives. That night, too, the earth shook, that night it let the purebloods be shaken by the determination of these "mudbloods" who resisted them to their death, but it was also the beginning when Voldemort established his absolute authority. The enormous power that made people not even dare to gaze at him, allowed every pureblood who decided to be on his side at that time not to worry that the implementation of the bloodline policy in France would have a slight hindrance. This was indeed the situation at the beginning when everything was going in a good direction. But why now, they who should be on top, are hiding like rats in a "hole in the ground"? Such a huge difference before and after changes left every pureblood who escaped to this ce unable to ept. But no matter what kind of emotions they have at this time. after the rm sounded, everyone hastily concentrated towards the location of the Wizard''s Court, which was designated as a wartime refuge. The vast majority of the French Ministry of Magic''s Aurors were already guarding the entrance. Each of them held their wands in their hands, swallowed nervously and looked at the entrance that was upied by the dense dust, in fact, they had already expected the situation today way early in the past. The wizards of the Witching Horizons after obtaining that victory in the re-educational camp, haven''t stopped invading France for a day under the leadership of Dumbledore, the French Ministry of Magic has been shrinking its defences, and now only the Ministry of Magic is left as their sole territory. So in fact, everyone expected to face today''s situation, but when Dumbledore with his men truly appear in front of them, the psychological pressure it brought, dissipated the thought of advancing and striking first. When the dust gradually dispersed, countless wizards in white robes stood at the entrance that had been blown up. And in front of all of them, it was Dumbledore himself. He was holding an ordinary cherry wood wand in his hand and just looked at the French Aurors who were in front of them with a calm smile on his face. "I think, if you can be magnanimous enough, willing to put down the wand in your hands, then perhaps this war should not necessarily happen. What do you think?" His words made Aurors'' palm sweat as they held their wands, but none of them wavered. The Aurors, thest defence of the Ministry of Magic, are inevitably pureblood theory diehards, who themselves have already done some "pureblood" things during the reign of Voldemort. And such things are impossible to be forgiven by the wizards of the Witching Horizons, so even if they have a great possibility of dying if they resist, if they surrender, it is 100% certain death! And so, the first incantation was recited by some incredibly nervous Auror, and a ghastly green light suddenly shone at the tip of his wand! "Avada Ke ..." "Boom!" But behind Dumbledore, the wizards of Witching Horizons reacted even faster than he did! No one even recited the spell, and although the power of the sting curse under the silent spell casting has been diminished, the effect of converging countless spells together has far exceeded the normal human imagination! A violent confrontation arose between the zing fiery light and the shield charms lit up on Aurors'' body! Numerous teeth-grinding sounds rang out, and the terrifying explosion effect forced the vast majority of Aurors who could not brace the pressure to start retreating backwards. Even if they didn''t have the idea of surrendering, they still couldn''t able to fight, and defend with their lives on the line, and all of them had little hope of defending the Ministry of Magic with just them. Just like Voldemort could rely on personal strength to suppress the resistance of all, in the case where he did not appear, Dumbledore alone is enough to suppress the entire remaining French Ministry of Magic men in both mentality and strength. Once when there are signs ofplete defeat here, then these Aurors will not hesitate to take their families to flee France, going to any other part of the world is all right too, even if it is going to those off-the-beaten-path mountain ranges to live together with giants and trolls, they would never return to France in this life. Of course, the reason why they did not immediately flee, is because they still have a ray of hope in their hearts, a ray of hope that Voldemort will not easily give up France, and will certainlye forward! With this hope, they fought and retreated, relying on theplex terrain of the Ministry of Magic to fight with the wizards of the Witching Horizons. The wizards of the Witching Horizons wouldn''t exactly blow up the entire Ministry of Magic. They are not a terrorist organization, once the Ministry of Magic located underground is trulypletely blown up, it will certainly directly affect Paris on the ground, then it is not a matter that can be solved by a few rounds of memory charm. And they also have to prepare for the upation of the whole of France, the French Ministry of Magic is certainly bound to be reorganized, so while they can kill the current Ministry of Magic men, everything else should be preserved as much as possible. Because the takeover of France is not the final point of their n, they also need to rely on thend of France to feed, to liberate the British Isles. Even as the battle between the wizards of both sides became incredibly fierce, yet due to the presence of Dumbledore, the Witching Horizons side consistently had the absolute upper hand. The Aurors, who were guarding the Ministry of Magic, kept retreating and eventually withdrew to the Wizards'' Court in which all the nonbatants had gathered. Until now, there was no sign of Voldemort appearing, and those with sharp eyes could see that only a few of the British Auror support still remained here, and the vast majority of them had disappeared. As if Voldemort hadpletely given up on them after that defeat, not daring to appear in front of Dumbledore again. Thus, the Aurors retreated into the Wizards'' Court, and the wizards of the Witching Horizons raised their wands and aimed at everyone in the court. Dumbledore''s face remained calm, he did not actually make more than a few shots in the battle, most of it was just to save a few wizards from the killing curse, but even so, he gave a great deterrent to the Aurors. Aurors and the wizards of the Witching Horizons confronted each other in this courtroom full of sin and retribution. Those pureblood wizards with pale faces, stuck close to each other, like a group of prisoners in shackles about to be convicted for their crimes, looked fearfully at the wizards of the Witching Horizons whose faces were resolute and who kept moving forward step by step. Only, all of a sudden Dumbledore stopped in his tracks. Behind him, those who followed him also stopped in their tracks. The atmosphere suddenly fell silent, with only small sobs, nervous breathing, and the sound of swallowing down the throat mingling together. "Riddle, since you''re already here, why didn''t youe out and meet me earlier?" Dumbledore''s voice echoed within the wizard courtroom. And after hearing thest name he called, most of the wizards of the Witching Horizons'' faces turned cloudy, while the French pureblood wizards'' faces were nk as if they had no idea who among them was that person with an ordinary, umonst name. "Because I''m enjoying this show of them huddling together, Dumbledore." A faint voice came from behind those French purebloods, who looked back, while giving a way, allowing everyone behind Dumbledore to also see the young man sitting in a chair, with one hand on his cheek. His face seems to have been permanently fixed in that handsome features, even if the years can wear away all things, it still could not leave a half mark on him. Voldemort still looked the same as usual, his cold gaze and face mixed with indifference, staring straight at Dumbledore who is more than ten meters away from him. "Soldier to soldier, king to king. Just like wizard chess, everyone has been positioned, the person with the same status shouldpete with the person who is equal to him." At the sight of him, all the purebloods'' hearts that were originally fearful now all turned into ecstasy. They did not want to give up everything they had in France, whether it is their status or authority, and now the only thing that ensured that they could have that is the man in front of them. Even if this man failed once not long ago, his reputation has spread for decades, and as long as he stood in front of Dumbledore again, there will still be people who have great hopes for him. Just as there are people who continued to believe in Dumbledore after his failure at the Astronomy Tower. People watched these two men looking at each other, their physical appearance showed a great age difference, yet they carried the beliefs of different groups. Dumbledore looked at Voldemort, his blue eyes seemed to be scrutinizing something, but also seemed to be in some kind of consideration. And Voldemort did not avoid Dumbledore''s gaze,pared with his previous fall from the sky like a ck meteor, and wretched return to the French Ministry of Magic to suppress those who showed two hearts back then, his current self is like two different people. "It seems like I''m back to my old self, isn''t it?" Voldemort''s face revealed an intriguing smile, he used his index and middle fingers to casually hold the wand with Fawkes'' phoenix tail feather as the wand core as if this is not a smoke-filled battlefield, but some kind of celebration banquet. Dumbledore frowned slightly, he could see that this is not some kind of tough look that Voldemort showed to make them believe he actually got rid of the previous state and returned to his prime. This is very strange, about the soul problem of Voldemort, Jon naturally informed Dumbledore, that kind of impact on the soul is obviously not easy to get rid of. But Voldemort''s current state is not likely to be faked, and with Dumbledore''s understanding of him, if he did not recover back to his normal state, it is unlikely that he will have the courage to reappear here. It is likely that there are some unknown factors that have allowed Voldemort to recover this quickly. It''s just whether this state of his is aplete recovery or a temporary tough patch, it is unclear based on his current appearance. But whether it is permanent or temporary, Voldemort''s recovery of strength is real, which brought the situation at hand to a standstill. Dumbledore first raised his wand in his hand, his face remained calm as water. "Since there is no way to go into the details of the process, let''s look at the results." ---- #Frderic Van Audenhove, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 290: Triwizard Tournament (2 in 1) Chapter 290: Triwizard Tournament (2 in 1) Dumbledore raised the wand in his hand, a crimson wisp of light lingered at the tip of his wand, and the surrounding temperature rose four or five degrees higher than the previous second. Seeing his action, the wizards of Witching Horizons who followed him all raised their wands without half a moment of hesitation, even though the man sitting in the chair brought great pressure on them all! Upon seeing their actions, on Voldemort''s side, whether it was Aurors or all the other nonbatant purebloods, they all raised their wands together. As long as Voldemort has not abandoned them, then they can still follow him along the road to the end! If he bes the losing party even today, the pureblood wizards in the courtroom will not be able to escape, nor will they survive! However, even when the atmosphere has be so tense, Voldemort stillzily leaned back in his chair, and he still held his wand in his hand like a street punk clutching a cigarette, casually carrying it between two fingers, as if he did not notice how Dumbledore had already got ready to attack. "In fact, you and I both understand, Dumbledore." He opened his mouth in a rxed manner and said, "If you fight with me right now, we can''t decide on a winner in a short time, but if I want to kill others, you can''t stop me." Dumbledore looked like he had just thought of this issue, his face looked calm as he said "Ah-oh". "You are talking a lot, if you want to kill, no one here can stop you other than letting them have a chance to escape, but, is this ce really not mean anything to you?" Their dialogue is very straightforward, and in this straightforward dialogue, the real threat is present to everyone else. Voldemort wanted to kill all the wizards of the Witching Horizons except Dumbledore, and Dumbledore could not protect them all, but likewise, if Dumbledore wanted to destroy the entire French Ministry of Magic, and kill all the French purebloods present altogether, Voldemort could not stop him either. If the battle between the two reached the point where neither could deal with the other, then afterwards they would certainly start with the people around each other. Dumbledore looked at Voldemort''s cold eyes, and suddenly thought, before he entered the courtroom Voldemort has not appeared, but when the two sides all gathered, he appeared in high profile, it is likely that he deliberately did it for this result. As for why he wanted to create such an asion, it is unlikely that he simply wanted to show up like this in the limelight after the previous defeat, Voldemort may have such a hobby, but not to the point of doing these things in such a key asion just to simply for the sake of dignity. The biggest possibility is that he is intentionally forming a situation where everyone else will be a drag in the next battle between the two. And why it is necessary to deliberately create such a situation, Dumbledore felt that this does not need him to guess, because Voldemort himself will say it. "Of course, it is very important." Voldemort as long as his reason still remains, he will not be able to deny the meaning of their existence in front of all the French purebloods, he said aloud. "All of them are the cornerstones of my endeavour, including this Ministry of Magic, and I can''t let you destroy them that easily, just as you won''t let me kill all those people behind you that easily." His voice suddenly became treacherous. "This battle will end up in such a way that neither of us wants to see, and there is no way to reconcile the conflict between us. You want to take Paris and take back Britain, while I want you to get the hell out of France and take thoseckeys of yours and go into hiding in some other corner of the world, so we might as well settle this conflict differently and reasonably." Dumbledore nodded slightly, those crescent-shaped sses reflecting an inexplicable white light. "I''m all ears." Voldemort stood up from his chair with a smile on his face and strolled through the crowd of pureblood wizards, spreading his arms like he was giving a grand speech. "Actually, I always wanted to be a pure educator too, Dumbledore. If you had said yes when I asked you for the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts position back then in your office, then maybe I would have been a good professor working honestly under you and there would never have been a ''great sir'' in this world after that." "But you refused me, which was a matter of great shame to me, and it was this event that contributed to my obsession with nning to seize Hogwarts, the school of witchcraft and wizardry, from your hands." "The result is obvious, I did it. Compared to various other shy titles, the only two titles I have been most satisfied with until now are ''Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'' and ''Lifetime Honorary Headmaster of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic''. You, of course, defied the odds, and even after that hasty escape from that castle, you still insisted on proiming that ridiculous school as the real Hogwarts on a broken-down wagon, and that loser took the opportunity to seize Durmstrang." He looked around at everyone, then fixed his gaze on Dumbledore''s face. "It may be coincidence, or perhaps fate, but regardless of who exactly has the orthodoxy of Hogwarts, we are now two opposing sides, each controlling two schools of witchcraft and wizardry, which is perfectly nice!" "I don''t know if everyone here knows this; so many years have passed, do you still remember that there was once a tournament in Europe in which three schools of Wizardry participated together to select students to be champions, and theypeted in variouspetitions to finally contend for the strongest champion and No.1 school title?" The courtroom went silent, whether it was the French pureblood wizards or the wizards behind Dumbledore, they all looked at the man standing in the middle of everyone. No one present in the room couldn''t figure out exactly what Voldemort was talking about, although that tournament had indeed been suspended for hundreds of years, because of its legendary status, it was still being talked about in the mouths of wizards. "The Triwizard Tournament!" Voldemort and Dumbledore looked at each other and with smiles on their faces, they said the name of that tournament. "Hogwarts! Beauxbatons! Durmstrang!" "A tournament co-hosted by three wizardry schools that represent the entire European wizardrymunity. Dumbledore, since there is no way for us to divide the oue of this battle today as wizards, how about aparison between educators?" "Hogwarts and Beauxbatons under me will represent me, Hogwarts and that loser Durmstrang under you will represent you, and whoever gets the title will be the winner!" He curbed the smile on his face, his face turned calm, and his words rang out loud and clear. "If I win, you take your ridiculous organization and get the hell out of France! And if you win, I will take all those who are willing to follow me and withdraw to Britain, and give up everything in thisnd!" "And since this is a Triwizard Tournament, the oue of this match will also determine the existence of ''one and true'' Hogwarts! If you win, I will disband Hogwarts under me and step down from my position as Headmaster, and if I win, you will likewise destroy that ridiculous wagon and remove the title of the so-called greatest Hogwarts Headmaster of all time!" Voldemort''s words echoed in the courtroom, leaving this spacepletely in dead silence. No one could have imagined that he would suddenly propose such a solution, using a tournament that has not been held again for hundreds of years to determine the fate of France! And in such apetition, the only people who can really participate in it will be a bunch of teenagers who have not yet graduated from school! Four teenagers, deciding the fate of a nation and the orthodoxy of Hogwarts! Such huge distinctive things linked together brought a sharp shock to all present. No one knows exactly what kind of thoughts Voldemort had to make such a decision, and no one knows what kind of benefits such a decision would actually bring him. The two Hogwarts, as well as Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, no one knows what kind of gap there is in the standard of the four students. This is purely apetition between the quality of students from different schools, and the final result of which is unknown until it ispared. Even if this information is shocking, there is a moment to digest it. After all of them came back to their senses, they turned their attention to Dumbledore. Since Voldemort has proposed a solution to the war, it is up to Dumbledore to decide whether to adopt it or not. Unlike the disbelief on the faces of others, even though Voldemort said such a solution, Dumbledore''s face did not show much big emotional fluctuations. He just looked deeply at Voldemort, and that gaze did not move away for a moment, as if he wanted to imprint his gaze inside Voldemort''s head. Voldemort did not avoid his gaze and nodded his head and looked at him, quietly waiting for his answer. Such a wait did notst long, Dumbledore ended his thinking, but his next words caused an avnche of emotion in the room. "Where is the venue for thepetition to be held?" No bargaining, no more questions, his words are tantamount to a disguised agreement to all the proposals made by Voldemort! The corners of Voldemort''s mouth were slightly hooked up, not surprised or any other expression, but showed an expression that looked like a sneer and a snide smile. "Since thispetition also determines the return of Hogwarts orthodoxy, the location will be set at Hogwarts Castle, how about it?" Dumbledore nodded his head as if he was deeply impressed by the decision made by Voldemort. "Of course, Hogwarts Castle, that is the most appropriate venue." He lowered the wand in his hand and acted as if the suggestion was not made by Voldemort at all, but he had thought the same thing from the beginning. "It could not be a better solution, everythinges down to the most basicpetition, I agree with this proposal, Riddle, and it is only rational for us to make some absolutemitments on this spot." Voldemort seems to have guessed what Dumbledore wanted to say. After his words, he did not hesitate to flick the wand in his hand, the tip of the wand aimed at his left hand! The next moment, the flesh in the middle of his hand was suddenly cut by an invisible de, from which scarlet liquid seeped out! Voldemort clutched the hand that was dripping blood and held it up in front of his body. Dumbledore did not stop, and also cut a slit in the centre of his palm, allowing fresh blood to gush out. Two constantly bleeding hands sped together, the blood belonging to two different individuals mixed together, and constantly dripping onto the already scarlet carpet. Dumbledore levelled his gaze to look straight at Voldemort, his calm countenance revealed what he was now thinking. "So, the selection of champions and the timing of the tournamentmencement?" Voldemort said in a cold voice. "Since the Blood pact has been made, then the selection of champions might as well start tomorrow, this Ministry of Magic which will be temporarily controlled jointly by us, is also the most suitable location for the selection, as for the time when the tournament starts, what do you suggest?" Dumbledore did not speak first, he just quietly looked at Voldemort, after a long time suddenly smiled. There was no sarcasm in that smile, there was no coldness, nor was there any semnce of restraint or modesty, just like an old man enjoying his life at home, hearing some funny joke from the mouth of his children and grandchildren. "Ha, too hasty, Riddle, too hasty. In fact, there is absolutely no need to be in such a hurry, can we slightly reschedule the selection time a little more?" What made everyone puzzled is, they reached unity on something as incredulous as that in previous things, but now for some reason, there is such a disagreement on the time of the selection of champions. Dumbledore gently raised an eyebrow, he asked Voldemort''s opinion in a gentle tone. "Since you already have such confidence, how about rxing the schedule a bit?" Voldemort did not know for what reason, he showed a sneer. "A little more time? Until what time do you wish for me to wait, next year? The year after, or until the end of your lifetime?" Dumbledore shook his head and said tly. "The week after today, that''s enough." Voldemort also seems to have heard some kind of great joke, his original cold and mocking smile can no longer be suppressed. "A week''s time? You''re an old man, so of course an old man should have some preferential treatment! I''ll wait a week for you, but what will change?" Dumbledore did not seem to hear the sarcasm in his words, he readily epted with a nod while continuing to say. "In fact, a week is already very rushed, and since the selection of champions is held in such a hurry, it is natural to spare some more time to let the selected children prepare. After all, they are carrying such a big responsibility, and the specific process of thepetition needs to be decided and discussed, all of which takes a lot of energy and time So, I think the official start of thepetition might as well be set in September when the new school term starts again." On the time when the tournament starts, Voldemort looked like he didn''t have any opinions, he looked Dumbledore coldly in the eyes. "It''s going to be a good show, isn''t it, Albus Dumbledore, my esteemed professor?" Dumbledore chuckled, his smile was still as gentle and nd as ever. "It''s certainly going to be a wonderful disy, Tom Riddle, my excellent student." ---- #Frderic Van Audenhove, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 291: The Cold Snake (2 in 1) Chapter 291: The Cold Snake (2 in 1) Cold. This was the only feeling Jon had after entering the ice crater. The bone-chilling cold seemed to have turned into a materialized white mist that lingered around him. During the continuous descent, he first used the levitation charm to ease the speed ofnding, then tightened the robe on his body, blocking all the exposed skin. The descent was not long, only about ten seconds passed before his feet touched the solid ice surface. Afternding, the temperature here is not as cold as it was up there, which can not help but let Jon, whose hands and feet were already numb from the cold, breathe a sigh of relief. He did not stop and hesitate, the next second hended he immediately started running along the only passage towards the inside. Although the magic power in the gem still has a lot left, it can not just be endlessly consumed, Jon now entering thisbyrinth under the ice does not mean he has reached the final destination, but rather represents the beginning of a fierce challenge! He could not waste the precious magic in the gem to rush on, so he did not use the fastest way of movement like flying, but only mobilized the magic belonging to himself, reducing the weight of his body, allowing him to run faster and save more strength. "Up ahead you will encounter a fork in the path, before Gabrielle and I came here we chose the one on the left, but from there we soon encountered another three-way path, and nothing was found in the area beyond, nor did we find the end." Nick followed Jon''s side and spoke fast as he repeated to him what he and Gabrielle had found in thebyrinth earlier. Jon spoke as he ran. "Then let''s try a different path this time, we don''t even know where the right path is in the first ce anyway, so let''s go to the right this time!" They kept moving forward, there was no sign of the Death Eaters catching up behind them, but Jon didn''t slow down his pace, instead, he picked up the pace even more He was not blinded by the fact that he had entered thebyrinth that was guarded by so many Death Eaters without a hitch. Things went a little too far in the right direction, in fact, Jon had two alternative ns for this break-in, but nothing unexpected happened. The vast majority of the Death Eaters were really attracted by his Patronus, and none of the Death Eaters guarding the entrance managed to stop him, allowing him to burst into thebyrinth with two sting curses. This kind of smooth sess let Jon feel very abnormal, even if there are many mediocre death eaters, but they can never be so helpless. They acted like they were just staging a y, in fact, their real purpose was to get him into thisbyrinth, not to stop him. This kind of peculiarity made Jon more sure of one thing. The main goal of this group of Death Eaters at the North Pole is not to guard this ce where Voldemort once came, they are here for him and other students! If their real purpose was to lure him into thisbyrinth, it was inevitable that they wanted to rely on this ce to deal with him. So Jon not only did not rx after entering thebyrinth but became more alert. After running for nearly half an hour, he finally arrived at the first juncture that Nick said he and Gabrielle had encountered. Jon did not hesitate and directly ran towards the right side of the path. Although this path is uncharted and unknown, it is because of the unknowns that there are more possibilities, if he wants to be safer he can follow the path that Nick and Gabrielle took before and revisit it, but then his entry into thisbyrinth would be meaningless. And just as Jon ran through the fork in the path, on the surface of the ice, Be, whose face was filled with iciness, looked at the Death Eaters who had made all the preparations. "Now that he''s here, this is thest chance our Lord will give you." Her voice was sharp and cold, not half a semnce of that French Chief Wizard Chancellor Rnd could be found in her voice, and even when she looked at her husband Rodolphus, her gaze was not half as different as when she was looking at the other Death Eaters. "At the same time, I am also rying the promise made by our lord, no matter who kills or captures that boy, he/she will then be the next French Minister of Magic, and be the substantial power holder of the French magicmunity!" Her words made all the Death Eaters'' breath be a little rougher the next second. Everyone is clear that Voldemort personally assuming the French Minister of Magic position is only a temporary expedient measure. His ambition will certainly not only stay in Britain and France, and even not only in the European continent. Once he continues to start his next journey, he will definitely step down as the French Minister of Magic and let a reliable crony control and take charge of thend for him. Unlike Voldemort''sir and home base in Britain, thend of France will not be under his influence and control too much, which means that the next Minister of Magic will have a lot of autonomy. This also represents a huge benefit that will not fail to move these Death Eaters. But then Be''s words took another abrupt turn as she looked at everyone with a stern gaze. "But likewise, if you fail in your mission this time, you should also know what you will face!" When she finished this sentence, she also gave a deliberate nce to Rodolphus, that gaze was not all that sympathetic andforting for her husband''s painful loss of his own brother, but more of a threat. Even if the consequences of failure were not explicitly stated, everyone present knew it by heart. Their lord''s greatest disgust is his servants'' ipetence, and these Death Eaters led by Rodolphus had already failed once on the sea, and if they failed again in the Arctic ice field, no one will be able to obtain his forgiveness. So after Be made the consequences of both sess and failure clear, the Death Eaters began their operation. They were divided into three groups, led by Rodolphus, Be and another leader. The group led by Rodolphus directly went down on flying brooms using the ice crater that Jon had blown up. While the other Death Eaters were led by Be as well as another leader apparated to another entrance and began to enter thebyrinth from a different direction. After entering thebyrinth, they also began to go deeper and deeper along thebyrinth, and every time they encountered a fork in the road, they would split up into a three-person squad, and eventually, all the Death Eaters broke up into little squads and began to spread out in a web-like structure inside as they advanced down into thebyrinth! Jon, of course, did not know this. After the first fork in the path, not long after he encountered a four-way intersection. He did not hesitate and entangle much and chose a path to continue to go down. Only before leaving, he used the invisible sword curse to leave a shallow trace on one side of the ice wall based on the logic to explore he made up now. After feeling that his breathing had begun to be rapid, Jon stopped running, it is only when he actually made it in that he could realize how big thisbyrinth really is, just by running blindly like this, it is estimated that he will be exhausted before he reaches the end. "In fact, I am wondering who in the end has such ability and energy to build such a ce in the middle of the Arctic." Nick voiced his doubts on the way. Jon was actually also thinking about this issue. Thisbyrinth is at the exact point that Grindelwald saw, and estimating the time at which Voldemort had visited this ce, implies that it would not have been carved out by him. And such a big project, Jon didn''t feel that Voldemort had the ability and mood to create such a ce at that time when he had only disappeared for a month. This ce was likely left by some wizard who came to the North Pole before, and the purpose for which he/she made thisbyrinth is most likely the reason why Voldemort came here in the first ce. If you can carve out such a hugebyrinth on the permafrost that does not melt for millions of years, such a wizard can''t be some unknown person. And among those wizards who have be famous in history, none have been known to havee to the North Pole. "Maybe it''s like Ekrizdis who created the Azkaban, if no one found this ce, no one in the magic world would know the power of the creator of thisbyrinth." Jon said while walking forward, but the next second, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, as if he had been hit by a full body-bind curse suddenly and can not move. Nick and Gabrielle, who were following him, also froze in ce, but before they could ask questions, Jon made a silent gesture to them. With all their movements stopped, vaguely, they heard a faint sound. The sound was not loud, very small, if Jon did not make them stop talking, basically no one would have noticed such a strange sound. Nick and Gabrielle both held their breath as the sound grew louder and louder, and closer and closer to them. Then a thick, long creature crawled out from a corner not far ahead of them! After seeing the bright green skin and the bucket-like thick and long body, Jon, in a sh, remembered an extremely dangerous magical creature he had seen! At the first moment he could react, very quickly, he closed his eyes instantly as fast as he could, and then covered Gabrielle''s eyes with both hands, while speaking loudly to Nick. "Do not look at its eyes! Nick!" However, he did not receive a response from Nick, the sound that came through in addition to the huge creature''s movement and the ''hissing'' it made, a sound like a hard stone falling on the ground was also heard! Jon''s heart suddenly sank to the bottom, this sound not only confirmed his suspicions but also let him know that his warning has been toote. Gabrie, whose eyes were covered, acted a little overwhelmed. "What''s wrong, Jon? What''s wrong with Nick?" "Don''t be nervous, Nick his fine, but don''t open your eyes for a second! Remember, no matter what kind of sound or movement you hear, do not open your eyes, just float upwards, you should remember how high we are now, just float to a meter above the ceiling, wait in the frozenyer of ice, wait for when I let you open your eyes, then open your eyes!" Jon quickly moved backwards as he gave Gabrielle all the instructions. Gabrielle was also very obedient, after Jon loosened his hands, she didn''t open her eyes, but followed Jon''s request to close her eyes tightly, and kept floating upward until she floated to the iceyer before stopping. After letting Gabrielle hide in a safe ce, Jon took a deep breath with his eyes tightly closed. He forcefully tore off a strip of ck cloth from his robe, then calmly covered his eyespletely. After seeing the body that was so fresh in his mind, and learning that Nick was no longer able to answer his words, Jon knew exactly what he had now encountered. A Basilisk! The same kind that he had once killed with a help of a rooster in Hogwarts castle! A Basilisk that could actually live at the North Pole! This is a situation that Jon never expected, even if it is a magical creature, but it will also generally follow natural habits. Even if a creature like a Basilisk is strong, and known as the king of all snakes, it is also a snake. As long as it is a snake it is bound to have the characteristic of hibernating in a cold environment, in nature, the only snake living in the Arctic is called the European viper (Vipera berus), but even if it lives in the Arctic, there will be up to eight months of hibernation in a year, and the ce it lives is still in the Scandinavian Penins which is not that coldpared to the North Pole. In such a cold environment as thebyrinth under the ice, there is surprisingly a snake creature that can move freely, which nobody could have guessed in advance. But such an ident, although a bit caught Jon off guard, but it has not yet reached the point of panic. It is not as if he has never seen a basilisk, nor has he ever killed one, right now even without the help of a rooster, the most effective weapon against such creatures, Jon does not have any psychological apprehension. The rooster is gone, but he''s not the same old him from a year or so ago either. "Confringo!" He didn''t have the slightest scruple, whether it was Nick, who was already suspected of being petrified, or Gabrielle, who was hiding in theyer of ice, the sting curse couldn''t harm either of them. "Boom!" The sealed space of thebyrinth caused the sting curse to produce the kind of loud boom that it wouldn''t have on the outside! Jon could not see the target, he was only casting the spell towards his front, and he did not care whether he could hit the target urately or not while inflicting damage to it. Because the goal of the sting curse itself was not to kill or injure! The reaction speed of the basilisk was very fast, or the reaction speed of all snakes could be said to be top-notch. Upon seeing the only target that could pose a threat to it, raising the small wooden stick in his hand, it deftly squirmed and wrapped itself around a raised block of ice above thebyrinth! After a shake caused by the sting curse, there was no further damage other than shattering a piece of ice which created fine ice shards all over the ground. This caused the basilisk that wrapped itself around the ceiling, to stare at Jon with a chilling gaze while shrinking its body like a spring. Just as it nned to quickly cover the distance with the fastest possible burst speed and swallow Jon directly into its mouth. Jon waved his wand again, and an incantation that he would use no matter what the situation nowadays rang out from his mouth. "Wingardium Leviosa!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 292: The Secret Corridor in the Ice and Snow (2 in 1) Chapter 292: The Secret Corridor in the Ice and Snow (2 in 1) Fine ice shards floated up from the ground, making irregr movements in mid-air, and right at the moment when the basilisk locked its body tightly and then charged forward violently. Jon''s entire body abruptly rolled to the left! Immediately after, a loud sound of heavy objects hitting each other resounded in the narrow passage, Jon pressed his body against the cold ice wall, and after stabilizing his body, he recited an incantation towards the ce where the ice chips were dispersed! "Sectumsempra!" Almost the next second after saying the incantation, an invisible sharp de appeared in the air, and the cold air flow seemed to be cut by a huge de! Soon, there was a sound of sharp objects cutting into flesh along with a hissing sound! The fishy blood is like a puddle of sludge trampled out of the mud, sshing out, a lot of that sticky liquid even sshed on Jon''s face, but the unbearable stench did not stop his next moment of dodging action. The basilisk''s soft abdomen was cut open by arge gash, and it frantically twisted its body, its steel-like tail left a clear trail on the surrounding ice. The floating ice shards brought Jon''s senses to the things around him, more direct than using his eyes to see. So at the moment when the basilisk went berserk, Jon jumped like a monkey and moved away from his original position. Then, he aimed his wand in the direction where he was just now and quickly recited an incantation without hesitation! "Avada Kedavra!" The deadly green light instantly illuminated the entire dark space, and the beam of light representing death shot out from the tip of the chestnut wood wand! The basilisk obviously felt the breath of death, it hissed more frantically, trying to avoid the spell by twisting and turning its body, making its whole body cling to the rightmost ice surface. However, the pain from the wound in its abdomen severely slowed down its reaction nerves! When themand to dodge was given from its mind and the second half of its body had sessfully redirected to the right, the spell struck the snake''s huge head in a sh, spanning a distance of less than ten meters! The deadly earth-brown basilisk eyes lost all signs of life and emotion after the spell hit, and then a "boom" sounded, and itsrge body fell helplessly against the ice, leaving only a mess on the ground. Jon panted heavily, but he did not do anything reckless, instead, he continued to use the levitation charm to control more ice kes in all directions, to help him clearly perceive the situation he could not see in front of him. No matter where he observed from, even if he let part of the ice kes float down in the basilisk''s body, he didn''t get any half-hearted feedback after that, Jon let out a long sigh of relief and took off the ck cloth covering his eyes. Now he can finally see the true appearance of the basilisk. Its body is as big as the one that was at Hogwarts, which was about 30 to 40 feet long, and its scales were bright emerald green, and its abdomen had a wound about half an adult''s size, and fishy blood was pouring out of it. This snake did not have any semnce of malnutrition or had some strange mutation, which could let it resist the cold. Such a discovery further made the doubts in Jon''s mind even harder to understand, so why is there a basilisk in thisbyrinth under the Arctic? Is Voldemort or someone else put this basilisk inside just recently? However, he certainly did not have the extra energy or time to think about this issue, after calling out to Gabrielle, who was hiding inside the ice above, they began to look for Nick''s body on the ground full of broken ice and blood. Soon Gabrielle had found him in a corner. Nick''s whole face seemed to be frozen, his face still maintained the expression of horror he had upon seeing the basilisk, his originally illusory body was hard like a statue, no matter how Gabrielle called out to him, he was not able to make a half response. The little girl wept sadly. "Jon! Nick... he''s dead!" Jon walked over to her and patted her on the head. "He was already dead, he can''t be dead again. Don''t worry, he''s only temporary like this now, it won''t be long before he''ll be back to his old self once we get out and get the professors to configure an antidote using mandrake." Jon did not deceive Gabrielle, it is indeed impossible for the ghost to be killed by something once more, even such a powerful instant death ability of basilisk''s eyes will only make him fall into a petrified state, as for how long it will actually take them to leave this ce so that Nick can get rid of such a condition, it is not something Jon can predict in advance. Of course, they certainly will not simply leave Nick behind here. It is estimated that no one can distinguish what kind of item the petrified ghost belongs to in the entire magical world, but the levitation charm that Jon is using has worked on Nick. His originally sturdy body was lightened a lot, and then with the help of Gabrielle, Jon strapped Nick on his back. This does not put much pressure on him, it just prevented him from being as flexible in his movements as before. After that, Jon did not leave immediately, even though the battle just caused a lot ofmotion, no one knows if it attracted the Death Eaters in thebyrinth, he still began to collect his loot from the basilisk''s body. After killing the monster, how could he not pick up the equipment? He didn''t have the means to take away anything too big, but he didn''t miss a single thing that he could take away. The two basilisk fangs that were still in good shape were picked up again, and through the opening broken by the Invisible Sword Curse, Jon fished out a fist-sized, urchin-like thing from the snake''s belly. Then he dug out the two eyes of the basilisk, but its eyes are really too big, he tried all his pockets, but there is no suitable opening to stuff the two football-like eyes inside. Since he could not take away, he simply used the Smashing spell to st the eyes and all the other things he could not take away, and directly mangled the originally intact basilisk corpse into mush. Such a bloody process, he naturally did not let Gabrielle see, when all the loose ends are cleaned up, Jon carried the petrified Nick and took Gabrielle to continue forward. Without Nick''s prior scouting, Jon advanced more cautiously. After walking through a junction, they encountered a new fork in the path, he still let Gabrielle make a choice, while Jon left a shallow mark on the ice towards the side before leaving. After travelling along the path Gabrielle chose for almost ten minutes, they then encountered a junction exactly the same as thest one, and it was obviously the same junction where Jon had just left the mark. This discovery made Jon frown slightly. But he did not say anything more, just took Gabrielle and changed the path, and continued forward together towards the middle of this three-way junction, but again after walking for ten minutes, they once again returned to that junction. Gabrielle''s face was filled with surprise. "We''vee to a dead end?" Jon''s brow furrowed a little tighter, he did not answer Gabrielle''s words but led her down toward thatst path that had not been walked yet. But the result remained unchanged, still the same ten-minute walk, and eventually, they were back on this fork in the path. This time there was no more path for them to try. Gabrielle''s face was full of wonder as she floated along this fork in the tunnel up and down and around the ice to wander around without making any discoveries. Jon, on the other hand, took a few steps back thoughtfully, turned a corner, and sure enough, he saw the puddle of broken flesh that still remained scattered on the ground. He just killed the basilisk as they walked along this path and reached this fork in the path, that is, if they want to walk to this fork, then they certainly would have passed through the body of the basilisk. They just walked back along three different paths, but they did not see the basilisk''s corpse, yet the body was seen when he wanted to go back to the path they took to this ce. This caused suspicion to rise in Jon''s heart. He grabbed Gabrielle''s hand and stopped her from trying to cross the iceyer by trying to move inside the path, and then held his wand and tapped around the path. Finally, Jon found some clues on the two ice walls that separated the three forks. When his wand tapped on the ice, and the instant his wand tip and ice made contact, some inconspicuous bright gold points of light burst out. These points of light are very faint and tiny, if Jon did not observe carefully enough, it might have been overlooked. After seeing the problem, he let Gabrielle try to pass through the two ice walls, but there was no abnormal phenomenon urred, Gabrielle floated past from one side, and then floated out from the other side. However, Jon did not give up trying, he did not use his wand again but grabbed his ring in hand and used the general counter-spell. After that, he reached out his left hand and carefully touched the wall of ice. The expected, supposedly cold and hard touch did note, Jon''s hand actually went straight through the wall, but did not extend from another section of the wall like Gabrielle. Rather, it was as if it had disappeared and was directly gone. This made Gabrielle couldn''t help but stare and also brought an unexpected expression on Jon''s face. He had just wanted to try it, but never thought it would actually work! Jon not only didn''t feel any coldness from the hand that disappeared, but also had a warm feeling. He took a deep breath, his right hand grabbed Gabrielle''s arm, holding her in his arms enclosing her in the general counter-spell, and then he made his way through the wall of ice. As if walking forward normally, there was no sense of a semnce of obstruction, the next moment Jon disappeared into the ice, appearing in a long, narrow and warm corridor. There is no more ice on four sides, there is an obvious brick wall on the left, and there are four or five rooms on the right side of the long corridor, the ceiling overhead is sealed, with a few kerosenemps hanging down above, themps are lit with a blue me, which illuminated the space. Gabrielle looked around curiously, Jon was attracted by the ground that clearly had some kind of mark left by the scratching of crawling creatures. He finally understood why a creature like a basilisk could live in this Arctic region. It simply did not always spend time in thebyrinth carved out of ice, the vast majority of the time, it should have lived in this corridor! After Jon came up with the answer to one of his many questions, he didn''t stop but walked towards the nearest room which had its door left ajar. There are a lot of things inside, but they have been destroyed; torn paper, tables, chairs and benches crushed by heavy objects, fragments of the remains of what looks like a teapot, rotting clothes and other things scattered everywhere. Jon walked into the room, he tried to pick up a few pieces of parchments full of smudge from the floor, trying to understand some valuable information from it. But these parchments not only have blurred handwriting, but it was also not written in English, Jon really has no way to identify the words that in his opinion somewhat seem like Russian. After circling around the small room to make sure there was nothing valuable to find, he continued to walk toward the next room. This is also an opened door, saying open is actually somewhat far-fetched because it is obvious through the tattered wood, the door was originally locked but was forcibly destroyed in half, with only the upper part of the rusty hinges connecting the door frame. Jon arched his back to enter the interior, and a fishy smell hit his face, there was a lot of space in this room, and a bunch of things that originally looked like clothes were collected together in a mess. There were many huge emerald-green snake skins scattered around! After seeing these snake skins, Jon concluded in his mind that the basilisk he killed must not have been brought over by Voldemort. Such a quantity of skin shedding, there is simply no way toplete it without a hundred years, this basilisk must have been living here for a long time, and this room was also taken by it as its own nest. Enduring the stench, Jon searched this ce as well and still found nothing worthwhile and valuable gain. Without stopping, he continued to the next room. The condition of the third room is more concise and clear, this is a broken room, the wall opposite the door in the room has been half copsed, revealing argeyer of ice, and quite a lot of animals frozen in the middle of this solid ice. Many of them are bears and wolves, along with some odd-looking creatures that are obviously extinct in the current world. Most of this ice was violently chiselled away, these are certainly the achievement of the basilisk, the room is full of all kinds of bones, apparently, it is relying on the corpses of these animals in the ice as food to survive all along, this room is its canteen. After gaining this information, Jon then proceeded to thest room on this long corridor. The door of this room was not damaged and was also locked, just before entering, Jon saw the namete hanging on the door of the room, and his whole body was frozen. [Adrian Fawkes''b] ---- #Charles Gand, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 293: Map (2 in 1) Chapter 293: Map (2 in 1) Adrian Fawkes. This name has only appeared in his memory two or three short times, but these two or three times has deeply rooted in Jon''s mind. Not because of anything else, but just because his biggest reliance now, whether it is a variant of the levitation charm or the general counter-spell, the ring and the gems on the ring that is necessary to use it are all created by the wizard with this name! This person was once a close friend of Slughorn, but after creating the ring and several gems, he left the world without even having the chance to see whether the work he hadpleted actually realised the desired effect or not. How could Jon have expected that he could actually find theboratory he left behind in this undergroundbyrinth at the North Pole! "What happened? Jon." Gabrielle, who was floating above his head and still confused, asked suspiciously. She certainly did not know anything about Adrien Fawkes and did not understand what this name represented to Jon. Jon also came back to his senses at this time, and he took a deep breath and said softly. "I am fine." Then he reached out his hand to the door and tried to push it open. However, the in-looking wooden door didn''t budge, as if it was locked, and there was no way to just open it directly like that. Contrary to the doors of the other three rooms that were destroyed by the basilisk, the door to thisboratory is still so well-preserved, and it is certainly unlikely that the basilisk has shown mercy, the biggest possibility is that theboratory itself has retained part of the protective features. After trying to push open the door directly but without sess, Jon then waved his wand at the door handle and used the unlocking charm, but it still failed to yield any results. He then took off the ring that he had been wearing around his neck and put it on his right index finger, and finally used the hand that was wearing the ring to push the door. This time he did not encounter any resistance, and easily pushed the door open! Jon disyed a look of genuine surprise, while Gabrielle looked at the ring Jon put on his finger with wonder which Jon had never taken out before, even if he used it. "Who gave you this ring? Have you been proposed to by some girl already?" Jon didn''t feel like giving her anything to bounce around in her brain and create some story. "It was given to me by one of my professors, at that time you haven''te to Hogwarts yet. At a young age, what''s going on inside your head." Gabrielle held her head with an unhappy look and followed behind Jon into thatb. This ce is obviously not broken into and damaged like the other three rooms, the various pieces of furniture inside are still neatly ced around. There is a not-so-huge bookcase in the corner, but in addition to a few empty containers, there are no other books, and at the corner between the two walls there is a single bed, the bed is covered with a mattress sheet and a quilt. A table and chairs were ced directly opposite the door, and some old parchment was left on top. Jon first looked at the bookshelves, in addition to the few empty containers that were found as soon as he entered there was nothing else there, then he came to the table and began to open the parchment that was lying around. These are obviously some notes on experiments, but the content is very fragmented, Jon looked at it for a good while, and it can be determined that Adrian hade to the North Pole to search for more gemstones that can be embedded in the ring and used for casting spells on themselves. The importance of gemstones for the ring is simr to the wand core of a wand, butpared to the majority of materials that can be used as a wand core as long as they belong to a magical creature, the requirements for ring gemstones are exceptionally demanding. Adrien studied for a lifetime but only found one gem on Mount Olympus that could conduct the magic of the wizard''s body, but the mass of that stone only allowed him to divide up to three stones, which was far worse than the double-digit number of stones he had envisioned at the beginning. Yes, at the beginning he was nning to design the gems to be more finely divided, embedding such gems on the ring, can make the magic that the ring can cast out more diverse, but unfortunately, it is limited by the wizard itself as part of the reason, plus the raw materials are limited, so only five gems can be made out. Adrien, who came to the North Pole, had used up the gem that he had got from Mount Olympus, then started going out to look for suitable materials, and finally made a discovery under thebyrinth in the North Pole. Jon rummaged through the scattered materials on the table and could only roughly see that Adrien finally did seed in finding and processing a gem in thisbyrinth, but for some reason unknown to him, it seemed like Adrian didn''t take the gem with him when he left. Because of iplete faded information on the materials, Jon did not find out the reason, but it can be determined that there is indeed a gem left here. This caused Jon to be iparably cheered up, since Slughorn gave him this ring, Jon knows better than anyone else how great the ring has brought him an enhancement. If it were not for the ability to cast spells on himself, the dangers he experienced alone would have caused normal wizards to die hundreds of times over. And each additional gemstone represents a newly advanced spell for Jon, he can rely on this gemstone to research new magic that can boost himself, so it represents another leap of strength for him. But the information Adrien left here is too little, the scattered information is more like a pile of useless scrap, in addition to letting Jon know the purpose and results of his arrival here, there is no more information to provide. After going through all the information on the table, Jon pulled open a drawer on the table, and in the drawer, he made a new discovery! An extremely valuable discovery! "Look at this!" His voice drew Gabrielle''s attention who was wandering around the room, trying to figure out exactly where in thebyrinth this long corridor they are in is located. She drifted over to Jon''s side and looked at the parchment that he had found in the drawer together with him. It is a map! A map that depicted most of the paths throughout thisbyrinth. Adrien had obviously lived in thisbyrinth under the ice only for a short period of time, and it was not clear how he got along with the basilisk here, but it seemed that no conflict had broken out between the two sides. That is, using that time, he not only found the right gemstone under the ice to make a suitable gem for the ring but also mapped out a map for most of the paths in thebyrinth. This map, although the drawing is a little rudimentary, it''s not some ordinary map, it was enchanted with a special magic, although it is not as magical as the Marauder''s Map at Hogwarts, you can rely on this map to continue to locate the paths in thebyrinth urately. Their current location is in the northwest corner of the entire map, and the area of thebyrinth depicted on the map is iparablyrge. From the entrance to the location where they are now, Jon has spent nearly half a day,pared to the entirebyrinth it is only about a tenth of the size. This map also marked out two or three targets, there is no other exnation as to what these markers represent, what is certain is that one of these markers is definitely the gem that Adrien did not take away from here! This is not only equal to giving Jon a travel guide in thebyrinth but also giving him an exact target. Even after entering thebyrinth, Jon actually hadn''t figured out exactly why Grindelwald had asked him to make this trip, but now with the information of one of the ring gems, he at least had an urate direction. It can be said that this map, is his biggest gain after entering thebyrinth. Afterwards, Jon carefully checked all the things in the whole room again, to make sure that there is no more valuable discovery, he also did not want to immediately leave from here. At present, this secret corridor is safe for the time being; Jon did not rest during the day, rushing all day, after that in the evening he fought with a group of Death Eaters and then entered thebyrinth and ran off for several hours with tense physical activity, only to meet a basilisk and kill it. This has made Jon''s body feel exhausted, it happens that thisboratory has a bed with a quilt, he used a cleaning spell on the bed andid down in peace, and then "hired" childbour, letting Gabrielle who does not need to rest to keep guard in the corridor outside the door, and thus slept peacefully. Jon was indeed very tired; when he woke up from sleep and looked at the time with a pocket watch, it was close to ten hourster. Gabrielle during this time turned from panic to leisure, when Jon came out of theboratory to find her, she was squatting in the room that originally was the basilisk''s canteen to observe the bears and wolfs in the ice. "Do you want to taste what the White Two tastes like?" Jon''s enticing voice rang in Gabrielle''s ears, which made Gabrielle freeze, and a crystal clear saliva showed at the corner of her mouth subconsciously. But then, she struggled and shook her head and said. "Don''t want to!" "These bears in the ice are supposed to be dead, so if we dig one out and cut its paws off to taste a little bit, it''s fine." But even if Jon said so, Gabrielle still can''t ept eating a kind of creature that was her friend before. Even after listening to Jon, about how delicious it would be to put the bear''s paw on the fire and sprinkle it with a little cumin, salt and chilli powder, she once again failed to fight the "sad" saliva slipping from the corners of her mouth, but in the end, she still insisted on not being overwhelmed by the instinct to eat. Jon could only regretfully pull out the dry food that Eric had prepared for him from his pocket and gave some of it to Gabrielle. In the ghost state, Gabrielle certainly will not have any hunger, but after all, she is not a real ghost, so after she discovered that she can taste she has been using her sense of taste to taste everything a bit, which will always make her state better afterwards. After eating and drinking, they got ready to go again, Jon carried Nick, who still looked frightened, and took the map in his hand and left in the exact opposite direction they entered this secret corridor. After arriving at the end of the corridor, Jon used the general counter-spell on himself as he had done when he entered here, and then took Gabrielle with him to leave here. When they re-entered the coldbyrinth, this time they did not have to turn around like headless flies when they encountered a fork in the path, instead they could follow the directions on the map towards the nearest marker. "Why does Nick continue to maintain this expression, can I help him change it?" Gabrielle, who was floating behind Jon, tried to have some fun with Nick. "If you can find a way to change his expression, of course, you can do it." "He''s hard as a rock, I sure as hell we can''t squeeze his face to change his expression! Jon, could you hand me a quill, please?" Hearing Gabrielle''s request, Jon shook his head decisively. "You can get it yourself if you want. If I give it to you, and you scribble on Nick''s face, then he will surely reprimand me loudly when he recovers." "He certainly won''t know about it now, as long as I don''t say anything, and you don''t say anything, no one will know." Gabrielle floated around Jon, she had been wanting to draw a bird on Nick''s face for a long time. But as Nick''s loyal friend, Jon still sternly refused her (in fact, he knew that although Nick was petrified, his perception of the outside world is still there.) And protectively put Nick, who was originally on his back, in front of his body to prevent Gabrielle from secretly messing with him. Just when Gabrielle was constantly pleading with Jon, and they just walked over to a fork in the path, Jon''s heart suddenly rose up with a very bad feeling! This premonition came inexplicably, like a sudden burst of panic, but clearly, there was nothing around! He did not take this burst of panic as a matter of course, this intuition-like perception has been verified many times its uracy, Grindelwald also stressed to him, this intuition is actually a manifestation of his prophetic talent. All at once he stopped his yfulness with Gabrielle, paused with a serious expression to stop Gabrielle and also stopped himself. Gabrielle from Jon''s expression can feel the seriousness of the situation, she immediately shut up, and honestly grabbed the corner of Jon''s coat, clinging to his side. After a cursory nce around, Jon did not find anything unusual, but he still did not continue to move forward, as he remained looking in front of him, holding his wand in his hand, he carefully began to step backwards. Just as he took his second step backwards, a strange change urred! On the ice walls to the left and right, and directly in front of him, there was a distortion in the air, and three figures suddenly appeared! At the same time as they appeared, an incantation sounded together! "Avada Kedavra!" A ghastly green light instantly illuminated the entirebyrinth''s passage, and the three killing curses that nearly blocked all of Jon''s retreats tore through the icy air like violent vipers! Jon, who was consistently enchanted by the levitation charm, began to distance and position himself to the extreme at the moment his brain reacted with a speed that no normal person could do. But even then he could only narrowly avoid the two killing curses, and the killing curse that shot out from the left side still hit his body precisely. Hit him in front where the petrified Nick is tied! ---- #Charles Gand, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 294: The Book Hidden in the Ice (2 in 1) Chapter 294: The Book Hidden in the Ice (2 in 1) The curse representing death exploded on Nick''s terrified face, but Nick was still Nick, he did not even have any change in the expression on his face. When Jon perceived that he could not avoid the curse, and even prepared to die, the curse unexpectedly fell on the petrified Nick! Good thingse to good people! He was d that he had refused Gabrielle''s attempt to scribble on Nick''s face and switched him to a position in front of him to protect him, then he turned to the side and counterattacked without saying a word! "Confringo!" He did not retaliate with the same killing curse, not because Jon was soft-hearted, but because he clearly understood that with three people on the other side, even if his killing curse could take out one of them with precision, the other two would find an opening and do the same in return. That''s why a wide-range spell like a sting curse is undoubtedly the best choice. "Boom!" The Death Eaters who had seen that one of the killing curses had already hit Jon were nearly defenceless against the fact that he not only did not die but actually could counterattack. The magic affects reality, the strong explosion caused by the st instantly exploded the shield charm on the three. After following Grindelwald to study and deepen the dark magic for two months, the dark magic power that Jon now uses can be said to be different from what it used to be. Before this, his sting curse at most shattered the shield charm of the Death Eaters, then no longer have any kind of offensive power, but now, the remaining power directly blows the three Death Eaters flying out! Jon is not confused by the temporary sess of the battle, after the three Death Eaters were blown away, he just casually made a shot of the Invisible sword curse, then took Gabrielle, and at the same time switched the helpful Nick as a shield to his back again, and began to quickly flee this area. The three Death Eaters were obviously using a disillusionment charm to ambush here, Jon is not clear for the moment by what means they have learned their route of travel, not to mention it is not clear whether they have more helpersing in addition to the three Death Eaters. Thebyrinth is not like the outside, the space here is narrow, as long as more than five people surrounded Jon back and forth, then he basically can not dodge all the spells shot at him, as evidenced by the sneak attack just now, one of the three shots of killing curse hit him. The confined space doesn''t allow Jon to make better use of his speed and flight advantages, so he can only retreat as quickly as possible, and then see the exact situation after getting rid of these three people. Jon evacuated just in time, the small space that limits his ability also brought maximum pay-offs to his sting curse, the three Death Eaters were blown to dust, and the one who faced Jon directly even had two fingers blown off! When they messily dodged the Invisible sword curse that Jon used for cover afterwards by looking at his aim, they no longer could see Jon''s figure in front of them. The Death Eater whose fingers were blown off was obviously the leader of this three-man squad, and his face showed a distorted expression caused by pain as his body trembled while picking up the two mangled fingers from the ground. "How long has it been since the letter to Lord Lestrange was sent over?" His face was filled with a grimace, and his wand was pinned to his waist as two of his men panicked and pulled out potions and poured them on his amputated knuckles, which were still bleeding and shaking violently while answering. "Just less than half an hour, Captain, we sent out the letter when the arrangement we left on that path was triggered before, ording to the size of thisbyrinth, if Lord Lestrange is far away from us, then it will take at least three days for them to receive the letter and then to rush over." "Three days? Three days are more than enough time for them to collect our bodies!" The captain with the broken finger didn''t know if he was venting over the constant sharp paining from his hand, or if he was really just simply expressing his displeasure and cursing. "This damnbyrinth! Why can''t we just Apparate? Even if everyone was equipped with a magic broom, there''s no way we could get immediate support in such a short amount of time! Where are the paper nes to ask for nearby support? Have you released them yet? Tell the other idiots that we found him at this location! Tell those shitheads to start encircling this area immediately!" The other Death Eater he questioned said in a panic. "I released the paper nes the first time you handed it to me, Captain, but the closest squad to us seems a bit far away" Just before he finished his sentence, a thin sound of footsteps came from far and near to their rear. The three Death Eaters kept the highest alert at the first opportunity, and even the captain with the broken finger endured the severe pain and held his wand tightly in his left hand. Soon, a fluttering paper ne appeared in their field of vision. After looking at this paper ne, the three Death Eaters all breathed a sigh of relief, and then each of them looked at the other three Death Eaters who followed the paper ne to find them just now. "Where is he?" "He''s on the run." "Why didn''t you keep him behind?" "Why don''t you ask me that question after you''ve taken your men, intercepted him and keep him behind!" The exchange between the two squads could not be considered cordial, but they had not forgotten their duties in thisbyrinth, and apart from the captain with the broken finger, the other five men chased after Jon together in the direction he had fled. Jon has great limitations on his abilities within thebyrinth, and at the same, it is true for the Death Eaters too. All the areas of thisbyrinth were covered by anti-apparition charm, and their numbers did not exceed a hundred in total, and scattering into small teams of three was already the limit, ording to the British Ministry of Magic assessment made on Jon''s specific strength that they have found so far if there are less than three, then not only it is unlikely to kill or catch him, but there is also a great probability that he will kill them in turn. This is why when one of the three Death Eaters had his finger blown off and lost the ability to cast spells for a short time, the other two did not risk chasing after him. If they do chase after him, the possibility of keeping him is not certain, but the possibility of being killed by him is very high. And when they began to chase, Jon has already crossed three forks in the path, and ording to the map from theboratory, he once again circled back to the original route. After making sure that no Death Eaters were catching up behind him, Jon pulled out the invisibility cloak and prepared to cloak himself for the rest of the journey. The curse that hit Nick really made him a little scared, if he hadn''t adjusted the petrified Nick to his body in advance, then under the curse, Jon had no possibility of surviving. After wearing the invisibility cloak, their speed of movement is significantly slowed down, and it is not convenient to move, but Jon still chose to be more cautious. Sure enough, his judgment was not wrong. After exiting that secret corridor, he had entered a patrolwork of Death Eaters, and not long after cloaking himself and continuing on, he encountered another group of Death Eaters. Once again, it was a three-man squad, but these three did not spot Jon, instead, Jon detected their footsteps in advance and hid with Gabrielle in a corner near the ice wall, without bumping into them. Watching this group of Death Eaters leave, Jon at least determined one thing. These people could not urately predict his movements, before the three Death Eaters ambushed in advance in a fixed location, there is a high probability that they heard the sound of his and Gabrielle''s conversations so they had made that kind of preparation. It also basically lets Jon determine the probability of these Death Eaters in thebyrinth can not casually use the Apparition. Otherwise, back then in that situation, as long as they sent a person alone to call for reinforcements, while the remaining two people found a way to hold Jon back, that would definitely give him greater trouble. However, they just ambushed him in advance, which is either because these three people wanted to take credit, thinking that a few of them would be able to deal with Jon and take the credit alone, or they were not able to seek support that fast. Jon felt that the possibility of being greedy for credit is less likely than not being able to apparate, so it is more logical to assume that they can''t apparate inside thisbyrinth. After all, although these Death Eaters are all mostly nutcases, they are not that crazy, a normal person can''t be that greedy in this situation. This spection also let Jon mentally breathe a sigh of relief, if, in thebyrinth, the Death Eaters can still use Apparition to provide support anytime, anywhere, that will undoubtedly put a huge pressure on Jon. It means that he will encounter dozens of people even if he slightly shows his hair. If they disregarded the casualties and consequences, then thisbyrinth would definitely be Jon''s burial ce. And now, since they have no way to use the Apparition, it is optimistic news, which means that Jon has more chances, even if they encounter any ident and meet with the Death Eaters, they will not be without room to withdraw. Next, they carefully continued forward toward the established goal, during which they encountered three waves of Death Eater squads, all of whom they cautiously avoided and were not discovered. At that time, Jon looked at his pocket watch, from the time they departed from the secret corridor, they walked for seven or eight hours before arriving at the first point marked on the map. It appeared no different from other ces from the appearance of the ice outside, Jon didn''t find any kind of an anomaly when he poked around, and he also used the general counter-spell to attempt, but there was no half-gain. It was only when Gabrielle passed through this ice wall and entered the inner iceyer that the discovery was made. "It''s empty inside here, Jon!" Gabrielle said excitedly as she lowered her giddy voice. Jon was also in high spirits. "Can you see what''s ced inside?" "A book, one that''s only as big as a notebook." Gabrielle''s description made Jon slightly disappointed, he had expected to find the gem left behind by Adrien right here, but it is better to get something than nothing. Although Gabrielle was able to cross the ice and ess the book, she wasn''t able to bring it out. The good thing is that ording to her description, this part of the ice where the object had been hidden was not very thick, Jon estimated, a sting curse is enough for thatyer of ice to be broken. The sound and movement of that spell won''t be that light, so after he seeded in breaking the ice and taking out the book that Gabrielle saw, he immediately used the repairing charm on the broken part right away. Then instead of immediately examining the book, he took Gabrielle and immediately shifted locations with the cloak of invisibility draped over them. Within a minute after they left, a squad of Death Eaters hurriedly arrived at the ce where Jon and the others had been before. But after carefully checking the surroundings they did not find a movement of anyone. But they did not leave it at that, instead, they used the magic paper ne to report the discovery to their higher-ups. The paper ne transmission speed can only be considered ordinary, not even as fast as the owl delivering letters. But in the cold Arctic, no owl can simply work in this ce, so the Death Eaters can only use this inefficient method. And on Jon''s side, after he came to a fairly safe ce, he hid with Gabrielle under the cloak of invisibility and opened the book that had a very old cover. However, what disappointed him was that the content written in this book was not written in English, it looked somewhat like German, which Jon could not understand even basic at all. But this is, after all, something that Adrien left on the map with a special mark, even if he can''t read it for now, Jon won''t directly throw it away. After properly putting the book into his pocket, he began to look at the next target point on the map again. Adrien marked out a total of only three points on the map, two of which were dotted out with red ink, and the other was ck. One ck mark is the secret corridor where Jon found the map, and one red mark is the spot where the book has been found,stly now only thest red mark remains. What is hidden in this one can basically be determined, it is the location where Adrien crafted that gemstone at the North Pole. Jon also felt that after all his efforts toe to such a ce looking for the raw materials to make the gem, but as a result, when things were found and made, yet there was no way to take it with him, he would not have forgotten to leave a mark. At the same time, this also reflects the importance of the book he got, it can be marked by Adrien specifically with the same dot as the gem, which means that this thing is equal to that gem in his heart. Then, Jon did not stop, thest spot is a long way from where they are now, basically about twice the distance they have walked since they entered thebyrinth. They now had to move with the cloak of invisibility, with just Gabrielle remaining, Jon didn''t feelfortable letting her scout ahead alone, so their progress was undoubtedly slowed down a lot. But besides encountering Death Eaters and breaking out into battle not long aftering out of the secret corridor, the journey that followed was not considered dangerous, even if they encountered a squad of Death Eaters, they sessfully avoided them. Two and a half dayster, they finally arrived at a ce less than a mile from the point marked on the map. ---- #Charles Gand, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 295: Bronze Door (2 in 1) Chapter 295: Bronze Door (2 in 1) The way the two couples Rodolphus and Be get along with each other is very strange. Even in the eyes of the vast majority of other Death Eaters, it can be felt that they are more like a titr couple, and in fact, there is basically not much of a husband and wife rtionship between them anymore. That is also indeed true. Even in private, Be never gave her husband a half-hearted smile, even though this was the first time she had met with Rodolphus since learning of her brother-inw Rabastan''s death. "The Lestrange family cannot afford to disappoint our lord again, and you should know that better than anyone." Deep in thebyrinth of ice and snow, in front of a huge bronze door, Be said coldly. Rodolphus still had that silent look, ever since the death of his own brother, he was obviously much more decadent than before. "Why is our lord certain that this ce is no longer important?" He asked in a hoarse voice, while looking up at the bronze door at his side, which looked ancient and worn, yet seemed to bepletely welded into the whole ice sheet, and did not budge at all. Be''s face had little expression. "It''s not that this ce is not important to our lord anymore, it''s important. But he knows that no one in the world can push this door open beside him, not even Dumbledore himself." "So this is actually a decoy?" Rodolphus inclined his head to look at her. "Lord at first did not expect this bait to work, because they are not that stupid, couldn''t even spot such an obvious bait, and would still send people to die." Be''s gaze was icy as she met Rodolphus'' eyes. "That''s why I''ve been saying all along that this is a chance for you, a chance to make up for your previous failure. We can''t deduce why they were willing to let that evil studente here when they knew it would be bait, but once he enters thisbyrinth, his only goal will be nothing more than what''s behind this door, otherwise, there''s no point in himing here at all." "Stay here and kill him, this is the only chance you and the Lestrange family have if you want to regain the trust and favour of our lord." Be paused at this point for a moment, before continuing. "You also do not want, Rabastan to die such a meaningless and worthless death." There was no visible change in expression on Rodolphus'' face, but the hand that was holding his wand in was clenched tightly at some point. He certainly did not want it to be worthless. Not only the death of Rabastan but also their previous infiltration mission in the French Ministry of Magic, rendering such feats worthless. Only by redeeming their mistakes here, they can regain the rewards and value of those feats, otherwise, without Voldemort''s trust, all that the Lestrange family had done so far would be aplete joke. A joke created by a teenager, aughingstock. "About that gem, have you asked our lord about it?" After a moment of silence, Rodolphus raised his head again and looked at the inconspicuous blue diamond-shaped gemstone embedded in the ice not far from the bronze door. Since they found the gem, they had thought of many ways to try to take it out, but all ended in failure. Unless they could destroy the entire iceyer attached to the bronze door, there was no way to get the strange gem out of it, but the iceyer itself was unbreakable just like the door. "This is something that only I know, and I remind you once again that it is currently not possible for our lord to manage these things." Be said with an icy face. "Otherwise, why do you think he didn''te here personally when he pays such attention to that boy? He is not in such a good state as others can see and simply does not have the energy to care about other things, he is preparing for another more important matter, and that is why he has given you and me such full authority! If everything needs to be done by him personally, then why should we still be here? To suck his blood like leeches?" After saying that, she stared hard into Rodolphus'' eyes. "Remember to keep all the words I said to you in your heart, we have been in France for so long, that you should know what words can be said, and what words should nevere out of your mouth in this life!" Rodolphus did not utter any promises, he just nodded wordlessly. He had nothing toin about, and he really shouldn''t have anything toin about when Be said something in a rare tone of voice like a family member who said something that only she should have known. But inexplicably, he just felt a burst of sarcasm without a reason, she said as if it was normal for her to say these words to himself without any reason. ---- Jon did not proceed any further forward. After approaching the target with less than a mile to go, the number of Death Eaters patrolling nearby grew significantlyrger. Wearing the cloak of invisibility, he stopped in a corner, grabbing Gabrielle''s hand and staring at a bunch of Death Eaters walking past them not far ahead, and his breathing, which had been restrained, slowly rxed. Within the cloak of invisibility, Jon reopened the map, he looked at where the marked spot at the end of this straight path and whispered. "Obviously, this location is not only the location where that gem is located, but also the key area guarded by the Death Eaters, it is likely that this is also the final destination of the dark lord when he came to thisbyrinth back then." Gabrielle tilted her small face and looked at Jon. "So what should we do now?" This question also made Jon ponder. Thebyrinth''s pathways are too narrow, and although it''s not impossible to continue forward with the aid of a cloak of invisibility, the probability of something going wrong would also be higher. In this short few hundred meters, Jon has seen no less than three waves of Death Eaters squad passing him by, which means that once he is discovered, then these people can assemble to surround him at the fastest speed. And with such a situation, Jon simply could not afford to go any further, he could only use Fawkes'' feather to summon him over to take them away from here. He could not think of any other safer methods, and this situation could not be solved by any strategy, except for relying on pure strength to break through, otherwise, there would be no other better way. Jon thought about it and finally decided to give it a shot while calling Fawkes. He wrapped up the cloak of invisibility, let Gabrielle always hold his arm at his side, and in that hand, he is holding the feather of Fawkes. He wants to see how far he can sneak in using the cloak of invisibility, and once there is an ident, he will directly crush the feather in his hand, and will not stay for half a second. Jon is well aware that if he takes a risk, he will not only put his life on the line but also the life of Gabrielle who is with him! In addition, he put the still-hard Nick in front of his body again, after being petrified Nick is a perfect shield, he can block the killing curse while not being destroyed by the curse itself, which provides a great guarantee to Jon''s safety. After doing all this preparation, Jon took Gabrielle and continued to start moving forward with great caution. They will stop as soon as they encounter Death Eaters and wait until this group of Death Eaters has passed before continuing their steps. After moving slowly for about two hours, they finally came across a fairly open areapared to the rest of thebyrinth. About a dozen Death Eaters were stationed here, and tents were pitched in the open space, as if they knew in advance that Jon woulde here, and had been prepared in advance in anticipation. Jon did not risk entering this open space, instead, he first hid at the edge of thebyrinth passageway, observing the people who stood guard there. The first thing that caught his eye was undoubtedly the "old acquaintance". Rodolphus was sitting by a burning fire heating up his hands,pared with when Jon saw him on the sea, now his beard is scruffy, and hisplexion is a kind of ugly pale and haggard, obviously, he had a bad time during this period. The next person who attracted Jon''s attention was a woman with wavy ck hair, ck nail polish on her nails and a gloomy face and sharp eyes. Although it was the first time Jon saw this woman, from the qualities she had, coupled with the identity of a female Death Eater, Jon waspelled to associate her with someone, a woman who was famous in the original story. Betrix Lestrange! One of Voldemort''s most loyal underlings, who is also known for her cruel and despicable fanatical behaviour. She and Sirius are also rted, but she was the one who killed the big ck dog with her own hands. Jon did not expect her toe here, but when you think about it, it does not feel strange, Rodolphus is already a failed once, so even if Voldemort is willing to give him another chance, it is not possible to be so assured to let him alone again in full charge of this matter. And although Be is Rodolphus''s wife, with the master-servant rtionship between Voldemort and her, the so-called husband-and-wife rtionship can be said to be worse than dog shit. After seeing Be, the vignce in Jon''s heart was raised once again. He knew very well that this woman, even if she is known for her lunacy, can also be said to be the most astute and capable person under Voldemort. After the fall of France, Dumbledore has found that the person pretending to be the Chancellor "Rnd" is Be, the biggest contributor who ultimately brought the whole of France into the hands of Voldemort is also her, and at the beginning, even Dumbledore was also fooled by her. In addition to Rodolphus and Be, the couple, what attracted Jon''s attention was the door opposite him, which looked like it was built entirely of bronze. The door looked very ancient, a vague pattern could be seen carved on the surface of the long door, and it was difficult to find out what those reliefs actually are. Jon frowned as he looked at the door, his intuition tells him that the Death Eaters are actually guarding it, and it may be the ce where Voldemort stayed when he once came to thisbyrinth. But the door gave Jon a very unusual feeling as if the huge bronze b was embedded directly in the ice instead of a closed door. Then his eyes wandered, and when he saw the ice wall on the left side of the bronze door, Jon''s pupils shrank slightly! A blue diamond-shaped gemstone, small, small enough to fit five of them even if they were embedded in the ring. The gemstone seemed to havepletely blended into the iceyer and could not be distinguished from it. Jon suppressed his inner excitement and turned his head to wink at Gabrielle. Gabrielle nodded her head like a chicken pecking rice, in this situation, she did not even dare to breathe a breath and always acted ording to Jon''smand. Wearing a cloak of invisibility, Jon brought Gabrielle and began to walk out of thebyrinth passage with iparable caution, he has long been padded the bottom of his shoes with ayer of thick cotton cloth so that when he stepped on the ice surface there would not be a single hint of sound emitted. He held his breath, sticking close to the wall, and a Death Eater who was bringing a teapot to Rodolphus passed close to his face, and then he barely crossed the two tents that were close together, and finally approached the gem-encrusted ice surface. Jon did not immediately rush to try to pull the gem off, knowing full well that things would not be that simple. If the gem can be so easy for him to take away, then Adrien will not leave it here, he came all the way to the Arctic for this thing, and even if he did not have the means to use it, it does not make sense that he could not find a way to take it away. And these Death Eaters, they are not blind, although this gem is inconspicuous, it is not that inconspicuous that nobody who stays here can not find it. Such a strange gem, Jon does not believe that the Death Eaters have not tried to take it out of the ice, but now it is still here, proving that neither Adrien nor the Death Eaters have seeded. Watching what the others were doing around him, after making sure no one was paying attention to him, Jon took the ring off his finger with great caution, and then slowly approached the gem on the ice with the missing groove on it. But even though he hadpletely pressed the ring close to the blue gem, the gem didn''t budge at all and didn''t embed directly into the ring. This made Jon a little disappointed, but it was kind of expected. He stared at the gem for a long time, the more he looked at it, the more he felt that the gem ispletely integrated with the surrounding ice, unless it is possible to blow up this entire ice wall, it is not possible to take it out. Such a discovery made Jon even more puzzled, such a tightly bound gem, how did Adrien craft it here at that time? Suspicions did not stay in his mind for long, and soon Jon gave up the idea of forcibly taking the gem away for the time being. Although he couldn''t get it now, it didn''t mean he couldn''t get itter, anyway, he already knew this ce, and the Death Eaters couldn''t send someone to guard here forever, there would be plenty of time for him toe back and try again. And right now his main target should be the guarded door! Jon stared at the bronze door and narrowed his own eyes. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 296: He Will Come Today (2 in 1) Chapter 296: He Will Come Today (2 in 1) A bronze door, in such abyrinth covered with ice everywhere, of course, is quite conspicuous. At such a distance, Jon could see that there was a tiny gap in the middle of the bronze door that seemed to be fused into a whole. This proves that this is a door that can be opened, and not some whole piece of bronze te that is embedded in the ice. But even if this is a door, he found no sign of a handle or lock hole. When Voldemort came to this ce, he must have done something or taken something behind the door, and if Jon wanted to find out something, he also had to enter the door. But how to open and enter this door is a problem. Jon leaned against the ice, crouched in the corner, observing the situation around the bronze door, trying to find whether or not there was a chance to sneak in with a cloak of invisibility. But soon, he saw something like an eye suspended in an unobtrusive corner right above that door! To be more precise, it is an eye. Jon had seen such a magical artificial eye before; once an elite British Ministry of Magic Auror, now one of the pirs of the Order of the Phoenix under Dumbledore - stor Moody, one of his original eye that was damaged was reced with an artificial eye. And Moody''s artificial eye has a very powerful ability to see through the disillusionment charm and invisibility cloak! And now the eye that is suspended above the bronze door is likely to have this ability as well. These Death Eaters had already prepared for the possibility of Jon sneaking in using the invisibility cloak, and they had made sure that the area that needed the most attention was well secured. Jon''s current location was just outside the observation range of that eye, so he was able to remain undetected, but as long as he moved about three meters closer to the direction of the bronze door, that eye is bound to be able to spot him. This made Jon''s heart sink to the bottom, he frowned at the magic artificial eye, and in a short time, his heart contemted many different approaches. The second gem on the ring can absorb the magic power of magic items, but the prerequisite for this ability to function is that the gem itself cannot be too far away from the object that is meant to be absorbed. And he simply had no way to get closer to the eye, and he did not know for the time being how the Death Eaters actually manipted that eye, so if he absorbed the magic in it, making the artificial eye into a waste eye, how long it would take for the Death Eaters to react is also a matter of uncertainty. So Jon could only veto the option of directly destroying the artificial eye itself. Since he couldn''t destroy the eye, he had to start with himself. However, it is even more of a fantasy, he is wearing the cloak of invisibility that can be described as the highest level of magic artefacts in the entire magical world, one of the Three Deathly Hallows, and there is no other thing that can be more advanced than it at present at all. But even so, the artificial eye can still see through the stealth of the cloak of invisibility, and Jon now also doesn''t have a strong enough stealth ability that can surpass the ability bestowed by one of the three hallows created by the Death itself. There is no possible way to deal with the artificial eye, nor can he use his own strength, so the only solution left for him is the simplest and most direct one. Jon''s eyes unblinkingly stared at the bronze door. Forcefully break in! At the risk of being discovered, try to open the door just once before being taken away by Fawkes! No matter what the result, he had to summon Fawkes to take himself, Nick and Gabrielleter on. First of all, not to mention whether he could be able to open that door or not, even if he seeded in opening it, it is difficult to enter the door and protect himself in such a cramped ce jammed with such arge number of Death Eaters who would also try their best to enter the door and surround them. Unless the area behind the door should be vast, simr to thebyrinth they are now in. Jon did not dare to have such a fantasy, when Grindelwald asked him toe to the North Pole, he did not say exactly what he needed to do and also gave him the right to choose. Now he has been able to reach this ce, has already put all his efforts into finding the location of a gem, and also found a book on Adrien''s map, it is considered a good harvest. The rest, even if he can see a little more useful information to bring back, it is all gain. After thinking clearly about these, Jon gripped the wand in his hand, while the other hand also clutched the fiery red feather that belongs to Fawkes harder! Just before Jon had entered the open space where the Death Eaters were stationed within thebyrinth. In the French Ministry of Magic, the Ballroom, which is normally only opened on extremely important asions, was at this time filled with wizards from all over Europe. The bet that Voldemort and Dumbledore made with a Blood pact spread throughout the world in just one week. Not only because of the weight of the stakes, which even weigh on the future of the entire French magicalmunity but also because of the Triwizard Tournament, an event that has not been held for hundreds of years. This tournament, once held jointly by three European schools of witchcraft, was cancelled because its activities were too dangerous and caused the death of students almost every time, and now it has actually been revived to decide the end of a war, and such an alternative and unique topic has be the focus of discussion among wizards all over Europe. In times of peace, the bloody Triwizard Tournament is something to be cancelled, but in these troubled times, a contest between young wizards to end a war is undoubtedly the best way to reduce casualties and promote peace. In this regard, when it was learned that this idea was first proposed by Voldemort, the majority of wizards even felt incredulous. If this were the solution that Dumbledore first proposed, then most people would still feel justified, because this is very much like Dumbledore''s style of doing things. He has always liked to use some childish means to solve things that have a huge impact, but also because of this, in the peace era not everyone liked him, many stereotypical rigid people have privately called him a "crazy old man". Voldemort ispletely opposite to Dumbledore, even if he is no longer as moody as a decade ago, it is not necessary to say that he now gained heart and soul, letting a group of children who have not yet graduated decide the oue of such a matter. But the fact is that he took the initiative, which Dumbledore readily agreed to. Although the truth behind this is unknown, it does not stop the wizards who support Voldemort''s side from singing his praises. The purebloods imed that the "great gentleman" is a kind gentleman who couldn''t bear to see any more bloodshed and wanted to give Dumbledore a chance by having a fair and square contest. Some say he is giving the next generation of young wizards a chance, no matter which side of the champions participating in the Triwizard Tournament wins, they will eventually make a name for themselves! If Voldemort''s side wins, the winning student will definitely be elected as the future star of the British magicalmunity or the future European magicalmunity ording to Voldemort''s attitude. The Dumbledore side is even more needless to say, to reim the lostnd of France, the restoration of France, not to mention how Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix members will treat, all the muggle wizards in France will treat him/her as a hero, and it is not impossible to even ignore the age and directly push that person as the new French Minister of Magic if that person is capable. There are all sorts of ims, but what is certain is that under the circumstances that Voldemort and Dumbledore have made a blood pact, the tournament that determines the final oue of the French War is bound to be held. Although the specific rules, judges and events have not yet been determined, the selection of champions will begin a week after the blood pact was made. On that day, the entire European Ministry of Magic had been invited, because thispetition was not just a merepetition between a few magical schools like hundreds of years ago, but it would nearly determine the future direction of the entire European continent. The British Daily Prophet sent a whole press team, and the Starlight newspaper, which was under the control of the Witching Horizons Equality Front, was almost fully present. Other countries like Spain, Switzend, Belgium, Germany, Bulgaria, Pnd, Norway, Find and so on, as long as the scale of wizards is sufficient to set up a Ministry of Magic, almost all of them sent over their officers from the Department of International Magical Co-operation as well as media of official nature. Not only within Europe, even the International Confederation of Wizards, which has not had a new Supreme Mugwump for ten years, sent people to participate in this selection ceremony. Even the American wizards from the other side of the Antic Ocean also came. The dispute in Europe did not affect them for the time being, but the pureblood supremacy theory raised by Voldemort has caused a lot of concern and controversy in all parts of the world. No matter where the wizards are, they are all looking forward to the end of the war in France, because after this tournament, they can truly see whether the Witching Horizons led by Dumbledore canpete with Voldemort in the future. Voldemort and Dumbledore agreed to select the champions from early in that morning, both Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang students were brought by their professors to the magnificent hall of the French Ministry of Magic. As the ones whomenced this tournament, Voldemort and Dumbledore, of course, both came here personally. McGonagall made a trip to Durmstrang from the Hogwarts wagon side, picking up all the students boarding there, while Durmstrang''s students were not brought by Grindelwald, but led here by Deputy Headmistress Vinda Rosier. The same goes for Beauxbatons, their little-known Headmaster didn''te either, and only a group of students led by a female professor came here. The students from Hogwarts Castle, on the other hand, were brought in personally by Deputy Headmaster Snape. The male wizard, whoseplexion was always pale and whose gaze was hollow, brought the pureblood students from first to seventh year beside Voldemort and then retired to the back with a respectful bow. Hogwarts Castle, which uses the theory of pureblood supremacy as the basis for its teaching, will of course only bring pureblood students to this selection, the same goes for Beauxbatons, the French wizarding school that only just made the distinction between bloodline houses a year ago. In fact, except for all students in the Hogwarts wagon, Durmstrang only brought students from the third year and above who voluntarily wanted to participate in this tournament. Even if there is no age restriction on the selection of champions for this Triwizard Tournament, Grindelwald cut off the possibility of students below third year participating directly for the safety of students under him and only sent students who met the requirements and volunteered to participate. Compared with Voldemort, who truly rules two wizardry schools, although Grindelwald is willing to give Dumbledore some help, this help is certainly not unreserved. This is something that Dumbledore knows, and Jon, who has spent some time in Durmstrang and followed Grindelwald and observed a few things, also knows very well. The man who once turned the world upside down for his ideals and the future of the magical world would note out of that Castle once again to simply help Dumbledore. Grindelwald has never put his personal feelings first, helping Dumbledore was simply going along with the flow, and he is bound to have other ambitions. An ambition that is very different from that of Voldemort, Dumbledore and himself fifty years ago. Even though all the students in the Hogwarts wagon were brought here, they were too few in number, and evenpared to other schools that had been screened, they could only be said to be simr. The wizards who came to this banquet hall could see that the oldest of these students led by Dumbledore looked like they were only sixteen or seventeen years old, which is just the point where they were in their fifth year. For young wizards, there is a huge difference between higher and lower grades. After all, some things require a certain age to be reached before being allowed to learn, the first of which is Apparition magic. From the point of view of age, Dumbledore''s side has been at a great disadvantage before it even started. This made some of the wizards on the scene, who supported the Witching Horizons side from the bottom of their hearts, frown. However, Dumbledore did not care about those eyes, he just looked at the students brought by McGonagall with a gentle smile on his face, patiently asking them how their life in Durmstrang went. The students excitedly told him about their lives in Durmstrang and some of the younger students asked Dumbledore with envy on their faces when they would be able to study in their own castle. Dumbledore still had a smile on his face, but his gaze became incredibly serious. "We will be able to reim our castle soon." His promise made the young wizards around him all nod their heads together with determination. And this time Hermione looked at Neville, Neville looked at Ron and Ron looked at Hermione, and finally, it was Hermione who asked with a worried look on her face. "Professor, Jon, where did he go?" As early as three days ago they were taken away from the Durmstrang, at that time McGonagall had exined to all of them what exactly the Triwizard Tournament is and what it means. Although they had been unable to see Jon in Durmstrang, they just thought he was busy, but even here Jon never appeared, which had attracted Hermione''s attention. Hearing Hermione''s question, Dumbledore blinked and said softly. "Do not worry, from the words of my old friend, he wille here today." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 297: The Door Opened (2 in 1) Chapter 297: The Door Opened (2 in 1) Dumbledore''s promise is undoubtedly extremely reliable. Since he said Jon will certainly make it today, it will certainly not be wrong, which also let many students who were worried about Jon''s safety at this time also put down their hearts. After chatting with the students, Dumbledore''s face be iparably solemn as he began to tell them about the specific matters concerning the selection of champions for the uing Triwizard Tournament. "Year one and two students are not allowed to participate, you are all still too young to be allowed to participate in such a high-intensity tournament. For third years and above, it is up to you to volunteer, so if you wish to sign up, write your name on a slip of paper and throw it into the goblet of fire located in the middle of the banquet hall." As Dumbledore spoke, the eyes of the Hogwarts students turned in unison to therge, roughly carved wooden goblet in the middle of the banqueting hall, which held a dancing blue-white me. Now at this moment, the pureblood students who belonged to the Hogwarts castle were lining up to throw their names into the cup. Many of those children raised their heads provocatively after seeing all the students on Dumbledore''s side looking in their direction. Only George and Fred returned an ugly grimace in response to their gesture. "This cup will be the one to select the champions, it has been around for hundreds of years and has been used to select the champions from each school for every one of the Triwizard Tournaments. This time it is certainly no exception. After you have thrown your names in, it will toss out the names of those it deems fit at precisely eight o''clock tonight, and at that time a pact that cannot be broken will be established, and whoever is chosen will have to participate in the next Tournament Tasks. That is, everyone who wishes to throw his/her name into that cup must best be absolutely mentally prepared because no one has a way back from that moment on as soon as they are chosen." Dumbledore''s words sounded very serious, and after listening to him, everyone in the room became extra serious. "We need Jon!" Never before had Fred spoken with such seriousness. And after hearing his statement, no one felt unconvinced, and all nodded with unmistakable recognition. "As long as Jon is chosen, the championship will definitely be ours!" Someone said with great conviction. Dumbledore looked at them, not agreeing nor refuting, just saying calmly. "And I have never doubted Jon''s ability, but you can''t rely on him for everything, it''s a bad habit to get into. Think about it, boys, if one day you didn''t have Jon by your side to help you, would you be able to do it any better?" His words caused a sense of panic to rise in the hearts of many for no apparent reason. Every student here knew very well that without Jon, not only would there be about one-fifth fewer people sitting here now, but they wouldn''t know what kind of danger they would have to go through on the sea. "Even with the best people leading you, don''t forget that the only people who can give you the most help are actually yourselves." Even on such an asion, Dumbledore did not forget his duty as a teacher to teach his students when the students from the other three schools had already been putting their names in the Goblet of Fire one by one. The ballroom was lit up with shing lights and countless media agencies from different parts of the world took pictures as each student tossed his or her name into the cup, capturing a moment of great significance that wouldst even in the long history of the world. This selection of champions willst all day until the results are known at eight o''clock. In front of the students of Hogwarts Castle, Voldemort sat as calmly as ever in the main seat, the Ministry of Magic still belonged to him and the ballroom remained his domain until the final results had been decided. There was a constant stream of wizards trying to get close to him, and as there are many wizards and ministers who supported Dumbledore''s Witching Horizons, there are also those who support Voldemort''s pureblood supremacy theory. These people did not necessarily want Voldemort to rule their region, but they nevertheless had ideas about using his theory to gain power for themselves or the interest groups they belonged to. To these people Voldemort seemed to wee them all,ughing and joking with a group of diplomatic officials from various Ministries of Magic, without a trace of the dark lord he had once been, nor of the gruesome appearance he had had when he had walked into this Ministry, half bleeding, months before were shown. What is taking ce on this day is not just a selection ceremony for champions who would bepeting in the tournament, but also a sociable banquet. And judging by the attitudes of the various Wizarding Governments that had arrived so far, even though the Wizarding Horizons under Dumbledore had achieved extremely impressive results, the vast majority still felt that Voldemort, who held all of Britain and nominally and legally upied France, had the greater advantage. No one would think that this powerful man would make a joke out of himself, especially since Voldemort himself had proposed this Triwizard Tournament, and since he was confident that he was willing to end the war in this way, he would have something to fall back on. On Dumbledore''s side, the magical governments of Norway and Find, located in Northern Europe, were more inclined to Grindelwald than to him. It was only because of Grindelwald that they supported the Witching Horizons side, and only a small percentage of them actually supported Dumbledore from their hearts. Because after nearly a decade of silence, no one thought Dumbledore had much chance of sess, even if he now looked like he was making aeback. The dancing fires warmed the gilded halls, some faces wore smiles of amusement, some faces showed sarcasm, some faces frowned in silence, and some looked back with regret. While this ballroom of the French Ministry of Magic was so lively, thousands of miles away, under the Arctic ice, Jon was making the final preparations. He had Gabrielle hidden directly inside the petrified Nick''s body, which would prevent her from being hit by the killing curse that threatened to rain down more heavily afterwards. Jon, himself, had tied Nick behind himself, which is the only way he could resist the killing curse now. Luckily, Nick is an adult ghost who is a little taller than Jon and can cover all the corners of Jon''s back perfectly. After getting all this in ce, Jon stared at the bronze door just behind Rodolphus and took a deep breath. The next second, in a very subtle voice, he recited the incantation of the general counter-spell, allowing the effects of this magic to attach itself to his entire body, then striding forward, taking three quick steps before violently yanking off his cloak of invisibility! The two nearest Death Eaters heard the movement as soon as he started to take his steps. Before they could look at the source of the noise, a wind-like figure swept past them! Jon didn''t use the levitation charm to make himself fly, with all the enemies around him and the space above him so tight, flying into the air would have been purely a target for the enemy. He simply used the spell to lighten his weight, allowing him to move faster, and as he advanced, he squeezed the phoenix feather in his hand with unparalleled force! In an instant, Jon felt the temperature around him rise significantly, and his entire body glowed a bit, after getting past the two nearest Death Eaters, and just under five metres away from the bronze door! "Avada Kedavra!" He heard the Death Eaters who had reacted behind him recite the killing curse incantation, yet he didn''t have the slightest intention of dodging or resisting it! Three ghastly green rays of light unique to the killing curse lit up the entire space under the ice and flew straight at Jon''s back! "Bang!" A sound more like two hard objects colliding together rang out as the three killing curses, one hitting Nick''s terrified face and twonding on his round stomach! Not only had the killing spell failed to inflict effective damage on Jon, but the force from that spell had also created a thrust that increased his forward speed! And at this moment, he had already crossed most of the distance between himself and the bronze door, and Rodolphus, who was guarding the door, had finally reacted by this time! He stared at Jon''s face, his gaze brimming with fierceness and hatred, and without half a moment''s hesitation his hands moved, raising his wand without hesitation! What spell he would be using next, Jon didn''t need to guess. At such a close distance, and with no protection in front of him, as soon as Rodolphus'' spell was used, it would be almost certain that Jon would die. But even as Rodolphus was halfway through the incantation, Jon didn''t have any intention of dodging, he just plunged his body straight in front of the tip of his wand! "Avad-." "p!" A loud, precise p struck Rodolphus''s haggard, pale face! The remaining half of the incantation that had been recited could no longer be recited, and the green light that had been glowing at the tip of the wand faded into nothingness! The force was so great that Rodolphus'' entire body tilted in the opposite direction of Jon''s p. At that very moment, Jon''s hand, which was holding the wand, began to reach forward, less than twenty centimetres away from touching the bronze door. "Avada Kedavra!" A shrill, piercing female voice suddenly rang out to the right side of his body! A much brighter green beam of light than the killing curse that the others had used lit up the instant the incantation sounded, and Jon''s mind started spinning like crazy! The golden light of Fawkes'' arrival had lit up, but there was definitely not enough time to take him away before the killing cursended on him. His reflexes though were quick enough to deflect his body at the same time the incantation of the curse that was now shooting out of Be''s wand, but there was definitely not enough time for him to dodge the spell in this way. Using the levitation charm now would allow him to rise quickly into the air, but if he had mastered the art of silent casting for this spell that would have been fine, but if he had to cast it now normally, there simply wouldn''t be enough time! The situation seemed to have put Jon at aplete dead end, but then a quick thought urred to him! If he didn''t have enough time to cast the spell, then he would cancel it! With a single thought, the levitation charm that had been attached to him, helping him to reduce the force of gravity, was instantly cancelled! The next moment, with the return of normal gravity, Jon''s entire body plummeted downwards, directly falling half a body length away from the original! The spell that should have hit him at the waist only hit Nick''s protruding belly, which he was carrying on his back! The force from the curse sent Jon''s body flying and his hand reaching for the door deflected, but his whole body mmed into the door with a dull thud. But the door did not move at all, not even remotely about to open for Jon. This caused a wave of disappointment to well up in Jon''s heart, but his disappointment did notst long, and the next moment he fell from the door to the ground, he stood up from the ground with his hands braced on the ancient bronze door. The countless sounds of the killing curse being chanted rang out again, Jon didn''t turn around, Nick faced the enemy, and he heard the pleasant clear chirp of Fawkes'' arrival. If you can''t open it, you can''t open it, he had gained enough from this trip anyway. As the thought rose in his mind, the tips of the Death Eaters'' wands lit up with a green glow as thick as rain, and Fawkes'' ws were about to touch his shoulders. The bronze door, which had been as dead as a stone, opened with a bang! Jon, who was facing it and had his full weight on the door, stumbled and fell straight through it along with Nick and Gabrielle! Fawkes instantly became anxious as he waved his wings and tried to fly into the door with Jon, however, the next second Jon stumbled inside, and the bronze door abruptly mmed back shut, directly sending Fawkes, who was already halfway through his flight, flying out! There was a crackling sound, and all the killing curses that had been flying together towards Jonnded on that door, and in the end not even the slightest bit of debris was knocked off. All the Death Eaters who saw this scene were dumbfounded. Including Rodolphus, together they all turned their attention to Be. "I thought you said that no one could enter this door but our lord!" Hearing his question, Be''s face turned bloodless and pale, her gaze filled with shock and disbelief. She didn''t answer Rodolphus'' question, but walked quickly to the bronze door and kept tapping on it, but the ancient bronze door didn''t have the slightest intention of opening to her. "Impossible! It can''t be! Lord had said no one could open this door, it belonged to that man and no one is qualified to push it open except the descendants of that man!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 298: The Old Man in the Portrait (2 in 1) Chapter 298: The Old Man in the Portrait (2 in 1) The Death Eaters were confused, and Jon was just as confused as everyone else at this point. He stumbled on his feet and almost fell straight to the ground, taking several steps forward before he could barely stand still. And by the time he was on his feet, the bronze door that now stood behind him mmed shut! The dull thud of the door mming shut woke up Jon, who was still in a daze. Gabrielle also heard that sound and poked her head out of Nick''s horrified face with a confused look on her face. "We. Got inside the door?" Jon didn''t answer her question immediately, because, at this very moment, he was observing his surroundings carefully. It was a different ce from the cold environment outside the door, surrounded by solid walls built up instead of permafrost that didn''t melt in a million years. The space behind the door wasn''t small, but it wasn''t very wide either, but it was obviously more like a foyer of sorts, and there was a pathway winding forward directly in front of Jon, leading to the deepest part. Jon looked around and noticed two ancient candbras set on the walls on either side of the door. The candbra were designed in a sort of serpentine shape, with the serpent''s tail embedded in the wall, while the serpent''s tongue that spat out of its mouth was lit with an eerie blue me. The me seemed eternal, and it had been burning all the time before Jon entered. By the appearance of the me alone, Jon could recognise what this cluster of me is. Gubraithian Fire, an eternal me of brightness that could burn forever and required a very high level of magic to produce. But as precious as this fire was, it was not so precious that Jon''s attention was drawn to it. He gazed intently at the candbra located to the right of the bronze door, with a thoughtful face as if he was remembering something, and looked at Gabrielle with some uncertainty and asked. "Do you remember; when we were outside the door earlier, the ce where we found that gem at that time seemed to be in the position of this candbra, right?" Hearing Jon''s words, Gabrielle recalled it for a moment with an uncertain look on her face, then the little girl nodded firmly. "Yes! I remember that gem was pretty, it was on our left-hand side when we were outside the door, and now that we''re in, it''s on our right!" Gabrielle''s words of certainty gave Jon even more confidence, and with a fist pump, he went over to the candbra on his right and proceeded to first try to see if he could pull it right out of the wall. After a failed attempt, Jon raised his wand again and used a severing charm on the spot where the candbra was embedded. The wall behind the door was not as invulnerable as the door itself, and with a severing charm, the stone wall with the candbra embedded in it revealed a thick spider web of cracks. Then, with two hands sped around the serpentine candbra, Jon pulled it out of the stone wall with a sudden push that might have rendered this candbra worthy of a relic of the magical world broken! The serpent''s tongue jumped vigorously for a few moments before stabilizing in Jon''s hands again. And Jon''s eyes, which were already burning with excitement, did not look at the candbra, which would have fetched thousands of gold galleons in any magical region outside, but fixed on the end of the serpentine candbra! There was an inconspicuous blue diamond-shaped gem reflecting an eerie blue fire! The gem was pulled out by Jon! Now he finally understood why whoever had been outside the door had not been able to remove the gem, which appeared to be embedded in the ice. It was simply an illusion! The raw material that had been used by Adrien to create the ring''s gem was part of the serpent''s tail of the candbra that had somehow found its way outside the door in that part of the ice where he had been able to perfect the gem on the spot, but there was no way to get it from outside. Because the gem was something that existed inside the door, and the only way to get it into his hands is after entering the bronze door! Jon looked at the serpentine candbra with excitement, and soon his eyes turned to the identical candbra, located to the left of the bronze door. It was hard to say what came to his mind after that, but he didn''t want to travel here in vain; if the serpent''s tail of this candbra could be made into a ring''s gem by Adrien, then the other candbra must be extraordinary as well. He proceeded to do the same with the candbra on the left, and smoothly took this one off the wall as well. As it turned out, Jon was right: at the end of the candbra there was a round, grey, ss-like bead, which might have been the raw material that Adrien had found in thebyrinth under the ice and made it into a ring''s gem, only this one had not been buried as deep as the one on the right and had not been discovered by Adrien, who hade here earlier. Jon who had just gained a lot as soon as he entered the door was in a very happy mood, but soon when he tried to put his hand on the bronze door again and try to open it from the inside, the door did not even budge, as if the sudden opening to let him in was just an illusion on Jon''s part. This made him a little worried about Fawkes'' safety, with so many Death Eaters out there, even if the Phoenix is immortal, it would still be possible to detain it here by using a killing curse on it at the beginning of its constant nirvana rebirth process in such an alternative style. But after Jon leaned over where he had taken out the candbra with the ring''s gem and tried to find the small hole where he could see outside the door and couldn''t find it, he had to put that part of his worry aside for now. The stone wall seemed to have a self-healing function, before the candbra was embedded in it to link the inside of the door with the outside, now that Jon had taken the candbra, the part that had been hollowed out was slowly recovering, and soon he couldn''t even see the small crater he had just shattered with the severing charm. There was no way back, so Jon just tried to remove the Gubraithian Fire from the two serpentine candbra and then tried to put them into the pocket that was enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm, but although there was enough room inside the pocket, the opening was too small for Jon to fit it in. He could only hold the candbra in his arms for now and set his eyes on the winding path in front of them. "Come on, let''s go in and have a look." Jon whispered to Gabrielle, then pulled out the invisibility cloak again and draped it over them. Gabrielle also obediently huddled by Jon''s side and listened to Jon''smand without saying a word. Behind the doory an unknown space, no one knew exactly what it held except Voldemort himself who had visited this ce. It didn''t take long for them to move forward, Jon''s movements were careful, and his footsteps were not veryrge, but after only four or five minutes they came to an open space. It was a bedroom-like room, and after Jon and Gabrielle, cloaked in invisibility had entered the room through the passage, a cluster of orange mes suddenly burst into life on the ceiling, illuminating the entirety of the room. The sudden fire startled Jon and caused Gabrielle, who had been holding Jon''s arm, to shiver nervously all over. But as the fire lit up, they also got a thorough look at the room that looked like a bedroom. It wasn''t very spacious, just a little more than the area that had barely qualified as a foyer when they had first entered, and not nearly as spacious as the area outside the door where the Death Eaters were stationed. But not only did it not feel cold, it felt like they were in a warm room with a zing firece. On the left side of the room, there was arge bed, which must have been made of stone, and the bedding itself had not changed a bit, it looked like the bedding that had beenid on it had been worn away by time and turned into a grey colour. Right beneath the mes that lit up in the ceiling, there was a table, also made of stone, with a teapot-like utensil on it, on which some sheepskin-like object had been ced, but which was now in shreds and scattered on the table. Other than that, there was a whole row of bookshelves leaning against the wall facing the pathway, all apparently made of wood and now rotting beyond recognition,rge sections of them copsing to the floor, with only a small portion standing supported on the ground. Jon''s eyes scanned the copsed wooden bookshelves, drifting to the far left of the shelves, and then met a pair of eyes. It was not a real person, but a portrait. An old man with a bony and thin figure and the face of a monkey. He had a thick goatee hanging down from his chin in front of himself, and his eyes, cloudy as they were, just met Jon''s without blinking. As he met those eyes, Jon''s entire body froze. He looked at the portrait through the cloak of invisibility without moving a muscle, quite sure that the gaze of the old man in that portrait could prate the cloak of invisibility and see him. Jon took a deep breath and tried to say a greeting. "How do you do, sir?" At the sound of Jon''s voice, Gabrielle noticed the portrait of the old man with a startled look, her eyes widened, and she sprawled over Jon''s body like a ko sensing danger. The old man in the portrait had a calm gaze, as if he had no intention of answering Jon''s greeting, though his cloudy eyes moved down to the two serpentine candbra that Jon cradled in his arms. Jon obviously noticed where his gaze was directed and, like a thief caught red-handed stealing in the middle of the night, he hastily shoved both candbra into Gabrielle''s hands so that she could hide behind him and not make the atmosphere seem so odd. The old man also looked like he wasn''t about to delve into the fact that the young man nowadays even stole the candbras, and instead reverted his gaze to Jon''s face with an elderly expression. "Hiss, hiss, hiss." An unpleasant, shrill, snake-like tone that Jon couldn''t even understand spat out of the old man''s mouth. Looking at Jon as he just stared at him with wide eyes, instead of being disappointed, the old man looked as if some sort of doubt had risen. "You''re not part of my bloodline?" Jon had taken the cloak of invisibility off his body by now and had some startling suspicions in his mind, but still blinked outwardly in an act of some uncertainty. "What is your name, Sir?" The old man held his hand out as he introduced himself with narrowed eyes. "Szar Slytherin." Although he had expected to hear this name, he couldn''t help reveal his shock upon actually hearing it. He looked at the old man in the magical portrait and struggled to retrieve the knowledge of the history of magic in his mind. After the four founders of Hogwarts had once founded the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the four people who were originally close to each other had a violent disagreement over the criteria for recruiting students. Even though Gryffindor eventually contributed his hat offering to select the students they wanted ording to each founder''s own needs, Slytherin, who had an overwhelming belief in the bloodline, was still not satisfied with the result. He even turned against his former best friend Gryffindor for this, and shed with the two witches, Hufflepuff and Ravenw, eventually choosing to build a chamber in Hogwarts Castle and hide a basilisk inside, so that when his sessor discovered it he could unleash the basilisk and kill those students who studied in the castle but could not meet his own requirements. So, he came here sometime afterwards? Did he build thisbyrinth under the ice? And that one basilisk too, had it been kept by him earlier? Many questions rose in Jon''s mind in a row, but his gaze, as he looked at the elderly Slytherin''s face, did not stray. As he was looking at the Slytherin, Slytherin also continued to scrutinize him. "You''re not pureblood either?" "Not from my bloodline and not a pureblood, yet you managed to get in here." He examined it, before suddenly uttering a snicker. "ording to that fool Godric, that means you perfectly fit the qualities I require in a student, have my approval, one who is ''proud, cautious, clever, determined and ambitious''?" At the very end of his sentence, a loud ''bang'' suddenly sounded in the bedroom. The two candbras that weighed quite light were hard enough for Gabrielle to carry, and while Jon and the Slytherin were talking, she identally dropped one of them on the floor. Both Jon and Slytherin redirected their attention to the candbra that wasn''t supposed to be there andbined with what Slytherin had just said, the atmosphere once again fell into an eerie silence. Gabrielle, obviously aware that this slip of the fingers was a little too untimely, and looked like she was about to burst into tears, hastily hauled and grabbed the candbra that had fallen to the floor with her before re-hiding behind Jon. As if the theft of the candbra had never happened. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 299: The Witch Hunt Launched by Wizards (2 in 1) Chapter 299: The Witch Hunt Launched by Wizards (2 in 1) Jon''s skin was proving to be getting thicker. Once he had shown some shame in Grindelwald''s headmaster''s office when he had proposed the "win-win" n to Grindelwald and Dumbledore. But now that he had stolen something from someone else''s house and had beenplimented on it by the owner, whether it was sincere or sarcastic, he was able to clear his throat as if nothing had happened. "Well, Mr Slytherin, so does the fact that I cane through this door represent some special implication?" Slytherin''s face was calm, to the point where Jon felt it was actually an unidentified indifference. The co-founder of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry spoke with an expressionless face. "It only proves that that fool Godric was wrong about what he thought I was saying, and that the selection of characteristics that he thought I wanted for my students was not at all what I wanted." Hearing these words from the Slytherin, Jon''s heart sank slightly. This portrait old man''s words were clearly not kind, and as for the reason for the unkindness, Jon could actually figure it out quite inly. A man who had once fallen out with even his best friend over the issue of bloodline and left the wizarding school he had founded with his own hands without a word all alone; Szar Slytherin is a person who absolutely loathes Muggle students. Even if he could have pushed through the bronze door and walked up to him with the character traits that were supposedly necessary for a Slytherin, he would not have been able to gain his approval. Jon had been prepared for this, but he had thought that the old man would give him at least a bit of recognition for the fact that he could open the door and walk in, but as it turned out, he was just a portrait, and if he were a real person, he might have done something to Jon. But even though he had sensed the Slytherin''s rejection and hostility, Jon had no intention of ending the conversation like that. And since there was no longer any possibility of the two sides getting along amicably, he was even less mentally burdened about stealing the candbra. "So the person you really approve of is one of your descendants who came here a decade or so ago and possesses your own bloodline?" Jon shrugged, asking the question unabashedly, and in a tone of uncertainty that feigned doubt. "But ording to rumours, which I''ve heard that I don''t know if they''re true or not, that descendant of yours doesn''t seem to be Pureblood either? Has he ever told you that his real family name is Riddle?" Slytherin, who had shown his disgust for Jon didn''t look like he was going to keep his mouth shut. After all, as a portrait kept in a room that equated to a sealed cell, he probably had very little interaction with people, and even if he didn''t like him much, Jon was at least someone who could possibly talk. "That was his mother''s fault for being immature and had nothing to do with him personally. I never considered that a noble bloodline could be diluted by something like that, nor do I actually think that someone with the so-called pureblood wizard bloodline would really be much better than someone without such a bloodline." Slytherin didn''t seem angered by Jon''s words, nor did he seem half upset or feel provoked, instead his words were tinged with a faint sneer, that felt like a taunt to Jon''s ignorance. "The reason I have been so adamant that only pureblood children are qualified to learn magic does not stem from my recognition that those with purebloods will be better, but that only children born to wizards are worthy of the trust of wizards as a group, and as for muggle-borns. Heh, history has proven that even after learning noble magic, this part of the poption will never be able to escape their own inferior roots asmoners." The disdain in his words was obvious, and it wasn''t as if he was exining anything by saying this to Jon, but simply answering the rhetorical question Jon had just asked regarding the impurity of Voldemort''s blood. Jon frowned, not that he was angry at the Slytherin''s disdain. Even if he was petty, he wasn''t so petty that he would fight a portrait, it was just that he had heard something odd in the Slytherin''s words. Jon asked in a calm, sincere and studious tone of voice. "What do you mean by the inferior roots as amoner?" "The inferior roots as amoner?" Slytherin looked at Jon with a slightly condescending smile on his face, "If you are muggle-born, you should know this better than anyone else by now? What are these children who were born from ignorant,moner families with the qualifications to learn magic going to be like even after they seed in mastering noble magic?" Jon''s frown deepened, he felt as if he was a little out of touch with the Slytherin''s train of thought. "Would it be any different when these people learn magic than when someone from a wizarding family learns magic?" "Children born and raised in wizarding families will always recognise themselves as wizards." Slytherin said coldly, "But not the muggle-born ones, even if you learn magic, you will rarely see yourselves as wizards of the same kind, you prefer to use the noble magic as a means to return to the world of the ordinary people to gain noble status and wealth for yourselves, even to the point of killing those like yourselves by the order of your ruler like a domesticated magical creature." "A fool like Godric has never thought about this, he and the two women have always thought that if the school of witchcraft was established and these children were given a good enough education, they could avoid the birth of Obscurial and make magic flourish. But they never saw the real reason for the so-called Obscurial." "Children who possess the gift suffer persecution and suppress their magic, causing extremely negative emotions to eat away the noble power that belongs to them, turning them into horrible monsters. The root of the problem was never the fact that these children did not have the means to control the power they possessed, even without guidance, as long as they did not suffer oppression, they could have always grown up healthy and turned into ordinary people with some special abilities." "The fundamental reason for the emergence of the Obscurial is simply because of the oppression of those ignorant fools, but how can a group of mortals who can only wield iron swords and shields be capable of persecuting a group of wizards who have wands and can use magical powers, and those children who are already tentatively capable of using magical powers?" Slytherin stared into Jon''s eyes, the mockery in those cloudy pupils already overflowing. "Aren''t you one of the muggle-born who is still learning magic?" Jon had never listened so attentively to a portrait speaking as he had done at this moment, even if the portrait intended to dismiss him and the group of people whom he represented. "The inferior roots of the muggle-born have never allowed them to see themselves as part of the wizards, and before Hogwarts was founded, the vast majority of those muggle-borns who met a good wizard and learned the true magic to control their own magic ended up defecting to what they called kings and the Order." "There was never even a tradition of wizards believing in religion, how could we, as wizards with extraordinary powers believe in some unknown God? These were the customs of the muggle-borns; some of whom became court mages (Jon looked at the Nick he carried behind his back as he said this) and some of them became devotees of the Church and swung their wands at us. To gain greater authority and wealth, and to suppress the wizards who might threaten their current position in the background if they achieved high power, the muggle-borns instigated the foolish ordinary people, prompting and aiding them in the so-called ''witch-hunt''." Jon''s face was filled with disbelief as he stared at the Slytherin in the portrait, hearing the truth about the medieval witch hunts for the first time from a wizard of that era! "Foolish mortals had no possibility whatsoever of dealing with wizards in a direct fight, and the mes they supposedly used to burn witches to death were a mere existence that could not even be described as a joke to a true wizard. But why have so many wizards died in suchrge numbers over such a long period of time in a turmoil that should never have happened in the first ce? It was you, the Muggle-borns, who mastered the magic that belonged to wizards, and then turned that power against the wizards themselves. The root of everything in that dark age all stems from your greed." "The very reason Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was originally founded was to eradicate such chaos, but Godric and the rest of those fools kept insisting that if young, magically gifted muggles were brought to this school for education very early, things would change." "There is simply no more foolish idea than that, even though they have extended the school year at Hogwarts to seven years and made all the students board and stay in school only except for holidays, the students who have not enrolled until they were already eleven years old have long been sobered and attempted to understand the foul world where they used to live before they came to Hogwarts. " "Godric and the others tried to emotionally assimte all those muggle-borns with the camaraderie between peers, naively believing that if all the different bloodlines lived together in one school for seven years, then when they graduated they would regard themselves as wizards and identify themselves for what they truly are. Oh, I''ve never been able to ept such a ridiculous fantasy of theirs." "The inferior roots of the muggle-borns will never ever change, and while life in Hogwarts'' castle may possibly be effective for a small group of people, the vast majority will still return to the world they belong to once they graduate and are no longer bound to it, continuing to be guests of the King and loyal followers of the Church for the sake of authority and thenunching witch hunts." "I can''t watch muggle-born students like you study every day in that castle, the more exceptional and gifted they are, the more harm they will do in the future, and with every spell they learn, I can see a future wizard falling under that spell. But there was nothing I could do to stop either of the three who built Hogwarts with me, so I chose to leave, even if there was no way to make a difference to that school, I would not let the knowledge I acquired fall into the hands of people like them." Jon listened to what Slytherin had to say and remained silent. His discrimination against the muggle-borns was fundamentally different from those led by Voldemort; it was not for his own benefit, and if all that Slytherin had said was true, then he was in fact on the side of justice. His assumptions were proved to be true, and although the circumstances and environment for wizards were greatly improved after the establishment of Hogwarts, the witch hunt was not discontinued at all. Only after the ''Statute of Secrecy'' had been implemented throughout the world, which hadpletely cut off the normal world''s ess to wizards and magic, did the survival of wizards truly improve. The two poptions became parallel worlds that did not intersect, and the memories of all Muggles who knew that magic existed were erased, except for the Muggle Lords at that time and Muggle families with wizards. The implementation of the Statute of Secrecy haspletely changed a situation that was once incredibly difficult for wizards, and because of this magical governments around the world will do everything they can to keep thisw stable, and the moment someone like Grindelwald tries topletely subvert this protection, they will be antagonised by everyone. Voldemort, who was more brutal inparison, didn''t encounter as much resistance because he never publicly expressed his intention to abolish or his discontent with the Statute of Secrecy, which gave other magical governments reason to be ambiguous. But today was the first time Jon had heard the true story of the witch-hunting movement, which had never been written about in the history of magic, apart from when he had been lurking in Hogwarts Castle, looking through the history of the Mudbloods, there was a lot of information about ancient muggle wizards joining forces with muggles to brutally kill pure and half-bloods. But Jon had always thought that Voldemort had made all that stuff up, but to his surprise, it seemed to be true! There was no reason for Slytherin to lie to Jon, and it was the only exnation that could exin why wizards, who had mastered such powerful magic at that time, had been persecuted and turned into rats in the witch hunt. Only thebination of fellow wizards with an extremelyrge number of Muggles could they have caused such a terrible suppression in the magical world. And this was entirely possible before the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was founded. At that time, there was no Statute of Secrecy, and the first thing Muggles who developed their magical talents wanted to do was to use this power to gain benefits for themselves. It all made sense and exins why most people in the Middle Ages were convinced of the existence of witches because the people who started the witch hunts were witches themselves! Even Nick, who is now on Jon''s back, is the best proof of this; Nick was a court mage during his lifetime, a courtier in the court of King Henry VII, and this was even though he hadpleted seven years of studies in the school at the end of the fifteenth century when Hogwarts had been established for hundreds of years. Slytherin''s had some justification for his aversion to the muggle-born wizards, and even the exclusion of those of non-wizarding ancestry from the House he founded possessed a justifiable reason. But it was a perception that was limited to his era, now the situation waspletely reversed. Jon heard something odd in his words, what would Voldemort have said to Slytherin if he hade here and met his ancestor a decade or so ago? Would he have told the truth about what he was doing, and the current state of the wizarding world, all of it? ---- [Author:] The witch hunts were started by ancient muggle wizards is my hypothesis, and it makes a little more sense as to why wizards who knew all sorts of spells were persecuted in the Middle Ages when ignorance prevailed and warfare means were quite crude, and why Slytherin was so adamant about admitting only pureblood students. Anyone who has doubts or disagrees with this exnation is free toment and express it, but please don''t insult me to death. --- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 300: Statute of Secrecy That Changed the Times Chapter 300: Statute of Secrecy That Changed the Times "But the situation has changed now." Jon looked at the Slytherin and said very seriously. "Allow me to introduce myself first, Mr Slytherin, my name is Jon Green, and I am a third-year student under Professor Dumbledore at Hogwarts." "Of course, I know Dumbledore." Slytherin interrupted in a loud voice, "Tom told me, he was thest headmaster of Hogwarts, despite being a descendant of a pureblood Dumbledore family, he was extremely biased towards Muggle students and even had collusion with the Muggle state, persecuting purebloods and half-bloods even more cruelly, a treacherous viin!" Hearing his words, Jon''s mind was instantly clear. He had guessed correctly, Voldemort hadn''t been telling the truth to his ancestors at all and was doing his best to smear Dumbledore. It couldn''t be more normal. From what Slytherin had just said, Jon could tell that the old man, although not as reputable in Hogwarts history as the other three founders, he had also left behind his presence in Hogwarts castle in the form of the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk with the intention of cleansing the entire castle and ughtering the muggle students. But considering the kind of era he lived in, what he did was understandable. Moreover, even though he had built the chamber and put the basilisk in it, he did not immediately start the purge. Rather, he left a legend behind, leaving the option of opening the door to his heir, in a way to patch up the approaches of the other three founders. If in the future, as he thought, all the endeavours made to establish Hogwarts would be in vain, then there would be a pureblood student who would heed the legends he left behind, open that chamber and then do the cleansing of the muggle wizards. It is clear from his actions that although this old man is a bit radical, his heart has always been good, otherwise he would not have founded Hogwarts together with the other three founders and worked hard to save the children who were constantly suppressing their magic and thus bing Obscurial. The odds of Voldemort recognising this too were high, so he couldn''t tell all those cruel ambitions he had inside him, and even more so, he had to desperately belittle his opponents as a way to gain the goodwill of his ancestor, to achieve a goal that Jon didn''t know about yet. Jon took a deep breath and instead of immediately exining anything, he blinked and continued to look at the Slytherin and asked. "And did he tell you what his own situation is now?" Slytherin narrowed his eyes as he said faintly. "Tom told me that the witch hunt is intensifying, that the muggle-borns have joined forces with the muggles to rule the worldpletely, and that the descendants of wizards with ancient bloodlines are left tonguish. He led the wrecked purebloods and half-bloods of Hogwarts to form another Hogwarts, teaching the children magic to fight back while in exile under Dumbledore''s persecution." Jon''s face turned incredibly strange as if he had heard the funniest joke in the whole world, yet he didn''t know how tough at this pathetic lie at all. Voldemort was leading the purebloods and fighting in exile? That would be a travesty if word got out. Before Jon could say anything else, Slytherin went on. "I can guess what that Dumbledore had youe here to see me for, you know about his previous visits to see me and want help from me to help you defeat my own offspring?" His tone was full of sarcasm like he was mocking Jon''s delusions on his part. "I don''t know how you found this ce, or how those who sent you here could be sure that you would have my approval to enter this door, but I would actually like to know just what kind of lies you could make up to get me to believe you?" Jon didn''t speak up for a second, knowing full well that Slytherin was right. One is a descendant of his own bloodline and the other is a stranger who he is meeting for the first time and from a different position, especially when Voldemort came here first, there is no way anyone could easily believe thetter. Jon began to rummage through the pockets of his robes; knowing that the journey would not be a short one, he had brought with him a number of magical books that he could normally read, and among these is a book on the history of magic. To be precise, it is a ''forbidden'' book on the history of Hogwarts - Hogwarts: A History. In no time at all, he rummaged through the book, holding it up in front of the Slytherin and flipping open the title page. "I won''t say much to exin, sir, but I do have a book in my hands on the history of Hogwarts School, which records all the recorded history of the school from the founding of Hogwarts until the time the author of this book created it, including the story of you and the other three founders who built Hogwarts Castle, and also records about the Chamber of Secrets legends which you left behind. The books that record the history are the best answer and proof than anything that I can say." Jon didn''t waste time as he flipped straight to the most crucial part of that school''s history and held it up to Slytherin''s eyes. "The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy - The then newly formed British Ministry of Magic had sent a special delegation to liaise with the Muggle monarchs, William III and Mary II, in the hope that Mugglew would recognise and protect wizards, but eventually this n fell apart, thus forcing wizards to reform themselves and create their ownw designed to safeguard and conceal the wizarding society within Muggle society. It was signed in 1689, and enforced and passed in 1692. Almost every magical government in the world endorsed this Statute of Secrecy, keeping all information about wizards and magic hidden, buried and secret." "Thisw was enforced and had to be followed by all wizards regardless of their bloodline, and it was from this time onwards that the magical world waspletely cut off from the muggle world. From that point on there were no more wizards that crossed paths with the Muggle government, except when every new Muggle leader came to power, the Ministry of Magic would send someone to brief him on the existence of wizards in order to facilitatemunication and coordination between the two societies to some extent." "It was from that time onwards that almost no children with magical talent were subject to persecution, Obscurial became rare, and the witch hunts became history, as long as children with magical talent were enrolled in wizarding schools, after which even if they graduated they would remain in the magical world to earn a living, rather than return to muggle society." "So the dilemmas and problems you encountered in your era were solved three hundred years ago. I don''t think that Tom Riddle, that scion of yours, would have told you this." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 301: I will go out with you Chapter 301: I will go out with you Slytherin didn''t simply call it all bollocks and didn''t even bother to look at what Jon wanted him to see. Although he is only just a portrait now, he has the wisdom and thinking mindset of an old man who founded Hogwarts Slytherin House a thousand years ago. He would certainly be more trusting and close to Voldemort, who had his own bloodline than Jon, but that trust would certainly not be absolute. All the information he had learned about the outside world might have all been hearsay, whether it was the version he had heard from Voldemort or what Jon was telling him now holding up a history book, he was only passively epting what they wanted him to know. As it was, in his right mind, he wouldn''t believe one or the other of them absolutely. Listening to Jon''s ount and also seeing all that was written in that book, Hogwarts: A History, regarding the signing of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, the Slytherin in the portrait frowned slightly. "It''s true that hiding all information about wizards and keeping the wizarding world undercover would have cut off the witch hunt movement. But won''t anyone object to this bill? Those who have already gained the benefits won''t give up what they''ve gained so easily." Jon said with a nod. "There was opposition, but not when this bill was first established. In the seventeenth century the witch-hunting movement had reached its peak and all wizards were so disgusted with the persecution that the negotiations with the Muggle hierarchy were just an attempt at the beginning, but if it was as you say, the muggle-born wizards are the ones who united with the Muggles to start the witch-hunting movement, they must have been the ones who ruined the possibility of peace talks at that time, and that is how this bill was signed. It was signed in 1689, and it was not until 1692 that it became officially enforced, and I think it is quite possible that in the period of three years, the then Ministry of Magic swept away those court mages as well as the church wizard to finally ensure that the Statute of Secrecy could actuallye into effect." "During the period of the 1930s and 40s of this century, some wizards who were fed up with the Statute of Secrecy and believed that wizards shouldn''t live like rats in the shadow of muggles were led by a man who had initiated a war in which he wanted topletely break the Statute of Secrecy and make wizards the lords of muggles. But in the end what that man did was stopped by the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where I am now, Professor Dumbledore together with many magical governments." Jon said as he turned the page for the Slytherin, so he could see what was written about Hogwarts at the time in that history fifty years ago. Dumbledore, who had defeated Grindelwald, was still a Professor of Transfiguration at the time, and such a deed certainly would have made a strong mark in school history. And after that slices of histories in that area were recounted, it was clear to Jon that what came next would be the real kicker. "After that, the magical world entered a period of peace, but such peace did notst long. Thirty years ago, that descendant of yours, Tom Riddle, suddenly rose to prominence with his theory of pureblood supremacy, believing that the purer the bloodline, the more talented the wizard and the more power and wealth he should have. But in fact, he was only a half-blood himself, and the so-called pureblood theory was just an excuse for him to gain influence and enlist more people. But it was such ambition that led him to start another war in the magical world." "At first the war was confined to Britain, and he was not yet strong enough to overthrow the British magical regime, but after he came to thisbyrinth at the North Pole, which is where you are, he was apletely different person, more rational and stronger. Then with this change, he defeated Dumbledore, took over all of Britain and remodelled Hogwarts Castle, and it also became a Domestication Facility for muggle-born students who were not even qualified to learn magic with their wands and had to sign ve contracts and work day and night like house elves." "Now he has invaded France, and the next step is all of Europe, he wants to be the master of all wizards in the world. After a failed attempt, Professor Dumbledore went into exile and created a resistant group by setting up another Hogwarts with professors who were willing to follow him." "This is the truth, sir, once it was wrong for the muggle-borns to start a witch-hunt to gain authority, now it is right for the purebloods to put forward the theory of bloodline supremacy to gain authority?" Jon looked Slytherin in the eye. "If you think that what your scion is doing is the right thing to do, then I have nothing to say, but if he really is right, then why is he deceiving you?" Slytherin fell silent. He didn''t make another sound but looked at the book Jon was holding up, his eyes contemting as if he was trying to discern the truth in Jon''s words. Jon didn''t continue to make another sound either, he had said all he could, and all that was left to see was who Slytherin would actually believe. Voldemort was indeed someone who was very good at convincing people, it was evident from his student days at Hogwarts, except for Dumbledore who had always been wary of him, all the other professors who had taught him, including Slughorn and the Headmaster of Hogwarts at the time, had all been fooled by his show of kindness and friendliness, believing that he would be a pir of the wizarding world in the future. But even if he could make things look good, a lie would always be a lie, a lie that would not stand up to scrutiny, as long as Slytherin''s trust in Voldemort was not blind, he would surely have been able to spot the problem himself. After a long moment of silent reflection on Slytherin''s portrait part, the old man with the goatee looked back at Jon. "What Tom once described to me is indeed questionable, but what you are showing me now does not convince me either; so-called history is nothing but a muddy pond into which just anyone can throw a few pots of dirty water, not to mention that this history book you are showing me is not something I am sure is fair and urate." His answer did not surprise Jon. It would have been a strange thing if Slytherin had simply stated that he believed everything he said without saying a word. "And what do you want me to do to make you believe that everything I have said is true?" Jon asked seriously. Slytherin looked calmly at everything in this bedroom, then he said softly. "Take me out from here, let me see the magical world outside with my own eyes, and I will judge for myself who to really believe." Jon did not hesitate at this request of his and agreed decisively. "No problem, sir! I am perfectly willing to get you out of here if you wish." No matter what Voldemort had gotten out of Slytherin here in the first ce, if he was taken out of here, and saw for himself all the lies that Voldemort had told, then all the problems would be solved. And even if it is only a portrait, as the founder of Hogwarts, Slytherin is still very significant in his own right! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 302: He Must Die (2 in 1) Chapter 302: He Must Die (2 in 1) The French Ministry of Magic. As the night approached, all the students present who intended to register for the selection of champions for the uing Triwizard Tournament had already thrown their names into the goblet of fire. At seven o''clock, the banquet began. An hourter the selection would be over and at that time the names of the chosen champions would be singled out. More and more people showed up, and almost all the magical governments of the West dispatched people to witness the selection ceremony, though Dumbledore''s side was much less crowded than Voldemort''s. But neither Dumbledore nor the students of Hogwarts seemed to mind such ack of enthusiasm; as Voldemort''s home court, it would have been surprising if they hadn''t been treated as such. What really disturbed the students was that even now Jon still hadn''t shown up. Neville frowned and looked at Dumbledore, who was sitting calmly in his chair, wanting to ask something but in the end, he paused, as the number of students was already constantly asking Dumbledore to make sure Jon would be here on time tonight to throw his name into the Goblet of Fire. And Dumbledore had responded seriously with a positive answer at all times, but now there was less than an hour to go before registration closed, and the final selection was about toe out, but Jon still hadn''t shown up. This couldn''t help but worry them. Instead of asking Dumbledore again, Neville turned his head to McGonagall and asked worriedly. "Can we put the note with Jon''s name on that goblet of fire to help him sign up?" McGonagall shook her head with a serious look on her face. "That''s not allowed by the rules, Longbottom, the application for entry to the Triwizard Tournament muste from the participant''s own volition, no one can do that for anyone else." Ron snapped from the sidelines at the right time. "Is this rule of the Goblet of Fire or is it a human-made rule? If it is human-made, then we can have a person secretly throw in a note with Jon''s name on it." "Regardless of whose rule it is, this cannot be allowed, Mr Weasley." McGonagall lectured Ron sternly as she thrust her hand into the coat pocket of her robes and quietly grabbed the long-prepared note. Ron looked disappointed like he wasn''t very happy with McGonagall''s inflexibility. "Well, let''s make some early preparations then. If Jon doesn''t end up making it, then who of us will end up getting picked?" He looked over to George, Fred, Neville, Hermione, and more of the others. Every third to fifth year, except for the first and second years who weren''t allowed to sign up by Dumbledore, all of them had thrown their names in the Goblet of Fire. While every one of them was convinced that if Jon could just get here on time to throw his name in, that cup would definitely choose him, they weren''t going to let that stop them from shouldering their fair share of responsibility. If there is an ident, then no one will be daunted by it, no matter who the Goblet of Fire chooses. But no one wanted to see such an ident, and only Jon being chosen as a champion would be the most certain oue. Yet as the minutes ticked by, with less than thirty minutes to go until the end of the selection of the champion, McGonagall could no longer maintain the seriousness and calmness on her face. She took a step forward and came to Dumbledore''s side, locking eyes with the old man who was still sittingfortably still in his chair. McGonagall gripped the note hidden in her pocket tightly and looked at Dumbledore, but her mouth suddenly called out the name of a second year who hadn''t signed up. "Colin!" Colin, who was holding his chin up with an envious look at the cameras in the hands of the magical press photographers, froze, then stood up nervously to look in the direction of McGonagall and Dumbledore. Dumbledore, however, shook his head at McGonagall with a smile on his face. McGonagall''s face whitened a bit. "It''s up to us to hold on to the fruits of the victory we''ve gained now, Albus. We''ve lost a lot of men over this!" "I believe I can understand better than anyone the dedication and hardship that has brought us to this moment." Dumbledore''s voice was unmistakably serious, "So believe me, the most important thing we need to do right now is to do nothing." McGonagall stared into Dumbledore''s blue eyes for a long moment before finally gritting her teeth and turning around, returning to her seat. Colin, with a nk look on his face, stood still beside her and asked in a small voice. "Do you need me to get something done? Professor McGonagall." McGonagall took a deep breath and her voice became calm again. "Nothing, child, sorry to have disturbed you." Colin scratched his forehead in a bit of confusion. "It''s all right, Professor." *** The portrait of Slytherin was easily removed from the wall by Jon. Instead of putting the portrait straight away, he brought it with him to the bronze door at the entrance, and he held it with him in front of the door. "Sir, do you have another way out here? I was chased in by your descendants'' men, and they are probably still blocking me outside the door." There wasn''t much hesitation in Slytherin''s reply. "There is only this one entrance, to go out you can only go back the way you came, I can only help you open this door." Jon looked at the bronze door in deep thought. Regardless of Fawkes'' current state at the moment, it is certain that as soon as he walks out through this door, he is bound to face a bunch of Death Eaters surrounding him. But then again, he could only go out through this ce, and facing such a situation, Jon really didn''t have any too good ideas. He thought for a long time but could think of no other solution, and finally gritted his teeth and had to trust his defence to the almighty Nick. With the help of the general counter-spell, Jon basically did not need to worry too much about the other spells, but he could not rely on the counter-spell to nullify the killing curse. By now, Jon was a bit confused about whether Nick being petrified by the basilisk was something to be happy about or sad about. If it hadn''t been for the almighty Nick, he would have died under the killing curse who knows how many times. And at this point, it was only possible to rely on Nick''s help again. As he took Nick off his back, Jon mentally took out a five clover to umte some luck for himself in his mind, which was probably already negative and then held Nick in front of him like a huge shield. But after staring at Nick''s frozen, terrified face for a moment, Jon was a little ufortable, so he rolled Nick over so that he could only see the back of his head. Once this was done and ready, Jon told Gabrielle to hold two candbras tightly and hide behind himself, then held up the Slytherin portrait. "Alright, sir, help me open the door." Slytherin''s face looked a little strange at these ''defensive'' measures of Jon''s. What had he not seen in his life? But even with all that knowledge, he had never heard of anyone using a ghost as a shield. But Slytherin didn''t say much about it, as long as Jon got him out of there, then he didn''t care what means were used. Then the unpleasant "hiss" that had been uttered to Jon at the beginning came back to his tongue. At the password in Parseltongue heard, the bronze door opened slowly in front of Jon''s face! At the same time as the door opened with a crack, Jon heard a confusing sounding from the door. But he didn''t have the energy to focus on what kind of chaotic sound it was, he just hovered five centimetres off the ground after the doors had openedpletely with a gap big enough to pass a man, and then dashed out with Nick in his hands as fast as he could! The moment he brushed up against the two bronze doors, the sound of the killing curse incantation rang out directly in front of him! "Avada Kedavra!" A grim green glow that was all too familiar to Jon, but although it was still a killing curse, it was nowhere near what he had expected at first! At least twelve Death Eaters were blocking the door, and there were bound to be others in the vicinity, and even if some of them had been dispatched to deal with Fawkes in the meantime, there would have been no less than five blocking the door. But there were only two shots of the curse that came towards Jon! Without any surprise, both of them hit the petrified Nick with a dull thud. The next second Jon came out from behind the door, he changed his position quickly and flew towards the only passage in the direction of thebyrinth. This was also the time when he finally saw exactly what all thismotion that was going on outside was about! Pr bears! There were pr bears everywhere! Dozens of pr bears had broken into the open space deep in thebyrinth, and they were fighting the Death Eaters to the death! If they were ordinary pr bears, even hundreds of them would be no match for these Death Eaters, but these dozens are clearly different. They were incredibly athletic and sharp-witted, constantly dodging the killing curses shot from the Death Eaters'' wands, while other spells were selectively parried. The white fur-covered hide was obviously highly resistant to magic, and one or two hits from ranged magic spells like invisible sword curse and sting curse were basically like scratching an itch! Seeing these extraordinary pr bears, Jon instantly understood who was helping him. Erik! The young male wizard who ran the research institute in the Arctic for Grindelwald! Jon didn''t waste this opportunity, he flew even faster in the direction of thebyrinth, Fawkes wasn''t here anymore, but he certainly wouldn''t just abandon Jon and leave, then the biggest possibility was that he is still inside thebyrinth hiding from these Death Eaters by circling around the passage, and has not gone far away. And by this time, Jon got a good look at the one who had used the killing curse on him. Be had blood all over her face. It wasn''t hers, but that of a pr bear she had just killed with her Invisible sword curse. She raised her head, and there was a mad grin all over her face! After seeing that the first killing curse was blocked by Jon, she didn''t hesitate to use the second one! Be''s attack wasn''t blind, Jon had Nick in front of him, but by now he was near the entrance to thebyrinth and his whole backside was empty! But Jon was not unprepared, the moment he heard Be recite the incantation, his whole body suddenly rose into the air again, his hair almost touched the ceiling, and the curse just grazed the bottom of his shoe. It wasn''t just Be, Rodolphus also got rid of the two bears that were entangling him and with a cold face stepped in front of the path Jon is bound to take. Knowing full well Jon''s agility, he didn''t use a killing curse, but simply recited the transfiguration spell! The next moment, the ice beneath his feet suddenly grew and steeply turned into a huge rock, blocking Jon''s path forward. But Jon still didn''t dodge or avoid it, he just mmed straight into the boulder. Just as his body was less than twenty centimetres from the uneven surface of the stone, the general counter-spell attached to his body came into y! Rodolphus'' transfiguration spell instantly copsed! The huge block of stone reverted back to an ordinary block of ice on the ground, and Jon had already flown to Rodolphus'' side by this time, without the time to cast the spell, with no hesitation, he kicked the Death Eater directly in the stomach! Jon''s own strength was not really that great, but the inertia of his flying speed increased the force of his kick. Rodolphus took his second direct hit and his face turned bloodless as he flew through the air and then his back hit the ice hard! Afterpleting the kick, Jon dashed into thebyrinth without looking back as he casually fired back a killing curse in that direction. His shot of the killing curse was less calcted and simply hit the wall of ice where Rodolphus had been smashed, while the man himself had fallen back to the ground. Be wed her husband off the ground as she went beside him, her voice unmistakably shrill and manic at the same time. "He has to be killed! Our Lord said no one could enter that door, and since he did, he must die!" Rodolphus coughed heavily, then pped down Be''s hand, but did not disobey hermand, and joined her in chasing after Jon in the direction he had left by taking out his flying broom. Yes, Jon had to die today. It was not only because Jon had entered that door, but also because his lord had given him a death sentence! By killing the boy, it would guarantee many arrangements of Voldemort''s, be it here in the Arctic or France, or in Britain. So Rodolphus knew very well that Voldemort was giving him only one choice. Either the boy would die today or he would die! Jon certainly didn''t know exactly how determined Rodolphus and Be were to kill him, but he understood better than anyone how dangerous the situation is right now. Thisbyrinth was filled with Death Eaters and the only thing that could get him out of here today was one creature! "Fawkes!!!" Jon''s shout, using an Amplifying Charm, echoed through the coldbyrinth. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 303: Life and death struggle (2 in 1) Chapter 303: Life and death struggle (2 in 1) The passages in thebyrinth under the ice had never been all that spacious. Previously, even when Jon and Gabrielle were draped in the cloak of invisibility, both had to watch out for encountering searching Death Eaters in this area to prevent being spotted by them; and now that it had be Jon''s turn to run for his life, it had ced even more restrictions on him. His voice calling out for Fawkes echoed through thebyrinth, but the crimson fire, and the phoenix''s song that usually came with its own BGM when he appeared, never emerged. Jon didn''t dare to run recklessly through thebyrinth, ording to his belief Fawkes shouldn''t be far from his location even if he wasn''t near him. If he ran far away and caused Fawkes to be unable to find him altogether, that would be a real problem. And somehow, Be and Rodolphus, who had been chasing behind Jon on their flying brooms, were now left alone with Rodolphus only. Not only did Jon not let his guard down, but he also put his guard up! As his body turned sideways in mid-air, dodging the spell that shot out from the tip of Rodolphus'' wand, Jon suddenly stopped his original movement of constantly flying forward. At the same time, Rodolphus appeared behind Jon, stopping his flying broom and holding up his wand in his hand as he looked at Jon with cold eyes. And Be, who had somehow disappeared behind Jon, was blocking the path that Jon must have taken to get ahead! She took a gamble on Jon''s choice at a fork in the path midway, taking an advance shortcut to get in front of Jon to engage in a back-and-forth encirclement with Rodolphus. For once, luck was on her side in this case, and she caught Jon right in the middle of the path! Jon''s face was stony, and instead of hovering in mid-air, he slowly descended to the ground by essing the levitation charm on his body. Both Be and Rodolphus also abandoned the flying broom beneath them and the couple, one in front and one behind raised their wands and aimed at Jon. Three breaths belonging to different individuals resounded in this narrowbyrinth under the ice. This brief silence was not because both sides had some harsh words to say; at this point in the chase, they had long since reached a point of no return, and there was no need for any more nonsense. But even though they had the advantage in numbers, and were still encircled him from front to back, Be and Rodolphus were not only not rxed, they were even more on edge. At this point, neither of them considered Jon as an ordinary third-year student who had not yet graduated from school. No third year had ever achieved such a feat since the ancient era, and even with Be''s near-crazy admiration for Voldemort, she was not certain that her lord could have achieved such a feat as Jon did today when he was this young. If all the Hogwarts third-year students under Dumbledore performed like Jon, there would be no need for them to fight this war. But caution being cautious, the first incantation finally rang out first from Be, who was blocking Jon''s front, in this hair-raising atmosphere! "Confringo!" A sharp and frantic voice echoed through thebyrinth. The first spell Be fired was actually not the simplest and most straightforward killing curse, which made Jon feel a little surprised. But he still didn''t take it lightly, even though the general counter-spell maintained all over him was able to cancel out the vast majority of the sting curse''s power, the effect the spell had on his surroundings was something Jon couldn''t cancel! The walls and ceilings made of ice began to shake with the violent st, and the sharp pieces of ice shattered and sshed out in all directions. Jon maintained his shield charm which protected him from some of the physical attacks, but some of therger ice shards still required him to actively dodge. And it was in this gap in his dodging, immediately after the sound of Be''s sting curse spell fell, that Rodolphus'' killing curse sounded behind Jon! "Avada Kedavra!" A deadly light instantly filled the tunnel as the couple, though seemingly at odds with each other, maintained a full offensive understanding. In terms of mastery of the spell, Rodolphus was definitely inferior to Be, but the reason why Be was assisting him this time to create a real attack chance was that at the moment Jon still had the petrified Nick in front of him, and no matter whose spell was shot from in front of him, it would have no effect. Only Rodolphus, who was behind Jon, was in the best position to be the main attacker! Jon had seen the signs of their n of attack as soon as Be had started to use the sting curse. While he was dodging the shattered pieces of ice that were blown to pieces, the hand that was holding his wand didn''t stop for a moment to point at a piece of shattered ice underneath him. The next moment, the transfiguration spell came into y, and the piece of broken ice he had pointed his wand at began to expand wildly in an instant, forming a wall of ice behind Jon with great speed! Rodolphus'' curse hit the wall of ice that Jon had created with no surprise! There was a loud shattering sound and the wall of ice, which was only meant to block the curse and wasn''t really that hard, copsed! The flurry of attacks appeared to be defused by Jon, but without realising it, the distance between Be, Rodolphus and him closed by three or four metres. Both sides went into an eerie silence again. Jon calmed his breathing and quietly touched Gabrielle''s worried little head, hiding between him and Nick, with his wand, while his other hand dug into his pocket and quietly pulled out a bandage. And as he did so, separated by a Jon, Be and Rodolphus looked at each other from time to time. Then they raised their wands in their hands, neither of them made the first move here yet, and together they simply took another step forward! They were much closer to Jon. So close that they only needed to take five morerge steps forward to the point where they would be face-to-face with Jon. At such a distance, it would make it more difficult to dodge the spell and add some uncertainty and danger. But even with all the uncertain risks, the Lestrange couple were willing to risk it all if they could kill Jon and keep him here forever! Jon leaned his back against the ice wall, his eyes not bothering to look at either of them, only slowly wrapping the bandage around his left hand. Such a move on his part didn''t attract too much attention from both Be and Rodolphus, who assumed that Jon had a wound on that palm and had only squeezed some time out to fix it by now. And it was during this opening while Jon was wrapping the bandage that the two of them took another step forward. At this point, they were as close as they could get to Jon, and if they continued any further, it would not be a spell-casting distance, but a straightforward and direct close-quarters fight. Precisely when Jon finally strapped the final section of bandage to his hand, Be waved her wand! "Avada Kedavra!" "Avada Kedavra!" Rodolphus'' voice recited the incantation almost at the same time as hers, only there was apse in timing by less than a second! It was precisely this second of misalignment that caused the direction of their curses to deviate a bit, one aiming a little further back than Jon''s chest, the other aiming a little further forward at his stomach. But at such a close distance, it was basically virtually impossible for him to react so quickly and pull away enough to avoid the two killing curses. Even if he were to turn around and use the petrified ghost to defend himself, he would at best only be able to parry one side''s attack, while the other side''s killing curse would be a sure hit! Faced with such a near-desperate situation, Jon did not have any time to think. At such a distance, he turned to Be''s side and used Nick to block the curse from that direction, then, instead of reciting a spell, he suddenly swung his wand at the ground! Numerous pieces of broken ice floated up from the ground and blocked behind Jon. The killing curse shot by Rodolphus was blocked by the resistance of three or four consecutive pieces of broken ice, and the magic power attached to the curse waspletely exhausted. And not to mention this side of Be, Nick was as reliable as ever. Seeing this near-deadly attack defused by Jon once again, Rodolphus'' bloodshot eyes were filled with malice and viciousness! Including that time on the sea surface, he had already dealt with Jon more than once. This evil student under Dumbledore was always like this every time, always using those odd magical tricks he had mastered brilliantly, solving one desperate situation after another and causing constant trouble for him and his lord. This time in such a situation, Rodolphus did not believe, nor did he think there would be any chance of escape for Jon. By whatever means, Jon had to die here today! Jon fended off a second wave of attacks from the Lestrange couple, while he began to counterattack. While holding up Nick to face Be, he waved the wand in his hand and recited the unforgivable incantation! "Avada Kedavra!" Be''s immensebat experience had given her mind a warning the moment she saw Jon''s apathetic gaze fixed on her. The moment the green glow from the tip of Jon''s wand shed, her entire body rolled to the ground, not only dodging Jon''s killing curse but also clutching a dagger from her sleeve and stabbing it down hard towards Jon''s calf! As Be made her most direct attack, Rodolphus also abandoned spell casting and incantations altogether, instantly transforming an ice block into a knight''s sword with his transfiguration and striding forward, shing down towards Jon''s head! "Go to hell!" Rodolphus'' seething roar rang out as the sword fell from his hand! Jon didn''t bother with Be beneath him, but snapped his head down and side-stepped Rodolphus'' attack. But Be also didn''t get what she wanted, Gabrielle, although she had been shaking in fear under Jon''s protection all this time, she stepped forward with unparalleled bravery at such a critical moment, raising the small schoolbag she had been carrying to help Jon block Be''s dagger! "You fucking little bitch!!!" The dagger stuck in Gabrielle''s schoolbag and Be''s furious and shrill curses sent a shiver down Gabrielle''s spine, but even though her eyes were welling up with tears from fear, she still held on to her little schoolbag without a moment''s intention of letting go. And just as Be''s words fell, a pale, thin palm suddenly clutched her dark, wavy hair, and then grabbed her head hard! Jon''s face was also full of ruthlessness, the battle hade to a point where all three of them had abandoned all means of wizardry in favour of the most primitive form of closebat. The situation was very unfavourable for Jon, even if he was talented in magic, his real age is only fifteen. In normal times, that would be before high school, the age of a junior high school student, and in no way could he be as strong as Be and Rodolphus, two adults! The excruciating pain of her hair being pulled fuelled Be to scream out, her hands not half stopping as she kept pulling that dagger out of Gabrielle''s beloved school bag and then stabbing it back down again! Gabrielle''s face was pale as she held on to Be''s de with bag, the book bag that Jon had given her when he had first seen her before had be a pile of rotten pieces of cloth and the wizard''s book with Merlin''s pictures in it and the Tales of Beedle the Bard had all been cut to shreds. By the end, Gabrielle had nothing left to hold Be back. She reached out helplessly, subconsciously trying to block the madwoman''s de with her own body, forgetting that at this point she was only a special ghost, able to touch physical objects of her own volition, but unable to resist them. The de with its shing cold edge simply passed through Gabrielle''s illusory body and the next moment lodged itself heavily into Jon''s calf! "Poof!" With the sound of a sharp weapon entering his body, scarlet warm liquid burst out of Jon''s calf! The blood likewise went through the already-frozen Gabrielle andnded on Be''s face. A shrillugh escaped her as Jon grabbed her by the hair, yet not before she had pulled the dagger out and continued to inflict more damage on Jon. Jon''s other intact leg bent violently at the knee and crushed her neck! With such a heavy blow, Be''s hair was pulled back by Jon, and she was unable to breathe, and struggled violently under Jon''s knee! At the same time, Rodolphus didn''t stop attacking, he continued to sh at Jon with his knight''s sword raised high in his hand! Instead of moving the leg, he had kneed Be with, Jon simply twisted his upper body to avoid the danger and swung his left fist at Rodolphus! But his counter-attack looked so feeble that his bandaged fist couldn''t reach Rodolphus, who was wielding a knight''s sword. And because of this, Rodolphus had no intention of dodging the punch, in his eyes, Jon had lost his judgement andposure at this point in time, and was only resisting in vain! However, just as the knight''s sword he held in his hand was about to pierce Jon''s abdomen, the bandage that had been wrapped around Jon''s left fist instantly changed after the transfiguration spell attached to it cancelled! The white bandage turned into a long, narrow, venomous fang! And the gap that had been left between the fist and Rodolphus'' neck was bridged by the length of this one venomous fang! "Poof!" Another sound of flesh and blood being impaled rang out. And this time it was Rodolphus'' fragile throat that was pierced! At the same time, a mellifluous song came faintly, and a fiery red light was speeding towards Jon''s direction from not far away! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 304: Venomous Fang Chapter 304: Venomous Fang Warm blood sshed across Jon''s face. Rodolphus stared at Jon with an incredulous gaze! He could no longer maintain the transfigured knight''s sword in his hand, and just as the sword de was about to fall feebly on Jon''s body, it turned back into the ice block it had been before the transfiguration was cast upon it and smashed to the ground. Jon gasped sharply, not thrilled by Rodolphus'' death, not even taking the time to pull the venomous fang of the basilisk from his throat! Because Be, who was pinned under his knees, had screamed and struggled to get up. No matter how hard Jon tried to pin her neck back under his knees, enduring the paining from his legs and trying to get the dagger in Be''s hand, he was unsessful! Gabrielle spotted Jon''s current predicament and with quivering lips and a great deal of courage boosted, she too tried to grab the dagger from Be''s hand, but not even Jon could match the strength of this madwoman, let alone the young Gabrielle! Just as Be was about to rise from the ground, after havingpletely freed herself from Jon''s knees, Jon''s hand, which had been holding the root of the basilisk''s fang and trying to pull it out of Rodolphus''s throat, suddenly pushed it hard again, only to hurl Rodolphus''s body in front of him, spurting blood like a fountain that seemed to turn the surroundings into an inferno of blood! The basilisk''s fang was lodged in the spine and wasn''t likely to be pulled out that easily. The problem was immediately obvious to Jon, but he had no other better weapon at hand. There are still other basilisk fangs in his pocket, but by the time he takes them out, Be would have already plunged the dagger into his head! Just as Jon was caught in the middle of a dilemma with no weapon left to use, a maniacal grin appeared on Be''s bloodied face, and she suddenly thrust her dagger at Jon''s heart! If Nick still remained in front of him, Jon would not have had to worry about Be''s strike, but he had just left Nick behind in order toplete the knee press on Be, and now there was no way to defend himself effectively. In less than a second, after the trade-off had been made in his head, Jon raised both of his defenceless arms unbelievably quickly and blocked in front of Be''s dagger! There was another ssh of blood! There was sticky blood everywhere, Jon''s, Rodolphus'', Be''s, their blood was so mixed together that it was impossible to tell whose blood was on whose body! The dagger had prated Jon''s left arm so deeply that Be''s thrust had pierced his bones! The excruciating pain took over Jon''s brain, but it did not make him lose his reason. After blocking the shot, he swung his intact right arm with all his might and brought his fist down hard on Be''s crazy face! Even if Jon is young, he is still fifteen years old, and even if he is not yet an adult, this punch at his full strength is definitely not light. Be''s entire head was instantly shifted a great distance to the left by the punch, yet she still held on to the dagger as if it had been welded to her hand, despite suffering such a heavy blow! The next moment she jerked the dagger out of Jon''s arm, drawing up a spray of blood that was much fresherpared to the scarlet ones around her! "Lowly mudblood!!! You filthy bloody scum!!!" With a shrill curse that had almost cracked her vocal cords, she raised her dagger again and was about to bring it down again on Jon''s forehead when a candbra struck her abruptly in the back of the head! Gabrielle lifted the serpentine candbra that Jon had brought out of the Slytherin chamber with great effort, biting her bloodless lip and fighting back tears as she mmed it down on Be''s head. But she simplycked the strength of an adult, or even a teenager, and could only rely on the weight of the candbra itself to inflict damage on Be and hinder her move to kill Jon. "Get out of the way!" Be, who was dizzy from Jon''s punch and Gabrielle''s pounding with the candbra, pped away the candbra Gabrielle was holding which rolled a few times on the ground with Gabrielle. And by now the mellifluous singing was getting closer and there was a faint trembling in the ground! Jon had grabbed Be''s arm, which was holding the dagger, and was in a brief stalemate with her, and his excitement at the sound of Fawkes'' song had notsted half a second before the trembling of the ground jolted his heart down to the bottom! Death eaters! Lots of Death Eaters! The Death Eaters were running after Fawkes! If Fawkes had rushed over in this condition, not only would he not have been able to provide Jon help, but the sheer number of Death Eaters would have really pushed Jon over the edge in the current situation! But just as Jon''s heart sank, Fawkes'' song suddenly cut off from the distance! Immediately afterwards, a blinding golden-red glow lit up around Jon and Be! He had flown to this spot before, and after determining Jon''s exact location, he came straight away from the Death Eaters who were chasing him with an Apparition! And Jon, at this time, also suddenly pushed Be with all his might outwards, then with one hand holding the upper part of Rodolphus'' corpse and the other grabbing the fang that was still stuck in his neck, his whole body embraced Rodolphus and pinned Be straight to the ground with the weight of both of them! "Gabrielle! Hold on to Nick! Grab my hand!" Just as Fawkes had appeared directly above Jon, his wsnding on Jon''s shoulder, Gabrielle grabbed Nick''s arm with one hand, the candbra that she had just used as a weapon was on Nick''s belly, and held his hand with the other as Jon had said! And as Jon took hold of Gabrielle''s hand, Fawkes on his shoulder had begun a new burst of Apparition when the dozen or so Death Eaters who had chased Fawkes over in pursuit raised their wands in their hands at Jon from a distance as well. Be, who was struggling under her husband''s body with a shrill cry, simply didn''t have the strength left to push Jon and Rodolphus off of her anymore! The golden light from Fawkes'' body wrapped around Jon, Gabrielle, Nick, Rodolphus and Be''s bodies, began to grow blindingly bright together! Right at the moment when the Death Eaters had chanted the incantation, Jon and their figures disappeared from thisbyrinth under the ice. Jon abruptly pressed his whole body against the venomous fang lodged in Rodolphus''s neck! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 305: Champions and Bloody Fang (2 in 1) Chapter 305: Champions and Bloody Fang (2 in 1) Only thest three minutes remained until eight o''clock. By this time the Hogwarts students couldn''t sit still any longer, all of them crowded around Dumbledore with nervousness and unease written all over their faces. "Professor, the time for registration ising to an end, where is Jon?" George asked, looking at Dumbledore with bated breath. Dumbledore''s face was as calm as ever like he was not worried or nervous about such a situation. He said softly. "Don''t worry, he''ll be back today." "But the registration is going to be over now!" Fred eximed, "Even if Jones back; if he doesn''t throw his name into the Goblet of Fire, that means there''s no way for him to be picked as a Hogwarts champion!" "Even if Jon is not avable, aren''t you all ready for it?" Dumbledore looked at them, "What''s the point of throwing your names into that goblet if you have to rely on Jon?" His words left the Hogwarts students speechless. It was also at this time that a burst of apuse rang out throughout the middle of the ballroom. Fudge, the British Minister of Magic, stood beside the goblet of fire, and Deputy Head of Witching Horizons - Iniesta was standing beside him. The sound of Fudge pping his hands silenced all the surrounding chatter, and every wizard in the room fixed their eyes on the two men standing by the goblet of fire. "Ladies and gentlemen, the time hase, after a long day of waiting, the names of the four school champions will be chosen in one minute, and now it is time for us to witness the moment." The students of each of the wizarding schools were whispering with excitement, except for the vast majority of Hogwarts students led by Dumbledore who turned pale. It wasn''t as if they were resisting taking the position to participate in thispetition for their school, but everyone knew very well that the strongest and most resourceful person among them would be Jon, and if there could be any student who could represent their Hogwarts now, it would be Jon alone. But now that the list of names might be going to be chosen, Jon still didn''t show up at the banquet hall, which made the students who were sure that he would be the champion representing Hogwarts this time a bit unwilling to ept it. Their grim countenances were noticed by the other Hogwarts castle students who were always watching, the purebloods in their fancy robes, with their faces perpetually condescending, all pointing at their opponents with sneers and a heartyugh as if they were watching a circus monkey show. Voldemort who remained seated in the main seat showed no particr expression on his face, only looking at Dumbledore with a smile after Fudge''s words had fallen. "Do you have any issues? Professor. Dumbledore..." His greeting, which was more like a concern, caught the attention of everyone in the hall, and had it not been for the meaningful trailing off at the end of the address, one might have actually thought the words were asked with genuine concern by that man. Dumbledore nodded slightly. "Of course not, this selection went well today, and I''m sure it will end satisfactorily that wayter as well." Voldemort nodded lightly. "That''s good, I thought you were waiting for some student toe and sign up, I can amodate another ten or twenty minutes in that case." "It''s gettingte, everyone wants to see the final results and then get back to their rest don''t they?" Dumbledore said calmly, "Then let this selection for today be over quickly." The conversation between them was somewhat inexplicable, and no one but the students in the Hogwarts wagon, and the few in the know on Voldemort''s side, heard what was meant by waiting for a student toe over. But no matter how many people were puzzled by it, all eyes were focused on the wooden goblet once the fire in it had turned steeply red. The names of each school''s chosen champions are about toe out! Crackling sparks burst forth, and then a tongue of fire leapt into the air and from it flew a piece of charred parchment. Fudge caught the piece of parchment, and by this time the mes in the goblet of fire had turned back to a blue-white colour. He held up his sses, looked at the name on the parchment, and then, in an audible over-voice amplified by an amplifying charm, announced loudly. "The Champion of Beauxbatons - Emil Lestrange!" The ballroom erupted with apuse, and after hearing the family name, the wizards who had surrounded Voldemort broke into knowing smiles. The Lestrange family is a French pureblood wizard family that hadpletely defected to Voldemort. The most famous members of this family are, of course, the brothers Rabastan and Rodolphus, who are essentially French wizards rather than English, except that Rodolphus'' wife, Be, is a member of the British pureblood wizard family, the ck family. And not all pureblood families are as thinly popted as the Malfoys, the Lestranges'' have so many family members that they even have a family tree in their genealogy with every member''s name recorded on it. The seventh-year Beauxbatons student named Emil stood up from his ce as countless shing lights shed at him, and his picture, a champion who would represent Beauxbatons and therefore on Voldemort''s side, would appear tomorrow in the major European magical dailies. Immediately afterwards, the mes in the goblet of fire once again turned crimson and another piece of charred parchment flew out and thennded in Iniesta''s hands. "The Champion of Durmstrang - Diane Rosier!" Again there was a loud round of apuse as the tall, female Head of Grade, the one who had first met Jon and the others in Durmstrang Castle earlier, stood up from her position, allowing everyone to see the champion of Durmstrang. The other students around her gave her a look of envy, especially the boy, Krum, who had joined the Bulgarian national quidditch team, who froze at first at the sound of Diane''s name, before reluctantly pping his hands. By now, the champions of both schools of witchcraft had been chosen, but at this point, everyone in the ballroom held their breath and fell silent instead. All of them knew that the next big event would be the selection of the two different Hogwarts champions. The crimson mes red back up and the parchment flew out of it once more andnded in Fudge''s hands. Fudge saw the name on it and a look of surprise crept over his face before he smiled and read out the name on the parchment. "The Champion of Hogwarts Castle in Britain - Draco Malfoy!" A loud and noisy apuse that was even louder than the two times earlier rang out after that name was announced. Among those students at Hogwarts Castle, a boy with light blonde hair had a bewildered look on his face, but as countless shing lights lit up his face and every eye was on him, it felt as if he was wrapped in a wave of unspeakable surprise. Draco''s face reddened with excitement as he rose from his position with a proud look on his face to show the lofty status of the noble ancient purebloods he would soon represent. Voldemort still had that faint smile on his face for the Hogwarts champion under his control. Beside him, a middle-aged man with the same light blonde hair turned pale. The surrounding purebloods continued to offer words of congrattions, but Lucius'' face could only muster a grudging smile. Hesitantly, he finally mustered up his courage and walked over to Voldemort''s side, his gaze brimming with spection and nervousness. "My Lord. I''m not worried about Draco''s well-being, it''s certainly an honour for him to be chosen. But, is he not a little too young, I fear he may dy the lord''s ns." "Once chosen by that goblet, you mustpete, Lucius." Voldemort''s voice was t, making it impossible to hear the joy or anger in it, "Do I need to repeat such a rule to you a second time?" Lucius'' hands trembled as he swallowed back all the words he had been about to further exin, backing away with his head bowed and retaking his seat. And Neville and the others looked at Draco as he stood up and gave them a smug, provocative look that made each of their already frowning faces look even worse. "It''s just being chosen, why would he be so smug?" Ron said with a grimace. For some reason, at the first sight of Draco''s face, he felt a pang of revulsion, as if this boy had been born to be at odds with him. No one answered hisment and all the other students stared intently at the goblet of fire that had turned crimson for thest time. There is now only onest school champion left to be chosen. Every Hogwarts student who threw his or her name into the goblet was ready for any one of them to be chosen, they would not hold back and would fight with everything they had to gain victory in this tournament. The mes rose, and the parchment fell into Iniesta''s hands. Of all those present, he was the first to know the name of this champion. His expression was serious, serious with a kind of gravity, and Iniesta did not read that name out first but looked up at Dumbledore. Dumbledore met his gaze calmly. "The champion of the British Hogwarts wagon - Jon Green!" His voice carried throughout every corner of the hall, and only a few rounds of apuse rang out around them, most of them just looked at Dumbledore''s side with cold eyes, wanting to see who the student called Jon Green would be when he finally stood up. Neville, however, was silent, a look of disbelief crossed everyone''s face, but pretty soon when they came to their senses, there was a cheer so loud it could have tipped the ceiling of the banquet hall over! George and Fred both looked at Dumbledore and McGonagall with an "I see you''ve arranged it all, Professor" look on their faces, and the other students were excitedly asking each other who had secretly thrown Jon''s name in at this point. They were sure that even if the professors had arranged it, it could only have been a student who had thrown Jon''s name in on his behalf, as no adult wizard had been near the goblet of fire throughout the day. McGonagall, on the other hand, instantly clutched the note in her robe pocket upon hearing Jon''s name and then looked at Dumbledore with a surprised look on her face. Dumbledore, however, did not show the same look of delight as the others, instead, he frowned lightly and shook his head as McGonagall''s eyes looked over him. "I made no such arrangements." McGonagall was ever so sure that Dumbledore would never lie to her in such a serious affair. Since he said so, it meant that none of their sides had thrown Jon''s name into the Goblet of Fire. So why had Jon been chosen? Just as this question rose in McGonagall''s mind, Dumbledore''s eyes went to Voldemort, who remained seated in the main seat. Voldemort was still smiling the same way as if he was hearing the name Jon Green for the first time. After the cheering had died down on the Hogwarts students'' side, Fudge''s face was filled with the displeasure of being dyed as he nced around behind Dumbledore and said in a loud voice. "Which one of you is Jon Green? Why don''t youe forward?" The Hogwarts students fell silent as he asked the question. It was only now that a crucial question urred to them. Although Jon had been chosen, what should they do if he is not present? How could they exin that the chosen champion simply isn''t present here as wizards from all over Europe watching? Dumbledore, who was sitting at the front of the group, stood up and all eyes were on him. At this point no matter who it was they had noticed the problem. "Jon is not here at the moment, nor did he participate in the sign-up session today, so why does his name appear within the Goblet of Fire?" Dumbledore asked as he spoke, and his eyes nced at Voldemort. The smile on Voldemort''s face narrowed and he spoke tly. "How strange that a student who wasn''t even here was chosen and as his Headmaster, you actuallye to ask me that question so that everyone can hear that you are getting older and your mind is starting to get out of shape?" A loud, ear-splitting roar ofughter rang out from the purebloods that followed him. Hearing Dumbledore insulted, the Hogwarts students all stood up together in indignation, and at the same time, seeing their actions, the purebloods of Hogwarts Castle all stood up as well! The atmosphere in the ballroom became tense. But Voldemort continued to act as carelessly as ever. "The selection ispletely over, there is no way to change the established list, and I''ll leave aside for the moment how exactly you broke the rules and signed up in ce of a student who wasn''t here. What I want to know is, since this student has been selected, where is he? If he never shows up, are we all just going to wait here for him for the rest of our lives?" He stared into Dumbledore''s eyes, his tone suddenly bing cold and scornful. "Don''t forget, I have given you a week already!" An impish grin spread across the face of Fudge, who was standing in the middle of the ballroom. "Since the chosen one didn''t show up at all, he should just be excluded from the slot, and there''s already a Durmstrang student representing you anyway." As if his suggestion had been epted by ''everyone'' else, a murmur went up in the ballroom, while Iniesta grimaced. "Four schools, four champions, that''s the rule too! What''s the point of having this tournament if you can just switch it up when you say so like you did?" "You need to get one thing clear, Mr Iniesta," Fudge said innocently. "It''s not that we''re changing the rules, it''s that you''ve allowed a student who couldn''t evene to this selection to put his name, and he''s been chosen, there aren''t four schools with four champions now, there are only three champions who can step up to the asion." Voldemort propped one hand on his face and crossed his legs as he looked at Dumbledore. "I''m not trying to be difficult, Dumbledore, in this situation, if you make a suggestion that makes sense to everyone, maybe I can ept it?" Dumbledore''s face, which had been filled with suppressed anger in its calmness, suddenly showed a smile at this point. He said softly. "No need for me to make suggestions, the champion of Hogwarts is already here." Just as his words fell, a burst of orange-red light lit up in the middle of the ballroom! Three ovepping figures emerged! Covered in blood, Jon had no time or energy to worry about where he had arrived and who was around him, he had pressed all his strength into the fang! The basilisk''s fang went deep into Rodolphus'' throat, pierced his spine and finally, plunged into the chest of the still-screaming Be! In the golden hall, wizards from the four corners of Europe watched as scarlet blood blossomed like the petals of a demonic flower. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 306: Put down the wand Chapter 306: Put down the wand The Basilisk''s fang contains highly toxic venom. The horror of this toxin could even destroy the Horcrux used to shelter the soul. Not to mention that Jon plunged the entire front half of that venomous fang through Rodolphus'' throat and dug it into Be''s chest with the help of great force! Blood spurted and flowed on a floor that was clean enough to be used as a mirror. Be no longer could make another sound, and the expression on her face was finally fixed in that madness and grimace. Jon gasped raggedly, sticky blood had blocked his vision and all he could make out was that his surroundings were bright and quiet, so quiet that he could clearly hear the sound of many people breathing. At this point, the pain from the wounds on his leg and hand assaulted his brain like a tidal wave, but he held on without being overwhelmed by the excruciating pain, and instead raised his right hand, which was shaking ever so slightly, and wiped the sticky blood off his face. Only then did he get a thorough look at exactly where he currently was. There were many people around him, so many that Jon could not count them all at once. And all of them, whether they were wizards in fancy ceremonial robes, reporters with cameras in hand, or students gathered together, were frozen in ce, dumbfounded. Jon was frozen too. He looked around with a bewildered look on his face, the whole thing about the Triwizard Tournament had only been confirmed to be held after he had entered thebyrinth under the ice in the Arctic, so he had no idea where Fawkes had brought him. But just as he was dazed, behind Jon, a pale hand grabbed the back of his cor with unparalleled swiftness, then yanked him back with a sudden jerk! The next moment, a dark green curse left a crater that sprouted white smoke on the smooth floor where Jon had been. Voldemort''s face was expressionless, but anyone close enough to him could notice that his face was twitching from suppressed emotion! At some point, he raised a wand in his hand, and the tip was aimed right at the spot where the green curse hadnded. Dumbledore looked at him with a cold look on his face, then tugged Jon to McGonagall''s side from behind him, while he slowly took his own wand in his hand. "So, you''re going to break the blood pact by killing a champion who will bepeting in the tournament so soon?" Dumbledore''s old voice echoed throughout the entire hall. It was at this point that all the others in the hall snapped out of the overwhelming shock! The rich smell of blood filled everyone''s nostrils, and on the ground, there was a huge flower of blood, with a dead Rodolphus and Be lying in the middle of it in an unusually gruesome state. Shouts of horror apanied by screams began to rise in quick session. There was an uproar. Some reporters with a keen sense of smell had already subconsciously pressed the shutter of their cameras, trembling with nervousness mixed with excitement and a touch of fear, as they continued to record a scene that would be enough to create a sensation throughout Europe! The Lestrange have never been nobodies, as well-known Death Eaters who have been active in the magical world since Voldemort''s rise to power, most of the people present recognised their faces. Even if there were wizards who didn''t know them, from the few words spoken by the others in the hall, they could all hear how important this pair of wizards were to Voldemort! The younger students of the wizarding school who had been brought here for the selection process covered their faces, the girls cried out in shock, the boys'' mouths hung open showing their instinctive fright, and the vast majority of them felt a cold chill run through their hands and feet. The flush of excitement had faded from Draco''s face, and he looked in disbelief at Be whoy in a pool of blood, his mother''s sister, his aunt, a woman from the ck family. He had never been close to this infamous aunt since he was a child, andpared to Voldemort, who had be "amiable" for as long as he could remember, it was this madwoman, who had never been sober, that had cast the greatest psychological shadow on him. But now, that shadow was dead. Right in front of Draco''s eyes, killed by a student who appeared to be his age and academic year, from another school that would be his opponent in the next Triwizard Tournament. Draco''s face was bloodless, and his lips quivered as he looked over at the boy who had been pulled to his feet by Dumbledore and was covered in blood. The boy named Jon, who was being guarded in McGonagall''s arms, seemed to feel his gaze as well, and he lifted his blood-smeared face and smiled "kindly". Draco''s whole body shuddered and a hot stream of water went out of control and soon the wetness spread throughout his lower body. It wasn''t just Draco, but everyone had turned their attention from the bodies of the two Lestrange on the ground to Jon. Even with the blood all over him, people could see his shockingly young face! Too young. Jon looked so young that no one who saw him would consider him to be more than sixteen, a third or fourth-year student at most! And it was such a young student who had just stabbed the venomous fang that had been lodged in Rodolphus'' throat into Be''s chest in front of everyone present! The final desperate, maniacal scream of that madwoman was heard very clearly by everyone. It was so clear that it would probably never be forgotten in their lifetime. But regardless of the shock that other bystanders felt at the moment, the Death Eaters, as the camp the Lestrange''s belonged to, gathered around Voldemort, and instantly joined their lord and raised their wands in their hands. And the wands were aimed in the direction of Jon, who was already being shielded by Dumbledore and cradled in McGonagall''s arms! The screams and shrieks all around the hall were gradually silenced by the current tense atmosphere, and Dumbledore''s faint voice rang out again. "If you no longer feel that there is no point in holding this Triwizard Tournament after this, then you can simply strike now, Voldemort." Anyone could see now that Voldemort''s stony, nasty expression was a far cry from the man he had been five minutes ago. At Dumbledore''s words, his lips twitched as if he was having a hard time opening those clenched teeth! "Lower your wand!" The order was clearly being given to the Death Eaters around him. Those who had witnessed Be''s death were, of course, very reluctant to let Jon go, but no one dared to disobey Voldemort''s orders. As the Death Eaters lowered their wands, the hearts of the wizards in the ballroom slowly eased along with the actions of these Death Eaters. ---- #A Toca Do Coelho, #James Nagy, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 307: The Best Captain Chapter 307: The Best Captain The smell of blood filled the air, overpowering the sweet smell of cream and fruit wine from the feast earlier. Although the fire in the firece was zing hot, a chill ran through the hearts of the wizards as they looked at the corpse of Rodolphus and Be, the dead Death Eaters in the centre of the blood pool. After ordering all the Death Eaters to put back their wands, Voldemort returned to his seat at the centre of the hall. His face was expressionless, his gaze cold beyond the permafrost on the Arctic ice fields, and he stared at Jon with a piercing gaze. After Rabastan''s death all the information about this boy had been brought back to him, letting him know exactly who it was that had made a scene in Hogwarts castle, ended up saving many of the Mudbloods, and thenter destroyed his setup over a decade ago on the sea, directly causing him himself to be badly injured. And now, this was the first time Voldemort had seen Jon in person. Jon noticed the look in his eyes too. Although he hadn''t been able to figure out what the situation was until now, it didn''t stop him from recognising Voldemort''s young, handsome face with a nose. While this was the first time Voldemort had seen Jon, it was not the first time Jon had seen him in person. On the opening night at Hogwarts Castle during his infiltration in his second year, Jon had seen Voldemort for the first time as he exited the great hall when Jon had walked out of the underground floor. And at this moment, meeting Voldemort''s cold and grim gaze, as if he could use his eyes to cast the killing curse to take his life, Jon did not avert his eyes in fear, nor did he make any provocation. He simply locked eyes with him calmly, with silent musings in his mind. With nothing more than pain, doubts, and curiosity in his brain. "Very good." Voldemort''s coldpliment echoed through the ballroom. "That was great, a magnificent entrance, a bloody good show, a fearless champion." It sounded like he was giving apliment, but no one could hear even a half-hearted tone of praise in it. The coldness and resentment in those words, though well concealed, could be picked up by anyone with an eye for detail. The man who had lived as emperor of Britain for ten years, for the first time in his life, even though he could not suppress his anger, still tried to restrain it! Throughout the ballroom, most of the wizards were silent, except for the members of the Witching Horizons led by Dumbledore. They were all afraid that Voldemort might not be able to control his anger and just go on a killing spree here. But there were a few sober wizards who knew that no matter what, Voldemort won''t make a move tonight. It wasn''t because he was afraid of Dumbledore, or that he was afraid of anything. Rather, he had made a blood pact with Dumbledore before the selection process for this Triwizard Tournament had officially begun. There was no way a magic pact of this level could be torn up so easily. The killing curse he had just used as soon as Jon had appeared, the one that Dumbledore had responded to, had been a tentative shot at the very edge of the pact, but going on a killing spree here would have been tantamount to breaking the pact altogether. That was why when Dumbledore said, "If you no longer feel that there is no point in holding this Triwizard Tournament after this, then you can simply strike now, Voldemort." these words he suppressed his anger. Voldemort looked at Jon and Dumbledore onest time and said in an almost gritted tone. "I hope to see you shine this brilliantly at a subsequent event as well!" After thest syble had fallen, his entire body disappeared from the spot. Along with him, the bodies of Rodolphus and Be in the middle of the blood also disappeared, leaving only arge, blindingly bright red puddle on the scene. After he left, a brief moment of silence fell over the ballroom, then an even louder mour erupted than when Jon had first appeared! With the victims'' "families" present, most of them were afraid to show their emotions too much, but now that Voldemort was gone, they could finally let out the emotions they had been suppressing. The Death Eaters, each with a cold face, followed their lord''s lead and looked at Jon as if they had marked his face in their hearts, then left the scene with the Apparition, leaving only the French Ministry of Magic''s native officials to clean up the mess. Once the Death Eaters were also gone, the first to respond were the wizards who were already inclined to Dumbledore''s side. The reporter from the Witching Horizon''s own magical daily, the Starlight, rushed towards Jon as if she had a Firebolt broom under her heels, dragging her cameraman with her. They were followed by the diplomats of the Northern European Ministry of Magic, who were also on the side of the Witching Horizons, along with their newspaper, who were friendly to the Witching Horizons due to their loyalty to Grindelwald. Then there was the group of people who had never taken a particr stance and were part of the eating crowd, most of them also began to surround the area where Dumbledore and the Hogwarts students stood. The rest of the wizards, who preferred Voldemort''s camp, had gathered in small groups, still digesting the shocking spectacle that had taken ce tonight, knowing full well that because of this incident, the Triwizard Tournament, which was not due to start for another four months, had generated more heat than previously expected. It wasn''t just because two of Voldemort''s most important men had been killed in public on such an asion. The point is that the "murderer" was too young and still one of the championspeting! But regardless of who it was, they didn''t really have a chance to approach Jon. Even Witching Horizons'' own newspaper reporter was prevented from getting close to Jon by George, Fred, Neville and the students, and no matter how many shes they had turned on, they couldn''t get any pictures of what was going on inside. McGonagall wiped her tears quietly as she carefully cleaned the blood and wounds on Jon''s body. Jon was badly injured by Be''s dagger, which had poked two holes deep into the bones in his leg and hand, and there was no telling if the dagger had been poisoned or not. Instead of taking him out directly via Apparition, in fear of causing further tears to his wounds while doing so, McGonagall very expertly directed the few other girls who had gathered to show them how to sprinkle potions on Jon''s wounds and then wrap bandages around them. Hermione''s eyes were red, and her hands were trembling as she sprinkled the powder on the wound in Jon''s hand. Gabrielle, who was still holding the candbra that Jon had asked her to look after, with the only remaining strap of her school bag dangling over her arm, looked at Jon lying in Professor McGonagall''s arms, pursing her lips and wiping away the tears that she had just held back when facing Be. Ron was feeding the Blood-Replenishing Potion into Jon''s mouth by himself, and he had never been so careful, as if he was afraid that if he moved a little too much, the vial would cause Jon harm as well. No matter how impatient the outside world was to find out who this boy who had killed two of Voldemort''s trusted men was, and how he had managed to pull off such a feat, they were not able to approach him. The students and professors at Hogwarts, on the other hand, had no questions or excitement. Or rather they were the only ones present who felt bad for Jon''s injuries at the moment. Jon looked over the blood-replenishing potion that he estimated Ron wouldn''t be able to finish feeding him in eight lifetimes and just tilted his head and drank it all in one go, then quipped at Ron. "I''m not so fragile that I need to be fed even this potion bit by bit." Ron huffed and tried to hammer a fist into his shoulder, but retracted it halfway up. Jon then reached out with his intact one hand and tousled Gabrielle''s hair with a gentle smile. "Gabrielle was very awesome, if it wasn''t for Gabrielle I might be dead by now, I''ll buy you another new school bag and a new story book!" Gabrielle broke into a smile as tears fell and rubbed her head against Jon''s hand. "Jon''s the best." Jon turned his attention to Hermione and winked at the red-eyed, sad-looking girl. "Look, you''re doing it again. Don''t beat yourselves up, you''re not holding me back, on the contrary, you''re the ones who have helped me the most." Hermione didn''t make a sound, she nodded silently, it was unknown what she had in her mind right now. Finally, Jon and Dumbledore''s eyes met. Jon didn''t say anything, he just smiled. "I haven''t ruined Hogwarts'' reputation with all these people around, have I, Professor?" Dumbledore took off his own sses, his expression as gentle and soft as it could be. "No matter when or where, Hogwarts would be proud of you, Jon. Even onnd, you''re the best captain this school has ever had!" [End of this volume] ---- #A Toca Do Coelho, #James Nagy, #Jonathan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 308: Mr Jon Green (2 in 1) Chapter 308: Mr Jon Green (2 in 1) "I don''t care if he makes it to the tournament alive!" The cold, tyrannical roar echoed through the dark, enclosed space. "After being selected, if he dies at the North Pole, it means Dumbledore has one less person topete in the tournament straight away! Even if he got lucky and escaped, as a contestant, he couldn''t escape from my grasp by any means. But why they died; can you exin why?" Snape and Barty Jr. prostrated themselves on the floor, their bodies trembling, not even daring to look up at their lord, who hadn''t been this angry in over a decade. Right beside them, the already cold bodies of the Lestranges were here as well. The Basilisk''s fang was still lodged in Rodolphus'' throat and Be''s chest, but the wounds that sent a chill through one''s spine at first nce were no longer bleeding out. Their unclosed eyes just stared up at the dark ceiling in dead silence, and no one could read a single emotion in them anymore. "Boom!" The figure in the darknessshed his wand so violently that a row of bookshelves was blown to smithereens! "Why are so many people dead!" The man snarled at the two corpses that were beginning to grow rigid, venting his anger. "Rabastan was dead at first! Killed by that boy, and you guys told me he died because he took it lightly! That mudblood has some odd tricks up his sleeve! But as long as you have more men in tow and bring the most dependable Be along, as long as he bites the bait, then there will be no second end!" "So that was the end you all expected at the beginning? This is it!" "Boom!" A table was also reduced to countless pieces of wood splinters. Just as Snape and Barty Jr.''s bodies trembled and neither dared to make a sound. A silence fell over the ce, with only the fine splinters of wood still flying, announcing the unrest that had just taken ce. After a long time, the man''s voice was suddenly lowered again, and he changed back to his old calm and low tone as if the person who had just snapped was a different one. "All dead, even Be who I could trustpletely was dead over there, who else could I fully trust now?" Barty Jr.''s reaction was quick, and he crawled on the cold ground in uncontroble panic, then hugged the man''s calf in an unbelievably humble way. Sincerely, with words that contained infinite loyalty, he dered. "My lord! You still have me! You have your most faithful servant, Barty! I will never let you down! Whatever task you give me, Barty will carry it out better than anyone else!" The man looked at him with condescending cold eyes, at the servant who had even killed his father and mother in order to serve him. "If you really had that kind of capability, why would you have let something like that happen at Hogwarts Castle in the first ce?" Barty Jr.''s body froze. What that man said was exactly what he couldn''t refute no matter what. Yes, it was them who had been the first to be fooled by this mudblood before the Lestranges had faced such a failure with consequences of death! There was no way Snape could just kneel down and remain apathetic any more. His voice trailed off as he admitted his fault. "It was my responsibility, my lord, Hogwarts castle is usually in my charge, it was the ipetence on my part, your servant, that made him do what he did." Barty Jr., who was kneeling in front of Snape, hung his head low and gave Snape a quiet look with a resentful gaze. It was as if the man hadn''t noticed the rivalry between the two subordinates of his, or even if he had, he wouldn''t give a damn either. There was only one thing he really cared about right now. "The mistakes of the past can be exined as you being careless, as beingpletely indifferent as to what a little boy like him could do." His tone became gloomy. "Now, he''s the one who hasid it all out in the open. You two should also understand better than anyone else why I''m holding this downright ridiculous Triwizard Tournament." It was as if he had deliberately hidden part of what he needed to say, but the two men kneeling on the floor clearly knew it by heart. They bowed their heads and assured him in fear and trepidation. "No more, my lord, no more, we will never let you down again, definitely not!" Hearing their words, the man did not immediately make a sound in response. He simply gazed at the emblem that hung on the wall in the thick darkness, the one that had be taboo was emzoned on a worn and dirty tapestry. The lion, the eagle, the snake and the badger surrounded the "H" as if nothing in the world would ever be bonded together as tightly as they had been. "It''s the only chance we have." *** Thankfully for Jon, the dagger Be had used was not quenched with poison. As a result, although his injuries appeared to be severe from the outside, a simple essence of dittany dosage, along with a few bone-building potions and blood-replenishing potions, was all that was needed to heal his body. Once all the external physical injuries were healed, Jon was able to walk on the ground, but he still needed some support to do so. Only after his injuries had been determined to be safe was he allowed by Dumbledore to go to the sick bay, with Fawkes taking him directly back to Witching Horizons'' quarters in Lyon, while the rest of the students returned via the firece using floo powder as they hade. It was obvious to everyone, whether it was Dumbledore or McGonagall, that by getting Jon toe forward at this time and give a little interview to the newspapers in other magical regions, it would be possible to use the events of the evening to bring great prestige and influence to the Witching Horizons. Yet they didn''t even mention it at all, just arranged for Iniesta to deal with the questions of the newspaper reporters and then left with the Hogwarts students. But with or without an interview and personalment from Jon, what happened tonight at the Triwizard Tournament champions selection would be an explosive news storm that would spread throughout all of Europe in one night''s time. Ignoring any other factors, the sight of Jon killing Be today in front of Voldemort while carrying Rodolphus'' corpse wasparable to a good smack in his face. Especially on an asion when Voldemort was supposed to be unting his might and authority all by himself. After Jon had been brought back to Lyons, Dumbledore was not eager to ask him about what he had encountered these days and how he had ended up killing the Lestranges. Even if the potion had been able to heal all his wounds quickly, he was in a state of constant mental strain for a long while, so what Jon needed most now was rest. So after arriving in Lyon and being given a separate room, Jon fell straight to sleep as soon as he touched the pillow. It had been a long time since he had been in a room with a firece due to being in the Arctic, and a long time since he had been able to sleep as soundly as he had today. He slept all day and night before finally waking up in the afternoon of the next day. When Jon stretched himself out of bed, it was already dusk outside. The head of his bed wasden with fruit and choctes. On his return to Lyon, Lily, who had been still doubling up on duties in the wagon, had forbidden anyone to stay here with him, and had only allowed them to leave their gifts behind before they were all herded out of the room. This also allowed Jon to get a good night''s sleep. First, he sat on the edge of the bed, watching the sunset and eating an apple while his thoughts drifted off, sorting out what he had gained on his trip to the Arctic. The killing of Rodolphus and Be aside, it had beenpletely forced upon him. In fact, if they hadn''t caught up with him after he escaped from that Slytherin chamber, then Jon would havee straight back with Fawkes and those two wouldn''t have died at all. Of course, Jon certainly didn''t regret killing either of them at all. Both Rodolphus and Be had the blood of Order of the Phoenix members, innocent muggles, and muggle wizards on their hands, and it was said that Neville''s mother had died under Be''s curse. Maybe he could consider it as revenge for Neville. Then there was the favour owed to the Arctic researcher named Eric, if he hadn''t helped in the end by letting those pr bears rush into thebyrinth and hold back the vast majority of the other Death Eaters, then Jon probably wouldn''t have escaped so easily with all those men chasing him. Although this was certainly a favour he was doing for Grindelwald''s sake, Jon couldn''t just brush this help off. Then after that, the biggest reward was getting the third gem for the ring. The two candbras had been ced next to his bed, where Gabrielle, who had been keeping them safe, had put them before she leftst night. Jon picked up the one with the blue gem on the end and tried to use his wand to take it out casually, but he couldn''t separate the gem from the end of the candbra that easily. But he wasn''t worried about the gem noting off, after all, the real owner of the candbra was by his side. After taking his robes, which had been hung on a hanger in the ward by Lily without anyone messing with them, Jon fumbled through the inner pocket of his robes and pulled the Slytherin portrait out of it. The Hogwarts founder still remained in the portrait and hadn''t moved anywhere else, or most likely he is the only Slytherin portrait left in the world and there was no way for him to go anywhere else. As Jon unfolded the portrait and looked at the old man on it, Slytherin was also looking at him with an odd expression on his face. Even though he had been in Jon''s pocket since he had been taken off the wall, it didn''t stop the Slytherin from being able to hear the outside world. Even if the information he could receive from his hearing was very limited, he could tell exactly what Jon had been going through after leaving through that bronze door. He could hear Dumbledore''s speech and Voldemort''s voice clearly when they arrived at the French Ministry of Magic''s ballroomter. Even though all of this information was very fragmented, it was enough for Slytherin to already have an initial judgement in his mind. That Jon hadn''t lied about what he had said to him earlier in the Labyrinth. "Are all young people like you nowadays?" Slytherin asked in his raspy voice, in a strange tone of voice. Jon thought for a few seconds, he wasn''t presumptuous or trying to pretend to be anything in front of the Slytherin. "So far no, I''m kind of a special case." The old man in the portrait didn''t reply at first, he just looked at Jon deeply for a moment. "I''m guessing this special case of yours doesn''t just fall under the present era category, does it?" Jon shrugged. "I wouldn''t dare to say that, there''s never been a shortage of gifted people throughout the ages." "You''re not just gifted." That was as far as the Slytherin''s words went on that topic before he continued, and for the first time, he opened his mouth to make a request to Jon. "Take me to that Headmaster of yours." Jon instantly understood what he meant by that statement, and a look of surprise appeared on his face at once. "You believed what I said? Sir." "I only gained some initial judgement of my own for the time being, rather than believing all of what you said; I''ll have to decide exactly what decision I should make after I meet the Headmaster who lost Hogwarts Castle and whose family name is Dumbledore." Jon blinked at his words, even though he was slightly suspicious of his true intentions, but he naturally didn''t reject his request. It''s just that before taking him to Dumbledore, Jon took the candbra with a bit of thick skin. "Well then. Sir, do you know how to get this gem off the candbra?" Slytherin nced at him, already knowing from the time in thebyrinth that he was drooling over this candbra. Though Slytherin didn''t have much of a problem with it, he was just a portrait now, the living things meant nothing to him and giving it directly to Jon was nothing at all. "That gem was the reason the Candbra burned, when it was first made out, it was locked in ce by me with a kind of locking spell, and it is easy to remove just by using a simple unlocking charm, but with the original unlocking charm of my era, the incantation is ''Open Sesame'' (the first version of unlocking charm, and only further back did Alohomora version invented)" This ancient unlocking charm had certainly not been learned by Jon, but apparently, it was not very difficult to learn, and it would not take him all that long to master proficiently. While sighing in admiration at Slytherin''s generosity, Jon changed out of the hospital gown he was wearing and walked out of the sick bay in his normal clothes. There was no one guarding the outside of his sick bay, and it wasn''t as if Jon was in dire danger of dying, nor did he need such careful attention. As soon as he stepped out, he stepped out onto a long corridor with people of all shapes and sizes constantly walking past. The French wizards, who were either clutching documents in their hands or hurrying as if they had something important to do, all stopped in their tracks when they saw Joning out of the ward. They all stood straight and saluted him. Just when an awkward smile appeared on Jon''s face, not knowing how to react to such a situation, every single wizard present bent deeply with their hand in their chest and bowed to him with immense seriousness. The words that came from the heart echoed through the spacious corridor, each voice as sincere as the next. "Thank you, Mr Jon Green." ---- #A Toca Do Coelho, #James Nagy, #Jonathan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 309: [Heroes were killed in public! The Conspiracy of the Dark Wizard Dumbledore!] Chapter 309: [Heroes were killed in public! The Conspiracy of the Dark Wizard Dumbledore!] Jon had indeed be the benefactor of French wizards, or rather French muggle-born wizards, throughout the Witching Horizons. Because everyone knew that the Lestrange, were the ones who contributed to the current situation in France, while Voldemort was only the final cause. After Dumbledore''s arrival in France to form the Witching Horizons, it was no longer a secret who the Wizard Chancellor Adele, whom all French muggle-born wizards once believed to be the person who would bring them peace as well as equality really was. Especially after Jon had captured those two Aurors in Azkaban alive, the confessions they had extracted from them had proved to everyone that Voldemort''s dark hand had long been in the upper echelons of the French Ministry of Magic. Adele, whom they had always trusted to bring peace and stability to all muggle wizards, was Be Lestrange from the very beginning. And during these years she deceived almost everyone, and with the possibility of France being ruled by the Purebloods just like the British Isles across the sea, many of the best and brightest muggle wizards in their own right joined under Be in the hope that by following her they would be able to keep France from bing a darknd of pureblood wizards who would enve all the muggle wizards like in Britain. However, none of those muggle-born wizards under her ended up in a good situation. The information Dumbledore investigated within Britain after arriving in France to form the Witching Horizons revealed that most of the wizards who enlisted under Be were in fact tricked into being enved and reformed on British soil, or were under the Imperius Curse for long periods of time, with the exception of a very few. Be''s husband Rodolphus in particr posed as thest French Minister of Magic, pretending to be Be''s political opponent. In reality, he was secretly trying to persuade and recruit pureblood members of the French Ministry of Magic,ying the firm foundation for Voldemort''s current rule. Meanwhile, Rodolphus'' brother Rabastan became the Head of the Auror Office under the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, overseeing all of France''s Aurors and excluding dissenters from them and taking control of all the important French wizard armed forces. It could be said that the entire Lestrange family had fooled all the French muggle-born wizards even before Voldemort''s true arrival. And now Jon alone had killed them all, in a way he had avenged the fallen blood of most of the French muggle wizards. That alone was enough to earn him the respect of everyone here, even if it was a bit shocking for someone of his age to do such a thing, but in front of arge crowd like that, hundreds of people had witnessed how he had killed Be in front of Voldemort. No one could deny Jon''s achievement, just as all the French wizards in the crowd were grateful to him from the bottom of their hearts. What''s more, Jon would be representing Hogwarts wagon in the uing Triwizard Tournament, the oue of which would determine the ultimate fate of the Frenchnd. Regardless of Jon''s own intentions, the result of what he has done so far has contributed to the sessful liberation of France, and that is something that should be remembered by all. Therefore, as Jon walked through the corridors of the Witching Horizon headquarters, every French wizard who saw him bent their backs with the utmost respect for this young wizard who had not yetpleted his third year. Jon was a little embarrassed and ufortable about this. To be honest, he had been dealing with the students at Hogwarts so much that he had unconsciously developed a bit of a "child king" mentality, even though his soul is still that of an adult. The fact that a group of adult wizards were now treating him with such respect made Jon a little ufortable. He had never been to Witching Horizon''s headquarters before, so he was not familiar with the ce. Just as he was torn between just trying to slip away from the French Wizard who had bowed to him in gratitude or wanting to ask him where Dumbledore''s office is, a slim, familiar figure walked towards him, with a phantom little girl floating beside that figure. "Professor Potter." Upon seeing Lily, Jon breathed a sigh of relief. Gabrielle, who was holding an overflowing load of various sweets, floated around Jon happily when she saw him. "If you haven''t woken up Gabrielle going to worry that you''re going to starve to death, Jon! You haven''t eaten all day since we were in thatbyrinth! And now you''ve slept for so long! Look! There''s so much candy here, from a big sister who can squeeze faces like y-Doh Gabrielle has brought it all for you!" Jon could tell that Gabrielle was tempted to hug him and say these things, but she had such a bountiful haul on her hands that she just floated around to show how happy she was. "Thanks, just had a few apples in the sick bay, but it really didn''t fill my stomach that much." Jon said as he took a chocte from the sweets Gabrielle was carrying in her arms. Looking at Jon, Lily''s face, which had looked like it would always be like an iceberg that wouldn''t melt, eased up a bit, it''s just that the phrasing she used to lecture Jon was still very harsh. "I just went to get some potion ingredients for a short while, and you''ve run out of the sick bay already?" Jon lifted the sleeve on his left arm, revealing smooth, white skin, not even a scar remained on it at this point despite the severity of yesterday''s injury. "It''s allpletely healed, no need to recuperate Professor, I just want to rx a bit, and I have something important to see Professor Dumbledore about right now." Lily was not a school healer by any means, and she knew a lot of things and had a sense of priorities. After hearing Jon say this, she didn''t say anything more and instead led Jon to Dumbledore''s office in person. When Jon knocked on the door and walked in, Dumbledore was reading a newspaper. It was the Daily Prophet, the British local newspaper that is the foremost mouthpiece of Voldemort''s men. Seeing Jon walk in, Dumbledore''s eyes moved away from the newspaper, his face held an inexplicable smile, a smile that was clearly directed at some news article in this paper. "Any idea what is being reported in Britain about what happenedst night?" Jon sat down in the chair opposite Dumbledore, looking a little curious in the face of Dumbledore''s question. "Shouldn''t they just pretend that nothing happened? After all, it''s not in their best interest anyway, and as long as the Daily Prophet doesn''t report it, how can the people at the bottom know anything about it, even if it gets passed around through word of mouth." "It''s one option, but what happened yesterday is just bad news to the Dark Lord and the people directly under him, as for whether it is worst or best one for others is based on how they choose to circte it." Dumbledore handed Jon the Daily Prophet, and after Jon had taken it up, he nced at the headline that took up a third of the front page in bold print. [Heroes were killed in public! The Conspiracy of the Dark Wizard Dumbledore!!] ---- #Jonathan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 310: When Did I Participate in the Triwizard Tournament? Chapter 310: When Did I Participate in the Triwizard Tournament? Just by reading the headline, Jon could not help but feel a strong sense of admiration for the person who had written this article. Not to mention the fact that Dumbledore had been called a "dark wizard", it was not something that an ordinary thick-skinned person could write. Continuing to look down at the news article, Jon was even more impressed by the author of the article. "...The Lestrange couple''s death at the champion selection site was on the surface the work of a rebellious chosen mudblood, Jon Green. However, after extensive follow-ups,bined with the Ministry of Magic''s investigation, it appears that these were in fact nothing more than rebels'' flimsy deception." "Mr Campas, the third Auror squad leader under the Ministry of Magic, said: ''We encountered that boy when we were chasing a wanted man, yes, it was all a fake, he was just a normal kid who only dared to hide behind others at that time. Why am I so impressed, you ask? Oh, it was because he was so good at acting, I could tell from the first moment I saw him that he is a natural actor, and it was by virtue of that they sent him out yesterday.'' " "Mr Weasley, Department of Magical Law Enforcement Division The Improper Use of Magic Office Head, said: ''I came back to the right side because I couldn''t stand the darkness and the oppression there, he''s very good at pretence and very much favoured by Dumbledore for it; many people have fallen for his tricks, I knew him for a long time now, he couldn''t have done it this time. Dumbledore must have had an ulterior motive, he has no talent for anything other than acting.'' " "Mr Malfoy, Head of Auror office, said: ''We investigated the bodies of Be and Rodolphus, they were not killed by magic, but by the fang of a very dangerous dark creature. This is obviously suspicious, as a wizard no one would think of wielding a cold weapon and fighting like a troll, Be and the others'' death by such an end was deliberately caused by someone, since the boy couldn''t have used a high-level magic spell, even a fool wouldn''t believe he killed them by magic then, that''s why Dumbledore used such a tactic to me such an atrocity on him.'' " "We have interviewed many people in the know and have finallye to the conclusion that the boy selected for the Triwizard Tournament did not have the strength to kill the Lestrange couple in any way whatsoever and that the scene that took ce at the selection dinner was an outright hoax! Dumbledore intended to trick wizards all over Europe to create momentum for Jon Green, and the conspiracy was directed at the uing Triwizard Tournament!" "Dumbledore caught the Lestrange on a mission that was a trap arranged by him from the very beginning, where someone sneaked up on them and proceeded to hold them captive until themencement of the Triwizard Champion selection! Finally, upon selecting the ouw student, Jon Green was asked to shock all the other participants by making a brutal entrance by killing the Lestrange couple with the venomous fang." "With such a move they wanted to cause an impact on the Triwizard Tournament, which had not yet begun, and increase their own chances of winning. Fortunately, the Ministry of Magic has investigated everything, and we have been informed that Mr Malfoy and Mr Lestrange, who will be representing Great Britain in the tournament, are in good shape and are not confused by their opponents and are confident of their ultimate victory." At the end of the article, a picture of Dumbledore upied almost the entire page. It was unknown what kind of means the Daily Prophet had used to make this picture show Dumbledore with a particrly sinister smile as if he was really a dark viin who was nning some big conspiracy. Jon read the whole article, and a very odd expression crept over his face. It wasn''t anger, but a sense of iprehensible absurdity. "Would someone really believe them when they say something like this? And, the Triwizard Tournament? Why would such a tournament be held? And they''re saying I''m a participant?" Jon had only just now learned about the Triwizard Tournament, still from foe newspapers. It made him feel like he had been in the Arctic for what seemed like two or three years, and he didn''t know anything that had transpired outside during that time! "Of course, there will be, and there will be plenty of them." Dumbledore was certain, answering Jon''s first question first, "A lot of people didn''t even see what happenedst night with their own eyes, all the portrayals are only through the mere words that have gone out, and the Daily Prophet''s article contains a valid reasoning that a number of wizards within Britain would certainly believe." "Won''t they go and read the news circting abroad? There were quite a few other magical Daily newspapers present, surely they all wouldn''t make such outrageous reports?" "In times like these, wizards still living within Britain are bound to believe the Ministry of Magic when two different pieces of information are put before them." Dumbledore said softly. Jon thought about it for a moment and then said. "I''m still a little confused. Does that mean that the Dark Lord has the Daily Prophet reporting such articles just to fool the wizards within Britain? What is he doing this for? Anyone who was there that night would have known that this rhetoric of theirs was full of holes, and those people were basically diplomats from the various ministries of magic, and they certainly wouldn''t report a lie when they got back, so what impact could he possibly make by spreading such a lie." Dumbledore, who had obviously thought through the reason for this, poured Jon a cup of tea and guided him to contemte the matter on his own. "We first need to understand what the consequences would have been in Britain if he hadn''t covered up the news that you had killed the Lestrange''s." Jon replied. "It would shake the trust of the half-bloods who make up the vast majority of wizards in the British Ministry of Magic? Two of their greatest gentleman''s right-hand men were actually killed by a teenage boy like me." "That''s only part of it." Dumbledore said calmly, "It is something that will shake his personal prestige, but it will only be like a breeze blowing the grass and making them sway gently. What will really be shaken is actually their confidence in the Triwizard Tournament to be held next." "You single-handedly killed Be and Rodolphus and will be representing us afterwards, and the oue of this tournament is the key to determining the final fate of France." "If everyone knew that you have such strength, they would be in an extremely pessimistic state of mind about the next Triwizard Tournament that will take ce, knowing that there is no doubt that they will lose. The Dark Lord is trying to use this fake news to confuse and fool the wizards of Britain into thinking that you are just an ordinary student, and the underlying reason is to give them hope for the next tournament." "And the Triwizard Tournament is the tournament that the Dark Lord proposed to host to determine the ownership of France when you set out from Durmstrang to the Arctic, on his own." ---- #Jonathan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 311: Lies (2 in 1) Chapter 311: Lies (2 in 1) "The Triwizard Tournament was proposed by the Dark Lord?" Jon asked with wide eyes. It wasn''t surprising that Jon was shocked; he happened to have finished reading the first four books of the original story for the second time just before he crossed over, that is until the Goblet of Fire one, in which the Triwizard Tournament ended. And the Triwizard Tournament had been held during thest year of peace in the magical world. But now that Europe seemed to be in turmoil after Voldemort took over France, Jon had never even considered that the Triwizard Tournament could be held as it was in the original, not to mention the fact that history had changed dramatically. Not only did the tournament going to be held like the original, but Voldemort himself initiated it. Dumbledore gave Jon an overview of what had happened at the time when Witching Horizons was attacking the French Ministry of Magic, and as Jon listened, he fell into a moment of contemtion. "He shouldn''t have recovered that quickly." Jon said suspiciously, "At the time he had gone to such lengths to abandon everything he had in Britain to go to sea, and from what it seemed the most fundamental reason to do so was to resolve the trouble in his soul. It should have affected him greatly to have recovered so quickly after I left Starr''s High Tower and tore up that pact, which is somewhat out of the norm." "But what''s even more out of character is that he''s actually going to organize a Triwizard Tournament?" Jon frowned. "ording to what you said, Professor, at that time, if he had recovered his strength to its fullest extent, the advantage should have been in his favour and the odds would have been in his favour. But instead, he intended to solve the problem by means other than war in the name of trying to preserve the French Ministry of Magic" "I don''t think he would give up recovering the reputation he lost during his previous public defeat by you just to preserve the French Ministry of Magic." Dumbledore crossed his arms and ced them on his stomach as he chuckled lightly. "That''s not really a hard question to guess at all, Jon. When a man gives up what is seemingly best for him and goes for the other option, it means that he knows exactly which one brings more benefit to himself." "The fact that he has now chosen to solve the issue with a Triwizard Tournament means that he believes that organising the tournament will bring him greater benefits, including the issues that are now reflected in this newspaper that he has ordered to be published." "He wants to stabilise the situation and make everything work out for the Triwizard Tournament that will be held next. And all we have to think about is what kind of huge benefits could be brought to him by organising this Triwizard Tournament." His expression was serious, and he was obviously discussing this seriously with Jon. Wizards allcked the ability to think rationally and logically to an extreme degree because they were in a state of emotional spell casting for so long, but Dumbledore was clearly distinguished from normal wizards in that although he had reached the peak of his emotional capacity, as he likewise did notck rationality either. "We can think in reverse about his most pressing needs at present to see what it is that this tournament has to offer him that could be of such great benefit." "The first is the damage done to his soul after you destroyed the pact." "He has recovered his strength strangely, and let''s assume for a moment that this state of his recovery is temporary, unique, and cannot be maintained for long, then his most pressing need right now for him is a means to bring himself back to full strength." "Secondly, the pact is unique enough that once it is destroyed it cannot be repaired, but he has left another backhand to ensure that it can be reced if something goes wrong." "Assuming that the reason he didn''t want to fight me in the French Ministry of Magic was that his subsequent pact to stabilise his soul was not as stable as the first one, but still ensured that his power would be maintained, then the problem he had to face at that moment was what to do to turn back his defeat in France." "Thirdly, the precondition is the same as the first, the pact has been destroyed, and he has used a special method to temporarily restore his state, but he has also confirmed that when that time is over, he will never be able to return to his peak strength." "Then all he has to do now is to deal with me, by either bringing me down to the same level as him or by killing me outright, that would still satisfy his needs." These three scenarios that Dumbledore deduced basically epassed the full range of possibilities. It is said to be three, but at the crux of each of them, there is actually a question of what state Voldemort''s personal strength is in right now. But what kind of transformation or change could the Triwizard Tournament offer Voldemort if it is held? Jon mused and looked up. "Could there be a fourth possibility, Professor, that the recovery of strength he showed in front of you was actually an illusion, that the offer to organise the Triwizard Tournament was just a way of stalling for time, and that he is still looking for some other way to recover his strength?" Dumbledore nodded lightly. "Don''t rule out the possibility of anything without careful investigation, but first of all if he did manage to conceal it from me, it would mean that he would have been at the peak beyond me at the moment he did unless he used some means that are unknown to me." It was only after hearing him say this that Jon suddenly remembered exactly the purpose for which he hade to see Dumbledore. He had forgotten the main business just now after reading that Daily Prophet. With haste, Jon brought out the portrait of the Slytherin and unfolded it in front of Dumbledore. "Professor, I almost forgot, I visited thatst point at the North Pole ording to Headmaster Bagshot, where I entered an undergroundbyrinth and then found this magical portrait of Mr Slytherin, and from him, I learned what the Dark Lord had done after he found him in the past." After giving Dumbledore his introduction, Jon looked down and apologized to the Slytherin in the portrait. "I''m sorry sir, I forgot about you earlier." On the wall behind Dumbledore where portraits of all the headmasters of Hogwarts hung, the headmasters, who had all been faking their sleep, saw the portrait Jon had pulled out and couldn''t help but let out a soft gasp. Slytherin, grumpy as he was, didn''t care much about this little problem of Jon''s. As soon as the portrait had spread out on the table, he looked over at Dumbledore, who looked at him with a surprised look at the same time, greeting the old man in the portrait with some strange emotion. "Hello, Mr Szar Slytherin." Slytherin gave him a slight nod in response. "I have heard two different versions of you from two different students of yours, but I suppose I should be able to roughly make my own judgement now, as to who I should really believe." A glint of gloom appeared on his old, monkey-like face. "Tom Riddle has deceived me!" Dumbledore and Jon looked at each other, he had obviously only just learned that Voldemort''sst stop on his sea voyage was actually to see the portrait left behind by his ancestor at the North Pole. Slytherin looked at Dumbledore and the wall of portraits of past Headmasters behind him as he said in a hoarse and angry voice. "I know you all want to know exactly what he gained from me after he found me back then." His gaze carried a gloomy and reminiscent look. "Thatbyrinth in the Arctic was once a chamber that I created under the ice for magical research after I had left Hogwarts. There were many magical creatures sealed in the ice that hadn''t melted in millions of years, that were different from the ones that exist at that time, and I travelled there to look for certain inspirations." "This portrait was also left there at that time, and I used some small tricks to keep the portrait while I was alive as an ordinary portrait, but after my death, the potion that was prepared would be sprinkled on time on the ordinary portrait, so that it would be who I am now, to monitor the research I left behind in the Arctic and to control Hass... -a basilisk." "Riddle came to thatbyrinth fourteen years ago and found me, he said he had found my ce through clues passed down in Slytherin House and that he needed my help as the magical world was in darkness at that time." "He told me a story, a story of wizards who were suffering from muggle oppression, and purebloods hiding out in the middle of nowhere. In the story, Albus Dumbledore was a wizard traitor who had defected to the Muggles, he was the headmaster of Hogwarts and had implemented policies in the castle where the Muggles are the absolute core and the wizards suffer oppression. Moreover, he united with the Muggle kings and enved all the wizards, and the entire world was in a more miserable state than it had been a thousand years ago." "Except for the wizards born in Muggle families themselves, all other children born from wizarding families are all tamed into ves to serve the Muggles, and the wizards who have defected to the Muggles have created a pact to make the wizards'' infants a ve from their birth, just like the house elves, to forever and ever serve only the Muggles, and even be tools of war for the Muggles. " Dumbledore and Jon were both listening intently, and the sessive Headmasters'' portraits on the wall were all frowning and whispering. "He said that the line of Slytherins had changed their name into the House of Gaunt and had been in constant hiding with several other ancient pureblood houses like rats, trying to escape the impending fate of being enved by Muggles. His mother was fooled by a vile muggle and fell into a trap, not only bringing cmity to her own family as a result but also birthing him as a half-blood and ending up depressed after his birth when that muggle father of his abandoned his wife and son." "After he grew up and learned the real reason Hogwarts was founded in the first ce, and to save the wizarding world from beingpletely enved by muggles, a second Hogwarts was established and every year he fought to raise wizard babies that had just been born and not yet discovered by muggles, educating the next generation of wizards while wandering to resist Dumbledore''s hunting." After hearing what the Slytherins had to say, the sessive Headmasters burst out in a fit of anger. "Shameless! Truly shameless!" The benevolent Headmistress Dilys'' face was filled with indignation and anger. Sirius'' ancestor Phineas kept shaking his head, "To think that he could make up a story like that, even I didn''t have such thick skin back then" Dumbledore''s predecessor, Armando, also sighed, "He can act, he fooled a whole school at that time, I have even always felt sure he would make the most outstanding contribution to the wizarding world in the future." The headmasters in the portraits scorned,mented and regretted this, while Dumbledore shook his head helplessly with a resigned look on his face. "There is no better liar in the world than him, and all those things he told you have indeed be true now, but it is not the pureblood wizards who are being oppressed, but the muggle-born who have no heritage. He hadn''t yet seized Hogwarts castle at the time he met you, nor did he rule the whole of Britain as he does now, but he could think of the idea of turning Hogwarts into a very farm, and presumably had already nned for the future at that time." Jon had learned about how Slytherin was being deceived while he was in the Labyrinth, what he really wanted to know was what exactly Voldemort ultimately wanted from Slytherin that would help him. "So sir, what did he want you to give him when he told you this then?" Slytherin didn''t hold back much this time as he continued with a grimace on his face. "At the time he told me that he had no choice but to use dark magic on himself that would allow him to live forever in order to escape Dumbledore who was leading Muggles, and to continue to protect the seeds of the next generation of wizards." Hearing this Jon and Dumbledore looked at each other, and they instantly thought of what dark magic he talked about. "He had split his soul many times and made them into Horcruxes. He told me he was aware that it was evil dark magic, but he had run out of options, and after sessfully making the Horcruxes, he did get through many crises with the help of it, but afterwards, he felt the harm it was doing to his soul." "He became more and more irritable and emotional, almost losing his original reasoning. It was at this point that he sensed that something was wrong with his situation and that if he continued to rely on the Horcruxes in this way, then he would be another person,pletely controlled by dark magic." "So he thought of reiming all the remnants of his soul that had split and made into Horcruxes so that he could be whole again. But after the soul is split, it is not something that could be brought back again so easily. He literally stuffed the remnants of his soul into his body, but there was no way to connect the souls into a whole." "In the old Slytherin family house, he read through some remnants of books about how I had researched the soul very much a thousand years ago, and then found me under that ice in the Arctic, wanting my help to provide him with a way to perfectly repair his soul." Jon looked at the Slytherin in the portrait. "You told him the method?" "That''s right, I believed him and helped him define a n to make his split soul whole again, based on what he had described!" Jon froze, and only now did he suddenly be certain of something. The soul-separation pact that Voldemort had coaxed Sir Stoker into signing for him on Starr''s High Tower was not aimed at the same soul problem as the one he had found Slytherin to carry out a patching up of his split soul! ---- #Jonathan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 312: Two Souls Chapter 312: Two Souls It seemed that Voldemort''s purpose in visiting Sir Stoker was the exact opposite of going to the North Pole to find Slytherin. Sir Stoker had told him quite explicitly that the fundamental reason the pact, which Jon had got from the Tower and destroyed, had been created by his ancestor was to separate the consciousness of the human from that of the beast which was created due to the Maledictus blood curse. Voldemort had coaxed Sir Stoker into making the pact with him to separate the two consciousness within him, allowing one to dominate. He then went on to find the Slytherin portrait within thebyrinth beneath the Arctic ice and told a big lie to get this ancestor of his to help him to fuse the remnants of souls in the Horcruxes. After deducing this outline, Jon just found it really messy. It wasn''t the logic of the matter that seemed messy, but the soul within Voldemort''s body seemed too messy. In the beginning, when he had left the tower, Jon had thought that the consciousness Voldemort had used the pact to separate was actually from the remnant soul of one of his defiant Horcrux. But now, it was clear that Voldemort had known from the start that it would not be easy to get the split soul back, so he had gone straight to where the Slytherin portrait was and sought out a way to fuse the split souls back together alone. So, what about the consciousness he wanted to segregate using a pact? What is it then? Jon''s face showed a mixture of reflection and disbelief, and Dumbledore had obviously thought of it as well. The information they knew was shared with each other, so if Jon could think of this problem, there was no way Dumbledore couldn''t figure it out. "Mr Slytherin, the magic you taught Riddle to fuse a split soul, can it also be used to fuse his soul with another soul?" Dumbledore asked. Slytherin shook his head decisively. "There is no possibility of that, there is no possibility of two unrted souls fusing together. If someone could really do that, then he would be equal to being invincible, a stronger soul would lead to a stronger wizard''s ''will'' and stronger magic, and to really be able to make ipatible soulspatible would mean that a wizard''s ''will'' could reach heights with no upper limit, something that is absolutely out of anyone''s reach in this world." Hearing his exnation, Dumbledore''s face showed contemtion. He actually knew more than Jon did, after all, on that night in the re-educational camp, although it was Jon who had destroyed the pact by shredding it on the sea, it was Dumbledore who had actuallye face to face with Voldemort. He had seen with his own eyes how Voldemort had behaved at that moment after the pact had been destroyed, and it was clearly the act of two different consciousnesses fighting for the right to control that body. The consciousness that had been in control was threatened by the one that had been separated by the pact when the pact was destroyed, and it had even taken over part of Voldemort''s body, hence his self-inflicted act of stabbing himself through the palm of his hand. This means that the two souls in Voldemort''s body were not able to merge, and the fact that they were not able to merge means that one of them must not be Voldemort himself The information from the Slytherin end can at least confirm one thing, that is, the soul that has been in control of the body must be Voldemort''s own, otherwise, he couldn''t be able to fuse the soul fragments in the Horcruxes. Only the one that originally belonged to him could be fused anew. Then. Who is that soul that is not Voldemort''s? And is that soul a friend or foe to Dumbledore as well as to Jon and the others? There was no usible answer to that question for the moment, but the Slytherin portrait itself had more significance than simply giving them information about Voldemort. As one of the four founders who had built Hogwarts Castle, he could well be described as a living fossil. In the magical world, there is certainly no such thing as modern magic being definitely weaker than ancient magic, just like the evolution of the Unlocking Charm; from Open Sesame - Portaberto - to Alohomora, from violence to subtlety, it is a continuous process of progress, and the current ones definitely work better than the previous ones. But before Hogwarts was founded and the schools becamepletely mainstream, wizards mainly passed on their skills in the master and apprentice format, which led to a lot of umon magic that remained undiscovered or poorly discovered in modern times being lost. Slytherin would certainly know some magic like that, just as he was able to devise a detailed soul-fusion n for Voldemort. Secondly, it is about the identity of Hogwarts'' orthodoxy. With two Hogwarts existing in the wizarding world today, a magical portrait of Slytherin personally acknowledging the existence of one would be absolutely extremely significant. To the point where it could even rival Hogwarts Castle significant in itself, as it was the four founders who decided to establish Hogwarts first before Hogwarts Castle came into existence, to begin with. It''s just that in the bet between Dumbledore and Voldemort regarding the uing Triwizard Tournament, there is a use about the legitimacy of the one and only Hogwarts. Now even with Slytherin standing up and iming it, it still depended on the final oue of the tournament, after all, as long as the blood pact is not broken, then only one Hogwarts will exist after this Triwizard Tournament. It was at this point that Jon remembered something else, and looked at Dumbledore. "Professor, so was it you who got someone to sign me up for the tournamentst night?" Hearing him ask about it, Dumbledore shook his head. "Both students, and Minerva, had the idea of trying to slip your name into the Goblet of Fire, but I actually know that there was no need for that, the Dark Lord himself would let someone sign up for you." Jon blinked. "You mean he was sure I would die at the North Pole and as soon as he threw my name into the Goblet of Fire, that goblet would also pick my name for sure, and then when I was chosen and didn''t get to y in the tournament, it would be one less person in a tournament that is supposed to consist of four people from two sides?" Dumbledore replied. "That''s just one aspect, I guess that although he thought you wouldn''t make it out of the North Pole, and even if he was wrong, it wouldn''t have mattered to him whether you managed toe back alive or not; the tournament was held in Hogwarts castle, and he has plenty of time to make some small moves if he wants to deal with youter. It''s just that what he didn''t expect was that you not only came back alive, but you killed his most capable subordinate, even more so in front of him and so many others from all over Europe, and that''s what angered him the most." Voldemort''s scheming and cunning were evident in every aspect, and most crucially now that he had learned of Jon as a person. Dumbledore''s voice became serious and heavy. "So next, he will certainly try to kill you by any means possible, I will not leave the tournament grounds once the Triwizard Tournament has officially begun, but you must also be careful yourself." ---- [Author;] Seeing as there are quite a few misunderstandings, let me stress first that Voldemort is definitely not possessed by a transmigrator, that interpretation is the same as me forcing a private setting on this without any novelty or interesting bits, I certainly would never write it that way, the truth is bound to be something I''ve derived based on the original setting. Moreover, what Voldemort is doing now, even if it is clever, it is not something a normal transmigrator would do at all. --- #Archit Sharma, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 313: The Sacrifice of the Sample Chapter 313: The Sacrifice of the Sample There''s no need for Jon to worry about the issue of safety in the Triwizard Tournament so early on. The tournament would begin with the start of the new academic year in September, and now it was only just May, with four months in between for preparations, in which the rules and judges would also be decided. Slytherin''s portrait has been re-framed and ced among the portraits of past headmasters. Andpared to the Triwizard Tournament, Jon had another question that he was somewhat curious to ask. "Professor, there''s something I''m not quitefortable asking at Durmstrang earlier, that Headmaster Bagshot. I don''t suppose that''s his real name?" To this, Dumbledore did not hide it from Jon, originally Grindelwald had concealed his identity only to hide it from those who he wanted to be kept in the dark, there were only a handful of people in the wizardingmunity who knew his true identity. "Gellert Grindelwald, that is his real name, in his youth he made some mistakes and so was imprisoned for over fifty years, only being released from prison again a few years ago." Despite the brevity of his words, Jon certainly had a good idea of what Grindelwald was really like. He blinked and asked tentatively. "I''ve read about Mr Grindelwald''s former exploits in the history of magic and know that at one time no one was his equal but you, so why didn''t hee to France with you to deal with the Dark Lord now that he''s an ally with us?" Dumbledore shook his head. "He didn''te out to help me, Jon. He was supposed to stay in prison for the rest of his life, in no position to pick up his wand again and just end his life peacefully, but things in Britain caused a lot of things to change, and one of them was his re-emergence from prison." "But even so, not having held a wand for more than fifty years and not having used magic had a great effect on him in itself. Not to mention the fact that he has notpletely recovered his strength now, even if he is back to his best, there is no way he canpare to what he once was." As he said this, Dumbledore''s gaze deepened. "Besides, he has his own ideas, ideas that are very different from the man he once was." "My thoughts are irrelevant to him." *** In the tall, icy fortress at the very edge of the Arctic ice field, Grindelwald looked at Erik with a t face. "The only thing that matters is exactly what results you havee up with now, and whatever thoughts I may have, they will not sway the final truth." Eric, who seemed to have respect for this old man but not the reverence as the rest of the Acolytes, said, rubbing his forehead. "The results are there, but a lot of experimental samples were consumed earlier to rescue the boy you spoke of, and I''m not sure if any of those people have noticed the problem; what if they took a few of the bears'' carcasses and found something wrong?" Grindelwald sat back in his chair as he looked up at the creatures frozen in the huge wall of ice. "What can they do if they find out something is wrong? Do you think those people can think of the direction we are exploring? Or who else in the magicalmunity would have thought of it now, besides us?" Hisment was obviously somewhat absolute, but Eric did not deny it, and the tone of his reply was not patronising, but rather a carefully thought-out affirmation. "Indeed, it is true that if any wizards did know what we were doing, they would probably just call us crazy." An unnoticeable smile suddenly appeared at the corner of Grindelwald''s mouth. "Besides, these samples are not a bad sacrifice, did you read yesterday''s newspaper?" Eric scratched at his dishevelled hair and whined. "How can I possibly read the paper so timely in a ce like this, sir, the daily papers Hans usually brings me are more than three days out of date." "Green killed two of Voldemort''s best men, the one who is ruling Britain." Grindelwald narrowed his eyes, "Or in front of that man himself, just with a basilisk''s fang." Eric''s eyes widened. "Hey! I thought he fled in disarray with my help! He''s only fifteen!" "Fourteen years old for now." "I was still in Durmstrang when I was that age getting confined by Hans for poking a slug with a wand!" Grindelwald said softly as he gently shook the wand in his hand and crossed his legs. "That is why I said that these samples were not a bad sacrifice at all." *** Jon, of course, had no idea about Grindelwald paying attention to anything concerning him. Aftermunicating with Dumbledore in his office about all the things that had happened, he found Hermione and the others. The Hogwarts students had been taken to Witching Horizons to resume regr school life, and in Lyons, Professor McGonagall had found a special area to use as a temporary site for the school to teach the students. With the decision to use the Triwizard Tournament to decide the final fate of France, the work of the professors has been eased, and they can devote more time to teaching. That meant that after six months of wandering plus two or three months in Durmstrang, Hermione and the gang finally returned to normal schedules at the end of the term. Aftering here, Jon also finally had time to start studying the notebook-like book he had found from thebyrinth through the map Adrien had left behind after school. Afterparing it with a few dictionaries, he was able to ascertain that thenguage in which the notes were written was German. Bit by bit he tranted the opening pages of the notepletely byparing it with the German dictionary, and upon seeing the result of the trantion, Jon''s spirits lifted! Apart from the gem, the notes were something that Adrien had treasured with extra care, and while at the Labyrinth, Jon had felt sure that it would be worth no less than the gem itself, and that was indeed the case. It''s a detailed guide to the advanced human transfiguration magic, Animagus. Not the normal kind that any gifted wizard could learn, but rather an Animagus that was modified to suit the gem and couldpletely change the nature of the wizard''s own magic! Jon unconsciously recalled the words of Slughorn during his first lesson about the ring in his first year on the wagon. Throughout history, the greatest research into magically altering a wizard''s own magic had been the advanced transfiguration magic - Animagus, but this transfiguration magic may have seemed to be sessful by turning a human into an animalpletely. But the wizard''s own magic has not changed even a little bit, because Animagus cannot transform one into a magical creature. To truly achieve the final transformation, there must necessarily be a change in the magic, that is, a change that would allow the wizard''s Animagus to transform into the form possessed by the magical creature. And this note left by Adrien is a hypothesis and a conjecture for using the ring to aplish this transformation! ---- #Archit Sharma, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 314: Gabrielles age Chapter 314: Gabrielle''s age Most of it, in fact, is conjecture and hypothesis; after all, even Adrien himself, who made the ring and the gem, had never used such a thing for its true purpose. He could only deduce, all on the basis of theory, how to perfect the true Animagus if the ring ever encountered someone who could use it sessfully in the future. Firstly, the preparatory steps at the beginning were indistinguishable from normal Animagus. Jon needs to find a single leaf of mandrake and hold it in his mouth. This processsts for a month, and in between, once he identally swallows the leaf or spits it out, he has to start all over again. When this step isplete, he then needs to remove the leaf on a full moon, fill a small crystal vial with saliva and soak the leaf in it, allowing it to receive the pure moonlight. If the day on which the leaf was taken out ording to time was a cloudy day and the moon could not be seen, it meant that the previous work had to be abandoned, and he would have to start it all over again. When all the conditions are in ce, a hair of his own is needed to be put into the small crystal vial illuminated by moonlight, along with a silver teaspoon of dew, which must be collected from a ce where there has been no sunlight or human contact for seven whole days, and finally, the chrysalis of a Death''s-head Hawk Moth also need to be added, and the mixture needs to be ced in a quiet, dark environment. Then, while waiting for a night of thunderstorms, Jon had to chant an incantation that was very different from normal Animagus until a second heartbeat may be sensed, and then drink the mixture on the night of the thunderstorm. It sounds a bit disgusting, a vial of saliva that will be stored for who knows how long, even if it is produced by himself, it is not quite pleasant. But this is indeed how Animagus is learned in its entirety, and all Animagus who have been sessfully transformed have all gone through this process. As Adrien deduced in his notes, the steps up to drinking the mixture down on a thunderstorm night were no different, the only difference is the final normal step of holding the wand and chanting the incantation aimed at one''s heart area to finalise the transformation. In the case of the ring spell casting, the final step, of course, needs to be done by using the gem embedded in the ring itself toplete the spell. But when ites to transforming into a magical creature, the change in appearance is only secondary, the key lies in the inner change in magic power. No matter what kind of magical creature it is, even if it is the lowest-level slug, the magic it contains is vastly different from that of a wizard. The key to a normal Animagus not being able to turn into a magical creature lies in the fact that a wizard has no way of essentially altering his or her own magic. For example, the Basilisk''s direct death gaze effect and the fact that its venomous fang could directly attack the soul are all abilities brought to it by its own special magic. If a wizard wants to turn into a Basilisk, the only way to do so is to transform his or her magic into that of a Basilisk. Otherwise, even if the transformation isplete, it will be no different from not changing at all if the magical creaturecks the abilities it inherently possesses. It was for this reason that Slughorn had told Jon right at the beginning that the current Animagus of the magical world was a failed product of research on whether magic could be transformed. To truly transform magic, by making everything it represents into a different form, was an unprecedented attempt. There was no historical reference, so this note left Jon with only a reference, and it was still uncertain whether it would work or not. But in any case, there was such a possibility in front of Jon, so, of course, he had to try. He hadn''t thought about what magic to attach to the gem he had got from thebyrinth itself, and an Animagus that could transform into a magical creature would certainly be a good choice. After he had made up his mind, Jon didn''t stop, he immediately found the office where Lily was and asked her for a leaf of mandrake. As it happened, he was there just at the right time, Lily was preparing a potion to lift the petrification using the mandrake, and she was pouring it over Nick''s body when Jon entered. Gabrielle had informed the Professors about Nick''s situation the night she had just returned from the French Ministry of Magic. Mandrake, an important strategic supply nowadays, was readily avable in Witching Horizon, and after two days of brewing by Lily, the antidote wasplete. "It''s a good thing it was Nick who saw the Basilisk''s eyes." Lily''s voice was a little serious; from Nick''s state at present alone, she could tell that Jon''s and their experience in the Arctic had a high degree of peril than one could imagine. "If it was you or Gabrielle who locked eyes with that Basilisk, it would have been a big mistake." Jon held a mandrake leaf that Lily had picked out for him separately in his hand, not rushing to just put it in his mouth, but watching from the sidelines as she poured the antidote over Nick''s rigid body. "Would Gabrielle have had any problem if she had seen the basilisk''s eyes as well?" "She turned into a unique spectral state by drinking the Draught of Living Ghost, but that state doesn''t make her immune to direct death from magic. Whether it''s the lethal effect of the Basilisk''s eyes or the killing curse, it could kill her in a different way by directly transforming her into a ghost." Hearing Lily''s words, Jon''s heart couldn''t help but wince a bit. He had likewise felt that Gabrielle''s state was obviously very different from that of a real ghost, so he had also been asking her to avoid the Death Eater''s killing curse. "So when will Gabrielle be back to normal?" Lily replied softly. "It shouldn''t take long, as long as your performance at the Triwizard Tournament goes smoothly, and once we''vepletely taken over Beauxbatons, we can retrieve her body from there and revive her." With that said, an interesting question suddenly struck Jon. "Well, Gabrielle has been living in a state of ghost for over a year now, so when she returns to her own body, how will she age? Will her body grow older as well?" Lily carefully drizzled the potion along Nick''s head, all the way down to Nick''s feet, before saying. "That would depend on how that runaway Beauxbatons Headmistress, Madame Maxime, preserved her body, under normal circumstances, she would have used something like a Freezing Spell to suppress the growth of Gabrielle''s body, in which case when Gabrielle''s soul returned to her body, it would mean that her physical age would still be the same as when she drank the Draught of Living Ghost, but the true soul and mental age must be calcted ording to the time she grew and experienced." Jon blinked. So, if Gabrielle remained in her soul state for eight or ten years and then changed back, wouldn''t that be the same as being an adult in her mental age and a child in her body? Seemed kind of interesting? ---- #Archit Sharma, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 315: Nicks Show-off Chapter 315: Nick''s Show-off "So if Gabrielle goes to a magic school in the future, will the entrance be based on the age of her soul or the age of her body?" Lily gave no clear answer to this question of his, shaking her head. "There''s no precedent for this, but if we were to go by the normal Hogwarts admissions criteria of recruiting students at the age of eleven, it would depend on her mental age." Just as they were talking, Nick''s body, which had taken on a greyish shade of white, began to lighten up noticeably. The effect of the potion Lily had prepared was immediate and the petrification was being sessively reversed. As she waited for Nick to recover, Lily did not forget to look at the leaf of mandrake in Jon''s hand and cautioned. "If you are going to try to learn Animagus, you better do it under the guidance of Professor McGonagall, this type of magic is dangerous and there are many kinds of failures in history." "Don''t worry, I''ll take care of myself, Professor." Although Jon''s words wereced with assurance, he had no real intention of going to McGonagall. After all, the Animagus form he was about toplete was different from a normal wizard''s, and there was no way to offer much help unless it was from someone who knew about this ring he held. Soon the changes in Nick''s body became more and more apparent, the greyish-white hue hadpletely faded from his body and the expression of horror that had been on his face gradually began to loosen as his mind regained control of his soul. The first thing Nick did after recovering from his petrified state was to float up from his hospital bed. He looked at Jon with a smug look on his face. "Seventeen shots! I''ve been counting all along! That''s 17 in total!" Even in his petrification, he still maintained his awareness of the outside world, knowing full well what both he and Jon had been through. Lily gathered the materials on the table, a little confused by the number Nick had uttered. "Seventeen shots of what?" Jon covered his forehead. "Seventeen killing curses." Hearing his words, Lily guessed what it meant with just a brief thought. "You used the petrified Nick as a shield?" "Hey! Jon was a genius! We both worked so well together, I helped him to form an absolute defence and he did the attacking! We beat countless adversaries in thatbyrinth!" Nick was clearly excited. He didn''t mind the fact that he was being used as a shield against a killing curse, ghosts were in such a state that they couldn''t die again no matter what happened to them, but following Jon on this adventure was definitely exciting, enough for him to use as capital to brag aboutter in front of the other young wizards. Lily seemed to have a strong desire to gush out at Jon for his whimsy. "That''s really something you wouldn''t normally think of." A newly recovered Nick was visibly a little agitated; ording to his description, being petrified felt like being shoved into an extremely confined space, unable to budge his entire body or move a single muscle, and it was unbearable. Once recovered, he couldn''t stop floating around in mid-air for a while, which was followed by leaving Lily''s office and going on a tour around this makeshift school. Jon also said goodbye to Lily and waited until nightfall, and after seeing a full moon rise in the sky, he put the piece of mandrake leaf in his mouth and put it under his tongue to prevent it from being inadvertently swallowed. Yet Jon still underestimated the difficulty of learning the Animagus. The leaf remained in his mouth for less than three days before it was identally swallowed with milk in the middle of breakfast. After finishing the milk, Jon was frozen, clearly aware of the sensation of the leaf that he had been holding for three whole days sliding down his throat. Hermione, who was sitting right next to him, saw the look on his face and couldn''t help but ask curiously. "What''s wrong?" Jon wasn''t much discouraged, it was only the first step, and there was nothing toxic about the mandrake leaves, so even if he ate them it wouldn''t be a big deal. "Nothing. By the way, what were you guys talking about yesterday." He changed the subject. Ron raised a copy of the Starlight newspaper in his hand. "The Quidditch World Cup that was originally scheduled for this year has been postponed, supposedly the final of the game was initially going to be held in Britain, but apparently the current circumstances aren''t suitable. So they''ve postponed the game to next summer, and if there are any more surprises, they''ll probably have to change the venue." Jon took the newspaper from him and sure enough saw the news on it about the Quidditch World Cup being postponed. It couldn''t be helped, given the current situation in Europe, the Quidditch tournament couldn''t be held even if it wasn''t in Britain, for one thing, the teams from two countries, Britain and France, couldn''t take part, and that included their nearby countries such as Irnd, Spain, Switzend and so on, who were also affected. It would be safest to wait until next year, when that bet on the oue of the Triwizard Tournament would be avable, which all of Europe is paying attention to, before considering whether to still hold thepetition. Hanton said with some regret. "I was looking forward to seeing the teams showing their superior skills at the World Cup, but it seems we''ll have to wait until next year." He had been a little envious of the Quidditch games yed by the purebloods when he was at Hogwarts Castle before, and some time ago at Durmstrang Hanton finally got the chance to actually get his hands on a flying broomstick for once. And Ron, being an avid fan, who had been secretly taken to some Quidditch League games by Arthur with some of his brothers when there was a chance, had told Hanton quite a bit about the team and some of the expert technical moves on the pitch. Jon had little interest in Quidditch as a sport. Since he would have been able to fly straight up without relying on a flying broom in the first year, his wishes to attempt to ride a broom were cut off from the very start. "Nick has been bragging about his experience with you at the North Pole to everyone he meets for the past two days." Ron said with a look of envy. "It''s a shame we didn''t tag along on thatst trip." "There was nothing to feel pity about, it was really too dangerous there." Jon said shaking his head, "It involved more element of luck to get out of there in the end, if Nick hadn''t happened to be petrified and could be able to block the killing curse, then I might have given up and taken Gabrielle to return earlier." Jon was telling the truth, that cramped space was too restrictive for him, if it wasn''t for Nick he would have probably been killed by the killing curse. After breakfast was over Jon made another trip to Lily''s office and asked for a fresh de of mandrake from her and put it back in his mouth. This time he paid more attention to it, deliberately suppressing the de whenever he happened to use his mouth, and these days Hermione and the others didn''t fail to be surprised by the fact that his ent had be slurred when he spoke. ---- #Archit Sharma, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 316: Cursing battle (2 in 1) Chapter 316: Cursing battle (2 in 1) "Nick? What are you doing in the boys''vatory? Do ghosts have to go to the toilet too?" "What? You want to know about the story of me taking 17 shots of a killing curse all by myself too! Well! I don''t think there''s really anything to brag about, but since so many people want to know, it doesn''t matter if I tell it again!" "No did you hear my question, I don''t want to hear it! Nick, you''ve been telling it to everyone for almost a week now! Don''t say it." "It was Jon who inadvertently found out when he blocked the first killing curse using me! He had me on his back at the time and the naughty Gabrielle tried to draw something on my handsome face, to stop her Jon switched me to his front and because of that, in return, I saved his life" What was the most painful thing for Hogwarts students during this time? That would be listening to Nick''s relentless bragging about how he had blocked 17 shots of killing curse. This one glorious experience surpassed even his previous bragging about his knighthood, which he would talk about ten times whenever he met someone. The students were happy to listen at first because the shock Jon gave them that night was so great. He had killed two of the Dark Lord''s best men with his own hands in front of the dark lord and left him helpless, so many of them wanted to know about Jon''s experiences in the Arctic. But even if they wanted to know more, they couldn''t stand Nick''s bragging about it to everyone he met, like an external megaphone. Of course, this didn''t make much difference to Jon. It wasn''t as if his experience in the Arcticbyrinth was a secret, and he didn''t mind if Nick didn''t keep it to himself. He had been keeping an eye on the leaf of mandrake in his mouth all these days, and it had certainly gone a lot smoother this time than thest time when he had identally swallowed it down with the milk due to his inexperience. It hadsted for over twenty days with no problems, and just as Jon was waiting for the end of the month-long cycle, to take the leaf out of his mouth on the night of the full moon and begin the next step. An early summer drizzle nketed the whole of Lyon. The clear night sky was obscured, and the moonlight was hidden behind thick, dark clouds, signifying another failure for Jon. The night he took the leaf out of his mouth had to be a clear night sky, and the same had to be true for the full moonlight, and only if such conditions were met could Jon put the leaf into the crystal vial and then fill it with saliva. And even if he thought of leaving Lyon for the time being and going to another area where there would be moonlight, he could not do that. The location where he ced the leaf into his mouth and where he took it out on the night in question had to be the same, and the deviation could not be too great, otherwise, it would also lead to the failure of the final potion. Such a harsh and very luck-dependent condition left Jon with no choice but to ask for another leaf of mandrake from Lily and put it in his mouth again. During this month, many things happened in the magical world. Firstly, the existence of the Slytherin portrait was reported by the Witching Horizons'' Starlight newspaper. Although there is now a bet on the Triwizard Tournament to determine Hogwarts'' orthodoxy, the existence of the portrait of Szar Slytherin himself could now be used to effectivelybat Voldemort''s theory of pureblood supremacy which is the basis of his rule. After all, even the ancestors who once insisted on the pureblood school of thought openly dering that purebloods are never supposed to be superior is a fatal blow to public opinion against the very basis on which purebloods upy the high ground. And as soon as the newspaper article was published, most of the newspapers throughout Europe followed suit and quoted it. Although a number of magical governments were a little more inclined towards Voldemort on the day of the Triwizard Tournament champions selection, the majority of the wizarding public was still overwhelmingly against the policies that are now being implemented in Britain. Needless to say, there is no way that muggle wizards would support it, and as for the half-bloods, they are not blind, it may seem that they are the beneficiaries once a muggle wizard group has be ves, but the purebloods have also be superior, and no matter how much they are whitewashed, the half-bloods are also the targets of oppression. Who would want to go from being equal to unequal unless they faced the same situation as the half-bloods in Britain and France, where they sumbed to the personal power of Voldemort and had to hold their noses and ept the status of being second-ss citizens? So even though most of the higher echelons of the magical government leaned towards Voldemort, among the wizarding popce, no one would be willing to admit that purebloods are inherently noble as long as the war had not yet reached their country and there was no violent intimidation. Still, even more, explosive revtions have yet to be made public in regard to Slytherin''sments at that time. As an ancestor of the Slytherins, Szar himself admitted that Voldemort is in fact his descendant who carries his own blood, but the pureblood leader, whose real name is Tom Riddle, is in fact a half-blood, to begin with! No other proof is needed for this, just finding out where Voldemort came from would be enough to count as hard evidence. Because although there were more than twenty-eight recognized pureblood wizard families in Europe back then, there was no such family name as Riddle who still exist or had been destroyed! The purebloods who had followed Voldemort since he was a student had always believed that Riddle was not Tom''s real family name and that he must havee from a more noble and distinguished family. Even Voldemort himself always believed this until heter found his Muggle father''s family. This news caused even more controversy. The man who had taken the theory of pureblood supremacy to the next level, who had rallied arge number of pureblood families to this cause, and who they revered as their Lord, is actually a half-blood? If this were to be proven, it would be tantamount to putting Voldemort''s theory to shame. If purebloods are truly superior, who are you to be their leader? The issue of Slytherin siding with Dumbledore and the question of Voldemort''s bloodline was a raging debate throughout Europe. And Dumbledore had deliberately chosen this time to ignite such a public outcry and had specifically sought out the perfect opportunity to do so. As in his and Jon''s analysis, Voldemort''s actions from the start of the year looked like a desperate attempt to maintain the normal hosting of the Triwizard Tournament. In such a situation, using the Slytherin portrait to directly sack him would be tantamount to forcing him to make a choice. Whether he wanted to tear his face off again, or continue to bear the anger and insist on waiting for the start of the Triwizard Tournament. If he couldn''t bear the anger and tore the face-off, then he would have to suffer the consequences of breaking the Blood Pact. If he chooses to hold his breath, then this public opinion is like a sharp de stabbed into his waist, with the bloodline in question, how is he going to maintain his ruling foundation next? In fact, the issue of Voldemort''s bloodline has always been a key tool held by Dumbledore''s side. But such information would have been mostly useless to expose during the previous period when Hogwarts was still in exile in Britain because at that time Voldemort equated to a total crushing victory. The Order of the Phoenix also had no outlet to speak out, and even if they did, theycked evidence, and even if some of Voldemort''s own people knew that their Lord had a problem with his bloodline, they would just keep that knowledge to themselves. But now the situation waspletely different. The war between Dumbledore and Voldemort had reached a turning point on the night of the Witching Horizon''s attack on the re-educational camp. Voldemort, who had used absolute force to enforce his oppressive policies, had experienced a defeat that began to reveal all the ws in his rule. On that night, after Jon had plunged the Basilisk''s fang into Be''s chest in front of so many people in Europe, he also smacked Voldemort hard right in the face. Under such circumstances, it is, of course, necessary to beat up the drowning dog, exposing all the problems Voldemort had previously kept under wraps, and further forcing him into a corner. As for Voldemort''s side, after the issues concerning Slytherin and his own bloodline were brought to light, they also quickly responded with a counter-attack. As Dumbledore had guessed at first, Voldemort certainly wasn''t thinking of ruining anything; he had maintained the hosting of the Triwizard Tournament just as he had before, and given his current nature, he wouldn''t discard all his previous set-ups by being so cranky. But he didn''t just sit back in silence and wait for the pressure of public opinion to get to him either. While Dumbledore now had a propaganda outlet, Voldemort, who had been operating in Britain for over a decade, could of course use public opinion to counteract it. He used the simplest and most effective method, denying directly in the Daily Prophet the authenticity of the Slytherin portrait that Jon had brought back from the Arctic Labyrinth, saying that it had been forged by Dumbledore himself and was a hoax. On that note, the authenticity of the Slytherin portrait really isn''t that easy to prove - after all, it''s not like it''s Slytherin himself or the ghost he left behind or anything. There is certainly the possibility of a forged magical portrait, and as long as the Daily Prophet is convinced that the portrait in Witching Horizons'' hands is a forgery, no matter what Dumbledore''s side says, they won''t be able toe up with any better evidence. As for Voldemort''s own bloodline, it is not easy to find hard evidence for that. The Gaunt family members were not all dead, and before Voldemort ruled Britain, he had an uncle who was imprisoned in Azkaban. But after he had taken over the British Ministry of Magic himself, thest direct male member of the Gaunt family had simply disappeared. Whether Voldemort killed him off as he had killed his own father''s family or hid him privately is unknown, and the orphanage where he had previously lived was also shut down long ago. The only person who knows Voldemort''s true identity, apart from Dumbledore, who took him out of the orphanage, is the portrait of Slytherin himself. Now that the Daily Prophet had bitten off more than they could chew by saying that the portrait is fake, they of course went along with it and stressed that everything that hade out of the Slytherin portrait''s mouth was a lie! In this way, the Starlight and the Daily Prophet bickered against each other, with the editors of both papers scrapping their quill pens and cursing each other''sck of honesty. One side denounced Voldemort for forgetting his ancestry, for lying even to his own ancestor, and for leading a pack of unscrupulous viins from top to bottom in the ranks of the purebloods. One side cursed Dumbledore for making up everything, even faking the portrait of Szar Slytherin. If the real Szar knew about this, he would have crawled out of his coffin and killed him with a killing curse. The article in the Daily Prophet would inevitably reach Slytherin''s portrait who was already hanging on the wall of Dumbledore''s office. He was not a very good-tempered old man, or he would not have got into that mess with his best friend Gryffindor a thousand years ago over bloodlines. After hearing that his identity had been judged to be a fake, he cursed Voldemort directly, making even Phoenix, who had never been very clean-mouthed either, crane his neck a little. Public opinion in the magical world was also inplete disarray. It was not a question of who had cursed who in the Daily Prophet or the Starlight, but which side the rest of Europe''s wizards were willing to believe. But even as the two sides were cursing each other in the newspapers, in reality, the preparations for the Triwizard Tournament had always proceeded in an orderly manner. Firstly, there was the question of who would be the judges for the tournament. In the past, the referees for the Triwizard Tournament have always been the Headmasters of the three magical schools and the local Ministry of Magic officials who are responsible for organising the tournament. In the current situation, even if the tournament would be held in Britain, there would definitely be no chance of having someone from the British Ministry of Magic on the judging panel, which would be tantamount to handing over the title to Voldemort''s side. After much bickering and mutual concessions, the panel of judges was determined to be one from each of the two Hogwarts schools, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, plus three wizards nominated by the International Confederation of Wizards, making a total of seven judges. Having the International Confederation of Wizards send few people to be judges was also an eptable oue for both sides. Ever since Dumbledore was defeated by Voldemort ten years ago, the position of Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards had remained vacant. This organisation normally didn''t really have much actual power, but merely provided a tform for various magical governments around the world to exchange ideas. It was also because there were all kinds of wizards within the organisation''s structure that it was very difficult to reach a unified opinion, and most of them were still in the mindset of watching the dispute that was happening in Europe right now. The choice to have them send out three people to act as judges this time was also limited in terms of the identity of the wizards sent. Voldemort and Dumbledore both agreed that the International Confederation of Wizards could not send any European wizards as judges, but only wizards from other continents. Once the judges had been decided, the question of the tournament tasks would naturally be resolved. Normally, there would only be three events in the Triwizard Tournament, and at present, there are three forces on the judging panel, counting those from the International Confederation of Wizards. Each of them will choose one task for the tournament, and then the people from the International Confederation of Wizards will make some modifications and adaptations before finalising the entire tournament. ---- #Archit Sharma, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 317: Weasleys Invitation Chapter 317: Weasley''s Invitation With the majority of the school year spent at sea, the third years at Hogwarts have embarked on their end-of-term exam week. Although most of the time was spent studying on their own, there was no gap in what they were supposed to learn. The exam weeksted until the beginning of July and ended with a sumptuous end-of-term dinner, signifying the end of Jon''s life as a third-year student. The arena of public opinion in the wizarding world was still hotly contested between the Voldemort and Dumbledore sides, though with the Triwizard Tournament wager in ce, the sh of arms hadrgely been eliminated in France. The Witching Horizon have taken effective control over all but the French Ministry of Magic and Beauxbatons, and are also functioning temporarily as a provisional government, with a part of the administration re-structured by the French people of Witching Horizon to handle the affairs of France. Except for the purebloods of France, who had already been purged, and those who had submitted to Voldemort''s rule but had not behaved badly and received minor sentences, most of the other purebloods had gone into hiding in Paris, awaiting the possibility of their turnaround. The list of those who had gone into hiding had all been recorded by Inishta, the leader of the French Provisional Magic Council. Whether they had persecuted Muggles or not, they would eventually be liquidated in the strictest terms. Overall, the whole situation in France had been stabilised for the time being, and because of this, they no longer had to hide in school and go nowhere as they had before once Hogwarts'' summer holidays began. Because of the temporary suspension of the war, the Order of the Phoenix had a lot of free people, so Lupin and Sirius were given the task of looking after the students during the holidays and could take them out around Lyon during the holidays, as well as assuming security duties. Neville and Ron, who had families, were naturally able to go home with their parents for the entire holiday. In the case of Lavender and Luna, whose parents are living abroad in hiding and have temporarily entrusted them to Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall has also contacted their families abroad, and they have been able toe to France to settle in, which means that they can go home too. Little by little the situation was moving in a good direction. And before Ron and Neville left school, they had also extended an invitation to Jon and Hermione, the two of them were nning a trip around France this summer and wanted Jon to go with them. They had invited Jon and the others to their home when they were in the wagon previously, but at the time Jon had declined because of othermitments, and it was Justin and Lavender who had made a trip to the Longbottom house, so this time Jon didn''t refuse any further. He had finally had some time off this holiday, and with nothing else to do but study how to be Animagus, he had agreed to go out with Ron, Neville and their two families on a trip, a sort of rxation before the start of the Triwizard Tournament. So at the start of the holiday, Jon and the boys agreed to head over to the Weasleys for a few days before meeting up with the Longbottoms in the middle of July. In addition to Jon and Hermione, Gabrielle was also invited to go with them, while Hanton and Ariel had stayed in Lyons where Lupin and the others had already nned a summer trip for the students who would be staying at the school after a week. Nick wouldn''t go with Jon either, as an old ghost friend from Hogwarts had found him and they had gone off somewhere to catch up. The person responsible for picking up Jon and the gang was Bill Weasley, the eldest son of the Weasleys. He had graduated from Hogwarts several years earlier and had sort of gone through the transition of school life from the castle days to the period of escaping by wagon, and had now joined the Order of the Phoenix where he is now a key member just like his father. When they first met, Bill gave Jon the impression of being part of a rock band, with a long ponytail and a cool-looking earring with a small fan-like thing dangling from his ear. His performance upon meeting Jon was very enthusiastic. "It''s nice to meet you, Jon, I suppose I can call you that? My name is William Weasley, but my family all call me Bill, and you can call me that too. Our family heard about you back when Ron was in his first year and had him invite you to the house at that time, but it took until now to get the chance." Jon shook his hand and said in a slightly slurred voice. "Hello, Bill." He still had a new mandrake leaf in his mouth, a new one he had got from Lilyst night, and it was in the light of a full moon that he had put it in his mouth; even if a month wouldn''t be enough to wrap up the trip, he could make an impromptu trip back to Lyons and take the next step if the weather met the requirements. After all these days, Jon had be generally familiar with speaking and living with a foreign object in his mouth, which was still a little odd, but basically made nothing unusual anymore. Bill showedplete enthusiasm for Jon, certainly because his name had now spread throughout the European magicalmunity. After a month or so of festering, almost any wizard who wasn''t hiding in the deep woods knew that a boy named Jon Green had killed two members of the Lestrange family, still in front of Voldemort. That''s why the story of Rabastan''s death had been suppressed by the British Ministry of Magic and wasn''t spread, otherwise, Jon would have beenbelled "Lestrange''s nemesis". Bill didn''t leave Hermione and Gabrielle out in the cold either, offering to help them move their luggage into a room with a firece. With the Witching Horizon firmly established in France, the Weasleys had temporarily ended their hiding life in Britain and moved their family to France. Ginny, Ron, George, Fred, Jon, Hermione, and Gabrielle were lined up in order in front of the firece, listening to Bill tell them where they would end up after using the floo powder. "Burrow Number Three, make sure you don''t mispronounce it, Charlie said it as Number One once before and ended up back at our old house in Devon. It took him a lot of wasted effort not to be spotted by the stationed Aurors there and escape back." By the way the ce was named, Jon could easily guess that the Burrow No. 2 at the front would be where the Weasleys had lived when they had previously been in hiding in Britain, while No. 1 was naturally their original old home. With suitcases in hand, they stepped into the firece one by one, then read out their destination and were taken to the Weasley''s house amidst green zes. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 318: The Burrow No. 3 Chapter 318: The Burrow No. 3 Green mes wrapped around Jon and by the time he felt his feet dangling in the air, he was back in contact with the ground the next second. Before he could take in the sight before him, a somewhat boisterous voice reached his ears. "Hurry up Charlie! Put that stuff down in the kitchen first, the guests are arriving!" "Put everything down here! Fred! Don''t open your boxes, I don''t want to get mad at the sight of all those odd things!" "Wipe your hands, Molly, it''s still got mashed potatoes on it." "Oh, sorry, I got a little too excited." "Hey, why do I feel like Mum is expecting her real son and daughter." The green mes around him dissipated and Jon finally saw the full extent of the space he was in. It was a fairlyrge living room, but the surrounding furnishings all looked a little old. A wooden floor full of nicks and marks, a chest of drawers piled high with all sorts of stitches, fabrics and prints, a broken chandelier suspended at the ceiling by a piece of twine, a long table dragged into the middle of the living room and covered with a discoloured floral tablecloth. The first impression of this ce is clearly one of poverty, but it is also full of that air ofpact domestic life. Standing directly in front of Jon was a middle-aged couple. The man had very thin red hair with a bald patch on top, stood tall and thin, wore sses and was dressed in a dark brown robe. The woman, also with red hair, was not very tall but chubby, wearing an apron with a little mashed potato on it as she had a warm and weing smile on her face. "Hello, Mr and Mrs Weasley." Jon greeted them politely. Instead of responding first, Ron''s mum, Molly, pulled Jon over and yanked him out of the firece, followed by Hermione who popped up with Gabrielle where Jon had just been standing, to prevent any risk of the two bumping into each other. "Oh good boy, hello, Ron told me when he came back for Christmas in his first year that he had made a friend like you, I had him invite you to our house that summer, only to hearter that Dumbledore had assigned you a special task." She showed great enthusiasm, both for Jon, and eventer for Hermione as well as Gabrielle. "And you, Hermione, remember me, we met on the Hogwarts wagonst September when you were holding a copy of ''The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4'' and pointed us in the right direction. Gabrielle, I know you just as well, Ginny has been telling me a lot about you when she was at home on holiday, and she''s been mentioning how she wants to invite you toe and visit." Hermione and Gabrielle both had somewhat fond looks on their faces. They were grabbed by Molly''s hand and made their way to the sofa to sit down, while Ron''s dad Arthur helped Jon with his suitcase. "This isn''t the first time we''ve met, Jon." He smiled at Jon and winked, "It was duringst year around this time too, when I was in the crowd when Dumbledore handed over the entire Hogwarts student body to you." Jon patted some of the ashes from the firece that had stained his robes. "I do remember you too, Mr Weasley, you were right behind Professor Lupin." "Ha, yes, to be honest, there was some disapproval in me at the time when I saw Dumbledore ce such a burden on you; after all, no matter how talented you might be, you were still only thirteen years old. With such a responsibility on you, I thought there was a chance you might not be able to handle it, but the facts were enough to prove that I was overthinking all of this." "It''s just that I''ve had slightly better luck." "Just luck isn''t enough for the things you''ve done." Arthur patted him on the shoulder while introducing him to thest person Jon hadn''t yet met in the Weasley household. "This is my second son, Charlie, who also works in the Order of the Phoenix now." Charlie had the broad face of a Mr Nice Guy, his face was covered in freckles and hisplexion was a little on the bronze side, his arms were obviously bulging with muscle, and it was clear at a nce that he is very physically strong. When he saw Jon, a smile appeared on his face as well, while he extended his own hand. "Hello, Jon." Jon held out his hand and shook it with him as well. "Nice to meet you." Together with Bill, who came out of the firece at the end, the entire Weasley family was here. Hmm. It was the Weasleys after Percy had gone rogue, it was obvious that no one in the Weasley family had any intention of mentioning anything about Percy, the third son of their family had turned his backpletely on Dumbledore''s side, and Voldemort had used him for many things, including nders against Jon and fabricating false usations on Dumbledore''s character, and from the public statements, he seemed to be very cooperative, not at all like he was being forced to do so. Even in school, if anyone had seen the news about Percy in the newspaper, they had avoided Ron and the others to prevent it from affecting their mood. Jon and the others had obviously arrived a little early, dinner was not yet ready, and hearing themotion in front of the firece, Molly had rushed out of the kitchen to greet them, not even having had time to take off her apron. Calling out to George and the others to entertain Jon and Hermione, Molly hurried back to the kitchen, while Arthur and Charlie, both of whom clearly had things to do, were tidying up the living room to make room for dinnerter. As soon as they got home, Ginny excitedly grabbed Gabrielle and went to her room, as if she was anxious to show her something, and the Weasley twins said hello to Jon and Hermione, and mysteriously went to their room, carrying their suitcases, which they had been tinkering with since they had returned from Durmstrang as if they had got some kind of inspiration from the school renowned for its dark magic. Ron, on the other hand, showed Jon and Hermione around this makeshift home of Weasleys in France. "It''s actually aplete replica of our old family home in Britain because Mum said it''s what makes everyone more familiar andfortable. But as you know, our family wasn''t very well off before, and both moves were quite an expense, but Professor Dumbledore paid Mum and Dad, Bill and Charlie, and the others a good sry every year, although Dad never wanted to ept the money, he felt that being at the Order of the Phoenix was a favour to Dumbledore, not a job. But Dumbledore managed to convince him into epting the payoff." Ron took them out first and wandered around the plots outside. It was a wastnd next to a Muggle town not far from Lyons, basically devoid of people, the surrounding area had obviously only just been reimed, with flowers nted next to the fence and a vegetable patch at the back of the house. Hermione stared at the small three-storey building that the Weasleys had named the Burrow Number Three and asked in confusion. "Why was this house built crooked?" Ron shrugged. "As I told you, it''s been built exactly replicating the old Burrow we first lived in. To be honest, a dwelling like this would probably have been a badge of shame among the English wizards back then because our family really wasn''t exactly rich even in peacetime, and although Dad worked for the Ministry of Magic, he didn''t get more than a handful of galleons a month at all, not to mention the fact that he had to support so many of us as a family. I was young at the time, but I can remember it quite well." He said this without the slightest hint of evasion like he didn''t even mind telling Jon and the others about his family''s hardships as a talking point. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 319: The eyes of ignorance Chapter 319: The eyes of ignorance Ron really didn''t have to be squirming, and he even had to consider Hermione''s emotions as well as Jon''s when he said those words. No matter how poor the Weasleys once were, they were still aplete family. Whereas both Hermione and Jon are now basically no different from orphans. Ron led them around the yard and around the Burrow before re-entering the house and taking the two into his room. "We''ve only moved here a short time ago, in fact, it''s only my second time being in this room of my own, I was at school when we moved and Bill helped pack everything, he''s a lot more meticulous than George and Fred, he has never missed any of my things and knows to protect my privacy and not rummage around." You could tell that his room was indeed quite simple, apart from the Quidditch team posters on the wall, an old flying broom, and models of the Quaffle, Bludgers and a Golden Snitch were all the decorations there. "This is how my room looked when I was in Britain before though, and Bill has managed to replicate it here, so how''s it? Not too bad?" Ron shrugged at them. Jon walked around the room andmented. "Not as messy as I thought it would be, it does feel like a nice ce." "Hey, are you undermining me? I told you Bill was the one who helped me move in here, Mum would scold me if I messed it up by now already." Hermione looked intrigued by the books on the shelves in Ron''s room, pulling one out and leafing through it, then said afterwards. "I saw the ghost that came for Nick when we were at school." Her words clearly caught the attention of both Jon and Ron. "You know her?" "I saw her in the book, and ording to the picture in it, I shouldn''t be mistaken." Hermione flipped through the book in her hands, which was titled ''The Legend of the Ghost'', then paused to reach one of the pages and spread it out to the two boys. "See? It''s the very samedy." The page in question featured the Hogwarts Castle''s Ravenw resident ghost - Grey Lady. Jon couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow, he hadn''t forgotten what Nick had told him back on the Hogwarts ship when they first received him. After Voldemort had taken over Hogwarts Castle, the ghosts in the castle had all lost their restraints and left the school that had lost its founding meaning. "Are you sure it was her?" Hermione said with a nod. "I''m sure, thatdy had just arrived at the school when I happened to be looking for a suitable ce to read a book in front of the school gates because the sun was shining at quite the right temperature that afternoon and Professor Potter had suggested that I shouldn''t stay cooped up in the library all the time and need to get some sunlight. Then I saw a ghost float in through the gate, and she stopped to ask me where Nick was, she looked just like the illustration in this book, with her wide-brimmed pointed hat, she was pretty and a little cold." Her description did match the exact appearance of the Grey Lady, Ron said with a big grin as he sat up in bed after hearing it. "It''s not that strange, Nick and this Greydy are both former resident ghosts at Hogwarts, they must both be hundreds of years old, maybe they''ve been apart for a long time, and now we have a big advantage and as long as Jon ys steady we''ll have the castle back in a year, so old friends want to meet and catch up. " Even though Ron had nted gs all over his body like the old general on the stage, Jon just red at him and went on to think about matters concerning the Gray Lady. He certainly didn''t think it was as simple as Ron made it out to be; the true identity of the Grey Lady was in fact the real daughter of one of the four founders of the former Hogwarts - Rowena Ravenw. Even if she was an ungrateful daughter, that didn''t overshadow her unusual background and identity. As Nick had said before, she had left Hogwarts with the constant mumbling that she had made a second mistake, a second mistake. This second mistake wasn''t hard to guess; the biggest mistake in the Gray Lady''s life had been stealing her mother''s diadem, and it was this incident that had ultimately led to her death. The other mistake she made after her death was being baited by Voldemort who was a student to not only reveal her true identity but also to tell him where she had hidden the Ravenw diadem. Jon surmised that after Voldemort had defeated Dumbledore and taken over Hogwarts castle, the second mistake she had been referring to would have been delivering the diadem to Voldemort indirectly. It was indeed an extremely foolish move, and Jon couldn''t help but spit out the drink when he saw this bit in the original book in his previous life, just how charming the young Voldemort had been that he had managed to seduce an old ghost who had lived for thousands of years. Now that she hade to Nick, the biggest possibility that she hade to Nick would have something to do with the Slytherin portrait is high. After all, even if it was just a portrait, as a former close friend of her own mother, Szar Slytherin was one of her elders, a sort of uncle figure, and with the news about him, it didn''t make sense that she wouldn''te and meet him. "If you''re curious, just ask Nick when you get back." Jon said as he picked up the golden snitch on Ron''s desk. "Nick certainly won''t hide it if he could tell us." Hermione was looking at him with unblinking eyes as he said this, and Jon noticed her gaze and asked suspiciously. "What''s wrong?" "I have a question too, why have you started talking a little weird since a month or so ago?" Hearing Hermione''s question, Ron reacted as if it only urred to him at this time, he walked over to Jon with a strange look on his face and cupped his chin in thought. "I realized it too when Hermione said that, Jon does have a bit of a strange ent now, it''s like having toffee stuck to his teeth." Jon looked at them helplessly, in fact, he didn''t really aim to hide it from them on purpose. He opened his mouth to reveal the leaf of mandrake that he always held inside, and then exined. "I''m preparing to learn an unusual form of magic, one of the requirements for learning it is to hold this leaf in your mouth all the time first." Ron gazed nkly with ignorant eyes. "What magic requires you to keep the leaf in your mouth?" "A magic that requires you to drink your own saliva!" Jon said with a disgusted look on his face. Ron''s face was full of indifference. "It''s not like we don''t drink our own spit every day, it''s no big deal." "Let you spit your saliva into a little vial and bury it in the ground for six months or even a year before you have to drink it, and you still think it''s not a big deal?" Following Jon''s words, Ron thought about that scenario for a moment and instantly had a look of disgust, shaking his head over and over like a rattle. Hermione, on the other hand, looked at Jon and blinked her own eyes. It was not a pair of ignorant eyes. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 320: Weasleys Arsenal (2 in 1) Chapter 320: Weasley''s Arsenal (2 in 1) The Weasley''s entertained their guests with a hearty dinner, or rather it was hard to be glum when such arge group of people were eating together, no matter what they were eating. No one at the table talked about the current situation in the Order of the Phoenix and the wizarding world, and it was clear that no one wanted to talk about formal matters in this rxed atmosphere. It was Charlie whomented the fact that the Quidditch World Cup wouldn''t be held this year, he had always been a good Quidditch yer and was a Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team at a time when Hogwarts Castle hadn''t fallen. Arthur was also particrly interested in the mechanical side of Muggles and asked Hermione and Jon for a lot of insights into cars and nes. Jon felt that if Sir Stoker was still alive, then Arthur would have had quite a lot to share with him; they both came from pureblood families and simrly shared a great interest in a wide range of muggle things. After dinner, Molly brought them to their rooms, the Burrow may seem crude, but there was no shortage of room, and there was more than enough room for Jon and the rest of them, while Gabrielle shared a room with Ginny. Subsequently, the days in the Burrow werergely spent ying. George and Fred did mention that they were going to tinker around with some joke magic props, but after Ginny took Jon and Gabrielle on a surprise raid to their secret workshop in the basement and looked at what they had made, Jon noticed what they were making was not just for jokes. When the secret was discovered and Ginny threatened her two brothers with telling their mother what they were up to, Jon picked up one of the ck orbs the size of a baseball and got the distinct feeling that there was something unnatural harbouring in it. "This ball won''t blow anything up, will it?" Fred, who was trying to appease his sister and make a deal with her on various terms so that she wouldn''t tell on them, was startled when he saw Jon pick up the ball and hastily snatch it out of his hands. "That''s not meant to be touched! It''s an immature experiment that George and I came up with, it''s not perfected yet, and it''s too dangerous." Jon could of course see that the ball was carved with ancient runes all over its surface, he had dedicated some time to study these things after he had got the stone b full of ancient runes from the tower, although he wasn''t exactly well-versed, he could at least read certain inscriptions. "So you guys know how dangerous it is, isn''t it a bit too much to have fun with something like this in your own home." George and Fred froze and thenughed at each other, they too could see that Jon had figured out exactly what it was. "Don''t worry about it, we designed it with a very light force since we first started the experiment, probably something like the dynamic of a firecracker." Jon looked over at their whole basket of ''firecrackers'', knowing full well that something as powerful as a firecracker at the moment could be very different with a few additional strokes of runes on it. The twins could see that Jon was not going to be easy to fool, so they looked at each other and coaxed Ginny and Gabrielle out of the room, then dragged Jon to show him "Weasley''s real secret workshop". It was a workspace hidden behind a cupboard where the ck orbs were kept, and as soon as they opened the door, a worktable full of material craved with various ancient runes and enchanted with some kind of magic was presented to Jon. "This is our biggest personal secret, just take a look, Jon, and don''t tell anyone, especially not Mum and Dad." George clearly had something on his mind and tried to drag Jon along with them in a whisper. The disy of these things in the small workshop further convinced Jon that the two bold twins were not working on some simple Joke props. Some of those ancient runes were tooplex for Jon to recognise, and the vast majority of them had something to do with dark magic! The basket of ck balls he had found at the beginning had been inscribed with the runes of a sting curse, but it was clear that George was so rusty that they could only create something that could only produce about a tenth of the effect of a normal sting curse, or rather a "cannonball" as they called it. This is not a trivial thing; in the grand scheme of things, the two brothers are privately researching dark magic, and in Britain during peacetime, they could be imprisoned in Azkaban and fed to dementors. Even if it seemed to be on a more or less trivial scale, they were doing this kind of stuff in the underground storage room of their own home, and if they were not careful, they could potentially set the whole Burrow on fire. Jon picked up a small piece of iron with runes inscribed all over it, and instead of reprimanding them first, he asked suspiciously. "Where did you guys learn all this stuff?" Fred coughed lightly, a look of pride creeping over his face. "We''re geniuses too! Jon, we learned it without a teacher!" "Oh, that''s fabulous, I''m going to tell Mr and Mrs Weasley the good news so that they can be happy too." "No, no, no!" George and Fred stopped what would equate to murder by hastily grabbing one of Jon''s arms in unison. "Okay, let''s be honest." George raised an eyebrow, "You know, we worked on some really awesome magic props back in the day at school." "Of course, I know that." Jon looked at the expression of pride that he actually managed to put on with a nk look, "Very awesome indeed, awesome enough for Professor McGonagall to punish you guys with detention for getting your dorm room into a state ofplete shambles." "Hey, it''s not like we have ever used it to y pranks on people, at most we scare Ron at home." Fred waved his hand, "Those things are a source of pride for George and me and a great exercise for our hands-on skills!" "You guys know the point I want to hear." "Don''t rush it, you''ve got to give us some bragging time, don''t you? Later, when we set sail on Hogwarts, we didn''t have much energy for that, but in between we invented a ''repelling rod'' for a fishing tournament and tried to give it to Justin, tricking him into thinking it was a good rod that would catch fish whenever it was swung, but he caught on our the whole trick straight away." George picked up on Fred''s words. "Yes, but it was Fred''s fault, he didn''t stop Justin from putting the hook into the bucket of water that was full of fish at the time, and those fish would rather jump out of the bucket than be in a bucket of water with the hook. Then, we made no new inventions until we reached Durmstrang, though, we stayed honest for a fair number of days, until after you disappeared from that castle when we-" "A return to your old ways?" "It''s called a momentary itch!" Fred called out, "But we also knew it wasn''t our own property by any means, so we researched with restraint and basically made things around that frozenke." "But one always has to find ways to progress, George and I couldn''t make things out of thin air no matter how genius we might be, so then we set our sights on Durmstrang''s library, which wasn''t off limits to us, and we found a lot of different magic books there than in Hogwarts'' library." George rubbed his hands together. "It was around that time that the old librarian who was in charge of the library noticed us; after all, we couldn''t always avoid him if we wanted to borrow the books out. He spotted our oddities from those books we were borrowing, and then once sneaked up on us and found us working on something near theke." "At the time we had just learned the ancient runes rted to the sting curse and made our first Weasley orb, which was what you found in that basket. Fred and I talked about our intention to test and st it a little further out, we already knew by that time that it couldn''t be less potent as a couple of failures had shattered the ice of theke and nearly got us caught by that Deputy Headmistress of Durmstrang." "The old man called Alpha caught us red-handed and got his hands on the Weasley Orb we had just made, and he was well aware of our research." Fred pped his forehead a little helplessly. "I suspect he actually started to follow us way early on, but he didn''t give us a hard time, just took the orb and asked us a few questions before offering to give us permission to enter and leave the school and go off-campus to conduct our experiments, so that we could not only avoid being discovered by the professors at Durmstrang but could also circumvent idents." "George and I were not misled by his words and thought he must have had ulterior motives and were thinking of just ignoring it until he approached us againter on saying he could fund us in the name of the Headmaster of that school." There was a distinct tinge of excitement in his tone as he said this. Jon, on the other hand, frowned slightly. "In the name of the Headmaster? That Headmaster Bagshot?" "Yes, it''s him." George said, pping his thigh, "He gave us a permit to enter and leave the school freely, and it was signed with that Headmaster''s name on it - Gellert Bagshot. He also gave us some ordinary and rare magical materials and promised that whenever we needed them, they could provide us with any normal help. Even the forbidden section of the library on the upper level was open to us, so we could consult it as much as we wanted in there, except that we couldn''t borrow it." "And all we need to do is to keep a copy of theplete research data and hand them together with a sample of the finished product whenever we have any." Fred said in a whisper with his eyes darting around. "At first we nned to superficially agree and give them random materials of some prank prop after we got all the benefits. But then the librarian, as if reading our minds, pulled out a magic contract and told us to go back and think about it, and if we decided to agree to all the terms, then we had to sign my name and George''s name on that contract." Jon stared at the two genuinely ballsy twins, not expecting them to even think of doing something like eating Grindelwald dry and then turning the other way. "And after that, you signed the contract?" George had a matter-of-fact look on his face. "Why wouldn''t we sign such a good deal? We''re not working on ordinary magic joke props, Jon. You should be able to see the potential of these Weasley Orbs, once we''ve finally perfected how to inscribe the runes of the sting curse on them intact without any conflict within the Orb itself, each one of these Weasley Orbs is a perfect sting curse!" Fred was also holding up a small wooden stick on the workbench that looked exactly like the wand as if a treasure to be presented. "And this thing, the ''Anti-Disarm Wand''! This is also ourtest creation, this wooden stick, of course, can''t cast spells like a real wand, and George and I don''t have the skills to make a real wand either, but in this stick, we have inscribed a special confundus charm ancient runes. These runes were specially made to deal with the disarming charm, so as long as the wizard carrying it is hit by the disarming charm, even if the wand is hit by the disarming charm, only this fake wand will fly up and the real wand will not be affected at all!" Intrigued by his words, Jon took the fake wand in Fred''s hand, knowing full well that it really could no longer be considered a joke prop, and if it really worked as well as Fred said it did, it would definitely qualify as a strategic item. "You have finished itpletely?" George shook his head as if with great reluctance and told the truth. "Ny percent done, I think, we have perfected the confusion charm inscribed on top of the fake wand specifically targeting the disarming charm well enough based on what we learned from Durmstrang, but during the real test we found that if it is a disarming charm with normal potency, the fake wand can indeed work, but if the enemy''s magic bes a bit too intense, then it will take the real wand along with the disarmed fake wand." Even so, this thing is already considered a finished product. The fact that it had no way of resisting a powerful disarming charm could only mean that the runes inscribed on it by George and Fred were a little weaker, and the root causey in the fact that none of their own magic and skills had grown to their peak yet. This is a problem that can be solvedter. "And this!" The twins didn''t treat Jon like an outsider at all, and Fred pulled out another iron bar that resembled a television antenna. "This is still only half-finished, but it''s good enough for the functions we expected at the beginning, it''s called the ''Broom Hunter''." By the name, Jon could probably guess what this would be used for. "Specifically designed to target flying brooms?" "Yes! The idea was that by simply extending this thing, it would render any nearby flying brooms useless. But the difficulty of making an item with such a function was a bit too great, and we broke several flying brooms in our tests, all of which were provided by the Durmstrang side, and it turned out that it could only damage the oldest Cleansweep series magic brooms, the ones with simpler enchantments on them. And the distance it could radiate was just too short, probably a circr area with a radius of about three metres around its centre, and there is simply no way for that distance to affect brooms flying high in the sky." The more he heard their ount, the more serious the look on Jon''s face became. What the Weasley twins were working on couldn''t even be described as joke props intended for pranks, these could create an entire arsenal of the magical world if they could actually create them exactly the way they wanted and mass produce them! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 321: Gratitude from the Longbottom family (2 in 1) Chapter 321: Gratitude from the Longbottom family (2 in 1) "Actually you can change your thinking, the small range of emission is not a problem, as long as you can make this antenna (pointing at the Broom Hunter that George is holding with a serious look on his face) effective against any model of flying broom, and then just make it flyable, you can basically be able to make it reach the flying range of a broom and create a zone of no aerial traffic by flying brooms." Hearing Jon say this immediately made George, who was primarily responsible for the development of this thing, brighten up. It would be difficult to expand its spell range, but if it could be made to fly then there would be no difficulty, and the only difficulty now would be in improving it so that it would work on all models of flying brooms. But George and Fred were not in the mood to think about that at the moment, what really concerned them at the moment was Jon''s attitude, and the fact that he had just made the suggestion clearly showed that he was not resistant to their research. "So y-you are agreeing to help us keep it a secret?" Jon said with a headache as he rubbed his temples. "It''s not a matter of helping you keep it a secret, as long as you remain at Hogwarts and in your Burrow, sooner orter the adults would find this out. And none of the things you guys areing up with now are small tricks, can you really be sure that every experiment you do won''t go wrong? And what to do if something does go wrong?" George and Fred looked at each other, and Fred cleared his throat and said. "We''ve certainly thought about these things, at home, we were both just conducting experiments that we were sure that has no risk, and we''d only be home for a short while, like Ron, this was our second time here." "As for the day sooner orter when the adults will find out..." Fred scratched his head, clearly, he hadn''t even thought seriously about it before, or subconsciously avoided this question. "Let''s wait until the day we get found out, the most Mum will do anyway is give us a lecture and send us to the backyard to do the weeding." Jon, however, saw through his thoughts and knew that he was actually avoiding it. "You can''t keep it to yourself all the time, or you guys didn''t n on telling Professor Dumbledore about these fine alchemical items once they would be fully developed?" "Of course, it has crossed my mind." To that, George answered with certainty, "We had nned toe up with these things in the first ce to help take the pressure off the professors and my family, but at that point, we were both still doing some minor fiddling and Professor McGonagall had always thought we were working on some sort of joke props, and even if we told them, they wouldn''t have believed us unless we coulde up with the finished product. " The Weasley twins had never been any sort of fools, they were smarter than anyone else. They knew full well that they had no credibility in the minds of their professors, and that to regain such credibility they needed to show it through their actions. As for those in Durmstrang, it was the first time they had met the twins, so they never knew what they had done before, that Mr Alpha, the librarian, did have a brilliant eye to discern talent, and Grindelwald had quite the drive and determination to offer an olive branch even to a Hogwarts student. Well, just as he had been able to force Jon to be appointed as Durmstrang Professor of Transfiguration. Jon looked at the ''Anti-Disarming Wand'' and then turned his attention back to George and Fred. "Although I think you have produced enough to change the minds of Professor Dumbledore and the others now, it seems that you yourselves feel that you still need time to prepare. This is not all that much of a disadvantage to you, you have signed a contract with Durmstrang for that anyway, and there is no shortage of support and aid, so let''s wait until you are both all ready first and then surprise everyone." There was a look of excitement in the eyes of both Fred and George. "Of course, we will prepare a big surprise, honestly Jon, we have so many other ideas waiting to be tried out, things like this fake wand and the half-finished broomstick hunter are just some preliminary experiments, when we get the real results out, we will certainly blow everyone out of their minds!" They made grand promises and Jon did believe the two had it in them. Sometimes you had to admit that the thing called talent was just innate, Arthur excelled at alchemical transformation otherwise he wouldn''t have been able to so sessfully transform a Ford car into a magic car, and George and Fred had inherited exactly that kind of talent from him. Both had researched varieties of joke magical props in the original book, but the difference in times brought out different versions of themselves. Now it is their time to show off their talents. Jon offered George and Fred some otherworldly perspectives, without bothering them much. There are enough things he needs to study, moreover, to be specific the twins are no longer studying ancient runes, rather what they are working on could well be described as alchemy. Yes, he could read some ancient runes, but he had no knowledge whatsoever when it came to alchemy, so Jon was not so arrogant as to think that he could instruct an expert in the field as an amateur. With that, he helped the twins hide their secrets for the time being and spent a week or so at the Weasley house in leisure, spending his days doing nothing but discussing muggle vehicles with Arthur, fetching fishing rods to go fish in a nearby stream with Hermione and Ron, or apanying Gabrielle to help Ginny with her summer homework. It wouldn''t be until a weekter, in the middle of July, that the nned trip would finally begin. It had been a whole decade since the Weasleys had a family outing for which all their family members were present, as their previous circumstances in Britain really didn''t allow them to do so, whether it is the twins, Ron and co. in the Hogwarts wagon, or the Weasleys working for Dumbledore in the Order of the Phoenix, they were all living a precarious life. There was no guarantee that any of them would be able to eat their next meal in peace, let alone travel. And this time it was not just because the situation had temporarily stabilised, but also because they are now in France. While Arthur and Molly might have been here before, it would be the first time for any of their children, so the time and ce could not have been any better chosen for their outing. The Weasley family had packed up their things very early that morning, and they had nned this outing fairly well. Arthur, in particr, had done a thorough research; of course, wizards wouldn''t just head straight into the deep woods when they are going on an outing, the most ces they would go would be muggle attractions and shopping malls, and he had even designed what kind of muggle clothes each of them should wear to prevent the mishaps that most wizards would encounter. Arthur''s preparation was indeed necessary, for example, Jon hadn''t considered the fact that people in shorts wouldn''t be allowed in some of the more distinguished venues. He also seriously considered the problem of catching a cold when the temperature dropped in the evening by just wearing short sleeves and equipping everyone with a leather jacket specifically for this asion. Once everything was ready, the Weasleys, plus Jon, Hermione and Gabrielle, first went to a wizard-owned tavern in Lyon, where they nned to grab lunch and wait for the Longbottoms to meet up with them. They were not made to wait that long, just as the server was bringing up the appetizers, Neville arrived with his dad. Mr Longbottom''s full name is - Frank Longbottom. He is a man who, from the look of his face, gives the impression of being a very reliable wizard, with a face as firm and round as his own son''s, and a figure which is not exactly tall but definitely not short either. And as soon as he arrived at the tavern and met the Weasleys, or rather Jon, he stood with a serious look on his face, handed everything in his hands to Neville, and then gave a formal bow to Jon. Jon, who was staring at an appetizer that looked like octopus meatballs, was startled and subconsciously tried to sidestep his position to avoid this salute from Frank. However, Arthur grabbed Jon''s arm and didn''t let him seed in avoiding it, and said very seriously. "You deserve the gratitude you are receiving, Jon, there is nothing to avoid." "In fact, after I got the news that night, I should have gone to see you, to express the gratitude of the whole Longbottom family, for which I wrote a letter over to Neville specifically, and it was he who told me that you were still recuperating and that it would not be polite to disturb you at that time, so I waited until now. Neville''s grandmother, and uncle would have loved to thank you in person, but they are both too old to move around, so I was told to express their gratitude to you." Frank spoke with unmistakable seriousness, his movements were obviously rather abrupt, and luckily there were hardly any other customers in the tavern besides the Weasleys, so it didn''t attract much attention. "Thank you for avenging Neville''s mother Alice, the entire Longbottom family will remain grateful to you in the future, and whatever help you need will be avable to you from any wizard with the family name Longbottom." His promise was tantamount to putting the entire Longbottom family on Jon''s back, as the Longbottom family that had died under the Lestranges was not just Neville''s mother. They are both pureblood families, but these two families can be said to have a blood feud, and Jon''s recent killing of the main branch of the feuding families, Rabastan, Rodolphus and Be, is indeed a great favour to the Longbottom family. After being pulled back by Arthur and receiving such words of gratitude from Frank, Jon did not back away any further, knowing that Neville''s father needed a psychological vent. "Neville and I are friends, Mr Longbottom." Jon said softly, "And they both truly deserved to die no matter what." "Their crimes are enough for them to die a thousand times over, but whether you did that to avenge us or not, it''s indisputable that you are the one who avenged us." Frank raised his head, and it seemed like he could see that Jon was being a little ufortable, "We won''t keep our favours at bay, and it won''t change the friendship between Neville and you over this, but if you need any help over whatever maye your way, please doe and tell the Longbottoms." His words were sincere and Jon could sense the seriousness in them, so he nodded solemnly. "I will." A smile appeared on Frank''s face as if Jon''s eptance of the Longbottoms'' gratitude was part of the purpose of his outing. "Well, now that everything that needs to be said has been said, let''s take a seat and have a quick meal, Frank, the kids are waiting impatiently and if we wait any longer we will all probably be able to proceed straight to our dinner arrangement." Molly pulled Frank down to a chair and Neville hammered Jon on the shoulder, then followed suit and sat down at the table. For the Europeans'' dinner was the time for a truly big meal, so they had arranged for tonight''s dinner to be served in the first seaside city where their trip would begin, and lunch was arranged at this Lyon wizard tavern with a fairly hearty French meal. It was rare for so many people to get together and rx like this, whether it was for the Weasleys or the Longbottoms, or Hermione and Jon for that matter. Hermione and Ginny were teaching Gabrielle how to style her hair; George and Fred were muttering and whispering to each other, keeping out of sight of the others and asionally winking at Jon; Molly was asking her eldest son if he had any girls he might be fond of at the moment, and if he didn''t know how to pursue a girl, as a mother, she could teach him. Arthur, Charlie and Frank were discussing the fate of the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, which someone had recently managed to acquire, and Neville was telling Jon and Ron about how bored he had been at home alone since the start of the summer holidays, and how he had asked his dad to let him stay with the Weasleys until the next academic year, no matter what, once the trip was over. "I heard that all the tasks and time for the Triwizard Tournament have been finalised and that Professor Dumbledore just made a trip to Britain a while ago to finish all the preparations before the tournament started." Neville had learned some of the inside stories at home and whispered to Jon. "I''ve heard that the International Confederation of Wizards has also selected three judges, and not only are these men not from Europe, but they are all half-bloods, ensuring that they won''t be pulled in by either side. But the list of judges hasn''t been announced yet, it looks like they won''t announce it until the day of the tournament." Jon blinked, he was actually quite curious if this International Confederation of Wizards would include any wizards from his previous life''s homnd. "Any word on where the three judges areing from?" Neville shook his head. "Not really, just heard rumours that the three judges were sent over by one wizard each from America, Asia and Africa." Ron said with a grimace. "Actually, if you ask me, it doesn''t matter where the judges are from, but the tournament shouldn''t be held at Hogwarts Castle, it''s the Dark Lord''s home base now, so if he really wanted to pull a trick on everyone else, wouldn''t it be easy? I really don''t know why Professor Dumbledore agreed to this in the first ce." In response, Jon, who had actually been to Hogwarts Castle and knew something of the inside story, shook his head and said. "Don''t look at the Dark Lord being Headmaster of that Hogwarts castle, that school isn''t necessarily his territory." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 322: This Is What The Lord Means (2 in 1) Chapter 322: This Is What The Lord Means (2 in 1) The atmosphere in the Malfoy Manor had been bleak from the day Draco had been chosen as a champion for the Triwizard Tournament. With the exception of the half month just after that selection banquet, when a number of fellow members of the Ministry of Magic hade to the door to congratte their family and Lucius had received them with a forced smile, most of the time he had remained frowning with a sullen look on his face. Today was no exception. Not only Lucius, but also Draco, who is one of the contestants, and his mother Narcissa, have been looking very grim for some time now. Lucius had known from the start how dangerous the Triwizard Tournament would be, the reason it had been suspended for centuries before was due to the sheer amount of danger involved, with at least one champion dying at the end of each tournament. Not to mention the fact that this time the Triwizard Tournament directly involved the winning or losing of a war, which multiplied the risks even more geometrically. It was for this reason that he had taken the risk of asking Voldemort to try and pull Draco out of this dangerous vortex the first time he saw him being chosen by the Goblet of Fire that night, but he had obviously failed. Voldemort didn''t mean to deceive him that night; once chosen by the Goblet of Fire, a mandatory contract had been signed in which the chosen one had to participate in the Triwizard Tournament until the end of the tournament, without any second choice. And if being chosen as a champion for the Triwizard Tournament was a source of worry to Lucius and excitement to Draco, then Jon''s public ying of Be afterwards sent Lucius into despair and Draco into a state of panic. That night, Draco, who had already drank a lot of butterbeer at the banquet, directly pissed his trousers in fear. It was the first time he had ever seen a dead man, or such a gruesome one, one stabbed through the chest and one stabbed through the throat. Especially one of the two dead ones who had once been the shadow of his heart, his Aunt Betrix Lestrange. Draco, who had been chosen, was filled with joy, thinking that he would be the chosen one, the one who would surely make a name for himself as a champion of Hogwarts Castle, and maybe even help his father to rise to an even higher level in that gentleman''s mind. But it didn''t take him more than a few minutes to realise that if the Triwizard Tournament is going to be a real battlefield, then he would have no chance against that boy his age, Jon Green, and he would be no more than a dish in his te. Not only Draco could see this clearly, Lucius and Narcissa saw it even more clearly than anyone else. Especially after Lucius had thoroughly inquired about all of Jon''s exploits and learned that he had not only killed the Lestrange couple but had also killed Rodolphus'' brother, Rabastan, earlier this year, while surrounded by a group of Death Eaters. Tracing the story back even further, the incident in Hogwarts Castlest year, the infiltration into the school undercover to save the Mudblood students, was basically concluded to be Jon''s handiwork, which made Lucius even more distraught. He knew exactly what his son is capable of, he is not bad by any means, but he is not that good either, his performance in Hogwarts Castle is only decent, not exactly top-notch, let alonepared to someone like Jon Green, who can be defined as a freak just by looking at his "resume". Narcissa also knew her son inside and out, and these days she was visibly haggard. "Have you inquired about the exact tasks of the tournament yet?" She asked apprehensively. Lucius walked around the drawing room with his hands behind his back with a frown on his face, as if he was anxiously awaiting some news. "No! I couldn''t find any clues! Those blokes are dead set against giving out any semnce of information about it, saying that they signed a confidentiality pact and that there would be very serious consequences if they broke it!" Draco sat on the sofa, his face no longer full of the pride and ambition he had felt when he had first been chosen as a champion, and he shivered as he looked at his father. "Will they make me go and fight that monster!" Lucius looked over at him, and there was at least somefort in his voice. "You can rest assured of that, I have checked all the tasks that have been held in the Triwizard Tournament in the past and there has never been a precedent for a champion to fight a duel directly." "But as long as it''s a tournament a fight is bound to happen isn''t it?" Draco looked at him with misty eyes, "Dad, that monster is going to kill me! Just like he killed Aunt Be!" What he feared was exactly what everyone in the Malfoy Manor was afraid of. Narcissa wrapped her arms around Draco, her eyes visibly red as she looked over at her husband. "On the lord''s side... Is there nothing to tell us?" "Lord disappeared after the end of that night, even all the preparations that followed were left to both Severus and Crouch, I simply can''t see him!" Lucius'' voice was clearly impatient, and from time to time he looked up at the wall clock, waiting for a certain time. "Draco''s participation is for Lord''s cause." Narcissa''s voice had a slight tremor to it, "Surely the lord wouldn''t want to see him lose the tournament either, and if we just let himpete unprotected like this, the chances of him even surviving are slim" "I''m not sure exactly what kind of arrangements our lord has made, or even what the point of him wanting to propose organising a Triwizard Tournament is." Lucius finally stopped his restless stride, "But surely our lord would not want to lose this tournament, though our son is not the only one he can pin his hopes on." Narcissa''s mouth inched open. "You mean the student who ispeting on behalf of Beauxbaton? But Beauxbaton has only been under our lord''s administration for just a year, and what loyalty there is to be found in the students there!" "Don''t forget the family name of that Beauxbaton student who was chosen is Lestrange!" Lucius grimaced, "It is a family that our lord trusts above all others, without a doubt, and even though Be and her family are dead, the Lestranges are still around!" Lucius'' words stirred a memory of Narcissa, Be is her sister anyway, and naturally, she still knew something about the pureblood family her sister had married into. "That student who entered the tournament is called Emil? I remember him, he is the son of Rodolphus'' cousin." "Rodolphus'' cousin has seeded him as the current Lord of House Lestrange, and his son is older and better than Draco, I have no way of knowing for sure if our lord is cing all his eggs on this boy!" Lucius'' expression was hard, he had investigated all the details of the champions'' participation in this tournament, not just the hostile ones like Jon. "Rodolphus'' cousin and I made an appointment today, and he said that he would bring his son to visit this afternoon." A look of dismay crossed Narcissa''s face. "What are theying to see us for?" "It can''t be a family visit, after Be''s death, our family doesn''t even have a half-knut rtionship with them, and I think it''s likely to talk a few things about the Triwizard Tournament that takes ce in a month''s time." It was at this time that a house elf with a rag over his body suddenly appeared in front of the Malfoy family. "Lord, Lady, there are two guests outside who im to be Mr Lestrange visiting." Lucius'' otherwise gloomy face turned cloudy as Narcissa and Draco looked at him, at times like this Lucius had absolute decision-making power in the House. "Prepare to receive our guests, Narcissa, whatever purpose they have arrived with, wait until we meet them." He said as he walked towards the door, the house elf consciously opened the door to the drawing room for him, and the iron gate located at the fence of the manor opened by itself, leaving the way open for the visiting guests to enter. By this time Lucius had also seen the two Lestrange gentlemen. The younger one, whom he had met on the night of the champions'' selection, Emil Lestrange, and the middle-aged wizard who looked about the same age as him, Brandon Lestrange, who had inherited the entire Lestrange family fortune after the Rodolphus family had all died. After looking into all the information about him, Lucius felt that he is just a lucky guy,pared to his dead cousin''s family, the man named Brandon has nothing to offer, even if he also joined the Death Eaters early on, he always belonged to the category with no bright spots. But now he had been lucky enough to inherit the entire Lestrange family fortune and be a Lord, and Lucius didn''t know how to describe him other than being lucky. Of course, even though inwardly he had already judged this man, on the surface Lucius still had to maintain the most basic manners between purebloods, his originally gloomyplexion had long since disappeared without a trace, and instead, a warm smile shone on his face. "Aha, Brandon, what a pleasant surprise, I was looking forward to this moment since I received your invitation, our whole family has been waiting for your arrival." This wasn''t actually the first time Lucius had met Brandon, they had met once two months ago at the Lestrange''s funeral, which had been presided over by Brandon himself, who had seeded as Lord of the Lestrange family. Narcissa, who is also a professional pureblood family noblewoman, is an expert in expression management, and she apanied Lucius to greet the guests at the entrance, with no sign of the grimace that she had shown earlier. "Why isn''t Lady Lestrange here?" She asked with a smile. Brandon shook Lucius'' hand first and answered Narcissa''s question with polite pleasantries on his lips. "She''s been a little under the weathertely, she had intended toe with us, but our healer advised that it would be best for her to stay home and recuperate." "Oh, that''s a shame, I''ll write and send her my regards." Compared to the smooth interactions between adults, Draco clearly couldn''t manage his expressions with ease, and his face was still visibly pale as he stood beside Narcissa looking over at the Beauxbaton champion, who stood half a head taller than him. Emil is three years older than Draco, and he is already a seventh year at the start of this academic year, just under a year away from adulthood. His face looked cold and unsmiling, and he noticed Draco''s gaze and only met it for a moment before turning his gaze aside and focusing it on Lucius. Draco''s breath paused slightly as he sensed contempt. Although the other man didn''t show it quite that obviously, just from that gesture Draco could tell at a nce that he wasn''t taking him seriously, as he usually did when he dealt with the half-bloods at school. This made Draco feel angry and humiliated, but he didn''t raise his voice, the most basic regard for the asion was still known to him. Weing Lestrange and his son into the drawing room, the experienced Lucius saw at first nce the disagreement between his son and Emil, and his eyes turned to the tall, thin, indifferent-faced boy. "Emil, may I call you that? The Lestrange family is truly outstanding, I hear you got O''s in all eleven of your courses on the wizard rank exam." Emil nodded, his voice was faint. "I don''t think it''s an honour worth mentioning." The anger in Draco''s eyes grew even stronger, he could see that this man not only despised him but even despised his father! Lucius'' face sank slightly, but then he smiled. "Of course, with your great talent, there will naturally be many more honours worthy of being mentioned in the future." Out of sight, Brandon gently touched his son''s arm a little, and Emil''s face eased somewhat reluctantly as he said in a slightly softer manner. "Still need more guidance from an elder like Mr Malfoy." "Haha, with the rtionship between our two families, such a title is far too formal, just call me uncle." Lucius patted him on the shoulder as if he didn''t care in the slightest about the disrespect he had just shown, and the drawing room was filled with a pleasant atmosphere for both guests and hosts. Once they were seated, Dobby the house elf served tea and dessert, and after some lengthy chit-chat and pleasantries, Brandon finally got to the main point of his visit today. "About the Triwizard Tournament, both Emil and Draco are contestants fighting for our Lord, and regardless of who wins between them in the end it represents a victory for us, so I came to visit this time to discuss some things with you about the uing Tournament afterwards." He looked at Lucius with a smile on his face. "After all, no matter what, it is certainly much better for two people to work together and coordinate than to fight alone." Lucius'' face didn''t show much surprise, he had guessed from the start the reason Brandon had arrived. "Well, so what do you have in mind?" Brandon nced at his son and then said tly. "I think ... Emile will be the main priority, with Draco to assist him in securing the title of this tournament." There was a sudden silence in the drawing room, but it onlysted for a few seconds before he spoke again. "Of course, that''s what our lord wants." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 323: Beach Vacation Chapter 323: Beach Vacation The silencested for a long time in Malfoy''s drawing room. Draco''s eyes were wide, and his mouth was agape as if he had something to say, but nothing could get a syble out of his throat. Narcissa froze, the polite smile that had been on her face had stiffenedpletely as if those words had had such a powerful effect that they had stunned her entire facial nerve. Brandon looked into Lucius''s eyes in silence after saying those words, and Lucius''s eyes narrowed for an instant, his face twitching slightly, but again, no sound came out. Emil, sitting beside Brandon, watched the change in expression of the three Malfoys with cold eyes, an imperceptible sneer faintly appearing at the corner of his mouth. The smile looked like one of mockery and pity at the same time. "It is the word of our Lord?" Lucius looked at Brandon, his questioning tone not sounding much like a question, but rather like he was emphasising something. Brandon smiled and nodded his head. "Yes, that is what our lord means, we need this victory." "Of course, we need this victory! But. But what about my son!" Lucius held his gaze, "I don''t mind Draco helping Emil get the victory! What I care about is whether or not he can keep his life safe in this tournament!" Brandon remained unmoved in the face of the progressively more irritable attitude Lucius was disying as he tapped his fingers on his arm and whispered. "That is why I am here, Lucius. Our lord''s orders are to let Emil win the title, to keep Draco alive, and to let that little brat called Jon Green. Die!" *** Jon was basking in the warmth of the sun. Sunbathing was indeed an iparable pleasure, especially when it is on a golden beach where the gentle breeze brought by the waves constantlypped at the sand and gravel, bringing refreshing moisture to the air. This is their third day in Nice, where the Mediterranean climate makes it a rare holiday destination with plenty of warm summer sunshine. There were quite a few tourists on the beach this time of year, and with Jon and Hermione both present, the Weasleys and the Longbottoms were unlikely to dress in anything other than normal Muggle attire. Apart from the odd looks Arthur got from people for over-enthusiastically chatting with the car park attendant on the beach by asking him how something like a car should be maintained in general, they didn''t encounter any problems at any other time. "Ron''s watching other people fishing." Hermione grumbled to Jon as she helped Ginny bury her in the sand, "ording to what you said before, what is he now? A fisherman?" Jon removed the sunsses from his face and looked around him to find that Hermione and Ginny were the only ones around him. "Where''s Gabrielle?" "Even if Mrs Weasley helped put some powder on her face, it doesn''t cover the fact that she''s a little too transparent. I saw Ron stealthily say something to her just now, then she dived underwater and seemed to go messing with those fishing uncles." Jon couldn''t help but be speechless for a moment, he had heard of hooking up fish underwater before, but today he actually came across a chasing away the hooked fish underwater. "Well, at least she managed to find something to keep herself entertained, it''s good as long as she didn''t end up as a water ghost." Reclining back down on the beach chair, before Jon could put his sunsses back on and continue to bask in the sun, Neville walked over to Jon with Charlie and Bill clutching a roll of cushions. "Hey, look what we found from the shop Jon, want to y a game of cards?" Jon lowered his sunsses and sat up from his recliner. "What are you guys going to y?" Charlie expertly opened the packet of cards and shuffled them in his hands. "Bill and I know a few muggle games, like bridge." Neville and Jon looked at each other for a moment before they shrugged. "That''s such a coincidence, we''ve yed all of those before when we were bored in the wagon, mahjong, solitaire or wizard''s chess." Hermione was still piling sand on Ginny on the side, right next to the four of them. From Bill, Jon had just learned that Arthur was enthralled by the rental speedboats avable on the beach and was discussing with Neville''s dad about spending some money to rent one for the day. Fred and George were strolling through Muggle department stores, they had privately exchanged some gold galleons given to them by Durmstrang for some franc (the Euro started circting only after 2002) ready to buy some small items that would inspire them. It wasn''t exactly embezzlement on their part; Muggle stuff does give them a lot of whimsies, like their half-finished broomstick hunter, which was adapted from a TV antenna. Mrs Weasley was supposed to be with the twins at first, she was going to buy some everyday items in a department store and send them straight back home; but to hide the fact that they had money on hand, they probably found an excuse to separate from her soon after. Just as Jon and the others were ying cards, Ron suddenly came running over from the fishing area in a panic, carrying arge cardboard box in his hands. He sat down on his butt beside Jon and the others, panting, and then the top of the cardboard box was opened, and Gabrielle, with algae in her hair, poked her head out of it pitifully, looking nervously left and right. The four of them, with their hands, fiddling with their cards, looked at them with strange looks on their faces. "What''s wrong with you guys?" "Almost, Gabrielle was almost got found out." Ron said as he looked backwards. Gabrielle removed the algae from her silvery white hair with a grimace as she muttered. "I watched an older man fail to catch a fish for so long that I thought of helping him catch one and hook it on his bait hook, but before I could hook it, his hook hooked itself on my robe!" "I was on the edge of the shore when the muggle thought he had caught a big one and started showing it off to everyone around him loudly as he started to pull the line-up." Ron looked helpless, and as he spoke, Gabrielle grabbed a corner of her robe and showed it to Jon and the others. "He''s got my robe all torn up! I couldn''t get the hook off, and if my robe wasn''t torn, I would have been fished out of the sea by him!" Jon and Hermione''s faces looked bizarre as they looked around at all the people on the beach, if Gabrielle had actually been fished out in public it would make for some interesting news tomorrow. Ginny, who was lying beneath the sand, reassured her. "It''s a good thing they didn''t find you, or we''d be in big trouble, there''s no way for Mum and Dad to use the Obliviate on so many people." "But even if they only caught a piece of fabric, the muggles were all scared." Ron said in fear, "I think they had called the muggle Aurors over, assuming there was a body underwater, and when I escaped back with Gabrielle, the guys were discussing how to retrieve it." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 324: Okay, Good Night Chapter 324: Okay, Good Night How the police in Nice would find and collect the body on the beach was beyond Jon''s reach. Their original n for their trip here was only for three days, ending today and leaving for their next stop in Marseille. Although France''s reputation had been spread as a harmonious country in the new century on the inte, throughout Europe it was extremely popr in terms of its level of culture and art. For example, the famous French national anthem, the ''La Marseiise'', was nicknamed after being sung in Paris by volunteers from Marseille marching to the capital during the French Revolution when they stood up for themselves. Jon and the gang took a tour around the old port of Marseille and made a trip to the art galleries after arriving here. In fact, as wizards, not many people were interested in the culture and history of the Muggles, except for a very small crowd of intrigued people. The Weasleys and the Longbottoms basically visited to admire the artistic creations, and even Arthur, who was more interested in the technology and machinery of the Muggles than in the culture and art professions, took a trip to the art galleries. After three days in Marseille, they left the coast and set off for the ind cities of France. This journey continued until the beginning of August when Jon asked Bill to help him out and take himself back to Lyon. After two failed attempts, he had finally managed to meet with good weather and timing, and tonight a monthter after putting the third mandrake leaf in his mouth, the weather in Lyon was clear, with the gentle light of the full moon spilling over the ground. Jon picked out a grassy area in the backyard of the school, then pulled out the small crystal vial he had prepared and put the leaf, which had been in his mouth for a month, with the moonlight shining on it. He then began to actively secrete saliva from his mouth, drooling into it until the vial filled up to the required level. After doing this, Jon held back from looking at the vial of fluid and took another small vial out of his pocket, which held the dew that hadn''t touched the sunlight for seven whole days, which Lily had helped Jon to collect for him by paying attention to it since a week ago. After adding a silver teaspoon of dew to the crystal vial, Jon pulled off a piece of his own hair and slipped it into the vial, and finally took out a chrysalis of a Death''s-head Hawk Moth and added it. Once all this was done, Jon used his magic to dig a hole about half a metre under an oak tree. The potion, made from his saliva, had to be hidden in a ce where it would be isted from sunlight and sound; and underground fulfilled this requirement perfectly. And after it was buried underground, the next condition for the potion to bepletely perfected was truly a matter of luck. Jon had to wait for a thunderstorm and rain. And such weather must not be simted by magic, it must ur naturally; such weather would note in every season, it would normally only ur in summer, and in some cases, it would not even be encountered for years. Jon had to be patient enough to wait, and in between, he had to chant the incantation in his mind with his ring at sunset and sunrise every day until he could hear a second heartbeat and unearth the potion on the day of the thunderstorm. If any one of these steps went wrong, it would affect his final casting of the spell. Once this was done, Jon didn''t return to the Weasley''s with Bill, as summer was the season for thunderstorms, which was why Jon couldn''t wait to try to hold the mandrake leaf at this time of year, once it became winter, it would probably be about a year before the next step could be taken, even if he finally managed to bury the potion. For the rest of the time until the start of the fourth year, Jon would stay at Lyons. And upon returning to Hogwarts, Nick approached Jon, and he was not alone, bringing along a tall, beautiful-looking female ghost along with him. "This is Gray Lady, Jon, once the resident ghost of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Ravenw House." Nick introduced Jon and Grey Lady to each other. "This is the Jon Green that Mr Slytherin told you about, and he is also the one who is going to Hogwarts Castle for the Triwizard Tournament afterwards." In regard to Grey Lady''s visit to Hogwarts, Jon had heard Hermione talk about it before when he was in Burrow Number Three. At the time, he hadn''t paid much attention to it, thinking that she had just visited because the announcement about the Slytherin portrait being there was released, causing the Ravenw''s actual daughter to want toe back and meet her old acquaintance from a thousand years ago. It turned out that she had actually been waiting in Hogwarts for a month, and looking at the fact that Nick had brought her over here in this manner, it seemed like she was waiting specifically for himself. Jon nced at Nick and noticed that Nick was giving him a sneaky wink, so he nodded his head and greeted the ghost who had once been conned by Voldemort. "Hello, Lady Grey." Grey Lady responded with nothing but a nod as she looked at Jon with scrutiny in her gaze. "You''re the one who brought back the Slytherin portrait?" She didn''t use honorifics for Slytherin and called out directly by his family name rather than his given name, not sounding like the two were all that close. Jon disyed a slight amount of confusion, guessing that Grey Lady was deliberately saying it this way, to disguise her true identity or just simply that she didn''t have that good of a rtionship with Slytherin. "Yes, ma''am, I found Mr Slytherin''s portrait in thebyrinth at the Arctic and brought him out of there." "He said that you are a Slytherin recognized by Gryffindor." There was a slight expression on Grey Lady''s face as she uttered these words, it was unclear what she was thinking. Jon shrugged. "Perhaps, so Ms Grey only sought me out to confirm this?" "Nick said that you could summon two Patronus, still a lion and a badger respectively?" Jon nced at Nick, who gave him a helpless look and spread his hands out. "It''s gettingte ma''am, if you don''t have anything important I''m going to go back to bed, now is when it''s time for me to grow up, sleepingte will be a big problemter on, in case I fail to be taller." It wasn''t that Jon had anything against Grey Lady, he was just a little upset with her attitude. Neither of them knew each other before, and this ghost came up with such a high posture that Jon wasn''t in the mood to ustom it to her. After saying that, Jon walked straight in the direction of the dormitory without the slightest intention of further entangling himself with her. Grey Lady watched him brush past her, her attitude still as proud as ever, her head held high as she looked calmly at Jon''s back and said. "My real name is Helena Ravenw, and Rowena Ravenw, one of the founders of Hogwarts, is my mother." However, Jon did not, as she had expected, turn around in shock upon hearing who she was and greet her with a fresh greeting, followed by an apology for his "arrogance". Jon didn''t even pause for a moment as he continued to walk forward, waving casually with his back to Grey Lady. "Well, good night then, Lady Helena Ravenw." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 325: Diadem Chapter 325: Diadem "Like I told you, Madam, if you keep interacting with people with that attitude, sooner orter you''re going to run into a rough patch like Jon, he''s not one of those students you met when you were at Hogwarts Castle before." Nick shrugged and smiled slightly gloatingly at Lady Grey who was frozen in ce, her face obviously looking a little ufortable. Hearing his words, Lady Grey then snapped back to her senses, the proud expression on her already transparent face seemed to fade a little, and instead of answering Nick''s words, she simply turned around and left the ce. Nick looked at the youngdy, who had been a ghost for five hundred years more than him, but still looked like a young girl, and made aical face. Then, he silently crossed the wall to Jon''s dormitory room without a second thought. Neville and others were travelling with the Weasleys through Toulouse, so Jon was now the only one in the dormitory. Jon was brushing his teeth when Nick arrived. He had been keeping the leaf of mandrake in his mouth for a month, and although the magical herb itself was partly self-cleansing, it still gave Jon quite a strange psychological feeling, and now even though the leaf had been spat out it gave his saliva a strange taste. "Hey, I thought you''d wait until the day school started toe back, why didn''t you y two more days?" Given the rtionship between Nick and him, there was certainly no need to be so formal. Jon gargled to spit the foam out of his mouth and said casually. "There''s a tournament to prepareter on no matter what, and can I take it that you''re changing the subject?" Nick rubbed his hands together with some embarrassment. "Just to be clear, I didn''t tell her about your Patronus, she got the word from over in Britain and came to me." Jon hadn''t intended to hold him on anything regarding the Patronus, it was already known to all of Voldemort''s men, and it didn''t really matter at all whether it was hidden or not. "So, she actually came on this trip mainly for me?" Jon asked as he wiped his mouth clean and sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at Nick. Nick nodded his head. "Yeah, I don''t know what channels she got the info about you over there in Britain and then found me at the beginning of the summer. At the time I thought she was here for Mr Slytherin''s portrait, but it turns out she only had a quick audience with that portrait and then came back from Dumbledore''s office in a huff, and it doesn''t look like she and that gentleman got along very pleasantly." Of course, they wouldn''t get along very well; knowing the life of this Lady Grey Jon could figure out how the Slytherin would treat the daughter of his former friend. Not to mention the fact that he had fallen out with the other three founderster on and straight out left the school, even if his old friendship was still a thing, this would only make him look down on this ungrateful daughter, even more, who actually stole something from her own mother, who would give it to her if she had asked instead of stealing and running away. "I had thought that after seeing Mr Slytherin in person she would leave, but to my surprise, she found me again and asked me about you." Jon peeled an apple with his fruit knife, given the questions Lady Grey had just asked him, he could probably guess the reason for her presence even if he thought with his toes. "She came to me because she guessed that there is some special link between me and Hogwarts Castle?" "Yes, although she was hiding it at first, you know, I may not have been close to her in the castle before, but I''ve known her for hundreds of years anyway, I know everything about her personality, so after a few words of coaxing, I was able to ask her all about her intentions for visiting you." Nick looked at Jon, his expression finally bing somewhat serious. "She wants your help in getting the relics of Rowena Ravenw back." Jon took a nibble of the apple in his hand as he listened. "The diadem?" Nick looked at him in surprise. "You know all about it?" "Not only I do know, but I''ve already seen that thing once." The apple was crisp and Jon crunched a bite, "You should know, I had infiltrated Hogwarts castle to steal the Book of Admittance and the Quill of eptance before I met you at sea. To get those two items you had to get into the Headmaster''s office first, and there were four items ced right on the desk in that Headmaster''s office." "The Slytherin locket, the Gryffindor sword, the golden cup of Hufflepuff, and the Ravenw diadem." It was the first time Nick had heard about this from Jon, he did know about Jon had once infiltrated the castle before but had no idea about what was actually hidden in the Headmaster''s office. There was a clear tinge of shock in Nick''s voice. "The Dark Lord has gathered up the relics of all four founders?" He obviously didn''t know anything about the Horcruxes. "Then why didn''t you get them back then?" Jon tossed the clean-eaten kernel into the bin. "Come on, be serious Nick, if you are the Dark Lord, would you leave four valuable artefacts like that in in sight just on your desk in the Headmaster''s office for no reason? If he didn''t want anyone else to find them, there are so many ces in the world to hide them, but why did he have to put them in a ce where his enemies were most likely to go?" "Are you saying that there must have been a curse cast on those four relics by the dark lord?" "I am not sure whether there was a curse or not, but they were all certainly not normal, and my main goal at the time was not to take those relics, there was no need to risk an ident by trying to take them away while I didn''t get the book and quill, and left the school with muggle students." Jon rubbed his chin as he redirected the conversation back to Lady Grey. "Which means that this Lady Grey, knows the diadem is in Hogwarts Castle, and she wants my help to retrieve it? Then why doesn''t she go and find it herself? Wouldn''t a ghost be better suited to move around inside the castle, and none of the Dark Lord''s men could do anything to her." Nick spread his hands. "Gabrielle following you around every day has given you the wrong idea, Jon. Normal ghosts have no way of touching a physical object, and she couldn''t take it out at all even if she could find it in the castle." Jon pped his forehead, he had indeed forgotten about it. "That''s not a good attitude to have when you''re asking for something, and why should I get it back for her when she''s the one who foolishly gave it away." His voice was vague on thest two words and Nick didn''t hear them. "Here''s the thing about ghosts, even though you might think we''ve been surviving in this world since we died, our mentality and personality have actually always remained the same as it was before we died, there''s no way for time to affect our souls and naturally there''s no way for us to grow much more than we did before, Lady Grey is a prime example of that." Nick asked with a wink as he looked at Jon. "So, are you going to help her?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 326: Return to Our Castle (2 in 1) Chapter 326: Return to Our Castle (2 in 1) "I certainly wouldn''t try to help her if that was her attitude the whole time." Jon said casually, "But that diadem holds a special significance not just to her, it''s an important relic to the entire Hogwarts, and if I had the chance to get my hands on it, I''d certainly get it back." Nick wasn''t much surprised by this answer from Jon, it had been clear to him from the start that Jon is typically a soft person, but that''s not mean he would help anyone who wanted his help with something when they had the kind of attitude Lady Grey had when she was in a position of seeking help. After finishingmunicating with Jon about the matter of Lady Grey, Nick left Jon''s dorm room. There were less than three weeks to go before the start of the new academic year in September and the start of the Triwizard Tournament, and in that time Jon had not been idle, even though he hadpleted the second step of making the Animagus Potion. Apart from the necessary preparations that he had to make every day at sunrise and sunset, when he insisted on reciting the incantation with his ring against his heart, he continued to delve into the forbidden book area in the second gem, constantly gaining more and more magic knowledge. After this trip to the North Pole, the magic on the b originally drawn from the tower had been exhausted, but as the magic ran out, the knowledge of the forbidden books in the gem still continued to be retained. It was with its contents,bined with Grindelwald''s teaching, that Jon had previously mastered the three unforgivable curses in their entirety, and now he was drawn to two other spells that are not dark magic, yet are more terrifying than dark magic at most of the time. The Memory Charm and Legilimency. These two spells have the effect of modifying and reading a person''s mind respectively, which is much more insidious than the spells that inflict damage on the surface. Voldemort''s reign in Britain was bing more and more firmly rooted thanks to the Memory Charm; he never feared the emergence of fierce resistance, and even the strongest human will was no match for absolute magic. And under the British Ministry of Magic, the division that disgusted wizards of all bloodlines is the Obliviator Headquarters which is part of the Department of Magical idents and Catastrophes. Any ideological heretic will eventually face the wizards of this division and have his or her very perceptions and memories tampered with. Human feelings are sometimes so simple, all and everything in their minds is rted to their memories, and once the memories are altered, then their very nature would naturally change with it. The current head of the Obliviator Headquarters is a rather famous guy - Gilderoy Lockhart, former best-selling author, adventurer, now mind-manipting demon and valuedpdog under Voldemort. His Memory Charm was so out of this world that almost all stubborn elements would eventuallye to an end at his hands, and he is also one of the most highly regarded wizards in the Ministry of Magic by Voldemort. Of course, Jon remembered this con man, and it had to be said that Voldemort had a good eye for talent these days, and the Memory Charm was probably the only good thing that Lockhart had in his entire body that that man could find, and it had served his cause so well. It also showed how powerful the Memory Charm could be, and Jon even felt that if this charm didn''t have a remedy, then it would surely be more terrifying than the Imperius Curse, one of the three Unforgivable Curses. Then there''s Legilimency, which, unlike the Memory Charm that modifies a person''s memory, is a spell that can read a person''s memory, as well as pull it out of their brain and change it into substantial silver threads for everyone else to view. In terms of destructive power, these two spells certainly couldn''tpare to a spell like the sting Curse or Invisible Sword Curse, but they are unique in their functionality in a way that no other spell can match them. Jon felt that he might be able to use these two spells on his second trip to Hogwarts Castle. The good thing was that the Memory Charm was considered a rtively generic spell, and it wasn''t all that difficult to learn, the difficultyy in bing skilled at it afterwards. On the contrary, Legilimency is a spell that is difficult to learn, but once you''ve learned it, it''s easy to master it with just some experience. So at first, he focused all his energy on the Memory Charm, and after he was basically able to use it, he then began to shift his focus to the Legilimency spell. As Jon delved much deeper into his studies, Hermione, Ron, Neville and the others returned to Hogwarts in thest week of August, and it was only when Neville returned to his dormitory that Jon learned that Lady Grey had not left after her encounter with him, but had stayed here, apparently like Nick, she would continue to stay on afterwards. Jon had nothing to say about this, thisdy was not a bad person even though she was a bit overbearing, otherwise, she wouldn''t be one of the resident ghosts at Hogwarts. And just a little less than three days before the start of their fourth year in September, Rosier, the Deputy Headmistress of Durmstrang, arrived at Hogwarts with a dozen students and their school''s champion, Diane Rosier. This time, although four schools are participating in thepetition titled the Triwizard Tournament, they are actually only split into two camps. Regardless of whether Jon or Diane ended up winning, it would represent a win for Dumbledore on the bet and a defeat for Voldemort, so of course there was a certain amount of intemunication between the two schools. Diane was very respectful upon seeing Jon, or rather all the Durmstrang students was respectful upon seeing Jon. "Professor Green." In the great hall where lunch was being eaten, Lupin and Sirius, who had remained behind to look after the students during the holidays, watched with an odd look on their faces at the sight of a group of Durmstrang students giving Jon a short bow. "I thought that school was up to something else until now, but it turns out they''re really trying to drag Jon in as a professor?" Lupin said softly. Sirius shrugged. "To be honest, I''ve never heard of a fourteen-year-old professor." "Let alone heard of one, even if you looked through the history of magic now you couldn''t find one under the age of eighteen." Sirius narrowed his already sharp eyes. "But even if they did want Jon to be a professor, that doesn''t mean they don''t have other intentions, and I''ve always felt that Headmaster, who joined forces with Dumbledore, didn''t intend to help us." Lupin said calmly. "We don''t have to worry about that, I think Professor Dumbledore should know more about it than all of us." Faced with the respectful attitude of the Durmstrang students, Jon had a bit of a headache. He had agreed to be a professor of Transfiguration because he wanted to learn from Grindelwald, not to mention the fact that so far he had only held the title of professor and hadn''t actually given a single lecture to these students. Gaining respect like that for no reason at all was a little less eptable to Jon. "You can just call me Jon, at least you don''t have to address me as Professor when you''re not in ss." Before the students could reply, however, Rosier spoke first with a frown. "Those are the rules, Professor Green, the rules that the Headmasterid down for Durmstrang, and since you have epted this position as a professor, you have to abide by its rules while enjoying its conveniences." Jon could only say helplessly at this. "Well, then, since that is your rule." The Durmstrang students had certainly arrived early for their intended purposes, and Rosier had already taken Diane to meet Dumbledore a few hours before, but apparently, they hadn''t got the results they wanted there. "We asked Headmaster Dumbledore what kind of co-ordination the two schools should have for the rest of the tournament, but he said we each simply needed to do our best and try to help each other out during the tournament." At lunch, Diane, who is about a forehead taller than Jon due to the girls'' earlier development than the boys, the head girl of Durmstrang who is now in her seventh year sat next to Jon. However, the age difference between the two did not change the primary and secondary rtionship between them, not just the status of professor that Jon held at Durmstrang, but anyone who had seen Jon on the night of the Triwizard Champions Selection would never be able to see him as an ordinary fourth-year student. Jon was not much surprised by Diane''s words; in fact, even now he did not understand what Dumbledore''s reasons were for agreeing to Voldemort to use the Triwizard Tournament to decide the winner of this war in France in the first ce. Maybe it was for fewer casualties, maybe it was because he trusted him enough, maybe it was because he had some scruples about Voldemort, but Jon felt that these could only be secondary reasons, and Dumbledore had not spoken to anyone else about the main purpose, including him. "Just do as Professor Dumbledore has suggested." Jon said, "Let''s put victory or defeat aside, and keep both of our lives safe first during the tournament. If there is a time when it is necessary to fight with each other we also need to prioritise each other''s lives, not victory or defeat." The expression on Diane''s face was a little stunned. Even if she was more amiable, she is still a student who came out of the Rosier family and was educated by Grindelwald. She had been deeply influenced by the phrase "for the greatest good", and although she wouldn''t go so far as to do anything for the ultimate victory, she felt that if she could sacrifice herself to achieve the final goal she would do it, and that should be themon consensus between the headmasters of the two schools. Yet neither Dumbledore nor Jon himself had apparently grasped such a consensus and were still putting their personal well-being above the collective good, which was somewhat less eptable to Diane. She had even wondered if Jon and Dumbledore felt that she was just aplete add-on to the tournament on behalf of Durmstrang, with or without her there would be no problem, and that was why they were using such rhetoric to deal with her. Jon didn''t think about what Diane was thinking, he was thinking about the trip to Hogwarts Castle. There are more secrets in that castle than what he found there previously, and thest time Jon had infiltrated there he couldn''t go into more than that because he had a clear goal. This time, on the other hand, the Triwizard Tournament would keep him there for at least an academic year, which meant that he would have plenty of time to dig deeper into things that he otherwise wouldn''t have the energy to explore. After all this time, Jon had gained a proficient grasp of the Memory Charm and was barely able to use the Legilimency. The Memory Charm was certainly easy to learn, but to what extent he could use it, he could only use it to erase memories most crudely, but not to modify them as precisely and finely as Memory Masters could do. As for the Legilimency spell that he could barely use, with his current mastery, there is no way to use it in reality, he can only pull out a tiny silver thread of thought when a person actively andpletely drops their guard in their mind. But in any case, to be able to use it from nothing to something is the greatest progress, and after that, if one wants to be proficient at it one just has to keep practising, and it will alwayse to fruition. Jon never ckened off in training his magic casting skills, and as he grew older, so did the magic in his body. The intensity of his magic is now at least three times stronger than when he was a first year, and even without the magic stored in the second gem of his ring, he can still use the levitation charm to fly for a short period of time. The intensity of the various spells he used had also increased significantly. And the day after the Durmstrang students arrived in Lyons to join the Hogwarts students, Dumbledore also came back to the school from his headquarters in Witching Horizon. Today was already thest day of August, and tomorrow was not only the start of a new academic year, but it was likewise the official start of the Triwizard Tournament season. That meant that early tomorrow morning, Dumbledore would be leading the students from both schools to Hogwarts Castle. On this night before he left, he had gathered all the students of Hogwarts in advance. This year''s intake of new students had ended during the summer, andpared to previous years, the number of new students this year was even far greater than before. This was because with the Book of Admittance and the Quill of eptance, not only could all the British muggle students have been brought to the school early, but now with Witching Horizon having taken substantial control of all the regions in France except Paris, it was also possible to enrol the French muggle students in the school as well. So there was arge intake of new students for this year, going up to even half the total number that had previously been there during the toughest period on the wagon. The wee dinner for the new students also took ce tonight, as tomorrow would also be the official start of sses at Hogwarts. In addition to the usual banquet, Dumbledore announced that he would be taking ten Hogwarts students to Hogwarts Castel. The students who wanted to go were asked to sign up voluntarily, but ultimately only those who are third years or older would be chosen. The students were enthusiastic about this, and almost every eligible student threw their name into one of the stone basins used for registration, except for some who had been rescued from the castle by Jon and already had a psychological fear of that school. Eventually, McGonagall selected ten at random from among those slips of paper to determine who would be going to Hogwarts Castle this time. Of the students in Jon''s year, only two girls, Hermione and Lavender, were picked, and while Lavender was full of cheers when her name was drawn, Hermione''s face looked calm, and it was hard to tell what she was thinking. From the Weasley twins only George''s name was drawn, Fred was crestfallen at this and discussed with George if they could change ce with each other, as no one would notice it anyway, only to have George poke him in the arm with a fork. With all the preparations set, they spent the very first and possibly thest night of the new academic year at Hogwarts. Then at dawn the next day, the Durmstrang students, led by Rosier, joined the Hogwarts students led by Dumbledore in the Hogwarts wagon that had been turned back from the ship. It had been sent along with the Durmstrang students when they arrived, and after Jon had reached the ice at the very centre of the Arctic in Hogwarts, it had returned to theke at Durmstrang on its own. For the Hogwarts students, this wagon is the ce they are most familiar with. As Jon and the others started to board the wagon, Hagrid was already sitting in the driver''s seat, just as he once had been. Hagrid was much more excited than the students, and the flush of excitement was still evident on his face, which was mostly covered by his thick beard. Instead of following the other students into the wagon, Jon sat down directly in Hagrid''s wide chair, just as he had done in the first year when he first arrived. "I remember what I was serving you, ck tea and cream rock cakes, you said you weren''t hungry at the time and just had a cup of ck tea." Hagrid smiled and offered a cup of ck tea, which was steaming hot to Jon, who took it from him and watched as he made the final preparations before setting off on his journey. Jon held the cup of tea in his hand and took a gentle sip. Directly in front of him, instead of being invisible to his gaze as they had been three years ago, the Thestrals were clearly showing their original appearance. A somewhat subtle smile appeared on Jon''s face as he looked at the ck horses with bat-like fleshy wings. "It is nice to know that it doesn''t only need grief or mourning to see you all." His voice was so quiet that even Hagrid, who was sitting beside him, didn''t hear what he was saying. "What did you say?" Hagrid questioned as he waved the reins, and the next moment, instead of running, the Thestrals who would be pulling the wagon simply unfurled those wide ck wings! The wagon, which would only turn its wheels on British soil, took to the skies as the Thestrals pulled it into flight! The breeze, filtered by the wind-proof enchantment, ruffled the bangs on Jon''s forehead as he clutched his teacup, took a fresh sip of the ck tea in it and replied softly. "I can still remember what we talked about back then; Do you know what words you said have stuck with me most, Hagrid." "Hmm?" The wagon passed through the low clouds, but the broad ck wings of the Thestrals did not stop, and they continued their ascent until they had leaptpletely out of the highest of the clouds. Jon squinted at the sky, the rising sun was brighter and more blinding than ever. "Back then I asked you if we had a final destination for this journey." Hagrid said with a smile. "Ah, I answered you with that Dumbledore line." Jon stood on the bench as he propped himself up against the high table in front of him that was attached to the entire wagon, the breeze whistled in his ears, the puffy clouds leapt at his feet, and the sun shone with festive light. "There would be only one end to this journey, and that would be to return to that Hogwarts castle that was originally ours." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 327: An Owner Doesnt Need to Expect a Welcoming of Robbers When He Comes Home Chapter 327: An Owner Doesn''t Need to Expect a Weing of Robbers When He Comes Home Hogwarts Castle, Scond. Both the students of the Pureblood House and the Half-Blood House were up early in the morning, gleefully discussing things about the Triwizard Tournament. Everyone knew that today marked the official start of the Triwizard Tournament, and in the morning, just as they began their first day of the new academic year, a number of newspaper reporters from all over Europe had already arrived inside the castle. Hogwarts Castle had specially prepared amodations for them. The Triwizard Tournament is not going to be held and concluded in just one day, the three events together will span at least one academic year, so it is inevitable that these journalists, who will be covering the whole tournament, will be specially provided with food, clothing and amodation. At 10 o''clock when Beauxbatons students would arrive at the castle. In the morning Snape made a special arrangement to suspend all the student''s sses, and they all stood in front of the castle to wee them. It was not their Headmaster, who had only been in post for a year brought the students, but Voldemort himself, who had not been seen since the champions'' selection. From first year to seventh year, all the students, except Draco who stood beside Snape as the champion of Hogwarts Castle, stood in orderly rows on the grassywn ording to their bloodlines, greeting the guests from Beauxbatons as well as their Headmaster. Emil, the champion of Beauxbatons, followed Voldemort, only half a length behind him, and walked with him to Hogwarts castle. Snape brought Draco with him, also following along behind his lord. "Did Dumbledore bring his people?" Voldemort, who was walking ahead of him, asked very casually, not looking as angry and out of sorts as he had four months ago when he had seen the Lestrange couple''s bodies. Snape said softly. "They haven''t arrived yet, my lord, but they should be soon." Voldemort nodded and didn''t make another sound, except that as his steps reached the top step to the castle, the next step to the main doors, he turned back to the students who were still standing in line on thewn. "Now that I''m here, who are you waiting for?" He said in a loud voice that reached every student, "It''s been a lovely morning, all you need is cake and ck tea, boys. Go back to the great hall, there are no more guests worth waiting for." The students on thewn looked at their Headmaster with astonishment at first, then all soon came back to their senses and a cheer went up from both the purebloods and the half-bloods. It was clear that no one wanted to stand in one ce all morning, and now that the great gentleman had given the word, they couldn''t help but feel liberated. The students, each with a happy expression on their faces, walked into the castle with genuine happiness and flocked behind the pureblood guests who had arrived from Beauxbatons, as well as their Headmaster. Of these, only Snape looked back at the already emptywn, then did not speak, but simply walked behind all the students and finally pulled the two castle doors shut It was close to midday when Thestrals pulled the wagon directly over Hogwarts Castle. Jon and Hagrid sat side by side in the driver''s seat as they prated through the clouds once more and began to descend from high above, and Jon couldn''t help but narrow his eyes as he looked at the castle that loomed between the mountains and the ck Lake. He remembered thest time he had been here and the time he had left, and now he was back again. Hagrid was also looking down, only instead of looking at the castle, he was looking out over the endless forbidding forest beside the ckke that looked like a mirror. The circles of his eyes were visibly red, and his tworge hands, holding the reins, were trembling slightly from the sheer force of his grip. Even the Thestrals pulling the wagon along in their winged flight showed a visible leap of joy, as if they had returned to their familiar homnd, each one swooping down with impatience and carrying the wagon towards the ancient castle. No one else in the world knew the school as well as some people travelling in this wagon. Even those who are inside the castle today. The Thestrals spread their huge ck wings as they swept low over the edge of the forbidden forest and glided along the surface of the ckke, the hooves of the youngest one flying even ruffled the calmke surface, leaving a ripple in its wake. Eventually, the group of ck Pegasus folded their wings andnded on thekesidewn in front of the castle. Their hooves hit the soft ground and the wheels of the Hogwarts wagon fell slowly back to the ground, gliding forward a short distance beforeing to aplete stop in front of the closed gates of the castle. The summer breeze blew the curtains at the back of the wagon and Dumbledore and Rosier led the Hogwarts and Durmstrang students out of it. There was a hidden excitement on the faces of every child, especially the ten Hogwarts students, who had always borne the name Hogwarts, yet it was the first time for nine of them to visit this thousand-year-old castle. Even Hermione had a bright light in her gaze. She had returned, no longer as a ve, but brightly as a free person, a wand-wielding wizard, a student of the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, all over again. But still, the empty, desertedwn, with no one in sight, brought down the initial fervour of the excited students'' hearts. "Rude to the core." Rosier''s face was cold, and she felt that even though she had never thought much of the dark lord, she had still overestimated his bearing. George tilted his head to look up at the pitch-ck castle, which happened to have a cloud looming over them at the moment. "I''ve fantasised how Hogwarts Castle would actually look like before." He stood beside Jon, his face devoid of his old cheeky grin and glibness, with only a calm smile. "My dad and mum told me from a very young age that this ce is the greatest in the world, Bill told me it''s where the best memories of every wizard''s life are born, and Charlie used to entertain us almost every time we came home by recounting to us how great the Quidditch tournaments were at this school, but I just feel that this ce is... Dead." Jon looked at the castle as well. Thest time he had been here, he had stayed for a long time, but the life of a ''mudblood'' ve had not given him the energy to observe and appreciate this thousand-year-old castle. Now, when he couldpletely take a look at the castle, for some reason, the deadly darkness of the prison in Azkaban surfaced in his mind. Dumbledore, who was also standing just a short distance in front of George, heard George''sment and a reminiscent smile crossed his face. "Everyone has a different impression of this ce, but perhaps it is not the castle that has been subjected to change, but the times in which we live. Like me, I always thought this would be a good ce to store woolly socks." The Hogwarts students looked at each other, and all of them knew that Dumbledore had begun to say something that sounded muddled once again. And just then, an old woman on crutches limped along the edge of the ck Lake and came up to them. She had a broad-brimmed peaked hat on her head and a hunched stature, but her pace, which relied on the cane for stability, was not the least bit slow. "Do you know how much trouble thesewns are to maintain! Those little mudbloods are already clumsy! Get your men to lead these beasts with me! It''s disgusting, these ill-omened Thestrals! The very sight of them makes you sick!" The old witch stared at the Hogwarts and Durmstrang students with a disgusted look in her cloudy eyes, cursing at the Thestrals under her breath, but only she knew whether she was cursing them or Jon and the students. "Come on! Get these beasts ande with me! I''ll take you to find them a ce they can use as air, and you''d better not let me see them shitting around here, or I''ll turn you into a shithead and make you push a dung ball!" The witch screamed as she crossed over to Dumbledore and them and shouted at Hagrid who was holding the reins of the Thestrals. Hagrid nced at Dumbledore who gave him a slight nod before he led Thestrals off thewn with a grumpy look on his face following the cursing witch. "What are we going to do now? Diane looked to Rosier and then to Dumbledore. Upon hearing her question, Dumbledore instead turned his attention to Jon. "What do you think we should do now? Jon." As his question was asked, the eyes of all these students in the ce were focused on Jon. Jon tilted his head and looked up at the towering castle, and then he led the way to the front of the steps. "This shouldn''t even be a question, Professor." Coming to the door that had been wide open for over a year, he reached out and pushed it open heavily, saying in a breezy voice. "Everyone knows exactly who is the owner here, and there are thousands of truths in this world, but none of the truths says that the owner needs a gang of robbers to wee him to his home." "Creak~" The heavy wooden door made a soundden with the ages of time, and the wide entrance hall with its long, clean corridor was revealed to all. Candle mes lit up the walls on either side, one by one, like soldiers in the full dress ready for their officer''s inspection. Jon''s shoes, stained with the wet mud of thewn, stepped on the clean tiles that reflected people''s shadows, and his strong, sturdy steps echoed throughout the unupied entrance hall. Behind him, the students of Hogwarts and Durmstrang looked at his back, the feelings of insult and frustration have now gone, reced by a surge of emotion! Yes, there is no such thing as andlording home and needing a bandit to go out and wee him. They had not made this trip to gain any so-called respect. Rather, to reim their own home! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 328: Great Hall (2 in 1) Chapter 328: Great Hall (2 in 1) The lunch today was sumptuous. Even for a picky person like Draco, he had to admit that such a standard could already be called a feast. The students of Beauxbatons had been given a special long table not far from the high dais, and Draco and Emil, who had been chosen as champions, were seated on either side of Voldemort as a sign of the honour of being chosen. In addition to these, there were journalists from all over Europe who have recently been arriving at the castle in thest few days along with the students returning to school for the start of the new academic year. They, too, had been assigned a special long table, and these people were all equipped with cameras and quill even while they were eating, with shes lighting up from time to time, as if there was already something newsworthy happening before the Triwizard Tournament had even started. Draco knew what their news release tomorrow would be about, and it would be nothing more than the cold reception Dumbledore and his team had received today. Something that the young Malfoy is looking forward to. After that afternoon of long talks with Emil and his father, his fears about the tournament had subsided, but the impact that Jon had left on his mind that night had been too strong. It had be almost a nightmare, and he had awoken several times from dreams of the sharp fang that had ended up piercing his own throat instead of Aunt Be''s. The mere thought of watching the boy named Jon make a fool of himself now gave Draco great psychologicalfort. He was even tempted, if the asion allowed, to sneak out and see the look of outrage and humiliation on the faces of the wanted students when they arrived at Hogwarts Castle and found no one was weing them or any hospitality. In fact, there were many people, not just Draco, who was not in the mood to put a knife and fork into the sumptuous lunch in front of them on the long table filled with reporters. The lunch had already started before all the schools that needed toe to the tournament had arrived, and not even a single house elf had been arranged to greet them outside the castle, so anyone could see that this was Voldemort''s way of giving Dumbledore a hard time. After the Blood Pact was made, the Triwizard Tournament could no longer be cancelled, but the tournament is being hosted at Hogwarts Castle, and whether or not Voldemort has the right to upy the castle, it is he who now holds effective control of it at the moment. This ce is his true home turf, and as long as it doesn''t involve disrupting the tournament, he can easily get Dumbledore and the others upset and annoyed if he wants to. Regardless of the stance of the journalists here, there is nothing more exciting for journalists than to be in a situation like this, if both sides are at peace, then who would want to subscribe to their newspaper to read about it? It''s the tit-for-tat that sells the best. The students of Hogwarts Castle, both pure and half-bloods, were also murmuring about it, most of them sporting self-satisfied grins on their faces as Voldemort''s actions gave them a great sense of vanity. ording to the Bloodline theory, that bunch of wanted criminals are a bunch of mudbloods, some of whom had even escaped only a year ago. The students, who had been taught about hierarchy since the beginning of their education, had always felt a sense of superiority as they were supposed to feel due to their upbringing, but the way Jon had behaved that night had been like a heavy hammer blow, creating numerous cobweb-like cracks in their sense of superiority. What Voldemort had just done was like adding a patch to their already cracked sense of superiority and maintaining the pride of their bloodline. The mood in the great hall was rxed. It was like a normal opening banquet, a party for pro-bloodline wizards. However, not long after the people at each of the long tables had raised their butterbeer, a loud thud suddenly emanated from the great hall''s imposing doors! The closed wooden door was flung open from the outside with an irresistible force, and a light breeze that flowed through the corridor blew into the great hall with an atmosphere that did not fit into the school at all. The original noises faded into silence and eventually, the whole hall became silent. Jon stood in front of the door with his wand in one hand, his face void of expression as he stared calmly straight ahead, in the direction that no one in the great hall had dared to look directly. Beside him stood a smiling Dumbledore, who,pared to Jon, seemed to be in a good mood, except that it was certainly not for this extraordinary "reception". And behind the two stood over twenty students from the Hogwarts wagon as well as Durmstrang. Their faces were devoid of the humiliation and anger that Draco wanted to see, and not even a semnce of frustration could be seen. The breeze that poured into the great hall from the corridor blew up the hem of their robes, which had been carefully chosen by Lily, their V-cut navy blue hemmed jumpers, their white shirt cors, and the red and ck ties that McGonagall had carefully checked each and every one of them with before they left, making this group of wanted criminals look more rxed than anyone else sitting here. Hermione raised her head slightly, revealing her delicate corbones and pale neck, her long chestnut hair ruffled by the light breeze as she looked around the great hall, watching the ceiling that mirrored the sky with a posture and gaze that she never had before. Hardly a single student in the great hall recognized her, not that Hermione hadn''t made much of an impression on them, but there was a world of difference between Hermione now and the ragged little girl who had been hanging in front of the entrance hall. George was also looking at the ceiling of the great hall that mirrored the blue sky, no matter what was different here from what Arthur and Molly had told him, this is the only ce that remained the same. "I once told you, Tom, that you were the most brilliant student I ever taught, but perhaps I should have taken that back a long time ago." Dumbledore looked at the man sitting in the very middle of the long table on the raised tform. "Having signed a blood pact, having wanted to get this tournament going smoothly, having chosen Hogwarts Castle as the venue, where are the sincerity and courtesy you should have shown as the promoter of this tournament?" His calm voice echoed through the great hall. No one knew what kind of changes in facial expression Voldemort currently sported, for no one dared to meet his gaze. But Jon could see it clearly, for Voldemort had been looking at him from the moment he had entered the door all along as well. Hearing Dumbledore''s words, the man who had be a nightmare for muggle-born wizards across Europe did not show the slightest hint of anger or distaste, and a smile actually appeared on that angr, young and handsome face. A smile that looked like a sneer, but was in fact very subtle. "Dumbledore, perhaps it is a little too early for you to want to take that back, why don''t we wait and see." His voice was soft, yet the words were heard by everyone in the entire great hall, and as he spoke, his gaze did not shift towards Dumbledore, but remained fixed on Jon. As his words fell, he gently pped his palm. The next moment, a long table appeared horizontally in front of Jon and the others. The table was less than five metres from the door of the great hall and intersected at a right angle to the long table where the students of both Hogwarts Castle and Beauxbatons and the journalists sat, but was directly opposite to the one where Voldemort and the professors of Hogwarts Castle sat. What he had just said sounded like a concession for not greeting Dumbledore and his team, but in fact, most people had heard something peculiar in it. But whatever he was saying, it didn''t stop Jon from sitting down at the long table. Once everyone had taken their seats, the same sumptuous lunch as at the other tables appeared on the table at the same time, and it was clear that by this point Voldemort had not bothered to make a deliberate difference in the standard of the meal. The atmosphere in the great hall had clearly changed since Jon and the others had entered. The original cheerful chatter was gone, and even if there were still students talking, they were only whispering, making the whole great hall somewhat dull and depressing. All their previous illusions had been shattered, and Jon''s entrance had been like a cold reality that had punctured their happiness. There was no such thing as being humiliated, nor was there any embarrassment at all, because these people had never considered them to be the true owners of the castle. While the half-blood students, who asionally nced towards the Hogwarts wagon and the Durmstrang students, were exchanging nces, a sixth-year half-blood student was staring in the direction of the great hall doors in a somewhat dazed manner. "What''s wrong? Cedric." A girl at his side asked in a whisper of concern. It was only then that the boy named Cedric came back to his senses and shook his head as if nothing was wrong. "Nothing''s wrong, I just thought of something at home." This little interlude was not noticed by any more than a few people, and even if it had been, no one would have cared about a student who is only a second-ss citizen in Hogwarts Castle and Britain. The gloomy lunch was soon over; this was not the time to officially start announcing the tournament, while representatives from all four wizarding schools were present, the three other wizards sent by the International Confederation of Wizards would not arrive until the afternoon. So after lunch was over, Voldemort didn''t bother to give any extended speeches or deliberately sarcastic remarks to vent, but just left the great hall. Jon and the others didn''t stay around long either, or rather Voldemort didn''t leave them hanging this time and sent someone to receive them specifically. "Ah, Severus, it''s been a long time since we''ve seen each other." Dumbledore mouthed words of nostalgia, but neither the tone of his voice nor the look in his eyes was half as nostalgic but rather as t as stagnant water in a well. Snape looked as if he didn''t care about his attitude, his hollow eyes were as if they would forever remain that cold except in the presence of his lord. "It seems there was never any need to meet between us in the first ce, Dumbledore. There are no spaces reserved for you in the castle, and you should not be staying here, so now I will show you to where your wagon should have been taken." He finished his sentence and volunteered to walk ahead to lead the way. It did seem that the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts Castle, Voldemort''s most trusted man, had little desire to make small talk with Dumbledore, as he led the way in silence without uttering a word. Jon had actually been a little curious about Snape''s stance in this world. In a normal world line, he would have been a pathetic double agent, following Dumbledore''s orders to infiltrate the Death Eaters and eventually even paying for it with his own life. But that was in the context of Lily being killed by Voldemort to protect Harry Potter. Nowadays, it looked like Lily had failed to protect Harry and therefore did not die at the hands of the dark lord, which left Snape with no reason to betray the Death Eaters. After all, he had originally been attracted to the ideology of Voldemort since he was a student, hooking up not only with the purebloods in his own house but also with Lucius, who was a few years older than him and had long since graduated from Hogwarts and be a Death Eater, through correspondence. But ording to the exact course of events that Jon knew, Snape would have had a hunch that his lord might not fulfil the promise he had made to spare Lily when Voldemort had gone to the Potters. So on that night he also went humbly to Dumbledore and pleaded with him to save Lily''s life, for which he was despised a little by Dumbledore for not caring about James and Harry''s survival. If the point at which history changed was the night Voldemort went to find Harry Potter, Snape would have approached Dumbledore on that night as well. So, did he make a deal with Dumbledore or not? And if he made a deal, then why did Dumbledoreter ask Slughorn to go undercover under Voldemort? Even If he hadn''t made a deal, how could Voldemort not have known about it, and afterwards not only he forgave Snape, but also valued him so much? Jon sensed that there was something fishy about it, but from what he could see at the moment, he couldn''t figure out what was wrong. Asking Dumbledore directly would be even less feasible, as Jon would have no way of exining how he knew that Snape had approached him that night, and the most he could do was to ask, indirectly, what kind of man this Severus Snape was. But even if he would ever ask a casual question, it wouldn''t be now. Snape led the group out of the castle and walked along the ck Lake in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, finally stopping at a secluded ce, what could already be considered the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. And here the Hogwarts wagon remained, with Hagrid sitting in the driver''s seat staring at the dense woods in a daze. "Your area of activity is limited to this, which would be plenty enough for the few of you, no private entry into the castle without permission, no private entry into the Forbidden Forest. The entire Forbidden Forest has been sealed off in preparation for the uing tournament, so you couldn''t get in there even if you wanted to, but let me remind you that if the rules are broken then we have the right to enforce our rules on those who break them." Snape''s voice was cold as he spoke thest part of the sentence. ---- # Marco Bertin, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 329: Graves ( 2 in 1) Chapter 329: Graves ( 2 in 1) Such an arrangement was a humiliation ording to Rosier''s words. But in fact, both Jon and Dumbledore had anticipated such a situation in their minds before arriving here, and it was evident that the people in this castle were being deliberately cautious from the fact that they had not seen the enved muggle students since they had arrived at Hogwarts Castle. ording to Hermione''s information, arge percentage of the muggle students who remained in the castle had beenpletely enved from the bottom of their minds, but there was a small percentage that had been forced into very by having their memories altered because of the association they had once organised. The Memory Charm is powerful, but it is not an Unforgivable Curse. The key to the Unforgivable Curse''s special status in the magical world is that there is no counter for any of the three curses. The Memory Charm, on the other hand, can apparently be countered, but the difficulty and method of countering it vary ording to the means used to cast it. It is also part of the reason that Hogwarts Castle deliberately kept the muggle students out of the presence of Dumbledore and his team, and made Snape emphasise that they were not allowed to enter Hogwarts Castle privately, partly because they did not want them toe into contact with them. Last year''s rescue of the first and second years from the castle had cut off the school''s "ve" poption, and Voldemort was certainly not going to give them the chance to rescue the rest of the students. But in truth, neither Jon nor Dumbledore had any such ideas. They certainly had no intentions of leaving the castle again from the moment they decided toe here, rather than simply saving those who deserved to be saved. Snape''s words did reveal something though, and when he had left and everyone returned to the wagon, Jon followed Dumbledore to the Headmaster''s office alone. "The first tournament has anything to do with the Forbidden Forest?" Dumbledore simply shook his head at this. "Concerning the development of the tournament tasks, it was a three-way discussion between us, Riddle, and the International Confederation of Wizards, with each party deciding on a task, which was then finally given to the Confederation for coordination and adjustment. But apart from the Confederation, it is only possible to know information about the task which we had proposed from our side, and it is also the same on Riddle''s side. And the task we proposed will supposedly be in the second round, so we don''t even know what and where the first task will bepeted." "But from what Snape said, it does sound like the first tournament task should have something to do with the Forbidden Forest." Hearing him say this, Jon rubbed his chin and asked in an appropriate context. "You knew this Snape well before, Professor?" Dumbledore froze for a moment, then a somewhat emotional look crossed his face. "He, don''t judge him just by the way he is, he''s a very pure man, just a little too pure" With that, Dumbledore shook his head. "Don''t mention him for now, I happen to have another favour to ask you for." Jon, who was still analysing what Dumbledore meant by these words, looked back with a puzzled look. Dumbledore looked at him with a solemn expression. "I need you to lend me that cloak of invisibility Lily gave you for the time being." *** The students on the wagon didn''t just stay honestly on the wagon all afternoon. Anyway, the only things they were warned not to enter are the Forbidden Forest and the castle, and Hogwarts is far more than just those two ces. After a few words of caution from Dumbledore in the wagon, some of the students stepped off the wagon and wandered along the ck Lake. "I heard from Bill that the new students at Hogwarts used to take a small boat to cross thiske before entering the castle at the start of each academic year, and Hagrid was the one in charge of guiding the new students at that time." George crouched by theke, watching the quiet mirror-like surface of theke and ruffling the water, making small talk to Lee Jordan who was beside him. "There''s also a giant squid in theke, but Charlie said it''s friendly to the students, and once when their team was practising Quidditch, a Quaffle identally fell into theke, and they didn''t even expect to get it back, but the big squid helped by bring it back from the depths." Lee looked at theke as if trying to find the legendary friendly squid from within, but even if he made his eyes sore, he couldn''t find even a small squid at all. "Speaking of Hagrid, I just saw him heading in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, and he was moving carefully like he was deliberately avoiding people." George shrugged. "Hagrid has a special affection for this forest that we don''t have, I heard Dad say he was a gamekeeper here for over forty years, the Forbidden Forest was his home, and now that he''s back again he must be feeling more deeply than we do." "Will he sneak in?" "That wouldn''t be surprising, I hear he has a lot of magical creature friends in there." "I''ve seen Hagrid talking to himself at a fire before like he was apologising to someone called Fang." "Maybe that''s not a person, he likes to name every creature he can recognise." "Ah, let me guess, that sounds like the name of a mutt." They were chatting away by theke when a male wizard approached them at some point. The expressions on George and Lee''s faces became instantly alert. They were well aware that this ce was in Britain and still the home base of the Dark Lord, so there is a good chance that any stranger would be hostile to their group. "Hello sir, may I ask what can I do for you?" Lee didn''t hide his wariness as he asked politely and distantly. The middle-aged male wizard wore a grey bowler hat on his head and a long, open-cored trench coat, his ck hair showing under the hat was meticulously tended, and he had a gentle smile on his face, not looking like someone who harboured any malice. "Hello, my name is Matthew Graves, a member of the International Confederation of Wizards, are you a student of Headmaster Dumbledore?" His English ent was distinctive, a version neither Lee nor George had ever heard before. George looked him in the eye and nodded, but did not lower his guard. "What do you want?" "Can you take me to your headmaster? We''ve been friends for a long time, back when he was Supreme Mugwump of the Confederation." The male wizard named Matthew smiled and winked at George as he spoke. George and Lee looked at each other and after some eye contact, the two made a quick decision. George didn''t move while Lee turned and trotted over in the direction of the wagon, Matthew saw their movements, but the smile on his face remained the same, knowing that the ck boy had gone looking for an adult, he looked over at George as if he was in the mood for small talk. "I have heard that during all these years, Headmaster Dumbledore has never actually taken you all out of Britain. That you were in a wagon attending sses while in a state of hiding?" George nced at him. "Aren''t you a friend of Professor Dumbledore''s?" The male wizard smiled broadly. "No need to be so cautious, boy, even if this is the home base of your enemies, they won''t make a move on you during the Triwizard Tournament." His words did not half lighten the mood, and George continued to look at him with the same suspicious gaze. "Your Headmaster and I were indeed old friends, but that was when he was still Supreme Mugwump of the Confederation, and I had quite a few dealings with him as a diplomat of the Congress, only after the change of masters in Britain, we had little to no contact with each other. This is the perfect opportunity toe and visit him." After hearing Matthew''s exnation, George looked as if he had noticed something. "You''re a wizard from the United States?" "Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, and Head of the American Branch of the International Confederation of Wizards". Matthew said as he pulled an ID out of his trench coat pocket and handed it to George. George confirmed his identity, such documents could certainly be forged, but with Lee having gone to inform Dumbledore, there is no point in him faking anything at all. "You''re one of the judges for this Triwizard Tournament." George had obviously heard about the fact that among the judges, there would be someone from the International Confederation of Wizards present. "The Confederation takes this tournament very seriously, and we all hope that the conflict is something that can be resolved peacefully, so they sent three people over, the other two have gone to the castle first while I came over to meet an old friend." Matthew didn''t seem to mind George''s wariness of himself just then, his manner remained calm. George looked at the middle-aged male wizard who seemed to be quite sociable and asked tentatively. "So you''ll lean more towards us when ites to being a judge?" Matthew smiled. "I will only make the fairest judgement." Just then, Lee had trotted down from the wagon and waved at George from a long distance as he approached them. "Professor Dumbledore asked me to invite this gentleman to be a guest in the wagon." Matthew said goodbye to George and then followed Lee to the wagon. Dumbledore, while not getting out of the wagon to greet him himself, was taking it upon himself to wait at the office door as a sign of his regard for his old friend. As soon as they met, they hugged each other. "It''s been many years since we''ve seen each other, Albus." "Ha, Matthew, you''re still wearing this same perfume, I can''t help but sneeze every time I smell it." Dumbledore rubbed his nose as he led the diplomat of the Magical Congress of America into his office. "I actually anticipated before that the person representing the American side could be you, but it turned out that they did send you here." The steaming teapot automatically poured tea into the teacup in front of Matthew. Matthew didn''t hide his gaze as he looked behind Dumbledore, at the wall covered with portraits of past headmasters, and said with a shrug. "It shows that my fairness is known to all, doesn''t it?" Dumbledore smiled. "That''s right, the Confederation knows exactly what we need, and since we want to avoid war, we need to maintain a minimum of fairness. Who are the other two judges that havee?" "Both old friends of yours as well, the Asian wizard is Abdul Rahman, the Arabian magical diplomat who had always offered to give you an emerald, and the African wizard is Imran Kamil, the Deputy Headmistress of the Uagadou School of Magic, the old witch who had offered a mutual student exchange with Hogwarts at the time but was rejected by you." Dumbledore crossed his arms in front of him, the smile on his face didn''t change much with the two names. "The Confederation did put enough thought into it, all three of you will only be unbiased in whatever decisions you make. All of you have some friendships with me and all of you have had conflicts with me." Matthew stretched his hands. "It took two whole months of discussion within the Confederation to finalise the candidates, and you know that although I am a diplomat, I have very little history of lying to anyone, and the Confederation does not want to see war happen, so we also all know that only the fairest judges can prevent it." "So why did youe to see me first?" Dumbledore was not baffled by his seemingly reasonable words, but blinked and looked at him with a calm gaze. "Both Rahman and Imran knew it would be best to see that student of mine first to avoid any unnecessary suspicion on his part towards you and for the tournament to proceed properly afterwards, so what did youe to see me early, all by yourself, specifically?" Matthew didn''t touch the cup of ck tea in front of him that was already losing its heat, he stared at Dumbledore''s face, his originally soft expression gradually faded and became somewhat cold and serious. "Because I got to know a somewhat unanticipated matter in America by ident, even if I am not the judge arranged by the Confederation this time, I will make a special trip to Britain to see you to confirm one thing from you." A look of surprise crossed Dumbledore''s face. "Yes, I should have thought of that, and there can only be one thing you are so anxious to see me about." Matthew Graves kept his eyes locked on his. "So, is that news true or false?" "It''s true." There was no deliberate change of subject or any lies, Dumbledore just answered the truth that he wanted to know with such a blunt and calm response. The atmosphere in the Headmaster''s office suddenly fell silent, and only the faint snoring of the portrait could be heard. It was only after a long time that Matthew seemed topose himself and spoke again, asking in a voice that had be unbearably cold. "So, who has the authority to set him free? The Confederation''s sentence for him back then was life imprisonment!" "What prison in the world do you think could hold him if he didn''t want to be in himself, Matthew?" Dumbledore asked softly. "He should have just been put to death in the first ce!" His voice grew colder and colder, while his emotions grew more and more intense. Dumbledore looked at him and shook his head. "I assumed that after all these years, you would have forgotten about it long ago." Matthew picked up the cup of ck tea that had cooled in front of him and drank it down in one go as if he was drinking in water, his voice bing slightly raspy at some point. "Not everyone wants to be as big-hearted as you. He killed my father and disgraced my family in Congress by stealing his identity, do you think I should forget that?" ---- # Marco Bertin, # Tob_Gib, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 330: Politicians (2 in 1) Chapter 330: Politicians (2 in 1) Dumbledore looked at the male wizard sitting across from him, as if recalling a time fifty years ago that was no less tense than the present. Percival Graves, Director of Magical Security and the Head of MACUSA''s Department of Magical Law Enforcement was murdered, and that murderer not only did not flee afterwards but used an extremely advanced transfiguration technique to take his ce and use the official power of MACUSA to reach out to an Obscurial. Although this incident was eventually uncovered by another of Dumbledore''s favourite students and his ns were stopped in the United States, the negative impact it had on the Wizarding Congress could not be eliminated in any way, to the extent that it almost damaged the statute of secrecypletely, exposing the wizarding world in front of the citizens of New York. And no one was more affected than the Graves family. Not only did the death of Percival, who served as a Member of Congress, tarnish the reputation of the Graves family in the American magicalmunity, but it also left Matthew, then seven years old, to lose his father and eventually be raised by his mother alone. Fortunately, Matthew''s mother had raised him well, and even after losing his father''s previous political standing in Congress, he had relied on his own excellence and hard work to reach his current position as second-inmand of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and was almost certain to be the first in line to rece any of the Department''s directors whenever they retired in a few years. But he has never forgotten the hatred between the Graves family and that murderer! Gellert Grindelwald, Matthew had never forgotten that name. He had always wanted to avenge his father with his own hands, but leaving aside the question of strength, Grindelwald had been sentenced to life imprisonment in Nurmengard Castle by the International Confederation of Wizards after the world-famous duel that had ended in Dumbledore''s favour. Such a sentence was recognised by the Wizarding Congress, and as a member of the American wizardingmunity, Matthew was also deprived of the opportunity to legally seek revenge against Grindelwald. But he was also sensible and well aware of what level he was at, and even if Grindelwald did end up not being imprisoned, there was no way he could get hot under the cor and just go off alone and die in the name of revenge. So Matthew could only align himself with the Congress, and as long as Grindelwald was willing to abide by the verdict and stay in Nurmengard Castle, he would consider his revenge avenged. But now that the ''The Alliance'' had resumed its activities in Northern Europe, he had even only changed hisst name in a perfunctory manner recently, and had risen to the position of Headmaster of Durmstrang without even changing his name. Of course, neither the Congress nor Matthew was blind, and Grindelwald''s behaviour had touched their bottom line on how to deal with this matter. Matthew kept a close eye on Dumbledore. He hade to Hogwarts Castle on this trip not just to represent the International Confederation of Wizards as a judge, but also on behalf of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, to figure out the stance of the old man before him. "I''ve always had a lot of respect for you, Albus." Matthew said seriously, "Not only did you defeat him, and avenge me and my family, I have the greatest trust in you as a person. Now, I just want an answer." "Are you now inplete cooperation with him?" When he finally asked the question, Matthew''s voice had calmed down instead, like a puddle of stagnant water that only needed a small stone to make a huge ripple. As he watched, Dumbledore shook his head. "If you believe my integrity, you should know that I value emotion, but not sentimentality. Indeed, he is now part of the Witching Horizon, but our cooperation is limited only to deals aimed at defeating Riddle. I won''t support what he''s doing, and I don''t have the time or energy to figure out exactly what his intentions are after he walks out of that prison. Right now it''s just a mutual necessity between him and me, or I wouldn''t be the only oneing to Hogwarts Castle today." His voice was t, his blue eyes never straying from Matthew''s as he spoke. Matthew''s body, which had been tense, now finally rxed. Grindelwald had already been the Headmaster of Durmstrang for over a year in a high profile manner, and the reason why Magical Congress had remained inactive for so long was to find out what Dumbledore''s stance on this matter might be. In the eyes of those in the know, they clearly understood the rtionship between the two old men, and there was an argument within Congress for six whole months about their next counter-move against Grindelwald, whether to bring Dumbledore into it or not. Even though Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix had been pushed out of Britain, no one in the Magical Congress dared to underestimate him. Therefore, they finally decided to take the opportunity presented by the Triwizard Tournament to let Matthew, who was already on good terms with him, make contact and find out what kind of rtionship the current Dumbledore and Grindelwald had. Now Dumbledore has managed to let those in Congress breathe a sigh of relief for a while. As long as the two of them were notpletely united, it would be much easier for Congress to make its next move, with much less unnecessary concern. Dumbledore crossed his arms, his gaze not straying from Matthew''s face. "I gave the answer you wanted to know, so now, can you answer what I want to know." Matthew''s expression was serious as he said with unmistakable solemnity. "There will be absolutely no help from Congress to the British side until the oue ispletely clear. We have no intention of interfering in your dispute with him; indeed more people within Congress are actually biased in your favour. But because of Grindelwald''s problems, our focus must now be on him first." "Until the oue ispletely clear," Dumbledore repeated the first sentence of Matthew whileughing lightly. Matthew''s face showed little shame. "If you ultimately fail, and he seeds in bing Lord of Europe, then of course we will have to remeasure the rtionship between Congress and him. If his ambitions cannot be restrained, or if he wants to repeat Grindelwald''s mistakes, then we will join you in your path." Dumbledore stared at him. "You have so many muggle-born wizards that there aren''t even necessarily more than three titr pureblood families in all of America, and even Ilvermorny was founded by a wizard and a muggle working together. The Congress'' stance on purebloodism is actually just a wait-and-see attitude?" Heughed, the smile still gentle enough not to give any semnce of sarcasm. "It reminds me of that long-standing rumour that the people with real brains in Congress died out long ago after the great debate about ''Country or Kind'' in the eighteenth century." The American magicalmunity existed for a short time, and although it now has a pivotal position in the international magicalmunity, before the United States was even formed as a nation, the so-called Magical Congress was only a loose organization of a group of European wizard immigrants. In 1775, when the No-Maj(muggles) Revolutionary War officially broke out, the wizards who had moved to the New Land were faced with a choice. Whether to help the Muggles and their new nation in the war, or whether to protect the Wizards as amunity by avoiding contact with the Muggles and not participating in the war. This choice of "Country or Kind" was the subject of great debate throughout America, with the then President of Congress, Elizabeth McGilliguddy, presiding over a controversial meeting in the Great Meeting Chamber of the Congress Headquarters, in which thousands of wizards participated, and at the end of which the view and stance of the British Ministry of Magic were asked. The reply from the British Ministry of Magic was simple and concise: ''Sitting this one out.'' Then Elizabeth''s reply was even shorter: ''Mind you do'', But they ultimately did not participate in the war in any official way. But they still acted from time to time to protect their Muggle neighbours in secret. In addition, the wizardingmunity held their own celebration for Independence Day as well. The people who came close topletely ripping up the Statute of Secrecy at the time were the American Magical Congress itself, and it''s a good thing that the wise ones among them chose the right path. Because wizards participating in the war would not have changed anything at all to Independence, but, their choice would have triggered a simr reflection from wizards all over the world at the same time. In the face of a war between nations, wizards, who are also divided based on the Muggle regime, had the choice to stand with the nation or consider wizards as a whole in this situation. The restraint of the Magical Congress prevented this chaos from urring, but that is as far as their most prominent contribution to the protection of peace goes. Once they had made the right choice, but on the issue of Voldemort, Dumbledore was disappointed to the core. These American wizards were so fixated on going after Grindelwald for revenge that they simply failed to see the damage Voldemort would do to the world. How could an organisation with pureblood power at its core be expected not to set their sights on the fertilend of America, a bloodline-free zone, after they had finished digesting the European piece of the pie? Matthew''s face did not waver in the face of Dumbledore''s words, and he said very seriously. "We have never ignored any threat, Albus, but it is important to prioritise all matters no matter what, and Grindelwald''s issue has to be prioritised!" Dumbledore looked at him and shook his head gently, having never meant to convince him, and there was no disappointment about it. "Well, it''s time for catching up to end, and if you''re really thinking about fairness in the tournament that follows, then I suggest you better go to the castle now and meet that former student of mine first." Having asked all that needed to be asked and having learned all that he needed to know, Matthew had no intention of staying any longer. He got up from his seat and gave Dumbledore onest blessing before leaving the office. "I hope your champion will do well in this tournament, I''ve heard all about his recent exploits from the States." Dumbledore didn''t get up to see him off, just sat back in his seat and watched his back leave. Once Matthew had closed the door to the Headmaster''s office, the portraits on the wall behind Dumbledore, which had been pretending to be asleep, all instantly began to grow restless. They chattered about the conversation that had just taken ce between the two parties and denounced the folly of the Magical Congress'' decision regarding Voldemort. Only Dilys, who had once also served as a St Mungo''s Healer, asked with a frown on her face in the frame. "Are they really going to be impartial in our war with the Dark Lord?" Phineas snorted. "A word of advice Dilys, the words of politicians, especially so-called diplomats, you can just treat their words as if their mouths were nothing but farting anuses." At the old man''s filthy words, Dilys merely red at him with displeasure. "But he''s still a friend of Albus isn''t he?" "Friend?" Phineas eximed groggily, "It''s about as close to troll diplomacy as you can get to talking about friendship when ites to politics!" "The exact attitude of the Magical Congress is not dependent on what Matthew says now." Dumbledore didn''t get involved in the argument between them and simply said softly, "He is now blinded by the hatred brought to him by Grindelwald and doesn''t care or want to care what kind of attitude the Congress is really taking towards the war between us and Riddle." "But he is not wrong about one thing, and that is that they will not intervene in matters between us until the situation ispletely clear." Dumbledore was silent for a moment as he spoke, and then he spoke in a contemtive manner after that. "Phineas, go get Professor Rosier for me, I have some concerns I want to talk to her about first." *** Hermione was in her dormitory, tidying up the mess. There were less than thirty students who hade to Hogwarts Castle, including Durmstrang, so their amodation was more than generous, with plenty of room avable for everyone to have a single room. But Hermione was not alone in the dormitory she upied at the moment. "I have said many times, Lady Grey, that I don''t have the slightest interest in that so-called Ravenw''s Diadem." Whether this was the sixth or seventh time Hermione couldn''t remember, but she had repeated the same words no less than five times since this ghost had approached her. Lady Grey still looked the same as she had when Nick had taken her to meet Jon for the first time, and it was clear that she had been in contact with Hermione for a long time. "Miss Granger, you are hungry for knowledge and have an overwhelming amount of wisdom. If my mother had been around, then you would certainly have been her favourite type of student, and she probably wouldn''t have given that diadem to me, but she certainly would have given it to someone like you." Hermione had heard this kind of talk a thousand times before, and her answer remained unchanged even a little. "So what? Just because you approved of me in ce of your mother, I have to go and help you find that diadem? It makes no sense, mydy, I am well aware of my abilities and have no interest in the legend you tell or the Ravenw legacy." Lady Grey stared hard into Hermione''s eyes like she was trying to see through the girlpletely. "I know, you want to help the boy out, don''t you?" Hermione''s hands paused in their movements, but she still said without looking up. "I''m trying to help, not trying to do something that could potentially get him in trouble just to help you at this point in time." ---- # Tob_Gib, #Jackie, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 331: The Failed Hagrid (2 in 1) Chapter 331: The Failed Hagrid (2 in 1) The official start of the Triwizard Tournament was announced just after the end of dinner that day. It was a sumptuous feast, with all seven of the required judges present and reporters from almost every newspaper in the various magical societies of Europe. At the same time, it was announced to the public that Lucius had stationed Aurors in Hogwarts Castle to ensure the smooth running of the tournament, guarding the main passageways and the secret entrances and exits that had been explored. This kind of security was so tight that anyone who was not blind could see who was being guarded. And even at the dinner, Jon and the others did not see any of the muggle students in the castle. Their life trajectories werepletely relegated to the underground floor, and until Dumbledore and his team left, Voldemort would not allow them to cross paths on any level. At the dinner, Jon had also seen the three wizards from the International Confederation of Wizards. About Matthew, George and Lee had already briefed him on the man during the afternoon, while the other two wizards, one with a white turban on his head, with a bushy beard and a long, lean body, which was all clearly suggested him being a Middle Eastern man, and thest one was a dark-skinned witch. She was voluptuous, with big wavy ck hair, no longer young by the look of her, dressed in purple robes covered in odd patterns, and by the introduction, it became clear to all present that she is the deputy headmistress of another magic school from Africa. They all looked very kind and as Voldemort introduced them all to everyone at the beginning of the dinner, the three judges from the Confederation smiled both at the students of Hogwarts Castle and at Jon and the others. And when it was time to formally begin the announcement of the rules for the uing tournament task at the end of the dinner, it was Matthew who acted as the general representative of the judges. "The first tournament task will start in a week''s time and in that time we also need to focus on checking out theyout of the venues. In addition to this, tomorrow, the four schools'' champions are required to meet in the great hall at 10 am sharp, where the wands you will be using would be subjected to a standardised inspection." "Finally, I would like to emphasise the rules of the uing Triwizard Tournament. First Rule: in all tasks, apart from wands, no other magic props are allowed to be carried by a champion, and when the task officially begins, we will be conducting a special search, and if a vition is found, you will be directly penalised as thest rank of the task in progress." "Second Rule: thepetitors are allowed to attack each other during the task, but the use of the Unforgivable Curse and any spell that may cause direct death is forbidden, and if such a phenomenon is found, an outright defeat will be awarded to the champion who vited the rule. Please note that the word defeat here does not refer to a single task, but rather a defeat throughout the Triwizard Tournament." "Third Rule: No extra help may be provided in any way by the school or camp in which the champion is a part during thepetition, and if this happens, the penalty will be in line with the second rule." "Fourth..." The rules were perfect, epassing almost every possible way one could cheat, and were all clearly agreed upon by Voldemort and Dumbledore when they were established. After all the rules had been read out, Jon''s first day at Hogwarts Castle had finally concluded. As everyone left the great hall, the eight Aurors that had been guarding the door to the great hall kept an eye on Dumbledore and his team, watching to make sure that no one sneaked into the other parts of the castle after they left the great hall. "These people are like the hens my mother used to keep in the coop." George made a face at one of the Aurors, then whispered to Jon beside him, "Really protects this castle like it''s their own nest, but the truth is they''re going to get ughtered sooner orter." "Don''t say things like that here, if they hear it and can''t resist making a move on you it will cause a mess; although Professor Dumbledore will be able to react in the first instance." Jon said while looking over at Aurors as well. One of the eight had his eyes on Dumbledore at all times, two were staring at Rosier, three had their eyes on him at all times, and the other two were only casually watching the others. These well-trained Aurors knew exactly who in the group could potentially pull off a stunt. Dumbledore is indeed the strongest, but it is basically unlikely that he would go into action himself; should such a situation arise, it would be a fight to the death with Voldemort, and having someone watching him was just a precaution, a way to show respect to the most senior figure. Rosier, on the other hand, is one of Grindelwald''s men, and although the two sides are in the same camp on the Witching Horizon, they belong to two different factions, so if Grindelwald were to let her do something fishy in the castle, it would not necessarily be clear even to Dumbledore, so two men were specifically assigned to keep an eye on her. The natural focus of attention would be Jon, who was being watched by three people simultaneously. He bares the title of champion of the Triwizard Tournament in the first ce, so there was nothing they could do to Jon while Voldemort himself wanted to get this tournament in order, because that would be tantamount to deliberately sabotaging the tournament and tearing up the blood pact he had made with Dumbledore in a one-sided way. And Jon is not short of the ability to make trouble, among the Death Eaters one could count on one palm the number of those who dare to say outright that they must be stronger than Be and Rodolphus. That made him the most troublesome, and the one who needed Auror''s attention the most. But Jon wasn''t in the mood to do anything at all, at least not right now. Although he is now at Hogwarts Castle, his mind is always on the Animagus potion buried at Lyon''s end. Before he left, he had asked Neville to keep an eye on the weather in Lyons and to call Lupin, who is staying at the school, toe to Hogwarts Castle at the first sign of a thunderstorm and bring the news to him. The stormiest time of the year in Lyon would be in the following two or three months, and if no good news came in during that time, there would be little hope for the year. After leaving Hogwarts Castle under surveince, the other students returned to the wagon, while Jon carried a lunch box in his hand to the driver''s seat at the front of the wagon. He hadn''t seen Hagrid during the dinner, and after hearing Dumbledore say that he was looking after the Thestrals, Jon felt that it wouldn''t be easy for Hagrid to get into the great hall again after missing the current mealtime, so he had packed some food for him to prevent him from having to eat the rock cakes that seemed to be suitable for grinding his teeth. When Jon arrived at the front of the wagon with his things, unfortunately, he didn''t see Hagrid in sight. Those Thestrals were still strollingzily on the grass, and there was a te of biscuits on the table in front of the driver''s seat, but Hagrid was missing. Jon walked up and stroked the ck fur of the Thestral, these creatures had spent a good deal of time with him at sea and so were not repulsed by him. "Can you tell me where Hagrid has gone?" The Thestral lifted its head and snorted in the direction of the forbidden forest. It was pitch ck there, and nothing else could be seen except the asional growl of a creature of some kind. Jon frowned slightly. Snape had made it very clear when he had brought them here that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits and that magic had been arranged all around the perimeter of this forest, and since he had dared to say something like that without sending someone to guard it specifically, it meant that he was very confident in the spell that protected the Forbidden Forest. Jon could see that Hagrid had been distracted by the Forbidden Forest ever since he arrived at Hogwarts Castle, but he was definitely asking for trouble if he was just going to try and force his way in. He stared in the direction of the Forbidden Forest for a few seconds, then ced the dinner he had brought on the table and was about to go back to the wagon to find Dumbledore and ask for his help in finding Hagrid on the outskirts, when the sound of stumbling footsteps suddenly reached his ears from afar. Hagrid looked like a mess; his already loose hair and beard were now covered in grass des, his face had a distinct red mark on it as if he had been pped by something heavy, and his robes had several more torn holes in them than before. "Are you all right? Hagrid." Hearing Jon''s voice, Hagrid lifted his otherwise drooping head at this time, and he met Jon''s calm eyes with a bit of panic. "Ah of course I''m fine, just been out for a bit of a stroll, erm. But you know, people tend to have trouble seeing in the dark when they get older, I identally tripped over a tree root, I was so careless" Jon didn''t say anything, just nodded as if he believed everything he said unconditionally as Hagrid defended himself. But on the contrary, it was this gesture of his that made Hagridpletely unable to weave an excuse any further. He sat down on the grass with a defeated look on his face, the moonlight spilling over him, making him look like a stupid bear that had been stung all over its body when it failed to steal the honey. "I lied, Jon, I just tried to get into the woods and failed." Jon didn''t me, nor was he in a position to, he could tell Hagrid was in a bad mood, Jon hadn''t seen such a sad expression on his face since they had met. He walked over to Hagrid and sat down, not bothering to ask why, but weighing his words. "Actually, you can totally trust me and wait a while longer Hagrid. Whatever it is you want to do in the Forbidden Forest, you''ve been able to wait through all these years after being wanted, so why can''t you wait for this less than one more academic year?" "I trust you as much as I trust Dumbledore, Jon." There was a sob in Hagrid''s voice. "But aftering here, I really couldn''t wait, and I didn''t dare wait any longer. When Hogwarts castle was attacked by the Dark Lord that year, I had to go and help Dumbledore out, so I could only take the youngest, Beech, and Fang with me, the others and so many of my friends were left behind, I discarded them, and after all these years, the only ce they could be hiding would be in the Forbidden Forest. I had to be sure that they are still alive. Aragog, Hoss, Morris, Parson." He covered his face with thoserge hands and finally stifled a sob as he said the names. "Fang has died by following me; he was the timidest, but on one asion when I was being chased, he rushed to my aid and blocked a killing curse with his body. He saved my life. I dreaded to think that they would have also been killed if they had stayed in the forbidden forest. If only I had let them all out." Jon sighed and stood up and then barely managed to pat Hagrid on the shoulder. "They''re all magical creatures, not some pets that have lost the ability to survive on their own, hiding in the Forbidden Forest would have been a return to the safest environment for them, you don''t have to me yourself like that." Hagrid hugged Jon and cried like a child who had lost a friend and family member. To Hagrid, these creatures were indeed his closest family, and after being expelled from Hogwarts, he had also lost his father, and if Dumbledore hadn''t eventually taken him in and sent him to the Forbidden Forest to be a gamekeeper, then he would have been truly homeless. In all his decades as a gamekeeper, those creatures were the ones he bonded with the most, not to mention the fact that he had to go through the death of Fang who died trying to save him. It certainly added to his guilt and made him unable to resist trying to break into the forbidden forest to look for the safety of his magical creature friends when everyone else was gathered in the great hall tonight. No amount offort from Jon could soothe and heal the wounds in Hagrid''s heart, so as he patted him on the back and thought about it, he continued. "Actually, if you really can''t wait to find out how they''re doing in the Forbidden Forest, I can help you." Hagrid wiped the snot and tears from his face but shook his head with unmistakable determination at Jon''s words. "This is my personal matter, Jon, I can''t involve you in this, you have a tournament to enter and the hopes of everyone resting on it, you shouldn''t risk it for me." "Don''t worry, I''m certainly not going to force my way into the forbidden forest as you think." Jon reassured, "Based on what Professor Dumbledore and I have spected, the odds that the first task of the tournament, which starts in a week, will be in the Forbidden Forest are very high, and I can go and see those magical creatures friends of yours in your ce then if there is a chance." Hagrid was clearly somewhat moved, but he soon shook his head. "No way! Even if you could use the tournament to get into the forbidden forest, that would still interfere with yourpetition. You can''t afford to spoil thepetition just to help me." "And you just said you trust me like you trust Professor Dumbledore." Jon shrugged, "I''m more measured than anyone else and I never gave you an absolute promise, I just said if there is a chance, so you shouldn''t get your hopes up so high straight away." Hagrid looked at Jon with red eyes and bewildered gaze, and after half a moment of silence, he finally stopped refusing and instead took Jon''s hand tightly in his and said in a trembling voice. "Thank you really thank you, Jon." "Why the word thank you between us, ah yes, I almost forgot I''m here to bring you dinner. Other than that, those house elves at the castle are superb at roasting sausages, I brought you two extra." ---- #Jackie, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 332: Good News (2 in 1) Chapter 332: Good News (2 in 1) Early the next morning, after breakfast settled in the wagon, Jon followed Rosier to the great hall in the castle with Diane, the Durmstrang champion. There were a number of people standing here, but apart from Draco and Emil, all were adult wizards. Even while the Triwizard Tournament is in progress, the students in Hogwarts Castle are expected to continue their normal sses, and at this time of day, they should all be in ss. The three judges of the Confederation, and the Deputy Headmaster who would serve as Beauxbaton''s representative judge, except for Voldemort and Dumbledore, who are not present here, all gathered around an old man. That old man was holding a wand in his hand and waving it around, leaving brilliant silvery fments of light in the air as he pronounced. "Just about ten inches, Hawthorn wood, Unicorn hair core. I remember when I handed him over to you, Mr Malfoy, it was on a less than bright sunny afternoon when you and your father came to my shop." Draco had little interest in listening to him reminisce about the past here as he looked at the old man''s hand that held his wand. "If there are no issues, can I have it back now? Mr Ollivander." Ollivander heard the indignation in his tone, but only smiled slightly and returned the wand back to Draco''s hand. "I can appreciate that someone proud enough to have a strong sense of possession of their wand as well, it has been well cared of by you." Draco held his head high and took the wand, which had been fully inspected, and put it back into his sleeve. By this time several of the judges as well as Ollivander''s eyes settled on Jon and Diane who had just arrived in the great hall. "You''re all that''s missing, why couldn''t you havee sooner." The deputy headmaster of Beauxbaton said in a sharp voice. Rosier gave him an expressionless nce like it was insulting to her to show even the slightest emotion of disgust at such a person. "If I remember correctly, the time Mr Graves gavest night was supposed to be ten o''clock, and it is just about ten o''clock sharp." "Sorry, Mr Ollivander arrived early, and I let these two champions start first. You came at the right time and didn''t dy anyone, Professor Rosier, which of these two will start first?" Matthew could only step forward to smooth things over, the Confederation''s judges had to not only ensure fairness for this tournament but also regte the rtionship between the two sides in the process. After heid his eyes on Jon and Diane, the two looked right at each other, with Jon nudging Diane in Ollivander''s direction. The Durmstrang girl then pulled out her own wand and took a step forward, handing that wand over to Ollivander''s hand. "Willow wood with a Dragon''s heartstring core, nine inches, such craftsmanship would be a piece of Gregorovitch''s work from the eighties?" Ollivander''s eyes went to Diane, who nodded to indicate that he was not wrong. "Despite the conflicting philosophies, one has to admit that Gregorovitch is also an excellent wandmaker." He praised, then waved the willow wand, "Avis." The next moment a flock of small birds fluttered their wings and flew out of the wand head, they circled the great hall and then flew through the open window into the pale sunlight. "No problem at all." Putting Diane''s wand back in her hand, Ollivander finally turned his gaze to Jon. With what looked like anticipation in his eyes, his gaze shifted down to look at the old wand that Jon had pulled from his sleeve while reaching out to take it. "Mr Green, I have heard so much about you and have always wondered what kind of wand should be a piece that would match your soul." He uttered this with a smile, his left hand gently stroking over the well-worn body of the wand. "Well, it''s seen a long life, 14 inches, that''s a length you don''t often see, even in my career I can count on a palm the number of wands that I have made of that size, chestnut wood shaft, phoenix tail feather core." Suddenly, he froze. His voice, as smooth as a stream, came to a screeching halt, and Ollivander looked at the wand in his hand in awe, as if he had discovered something remarkable. The few people around him, who had been waiting for him to make a final judgement on Jon''s wand, noticed the change in expression on his face. Emil was displeased. He felt like Jon was showing off his uniqueness in every way no matter what he did, even a normal wand test could make people focus all their attention on him. "So what''s the matter? What''s wrong with this wand? Has a cheating enchantment been cast on it by Dumbledore?" He looked towards Ollivander, wanting to hear a positive answer from him. However, Ollivander didn''t look at him as if he hadn''t heard him, and the old man, who came from a pureblood family and had been making wands all his life, narrowed his cloudy eyes and looked at Jon with aplicated look on his face. "This is my work?" Jon didn''t deny it. "Its previous owner said it was a wand he bought from Diagon Alley in Britain." "I remember, 1920, one summer evening, whether it was a Monday or a Tuesday, that''s a bit of a blur. He came into my shop and I tried to rmend something for him, but he refused and instead wandered casually between the shelves on his own, and eventually, he picked this one." Ollivander''s voice was soft, it was less like reminiscence and more like a sense of regret and helplessness. "I told him that this wand was too long and that I had designed it at first for some special guests. He didn''t care about my suggestion, he just casually dropped a few gold galleons on the table and said that he liked the wand, that at this length it could be plunged into the eye sockets of his enemies and stabbed into their pulpy brains if he had a good chance at a good fight." A wry look crossed Jon''s face, he didn''t know Grindelwald had said such a thing when he had bought the wand from Ollivander. No wonder he had always felt that the tip of this wand had worn a little more than any of the other parts. So it really had been used as a murder weapon and stabbed directly into a person''s brain? The deputy headmaster of Beauxbaton, after listening to Ollivander''s narration, sneered and said gloomily. "I''m afraid the person who bought off this wand in question was probably a troll." Just as his words fell, an inexplicable coldness pierced him, and with a sudden jolt in his heart, he raised his head and met Rosier''s cold, ice-like eyes. He shivered and subconsciously took a step back. And by this time, Ollivander had handed back the chestnut wand to Jon, not mentioning Grindelwald''s name, only ncing at Matthew from the corner of his eye without drawing attention to himself. "Take good care of it, it''s already part of one of the legends in itself, hopefully, you can take it into another new saga." Jon took the wand without saying anything, just nodding. The Wand Weighing ceremony was just a formality and no wizard would normally try to tamper with his or her main wand. After it was over Jon and the others did not linger in the great hall, and Aurors, who were guarding the door, didn''t look like they wanted them to stay here any longer and watched them leave the castle all the way. Once he was back in the wagon, Jon walked straight back to his room, not forgetting what he had promised Dumbledore yesterday, and took out his boot (suitcase), from which he fumbled for a cloak that seemed as cold and silky as water. Just as he was about to leave with the cloak of invisibility, he suddenly seemed to think of something else and after a moment''s hesitation, he went back to the boot and retrieved an old nk piece of parchment from the bottom. After retrieving these two items, Jon did not linger any longer and walked out of the dormitory and headed straight for Dumbledore''s Headmaster''s office along the corridor. When he entered, Dumbledore was writing a letter and Fawkes was standing by his hand, boringlybing his bright red feathers, when he heard the movement of Jon entering, he lifted his head and then tilted it a little, as a greeting to his acquaintance. Seeing Jon enter, Dumbledore put down the quill in his hand while looking over at what he had brought. "Thank you for bringing it over, Jon." "You should thank Professor Potter, I wouldn''t have been able to bring it to you if she hadn''t lent it to me." Jon ced the cloak of invisibility on Dumbledore''s desk, then with a solemn expression he handed the parchment to Dumbledore as well. "I thought that this item might be of help to you as well, Professor." Dumbledore had obviously noticed the parchment underneath the cloak of invisibility when Jon had first entered, and he gently adjusted his sses up on his face and gazed at the nk page with a somewhat surprised look. "Ingenious design." Jon was not much surprised that he could spot the difference in this parchment and spoke up to remind him. "Its activation spell is ''I solemnly swear I am up to no good''." Dumbledore smiled as he raised the wand in his hand. "Such a choice of incantation reminds me of a few naughty students I once taught." He recited the incantation while tapping his wand right in the centre of the parchment. Instantly, an ink dot emerged at the nk spot where the wand touched, then ck lines spread in all directions, and soon a line of text emerged on it. [Hats off to you! The greatest Headmaster in the history of Hogwarts!] --Prongs, Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail. The words on the parchment soon began to take on a new form, the inked lines rearranging themselves. [I hope that when you open it, it is not seized up from the hands of some good student. Oh, yes, we are good students too!] --Prongs. Dumbledore watched in silence as the line of text slowly faded away, and finally countless lines spread around like a spider''s web, illustrating Marauder''s Map. He did not speak, nor did his eyes focus on the map, his expression frozen in ce as if hit by a full body-bind curse. After a long while, just as Jon wanted to speak to wake Dumbledore up, the old man slowly reached out his hand and touched the few codenames at the top of the map. He murmured as if he could prate the distance between space and time, and the young male wizard, who wore sses, was bold, enthusiastic and had grown from a naughty child to a fearless warrior, stood smiling at his side. "I''ve never been a great headmaster, but you''ve always been a good student." Jon didn''t say another word as he silently watched the headmaster, who had never looked so dispirited and sad, not wanting to disturb his thoughts at this moment. He didn''t have to wait long before Dumbledore had rposed himself, taking off his sses and carefully polishing the crescent-shaped lenses before looking over at Jon with a small smile. "It may be rumoured by the students a lot of the time that I''m a bit of a crazy old man, but even old men in their right mind tend to get emotionally disturbed at a time; reminiscing past and getting spaced out." There was a little embarrassment in his tone, and there was even some urging in his voice. Jon shrugged as he chuckled. "I''ll tell Neville and the others when we meet them again that Professor Dumbledore is not only demented at times, he''s also an old man who likes to cry." "Ha, that would be a bit of an embarrassment to me." Dumbledore muttered, putting his sses back on and then looking up at the Marauder''s Map that had been activated. All the locations throughout Hogwarts were marked on the map and the names of everyone who was in this school were presented on it, as they were moving their names moved along with them. Jon also nced at the map. Well, Voldemort''s name didn''t appear in the entire school. "Stunning Homunculus charm," Dumbledore said with admiration, "It''s the result of their shared wisdom but the parchment itself contains a magic like no other." He looked up at Jon. "May I know how you obtained it?" Jon didn''t hide it, other than describing his deliberate search for this Marauder''s Map as an inadvertent discovery and that he had worked his way out to open it. After hearing Jon''s narration, Dumbledore nodded with unmistakable seriousness. "It is very crucial, Jon, and I thank you for being willing to take it out and lend it to me." Even now, Jon hadn''t asked Dumbledore what he intended to do by asking him to borrow the cloak of invisibility, but with the feeling that the Marauder''s Map could help him a great deal with what he would be doing next, he had brought it out without hesitation. It had been made by the Four Marauders, so Jon didn''t intend to keep it to himself by hiding it from them forever as it held some sentimental value for them. Dumbledore then put both the Marauder''s Map and the cloak of invisibility away after Jon had told him the incantation to dispel the magic on the map, and he looked at Jon. "If you want to know, I can tell you what I need both of them for." Jon, however, waved his hand. "You might as well tell me that good news when you finally get it, there''s only so much energy I have left in my mind, and it''s time to put all my energy into the tournament next." Dumbledoreughed heartily. "Then may we have more good news by the end, the good news that is worthy offorting the living, and putting the dead to sleep!" ---- #Jackie, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 333: The First Task (2 in 1) Chapter 333: The First Task (2 in 1) The five days passed quickly. During this time Jon stayed in the wagon, and even when he got off it, he only wandered around the area near the ck Lake, which made the Aurors, who were always at the entrance to the castle and who were always watching him at the first sign of sight, rx their guard a little. In the meantime, there was no news from Lyon, which Jon had been expecting, and this caused him some disappointment. However, it hadn''t been in his ns to use Animagus as a significant means of performing the tasks, so although there was a disappointment, it didn''t put much mental pressure on him. And just under two days before the start of the first tournament task, the entire sky over Hogwarts Castle was overshadowed by the dark shadows of a dozen behemoths in the afternoon of that day. The Thestrals rxing on thewn flicked their tails restlessly, and in the forbidden forest, countless flocks of birds rose into the sky and flew off into the distance with a "tter". Many students in the wagon were startled by themotion outside, they stepped out of the wagon and looked up to see the dozen or so dragons flying in the sky! Dragons, XXXXX-level Magical Creatures, are considered to be at the top of the force among many Magical Creatures. These creatures are notmon and are even on the verge of extinction, apart from the fact that there is human encroachment on nature that haspressed their living space, it is mainly because each dragon is a huge treasure trove in itself. Dumbledore had worked with Nics mel to discover twelve uses of dragon''s blood; dragon''s hide has an excellent defence against magic, dragon''s eyes are a necessary magical material for certain alchemical items, and even the nerves and heartstrings of dragons can be used to make wand cores. There was no way for wizards to leave the valuable materials avable in dragons alone; because of this and the reality of the impending extinction of the dragon species led to the creation of a Dragon Sanctuary and the professions of Dragonologist and Dragon Trainer. The International Confederation of Wizards has set up an organisation specifically for this purpose, to safeguard the continued existence of dragons so that they can continue to contribute to the development of wizards, and one of the European dragon sanctuaries was set up in Romania. When he was travelling in France some time ago, Jon had heard some of Ron''s brothers talking about it, and it seemed like a lot of the dragons in the Romanian sanctuary had been bought out. Looking up at the dragons that nketed the entire Hogwarts castle, and the dragon trainers on their backs who controlled them as they began to hover over the Forbidden Forest and eventuallynded with a bang, Jon realised what the purpose of all those bought-out dragons would be. George looked up at the sky dumbfounded, for the first time in his life, he had seen real live dragons, not to mention so many at once. All around him both the Hogwarts wagon and the Durmstrang students matched his performance, after all, the sight of that many huge creatures appearing together was truly mind-blowing. Diane subconsciously swallowed, and it could be discerned that she was doing her best to maintain the calmness in her voice. "Our first task isn''t going to be a fight to the death with these dragons, is it?" While it might be easy for an entiremunity of wizards to target and hunt dragons because of theirrge target range and their solitary nature, that was only if more than two wizards were working together. Dragon hide is extremely resistant to magical spells, far more so than the basilisk, and because they are extremely powerful and can spit out magic-infused dragon breath, individual wizards have no countermeasures against them other than running for their lives. Even if a dark wizard used a killing curse, the extremely high resistance to magic would not cause them to die instantly, or at least the ''will'' to kill would have to be strong enough to make the killing curse kill it immediately. If the four students participating in the tournament truly had to fight these dragons separately, then even Jon would be charred to a crisp given how restricted the venue would be. It was for this reason that Jon did not think that the judges would set up such a task that no one would be able toplete. He looked towards the forbidden forest into which the dragons had descended and said softly. "I would rather say it''s more like they want us to do a wilderness survival in the forbidden forest than to kill or defeat a dragon." Jon''s thoughts were confirmed two dayster. The news of a dozen dragons flying into the Forbidden Forest reached the ears of every student in the four schools in the span of two days. It made them feel more thrilled with excitement, as well as a small disappointment. If the venue for the tournament would be in the Forbidden Forest, they would certainly not have the opportunity to watch the whole thing as spectators. On the Monday of the second week of September, the four champions of the Triwizard Tournament were all gathered at the entrance to the Forbidden Forest. This ce was filled with adult wizards without any other students on the sidelines besides the three of them and Jon. Dumbledore, Voldemort, Rosier, the Deputy Headmaster of Beauxbaton and three wizards from the Confederation, seven judges in all, three stout dragon trainers with a bronzedplexion from years of exposure to the elements, journalists from all over Europe and a dozen Auror security guards led by Lucius were all present. The atmosphere was somewhat gloomy, less friendly than at the Triwizard Tournament hundreds of years ago, filled with a sense of solemnity instead of the friendly atmosphere of interschool exchanges. The champions were gathered together, each having their group photo taken by a different national photographer, while Matthew, who was the judge''s general representative, was concluding some small confirmations with the one who led dragon trainers about Dragons using gestures and whispers. Everyone else didn''t utter a word, making the atmosphere seem to freeze for half a beat. Finally, with just under half an hour to go before the beginning of the tournament, Matthew had the journalists dispersed and gathered Jon and the others in the middle. His expression was serious, and he raised the pitch of his voice so that it would be clearly audible to everyone in that area, even in the open meadow. "The Triwizard Tournament, originally a tournament in which the three European magical schools would exchange experiences with each other, has been discontinued since 1792, on the grounds that the tournament posed an extremely serious threat to the lives of the participating students, who were injured or even killed almost every time as a result." "Two hundred years ago, the wizards of Europe cancelled this tournament to eliminate unnecessary casualties, and two hundred yearster, we are bringing it back here again, also for the well-being of more people!" "This tournament once againmenced for the sake of preventing a war that could not be solved by any other means through peace! But war has always been brutal, and this tournament to eliminate war is bound to be brutal too, we will not design tasks that are like child''s y, and for the final result and the winner to convince everyone, you will have to face challenges and threats that are countless times more arduous than those of the champions of two hundred years ago." His eyes were as sharp as a hawk''s as he delivered his speech, and there was no reassurance or gentleness in his voice, only coldness and stiffness like steel. "I suppose that all this is probably just superfluous nonsense on my part because after you have intended to throw your names into the goblet of fire, the decision has already been made in your minds about the fact that this new Triwizard Tournament, after a gap of two hundred years, will no longer be concerned about whether you live or die in the tournament and that in the end, the only thing that will be epted by the wizards is victory or defeat!" The moment his words fell, a restless roar shook the woods and birds flew up into the sky in the forbidden forest. Draco, whose body was already tense, subconsciously took a step back, Emil''s face was bloodless, and Diane''s lips were tightly pursed as she stared unblinkingly into the deep, forbidden forest. Even Jon was a little nervous, not that he was afraid of such a situation, rather he was quietly gripping the object he wore around his neck, wondering how Matthew would proceed with his inspection of them before entering the Forbidden Forest. "Now, let me exin what you need to do for the first task of the tournament." Matthew finally began to talk about the detailed rules regarding the first task. "As I''m sure you all already know, a bunch of big guys havee to the Forbidden Forest in the past two days, they are all wild and untamable dragons from Romania and have been moved to various locations in the Forbidden Forest. At the same time, the dragon trainers helped us to disperse a total of fifty golden snitches around each territory that these dragons had already marked for themselves." "All you have to do is to capture as many of them as you can under the guardianship of these big guys, and you will be ranked ording to the number of them you obtain, with the one who gets the most flying golden snitches will be awarded seventy points, the second one will get fifty points, the third one will get thirty points and the fourth one will get ten points. You will all need to live and survive a minimum of three days in the forest, after which the first to return will receive forty points, the second will receive thirty points, the third twenty points and the fourth ten points. And the final deadline is seven days, and if after this time of seven days, someone is still in the forbidden forest and does not return, then no matter how many golden snitches he ends up gaining, the score will only be zero." The rules wereid out in great detail, and the specifics were really not beyond Jon''s expectations; a minimum of three days in the Forbidden Forest was basically asking them to survive in the wilderness. It was easy to see from the rules that the task was designed to allow the champions to catch as many golden snitches as possible, but the time limit also made speed an important indicator, and it was up to the champions to choose between time and numbers. Once all the rules had been exined, Jon and the others began to prepare for their entry into the Forbidden Forest. With a flick of Matthew''s wand, their robes fluttered as if blown by a gale, and the bits and pieces that had been ced in their clothes fell onto the table. Matthew took the other two judges of the Confederation and began to examine them one by one, starting with Emil. "Is this a Remembrall?" The African witch asked in somewhat broken English as she picked up one of the small round balls on the table. Emil replied with an expressionless face. "It''s just amon souvenir, given to me by my grandmother." "We have no intention of inquiring about its function, what we want to know is does it contain magical powers?" "I don''t know, but I don''t think so." The Arab diplomat, clearly sceptical of Emil''s words, picked up the orb and tapped his wand on it, and then the whole thing lit up with a pale blue light. He looked at Emil meaningfully. "It doesn''t look like you know much about it, Mr Lestrange, do you need us to hold it for you, or will you nominate a custodian?" Emil''s face showed little embarrassment as he looked over at Lucius, who was standing over in the crowd. Lucius coughed lightly, then stepped forward and took the orb from the Arab diplomat. "This thing, let''s leave it with me temporarily for now, I''ll give it to him after the tournament is over." At this, the three judges looked at each other as if they had nothing against it. Then they went back to Diane and picked up a bracelet from the table, one that looked like it was made of metal, with a silver crest at the top and no distinguishing features on the surface. "This is the family crest of the Rosier family, it has no magic attached to it other than a symbol of status and honour." It was not Diane who opened her mouth to speak, but Vinda Rosier, who was standing beside Dumbledore. Matthew nodded approvingly while still holding the bracelet up to do some testing, and after making sure she wasn''t lying, he returned it to Diane''s hand. Next came Draco, who didn''t carry anything other than a wand, which saved the judges some effort. Finally, it was Jon''s turn. On his tabley a strange pendant with a ring set with three blue diamond-shaped gems, and a very badly worn wooden token dangling from a red cord. "These are?" Matthew picked up the string of pendants in front of Jon. "The wooden tag was a gift from a friend of mine, and the ring was left by my family." Jon said calmly. "They''re both ordinary things." Matthew took one look at the wooden tag before losing interest, it was hard to fake, there really weren''t any magical properties on it, and he focused directly on the ring. There were quite a few alchemical items of this form (gem) in the magical world in various shapes and sizes, and he couldn''t see anything odd about it just by looking at it with the naked eye, so instead he simply raised his wand and flicked it over the ring. Nothing happened, it was as if the ring was just a muggle product. Eventually, Matthew handed the pendant back to Jon, and after he took it back without moving a muscle, Jon quietly rxed in his mind. The ring would be as indistinguishable from a stone on the side of the road to anyone whose ''will'' was not up to scratch, and as Slughorn had said when he handed it to Jon at the beginning, there might not be anyone else in the entire magical world who could use it, except Jon. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 334: Forbidden Forest (2 in 1) Chapter 334: Forbidden Forest (2 in 1) Time was up and all three, except Jon, subconsciously clenched their fingers into a fist. And before entering the forbidden forest, Matthew stressed one rule at the end to them. "Don''t forget what I have emphasised before, you can attack each other, but you are not allowed to use fatal blows on each other during the tournament, at the end of the tournament, we will check the wands of each of you using the Priori Incantatem, once we find the vition, your results will be cancelled. And if you feel a threat to your life during the tournament, then you canunch a red spark into the sky, and we will have specialised personnel to rescue you from the forbidden forest, but it also means that the score for this round will be zero." As he said this, he shot a distinct nce in the direction of where Jon stood, and it was clear that the one who would be most likely to break this rule of those present is Jon. It wasn''t just him, Emil and Draco were also sneaking nces at Jon, it was only when this rule came into y that they had less trepidation in proceeding through the tournament, after all, Jon, covered in blood that night, had made too much of an impression on everyone. Just after Matthew had finished exining all the rules, he suddenly spoke in a concise, matter-of-fact manner. "Now then, the tournament begins!" In front of Jon and the other champions, in the direction of the forbidden forest, there was a clear pale silver line in the grassy surface, and the mere act of stepping inside this line meant that this first task of the tournament would begin. But at this point, neither Emil nor Draco moved, they were looking at Jon, obviously not daring to go in first and put their back in front of Jon''s figure. Jon, of course, saw what they were thinking and shrugged his shoulders, with his wand in his hand he said casually. "Hey, since you''re all being humble, let me go in first." With that said, he didn''t linger any longer and simply stepped forward and crossed the silver and white line. As if not worried at all that he might suffer a sneak attack from someone behind him, he just sauntered into the forbidden forest and never looked back, all the way through a dense bush andpletely disappeared from everyone''s sight. It was at this point that Emil and Draco breathed a sigh of relief, and together they turned their heads to look at Diane to find that she too was staring at them with a wary look on her face like she would fight back as soon as they showed any sign of making a direct move on Jon. Draco nced at her condescendingly and said nothing more, instead turned his head to his father and nodded, then walked inside the silver line as a second one. Emil followed right behind him, the two had obviously agreed on something earlier and were now both walking together as they entered the forbidden forest. After watching them both walk into the Forbidden Forest as well, Diane, with an alert look on her face, was thest to cross into the Forbidden Forest atst. By now, all four champions had entered the tournament grounds, and they would be there for a minimum of three days until they decided to conclude the first task of the tournament themselves. As he watched everyone enter the Forbidden Forest, the expression on Voldemort''s face never changed significantly. He hadn''t stayed at Hogwarts Castle all these days but hade back specifically for the day of the tournament. Dumbledore still looked at him with the same smile on his face but had no desire to engage in conversation with him. Then Voldemort turned to look at Snape and without lowering his voice, he said faintly. "Keep an eye on the castle, you know I''ve always had high hopes for you." Snape replied with his head bowed and a firm voice. "I will." Just as he was about to leave from the school, a sudden voice, abruptly interrupted the peace of this ce! "Petrificus Totalus!" In the direction in which Jon had disappeared, a red spell shot out abruptly from behind the dense bushes! And the spell was aimed in the very direction that Emil and Draco had left together! The Full Body-Bind Curse instantly spanned a distance of close to a hundred metres, and then hit Draco with uncanny precision before he had half a second to react! The next second, the boy, who is around the same age as Jon, frozepletely in ce, thest expression on his face remaining one of bewilderment and horror before his stiff body fell straight to the ground. Emil was much more responsive than Draco, and before the Full Body-Bind Curse could hit Draco, he swiftly rolled on the grass to avoid the attack! However, Jon''s first target was not him, but a second spell shot out of the tip of his wand once more just as soon as the full body-bind curse took effect! "Stupefy!" Again a red light, Emil looked like he had got into an unavoidable situation, his initial misjudgement had left him with no way to twist his body and dodge at the first chance again. But just as Jon''s Stunning Spell was about to hit him, Emil suddenly pulled the already petrified Draco in front of him! "Bang!" The impact from the spell toppled Draco''s body, and under the desperate look on his face, the stunning spellpletely took effect, rendering his entire body unconscious. And right after Emil managed to dodge this attack from Jon using Draco as a meat shield, he moved quickly and got up from the ground, turning around and running deeper towards the Forbidden Forest while casting a spell randomly back in the direction where Jon had been! These attacks urred in a matter of seconds, in a sh of lightning, and even the judges and Aurors on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest were frozen in their tracks! No one had expected Jon to strike straight at the very beginning of the tournament, and to strike and knock out Draco straight away! When Lucius saw this, his whole being instantly became overwhelmed with rage, and he pulled out his wand, however, the incantation that had been on his lips was swallowed back into his stomach after Matthew looked back at him. Voldemort, who had nned to leave straight away, also stopped in his tracks, his face showing little to no expression, only looking straight at Jon. Faced with his gaze, Jon didn''t have much fear, he had no intention of going on after Emil, instead, he walked straight over to Draco, who had been hit by both the Full Body-Bind Curse and Stunning Spell in quick session, and with a faint smile on his face, he looked at everyone present. "If I manage to help him leave the Forbidden Forest, would that disqualify him from the tournament?" There was silence in the ce as the men of Voldemort''s faction all raised their wands in their hands, and Lucius and the Aurors led by his men all stared ominously at Jon. Pretty soon, Voldemort spoke calmly on his own. "ording to the rules of the tournament, as soon as he leaves the area marked out as Forbidden Forest, then he will be disqualified from this task, whether he volunteered or not." Jon reached for the back of Draco''s cor and, in front of everyone in the ce, he hurled him out of the silver line without hesitation. Lucius couldn''t hold back any longer, he quickly walked over to his son and took Draco, who was covered in grass des and mud, into his arms, and then he looked at Jon with a look of spite and hatred in his eyes. Jon turned without a care in the world and headed back towards the depths of the forbidden forest while waving his hand with his back to him. "No need to thank me, I''m actually helping him out here, Mr Malfoy." Voldemort stared at his back, that gaze never averted, as he said in a voice that was not high but loud enough for everyone to hear. "I look forward to your performance in this task, Jon Green." Jon''s figure had disappeared into the bushes once again, leaving only his words in reply to Voldemort. "Thank you for your expectations." It had all happened so suddenly that only now did the people from the International Confederation of Wizardse back to their senses, even Matthew and the two wizards. They looked at Draco, who was being treated by Lucius'' using the counter-spells and couldn''t help but look at each other, no one had expected to see a person to be eliminated less than five minutes into this tournament task. Jon''s two unexpected spell-casting shots were just too fast, not to mention Draco and Emil, even not many of these adult wizards outside were able to react. A number of them gave a sympathetic look as they looked at Lucius, anyone could see that of the four champions that had been chosen, Draco was clearly not up to par with the other three, and it was only just the beginning of the first task of the tournament. The smile on Dumbledore''s face never changed as he watched Voldemort leave the school, and then turned to leave with Rosier. The tournament process would be watched by someone from time to time, and they, the judges, who belonged to different schools, would just have to finalise the results and the fairness of the process, while the three of them, Matthew and the group, would be responsible for all the penalties and rules in between. Draco soon woke up under Lucius'' counter-spells, his face turned pale, and he hid his head in his top with his neck shrunk. Lucius didn''t me him for anything, just patted him on the back and murmured softly. "It is true that this isn''t necessarily a bad thing, as long as you are being safe." *** Jon didn''t go deeper immediately after entering the forbidden forest. He was clear enough to understand that this tournament task wasn''t going to be that simple toplete, not only did he have toe face to face with those dragons, but the golden snitches that yed a part in the scoring itself aren''t something that can just be caught. In Quidditch, with a flying broom, it might have been possible to catch the Golden Snitch as long as one''s eyes remained sharp and one''s reflexes is a little quicker. Whereas in the absence of a flying broom, even if one could cast a spell at it with a wand it wouldn''t be that easy to hit, not to mention the interference and attacks from the dragon in the process. So Jon wasn''t the least bit worried about how quickly Emil who had escaped from him could aplish the goal, and as far as Jon was concerned, his purpose in entering the Forbidden Forest is much more than simply winning this task. After making sure that he had disappeared from the sight of those judges, Jon took off the old wooden tag from the pendant he is wearing around his neck. Then just like that, he held that tag straight up and wandered around the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. It was something that Hagrid had given him, and those creatures in the Forbidden Forest were sensitive enough to easily recognise the wooden tag that Hagrid always carried close to him. And by helping Hagrid look out for those magical creatures, Jon was also helping himself, as the natives of the Forbidden Forest certainly knew much more than he did about the territory in which those dragons currently cooped up in the Forbidden Forest. The Forbidden Forest truly lived up to its name as thergest gathering ce for magical creatures in the UK, and within a few moments of walking in Jon had already seen many magical creatures that he had not been able to see at all in the outside world before. Bowtruckles were lying on the branches of trees, Fairies hiding amidst mushrooms, Thornbacks with long fangs, and even an ugly Dugbog. Every time he met one of these magical creatures, Jon held up a wooden tag to see if he could get close to them, but none of them seemed to show him much goodwill, and they all scurried away when they saw him approach. After two hours of wandering along the outskirts, Jon was beginning to think he might be approaching it all in the wrong way. The forbidden forest is so big that even Hagrid, who has guarded this game ground for decades, might not recognise every creature, and wandering around with this wooden tag would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. And just as Jon was thinking about whether he should try a different approach, he suddenly noticed a gaze that was fixed directly on him. Jon turned his head to meet the small thing lying on the trunk of the tree, and the Bowtruckle quickly averted its gaze timidly, as if it was afraid to meet his eyes directly. But Jon didn''t give up on this discovery, he could feel that this Bowtruckle''s eyes were looking at this wooden tag he held. He walked over to the tree, waved the wooden tag in his hand and asked. "Do you recognise this thing?" The Bowtruckle did not make a sound, but nced at the wooden tag in Jon''s hand, and then climbed down the trunk of the tree. It marched forward on the grass, while not forgetting to nce back at Jon as it made its way. Jon understood what it meant. "You''re asking me to follow you?" The Bowtruckle made no response, just moved forward again and then looked back at him once more. After just a moment''s consideration, Jon followed the Bowtruckle and headed deeper into the forbidden forest. This Bowtruckle must have known Hagrid even if it hadn''t been his friend in the past, otherwise, a cautious and careful magical creature like it would not have taken the initiative to interact with a stranger. Rather than searching for a needle in a haystack, Jon thought it would be better to follow it and see what mighte out of it. Although it might be small in stature, the Bowtruckle was not slow in its movements and Jon quickened his pace to keep up with it. Soon the little creature stopped ahead, and it climbed up a nearby tree while gesturing at Jon. Jon stepped forward, and then he saw some patches of silvery liquid in a sunken crater in the ground. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 335: The Wounded Unicorn and Hermiones Request (2 in 1) Chapter 335: The Wounded Unicorn and Hermione''s Request (2 in 1) Jon reached out and dipped his finger into the silvery liquid and ced it on the tip of his nose and sniffed it. The smell, though not heavy, had a distinct smell of blood. Even if he had never seen such a thing before, he had a vague suspicion in his mind about the existence with silvery blood in the Forbidden Forest, and there was basically no other possibility other than a Unicorn. But even if there is a Unicorn that has been injured, why did this Bowtruckle bring him here? If it cared about the wounded Unicorn, shouldn''t it be warier of an outsider like him? Jon turned his head to look at the little one that had brought him here, it was blinking and just looking straight at him. A possibility suddenly urred to Jon, and he held up the wooden tag and asked the Bowtruckle, probingly. "This wounded Unicorn knows the owner of this tag doesn''t it?" The little one jumped up at once as if cheering that Jon had understood it. Seeing how it behaved, Jon perked up too, and looking at the silver patches left on the grass, he began to follow the trail of blood left behind and continued his search deeper into the forbidden forest. The Bowtruckle no longer had the same reservations as it had at first, and it jumped right onto Jon''s shoulder and apanied him. Jon continued walking for another half hour or so, eventuallying to an empty meadow, and in the very centre of this meadow, a group of horse-shaped creatures with snow-white fur and a single horn on their heads were gathered. Unicorns, the legendary symbol of purity and sacredness, are said to allow only female virgins to touch them. Hagrid had told Jon early on that arge herd of Unicorns lived in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, arguably even thergest herd in Britain. Every few years, Ollivander would pay a sum of gold toe to the Forbidden Forest and use harmless methods to scrape some Unicorn horn powder for the wand''s core, and some of these same Unicorns had a very good rtionship with Hagrid and had received a lot of care from him. The herd of Unicorns that presented themselves in front of Jon, on the other hand, did not look so cheerful inparison. Almost every one of them bore w wounds or burns, their beautiful snow-white fur riddled with scorch marks, and they were all clustered together, heads hanging low as if they were mourning over something. Without hiding his movements, Jon pushed aside the bushes that were in front of him and walked straight into the clearing. The movement was instantly noticed by all the Unicorns that had gathered here, and together they raised their heads, restlessly paddling their hooves in the grass and looking at Jon with a wary gaze. Instead of taking up his wand in defence, Jon held up the wooden tag and spoke as gently as he could in a softer voice. "Do you recognise this? Have no fear, I am a friend of Rubeus Hagrid." The wariness in the eyes of most of the Unicorns was not lost, and they gazed intently at Jon and held their horns at him, yet the tallest of them all, the one with the purest fur, strode past all the others of its kind and came up to Jon. It poked its head out and sniffed carefully at the wooden tag that Jon was holding, and then its body, which had been tense, rxed significantly; it obviously knew Hagrid. "Are you guys in some kind of trouble? I can try to help you guys out." Jon continued after gaining the initial trust of these unicorns. The Unicorn that recognised Hagrid''s wooden tag looked like the leader of the herd, and it gazed at Jon for a moment with those beautiful eyes, before barking twice at itspanions. After hearing itsmand, a few of the unicorns in the herd were clearly reluctant, but they all eventually made a path open in Jon''s direction. It was only after following this gap that Jon finally saw what it was that they had surrounded. It was also a unicorn, but it was less than half the size of the adult unicorns around it, a young cub that had not yet grown up. What is rming is the horrific burns on its back, the fur on its back haspletely disappeared, revealing charred ck flesh! The little Unicorn was lying on its side on the grass, it could still breathe, but from the sound of its breathing you could tell that it was not going tost much longer with such serious injuries, the burns were still faintly lit up with orange fire every now and then, and the injuries were still getting worse. The grass flowed with silvery blood mixed with ck particles until it reached Jon''s feet. Jon knelt down and met the little Unicorn''s eyes, which were so pure and filled with a desire to live. "It''s those dragons, right? You guys had a conflict with them?" Such burns made it easy for Jon to determine the situation these unicorns had encountered at the moment, and upon hearing his words, the surrounding unicorns snorted and paddled their hooves in agitation. After verifying the uracy of his suspicions by their behaviour, Jon returned his attention to the young unicorn''s injuries. The burns on its back were clearly the result of the dragon''s breath, the fierce mes not simply hot, but spreading inwards along the flesh and blood, a little like Fiendfyre, but not as overpowering as the Fiendfyre that burned everything. Yet this level of intensity is enough to kill the little unicorn. Normally, Unicorns themselves are extremely resistant to magic, and as long as they are not directly hit by them for a long time, ordinary dragon breath will not do much damage to them, as evidenced by the adult Unicorns around him. This little unicorn, on the other hand, had not only been directly engulfed by the dragon''s breath but also because its own physique had not even grown up yet, its magic resistance was not as strong as the other adult unicorns. This is why its current injuries are so serious. Otherwise, if it was a normal burn, even if it was this serious, it would have been able to survive by relying on the unicorn''s own tenacious vitality, after all, the unicorn''s blood is said to have the power to bring the dead back to life. Looking at the dying unicorn in front of him, Jon seemed at a loss at first. He knew how to prepare potions for burns, but they are only effective for ordinary burns, while the dragon''s breath naturally carries the magic power of the dragon itself, which is not something that can be dealt with by ordinary means. As Jon was thinking about this, his whole body suddenly froze. Removing magic might not be something he could do, but he could absorb it! Jon quickly pulled out the ring he wore around his neck, and then experimentally aimed it at the location of the unicorn''s burns. Although he had sessfully absorbed a lot of unowned magic before, those were left behind by wizards, and this was the first time he had tried to absorb magic left behind by a magical creature like this, whether it would work or not, Jon himself didn''t know, he could only do what he could for now. A few seconds after the ring hovered over the unicorn''s wound, Jon could clearly feel a strange magical power being absorbed. This magic was different from all the magic he had absorbed before; it was clear from the quality of the magic itself that could be felt, but there wasn''t exactly any way to use the magic that the ring had absorbed to bring much room for enhancement to himself. But Jon hadn''t expected to rely on absorbing dragon magic to give him much of an enhancement, and as the magic was gradually extracted from the burns, the unicorn''s condition improved significantly. The adult unicorns around him also felt the change in the young unicorn''s injuries, and they couldn''t help but move a little closer to Jon, their eyes all showing a bright look. The dragon''s magic had all been extracted, but the burns on the unicorn''s body were still there, and because they continued unchecked for so long, the burns had prated into its internal organs and could be life-threatening if not treated immediately. Jon stood up from the ground, and he held out his hand to the lead unicorn as he gestured at it, describing the situation. "Have you ever seen a herb with rounded leaves in the Forbidden Forest, with distinctive white lines patterned on them, their sap has a remarkable healing effect on all types of wounds." The lead unicorn understood what Jon was saying and first turned around intending to run in one direction, but soon hesitated and turned back again, facing Jon and slowly kneeling down on its forelegs while bending its upper body. Jon blinked as he asked with some incredulity. "Are you asking me to ride you?" The unicorn raised its head and blinked its bright eyes in return, as if in response to his question. Jon had indeed not expected the unicorn to be willing to allow a male like himself toe so close; ording to the wizard''s long years of study of such creatures, they would normally only be willing to get close to pure virgins, especially little girls. In this case, now, he could only chalk it up to the fact that his act of saving the young unicorn had made it restrain its instincts. There was certainly no pressure for Jon to be able to ride the unicorn, he straddled directly onto this unicorn''s back, then the unicorn didn''t stop for half a moment, it just kicked off its hooves and started to run wildly in the north-east direction. *** Other students were not allowed to spectate the start of the Triwizard Tournament. Even the students on the wagon had remained in the wagon for the rest of the day, with Dumbledore giving them their lessons. Even when they arrived at Hogwarts Castle, their lessons were certainly not dyed, and it was only fitting that Dumbledore, who remained on the wagon at all times, should teach them. Just as the students were in the middle of their afternoon ss, the surrounding students realised that Hermione, who had been there all afternoon, was nowhere to be seen. Lavender raised a question about this and Dumbledore replied calmly. "Miss Granger has asked me for a leave of absence for some specialmitment, don''t worry, she''ll be back tomorrow." He didn''t say exactly where Hermione had gone, but Lavender didn''t ask any more questions, after all, as long as Dumbledore knew where she had gone, that was all that was needed to prove that Hermione would be safe enough. At the same time, Hermione was making a final check of the things she had got in her room in the wagon. The cloak of invisibility, the Marauder''s Map, and a golden red bird! Fawkes stood gracefully on Hermione''s bed and was brushing his feathers, while the ghost Lady Grey looked at Hermione with a surprised look on her face. "Have you made up your mind about helping me, Hermione? And specifically gone to Dumbledore to request this phoenix?" Hearing the mention of himself, Fawkes looked up and nced at Lady Grey with disdain before refocusing his attention back on his feathers. And after hearing Lady Grey''s words, Hermione said without looking up. "We are not so close as to call each other by our first names, Ms Grey, and I obviously didn''t prepare these for you." She was so blunt that the joy that had been on Lady Grey''s face turned a little pale. "But you''re going into that castle now, aren''t you? Did Dumbledore ask you to go?" Hermione spoke calmly. "It was me who thought I could be up to the task." "Then why can''t you help me as well, child? I promise I''ll help you too, whenever anythinges up that could potentially put you in danger, I won''t force you to continue, you''re perfectly free to choose to give up on your own." Hermione didn''t bother to answer her words for a moment, but carefully opened the Marauder''s Map, while simultaneously reciting an incantation with a tap of her wand to unlock it. The next moment, the whole of Hogwarts appeared in full view to her eyes. The first thing she did was to look first in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, however, the map could barely cover the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, and she couldn''t glean anything other than some Aurors, Matthew, and the other three judges wandering around there. The fact that she didn''t see the names she wanted to see, couldn''t help but disappoint Hermione a little as she shook her head and returned her gaze to Hogwarts Castle while answering Lady Grey''s words from earlier. "I will agree to your request." Lady Grey stayed frozen as a whole for a moment, she had almost stopped expecting Hermione to agree to her, thinking that there would be no way out, the worst that could happen was to sneak into Hogwarts castle by herself and try to see if she could talk her way around one of the students within the castle to help her with this. To her surprise, Hermione ended up giving in at thest minute and a look of delight spread across her face. "Thank you so much truly thank you so much, Her- Miss Granger!" But as Hermione''s eyes retracted from the Marauder''s Map, she continued with what she hadn''t finished saying earlier. "It''s fine to help you, but as you said, when ites to things that are risky, I can choose for myself whether to continue or give up, and also, promise me one thing." Lady Grey asked eagerly. "Do tell." "You can''t follow me into Hogwarts Castle while this is going on." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 336: Breaking In (2 in 1) Chapter 336: Breaking In (2 in 1) In some cases, the night would not be the best time to cover one''s tracks. Even when Voldemort was not in Hogwarts Castle, he still kept the ce well guarded, with Aurors guarding the entrances almost 24 hours a day. Especially after dark, when a curfew was enforced throughout the castle, the strictest security measures were enforced by the Aurors and Professors stationed inside the castle at Voldemort''s behest. Anyone found suspicious during the night patrols could be directly dealt with, regardless of whether they would stay alive or dead. The secret passage that led from the Honeydukes sweet shop cer to the one-eyed hump-backed old witch statue on the third floor of the castle, a passage that had been discovered by Barty Jr. as well as Snape and others when Jon had fled with Hanton and the groupst year, had now also beenpletely demolished. In addition to this secret passage, there are of course several other secret passages marked on the Marauder''s Map which is still avable, such as the one that leads off-campus behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy. But no one could be sure that it is safe to use them, and so for the sake of safety, Fawkes simply followed Hermione''s side. Moreover, darkness is not a very good cover for a phoenix. Hermione stared at the top of one of the towers on the easternmost side of the castle on the Marauder''s Map, one of the three tallest towers at Hogwarts, the others being the one on the westernmost side of the castle, the tower that had once been the Ravenw Housemon room, and the tower that had formerly been upied by Gryffindor House. The other two towers were now abandoned and used as sundry storage rooms, and only the Astronomy Tower is still in use, only it is still mid-afternoon, so no astronomy sses would be held at this time, so the Tower is quite empty and there is no one up there. And there were hardly any other ssrooms in the area where it was situated, so it would take at least five minutes for the nearest group of students in the ss to get to the tower at the quickest possible speed, and even if there was an ident, five minutes would be more than enough for Hermione to deal with the trouble. "Why don''t you let mee with you? I''m a ghost, and I''ve been a part of this castle for thousands of years, no one knows more about it than I do, I could be of a lot of help to you!" Lady Grey said with wide, uprehending eyes. Hermione made sure she hadn''t missed anything and finally looked through the entire Hogwarts castle again to see if the dark lord really no longer was inside by looking at all the names. "I don''t need any of your help ma''am, if you really want me to do you a favour then it would be best for both of us if you agreed to what I want." It was only at this point that Lady Grey finally caught the implication behind Hermione''s words and she gasped incredulously. "You think I would be a burden to you!" Hermione in the end wasn''t that stone-hearted, and she looked up from the Marauder''s Map. "Not a burden, Lady Grey, but if we both do enter this castle, then we would have conflicting goals and standards of action, and it would be difficult to solve problems if disagreements or difficulty in reaching a consensus arose, which is why I made the request." Her tone was much more tactful, but her refusal to allow Lady Grey to enter the castle with her remained firm. Hermione was well aware of how important this mission is and was also well aware that Lady Grey would definitely keep instigating her to find that Ravenw diadem as long as she followed her, and that she might even force herself to make a choice under certain extreme circumstances. So Hermione had actually agreed to her request in the beginning, partly because she wanted to stall her first. Lady Grey wasn''t fooled into believing Hermione''s words that sounded just a little bit better than "stalling"; even if she had spent thousands of years in vain, she was still an adult when she died. But she ended up hesitating for a few seconds with a difficult look on her face and agreed to Hermione''s request. "I can agree not to enter the castle, but you must also keep your word and try to help me with real intent, not just a perfunctory try!" Hermione looked at her and nodded seriously, perhaps at first she had meant to be perfunctory when she agreed, but from the moment Lady Grey was willing to ce this trust in her, Hermione did straighten her attitude. No matter how much she had changed in the past two years, her original goodness had remained the same. After receiving such an affirmative response from Hermione, Lady Grey did not remain in her room, and Hermione, who hadpleted all the preparations and solved Lady Grey''s biggest worry, extended her arm to Fawkes. "Can you see this ce, Fawkes, we need to go here." Looking at the Marauder''s Map, Hermione pointed out the location of the Astronomy Tower to Fawkes. Fawkes just nced at it and jumped right up on Hermione''s shoulder, spreading his golden red feathers. A golden light bubbled and spread over his body, soon enveloping Hermione''s entire body, but instead of being transported away immediately, their bodies were merging with that light bit by bit as the golden light flickered. In Hogwarts Castle, on top of the original Anti-Apparition Charm, Voldemort had reinforced it to specifically target the Phoenix''s Apparition magic. But even if his magical attainment had reached the highest level in the magical world, magical creatures themselves, especially those as advanced as the phoenix, would use magic and powers that differed greatly from those of wizards. Even if he tried to limit it, he could only limit the speed of Fawkes'' instantaneous teleportation, but the ability to restrict it was out of his reach. So after a dy of about a minute or so, Hermione and Fawkes disappeared together from the wagon''s bed-chamber, while at the same time, the figures of the one human and the bird reappeared on the castle''s astronomy tower. The first moment her feet touched the ground, Hermione raised the invisibility cloak, enveloping both herself and Fawkes under the cloak, only then she began to look around warily. The afternoon sun shone into the tower, allowing the movement caused by Fawkes'' Apparition to be less blinding than it would have been in the dark, and there was no one but Hermione on the Astronomy Tower. Hermione then took out the Marauder''s Map and after finally making sure that she hadn''t alerted anyone due to the ''break-in'' that had broken Dumbledore and Voldemort''s agreement of not entering the castle privately; she then arched her back and carefully made her way to the stairway. "Remember not to make any noise, Fawkes, and don''te out of the cloak suddenly, if anything happens, we''ll leave the castle immediately. Professor Dumbledore said that the Dark Lord men won''t do anything to us as long as they don''t just catch us on the spot." She implored Fawkes with these words that had been repeated countless times on the wagon, and Fawkes touched the side of Hermione''s face with his pointed beak with some displeasure as if he was upset that she treated him like a silly bird that couldn''t understand human speech. Receiving Fawkes'' response, Hermione gripped the invisibility cloak with one hand and the Marauder''s Map with the other, and after making sure there was no one else below the tower, she began to make her way down the steep staircase. It was four o''clock in the afternoon, an hour before thest ss of the day in the castle would end, which meant that this hour would be the time when the least number of students would be loitering in the castle, apart from the start of the curfew. Hermione didn''t dy for a minute, she kept watching the Marauder''s Map and kept choosing those stairs that were unupied to start going down, among which she also noticed something strange, all those movable stairs that used to help her find Jon quickly in the castle a year ago had now be ordinary. It no longer moved in a tricky way and didn''t provide Hermione with any more help, it was as if it had died. This caused some unease in Hermione''s mind, but she pursed her lips to suppress some of the spection rising from within and instead focused all her attention on the task Dumbledore had given her. It took her about ten minutes to finally make her way cautiously to the First Floor. And as she walked down the stairs, the sound of a voice made her subconsciously shrink into the cloak of invisibility and hide in a corner. "If you ask me, our Lord should really find a way to tear up that so-called pact and take advantage of the moment to wipe out Dumbledore''s gang, this is on our own turf, what else can they possibly do?" An unattractive witch with a fat face whispered with a fierce expression. She was followed by a simr, but thin as a twig, pockmarked male wizard, and they walked side by side, walking past Hermione. "Don''t try to question our lord''s decision, and keep this kind of talk only to me, don''t let anyone else hear it, especially Snape, he loves to report such news to our lord." Hermione eyed their backs coldly as they made their way up the stairs, she certainly hadn''t forgotten about the Carrow siblings. In the past the ''ves'' who had made most mistakes had been taken away by them and used as ssroom props for Muggle Studies sses. The fear they brought to the Muggle students was even greater than Dolohov because if Dolohov had taken them, the chances that they would have been tortured and left alive were higher, but no student who was taken by the Carrow siblings ever came back alive. Hermione watched as they disappeared before her eyes. She pressed herself against the wall of the ground floor corridor of the castle and proceeded to scout every room on the ground floor. There were very few ssrooms on the ground floor, as most of the rooms served as functional rooms like the great hall, storerooms andvatories, and Hermione''s goaly in one of these rooms. The ground floor of the castle itself seemed quite vast and was essentially where most of the student activity took ce at meal times, making her movements very restricted, but luckily a portrait in Dumbledore''s Headmaster''s office provided her with a general location to trace her target. This made Hermione''s task less difficult than she had thought it would be. ... Jon''s lunch was treated by this herd of unicorns. After he rode the lead unicorn and found fresh Dittany in the forbidden forest, the little unicorn was no longer in danger of dying. The whole herd became much closer to Jon for this reason, and even the ones that were clearly hostile to his presence at first became less repulsed by his presence. The unicorns found a water source nearby and found a lot of wild fruit to share with Jon. Even Jon''s picky tastes found the fruit, which he couldn''t recognise, to be good, but instead of joining the unicorns at the river, he used his magic to conjure up some clean water. The meal was just the right time to talk about the main business, and Jon held up the wooden tag in his hand as he nibbled on the wild fruit, and asked the leader of the unicorns who had recognised it first. "Do you know if there are any other creatures in the Forbidden Forest that recognise this wooden tag? If there are, can you take me to meet them when the afternoones?" This unicorn could obviously understand human speech, and after hearing Jon''s words, it instantly nodded its head, which immediately made Jon feel much morefortable. The trip to the Forbidden Forest, which he had thought might bring him a lot of trouble in the middle, now seemed to be going smoothly. Of course, he hadn''t forgotten the main contributor to all this - the Bowtruckle who had led him to this herd of unicorns. Jon had used his knife to help him cut off the flesh of some wild fruits, but the little fellow didn''t seem interested. Instead, after seeing that the little unicorn was no longer in danger, it bounced off. Jon was able to understand why Hagrid was so fond of these magical creatures at that moment becausepared to people, there were times when animals'' feelings were extremely pure. While helping Hagrid out with his obsession, Jon certainly hadn''t forgotten about the tournament task yet and continued to ask the unicorn. "How far away the dragon that attacked you guys roughly was from our current location? At the speed you took me running up in the morning, would you be able to reach it by the time from sun rises to the zenith or by sunset?" The unicorn, even if it could understand human speech, it was not possible to understand every term in humannguage, so instead of saying a few hours, Jon simply used the analogy of the amount of time that the sun was in the sky. Even then the unicorn seemed to have some difficulty in understanding his words, and the action of nibbling the fruit with its head down paused visibly for a moment, as if it was thinking in those bright eyes. It nodded inprehension as if it could barely understand Jon''s words. Jon blinked and began to narrow down the time frame again. "So if it''s until the sun is halfway down in this time, is that still enough too?" This time the unicorn didn''t think about it for much longer but nodded straight away. "Which direction is it in then, just point it out with your horn a little for me." Quickly, it turned its head and pointed its one-horn on its head in the southwest direction. Jon didn''t ask any further questions as he looked down in contemtion, estimating speed and time, but because of theck of precise parameters, he had no way of devising a specific value. But one thing was certain, the dragon that had fought with the entire unicorn herd would be very close to him. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 337: Pega- Donkey Hoss (2 in 1) Chapter 337: Pega- Donkey Hoss (2 in 1) Jon was in no hurry to find the dragon, he just had to get his bearings and there would be plenty of time to figure it out afterwards. After lunch, he leaned against one of the unicorns for a short nap, then re-straddled the back of the lead unicorn, allowing it to take him close to Hagrid''s old friends in this forbidden forest. The unicorn''s aim seemed clear as it sped its way across the grass and trees, eventually leading Jon to a small dirt slope. It was overgrown with weeds, but much less wooded than the rest of the area, and at a nce the whole dirt slope could be seen in its entirety. Jon''s attention was soon drawn to a horse that was wandering down the slope. It was a tall horse with a grey mane, but what was striking about it was that the top of its head appeared to be bald, revealing its shiny skin. This area had been devoid of trees for so long that the afternoon sun shone directly on the top of its head and reflected a bright reflection. The horse was eating grass when Jon saw it, its upper jaw and lower jaw were very crooked when it chewed, and its eyes, probably due to a congenital problem, were one big and one small, making it look like a pretty ugly horse no matter how you looked at it. The unicorn that had brought Jon here seemed to be quite ufortable with the horse and stopped far from the edge of the meadow, then gestured for Jon to get off his back and go over himself if he wanted to contact it. Sensing its resistance as well, Jon climbed off the unicorn''s back and then held up the wooden tag that Hagrid had given him from a good distance away in case the bald horse ran away straight after spotting him. "Hey! Mate, do you recognise this?" The bald horse, which waszily grazing, heard Jon''s movement and its mouth, which had been crisscrossed, abruptly twitched, its intelligent,rge and small eyes blinked for a moment before finally jerking its head around to look at Jon. One man and one horse just stared at each other for two or three seconds, with wide eyes. The next moment, Jon felt a sh before his eyes as the grey shadow turned into the wind and swept across the grass! This was not a metaphor, but the horse disappeared in front of Jon''s eyes even without a half-second of a blink. At this moment, Jon also remembered Hagrid''s description of the species of several of his important friends, one of which being a magical creature known as a Granian, one of the surviving species of Pegasus in the magical world. Although it is a Pegasus too, it is different from the Abraxans and the Thestrals that are gifted to fly very fast with wings; on the contrary, it is extremely fast onnd, and ran even more swiftly than the wind! The way this horse had just behaved, coupled with its grey fur, it was clearly a Granian. "Hoss!" After guessing that this horse was one of the magical creatures that Hagrid had requested him to focus on contacting, Jon yelled directly at the spot where the wind had disappeared, at the top of his lungs. His shout startled a flock of birds in the woods not far away and soon the grey gust of wind returned to the same ce it had disappeared from! It was as if the wizard had used an Apparition to teleport directly in front of Jon''s eyes, and again Jon experienced a sh of blurring before his eyes, and the bald horse reappeared in his field of vision. Jon was somewhat shocked by how fast it was and once again locked eyes with itsrge and small eyes. The bald horse didn''t show as much interest in Jon''s eyes this time as it had earlier, and its gaze quickly shifted to the wooden tag he held in his hand. Obviously, Jon could see a gleam of surprise light up in its eyes! Then a grassy tongue licked Jon''s face, and the horse, named Hoss, who had verified Jon''s identity by checking out Hagrid''s wooden tag, then showed him great affection. That alone was enough to show how close it was to Hagrid back then, but Jon could not help but feel that its appearance revealed a sense of greasiness and silliness. Barely tearing himself away from Hoss''s tongue, Jon said as he held itsrge balding head back and turned his head to the unicorn who was standing far away watching this scene. "Thank you for your help, I''ll trouble Hoss for help with the rest of the thingster, you still have your herd to look after, so get back to them." Hearing Jon''s words, the unicorn''s four hooves all became much lighter, and after winking at Jon, it turned around and was about to head back. At this moment, however, it was as if Hoss had only just noticed the unicorn''s presence, his eyes glowing with a strange brilliance as he looked at the back of the fellow horse-shaped magical creature, which had snowy white fur! Then without hesitation, he left Jon behind and once again turned into the wind and circled around the unicorn, who was just about to leave, and then stepped in front of her. Hoss bared his lips and stared wide-eyed, looking as if he was disying his charming smile and carrying out a courtship! But the unicorn obviously knew what kind of bird it is, and from the moment she arrived with Jon, she had no intention of approaching Hoss, and now that she found herself in this situation, she had no intention of stopping her stride, but raised her one-horn and elerated forward. In the end, Hoss dodged, and looked at the unicorn''s distant back with a pout of regret, as ifining about how feisty the girl was. Jon, who had watched the whole scene, could see how unreliable the Granian horse named Hoss turned out to be, and he couldn''t understand how Hagrid could befriend such a creature, who seemed more like a donkey in the heat than a Pegasus. But anyway, Hoss at least is a Pegasus with his racial gifts in ce, and Jon walked over to Hoss, who was still staring with regret, and reached out and was barely able to reach his mare with his hand and nudge him back onto the meadow. "If you could put aside your dispensable physical needs for a moment and spare a brief moment for us to get acquainted, I suppose we should be able to make proper contact with each other right now." With his attention redrawn by Jon, Hoss resumed licking Jon''s face excitedly with his still grass-smeared tongue, until Jon finally couldn''t bear it any longer and took his wand straight out to cast the full body-bind curse, leaving him with no way to move his body for the time being, so that he could only keep his tongue out and fall straight down on his side on the soft grass. This made him look even more naive. "Now that you are being honest." Jon muttered as he used a cleaning spell to clean all the saliva and grass clippings off his face, "You should better listen carefully to what I''m going to say now, I know you''re dying to see Hagrid and if you do as I say it won''t be long before you guys can be reunited." Hoss rolled hisrge and small eyes, and it wasn''t clear if this was an affirmative reply on his part. "My name is Jon, I''m a friend of Hagrid''s, and I was asked by Hagrid specifically to look out for all you old friends of his in the Forbidden Forest this time as I hade here to do a task, so blink if you can understand me." At this moment Jon was certain that he could understand human speech, as hisrge and small eyes were blinking with all their might. Most magical creatures could understand human beings, but they also had their own set of rules and habits, so in some cases, even if they could understand them, they wouldn''t try to interpret their meaning, let alone act on it. But apparently, Hoss, who had spent a lot of time with Hagrid, didn''tck in that department. "Good, since you canmunicate then we''ll be much better off hereafter, do you know where any of these three would be; Aragog, Morris and Parson? Blink if you know even one of them." Those big and small eyes blinked twice more quickly. Now Jon was much more rxed, and although the bald horse called Hoss looked unreliable, his gift of speed could be a great help to Jon in the Forbidden Forest no matter what. With that kind of wind-like speed, as long as he knew exactly where the other three magical creatures were located, then Jon thought he could help Hagrid out in a day. "I''ll cancel the spell on you right now, and you''ll stop licking me, or I''ll have your tongue glued to your upper jaw for the rest of the day!" Jon concluded with a vicious threat and then proceeded to cancel the full body-bind curse on Hoss. As soon as the restraint was removed, Hoss sprang up from the ground and turned into a gust of wind that circled Jon twice before finally stopping. He looked like he instinctively wanted to lick Jon''s face, but eventually began to restrain that instinct and just stuck his tongue out and stared at Jon with eyes so wide and excited that one would have thought he was a stupid donkey if he hadn''t been so tall! Jon couldn''t bear to look at his face, so he grasped his nape and rode on his back with one fluid leap. "Come on, get going, go find that friend of Hagrid''s you know, I''m afraid I''ll have nightmares at night if I have to look at that silly face of yours anymore." Hoss, however, seemed to interpret Jon''s remark as apliment, and he straightened his nape so that it would be easier for Jon to hold on without the reins to steady his body while riding. The next moment, the stupid horse kicked off all four hooves. The trees swept past him as if a fast-forward button had been pressed, and the grass below felt more like a rewinding trail, and with every blink of his eyes, he felt like he was in a new ce. In between the blurs, he saw many magical creatures, including a huge behemoth lying on its stomach. It was a dragon. Was just, Jon only caught a hasty glimpse of it, and in the next instant, they had appeared in another ce. Just as Jon''s perception of time felt like only mid-seven or eight seconds had passed, the surroundingndscape around them, which had been receding, suddenly stopped. It was as if the video footage had been restored from fast-forward to normal and Hoss had brought Jon to a halt. There was the sound of a water source flowing nearby; this ce was next to a small stream and many birds and flowers graced their beauty in the surrounding environment. Jon looked around with some confusion, trying to find the magical creature Hagrid had mentioned, yet he hadn''t found even a single creature with magic. "Why did you suddenly stop ..." Before the question was even half-asked, Jon swallowed the next half of his words back into his stomach as he followed where Hoss''s sizeable eyes were looking straight up. It was a young Doe that was drinking from the stream, the mostmon breed, with no magical traits whatsoever. It was still keeping an alert watch on its surroundings as it drank, but apparently, it didn''t notice Hoss, who was quietly hiding behind a bush, peeking at its butt with eyes full of glitter. Jon took a deep breath, reminding himself that there was no point in getting angry with a horse, especially one like this. But eventually, he couldn''t resist clenching his fist and hitting Hoss squarely on his bald head! "That''s a deer! You''re not even the same species, what is your rutting head thinking! Stupid mule!" It is not clear whether Jon''s knock woke Hoss up or not, but it did disturb the young doe, who panicked and ran away from the stream, leaving Hoss with no choice but to turn his head back, before continuing to lead Jon on a wild ride through the forbidden forest. This time he finally didn''t make any more trouble, and after running for about a minute, he came to a stop in front of arge mound in the darkest, most secluded depths of the Forbidden Forest. The trees here were unusually tall and thick, their umbre-like canopies linked together and blocking out the entire sky, preventing the sun from reaching thend all year round. Even Hoss was much quieter in this environment, sniffing his nose a little warily, sniffing from side to side, looking like a dumb mutt now. Jon climbed off Hoss''s back, and then his feet stepped on a white, silk-like substance. It was spider silk. Seeing the surroundings and the scattered spider silk on the ground, Jon could roughly guess who Hoss had brought himself to find. The eight-eyed giant spider - Aragog, Hagrid''s closest and oldest friend, it was because Hagrid had once kept it captive and raised it when he was a student at Hogwarts that Voldemort had found a good reason to me the scourge of opening the Chamber of Secrets and killing a student on Hagrid, leading to his expulsion. And this is where the Aragog and his descendants reside. Jon acted very carefully when he found out what this ce was. He knew very well that perhaps that old spider Aragog still retained respect for Hagrid and would not harm himself, but it was not the case with his children and grandchildren. So Jon had his wand in hand, and with his other hand, he held the hide of Hoss'' side neck and guided him deeper into therge ditch. Now and then small spiders would swarm out from under their feet, and as more and more webs appeared around them, Jon knew they were about to reach their destination. As he pushed aside the long dark green patch of vegetation in front of him, a sight became clear to Jon. However, when he saw what was in front of him, the pupils of his eyes suddenly shrank. Spiders, spiders as big as cars were everywhere. But they ... were all dead! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 338: The Secret Chamber That Cannot Be Opened (2 in 1) Chapter 338: The Secret Chamber That Cannot Be Opened (2 in 1) Hermione made her way to the girls''vatory for the second time. She had searched the entire ground floor for all the suspicious ces but had never found anything, which made her wonder if she had missed something. So she started a second search from the beginning and now came to thismon girls''vatory. Hermione was no stranger to this ce. When she had been a ve in this castle, her main job had been to clean it, so on her first inspection, thevatory was more familiar to her than the abandoned rooms or storerooms she had never been in before. But even so, she hadn''t been sloppy in her first inspection, going through the entirevatory. This second time, Hermione was even more careful than before, not even missing the details in the cracks of the tiles or the patterns on the faucets. Finally, this time she noticed something she had never observed before. On one side of a brass faucet, which had never flowed out with water for hundreds of years, there was a unique carving of a tiny snake. Upon seeing it, Hermione''s face took on a look of delight, and she hugged Fawkes in her arms a little tighter with some excitement, then tugged the cloak of invisibility tighter and opened the Marauder''s Map to once again observe the people nearby. It was now less than ten minutes before the end of thest ss, and there were already some students near the ground floor who had no sses in the afternooning down early to get their dinner in the great hall. If the faucet she had found was indeed the entrance to the secret chamber that Dumbledore had asked her to help find, then opening it would certainly expose Hermione to the students if they came to thisvatory for their personal convenienceter on. So instead of making her next move, Hermione slowly retreated from thevatory and then found a storage room that the castle caretakers used to discard misceneous items and took refuge in it. Since she had already identified her exact target, she didn''t need to risk going from room to room, as themon girls''vatory would be more than enough for her to cover. All she had to do was wait patiently until darkness fell and curfew began, keeping an eye out for the Aurors making their rounds in the castle, and then she could try to open the secret chamber. And so Hermione waited patiently in the corner of the storeroom. By dinner time, the sound of footsteps outside had clearly begun to intensify, and she shrank back even more carefully, fearing that the invisibility cloak might identally slip off her and thus expose the Brightly Coloured Feathers of Fawkes standing on her shoulder, thus drawing the attention of the students outside through the window, to which she purposely held him in her arms. Probably because her breathing had be erratic, this caused Fawkes to peck the back of Hermione''s hand with his pointed beak somewhat discontentedly, but he didn''t make any defiant move. She waited in silence until it waspletely dark until curfew began at nine o''clock in the night. Fawkes was nestled in her arms, as if asleep, and Hermione was probably so stressed out that she didn''t feel much hunger even though she hadn''t eaten dinner. And during all this time, she hadn''t taken her eyes off the Marauder''s Map for more than three minutes. She watched as fewer and fewer students wandered out of the castle until they were all headed back to their respectivemon rooms after curfew had begun, and saw the muggle students being confined down into the underground chambers early after dinner, just as she had been here before. Likewise, more Aurors began to flock to Hogwarts after the students had all been sent back to their respective rooms with curfews enforced. They had alle in through the main gates together just after eight in the night, seemingly arriving at Hogsmeade first in a unified Apparition, and then made their way to the school on foot. Adding the men who had already been staying in the castle before, the number of Aurors on guard reached seventeen. This wasn''t much different from earlier when Hermione had just been given the Marauder''s Map and observed the number of people patrolling the castle during curfew. Of the seventeen Aurors, two were primarily responsible for guarding the Hogwarts gates, two guarded the castle doors, one was dedicated to keeping an eye on the direction of the Hogwarts wagon from a high position at the Astronomy Tower, and the remaining twelve were all patrolling all around the castle. They were divided into teams of two and six squads, each responsible for a different area, and the squad responsible for the area on the ground floor where the girls''vatory was located would spend at least twenty minutes on a round-trip patrol from this area, which would be more than enough time for Hermione to try and open the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. As long as she didn''t disturb the patrolling Aurors during the time it would take to open the chamber, it would be much safer and easier for her after she entered the chamber. These Aurors certainly wouldn''t be searching each and every room, not to mention the girls''vatory. Hermione didn''t choose to wait too long as she stared at the Marauder''s Map and once she was sure that the two Aurors on patrol on the ground floor had made their way to the other side of the castle, she was ready to make her move. However, before she could barely grab the Marauder''s Map in her hands and lead Fawkes out of this storage room, a name suddenly moved away from where he was supposed to be in a bunch of people''s names piled up. Hermione froze as she watched the name move. She hadn''t really thought that anyone would dare to break school rules under such a strict curfew control at Hogwarts Castle today! The person looked familiar with the rules of Aurors patrolling in the middle of the night as well, and easily found a reasonably suitable empty space and walked all the way to the fourth floor of the castle. Hermione watched as he made his way to the fourth-floor corridor, to a remote corner, and proceeded to sneak into a secret passage. That secret passage had also been one of her selected target points to sneak into Hogwarts Castle, but it had been abandoned because it seemed too risky, and now it was indeed being found and used by a person. Hermione watched him sneak a little further down the secret passage until he hadpletely sneaked off the edge of the Marauder''s Map and disappeared out of the confines of the entire Hogwarts school, before looking up from the map again. Such a discovery flooded Hermione''s mind with some oddity. Previously, she had always assumed that all these people in this castle would just eat and drink and act like human beings, and would never bother to risk breaking the rules, but she had never expected to find an anomaly this night. Nevertheless, this incident could only be a minor hup for her, and she had not forgotten that she had a task to carry out. In the storage room, she re-waited for one more round of Aurors'' repeat patrol toplete, then cloaked herself in the cloak of invisibility and led Fawkes inside the same girls''vatory she had found during the day. Pulling out her wand and using the Wand-Lighting Charm with the faintest brightness she could possiblymand, she soon found the faucet with the snake mark carved on it. "Ahem." Hermione cleared her throat nervously, and then an unpleasant hissing sound came out of her mouth. It was certainly not a sound she could have learned to make on her own, instead, she had spent the afternoon practising with the portrait in Headmaster Dumbledore''s office and had only barely mastered a single password that could open the chamber. But whether it was because her pronunciation wasn''t quite up to scratch or due to something else, nothing unusual happened in the entirevatory. It was as if Hermione had just delivered a performance of sounding like a snake without an audience, and when it was over, the only response she got was silence. This made Hermione frown, and she tried to adjust her voice and pronunciation and tried the parseltongue again at the faucet, but she still didn''t get any response. She tried many more times after that, but the result was always a failure. Finally, Hermione decided that there was no problem with her pronunciation; so either she was simply in the wrong ce, or the password to enter the chamber had been changed! Havinge to this conclusion, Hermione did not linger in thevatory, despite a surge of frustration ring up in her heart. With carefully controlled steps, she watched the movements of the patrolling Aurors on the Marauder''s Map, and soon reached the fourth floor of the castle as well, and then entered the secret passage behind the mirror, where, by using Fawkes the Apparition, she was able to make her way back to the wagon. Once she had returned to her room, Hermione sat down on her bed and took a couple of big breaths before taking Fawkes with her and heading straight out of her dorm room to Dumbledore''s Headmaster''s office without a moment''s pause. *** The ce seems like the graveyard of an entire colony of eight-eyed spider Acromant, or perhaps a mass grave would be more appropriate. The crater is littered with the bodies of spiders, with almost all of them dismembered, rather than whole. The valuable internal organs and venom and silk sacs had all been ripped out of the spiders'' bodies, and all that remained were their useless torsos and ugly bodies. They had been dead for some time and Jon looked at the nearest spider''s leg, which was already full of holes from tiny insects that had ravaged its surface, like a dead twig in the winter snow. From the spider corpses on the ground, Jon could probably tell what had happened to the eight-eyed giant spiders that had lived here. They are hardly magical creatures that would be considered beneficial to wizards, and with their venom and body parts being so valuable, Voldemort or someone high up in the castle had ordered a massacre of them here. All the eight-eyed Acromant had been killed, their useful parts taken, and their useless parts discarded, resulting in the mass grave that existed before them today. After all, judging from what these eight-eyed giant spiders had done in the original story, it was only their own bad luck that they had be what they were at Hogwarts under Voldemort''s control, even the muggle-born wizards were not considered human, let alone them. Walking around therge crater full of spider corpses, Jon carefully identified and searched through it. The others didn''t matter, but even if Aragog was dead, he wanted to make sure his carcass was here so that he could go back and exin it to Hagrid. Hoss just followed Jon restlessly, even when Jon didn''t bother to pull the side of his neck skin again, he didn''t run around like he was spilling his guts, he looked like he didn''t like this ce. Even if Hoss could run as fast as he wanted to, if he got caught in a web made by a group, he would have no chance of survival and would probably be the food of thousands of spiders. Jon looked around therge crater and finally spotted a spider''s carcass that was muchrger than the others. It was obviously not a size that a normal eight-eyed giant spider could just grow into, and most of its body was still intact, except for the venom sac which had all been removed, apparently because the spider-killing wizard had decided it was too old and the organs in its body had all started to fail and deteriorate, leaving it with no more value. Jon looked at Aragog''s broken body from afar and could already imagine how sad Hagrid would be when he learned this news. But after finding out that it was indeed dead, Jon had no intention of staying here for much longer, and he led Hoss out of the spider graveyard and made his way back into the dense woods, mounting Hoss on his back. The sun was just now sinking in the west, and it looked like it would take a good while before itpletely set, so Jon patted Hoss on his bald head. "Do you know any of the other two besides Aragog? I remember Hagrid telling me that Parson is a Centaur, and you''re a horse too. You, err, shouldn''t be unfamiliar with each other, right?" By the end of that sentence, even Jon himself was a little unsure of himself. With the nature of this horny donkey, it might actually go and harass a young girl among the Centaur, and the Centaurs might want to beat it to death all the time. After hearing Jon''s question, Hoss became visibly excited, leaping up on his front hooves and neighing twice, as if to reassure Jon of something, and then he turned into the wind and began to zip through the forbidden forest. Soon he crossed a great distance and led Jon to an abandoned settlement. It was obvious from a nce that this was the former settlement where the Centaurs had lived, but now it had fallen into a state of dpidation, with most of the wooden huts copsing to the ground and some of the buildings showing signs of having been burnt, leaving only a charred ckness which had been almost hidden by the passage of time. Upon seeing the sight of this ce, Jon''s heart finally began to grow heavy. Unlike the eight-eyed giant spiders, although the Centaur had always been ssified as magical beasts by the wizards, they are a group of race with the same intelligence as humans, and usually got along with the wizards in a more or less peaceful manner, for example, the Ministry of Magic had established a Centaur Liaison Office for many years previously. But in the current situation, their situation is no better than that of the eight-eyed giant spiders, if not worse. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 339: Cedric Diggory (2 in 1) Chapter 339: Cedric Diggory (2 in 1) Jon searched the abandoned settlement of the Centaur for a while, trying to find some more useful clues. However, just like the dead spiders, it looked like something that had happened a long time ago, so even if there had been some actual clues left at the beginning, nothing could possibly be found by now. But in this ce at least Jon hadn''t seen a single Centaur carcass, which was a good thing in disguise. After all, the Centaurs are a lot more intelligent than the eight-eyed giant spiders, and if Voldemort had intended to send someone to clean them out, they would have known that even if all the Centaurs in the world were to be added, there would be no way to resist. So while it was unlikely that none of the Centaurs was harmed, it was probably not likely that they would be ughtered outright. Now where the Centaurs had fled to, Hoss wasn''t sure, and Jon didn''t feel the need to waste time looking any further, even if there might still be some of the Centaurs hiding in the Forbidden Forest, there was little he could do to help them by making contact. "There''s onest one, Morris, I heard Hagrid say he is a dog with a peculiar tail, can you find him?" Jon asked Hoss about thest name Hagrid had given him, but in response, Hoss stared nkly with both hisrge and small eyes and eventually just shook his head. It didn''t look like he knew the dog named Morris. Jon didn''t dwell on it too much, he had already done more than he had previously anticipated, and even if he didn''t hear from this Morris in the end, he felt that the information he had now got to Hagrid would be enough for Hagrid to digest for a while. Today is the perfect day for Jon to conclude Hagrid''s request, and he''ll be focusing on the tournament task for the rest of the time. But Jon wasn''t in a hurry to spend the night trying to figure out how to deal with the dragons, Hoss might be a horny mule, but having him around would help keep Jon out of a lot of trouble. At least he wouldn''t have to worry about rushing through the Forbidden Forest to find out where those dragons might be. As night fell over the Forbidden Forest, Jon didn''t move to another ce, but chose to build a campfire right in the middle of this abandoned settlement, and then wandered around the nearby woods for a while, catching some random wild rabbits. It was unknown how Voldemort had controlled and managed the Forbidden Forest after taking control of Hogwarts Castle, but apart from the actions against the eight-eyed giant Acromant spider colony and the Centaurs, the entire ecology of the Forbidden Forest seemed to be very much back to nature, and the creatures here, both magical and ordinary, looked as if they had never seen a human before. The rabbits reacted by thrashing their legs and trying to resist only after catching their ears. When Hoss saw the prey he had caught, he had a look of regret in his big and small eyes, and Jon happened to meet his gaze as he was processing the rabbits. At that moment he could surprisingly guess what this horny mule was thinking. "Youmenting why I didn''t catch a little doe or something like that, and get you high before eating it?" Hoss kept nodding his head like a chicken pecking at rice with glowing eyes as if he thought that since Jon had guessed what he was thinking, he probably wouldn''t mind adding another little doe to his meal afterwards. However, the next second, Jon lightly smacked him on his lustful face. "You''re really quite a deviant pervert, I''ll have to ask Hagrid when I get back whether you were brought up like this by him or whether you''ve learned to behave like this on your own since you left him. You certainly never forget to think about finding a little doe in everything you do." Hoss wasn''t embarrassed by Jon''sment, he flung his mouth around like he was trying to argue with Jon that it is the nature of the animal. Jon didn''t bother with him anymore, he ced the processed rabbit on the fire and skilfully prepared his dinner for the night. When he had been at Hogwarts, Jon had done a lot of barbecuing on the deck of the ship with other students, and his skills were not quite as good as the others, but they were not considered bad either. At least after he had given Hoss a rabbit leg (as a Pegasus, of course, he could eat meat too), he seemed quite pleased with Jon''s cooking. As the night gradually got darker, Jon was making some small ns for tomorrow''s action around the campfire. He was not in any way feeling numb (from fear) or negligent about facing the dragon, and he didn''t quite believe that the Beauxbatons champion named Emil could truly be unprepared for this Triwizard Tournament Task that was selected by them. As the two who had been chosen to represent Voldemort in this tournament, Jon had actually tried to do a little testing early in the day. He had knocked out Draco and thrown him out of the tournament''s defined range in front of Voldemort, not meaning to provoke that man or anything, Jon had wanted to see if Voldemort actually expected these two to get the ultimate victory in the tournament for him. And from the curt reaction he had when Draco was out, Jon couldn''t tell what kind of expectations he had for the youngest Malfoy. On the contrary, Emil, if nothing else, did have a ruthless drive at a young age, actually using Draco as a meat shield to block the spell right in front of Draco''s own father, which was not something that the average student who hadn''t graduated yet could do, which meant that he was the one who should be more highly valued by Voldemort, judging by his behaviour. After all, there is no restriction in the tournament rules against attacking each other to take the golden snitch that the other team has already got, and he was curious to see what this Emil had to offer. A win or a loss in a single task meant nothing, but getting the exact information about the opponent would be of the greatest benefit to all the ns that would be madeter on. Jon thought as hey with a de of grass in his mouth on the nket he had made using a transfiguration spell, Hoss had run off after supper to have a good time, Jon had not restrained him but had told him that he had to be back before dawn tomorrow and if he had run off to roll in the grass with some strange animal he had to clean himself up before he came back or else he would be disinfected over the campfire first. Just as Jon looked out at the starry sky, which was mostly obscured by the branches of the trees, suddenly a strange feeling rose up in his mind! It was a wonderful feeling, like a premonition of some sort, and then without hesitation, Jon raised the wand in his hand and aimed the tip at a bush behind him! "Petrificus Totalus!" Without a moment''s hesitation, a bright full body-bind curse shot out of his wand and in the next instant, pierced through the dense patch of bushes! Jon could hear a panicked movement, followed by a rush of footsteps. The full body-bind curse hadn''t scored a hit, the man was fleeing! He frowned and stood up from the campfire, not bothering to risk going after him first; if Hoss had still been with him, perhaps he would have gone after him without hesitation, but now, even if he used his ring to fly, it would not be an easy task to catch up to someone in such dense woods and darkness. What''s more, who knew if this was a trap or not, he did not forget that this forbidden forest could be describedpletely as Voldemort''s home turf, and if he had some kind of small trick up his sleeve here, it would never be difficult to lead him to trap. Jon walked towards the bush that had been caved in by his full body-bind curse and soon found a ragged piece of cloth in a patch of broken foliage. It was obviously left behind by the man from before, Jon''s full body-bind curse had not hit him directly but had ripped his robe, except that from this piece of fabric alone, Jon couldn''t quite tell a thing. What he could be sure of was that Emil who was clearly hostile to him in this forbidden forest certainly did not wear a robe of this colour and style, and it was certainly not Diane''s; its owner was more likely to be an outsider other than the one participating in the Triwizard Tournament. So which side could this outsider, potentially, be from? Jon walked back to the campfire and stared at the piece of cloth, as the pulsing firelight reflected on his face. *** Cedric sat up from his four-poster bed at the first light of dawn, looking a little haggard. His roommates in the same dormitory, most of them were already dressed and ready to head to the great hall for breakfast, and they were all waiting for Cedric. "You look like you''re in a bad state Cedric, do you want us to bring you breakfast and get you a leave of absence from the professor on the way?" Cedric''s state did feel a little worse as he stared nkly at the spot beside his bed for a moment, then nodded to the student who had spoken to him. "Thank you, Armand, ask the professor for a half day off for me, just tell him I''m not feeling too well." He was well-liked among his ssmates, and everyone in his dormitory was concerned about his health. "Then get some rest, and we''ll exin it all to the professor." After watching them leave the dormitory and being left alone in the room, Cedric slumped back onto his bed, not immediately catching up on his sleep, but gazing in a dull daze as his eyes festered. One of the reasons for his poor statey in the fact that his sleep had been intermittent, and he had awakened from his sleep every now and then. Even now, his spirit was exhausted, yet he still wasn''t able to fall asleep, still in a state where his brain didn''t know whether to focus or let go, thinking about something terribly wrong. It didn''t take long for the roommate named Armand to return and bring him breakfast, and Cedric ate a sandwich with bacon and ham before falling back into bed. Outside his dorm room, the sun was already rising high in the sky, and he changed position on his bed to look at the sunlight that was shining into his dorm room, thinking silently to himself that the three men who arepeting in the Triwizard Tournament in the Forbidden Forest are probably starting their new day of action already. Word of Draco''s elimination on the first day of the tournament had spread to the ears of students throughout Hogwarts Castle yesterday at dinner. It wasn''t that the young Malfoy was so well-liked in the school that no one had mocked Draco, it was just that the half-bloods didn''t dare to talk about the purebloods in private, and the purebloods didn''t say anything too much because Lucius was keeping the security in the school right now. Nothing was being said against Draco, but when it came to cursing Jon, these students didn''t have a care in the world. Whining about being a backstabbing troll, about truly being a little dark wizard student taught by the dark wizard Dumbledore, about how only someone of such lowly status could possibly be capable of doing such lowly things, saying anything that could tarnish his name in any way. Whether they were purebloods or half-bloods, the winds were such right now as they had developed a sense of belonging under the education of Hogwarts which Voldemort had been leading, and such a sense of belonging certainly did not incline towards Dumbledore and the others. However, Cedric had a different view on these matters from the rest of them, and he had been doing his best to discourage the students around him from insulting anyone behind their backs with words like this indiscriminately, but even if he was usually well-liked by the others, no one would listen to him at this time, instead, many of them advised him not to have these moralistic thoughts at this time; What could they not say now when their enemies had already arrived in front of their home? But Cedric had one thing on his mind that he wanted to keep to himself. Who is their enemy, and where is their home? Luckily, he had the sense to know that if he said something like that, it would affect not only him but also his father, who is working in the Ministry of Magic. As he was lying in his bed in his dormitory thinking, there was a sudden knock at the door, followed by a gentle female voice reaching in. "Mr Diggory, may Ie in?" Some panic rose in Cedric''s heart at the sound of that familiar voice, but he soon suppressed it and responded in a slightly weaker voice. "Pleasee in." The person who entered was an elderly witch with a tall, thin figure with a concerned expression on her face. Adrianna Greengrass, the current head of the Greengrass family, a pureblood family, and the head of Hogwarts Castle Half-Blood House and Professor of Transfiguration. Although she is a pureblood, she has always had a high reputation among her half-blood students and has never shown a clear discrimination between pureblood and half-blood students, for which there have been a number of pureblood professors and students who have made some criticisms behind her back. The witch went straight to Cedric''s side as soon as she entered the dormitory. "I received the reason for the leave of absence given by Armand, he said you seem to be unwell with a cold?" "Sorry, it must have been difficult for you to make a special trip, Professor; I may have caught a cold after Quidditch practice yesterday and woke up with a slight dizziness in the morning." "Your father and I have been friends for a long time, and he asked me to look after you at school, you''ve always been his pride and joy, so, of course, I had toe and see you when you are ill. How do you feel now? Do you want me to take you to the school hospital wing for a check-up?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 340: Duel (2 in 1) Chapter 340: Duel (2 in 1) Half-blood House Head Greengrass indeed treats half-blood students with kindness just like how she treats pureblood. As if she was not half prejudiced against Cedric''s bloodline, she sat down in front of his bed. Before, seeing her act like this, Cedric would have only been relieved that there was still such a Professor at Hogwarts, but now, he was truly nervous. "No, no, Professor, there''s nothing seriously wrong with me, I just need to rest for the morning, and I''ll be able to go back to ss in the afternoon." Had he known that Professor Greengrass would being to see him specifically, Cedric would not have asked his roommate to help him take time off, even if he was tired. But Greengrass didn''t seem like she was going to leave right away, and she and Cedric chatted for a while longer about his usual studies and life, until she stared at the hair of the boy lying on the bed. "Why there''s a straw of grass clippings in your hair, boy." The half-blood head asked suspiciously as she reached out and removed the de of grass from Cedric''s head. Cedric''s two hands, hidden under the covers, instantly balled into fists, but the expression on his face remained insistent and unchanged, instead, he replied with forcedposure. "I was so tired aftering back from the pitch yesterday that I fell asleep without a shower and probably failed to tidy up my hair." At his answer, Greengrass didn''t look suspicious as she casually tossed the grass clippings into the bin and finally patted Cedric on the head as she got up. "That''s not a good hygiene habit, don''t forget to take a shower when you get upter, and I can approve an extra half day off for you if you still need the rest in the afternoon." Watching her show signs of leaving, Cedric hurriedly waved his hand as he regained hisposure. "No, Professor, I''m not in that bad of shape yet, I''ll go to my afternoon sses as usual." Hearing him say this, Greengrass had no intention of staying on in the dormitory, and she turned to leave, leaving Cedric alone atst. Cedric looked at the door to the dormitory room, which had been mmed shut again, andy back down on his bed. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, then carefully lifted the covers, the light from the window shining in, and he could clearly see that a corner of the robe he now wore was missing. *** "Swedish Short-Snout Dragon, about two dozen golden snitches flying around it, Hoss,e on, hopefully, we canplete our morning objective by lunchtime." Staring at the dragon that was sprawled out on the meadow not far away, sleeping with its eyes closed, Jon made notes on a piece of parchment he had morphed while he straddled Hoss''s back again and greeted him as they went in search of the next dragon''s abode in the Forbidden Forest. Even if the Forbidden Forest was big, with Hoss at his side it wasn''t much trouble to search the whole forest, and the lecherous mule was so familiar with the entire Forbidden Forest that he could clearly spot where a group of uninvited guests had recently arrived. So half the morning was spent marking the coordinates of the dragons in the Forbidden Forest. Apart from trying to get an orderly count of how many dragons the judges of the Triwizard Tournament had released into the Forbidden Forest, Jon also wanted to take this opportunity to find Emil. Jon always felt that he had entered the Forbidden Forest not just to win the tournament task, and if Voldemort really wanted to rely on winning the tournament toplete his ultimate goal, then there was something more to this person named Emil. He had already shown his brutal side at the champion selection banquet, but Voldemort still had the confidence to let Emil and Draco enter, so he must have his reasons. Jon would never believe that the man had held this tournament for the sole purpose of letting Dumbledore reim France and Hogwarts castle with minimal casualties. He must have had an ulterior motive, and it was highly likely that this intention would be achieved during the tournament task. Hoss led Jon through the Forbidden Forest like the wind, and soon they were near the next dragon. Yet before they could see the true face of the dragon, a roar full of fury pierced the sky of the Forbidden Forest! "Roar!" Jon quickly hugged Hoss tightly around his horse''s neck and signalled for him to stop, and Hoss took his cue and led Jon to a stop behind a tall tree. And as the surrounding scene, which had been receding, became clear, Jon got a good look at the behemoth that had shot up into the sky. It was a bright green dragon, and if it had been lying on the grassy ground in the forbidden forest, the colour of its body would have blended in perfectly with the vegetation, so that its presence would not have been so easily noticed. The Common Welsh Green Dragon, a native dragon species of the British Isles, is one of the more amiable kinds among the dragons, and usually just enjoys eating sheep and avoiding people in their daily life. If it was in such an angry state, it was obvious that someone had provoked it. Sure enough, it waved its wings and charged into the sky above the forbidden forest, and then the head of the dragon opened its bloody maw towards the ground below! "Boom!" High temperatures instantly enveloped the entire area of the nearby fifty metres! Golden yellow mes erupted from its mouth and then began to sweep across the ground, the mes igniting the trees and grass, causing the countless animals living around it to begin scrambling to escape. The heat also affected Hoss, who is a magical creature himself, and he was instinctively afraid of the dragon''s wrath. Rather than making things difficult for him at this moment, Jon got off him and told him to go hide on the outskirts for a while, while he narrowed his eyes and focused on the figure that was bouncing up and down in a sea of fire, escaping the dragon''s breath. Emil. After searching all morning for the dragons in the forbidden forest, atst Jon met him in this ce. He looked like he was expecting to enrage the Welsh green dragon, or perhaps it was entirely possible to say that he was deliberately enraging it. Trying to catch as many golden flying snitches as possible around the dragon here without a flying broom would be quite a difficult task; the golden snitches could be extremely swift and would fly, making it basically unlikely that the spell would hit them even with a wand, not to mention the fact that there would be a dragon next to them as a distraction. So, Emil found a clever way out, instead of thinking of the dragon as a kind of hindrance, he let the big guy help himself to attack the golden flying snitches. The judging panel was specifically positioned and restricted the golden snitches to be bound around the dragon, and as the Welsh green dragon was riled up and spewed its dragon breath at Emil, the mes, which covered a very wide area, also epassed most of the golden snitches around it. The golden flying snitches are alchemical items that cannot withstand the heat of the dragon''s breath, so once they were baked by the mes, their hummingbird-like wings could no longer p, and they soon fell to the ground in a straight line. Emil took this opportunity to dodge the Welsh green dragon''s attack while collecting the golden flying snitches that had fallen to the ground, and in just a moment that Jon had found him, he had already made quite a few gains. This student of Beauxbatons certainly did have a brain and guts, he was able to get the golden flying snitches easily this way, yet he also had to take an extremely high risk. No matter what species of dragon they were, they were not that easy to deal with, especially when they also had the advantage of aerial superiority, and the wizard''s means of counterattack were very limited. Looking at the state of the Welsh green dragon now, Emil must have just used a Conjunctivitis Curse, and that was what made it so irritable. After picking up all the golden flying snitches that had been burned down by the dragon''s breath on the ground as quickly as possible, he rolled to avoid another dragon''s breath and then started to flee the site. It was not as if there were no restrictions on the dragons in the Forbidden Forest, their area of movement had been fixed at the beginning, and there was no way to know what the dragon trainers had used to keep them from leaving the established range, even if they might be enraged, they won''t leave the established range unless their lives had been threatened. So Emil just had to run out of the area, and then he could regain his safety and finally count his loot. But of course, Jon was not going to let him do that, as he had spent so much effort trying to find him; however, he didn''t bother using a sneak attack this time and just stood in the way of Emil''s intended escape. He had already escaped from the green dragon''s territory, but the dragon''s breath had spread so widely that the only way to be safe was to get further away, but at that moment Jon had blocked the path. Emil also spotted Jon in the first instance. He had a somewhat grimy appearance and his robes were torn and tattered from the sparks that had identally spurted into them, andpared to what Jon had initially guessed, he was at least relying on his true efforts topete in the tournament. With that alone, Jon was going to give him an opportunity for the two of them to settle their conflict head-to-head, rather than resorting to sneak attacks again. "Huff." Emil grimaced, staring at Jon and exhaling a long breath as he gripped his wand in his hand and called out Jon''s name "Jon Green!" Jon gripped his own wand as he stared at the boy, who was a full half a head taller than himself and three years older, on the opposite side of the path. "No need to be so cordial, Mr Lestrange, as I recall, we''re not just rivals, we''re supposed to be enemies?" The Common Welsh green dragon that had been hit by the Conjunctivitis Curse was still roaring behind Emil, it had no way of leaving its territory and could only spit out its dragon breath in a futile effort to vent, which caused the surrounding temperature to rise rather than cool down back again. "Don''t think my family is all that close to those two losers you killed." Emil wiped some of the ck ash off his face with the sleeve of his robes, his voice was cold and icy, "To be honest, if I stand on a personal level, I might even thank you, if you hadn''t killed my aunt and uncle, it wouldn''t be my family''s turn to manage the entire Lestrange family now." Jon said with a softugh. "So you should be thanking me now then? I don''t need many thanks, how about giving me all those golden flying snitches you''ve collected?" Hearing his words, Emil smiled back, only his smile was a little creepy. "I guessed you''d entertain such an intention, and I must say that of all the champions, you are indeed the strongest. But at the end of the day, you''re only just in your fourth year." Jon picked up the implication in his words. "You think you''ve learned three years more than me to bridge the gap between us?" "It''s a matter of trying, isn''t it?" Emil took a deep breath, a viciousness hidden in his gaze, "Even if I dislike that aunt and uncle of mine, the noble blood of the Lestrange family should not have tarnished its reputation at the hands of a lowly person like you!" The very next moment he uttered the emphasis, a chanting sound spat from his lips! "Stupefy!" The red glow pierced through the distorted heat and shot straight at Jon who was standing less than ten metres in front of him! Jon made no great dodging movements, having experienced the siege of so many Death Eaters in the past year, he had long had a clear grip on spellbat between wizards. The moment Emil''s spell had beenunched, he had been able to judge precisely where the spell would strike. He inclined his head and then waved the wand in his hand as well. "Expelliarmus!" The two red lights alternated in mid-air and the stunning spell grazed the edge of Jon''s hair, while the disarming charm he had used wasn''t dodged by Emil in any way. A red glow reflecting the spell lit up on him, but soon that glow didn''tst long before a series of sounds as breaking ss burst forth! The next moment, the shield charm in front of Emil shattered with a loud bang, and his entire body was jolted backwards a few steps by the after-effects of Jon''s disarming charm. Compared to his first year, when Jon''s full body-bind curse could not even break a random shield charm used by Slughorn, the magic he used with his own magic power alone was now enough to suppress a soon-to-be graduated adult wizard. This was not only due to the fact that he had not rxed on his magic studies and training even while experiencing so many things over the years, but also because his own magic power had grown to a point where it had be strong enough, and waspletely iparable to his own three years ago. Emil was obviously also a little taken aback by the power of the spell. He had seen Jon kill before, but even if the scene was chillingly bloody, everyone could see that Rodolphus and Be had actually been killed because they had lost in a physical fight. It was clear that they were both wizards, and both of them were wizards with more powerful magic and more experience in spell-casting than Jon, but in the end, they chose a way of fighting that was extremely unfavourable to them. What had happened in between was no longer possible to delve into after the couple''s death, but it also left most people with no real impression of Jon''s level of skill in magic. That''s why Emil chose not to dodge this first spell and tried to take a hard hit with the shield charm to test Jon''s skills. It was just this probe brought his already wary heart to an even more sinking point. ---- #TheBerryMan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 341: Manticore (2 in 1) Chapter 341: Manticore (2 in 1) "It''s true that I created that Chamber of Secrets, but so many years have passed since the castle was built that the structure and facilities inside should have been renovated and refurbished an unknown number of times long ago." The old, monkey-like Slytherin whispered from the walls of Dumbledore''s headmaster''s office, which were hung with portraits of past headmasters. "However what I am sure of is that the location I gave to this young girl at the beginning was not wrong, the entrance to that chamber I had designed at the beginning was a circr movable sliding portal that could be sessfully entered by simply uttering open in Parseltongue." In the face of Slytherin''s words, Dumbledore simply waved his hand. "I have not doubted that there was a problem with the information you provided, Szar. There are many possibilities for Hermione not finding the entrance, besides he already knew you had joined us in the first ce, so naturally he would have guessed that you would be able to give us the exact method of entry and location of the Chamber of Secrets, and with the vignce, he has shown over the years; if that Chamber really did hold something that very important to him, then he would certainly have made some changes." Hermione looked at Dumbledore with an unwavering gaze. "So, are we going to keep looking? Professor." At this, Dumbledore said with a nod. "Of course, the more he hides, it would mean that there is greater value to this ce we are trying to find, but it would also mean that the risk you would face personally would be much higher, and since he was able to change the location of the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, he would have already made some different preparations in the Chamber." "I''ll be ten thousand percent more vignt." Hermione said in a soft voice. Dumbledore looked on with a slight smile. "And I certainly never questioned your abilities, Hermione, but I think the other piece of information you gotst night might be more worthy of your time to explore. You said you saw a boy on the map who had left the castle privately through a secret passage?" Hermione didn''t hesitate for a moment to nod her head. *** "Petrificus Totalus!" The red beam sliced through the kindled trees and grass in the surrounding area, leaving a stream of magic in the air! Jon once again shifted his upper body sharply, dodging the spell from Emil, while stepping forward and casting a spell in return. "Expelliarmus!" Emil was dodging too, but he was not dodging the attack with anywhere near the ease as Jon. As soon as the shield charm he had been maintaining on his body shattered, he reapplied anotheryer of protection at the first opportunity, but even then, he didn''t dare to take another of Jon''s spells any longer easily. The power of Jon''s spell was so great that even after it had shattered his shield charm it didn''t stop, and the aftermath of the spell nearly knocked him to the ground. He took an awkward donkey''s roll on the grass covered with ash, which was a messy process, but it allowed Emil to avoid Jon''s spell and put some distance between Jon and him. But Jon had no intention of letting him off the hook, taking another step forward while casting the spell and never stopping to put pressure on him with his mouth. "I''ve fought many Death Eaters, including the aunt and uncle you despise, but to be honest,pared to them, your spell casting is too crude, the timing of your spell is not right, the speed of your recitation is not quick enough, and even the swing of your wand is not decisive. So not even one of your spells made me feel the pressure of needing to make a defence, is that what you have gained from having studied magic for three years longer than me?" "Stupefy!" Emil gritted his teeth and flushed red, as he resumed his counter-attack against Jon, with obvious indignation on his face. The difference between the two was not only in terms of spells and magical power but also in terms of experience in wizardbat. The gap between Emil and Jon was not bridged by passion or anger, Jon had steadily overwhelmed him and if Emil did not find a way to escape, it was only a matter of time before he was defeated. Finally, Emil was not able to hold his ground any longer, and under Jon''s another disarming charm, he ended up at a ce where he could not dodge. He pressed himself against a wide tree, surrounded by bushes set aze by the dragon''s breath, and the orange-red firelight reflected on his face, causing his face to look as white as it could be. But the more the victory grew closer, the more alert Jon became. If he kicked Emil out of this task at this point in time, it would mean that both participating champions under Voldemort would be eliminated, and none of them would finish the first task of the tournament to get a result. Maybe it didn''t represent the final oue of the tournament, or maybe they had other turnovers nned forter, but did Voldemort really not anticipate a situation where Jon would be thrashing his champions in the Forbidden Forest? Jon had his doubts, but his doubts didn''t stop him from swinging his wand, as he always did, and this time he even omitted the incantation to speed up the process. But before the tip of his wand could glow red with the spell, a huge figure suddenly burst out of a hidden corner and lunged at Jon! It was so fast and agile that even if Jon had reacted, there would have been no room for him to dodge! A light blue glow suddenly lit up and then shattered with a bang, interrupting Jon''s original casting, while the fierce and huge creature, having shattered the shield charm with a single lunge, didn''t even have the slightest intention of stopping, continuing to press its body down and closing its two ws towards Jon''s head, as if it wanted to crush his head outright! Jon was of course prepared for such an unexpected situation, he aimed at the creature''s empty abdomen and reached out without holding his own wand, without reciting the incantation, the magic on the ring just activated straight away! The next moment, his whole body flew into mid-air, and the lion-like creature pounced on the ground with a paw that once again fell short. The next moment, Jon was in mid-air, and the creature''s paws once again missed and hit the ground. Emil took advantage of the moment and made good use of the opportunity to turn around and run through the sea of fire that was all around him while Jon was being held back. Jon saw Emil''s back as he fled, but didn''t go after him right away, instead focused his attention on the creature that had suddenlye out of nowhere to stir up trouble. This creature had a human head, the body of a lion, and a scorpion tail. Its name was just as straightforward as its appearance - a human-headed, lion-bodied, scorpion-tailed beast - Manticore; an XXXXX-level dark creature with a reputation for being more dangerous and infamous than a Lethifold while being more feared and hazardous than a Dragon. The creature stared dead in the air at Jon with its green-grey eyes, and the scorpion tail, which in legend would kill you instantly with the slightest touch, swayed slowly from side to side. The hideous woman''s face opened its mouth at Jon, revealing three rows of sharp, pointed fangs on the top and bottom. "Is your task to protect him, or to kill me?" Jon was not intimidated by its ghastly appearance, but locked eyes with the creature and asked indifferently. The human face, with its mouth wriggling, did not utter a human word but rang out a sound that resembled a mixture of flute and trumpet. Seeing that his question was not being answered, Jon narrowed his eyes and didn''t ask any more questions, instead, he gripped his wand tightly with both hands together and, in a strange wielding manner, raised it high above his head using both hands together. "The rules say you can''t inflict lethal damage on a fellow participant, but you don''t fall into that category, do you?" As if sensing a wave of danger, the Manticores fur, which was even fierier red than a lion''s, tensed up and its scorpion tail, which was constantly swaying behind it, swung out abruptly! In a sh, countless poisonous stingers pierced the air and shot towards Jon, who was floating in mid-air with his wand raised high! Jon''s odd wand swing didn''t stop there, but his body rose up in response by levitating at the same time as the toxic stingers were shot out, and as he dodged the creature''s attack, he swung his wand down, holding it with both hands at a downward nt followed by a horizontal swing! "Sectumsempra!" "Buzz!" The second Jon''s incantation was uttered, a humming sound like steel vibrating in the air was heard! A gust of wind blew through the mes, lifting the hem of Jon''s robes, and with the wind, countless invisible things swept through the air in a sh! The Manticore was already in a state of extreme agitation as Jon recited the incantation, and hissed as it leapt up from the ground, swinging its body sideways, trying to fling its tail so that the toxic sting on it could reach Jon''s calves. However, the next moment the wind blew, and a roar of pain erupted! The ground, the trees, the grass, the rocks, even the burning dragon me, were all split in half by an invisible edge of the swords at that moment! The Manticore''s own thick fur, which could even rival that of a dragon in terms of magic resistance, blossomed with countless bloodstains. The scarlet blood instantly stained its entire body, and the residual magic from those wounds continued to deepen and corrode, and almost every second that passed, the wounds on the creature''s body would get worse and more blood would flow out! The huge injury caused it to look at Jon with resentment, then turned back and went into the bushes. The Manticore was certain it would not survive unless it could find a wizard behind it who could help it counter the Invisible Sword Curse. If it had actually killed that boy now, then the whole situation would have been much simpler as they would 100% help it, now it could only leave it to chance. This enhanced version of the Invisible Sword Curse drained a lot of Jon''s stamina. It was a spellcasting technique he had learned from a forbidden book in his ring during the summer holidays, increasing the flux of magic to the spell by holding the wand in both hands together, as a way of giving the spell an extremely powerful boost of magic. It is very practical to use with ranged damage spells such as Invisible Sword Curse, but because of the high consumption and the long casting time, it is not too practical in a real one-on-one battle. But it''s much more effective when dealing with extremely resistant magical creatures like this one, especially if Jon has the advantage in terms of aerialbat. Otherwise, Jon would not have yed such a child game with Emil and would have used a killing curse to force the Manticore or other enemy toe out. The appearance of such a dark creature also confirmed Jon''s suspicion that in the Forbidden Forest, Voldemort''s own territory, he would not be unprepared. At least the current situation showed Jon that Voldemort still had some regard for the oue of this tournament, otherwise, how would he possibly care about Emil and Draco''s lives given his character? Jon thought as he picked up a few golden flying snitches from the ground that had been destroyed by the dragon''s breath, trembling with metal wings but no longer able to fly, something that Emil had dropped when he was rolling around. Putting them into his pocket, Jon was ready to get down to business about the tournament, there were only so many dragons in the Forbidden Forest in any case, and as long as Emil wanted to keep improving his results, then they would run into each other again sooner orter. Jon blew a whistle and soon Hoss appeared beside him with a naive look on his face. "Come on, let''s start with the Norwegian Ridgeback we marked out this morning first, one at a time." The rules for this task to seize golden flying snitches from a dragon might have taken a lot of work and brainpower for other champions participating without the ability to fly, but for Jon, there was no great risk at all. After all, he could fly himself, and he could also use his ring to seize the magic in alchemical items. As long as he flew up and got close to those golden flying snitches, and used the second gem in his ring to absorb the magic power on those golden flying snitches, he would be able to catch those things with incredible ease. And the dragons posed no threat whatsoever at all to Jon either with the restriction imposed on them. So from the very beginning, after learning the rules of the first task, Jon didn''t have much concern. As long as hepeted normally, it would be easy to get a high score in this task. The only thing he needed to take into ount was whether Voldemort might set up any arrangements against him in the Forbidden Forest itself. Because of this, Jon had made ns to find Emil and try him first, and if there was an arrangement to be made, the odds were that it would be on him higher. Now that it had been confirmed that the arrangement consisted of nothing more than magical creatures, Jon could let loose. ---- #TheBerryMan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 342: Asking for Help Late at Night (2 in 1) Chapter 342: Asking for Help Late at Night (2 in 1) Jon''s efficiency in obtaining Golden Snitches was indeed very high. In a single afternoon, he had already got close to seventy golden snitches from around the three dragons, leaving him with five more targets to go. Based on current estimates, by the time he had visited all the dragons he had now found, he would probably be able to harvest up to two hundred golden snitches. This was already a considerable number, after all, the total number of golden snitches the judges had ced in the forbidden forest was only five hundred, and even if the three people who are currentlypeting in the forbidden forest shared them out equally, there would only be a hundred and sixty-six each. And just as Jon was about to end his task for the day and find a ce to rest and cook dinner for the night, he was approached by someone unexpected in the night. When Jon had eaten and drunk enough, and Hoss had gone out on his own to hunt for food, a sound of unmasked footsteps disturbed him just as Jon was about to burrow into his transfigured tent and begin to rest. Jon gripped the wand and retracted from his tent, then looked through the moonlight to see the figure emerging from the depths of the forbidden forest. It was a man dressed entirely in ck robes, and he wore a broad hood over his head, making him unrecognisable at first nce. Jon narrowed his eyes and said in a weary voice. "So, you''re now going to ignore even the most basic rules of the tournament and just let someonee into the Forbidden Forest to deal with me?" He subconsciously suspected that this was someone sent by Voldemort, and it might even be Voldemort himself. Even if there was a blood pact as a restraint, this unbreakable pact was not magic without a way to resolve it like the Unforgivable Curses after all, and if Voldemort was really willing to be ruthless and bear part of the cost, the pact was not impossible to be broken. However, the ck-robed figure responded quickly to Jon''s question by simply and bluntly removing the hood he wore on his head, revealing a young, handsome and pale face. It was a boy not more than a few years older than Jon, and Jon could obviously perceive some familiarity when he looked at him. "I mean no harm." The nervous Cedric held up his hands that weren''t holding his wand, he had risked it all again by running out tonight. But he had no choice, he needed help and the only person who could help him in this forbidden forest right now is Jon. Jon was obviously a little taken aback by the face of Cedric, but he could sense no hostility from the boy, and the wand held in his hand slightly lowered its tip a little, but his gaze never strayed. "Who are you?" "Cedric, Cedric Diggory, a sixth-year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry''s Half-Blood House." Cedric breathed a little sharply as he introduced himself. Jon''s original wariness dropped slightly at the name, a name that he certainly remembered from the original books, which left a strong presence even in the original. But Jon didn''tpletely let his guard down. "Mr Diggory, if I remember correctly, ording to the rules of the Triwizard Tournament, no uninvolved persons from either side are allowed to interfere privately in the tournament during its time in the session. So what did youe to see me this night for? Trying to avenge the young Malfoy lord from your school?" Hearing Jon''s words, Cedric waved his hands in a rush and said in a sharp voice. "No, I don''t have that in mind, I came to you to ask for your help, you''re the only one who can help me help the centaurs in this forbidden forest, they are barely holding on." Jon''s brow furrowed. "Help the Centaurs?" "Yes! The Centaurs, they''ve been suffering persecution from the British Ministry of Magic, and even this one small tribe in the Forbidden Forest is being pushed and driven out by the Aurors. They have been pushed to the brink of extinction, and only some of them are still surviving. I met them three years ago when I got lost in the Forbidden Forest during a Care of Magical Creatures ss and was rescued by a Centaur, and I''ve been trying to help them find a way to survive ever since. They asked me to help contact Dumbledore, but I never had the chance, and even the wagon where Dumbledore is now is under strict surveince at all times, and there was no way for me to sneak closer without avoiding the others." "So I had toe to the Forbidden Forest to find you, Mr Green, I''ve seen the Starlight''s article on you and of course there''s the Daily Prophet one, but I know that it''s just an outright smear by the English papers, you''re a man who has aplished many things, surely there must be a way to save those Centaurs too, right?" Cedric told of his situation and the reason he had found Jon, then looked at him with a gaze full of pleading. Jon, however, was unmoved as he asked in a cold voice "How did you find me?" "The Forbidden Forest is very familiar to me, I have been here countless nights over the past three years, there are also many magical creatures who are my friends here, and it was them who helped me find you." "How did you get out of that castle?" "Secret passage, I discovered a secret passage to Hogsmeade behind the mirror deep in the corridor on the fourth floor, I climbed out of that passage whenever I needed to and then entered the Forbidden Forest from the Hogsmeade side." "I remember that this whole zone was heavily fortified by those judges to restrict the entry of uninvolved people into the Forbidden Forest, so an ordinary student can''t enter this restricted area, no?" "It was the Centaurs who gave me help, they gave me this." Faced with Jon''s question, Cedric didn''t even hesitate for a moment to tell him the whole truth, holding a stone-made arrowhead in his hand. "With this, I can enter and leave the Forbidden Forest freely without alerting the judges of the tournament." Jon nudged his wand and the Arrowhead flew from Cedric''s hand and thennded in his own, and from this item, Jon did feel a magic that was different from that of a wizard. Upon hearing the responses and exnations from Cedric, Jon hade to believe him somewhat, not only because his responses all made sense, but also because the name Cedric was worthy of some trust. Jon lowered his wand in his hand as he looked at the boy who had ventured out of the castle and pondered for a few seconds before saying. "Tell me all about the Centaurs." Hearing his words, Cedric''s face showed obvious joy, and he couldn''t help but move a little closer to Jon, then sat down cross-legged on the opposite side of Jon by the campfire, telling him everything he knew about the Centaurs in a fast but clearly worded manner. "Firenze, who is the current chief of the surviving Centaur tribe in the Forbidden Forest; they originally consisted of a small tribe of a few dozen people, but now they have been killed by the Aurors and there are less than twenty left, more than half of whom are still children and women." "None of them tried to escape from the Forbidden Forest and has spent all these years in the depths of the Forbidden Forest fighting the Aurors who came in and tried to wipe them outpletely, and Firenze was right to do so, even though the Forbidden Forest is right next to Hogwarts Castle, it is the ce they know best from their long years of survival as well. On the contrary, some of the Centaur who escaped from the Forbidden Forest were besieged by the Aurors and all were eventually captured or killed." "At the end ofst term, I learned about the Triwizard Tournament being held at Hogwarts Castle and that Dumbledore and you guys would being over, so I told Firenze and the others about it, and we nned to wait until the time Dumbledore came to Hogwarts Castle to find an opportunity to make contact with him and ask him to help get the Centaurs out of the Forbidden Forest. But before we could even begin to n, the arrival of this group of dragons in the Forbidden Forestst weekpletely blocked Firenze and the others inside their camp." Jon frowned and interrupted Cedric''s words before he spoke up at this point. "You are iming that those dragons blocked them inside their camp?" Cedric said with a nod. "When those dragons were sent to the Forbidden Forest, one Norwegian Ridgeback and two Ukrainian Ironbelly were ced just a short distance away from them to im their territory, and those three dragons blocked all the entrances and exits to the camp where Firenze and the others had managed to flee, and with those three dragons, there was no way for them tomunicate with the outside world and get supplies. " Jon pulled out the rudimentary map of the forbidden forest that he had drawn up with Hoss this morning while searching for these dragons that had been released into the forbidden forest. "Ukrainian Ironbelly and Norwegian Ridgeback Dragons." As he searched the map ording to Cedric''s description of those three dragon species, he brought it over to Cedric''s attention as well. "Is the Centaur camp you mentioned within this area?" After Jon had shown him the map to identify the area, Cedric shook his head. "It''s not on this map, Firenze and the others have ced their camp on the far outer edge of the area opposite Hogwarts Castle for safety, it''s pretty much in the middle of nowhere." After listening to him, Jon put the map away again. He stared at the campfire in front of him for a moment before finally returning his gaze to Cedric''s. "Mr Diggory." "You can just call me Cedric." "Well Cedric, I''d love to believe your word, but you know that this tournament I''m currently participating in is going to represent not only myself but a whole group of people who are being oppressed." Jon and Cedric looked at each other. "So to be on the safe side during this you will have to prove yourself to me in one way or another." Cedric replied without hesitation. "I''ll dly ept any method to prove myself!" Jon held his gaze, a hidden magic force bridging the gap between their eyes like a bridge. "Then please rx and ease your mind for a moment." Cedric sensed what Jon was nning to do to him, but without any semnce of resistance, he just went along with Jon''s words andpletely withdrew all his mental guard. "Are you really Cedric Diggory?" Jon asked softly. "Yes." "And all those statements you just made about the Centaurs are allplete truth too, without any half-truths?" "I promise!" Jon''s mastery of the Legilimency Spell was not proficient, and he could only see what the other man was thinking at the moment when their guard was down. But even if that was all, it was enough if Cedric was willing to cooperate; unless this decent, good-hearted boy in the normal world line had nowpletely defected to Voldemort and had learned lumency deeply enough to falsify his thoughts and memories when thinking about what he had just said, there could be no falsity in what he had just said. Having ascertained Cedric''s truthfulness, Jon did not hesitate as he instantly blew a whistle. Soon a gust of wind swept in from the distance and Hoss, who was holding des of grass in his mouth, appeared in front of Jon and Cedric in the blink of an eye. Jon directed Cedric to climb onto Hoss. "You sit up in front and show him the way, we''ll go find those Centaurs now." Cedric straddled Hoss''s back, then Jon sat behind him, and finally, Jon patted Hoss''s belly. "Run faster, Hoss, follow his lead, we''re going to the rescue!" Hoss snorted and then disappeared into the night like the wind. "Was it you who was spying on me in the bushesst night?" Cedric guided the way for Hoss while answering Jon''s question. "It was me, I wasn''t ready to find you yesterday and tried to see if I could lure those dragons away by myself, but I failed and almost got caught by the school professors during the day today for sneaking out at night." Just as they were talking, Hoss suddenly stopped his advance and halted at the bottom of a small hill. Looking up from their position, they could just make out the behemoth that was sleeping on the other side of the hill - the Ukrainian Ironbelly! This is thergest known dragon in the world, and Jon had never thought that the Judges would choose such a species to be released into the Forbidden Forest, as their sheer size would have too much of an impact on the ecology of the forest. The terrain will be altered where the Ukrainian Ironbelly lives, and this type of dragon can leave a basin-like crater in the ground just by lying down a little, and after the game is over, even if they are transported elsewhere, the altered ecology will not be restored. But it is hard to judge how difficult they are to deal with, because of their weighty and big figure, the Ukrainian Ironbellys are not agile, and it would be quite a bit easier to catch golden snitches around them than other dragon species. But Jon and Cedric hadn''te on this trip just to catch the golden snitches, but to cross the area where this dragon is and make their way to the Centaur''s camp. Getting off Hoss, Jon didn''t bother to look at the Ukrainian Ironbelly to see how to deal with it but first started to look at the surrounding terrain. ---- #TheBerryMan, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 343: The Entrance of the Valley (2 in 1) Chapter 343: The Entrance of the Valley (2 in 1) "Someone from Palmer Sports Magical Item Supply wrote toin that our final payment has not been settled, urging us to pay them the rest of the galleons quickly since the tournament has started." The night after the official start of the first tournament task, Matthew was in themon room Voldemort had prepared just for him in Hogwarts Castle, listening to the assistant beside him give him a briefing on the preparations for the tournament. "Tell them to wait two more days, when the first tournament task ispletely finished, the final payment will naturally no longer be owed to them. Also, why have I never heard of this Sports Magic Firm before? Shouldn''t the normal supply of tournament items be provided by the official Department of Magical Games and Sports?" Faced with Matthew''s question, the assistant showed a difficult expression but ultimately answered. "Regarding thepetition equipment for the first tournament task, it was Mr Rahman who took the initiative to contract this business, and he said that this Palmer Sports Magic Item Supply Firm was owned by a friend of his, and the quality of the goods provided were all guaranteed." Matthew frowned. "That''s the nature of these Middle Easterners, they want to do business no matter where they are. Why wasn''t I told about this earlier?" "You weren''t in charge of the purchasing side of the tournament before, sir, but of course, if you need to investigate that information now, I can go and prepare it now." "There''s no need for you to make preparations now, but you''d better go and alert Rahman first thing in the morning that if anything goes wrong with the first tournament task that was not meant to be, he''ll have to expect my impeachment in the Confederation." *** The ce that Cedric had brought Jon to was indeed a remote area at the very edge of the Forbidden Forest. In front of them, the Ukrainian Ironbelly was positioned exactly in the direction of a valley entrance, and to enter the valley, one had to either pass through this dragon''s territory or climb the steep mountain rocks. For a human with dexterous limbs, climbing is not an impossible task, and with the aid of magic, a wizard can, in just a short time, circumvent the dragon and climb up to the other side of the valley. However, the same could not be said for the Centaur, whose upper body resembled that of a human, but whose lower body resembled that of a horse, whose four hooves might be able to walk on t ground, but it was difficult to climb the mountain. "There are three exits like this one, and apart from this one which is upied by an Ironbelly, the other two are guarded by another Ukrainian Ironbelly and a Norwegian Ridgeback respectively." As Jon surveyed the terrain, Cedric also informed Jon in full of what he had found herest night. "Just three exits in total, and they all happen to be blocked." Jon cupped his chin and looked at the Ukrainian Ironbelly lying a short distance away through the moonlight, obviously maintaining a certain amount of suspicion at such a coincidence. But suspicion aside, Jon didn''t give up on his promise to Cedric that he would act. He looked at the Ironbelly as he slowly jerked his wand around. "If we want to get this exit open, then the least we can do is get this dragon out of where it is now, and then immobilise it," Cedric subconsciously swallowed as he looked at the behemoth in the moonlight. "Last night, I tried to lure it away from here for a while and then contact Firenze, so he could escape from the valley with the rest of the Centaurs, but the dragon seemed sozy that my spell didn''t seem to bother it at all, and it didn''t even open its eyes to look at me for a moment when it was hit." There was a clear note of frustration in his tone, but Jon wasn''t surprised by it. The dragon hide''s magical immunity ranked at the top even among all other magical creatures, like the Manticore he had fought off during the day, which had also been known for its extremely magic-resistant hide defence, only suffered a few physical wounds from Jon''s enhanced version of the Invisible Sword Curse, which would have shredded a normal magical creature to pieces. Even if Jon ignored the fact that a judge would use a Prior Incantato charm on his wand after the tournament to check for used spells, using a killing curse directly on the behemoth in front of them would still be unlikely to kill it. So when resorting to brute force didn''t do the trick, Jon had to find a way to outsmart it. "You said earlier that in addition to the two Ukrainian Ironbellys, there is also an entrance that is upied by a Norwegian Ridgeback?" Cedric nodded. "That''s right." "Come on, let''s go to that Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon and check it out." With Hoss as their transport, they were soon on the other side of the valley, where another dragon alsoy at the entrance, only this one was much "smaller" than the Ukrainian Ironbelly. The Norwegian Ridgeback is simr in size to the Hungarian Horntail and is considered one of the most aggressive dragon species in the world, butpared to the Ukrainian Ironbelly, its size is considerably smaller, without being overlyrge and fleshy. If he were to choose a target to deal with, then Jon felt that this Ridgeback would be the best option. But even against the Ridgeback Dragon, Jon was not going to do it by force, he had already experienced how powerful the defence of these dragons was when he had dealt with the other dragons while collecting the golden flying snitches this afternoon, normal spells did not affect them at all, the only vulnerable point of defence on the dragons were their eyes. As long as a spell could hit their eyes, they could circumvent the thick dragon hide and let the magic work directly on them. So, Jon nned to use some trickery. He and Cedric hid behind a tree, and then he waved his wand. "Expecto Patronum." Silvery light gathered around him and soon a male lion and a small badger appeared silently in front of him. Watching this sight of Jon summoning the Patronus Cedric''s eyes widened, there were many rumours about Jon that he had heard in Hogwarts castle. Some said he would be the number one criminal under Dumbledore and would love nothing more than to kill wizard students with bloodlines and then take their skulls as collectables. Others imed that Jon Green had been using the Unforgivable Curse to kill people, and he would be sick to the bone if he didn''t use the Killing Curse to kill someone for a day. Some even went so far as to say that he is an adult wizard using Polyjuice potions to pretend to be a child every now and then, but in reality, he is a puppet that Dumbledore uses to put on a show. Not everyone in Hogwarts castle had their own independent thinking like Cedric, who in private actually rarely bothered to read the Daily Prophet''s news, instead collecting newspapers from other magical societies in Europe and learning quite a bit about what was being said that differed from what was being said in Britain. Cedric knew that Jon was not as unscrupulous as the rumours made him out to be, and the two Patronus summons alone were proof enough of his character, as no dark wizard could sessfully learn the Patronus Charm, and none of the professors within the entire Hogwarts castle, ording to what he had suspected, would be able to use it. But the two Patronus still gave Cedric a great shock, not only because summoning two Patronus at the same time was simply unheard of, but more crucially because he knew the history of the former Hogwarts and was well aware of what the Lion and the Badger represented to this school. Jon had noticed his shocked expression too but wasn''t too bothered about it. Because even Dumbledore had worn basically the same look when he had first seen his two Patronus during the holidays. Patronus is known to change ording to the caster''s heart, which not only means that each person''s Patronus is not set in stone, but is a strong indication that the animal forms summoned by the spell are a direct manifestation of the wizard''s inner self. And the lion and the badger represent two noble characters found in the past Hogwarts Houses. And Jon''s Patronus is clearly special, not simply because there are two of them, but crucially because the lion and the badger can have a direct effect on reality as if they are two real animals. While Dumbledore developed the Patronus charm in depth for the Order of the Phoenix wizards to learn to use Patronus as a means of transmitting messages in ce of themselves, this was only der by improving the charm and the magic itself. Jon''s Patronus, on the other hand, was somewhat unusual as it had been summoned with these differences from the very beginning. But even someone as knowledgeable as Dumbledore could not figure out why Jon''s Patronus had these special characteristics, other than determining that such a change was certainly not a bad thing for Jon, at least his Patronus charm could be used in more ces, such as helping him to keep most of the Death Eaters at bay when he was at the North Pole. In the present, the two Patronus could likewise give Jon more help as well. After being summoned, without Jon needing to verbalise anything to them, the lion and badger parted and charged towards the Norwegian Ridgeback. Their bodies glowed with a soft silver light at night, so they were spotted at first instance by the Ridgeback, which had been alert even during its resting time, as they dashed out from behind the trees. "Roar!" It roared as it rose from the ground, the ground trembling around it, and Jon''s two Patronus appeared very dwarfed in front of a behemoth like it. The Ridgeback Dragon was nked by dozens of golden flying snitches, fluttering their alchemical wings and flying around it at speeds inscrutable to the naked eye. Jon patted Hoss, whose body jerked under the dragon''s roar and subconsciously tried to find a ce to hide first. "Don''t be afraid, I''ll hold the dragon back, you take Cedric and charge into the valley and find the Centaur, or at least make contact with them first." Hoss turned his head to look at Cedric and couldn''t help but snort, his small and big eyes clearly revealed his dislike, and his body, which was several timesrger than Jon''s, actually leaned towards him in a small birdlike manner. This caused Jon to p him on his bald head. "You don''t like people anymore! Don''t me me for not reminding you that almost all the Centaurs hiding in this valley are children and women right now, they just need an extra push to breed, maybe one of the pretty young maidens will take a liking to you if you show up like a hero?" At the sound of Jon''s enticing words, Hoss''s eyes lit up, his powerful fantasies already making him think about whether his future child with the pretty young maiden would have a horse head and body or a human head and horse body. Cedric, on the other hand, looked at Hoss, who was suddenly very active and agitated, he had only thought that this Pegasus was just a little bit unique looking, but he had never thought that it could y so... Fancy. Before he could get back to his senses, Jon had already started urging Cedric to get on Hoss''s back as well. "You go ahead and find those Centaurs, I''ll be right behind you." Cedric wasn''t thinking about abandoning or not abandoning at this point in time, he was clear enough to know that he wouldn''t be of much help to Jon here, and on the contrary, might be holding him back. "I''ll find Firenze and get some help from them." He rode on Hoss''s back, and before he could finish his sentence, Jon waved his wand and smacked Hoss''s horse''s bottom, causing it to turn into a gust of wind, then the man and horse together, making a dash in the direction of the Ridgeback Dragon that was being pestered by the two Patronus. In a blink of an eye, Hoss passed the Norwegian Ridgeback and took Cedric into the valley. And Jon came out from behind the trees at this time and looked over at the dragon that was being entangled by the lion and the badger. For a dragon that would be considered to be at the top of the food chain, even if the Patronus Jon had summoned had the strength and aggression of a normal animal, it would hardly be able to do any effective damage to it. But Patronus are not exactly real creatures of substance, and even if Jon''s Patronus can do physical damage, in the end, they are both still conjured by a charm made up of magical power. No matter how much the Norwegian Ridgeback tried to tear them apart with its ws or spewed out dragon breath to roast them, it never got any results from the battle. Even if the lion and the badger were unable to do much effective damage to it, they still made it feel sick as if they were two flies that could not be swatted. Just as its attention had been all drawn to the two Patronus, Jon raised his wand and aimed it at the Ridgeback''s eyes! "Confringo!" Instead of using a Conjunctivitis Curse, Jon went straight for the curse he could cast with the fastest speed, the sting Curse! A huge explosion rang out directly around the Ridgeback Dragon''s eyes, its extremely fast reaction speed made it close its eyelids the moment the explosion was created, but as the weakest part of its defence, even with its eyelids closed, the spell still caused damage to it. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 344: Firenze (2 in 1) Chapter 344: Firenze (2 in 1) The hide around the eye was very weak, so Jon''s sting curse caused the Norwegian Ridgeback''s left eyelid to bleed out, and at the same time stimted its aggression. It swung up its wings and rose from the ground, ignoring the two Patronus that had climbed on top of it, and flew directly towards Jon''s direction. When Jon had collected the golden flying snitches in the afternoon, he had also looked into a lot of information about this batch of dragons that had been bought by the judging team of the Triwizard Tournament and used as props for the task. These dragon species had obviously been specially hand-picked by someone, and the vast majority of them were female dragons in heat, a time when most of them would be violent, restless and difficult to tame, which was why those Romanian dragon trainers hadrgely left them alone after throwing them all into the Forbidden Forest in one go. It was just that they were restricted to a certain area so that the dragons could not leave that part of the restricted area and destroy the ecology of the forbidden forest excessively. In fact, despite being restricted in such a manner, the original inhabitants of the Forbidden Forest had suffered greatly because of the problems that had arisen due to these dozen dragons. Just like the herd of Unicorns that Jon met when he first entered the Forbidden Forest, their original territory was taken over by a dragon, and the herd itself was attacked, and if it wasn''t for Jon''s help, one of the young Unicorns would have had died as a result. Even the Unicorn herd had met with such a fate, so one could imagine the plight of the other Forbidden Forest creatures. If Dumbledore had been in charge of Hogwarts Castle, and Hagrid had been the Gamekeeper and Keeper of Keys and Grounds, they would not have allowed this to happen, and even if the tournament venue was to be within the Forbidden Forest, they would not have let the dragons in. And at that moment, Jon stood at the very edge of the restricted area where this Norwegian Ridgeback Dragon had been ced, watching it rise into the air and soar away from the entrance to the valley it had originally guarded, forming a shadow that enveloped the sky above him. Hot dragon blood was dripping to the ground and the Ridgeback made no attempt to hide its anger at the sneak attack as it opened its mouth wide in the air, sparks bursting from its dark throat! "Roar!" The sound of the dragon''s roar resonated throughout the forbidden forest, and countless birds shot up into the sky, while at the same time as it sounded, the temperature began to rise dramatically! Orange-coloured mes with dragon magic attached to them fell from the sky, and Jon was already prepared for this, as he activated the levitation charm on his ring and flew up into the sky before the dragon''s breath was spat down. Because he was so small, overshadowed by the dragon''s huge body, and because one of its eyes had already been injured by Jon''s sting curse, which blurred some of its vision, the Ridgeback, who was venting its fury on the ground, did not notice the ant''s ascent. And that''s what caused the dragon so much troubleter. Jon had noiselessly arrived at the Ridgeback''s side, aimed his wand at its other intact eye and began to hold it together with both hands in the same manner as he had used against the manticore. Without using any more powerful spells, Jon used a straightforward two-handed spellcasting technique and cast a Stunning Spell. A far thicker, brighter red beam of light than the normal spell cut through the entire night sky in an instant! It was only at this time that the Ridgeback Dragon''s other intact eye perceived a sudden, blinding sh of light illuminating its entire eye socket, but by the time it was trying to make a defensive move, there was no time to react, and it didn''t even have time to close its eyelids! The Stunning Spell, as simple and straightforward as it could be, plunged straight into the Ridgeback Dragon''s eye sockets, and the effect of the spell passed through its eyeballs and into its brain at the first opportunity! All of a sudden, the entire body of the Ridgeback Dragon, which was still spewing dragon breath from its mouth, became rigid. It could be seen that it was so affected by the spell that even its wings could no longer be swung, nor could it maintain its flight in the sky. But even though it had been hit with such a powerful Stunning Spell at the weakest point of its defence, it still had no intention of falling to the ground and was still trying to stay conscious. This time, instead of aiming at the Ridgeback''s half-closed, intact eye, Jon aimed directly at its wounded eye. After a few more shots of normal Stunning Spell, it eventually failed to maintain its flight in the sky, and with ast resentful nce at the figure flying in mid-air, it fell to the ground with a crash, causing the whole ground to tremble violently. Having sessfully brought the Ridgeback Dragon down, Jon didn''t stop the spell-casting action in his hands as he continued to use the Stunning Spell on the fallen dragon over and over again, while still managing to find time to collect the golden flying snitches that were nearby. With a dragon to knock down, a Centaur to save and a tournament to juggle, Jon couldn''t let this trip go to waste, at least he had to get everything he needed to get his hands on. And just as Jon had taken down the Norwegian Ridgeback, in the valley, Hoss, with Cedric, soon found the remaining group of Centaur in the Forbidden Forest. As Cedric had told Jon, there were hardly any adult males left, they were all old, young, women and children, and even the few men that were left were crippled, with either a missing arm or a broken finger. The Chief of these Centaurs is a handsome adult male Centaur with curly tinum hair and surprisingly blue eyes. His name is Firenze, and only one of his beautiful sapphire eyes remains, the other one is covered by a ck eye patch, and Cedric knows that it was blinded by Auror''s spell. When Cedric found them, the Centaurs didn''t seem to have any intention of resting; they were all armed with bows and arrows in one hand and torches in the other, as if they wanted to fight to the death against the dragons that guarded the entrance and exit of the valley. "What are you trying to do with all this? Firenze." Cedric, who appeared like the wind on Hoss, startled many of the Centaurs, who at first raised their bows and arrows, but at the sound of Cedric''s voice and the sight of the familiar face, they all lowered their weapons again, obviously familiar with the young student. "We''re running low on food, Cedric." Firenze''s blue eyes showed joy at the sight of Cedric''s appearance, but the seriousness and gravity that had always been maintained on his face did not abate much, "If we continue to wait here without enough food, everyone will starve to death, even if we can only get one out, it''s better than all dying here." Cedric saw the paleness on the Centaurs'' faces and knew that they had all been trapped in this valley for half a month, unprepared for the appearance of the three dragons that had sealed the exit, it was time for their food reserves to be depleted. "I''ve got help to rescue you! He''s now trying to hold back the dragon at that exit in the northwest corner of the valley, so we''ll go over there now and try to escape straight away!" Without any unnecessary pleasantries or questions, Cedric spoke extremely fast and gave Firenze and the others a clear picture of the current situation. Hearing his words, the gloom on Firenze''s facepletely turned into one of excitement. He immediately greeted his people and followed Cedric and Hoss, who had the good sense not to speed up too much, and asionally turned back to look at the young females and throwing winks at them. "You got in touch with Dumbledore!" While running towards the exit of the valley where the Norwegian Ridgeback was, Cedric nced with a slightly embarrassed face at Firenze who was expecting a positive answer from him. "No, I haven''t been able to contact Dumbledore, they''ve been heavily guarded by many Aurors since they arrived at Hogwarts and no one has had easy ess to them." In response, Firenze gave another new name. "Is that Rubeus Hagrid outside? If there had been a chance to return to the castle, he would havee along, and would surely have taken it upon himself to find a way toe to us in the Forbidden Forest!" Cedric shook his head once more, this time not letting Firenze continue to guess, but simply naming who it was that hade. "It''s Jon Green." The Centaur had spent years hiding in the Forbidden Forest and certainly didn''t have much ess to the outside world, so the name Jon was clearly unfamiliar to them. "Who''s that? Someone from the Order of the Phoenix?" "It''s the champion representing Dumbledore in this Triwizard Tournament." "Which means he''s still just a student?" A Centaur who had overheard their conversation eximed from the sidelines, "A student dealing with a Dragon? You''re not joking, right? Are we going to collect his corpse now?" His words made Hoss unhappy; Jon was at least his "best mate" and had thought of his marriage, and now he was being spoken to like that, which didn''t sit well with Hoss. Cedric did understand that Centaur didn''t really mean much harm, after all, normal people wouldn''t normally believe such things if they heard about them, even the elite of wizards might not be able to fight a dragon alone, let alone a student attending a wizardry school. But he didn''t exin much, any exnation wouldn''t be as good as the facts before their eyes, and after seeing the facts, all exnations would be superfluous. Although Cedric had only really met Jon today, he hadplete confidence in the boy who had already been renowned throughout Europe. The Centaurs could not move as fast as the racially gifted Hoss, but at a full gallop they were not that slow either, and it took them less than ten minutes to reach the exit of the valley where the Norwegian Ridgeback was staying, and by then the behemoth had simply been missing. All they could see as Firenze and the others arrived was a boy picking the golden snitches that were flying around. And the tremors produced by the horses'' hooves trampling on the ground had long since caught Jon''s attention, and he saw Cedric, who was leading the way on the back of Hoss, and right beside Cedric, there was a Centaur with long tinum blonde hair and one eye. They were followed by a group of old and sickly men, some of the Centaur men looking around nervously as they made their way to this intersection. "Where''s the bloody dragon?" Jon didn''t answer back, he just waved his wand behind him and recited a stunning spell. Following the bright red that was extremely conspicuous in the darkness, the Centaurs all saw the Norwegian Ridgeback dragon lying in the meadow. They had been besieged by the Aurors in the Forbidden Forest for so long that no fool was left to survive. The fallen and unconscious dragon wasid bare before them and with Jon the only one present,bined with what Cedric had said to them on the way, every one of the Centaurs could guess the somewhat absurd truth. Compared to the rest of his people, Firenze was still very calm. He was considered a wise man among the Centaur, well versed in astronomy and divination, and well aware of the fact that some of the best cubs among the wizards could be better than they could imagine given their long years in the Forbidden Forest. "Hello, Mr Green, my name is Firenze." The current Centaur chief extended a hand of his own to Jon in a friendly manner. Firenze. This name was not really new to Jon; in the original book, the Centaur in front of him had even served as a Professor of Divination at Hogwarts Castle, whose attainment and philosophy in divination held high regard, or at least was considerably better at teaching than his other peer, the one who had uttered the Saviour''s Prophecy. Jon held out a hand to shake his. "Hello, Firenze, just call me Jon, Hagrid has mentioned your name to me." Hagrid had indeed mentioned Firenze''s name to Jon, telling him to go to Firenze for help if he was having trouble finding the Centaur named Parson. It was clear that Hagrid had faith in Firenze, and he felt sure that he would still be alive, which was indeed the case, this Centaur indeed survived, except that he was missing an eye. Jon had pretty much collected all the golden snitches around this Norwegian Ridgeback, and without any unnecessary pleasantries with Firenze, just after once again casting a stunning spell on the unconscious dragon lying on the ground, he said that they should better get out of here and find a safe ce before talking. Jon had plenty of patience to kill and peel the Norwegian Ridgeback hide if he didn''t think it was too much of a coincidence that there were three dragons trapping the Centaurs in the valley. Every dragon is a treasure, no less so than a Basilisk. But it was too much of a hassle to deal with one, and after the tournament, Jon had to worry if the judges woulde after him for it, as these dragons are protected species. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 345: The Right Hogwarts (2 in 1) Chapter 345: The Right Hogwarts (2 in 1) Even Hagrid was not as familiar with theyout of this Forbidden Forest as the Centaurs were. Soon Firenze and Jon arrived at a fairly open clearing, which was not guarded by dragons and was a good ce to talk as there would be no Aurors or the like in the area during the tournament. After finding a ce to settle, the Centaurs immediately scattered to find food and prepare a makeshift resting ce, leaving only Firenze, Jon and Cedric to talk. Jon pulled out the small wooden tag that Hagrid had given him. "The Forbidden Forest is now all covered by the magic of the Aurors, Hagrid tried to get in earlier without sess as he was spotted, and he had no choice but to ask me toe and make contact with you during the tournament to check on your condition and needs today. Also, Hagrid asked me to find a man called Parson among the Centaur." Hearing Jon''sst words, Firenze did not utter a word and fell silent. The atmosphere suddenly fell silent for a while, but even without any answer, just from thisck of response, Jon was able to guess the end of Parson. "I''ve lost many of my people." Firenze looked up and met Jon''s eyes with the only one he had left with, "We have no desire for the outside world, even when the wizards determined the categories of human and magical beast, our ancestors voluntarily distanced themselves from human and disdained thepany of wizards." His voice was soft and quiet, so calm that the tremors in it were not quite discernible. "But even if we simply lived in this forbidden forest, the Ministry of Magic in Britain was unwilling to leave us alone, ughtering us wouldn''t bring them even a little benefit, yet they did that anyway, and the reason was actually that we had filthy blood in us." Jon could understand Firenze''s feelings. There are very few Centaur tribes left in the magical world, and the one living in the Forbidden Forest is arguably thergest tribe of Centaur in the whole of Britain, or even in the whole of Europe. But now an undeserved disaster had befallen them, most of their brethren had been ughtered, and the rest of them, the old and the sick, had to hide, as two or three random dragons could nearly trap them all to death. It would be strange if Firenze didn''t harbour a grudge against wizards in his heart. On the side, Cedric also looked guilty, and he certainly should feel guilty, no matter what he thought in his heart, but as a half-blood, and one whose father had a job in the Ministry of Magic, a privileged half-blood who had officially joined Voldemort''s camp to enjoy privileges of sorts, everything he enjoyed today was based on the oppression of the others. But Jon wasn''t going to just be muddled by ament or two from him like that, it was sad what was happening to the Centaurs today, but was it really not their fault at all? "I sympathise with you and your people, Mr Firenze, but there is a question I would like you to answer." Jon didn''t avoid Firenze''s striking blue eyes, "Since you were in the situation you are in now, and all of you can think of seeking help from Dumbledore, Hagrid and the others in the first instance, what about at the time when the whole of Hogwarts was in a war against the Dark Lord? And what position did the entiremunity of Centaur stand in?" Jon''s question made Firenze close his own eyes and made a guilty Cedric look up to listen to his response. Only after a long time did Firenze respond. "At the time I tried my best to persuade the rest of the pack toe out of the Forbidden Forest and go to Dumbledore''s aid, no matter who won or lost in the end, only Dumbledore and the others would remain our firmest allies. But the others didn''t think so, they felt that since the Centaurs aren''t considered a human, they shouldn''t interfere in disputes between wizards and that no matter who rules this school, the Centaurs can live well in the Forbidden Forest." Jon wasn''t half surprised by his answer, even if the matter had never been brought up by either Dumbledore or Hagrid, if the Centaurs had been involved in that war when Hogwarts castle fell, then in the end Dumbledore would have done his best to take the Centaurs away from the Forbidden Forest, as staying would only have made them extinct. But today there is not even a single Centaur in the Order of the Phoenix, so it could only be assumed that the Centaurs were in a state of inaction back then. "With all due respect, Mr Firenze, if the Centaurs had chosen to help Hogwarts back then they might have been in a difficult position too, but they would never have been in this state." Jon''s words were blunt, and they had to be, he couldn''t be as foolish as Cedric and feel like it was all his fault and confused by people''s trivial remarks. He is indeed going to help the Centaurs, but this help must not be defined aspensation. In response, Firenze also showed no desire to talk tough, to lump Voldemort and Dumbledore together and me all the Centaurs'' present misery as every wizard''s fault; he took a deep breath and looked at Jon with a bright gaze. "I have no intention of trying to pin this feud on you guys for incidents that happened so far, I know who the enemy is better than anyone else, a wizard may be a wizard in the eyes of other Centaurs, but I know the difference between the Dark Lord and Dumbledore, and I know exactly who our friends are. So this time I am asking you, Mr Green, please contact Dumbledore and ask for his support in getting these remaining members of my people out of here, the only thing that awaits us if we remain in the Forbidden Forest is extermination." He lowered his stance, clearly, he stood half a body taller than Jon, but instead, he bent his back and lowered his head, making Jon, who had been standing up straight, appear even taller in general. It was a request, an uneven and extremely humble request from one side. The surrounding foals, all huddled together, hugging for warmth, their faces somewhat grimy, looking at their chief with eyes that glowed faintly in the reflected moonlight. The foals were well protected; even though almost every one of the adult Centaur who had survived had injuries of one kind or another, the vast majority of the foals were only a little dirty without any injuries. Jon looked up at the brilliant night sky and abruptly said as he looked at them. "How much did Cedric tell you about this Triwizard Tournament?" This time, without waiting for Firenze to speak, Cedric answered first. "I don''t know much, Dad never talks to me about it, I just told Firenze that you guys would being to Hogwarts Castle for this tournament and that winning or losing would have a big impact on the whole situation." Jon said seriously. "So, not so much; yes the win or loss of this tournament will decide the battle between us and the Dark Lord overnd and Hogwarts Castle right now. This tournament is a gamble, and as long as we are the ones who win in the end, then we can haveplete victory on the main battlefield in France, and retake Hogwarts Castle, as well aspletely eliminate the situation of two Hogwarts existing side by side." Both Cedric and Firenze froze, Firenze had thought before that this tournament, which had been discontinued for so long, must be held again for some key purpose given the current situation, but he had never imagined that the Dark Lord and Dumbledore were actually betting so heavily on this tournament. The significance of Hogwarts to any ruler of the British wizarding world would be immense, and it could even be said that only by taking control of the castle could one be said to haveplete control of the whole of Britain. And if the only legitimacy of this thousand-year-old school had to be lost, then for Voldemort it would be almost like losing half of Britain, which was much more serious than the so-called loss of France, directly shaking the foundations of his rule. Jon and Dumbledore understood this, and the reason why Dumbledore had agreed to the bet in the first ce without investigating the reason why Voldemort was proposing this tournament was that both sides has their own agenda in mind for the tournament from the start. Jon would simply be responsible for going all out to finish the tournament, while Dumbledore would be doing the other preparation and investigation. "So what do you need us to do?" Firenze asked, looking at Jon. "There is nothing you need to do, it would be best for you to be settled on the edge of the Forbidden Forest near the Hogsmeade section for the time being, I will exin to Professor Dumbledore about your situation after this tournament task, if you want to leave the Forbidden Forest straight away then we can help meet you then and take you to France, which is under our control, going there will mean you are safe." As soon as Jon finished his sentence, Firenze shook his head, a murky tinge of hatred evident in his gaze. "The foals may go to France for protection, but the men will go to the front line. We are not afraid of sacrifice, let alone sacrifice for revenge and blood!" Jon knew the value of these Centaurs, even if they couldn''t use any magic, they were all good fighters in their own right, not only did every adult Centaur have superior archery skills, but they are also far superior to the wizards in terms of agility and physique, otherwise, this group of Centaurs in the Forbidden Forest would have died out long ago after facing sieges for so many years. "I will pass on your thoughts to Professor Dumbledore, but right now the most important thing you need to do is to protect yourselves, I don''t think it''s a coincidence that those three dragons just happened to block your way out; if it''s not a coincidence, then someone has something else in mind for you guys." Having finished giving his advice to the Centaur, Jon turned his attention back to Cedric. "Can we talk alone?" Cedric was a little overwhelmed by the sudden shift in Jon''s gaze, but he soon regained hisposure and nodded. Firenze had the good sense to head out to organise his tribe to create this new makeshift camp, and Jon began a private, confidential conversation with this half-blood student. "You should be well aware of what the actions you are currently doing would represent to that headmaster of yours." Jon''s expression and tone were serious, he wasn''t intimidating Cedric about anything, but stating the facts once again. Cedric, of course, was well aware that although Voldemort now mostly showed his "kindness" to those who supported him, so much that very few people in Britain today would speak of his former practices, Cedric, who tried to know Dumbledore and Jon, must have known the true nature of Voldemort. "If I''m found out, it won''t just be me who dies, my father and my mother, they''ll all suffer." Cedric''s voice was trembling slightly, but his expression and eyes were more steadfast than the night wind that kept blowing. "But there''s no way I can lie to myself, I was brought up with an education that lets me know what''s right and what''s wrong. Maybe I used to be somewhat able to console myself with the illusion that I hadn''t suffered much injustice as a half-blood student at Hogwarts, but the words you said that day when you saved that muggle-born girl left me with no way to be at peace with what I have anymore." Jon looked at him. "It''s been dered to the public within Britain that the dark wizard who infiltrated Hogwarts Castlest year was me?" "No." Cedric shook his head, "They would never admit that they were fooled by a student like you who hasn''t even graduated from school yet, but it''s not a secret within the Ministry of Magic that many of the staff know that the person who did thatst year and the person who killed the Lestrange''s in public this year is the same person. I know this, too, when my father identally blurted it out when he was drunk during the summer holidays." He looked over at Jon, those clear eyes reflecting the moonlight. "I know I''m not as good as you are, Jon, but I don''t want to be a purebloodckey either. I know that what I''m doing now will put my family in danger, but even less can I force myself to admit that what should be wrong has turned out to be right just because of danger such as this." Jon had never had any doubts about Cedric''s integrity, even the first question he had asked when he had met the boy at the beginning when he had used his Legilimency Spell to inquire him, had been to ascertain if he was really Cedric Diggory because the name itself had the capital to be persuasive. "Excellence is never going to be the key to what a person contributes, but rather what they have done." Jon intoned, "What you''ve done tonight has left you with no turning back, Cedric, now you need to make up your mind as to whether you''re going to stand with us." Without hesitation or wavering, Cedric just said calmly. "I made such a determination when I decided to help Firenze and the others, I am willing to do anything that will change present Britain and bring back freedom and human rights to those who should be equal." With a smile on his face that would onlye when he was facing Hermione and Neville and the others, Jon patted Cedric on the shoulder. "There''s no need to weigh down the mood when ites to making this decision, the path we''re on isn''t that rough anymore, at least the scene in front of us isn''t dark anymore." Cedric let out a breath as well, with a light smile on his face. "Is this considered abandoning the darkness and turning to the light?" "You''ve just returned to a Right Hogwarts." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 346: Astrology (2 in 1) Chapter 346: Astrology (2 in 1) When Jon had finished his conversation with Cedric, and was about to go and rest to continue his journey to catch the Golden Snitches tomorrow, Firenze suddenly approached Jon on his own. He looked like he had something to say to Jon in private and waited specifically until an unupied time. "About what you said regarding why the Dark Lord suddenly wants to hold the Triwizard Tournament, I don''t know the reason for it, but perhaps there is one thing that can provide you with some help." Jon''s face turned serious as he listened to Firenze carry on saying. "Our tribe in general is rtively proficient in astrology and divination, and I was particrly well versed in it when I was young. But I have always taken this talent as a hobby, and rarely actually believed in the results of divination. Many of human divinations are centred around minor mishaps, which in fact are as insignificant as specks of dust in the face of the vast and grand universe, which remains unaffected by the orbits of thes and is not understood by any life." "The day before the Dark Lord seized Hogwarts Castle, there was a change in the stars that I had observed, the stars in the constetion Centaurus were dimmed and the whole sky, which was obviously not covered by any dark clouds, seemed particrly obscure, I sent someone to find Hagrid, knowing that something big was going to happen and wanted him to pass the news to Dumbledore, but by then it was actually toote. By the time I learned of all this from the astrological signs, Dumbledore himself had presumably known that war was inevitable and that there was bound to be a duel between him and the Dark Lord over the future of Britain." "It was just after that day that the stars, which had been so brilliant, began to grow obscure, Saturn''s rings red up with several disturbances, and Pluto began to change and deviate from its establishedary orbit. From that day forth, such astrological signs were actually established, and at the same time, the Dark Lord ruled the whole of Britain and the castle. But while the trajectory of destiny was having a deviation, one thing remained unchanged." As Firenze spoke, he simultaneously pointed a finger at the starry sky above his and Jon''s heads. "See that star directly above us? It''s the one directly above the Astronomy Tower of Hogwarts Castle." Jon narrowed his eyes as he followed Firenze''s guidance and saw the bright star in the sky at that moment. "What does that star mean?" "This star began to shine after the Dark Lord defeated Dumbledore, and before that, it never shone this bright." Jon mused. "It represents the Dark Lord''s rule over Hogwarts?" "Who is your Professor for Astrology and Divination? Still Sybill Trwney?" "Erm, Professor Trwney seems to have fled to Northern Europe when her failed prophecy put a lot of people in harm''s way, and while no one med her for it in any way, she''s ming herself a lot and ashamed to follow Professor Dumbledore anymore." "Which means that you guys aren''t actually being taught Divination lessons right now?" "Professor Potter asionally gives us a lecture on crystal ball-rted knowledge." Hearing Jon''s answer, Firenze had a look of realization on his face as well. "Normal prophecies and omens brought to light naturally are ambiguous, and the point of a diviner''s existence is to interpret these ambiguous omens as a way of seeing how the universe and nature affect people. Some people who are naturally gifted in reading omens can even see clear forecasts of the future directly with their eyes. But in any case, the most direct interpretation of these omens is inevitably wrong divination, something that has been unquestionably true from the beginning of time and is the basis of what is learned at the beginning of the study of divination." "The meaning of this star, which appeared only after the Dark Lord had taken Hogwarts Castle, is definitely not about him alone, but about this castle." Hearing Firenze''s exnation of the astrological sign, Jon couldn''t help but blink. "Then why did this star shine brighter during the time when the Dark Lord became Headmaster of Hogwarts Castle though?" "To interpret such an astrological sign is actually quite simple, we need to see such foreshadowing in the context of the star itself." Firenze said softly, "It is burning itself out." "Burning itself?" "Yes, it is protecting itself as best it can from being engulfed in darkness in this night sky, of course, but in fact, such aggression is constantly happening until one day the star turns red, and then it is going to die outpletely." Firenze turned his head to look at Jon. "All it represents is this castle, and although the Dark Lord defeated Dumbledore and proimed himself as Headmaster of Hogwarts, this castle has never actually acknowledged him. There was no way for him to stay at the school for long, this school was rejecting him and keeping him from being the true master of Hogwarts!" Firenze''s words suddenly reminded Jon of the fact that Voldemort would only be present in Hogwarts castle on the nights that school started and the end of the school term. The rest of the time, even on Christmas dinner night, he as Headmaster would note to the castle to celebrate with the students, which was of course an extremely unusual thing to do! Jon looked back up at the starry sky overhead, his eyes fixed on the star that was directly above Hogwarts Castle, he could feel the seemingly bright starlight actually decaying, the darkness staring silently at it, like a pack of wolves surrounding their prey, following every moment and trying to tear a piece of flesh from it every second. "He''s taken over the whole of Britain and be the nominal Headmaster of Hogwarts, but has no control over this castle at all." Jon muttered, "He''s been forbidding any of us from entering the castle privately since we arrived at Hogwarts, because of the same reason. The castle isn''t his yet, and during the time he can''t stay at the school, that''s why he has to forbid anyone else from doing any small tricks on his self-owned property" Firenze said seriously. "He has always wanted to gainplete control of this castle, I don''t know what he has been doing to do so, but he has certainly made his moves, and all he wants is to be the true owner of this school. If he has ced the legitimacy of Hogwarts on the line in this Triwizard Tournament, then I think that perhaps this tournament has some connection to the ownership of this castle." Jon thought in silence. He had never thought of such a thing, perhaps Dumbledore knew a little more than he did, which was why he was making certain moves in that castle even while the Triwizard Tournament is going on, but these things had not beenmunicated to Jon. Jon knew that it wasn''t that Dumbledore didn''t trust him or anything, but that he didn''t want to burden him with so many things at once given his young age; the Triwizard Tournament alone would be more than enough for Jon to handle now. "Thank you, Firenze, what you told me tonight was very informative, I will discuss it with Professor Dumbledore when I return." Aftermunicating the information about Hogwarts Castle to Jon, Firenze did not disturb his rest any further and returned to the Centaur''s camp, while Cedric left the Forbidden Forest to return to the castle as soon as Jon had finished his private conversation with him, he had almost revealed himself during the day and could not go back toote tonight, or it would be too likely to arouse the suspicions of the others. The next morning Jon woke up early and rode on Hoss to leave this camp of Centaurs. The matter of the Centaurs and the subsequent arrangements would have to wait until he was finished with this tournament task in the Forbidden Forest, and it was already the third day since the start of the first task. At eight o''clock this evening, it would be time to finish the task, and the three men who werepeting in the Forbidden Forest would be free to decide to end the tournament at any time they wished, and the results would also be calcted ording to the length of time they would be using. Jon had no intention ofpeting for first ce time-wise, as scores counted ording to the ratio of the number of golden flying snitches caught is higher, so getting more number of golden snitches would give him a point advantage in the ranking. Now with Draco already confirmed to be out of the picture, even if he pressed on and walked out of the Forbidden Forest on thest day, he would still have finished in third ce in terms of time and would still gain twenty points. Of course, he certainly wouldn''t choose to be thatte, with the number of Golden Snitches that Jon had got now, ording to his n, he only had to find a hundred more Golden Snitches to bring the number up to two hundred or two-fifths of the total, and then he would basically already be guaranteed first ce in terms of numbers. In the time it had taken him to deal with dragons and get the golden snitches, he could make it out of the forbidden forest by midnight, which would ensure that he was not too far behind in finishing the match. For the rest of the day after that, Jon worked with Hoss to go after the dragons following the Forbidden Forest map that he had drawn out earlier, to find the less nimble and more manageable targets to collect the golden snitches. For example, the two Ukrainian Ironbellys he had found at the entrance to the valley where the Centaurs had been trapped before, such oversized dragons can be difficult to take down, but if you want to get past them to catch the Golden Snitches it is much easier than other dragons. Before entering the Forbidden Forest, Matthew gave all four of them a pouch each with an Undetectable Extension Charm, in which he kept all the golden snitches he had collected, without affecting his carrying capacity. After finding something random for lunch, he moved on to find the other dragons in the Forbidden Forest. During this time, Jon also spotted two dragons around which had all the Golden Snitches already been taken, it was obvious that either Diane or Emil had been here in advance. Even if their means of taking the golden snitches were not as convenient as Jon''s, they each had their own methods, and Jon found one dragon with no golden snitches around it showing signs of having been hit by a Conjunctivitis Curse. And just as the sun was setting and Jon counted the number of golden snitches in his hand and was about to go to thest dragon and get the golden snitches around it toplete his goal of two hundred , he came across Diane, the champion of Durmstrang. "Professor Green!" Diane was obviously pleased to see Jon too, but she soon became a little wary again, her grip on her wand not rxing in the slightest. "You''re really Professor Greene?" Jon shrugged in the face of her wariness. "Who else here would imitate me?" "That bastard Lestrange sneaked up on me, can''t rule out that he won''t do it again in Professor Green''s disguise." Diane held her wand up, keeping the distance between her and Jon. Until she heard Jon say to her. "So a little chat about something only we know about, you were the one who took me to the Headmaster''s office back at Durmstrang Castle, remember?" Hearing these words, Diane breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her wand. There is the possibility of Emil pretending to be Jon, but there is no chance that he will be able to ess the memories of Jon. Having established that Jon was Jon, Dianepletely dropped her guard and approached Jon, gleefully telling him about her encounter after entering the forbidden forest. "The first day I entered this forest I stumbled upon an Antipodean Opaleye, the dragon wasn''t much aggressive towards human beings, but it also didn''t let me near its territory, and at first I didn''t have much experience, so I just sneaked around and caught some golden snitches that wandered off the outskirts while it was resting. Luckily, that dragon didn''t give me much trouble even when it noticed itter on, and even helped me out by actively driving them all to me after knowing I was only after those golden blobs so that I could easily catch it and leave." "Butter on I wasn''t that lucky, especially after I met that ck dragon of the Hebrides inds of Scond, which was extremely berserk and considered those golden snitches as its treasures, I only caught two of them, but it kept chasing me until I was about to run out of its territory, and it still spat some fire at me and almost set my robe on fire. " Diane actually had pretty good luck and didn''t encounter any dragon species that were too aggressive, the one that could be more aggressive than the ck dragon of the Hebrides inds. But Jon was actually more interested in the fact that she had been attacked by Emil. "When did Lestrange sneak up on you? He tried to take the golden snitches you got?" Diane said with a nod. "Just this morning, I had just got 18 golden snitches from a Portuguese Long-Snout Dragon, and then he sneaked up on me from behind. It''s a good thing I kept my guard up against this kind of thing, and his stunning spell was blocked by my shield charm. Then we fought with each other and a few of the spellsnded on the face of that long-snout dragon, which enraged it, and it spewed out so much mes and tried to grab us both with its ws, so I had to escape from there." Such behaviour from Emil did note as a surprise to Jon. If Jon hadn''t found him on the second day of the tournament to make the first move and made it clear to him the difference in strength between the two, then he probably would have already sneaked up on him as well. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 347: The evening of the third day Chapter 347: The evening of the third day "How many golden snitches have you got?" Diane asked as she held her bag up to Jon, showing him the golden snitches inside. "I caught a total of 86 in thest three days, actually it should have been more, but it''s all that damn Lestrange''s fault, the bag fell to the ground when I was duelling with him and a dozen flew away, otherwise I would have caught over 100." Her haul had been bountiful enough, over thirty of them had been contributed by that Antipodean Opaleye she had encountered in the first ce, and it was true that Diane had been lucky enough that the dragon was not only mild-tempered but also had enough golden snitches flying around it. Jon had no intention of hiding anything from her either, the two were already on the same side and in the end it was the same no matter who got the ultimate victory. "193, originally, ording to the n, the number would actually have been 200 by now, but thatst Swedish Short-Snout Dragon was not a good deal, only a dozen golden snitches were circling around it, so I now have to go and find thest Dragon to make it whole." Diane''s eyes widened as she looked at Jon''s bag full of golden snitches. She had thought that Jon''s haul would be richer than hers, but she hadn''t expected it to be this plentiful, the gap was more than twice as high. She then looked at Jon''s bag and then at her own, and without hesitation, she handed Jon all those golden snitches she had got directly. "No need to go back to thest one, 193 plus 86, 279 golden snitches are already more than half of the entire number in the Forbidden Forest, there is no way Emil will overtake you; Then let''s go back to the edge of the Forbidden Forest now and go straight out when the time is up, then the first ce in this tournament task will definitely be yours!" The girl showed no half-hearted hesitation in making such a decision and clearly had no hint of reluctance. She obviously knew What the bigger picture is, individual achievements didn''t matter at all, both of them represented this one camp now, and if this had been Emil and Draco, they would have ended up giving all the golden snitches they had collected to one person as well, as a way to ensure absolute superiority in numbers, after all, the rules of this tournament didn''t say that no cooperation is allowed. But Jon looked at her instead, not bothering to take the bag full of golden snitches, and smiled, shaking his head. "I know it''s only sensible and prudent to ept your gains, but either way, you still call me Professor, don''t you? Even though I haven''t taught you anything, I can''t take away the fruits of a student''sbour without paying for it; and don''t distrust my abilities, I''ve already set my sights on thest dragon, and I now have three or four hours to spare before the end of the tournament task, which is perfectly adequate." It was clear that Jon was still a forehead shorter than Diane, but the words werepelling enough. Diane eventually didn''t insist any further, she put her raised hand holding the bag back down, and afterwards still went on to ask. "So, Professor do you need me toe over with you?" Jon didn''t answer her question at first but thought for a moment. "I suggest you to go straight to the entrance of the forbidden forest now and wait, wait until the timees when the first task can be ended by choice, then immediately get the first score for leaving the forbidden forest, then even if the number of golden snitches that Lestrange gets afterwards is going to exceed yours, the first one to leave the forbidden forest will have forty points, Malfoy has already been eliminated, counting the number of golden snitches, at worst you can get thirty points, so in total you will have seventy points, in this way, Lestrange will have eighty points if hees second in all, fifty points plus thirty points, and you will be only ten points below him, which is perfectly eptable." The specific rules set out to determine how much of an advantage the four champions will have at the end of the three tasks of this Triwizard Tournament are not based on the overall 1st ce ranking, but by adding up the scores of the three tasks. So it''s true that the more scores you earn the better, but it''s not true that those who are behind have no chance at all. If it''s only a ten-point gap, then that can easily be made up in the second task, and even if it''s not made up in the end, it won''t open up too much of a gap on the third task. So it was in Diane''s best interests to give up on going on to catch the golden snitches in favour of taking first ce to finish in the time rankings. There are only 500 golden snitches avable in the Forbidden Forest, so if he gets more than 200 and Diane has 86, then even if Emile finds and catches all the rest, it''s still impossible for him to overtake Jon. So as long as he caught the golden snitches around the next dragon, that would be seventy points, and without Draco, the twenty points in the time ranking would definitely be avable, adding up to ny points. So Jon was in no hurry to finish the tournament at the earliest possible time. After hearing Jon''s analysis, Diane didn''t hesitate much, even if Jon and Dumbledore had never said so, but she had always seen herself as Jon''s support in this Triwizard Tournament. Perhaps before Diane might have had some of the pride that came with being a Rosier and might have wanted to prove that Durmstrang students are no worse than the other two wizarding schools in Europe by taking the title herself, but after learning about Jon''s exploits, the sensible girl no longer had any semnce of wanting to be in the limelight. Even if she is still just a student, she knows very well what this Triwizard Tournament means for the whole of Witching Horizon, and it is not some casual child''s y. So, at this point in time when the sun was about to set, Jon and Diane parted ways again. Diane would go straight back to the entrance to the Forbidden Forest as he had suggested and bide her time, grabbing first ce for finishing the tournament in time, while Jon would go to thest dragon that he had nned to go to, to catch enough golden snitches to ensure that he would definitely get first ce in the score. Thest dragon was also one that Jon had carefully selected, and it is also an Antipodean Opaleye, which is generally docile andzy, does not include humans in its recipes, and usually eats either sheep or Australian kangaroos. So if nothing goes wrong, he could even finish this whole tournament before eight o''clock. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 348: Crazy (2 in 1) Chapter 348: Crazy (2 in 1) It was a little after six in the evening when Jon found the Antipodean Opaleye. The dragon''s location had been marked by him previously while riding Hoss, so it wasn''t too much trouble to find it now. Of course, Jon had also expected that all the golden snitches around this dragon had already been captured by Diane or Emil, so he actually had two alternative dragons, only that they were far from the location where the exit of the Forbidden Forest happened to be, and they were not listed as his first choice of target. That dragon was in the middle of eating when they came to the Antipodean Opaleye territory. Two sheep that had been bitten to deathy beside it. There were certainly no wild sheep in the Forbidden Forest, these sheep had been put inside together by those Romanian dragon trainers when these dragons were brought here to ensure that even in their limited time here, these dragons could catch enough prey to eat. And all around, although it was not clearly visible, it could still vaguely perceive a lot of golden figures wandering around. The Antipodean Opaleye looked very unhappy with the golden flying snitches around it; these things, even if they were all alchemical items, flew like mosquitoes and were a nuisance. It could not destroy them or simply expel them, so it could only look at them with a bored face and then lower its head to eat a sheep. It showed little desire to attack in response to Jon''s presence and was far more gentle than the other dragons, even deliberately refraining from looking at Jon as if trying to pretend not to notice his arrival. Jon had no problem with this, a dragon that had no humans in its recipe and got on very well with them for the most part, they had no essential conflict at all. It wasn''t as if the golden snitches are dragon eggs, and even if those dragon trainers had told these dragons to keep an eye on them by ear, it''s unlikely that every one of them would do so honestly. The one that Diane had met at the beginning, the other Antipodean Opaleye one, and the one that Jon is currently seeing, are not interested in these "golden flies" at all. It would be easier for the dragon if Jon would just take them all away and make the ce less annoying. To be able to finish off the first task like this so easily, Jon was certainly happy to do so. He didn''t bother the Antipodean Opaleye one who is eating its dinner, he just used the levitation charm to rise into the air, then added a simple general counter-spell on his body and flew a fewps around the ce with the most golden flying snitches, and in a short time a lot of magic from the golden snitches was absorbed by the gem on his ring, and they fell to the ground. Jon''s luck was not bad, about twenty golden snitches were flying around this Antipodean Opaleye, if he caught all of them he would be able to get more than two hundred and ten on this trip, and then he would be guaranteed to get the first ce in this task. He flew for about half an hour before all the golden snitches around him had sucked up all of their magic and dropped onto the grass. Jon nced at the time on his pocket watch, it was just after seven o''clock, quite a bit faster than he had predicted before. He began to gather up all the golden snitches on the ground, thinking that he could still meet up with Dier by the exit of the Forbidden Forest so that he could even secure a more solid ranking in terms of time. But just as he was picking up the golden snitches, one of them suddenly caught his attention. There was no difference in form between this golden snitch and the others, all being the same size, with a golden metallic sheen on its exterior and a pair of small, thin wings on either side of the sphere. The difference, however, was that this one had a distinctive mark in the middle of its sphere. A mark that Jon recognised, a serpent passing through a skull - the Dark Mark! This mark still existed in the magical world, it is an exclusive mark of the Voldemort Death Eater Squad! And the moment Jon saw the Dark Mark, an extremely bad feeling welled up in his heart, and just as this feeling rose in him, the golden snitch with the mark suddenly cracked down the middle! Jon reacted instantly. Without hesitation, he threw the Golden Snitch, which was widening and looked like it was about to openpletely, straight into the air! But at the very moment, he threw it out, a sticky, glue-like liquid abruptly gushed out from the golden snitch, directly enveloping Jon''s entire body! Jon''s heart sank to the bottom in an instant, while a slightly fishy smell reached his nostrils. The sticky liquid was all over his hair and robes, and Jon didn''t reach out to touch it at first, nor did he have any curiosity to investigate what it was. Without half a moment''s hesitation, he raised the wand in his hand and aimed it at himself and used the cleaning spell. "Scourgify!" The effect of the cleaning spell quickly took effect, and a secondter, all the slime on his body disappeared cleanly, at least there was no trace of it left on the surface. But Jon still frowned, the slimy liquid was gone, but the faint fishy smell lingered around him. It was at this point that he also noticed that the surroundings had suddenly gone silent at some point. The sound of the Antipodean Opaleye feeding leisurely disappeared, and even the sound of the wind seemed to have been muted by a pause button. Jon gripped his wand tightly as he raised his head just in time to meet the huge, bloodshot and raging, pupil-less eyes. "ROAR!!!" A dragon roar that could be said to have resoundedpletely throughout the Forbidden Forest, mixed with anger, rage and resentment shook Jon''s eardrums! In a matter of seconds, the wind swept through the nearby meadow, and it was the Antipodean Opaleye pping its wings violently, its colourful scales glistening like the moon in the night sky, and the trees that were in its way were swept away by those strong, powerful wings! All the while, its eyes were fixed on Jon, as if he had just done something so horribly wrong that it had be furious! As he watched the dragon rise into the air, Jon held his wand in his hand, his brow furrowed, with no fear in his eyes, just listening intently to his surroundings. Soon, just as he had guessed the worst had happened, in all directions, in all parts of the forbidden forest, the roar of countless dragons was continuing to ring out! *** Once Diane had separated from Jon, she didn''t hesitate and headed straight for the exit in the same direction she had taken when she had first entered the Forbidden Forest. There was nothing wrong with the goal Jon had nned for her, for whether it was for Jon or Emil, this Forbidden Forest, which belonged to Hogwarts, could be said to be half of their home turf. With such an advantage added, she could not, in any case, be like the two boys, who were like fish in water in the Forbidden Forest and were able to find the location of the various dragons and catch the golden snitches in the fastest time possible. So even if she had stayed on, she would not have been able to get an advantage in the number of golden snitches caught. Therefore, it was necessary to finish the task first in time-wise. Using the moonlight, Diane quickly traced the outer path that led from the direction of Hogwarts into the Forbidden Forest, and she followed it all the way to the clearing where the four had prepared to start at the beginning of the tournament. At this point in the clearing, the three judges from the International Confederation of Wizards were waiting, and they were surrounded by perhaps a dozen or two dozen journalists and Aurors. These journalists were well aware that one of the participants was bound to finish the tournament task on the third night to secure points on the time ranking, which would be first-hand news, and with the vast majority of wizards throughout Europe now following this Triwizard Tournament, to get this news and publishing it first would represent newspaper sales. Just as Diane saw those people in the clearing, the three judges and the journalists waiting here saw her too. At once, countless shes came on and every camera present captured the sight of Diane walking out of the forbidden forest. But it was only seven o''clock and a full hour still remained before the first task could officially end at eight o''clock, so even if Diane had arrived here, the tournament was not yet over, and she had to wait until eight o''clock before she could cross the silver line, from which the protection had been removed, to finish the tournament. Just as Diane was standing in front of the silver line, a red spell suddenly and silently shot up from behind her! Such a sneak attack left Diane, who was already blinded by the sh of the cameras, with no time to react! But just as the spell came within ten centimetres of hitting her back, a shield reflecting the glow of the red spell suddenly lit up! Diane''s shield charm, which she kept on her body at all times in the Forbidden Forest, saved her once again! The silently cast spell did not break through her shield charm, but only caused a few cracks on the surface and was unable to do any more damage. Diane turned around with a stony expression on her face, and without hesitation, she gripped her wand in her hand and instantly hurled a silent spell in the direction the sneaky spell hade from as well! The bright red light pierced the darkness of the forbidden forest and illuminated Emil''s gloomy face. The spell was not very urate, as Diane was only countering with her sense of where she was being attacked, and Emil only slightly sidestepped as the spell plunged past him! The sneak attack and counterattack happened in a matter of seconds! The journalists who saw it all let out a gasp, their fingers pressing the shutter faster and their shes constantly lighting up. Durmstrang''s champion and Beauxbaton''s champion had met at the finish line, and as long as they both wanted to finish first, the battle would be inevitable! The journalists couldn''t have been more excited about what had happened, which meant that they would have more explosive things to write about and more magical photos to show to the public in tomorrow''s publication. Diane and Emile knew this better than anyone else. With their wands in their hands, they confronted each other at a distance of rtively twenty metres, and Diane uttered with a sneer. "Do pureblood nobles with the Lestrange family name only use sneak attacks?" The gloomy look on Emil''s face changed negligibly; he had suffered enough humiliation at Jon''s hands, and Diane''s words were nothing to his mental capacity now. "The means are not the priority as long as the objective can be aplished, and I feel that the diehard Rosiers'' should understand that point better than I do." Although they both came from pureblood families, they stood on two very different lines, and the focus of their taunts was naturally on their families. Just as this duel between them was about to begin, the ground suddenly began to tremble! Everyone in the scene felt the tremor, and many of the journalists holding up their cameras almost fell to the ground without standing still. Immediately afterwards, along with the tremors, came the sound of countless roars of anger that rang through the sky! In the forbidden forest, a dozen ces were lit up with dragon mes spewing into the sky, followed by those huge creatures rising into the sky! Such a hugemotion made everyone present turn pale, and Matthew, one of the three judges, looked up into the sky with a grimace, and the next moment he turned his head to the dragon trainers from Romania. "What''s wrong with those dragons!" The dragon trainers all turned pale when they heard the dozen or so dragon roars, and they stared wide-eyed at the patch of sky that had been stained with golden dragon mes, and no one answered Matthew''s question. Of all those present, Emil was the only one whose face showed little surprise. He nced back at the forbidden forest that was already enveloped in golden fire, and the corners of his mouth had even curled up in an insignificant curve. This first tournament task had been suggested by the Hogwarts Castle side, so how could they not have made some preparations against Jon? Jon certainly didn''t know right now exactly what was going on there at the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest''s entrance, and he didn''t have the energy or mood to think about it either. After that roar from all the dragons resounded throughout the Forbidden Forest, he flopped right onto Hoss''s back without half a second''s hesitation! "Runoff! Hoss! Go in the direction of Hogwarts Castle! Run towards the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest!" But before Hoss could even step his first hoof, the Antipodean Opaleye came crashing down from the sky, blocking in front of Jon and Hoss! At the same time, the heat evaporated the moisture from the air and dried up even the gusty wind! "Roar!" With the roar of the dragon, golden dragon mes erupted from its mouth, the mes, full of dragon magic, were like living snakes of fire, and the moment they erupted, they began to surround Jon and Hoss! Seeing that the way ahead was blocked and that there was no way for Hoss to break through the mes, and at the same time with the distant undting roar of the dragon getting closer and closer, Jon made a split-second decision. "Head back! We must get out of here first!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 349: Dragon Attack (3 in 1) Chapter 349: Dragon Attack (3 in 1) With Jon''s direction, Hoss didn''t hesitate, and after hearing the words, he turned into the wind and ran away in the opposite direction of this Antipodean Opaleye. As long as Hoss could run, then no creature would be able to catch up with him. The zing heat was instantly left behind, and the Antipodean Opaleye disappeared from their sight in the blink of an eye. Although Jon had given Hoss a specific direction, he hadn''t given him a specific location, so Hoss hadn''t stopped halfway after it had started to run. There was one dragon roar after another all around them, and Jon proceeded to head back into the depths of the forbidden forest on Hoss''s back. At first, Jon''s first thought was to let Hoss lead him to the exit of the Forbidden Forest first so that even if he had attracted the dragons there, the dragon trainers and the judges would surely be there to help. But soon he dismissed that idea. It wasn''t that he couldn''t go, but it wasn''t time yet. The time for the tournament task to end had not yet arrived, and the istion magic used against the entire forbidden forest still existed. As long as there was a second left before the end of the tournament, the judges and dragon trainers would not enter the Forbidden Forest, and Jon could not go out either unless he chose to forfeit this tournament task. So even if he went to the entrance of the Forbidden Forest now, it wouldn''t do any good, but would limit Jon''s next move, so he would have to find another way. There was no doubt that this trick must be Voldemort''s masterstroke. The golden snitch with the problem just now was most likely filled with a potionposed of a mixture of dragon''s eggs and fluids, and Jon had not forgotten that the dragons ced in the Forbidden Forest were all female dragons. Once the smell of this egg potion was induced and these female dragons smelled it, it would be the deadliest provocation, a relentless pursuit that would never end until one of them died! If Jon had to deal with one dragon alone, there would still be a fair chance to fight, and he could more or less deal with two, but if the number exceeded three, then Jon would only be able to run for his life, not to mention the fact that all the dragons in the forbidden forest would probably be attracted to him. All those territorial boundaries the dragon trainers had given them before the tournament had all ceased to have any effect, and there was nothing to stop the dragons from showing their animosity towards Jon. Jon sat on Hoss''s back, not letting him stop, but directing him in a constant circle through the forbidden forest. His greatest asset at the moment is Hoss, a Granian Pegasus, and whoever nned this scheme certainly didn''t count it out or could have predicted it in advance. Without Hoss, who is as fast as the wind, Jon simply would not have had any room to make a run from these dragons and would have had to face them head-on and die or try to flee and die. All this while, Jon was carefully examining the egg mixture on his body that had obviously been cleaned of all traces by the cleaning spell, yet still retained its smell. This was not simply a mixture of several types of dragon eggs, there must have been some catalytic herbs and bonding ingredients added to it. So that as soon as the liquid touched a human body, it would continue to leave traces that could not be removed even with magic. If the potion had only been sshed onto his robes earlier, then Jon could still probably have a way around it by simply taking his clothes off and reducing the smell that clung to them, but right now not only his clothes but also his bare face as well as his hands, were stained with the potion, which made it extremely troublesome. "Bang!" Just as Hoss was running, suddenly, a huge figure fell from the sky and shook the ground! The terrifying weightbined with the impact of thending caused Hoss, who was right next to it, to stagger and almost break his own bones by stepping on his horse''s foot. It was a Ukrainian Ironbelly, the same one Jon had seen when he had rescued the Centaurs out of the valley. It should have been looking for them based on the scent and had stopped in the path ahead before Jon and the Hoss could even show up. Jon kept his arms around Hoss'' horse''s neck, but with the tremendous inertia, he eventually failed to stabilise his body on the horse''s back and was thrown off it. After stopping Jon, the Ukrainian Ironbelly did not hesitate to open its mouth and swoop down on Jon, who had thrown up off the horse''s back! In such a sh of activity, Jon had no chance to wave his wand and cast a spell, but it was certainly not the only way he could use it. The ring''s pre-stored levitation charm was cast instantly! The next moment, his body, which was still hurling toward the ground, suddenly flew up! The Ukrainian Ironbelly was not the least bit anticipating this, and its sharp fangs'' front,rger than Jon''s entire body, brushed against him and then mmed hard into the ground! Although Hoss may have spent all day thinking dirty and looking stupid, he had survived in the Forbidden Forest for so long that he was actually not in any way dumber than the other magical creatures. After seeing that Jon was temporarily out of danger, he too instantly disappeared from his spot to prevent Ironbelly from targeting him next. Jon could fly, he could run, and both man and horse had their fleeing attributes stretched to the fullest, and as long as they weren''t restricted by their environment, very few people or creatures would be able to hold them in ce anyway otherwise. And after Jon rose into the air and flew out of the connecting canopy of the Forbidden Forest, he saw those dragons flying in the sky under the glittering night sky! In the distance, under the glow of the moon, a dozen or so dragon figures could be faintly seen waving their wings towards where he was, and the nearest one, in addition to the Ukrainian Ironbelly that had just got up from the ground, there was a very fast dragon covered in spikes and brown scales rushing towards him! The Hungarian Horntail is one of the most ferocious and most difficult to deal with dragons on record! Its size didn''t seem that exaggeratedly hugepared to the Ukrainian Ironbelly, but its body was exceptionally lean and tough, and under its hard hide an explosive might was evidently hidden! As Jon rose into the air, it had already rushed forward with red eyes, and before the Horntail could even reach Jon, a golden-red hot me was already gushing out from its mouth! "Roar!" At the same time, after shaking off its head, which had be somewhat dizzy from hitting the ground, the Ukrainian Ironbelly opened its bloody maw from the ground, and the blinding me filled with extremely powerful magic power burst out like a volcanic eruption! In the next second, the atmosphere around him rose by an unknown number of degrees in temperature in a fraction of a second! The entire sky where Jon was turned into a sea of golden red fire, as if it was hiding the setting sun, reflecting half of the forbidden forest! As soon as the dragon''s breath was ejected, he raised his wand with one hand and recited the general counter-spell in the second gem of the ring, followed by the me-Freezing Charm using his wand the next second! By the time the two spells had taken effect together, the fiery dragon''s breath hadpletely enveloped him! Neither the Hungarian Horntail nor the Ukrainian Ironbelly stopped spewing dragon breath, the temperature was still rising, and the area upied by the mes kept expanding. And just then, a ck shadow suddenly burst out of this dragon mes! The general counter-spell on his ring helped him to remove the burst of dragon magic from the dragon''s breath, and then the all-essential me-Freezing Charm of medieval wizards helped him to block the damage from the mes without the magic, which allowed Jon to escape from it instantly. But the magic of these two dragons was much more powerful than Jon''s, and there was no way for Jon to wipe out the magic they possessed by relying on his own magic to cast spells, so he could only use the reserve magic originally stored in the gem to enhance the spell, but the magic absorbed from Sir Stoker''s tower was not much left by now after so many battles. So even when he was dealing with these two dragons now, he used it sparingly, only estimating the amount he could probably mobilise to offset it. The magic in the dragon''s breath was sessfully wiped out, but there was still some leftover that prated through the me-Freezing Charm and brought some damage to Jon. Luckily, he still had the Shield Charm on his body to maintain his defence, so the damage was not so bad as to hurt his skin, but it did leave him looking a bit grimy, with his hair curling from the heat, his face covered in ck ash and his robes covered in scorched holes. After breaking away from the circle of these two dragons, Jon didn''t hesitate for half a second, he didn''t stay in the sky, but fell straight down towards the ground. "Hoss!" In mid-air, his shout summoned a wind-like Pegasus! Hoss caught Jon steadily as he fell from the sky, and then without Jon giving him any instructions at all, he was back on the run, galloping wildly through the trees! Jon held onto Hoss''s horse''s neck, let out a long breath and exhaled a cloud of ck smoke from his mouth, then, not bothering to clean up his appearance, he began to take off his robe at once. After taking off his robe, he didn''t stop there, he continued to take off his shirt and trousers, and finally, he was left with only a pair of underwear. Anyway, there was no one else in the forbidden forest right now, and Jon didn''t feel much shame; most of that liquid was on his clothes, and he could use it to confuse these dragons as long as he took them all off. But just as Jon was about to throw the smelly clothes off somewhere, he suddenly stopped moving his hands and instead took out his pocket watch and looked at the time on it. It was exactly seven-thirty, half an hour before the end of the tournament. This couldn''t help but make Jon narrow his eyes, and an idea suddenly sprang up in his mind. *** The riot of dragons in the forbidden forest had attracted the attention of everyone waiting at the exit for the tournament to end. The reporters had new material to photograph, holding their cameras up and pressing the shutter constantly towards the dragons soaring above the Forbidden Forest, causing a gasp to ring out from everyone present as the dragon mes lit up half of the sky in the distance. And inside Hogwarts Castle, the students in the Castle''s High Towers undoubtedly had a better viewing position, it was the time to rx and unwind at the end of dinner and before curfew had begun, and instead of going back to themon room, many of the purebloods and half-bloods were ying in the corridors. The vast majority of the students'' attention was drawn when the startling sound of a dragon roaring rang out. They had sought out the nearest towers and window sills to look in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, and the dozen or so behemoths that flew up from the Forbidden Forest brought looks of excitement and shock to the faces of many. There was clearly some greatmotion taking ce in the Forbidden Forest, but not many of the students in the castle were worried or scared by it. Draco, the champion of Hogwarts Castle, had been eliminated at the beginning anyway, and now there was no champion of theirs in the Forbidden Forest to take part in the tournament at all, so they were all happy to watch a big buzz as the scenes in the tournament got more chaotic now. Cedric was also standing in one of the towers of the castle looking at the ming clouds of dragon mes above the Forbidden Forest, and his face filled with gloom and worry. On the meadow at the exit of the Forbidden Forest, not only Matthew and the other three judges were present, but Rosier, Beauxbatons'' Deputy Headmaster and Dumbledore himself had also arrived. Apart from Voldemort, all the judges of the Triwizard Tournament were then present. Matthew looked grimly at the dragon trainers, he would hate to see any surprises in this Triwizard Tournament, it would be better to end the whole thing by following the rules, and it doesn''t matter who wins or loses in the end. "What the hell is going on?" The lead dragon trainer finally snapped out of his thoughts from the riot of those dragons and swallowed a mouthful of saliva as he replied. "These dragons are all enraged, they are furious and no one can control them anymore unless they can be allowed to dissipate their anger." "What I want to know is the REASON WHY this is happening!" Matthew increased his volume as he looked at the dragon trainer with cold eyes. "We paid for all these dragons, including you all! So why are they still in the state they are in now!" "If you need to, Mr Graves, we can go into the Forbidden Forest right now to investigate the cause." The dragon trainer looked at him with ack of fear on his face and said with a shrug, "It''s true, we are dragon trainers, and it is also true that you paid for these dragons, but they are not some house elves. Besides, you guys are the ones who have chosen the female dragons in heat despite our advice, and they''re much harder to control, and no one can control them in this state." Matthew was about to say something else when Dumbledore, who had a calm look on his face, said reassuringly. "No need to get so worked up Matthew, it''s just some unexpected situation that has arisen, idents are inevitable at the Triwizard Tournament, there''s no way for anyone to predict such things." Now only Jon was the only one who hadn''t shown up yet, the odds being that these dragons'' strange movements in the Forbidden Forest now had something to do with him are high, but Dumbledore, as the person of interest, looked a lot calmer than everyone else. Without saying anything more to the dragon trainer, Matthew walked over to Dumbledore, avoiding the shing lights of the journalists and deliberately lowering his voice. "Do we need to do anything to remedy the situation?" Dumbledore didn''t answer his question at first, but instead first picked up his watch and looked at the time on it. "Don''t do anything, the rules of the tournament are that unless someone issues a plea for help and indicates they want to withdraw, only then the judges can intervene, otherwise, no one is in a position to interfere in this tournament." The person most likely to be in danger now would be Jon, and as Jon''s Headmaster, Dumbledore himself hadn''t said anything, then naturally Matthew wouldn''t say anything more. The riot that had arisen in the Forbidden Forest did not affect the situation on this side of the exit, and after the initial shock, Diane and Emil continued to confront each other. They held their wands up and looked at each other in opposition, while their Professors, Rosier and the deputy headmaster of the Beauxbatons, stood just a short distance away. Time gradually passed, not long before eight o''clock, and upon the final few minutes, Diane took the initiative! "Stupefy!" A bright red spell illuminated this clearing on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, and as the duel reeled in the attention of everyone present! Jon patted Hoss''s balding head, he had never thought a balding horse with big and small eyes could be quite cute to his eyes. "I need you to help me with something a bit dangerous, Hoss." Hoss, who was running, snored as if he didn''t care about Jon''s words. Jon told Hoss his n, he couldn''t call it a n, he knew that Hoss couldn''t think much of anythingplicated with his brain, he just told him what to do. When Hoss heard Jon''s words, he stopped his horse''s hooves in faith. Although he had only known Jon for less than three days, there was already enough understanding and trust between the horse and the boy that there was no need for Jon to make any request, as long as he asked, Hoss simply agreed to do it. After Jon got off his back, Hoss took the clothes Jon had taken off, which smelt of dragon eggs, in his mouth and winked at him with his small and big eyes, as if to show him that he was brave enough to do this simple task. But Jon looked at it seriously and warned. "If you get into a situation where you can''t run away, remember not to wait until the end, just get rid of these clothes ande to me quickly, Hagrid has asked me to look after you, if anything happens to you, I have no way of exining it to him." Hoss had already made a quick turn by this time, biting Jon''s robe and weighing hriously, before transforming back into the wind and disappearing from the spot. After he left, Jon didn''t linger, he looked at the time on the pocket watch in his hand and immediately rose into the air. As Hoss led Jon on a wild ride through the forbidden forest, there was no way for the dragons to catch up with them, and the Ukrainian Ironbelly that had stopped them at the beginning had just happened to pass right by the route Hoss was running. Now all the dragons were flying over the Forbidden Forest, blocking the stars and a few blocking the moon, and were approaching as fast as they could in the direction of Jon''s location. But soon, as Hoss and Jon separated, it became clear that all the dragons flying in the sky, had a different target in mind. The dragons parted, with a dozen of them all chasing in the direction Hoss was running, but seven or eight of them still flew straight towards Jon. Jon didn''t stop after seeing these dragons in the sky, he avoided the location of the ones flying towards him and circled deeper into the forbidden forest. Naturally, he could not fly as fast as Hoss, who was running on the ground, but at least he could still be in the sky with the huge dragons for a while, and that was all Jon needed. However, he had taken into ount the speed at which the vast majority of the other dragons moved but had overlooked the aggressive fury of the Hungarian Horntail Dragon. It flew fast, and its target was always Jon, not half confused by Hoss''s separation, while right behind it was the Norwegian Ridgeback. The same one that Jon had defeated and knocked unconscious. It was second only to the Hungarian Horntail dragon in terms of dragon infamy, and its lean size meant that it was far faster than a huge, bloated dragon species like the Ukrainian Ironbelly. So soon these two dragons had closed in behind Jon! Their speed was somewhat unexpected, but if it was only these two dragons, Jon did not feel much panic because of it. His body was still flying ahead at great speed, but his entire body had already shifted to face the Hungarian Horntail Dragon, which was getting closer and closer to him, and he raised his wand with both hands together! A dazzling green glow shone from the tip of Jon''s wand! Jon held his wand backwards with both hands and as if he was waving a paintbrush, he traced the sign of death in the air! "Avada Kedavra!!!" An aura of death filled the sky around him as beams of green light as thick as a small arm shot out from the tip of his wand, cutting a bright line across the sky! So bright was that this Killing curse could be seen by students within Hogwarts Castle, whom were an unknown distance away, as it dazzled across the sky! The Hungarian Horntail Dragon was apparently ranging into life-threatening danger! "ROAR!!!" It roared out, its dragon body abruptly deviating in mid-air to avoid the Killing Curse. But even if it was fast, it was still a huge dragon, and Jon had chosen the right moment to cast the curse, the distance between one dragon and him was less than a hundred metres, so even if it could have reacted, its body would not have been able to keep up with its nerves! The green light hit its broad wings straight on, and the next moment, blood was spurting out of its eyes, ears, nose and mouth! Its wings could no longer be swung, and its huge body fell helplessly towards the ground, sshing the trees with hot dragon blood like rain! "Boom!" With a loud bang followed by the sound of countless trees being broken, the Hungarian Horntail Dragon was sessfully knocked down by Jon. But even though it had suffered such severe damage, Jon''s Killing Curse still failed to kill it outright! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 350: The Siege of Dragons (2 in 1) Chapter 350: The Siege of Dragons (2 in 1) The Hungarian Horntail dragon''s blood continued to gush from its face, the hot scarlet liquid making a loud sound like moltenva as soon as it struck the trees and grass. It was as if a wizard who had never learnt the curse had suddenly used a killing curse on a person, but that kind of curse would only cause the person to have a nosebleed and be dizzy for a while. The Horntail dragon''s current state was certainly not that mild; Jon''s two-handed technique was not just a private study of his own from the Forbidden Book, but had been instructed by Grindelwald over a long period of time, and was more powerful than the killing curse used by normal dark wizards. A killing curse of this level caused the Horntail dragon to suffer badly, and it was so dazed that it couldn''t get up from the ground even after a long while, but the horrible amount of dragon blood that had been spurting out of its seven orifices at first had gradually stopped, leaving only arge streak of blood on the ground. It was also lucky enough that its flight speed was fast enough, plus the fact that Jon himself was constantly moving, resulting in little time for precise aiming. If this killing curse had hit its eyes, which had the weakest defence, it would have been more than just a simple case as it was now, and it would definitely have had a hard time escaping death. But even so, it did not instil much fear in the Horntail dragon''s heart, but rather aroused its ferocity! It rose up from the grass and its huge wings spread out! All the trees it touched were snapped off with the force of its wings until a raging torrent of air swept through the grass and the canopy, and the Horntail Dragon roared, its blood sliding and dripping off its scales before it rose back into the sky in a muddled manner! Jon gasped and kept shifting and moving in the sky. The Norwegian Ridgeback that had followed behind the Hungarian Horntail Dragon was still close behind him, and the dragon''s breath that was constantly spewed out possessed a heat hot enough to melt steel, constantly baking his back. The two-handed casting of a spell can enhance the spell''s power, but it is not without cost and can be extremely taxing on the caster''s physical strength. The more advanced the spell, the more physical stamina it consumed, and the Killing Curse is the most powerful of all dark magics. With the shot Jon had just used, he had thought that even if he couldn''t hit the eye directly, it would still be enough to kill the Hungarian Horntail dragon, but he had underestimated the resilience of dragons against magic. Even if Jon could use a second killing curse like that, he wouldn''t dare to use it again. Even if he managed to kill a dragon, it wouldn''t help his situation, five or six dragons were targeting him anding after him. As for the post-match thing of having his wand checked by a Prior Incantato charm, instead of worrying about being held ountable by the judging team, Jon should now think well in advance about what kind of nasty words he could use to verbally spit at them at that asion. No matter who was behind such a mishap, the direct responsibility must be on the judges in charge of the tournament task, and it was not Jon''s fault that he had been forced to use a killing curse. As he continued to dodge the attacks of the Norwegian Ridgeback in the sky, Jon also noticed that other dragon species were getting closer to him. It is a ck dragon of the Hebrides inds known for its ferocity and aggression, and there is also a Peruvian Vipertooth dragon flying from the other direction, the smallest of the known dragons, but also the fastest, much faster than even the Horntail dragon! It crossed the distance of dozens of metres almost in the blink of an eye, aiming straight at Jon, its scarlet pupils full of madness, its pair of long teeth full of venom that were so striking in the moonlight! Together with the Hungarian Horntail Dragon, which had already risen from the ground, Jon knew in his heart that he could not stay in the open sky for much longer, surrounded by four dragons. If he had the speed advantage, it would have been best for him to emerge out of the forbidden forest and take the battlefield in mid-air, so that he could watch the direction of the dragons'' movements and evade them at the same time, avoiding a situation like the one before when Hoss had led him through the woods only to collide head-on with the Ukrainian Ironbelly. But now that it was these dragons who had the speed advantage, then Jon would have to opt for a change of strategy and return to the densely wooded forbidden forest. With the massive size of these dragons, there was no way that they could be fast as they were able to in the forbidden forest sky, while Jon could instead evade with his more dexterous size. So Jon didn''t hesitate much, he simply changed the direction of his flight and entered the dense woods of the Forbidden Forest at the same time as the Hungarian Horntail Dragon rose back into the sky. Instead of alighting between the trees, he remained flying low at all times, deftly moving forward through the forbidden forest like a darting bird. Soon the Ridgeback closest to Jon crashed into the woods after it followed him! That''s right, it was simply incapable of weaving through the Forbidden Forest like Jon at its size, the word "crash" would have been more appropriate, as countless trees copsed under the weight and the Forbidden Forest folk who had no time to react scattered! The tall trees that had taken hundreds of years to grow deep into the Forbidden Forest pose enough resistance for the Ridgeback to fail to keep up with Jon''s flight, and he was soon able to gain some space. But these dragons were far more clever than Jon had thought! The Norwegian Ridgeback had been thwarted in the forbidden forest, but the other three dragons that had closed in on Jon had no intention of staying on the same level as him to catch up, and the way they had originally tracked Jon was through scent rather than vision. As he flew into the woods, the first to get close was the fastest dragon of all, the Peruvian Vipertooth! It soon locked on to Jon''s position under the trees by scent, then without hesitation, it aimed its long, narrow fangs at the ground and the whole dragon began to fall! "Boom!" Even if it was the smallest of the dragon species, the Peruvian Vipertooth Dragon was still muchrger than the average creature, and its sizebined with the tremendous impact from falling from the sky caused the ground in this nearby area to shake violently! Jon heard the movement overhead two seconds earlier, he couldn''t see the dragon through the canopy, but his body reacted instantly, deflecting to the right as the surrounding trees snapped with a crunching sound! The Peruvian Vipertooth Dragon wasn''t too big after all, and if this had been an Ironbelly falling, Jon wouldn''t have been able to dodge it no matter what. But even so, the strong wind from the fall still caused him to be skewed, causing him to lose control of his flight and crash straight into the trunk of arge tree! At the moment of the impact on his back, Jon felt as if his whole body had lost consciousness, followed by an uncontroble rush of sweetness in his throat! But he didn''t hesitate for even half a second to reorganise his levitation charm and immediately flew away from that spot! Two or three seconds after he flew away, a golden-red dragon me descended from the sky! The heat ignited the surrounding trees in an instant, and the dragon''s breath didn''t stop there when it realised it hadn''t hit the right target, but kept moving in the direction Jon had fled! He had followed the wagon to escape before, entered the wolf''s den of Hogwarts Castle, been to Azkaban''s prison, been besieged by Death Eaters, and even faced the cruellest dark wizard couple, but today he actually met such a miserable situation by a group of beasts. The ability to fly could be a great advantage against wizards, but when facing multiple dragons it would be less of an advantage and would instead magnify the target. In addition, the dragons themselves were extremely defensive, and the magic in Jon''s body had not yet fully grown, so there was no way for normal spell casting to be able to break off their defences, let alone do any effective damage. In the beginning, he was able to escape so easily only because of the speed of Hoss''s racial talent. Now that the two of them were running away separately, even if there were only five or six dragons on Jon''s side, they were still not something he could easily fight against. With such numbers, even the most professional dragon yers would have to gather more than twenty people to barely cope, and those people were all well-trained and professional at fighting dragons, while Jon was now alone. Just after Jon had escaped the dragon''s breath from the Horntail dragon that had been hit by his Killing curse and badly injured, the next moment another shadow that covered the night sky loomed over his head! The ck Dragon of the Hebrides Inds is muchrger than the Peruvian Vipertooth! This species of dragon has always been known for its robustness too, so Jon reacted even faster than before, his body elerated and leaned forward, and even to pull his speed to the limit, he turned his back and sent a sting curse silently and instantaneously very close behind him! With the sessive curses, Jon''s entire body catapulted out like a cannonball! The ck dragon''s figure then crushed the woods so heavily that even though Jon had increased his speed to the maximum, he still could not avoid its size. The huge and hideous head was aimed straight at him with its open bloody maw and a burst of burning sparksing out of it! It looked like it wanted to swallow Jon right into its mouth and scorch him with its breath! But at the same time, Jon raised his wand with both hands! He swung his wand in an instant, and the incantation came out of his mouth! "Sectumsempra!" There were only a few spells in the magical world that were faster than the speed at which the Invisible Sword Curse disyed its impact, and almost as soon as Jon recited the incantation, a sharp edge of countless swords cut through the air produced a loud, slithering sound! Then the air was sliced, and the piercing cracking sound of flesh and blood being torn apart rang out loud and clear! Compared to their eyes, the mouths of dragons are not considered vulnerable, after all, they can withstand the heat of a dragon''s breath, and the inside of their mouths are no less defensive than the surface of their bodies. But even if it was not much inferior, the inner defence was still not as strong as the dragon''s hide, and with the fact that Jon''s Invisible Sword Curse was fully strengthened, it was far more powerful than the normal version! The invisible shes ravaged the ck dragon''s mouth, causing it to feel unbearable pain, and with this opportunity, Jon elerated forward as if he were gliding in mid-air, finally escaping from the reach of this ck dragon! The Hebridean ck dragon roared in pain, and hot blood continued to flow from its closed mouth, dripping onto the grass. And just as Jon was out of danger, a huge w grazed his side and mmed into the ground where he was! The Norwegian Ridgeback that had followed him into the forbidden forest was now stomping on the ck dragon''s body, and trying to p Jon to death with its ws! Its attack had missed by some distance, but some of the rocks from its ws hitting the ground still hit Jon''s body, which aggravated Jon, who was already feeling like he might have broken that rib, and the fishy taste that had been suppressed came back up from his throat! This time he didn''t suppress it and opened his mouth and spurted out a gush of blood that stained the patch of grass at his feet. The scene was chaotic as the Norwegian Ridgeback stepped on the back of the ck Dragon of the Hebrides Inds and tried to resume its attack on Jon, the Peruvian Vipertooth Dragon, which had just pulled its fangs out of the ground, reared up and was looking for Jon, and the wounded and still dizzy Hungarian Horntail Dragon re-inhaled and gathered its dragon me as if it didn''t care that the ck Dragon and the Ridgeback were nearby to unleash another dragon breath on Jon! Just as Jon wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and prepared to pull himself further away from the dragons, a silvery white figure suddenly leapt out of the sea of fire! The figure was so fast and precisely aimed at Jon that he didn''t even react before he felt carried on a smooth back and then disappeared from the chaos! After realising that Jon had disappeared, all four dragons became even more furious. The Hebridean ck Dragon spat mes at the Norwegian Ridgeback, and the Hungarian Horntail, which had finished building up its energy, didn''t stop when Jon disappeared, and the hot mes hit the Peruvian Vipertooth, which had just taken flight. The dragons had no sense of race, and now that theirmon enemy, Jon, had disappeared, there was a natural conflict between them due to their frenzied state. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 351: Hatred lasts no more than a night Chapter 351: Hatredsts no more than a night Jon felt like his stomach was about to be turned upside down. The one that carried him away from those dragons was the leader of the Unicorn in the Forbidden Forest, a littlerger than a normal Unicorn with a longer horn on its head, so it was easily recognisable. It was certainly not as fast as Hoss, but it was faster than Jon''s normal flying speed, and as a darling of nature, still in the Forbidden Forest, their home base, it was almost impossible for the dragons to catch up with it here. Jon spat two more gushes of blood into the ground and then clutched the unicorn''s neck, barely managing to keep his body sideways so that his stomach didn''t keep getting jostled, which made him feel a little better. He stroked the unicorn''s fur. "Thank you for your help, but don''t take me to your pack with you in the end, those dragons can track the scent and will find us, and you will be in big trouble when there are more of them." To this the unicorn didn''t respond much, it still ran deeper into the forbidden forest like it knew what to do. Jon said nothing more to it, instead, he braced himself and looked again at the time on his pocket watch, there were less than twenty minutes until the end of the first tournament task at eight o''clock and there was no telling what condition Hoss might be in. Just as Jon was looking at the time on his pocket watch, the unicorn led Jon to the destination it wanted to reach. Eventually, it led Jon to its flock, where unicorns of all sizes were gathered together as if hiding from the scourge dragons that gued the forbidden forest with fire. Jon was now so physically exhausted, one shot of the enhanced Killing Curse and one shot of the Invisible Sword Curse had drained him so badly that he could barely stand up on his legs at all, and after getting off the unicorn''s back, he slumped down on the grass t on his back. He knew he couldn''t rest yet; when he and Hoss had split up, they had agreed on a rendezvous time, and with that time not that long away, he had to first observe where Hoss was now through those dragons in the sky. This, coupled with the possibility that the few dragons that were chasing him would be looking for him at any moment, did not rx Jon''s tense spirit one bit. He was only vaguely aware of the fact that he was surrounded by unicorns, and then a few drops of a slightly hot liquid fell onto his lips, causing him to lick them subconsciously. As the liquid was licked into his mouth, it was only after a few seconds that he felt something different in his body. There was extremely pure and powerful magic flowing through his body, acting like a source of heat that ran along every part of his body, and soon the intense pain that had been in his back disappeared! He could even feel his broken ribs, recovering little by little! Not just the physical damage, but the tired spirit, was bing revitalised along with it, making Jon, who one second wanted to just close his eyes, not wanting to move a finger, sit up abruptly on the ground the next. He blinked his eyes and saw the little unicorn in front of him. It was looking at him with clean, bright eyes, and a few drops of silvery liquid could still be seen faintly oozing from the wound that had been burned by the dragon''s fire breath which had since been mostly healed with the fresh Dittany Sap! The blood of a Unicorn. It is arguably the most powerful healing elixir in the world, there is no need to add other messy things to neutralise it, legend has it that just the blood itself can achieve the effect of bringing the dead back to life. But Unicorns are considered a holy and pure race, and if one were to kill a Unicorn just to take its blood, the person who drank it would suffer the most horrible curse for eternity. This has led to the fact that although Unicorn blood has such powerful effects, it is hardly circted in the magical world, even though it is the blood that can save lives and purify the deadliest of poisons. But that is the case when the blood is taken by force; if a unicorn is willing to give its blood to a human of its own ord, then naturally there is no such curse. Apparently, the drops of liquid that Jon had just tasted were the blood of this little unicorn, and even though they were only a few drops, they had a healing effect far beyond that of the Phoenix''s tears. When the little unicorn saw Jon, who was still confused, sitting up from the ground, it leaned over and nuzzled against his face, which brought Jon back to his senses. Just then, a couple of Bowtruckles came bouncing up to him with some leaves in their hands, they then tore them open and crumbled them, and soon some of the greenish sap fell onto Jon''s body. The little unicorn also licked Jon''s face and upper body along with that sap and soon the fishy smell that had been lingering on him was gone! Jon''s eyes widened as he touched the area that had just been licked by the little unicorn, and even that part of his skin felt a little whiter than the rest. This was clearly an effect of the mixture of the leaves brought in by these Bowtruckles and the unicorn''s saliva. He looked around at the creatures that surrounded him in the middle, and the emotion andplexity in his heart could not be expressed. If he hadn''t agreed to do Hagrid a favour, he would never have thought of looking for these Unicorns in the first ce, nor would he havee across the Bowtruckles, let alone meet Hoss. Now in the Forbidden Forest, no matter which one of them, they had helped Jon immensely, to the point of beingpletely considered a lifesaver. "Hey, thank you, my friend." Jon rubbed the little unicorn''s face, which made the unicorn in question seem a little shy. He stood up from the ground and the Bowtruckles who were still holding broken leaves in their hands jumped onto his shoulders and Jon inclined his head to look at them. "And thank you all for that." The Bowtruckles tugged at his hair as if they were responding to Jon''s words of thanks. Jon picked up a branch from the side and with a tap of his wand at it, he turned it into a ck robe and put it on himself, and the Bowtruckles jumped andnded on the head of the little Unicorn, and then jumped back down to the ground. It was not just the Unicorns and the Bowtruckles that had gathered here, but most of the other magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest were here as well; themotion created by the dragons had left them to seek a temporary safe haven to hide, and this ce hadn''t yet been infested by the dragons. The sound of a dragon roaring could still be faintly heard in the distance and Jon buttoned up his robes as he turned his head to look at the flock of unicorns and the rest of those creatures. "This danger will soon pass, don''t worry, no one wille back to the Forbidden Forest for further harassment after this time, and all these dragons will be all taken away." Although not all the magical creatures understood the human tongue, the vast majority of them sensed the goodwill in Jon''s words. Then finally Jon looked to the flock of unicorns and with a smile on his face he stepped forward and hugged the neck of the leader of the unicorn that had saved him from the siege of the dragons. "I-I you guys have helped me out a lot this time, even though I''ve said it before, words like this cannot be said enough, I truly appreciate your help." There were times when creatures simply had more pure emotions than humans, simply because Jon had helped them out, they naturally felt they had to repay Jon''s kindness as much as they could. The unicorn leader also rubbed Jon''s face, showing its goodwill. Jon didn''t dy any longer, he looked at the time on his pocket watch onest time, there were just under ten minutes to go before the end of the first tournament task, and he now had to settle the problem of these dragons in the forbidden forest and finish the tournament in the process. The expression on his face turned cold. To be able to think of using the tournament to deal with him, there was no need to even guess who the mastermind behind this was, and the other party had no intention of hiding it at all because even if Jon managed to survive the siege of so many dragons in the end, he didn''t have any tangible evidence. The faulty golden snitch was inevitably nowhere to be found, and since they could instruct a Manticore to protect Emil, it was only natural that they could get another creature to handle the golden snitch''s end of the line. Even if everyone knew in their hearts who had done it, as long as they refused it, there would be nothing anyone could do. There was no way the Triwizard Tournament would be suspended, nor would Jon be given any extra points for this, and even if he were, it would be useless, which is why they were so bold as to make such an obvious attack. Jon had always felt that he was not a good person, otherwise, he wouldn''t have followed Grindelwald to learn the killing curse and other dark magic, and now that he had suffered such a big loss, he would not simply swallow his anger and pretend that nothing had happened. Since there was no way to deal with it through the normal rules, he would have to create some kind of ident! The dragon riot was an ident, so it''s normal for other idents to happen, right? Not only did Jon not want to swallow his anger, but he also wasn''t even going to carry it beyond tonight! He used his levitation charm and flew above the Forbidden Forest, and from where he was, he had an unobstructed view of the movements of all the dragons in the sky. After the smell of dragon eggs had been removed from him, the four dragons that had previously surrounded him had all lost their initial targets and were now flying towards the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. There were still more than a dozen fire dragons roaming the night sky in that direction, and thisrger group moved together over the Forbidden Forest like kites held together by a string. They were clearly chasing Hoss, but Hoss''s great speed gave them no way of judging their precise target, and they never attacked the ground as they flew through the sky. He did not wait any longer and flew directly over the Forbidden Forest towards the general area where Hoss could be found. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 352: Interest Chapter 352: Interest Jon soon found Hoss based on the movement of the dragons over the Forbidden Forest. He had followed Jon''s words and had been wandering around the outer edge of the Forbidden Forest, not wandering away, deliberately circling in the edge, and when Jon found him, he almost failed to stop in a hurry and crashed into a tree. Hoss looked excited as he and Jon regrouped, the clothes he was holding in his mouth were soaked with saliva, and those big and small eyes were filled with abative glint. Rather than feeling scared, it had stimted his inner frenzy and upon regrouping with Jon he let out a grunt like a donkey at the top of his lungs, like he was showing off his exploits! "Well done Hoss! I''ll be sure to ask Hagrid to help to introduce you to a female Pegasus when we get out; Do you like Thestral species? Well, I almost forgot you can even ept a different breed, so of course a Thestral will do, I just don''t know if you can see them." Jon rubbed the Hoss''s bald head, his face gradually bing serious and solemn. "Whates next is a key matter for me, but don''t forget what I told you, focus on your own safety first, and if anything goes wrong, just drop it and run to where the wagon is at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and once you get there, no one or anything will be able to trouble you any further. If all goes well, then you should leave the confines of Hogwarts immediately and run to Hogsmeade, do you know that ce? It''s that little vige on the other side of the Forbidden Forest. There you can easily find a Bar with a hog''s head on the door in one of the streets, keep this note with you, and then the owner of that bar will take care of you." As he said this, Jon folded a note that said "Please take care of him, just like you took care of mest year" and stuck it on his donkey-like ears with magic. With that done, Jon mounted on Hoss''s back, the dragons in the sky already sniffing and approaching! With a final nce at the time on his pocket watch, Jon whispered. "Come on, let''s get going!" *** The duel between Emile and Diane had reached a climactic point. Both of them are about the same age, they studied more or less the same amount of normal non-lethal magic in school, they both belong to families with a long history in dark magic, and they both have some experience in magic duelling, although it is not much. In the open space of the Forbidden Forest, it was difficult to tell the winner of the duel between them. But as time passed, and it got closer and closer to the end of the tournament, both knew that they could no longer drag it out and had to settle quickly. "Confringo!" Emil recited the incantation in a cold voice, and immediately afterwards a loud explosion rang out right beside Diane, and a huge crater was blown in the grass, the dirt caught in the air currents generated by the st, not only interrupting the spellcasting action she was performing but also causing her entire body to be knocked off to the left by the impact. Beyond the tournament ground, Rosier''s face instantly slumped, and she turned her head to look at Matthew, whose face remained unchanged. "So some people have broken the rules in front of so many people in the ce, and you don''t have anything to say about it?" Matthew said to Rosier with a calm countenance. "Please don''t be anxious for now Professor Rosier, we will check his wand usage afterwards ording to the rules, this sting curse is indeed considered a borderline attempt at breaking the rules, after some discussion between the panel of judges, we shall issue the appropriate discipline and punishment." The deputy headmaster of Beauxbatons, however, grunted from the side. "What do you mean by a borderline attempt at breaking the rules? Emil has been very restrained and controlled in his dark magic casting, that shot of the curse wasn''t even directed at a person, it intentionally sted on an empty space at the side, and that can be called breaking the rules? Have the people of Durmstrang lived in peace for so long that they can''t even see that this has actually been a mercy?" Rosier narrowed her eyes and turned her head to look silently at the tall, thin, mean-looking male wizard who had repeatedly made a death wish. "Actually, I haven''t asked the gentleman''s name after all the time we''ve met so far?" "Brooke Bonnesante!" The male wizard nced over at Rosier with an arrogant look on his face and proudly pronounced his family name, a long-standing European pureblood family that in no waycked History to the Rosier Family. Dumbledore watched the two men''s conversation from just beside them, smiling without saying a word. Rosier nodded. "Very well, Brooke Bonnesante." The very next second that everyone thought she was going to deliver some kind of tit-for-tat or leave after saying some harsh words, Rosier suddenly raised the wand in her hand! A vicious red light shot out abruptly from the tip of her wand and instantly struck Bonnesante''s body! The next instant, the deputy headmaster of Beauxbatons fell to the grass with a twisted, convulsing body and a shrill howl of pain escaped his lips! And while almost everyone around was still stunned by what was happening in front of them and hadn''t reacted yet, Rosier had already taken three or two steps to reach Bonnesante''s body, and her boots, covered in grass clippings and dirt, were just stomping heavily on his bald head! "What are you doing! She''s going to kill me! Help!" The excruciating pain caused by Cruciatus Curse was so painful that Bonnesante could no longer hold his wand steady, and fear took hold of him sopletely that he could only keep bellowing. The judge from the Middle East looked as if he couldn''t stand it any longer, and he took a step forward with a frown. "I don''t know much about the habits on this side of Europe, but is it customary for you all to greet each other with a Cruciatus Curse?" For his part, Matthew''s gaze didn''t even turn to where Rosier stood, he acted as if he hadn''t seen or heard anything, still keeping his eyes on the duel between the two champions on the outskirts of the forbidden forest. The journalists, on the other hand, were so excited that they felt they had definitely earned their keep, taking enough pictures to make headlines the next day! Rosier paid no attention to the Middle Eastern wizard''s words, she simply stared coldly at the still-twitching Bonnesante at her feet and lowered her voice. "I''ve never been one for talking nonsense to dead people, but some people are always as snotty as slugs making people nauseous all the time. Don''t worry, I won''t kill you just yet, but you''d better not rack up any more interest, or I''m afraid you''ll be begging to die when the timees." And just as there was some hup among the judges, the time came to the importantst minute until the end of the first tournament task. Emil''s sudden sting curse did not cause Diane any immediate damage, but it did disrupt her spellcasting rhythm considerably, and she was forced to move further away from the silver line at the exit from where she had been previously steadily pushing Emil back! In turn, Emil moved closer to the line that had begun to fade and was clearly about to disappear. His eyes had lit up with excitement, no matter how badly he had been crushed face-to-face with Jon in the Forbidden Forest, now if he could just finish first, then he would have a solid first ce on the scoreboard unless Diane volunteered to stand guard right here at the exit and wait until Jon came out and gave him second ce. But whether Jon would still be able to get out of the forbidden forest or not is still a matter of uncertainty. But just as Emil was about to reach the edge of the Silver Line, a sudden roar from a horde of dragons exploded like thunder in the sky not far away! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 353: Inside the Castle (2 in 1) Chapter 353: Inside the Castle (2 in 1) At Hogwarts Castle, there was still an hour before curfew, so at this moment the towers, bothrge and small, were packed with students. Those who could upy the highest and best positions were naturally pureblood students, while the half-blood students were also conscious enough not topete with the noble ones. But no matter which position they were in, they could see that the dragons in the Forbidden Forest, who had been scattered, were being gathered together right now! Yes, it was as if the frenzied dragons were being pulled to the edge of the Forbidden Forest by someone who had attached an invisible leash to them, which caused the students in the castle to let out a gasp. "I bet it was that terrorist Jon Green who caused the trouble!" Grandio, a sixth-year student of the Half-Blood House, said with a picture-perfect smile as if he had seen it with his own eyes. "I heard from the professors that he''s brimming with evil, has a rotten apple face like a goblin, and cane up with a wicked scheme to harm the magicalmunity in his mind with the blink of an eyelid. He must have done something to the dragons in the Forbidden Forest, like throwing slugs at their heads or stealing their most valuable organs with some weird dark magic. Now he''s in big trouble, these dragons are after him, and we''ll get the news when the first tournament task is over and Mr Headmaster would happily announce to us, ''Thest hope of the wanted criminals is dead, their ambition to re-pollute this castle has beenpletely dashed, and boys and girls, we''re celebrating by exempting this term''s homework!'' Oh! Gosh, this is wonderful!" It was as if he had imagined a bright future, and the half-blood students around him had smiles on their faces as if they had heard something incredibly funny. "It''s going to be bad for that dark lord Dumbledore, he''s made a bet with Mr Headmaster, so once Jon Green is dead they won''t have any hope of winning at all, what''s the name of that Champion from Durmstrang? Diane Rosier? Rosier, well maybe she might be capable of something, but she''s certainly no match for the two purebloods, Lestrange and Malfoy together, the victory will definitely be ours, and then in the end France will be ours too, and those Witching Horizons'' people will be rolling out of our territory like rats in a gutter!" There was a roar ofughter among the half-blood students, most of them basking in this arguably fanciful and imminent future that Grandio was talking about, and there was even a sneer of reminder. "Don''t forget what Mr Headmaster said, mudbloods don''t count as human beings at all, and it''s said that the so-called Witching Horizon is where the mudbloods pile up." Cedric watched with an expressionless face as all his fellow students around him were voicing unabashed discrimination and insults towards Dumbledore, Jon and everyone they represented. He didn''tugh along with theughter as it rang out; it had taken him actually living in this school to feel the horrors of the twisted education. He could be sure that most of his ssmates around him are kind, who would treat their friends with loyalty, their teachers with respect, and their rtives with affection, no different from any child who has received a true, good and beautiful education. But they were just equally ustomed to seeing themselves as part of the present Hogwarts castle, with that great gentleman as the spiritual leader in their hearts. The long time spent in school which distinguishes the gap and hierarchy between half-bloods and purebloods have made them all learn the difference between the inferior and the superior now, believing that any wizard with pureblood is bound to be good and that the so-called mudbloods are not even human. Because they hadn''t even had much contact with the oppressed students, all the impressions in their minds came from the twisted perceptions imparted by the muggle studies sses that, in Cedric''s eyes, were enough to be described as frightening. That was horrific. Even if the truth was revealed before their eyes and all the lies of pureblood were exposed, they would find every reason and excuse to justify the rules and systems they hade to ept. Many half-blood students have seen Jon and heard the words that he left behindst year. There are times when words can influence people, but in more cases, they remain ineffective, no matter how transparent and straightforward they are. Cedric, on the other hand, had never really believed in the truths taught in the castle, his family had taught him what was right and what was wrong, but to live in the wrong society, his father had defied his own beliefs and continued to serve the "higher" purebloods in the Ministry of Magic. Cedric himself was left to live in the castle, bewildered and alone. Jon''s words had never changed Cedric''s mind, he had never thought that what he had been taught at Hogwarts was right, it had just torn down his cowardice and shown him that perhaps many people knew what was right and wrong in the beginning, but they had been changed by their submission. Cedric couldn''t ept that kind of change, and that''s how he came into contact with the Centaurs after Jon had rescued the Muggle students from the castle. He knew there was very little he could do, far from being able to make much difference to the bigger picture, but one can''t just sit back and wait to be saved by someone more capable just because one''s role is small, can they? One may need the help of others to save their life, but one can only rely on oneself for inner salvation. Cedric had no intention of rebuking the malicious spection and ridicule of his fellow students around him, knowing full well that it would be useless and would put him in danger at the same time. But there were times even if he didn''t say anything, that didn''t mean no one would go after him. "Why are you being so glum! Do you disagree with what Grandio said, Diggory?" The person who asked such a blunt question was a girl with freckles all over her face and a sarcastic expression written on her face. She red viciously at Cedric, desperate to find fault with him at every turn. It is not logical that a character like Cedric, who is always the good guy everywhere, should have a bad rtionship with anyone, but this girl is an exception. She had expressed her admiration and affection for Cedric in private the previous term and had been rejected, even though neither she nor Cedric himself had mentioned it to anyone, the girl still hated her former crush. At her words, everyone in the tower looked at Cedric, and everyone could see that the girl was right; in such a cheerful atmosphere, Cedric was the only one who did not have any joy on his face as a member of the half-blood group. Cedric looked over at the girl with his usual gentle face. "You can''t expect everyone to agree with each other, can you? I just think it''s demeaning to use our fantasy about our enemies as a pastime and rxation like that, no matter who it is." Although his words made the surrounding students ufortable to hear, they couldn''t find anything wrong with him, because he didn''t say that demeaning Jon was wrong either, he just thought that their way of rxing was very demeaning. However, the girl still said sourly. "I think you''re actually harbouring sympathy for those mudbloods, right? No need to pretend, Diggory, I''ve seen you once secretly give bread to the mudbloods who clean thevatory!" "But they refused your kindness, didn''t they! They themselves knew that with their lowliness they are not worthy of such things! And you, a proper citizen of the British magicalmunity! A student of Hogwarts Half-Blood House! How dare you harbour sympathy for them, are you in collusion with those wanted criminals!" A hat had been thrown at Cedric''s head, although it hadn''t been wrong after he had already met with Jon. But a definitive conclusion without any reasonable evidence was in fact a kind of holding a hatchet on his head. Perhaps she didn''t know what she was doing and the words that wereing out of her mouth now were just instinctive hatred, but she was acting in such a way that she was trying to get Cedric killed! The scene fell silent for an instant, all the students looking at you and me before finally redirecting their attention to Cedric. If at first when this was just an unwarranted usation against Cedric, a few random people would step forward and say a few words on the spot to divert the matter, but now no one dared to speak up any longer; it would have to be exined by Cedric himself, or someone would surely report the matter to the professorter. They surrounded Cedric, encircling him in the middle of the crowd, like a misfit alien. Cedric''s face was calm as he looked at his ssmates, categorised by bloodline and grouped into the same ss as him. They were all waiting for him to exin, but for some reason, Cedric suddenly didn''t want to speak now. He looked up into the starry sky, a world at night both beautiful and full of mystery, except that beneath this dreamy canvas a great shadow had somehow covered half of the sky. The Astronomy Tower, where Dumbledore and Voldemort had once duelled and the current Headmaster of the castle had been crowned as king. As the tallest tower in the entire Hogwarts castle, it was now naturally filled with the Professors of the castle. Aside from Snape, who had gone to stand in for Voldemort on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, all other professors were here, including Barty Jr, the Carrow siblings, Greengrass, and a selection of the Pureblood House Professors. The noise of themotion in the Forbidden Forest was so loud and the cloud that had appeared in the sky at the start made out of dragon''s breath was so dazzling that not only the whole school students were alerted, but the professors were also naturally no exception. "If you had been surrounded by ten dragons, how long could you have held out?" The night breeze blew the pale yellow hair on Barty Jr.''s forehead as he looked at the swarm of dragons that had obviously gathered and were chasing something, as he asked Amycus Carrow at his side in a casual voice. Amycus looked into the distant sky and narrowed his eyes. "If I could use an Apparition I could try to drag them around and finish them off one by one, as powerful as the dragons are, they have no sense of race and have always been solitary, much less able to work together, so splitting them up would not be too difficult of a solution." As he said this, a grim smile appeared on his lips. "But you can''t use Apparition magic within Hogwarts, including the Forbidden Forest, and being surrounded by so many dragons can only lead to death." A cruel and feral grin also appeared on the face of his sister, the chubby, pig-like Alecto. "Who came up with this idea for our lord! It''s brilliant, I just don''t know if that little mudblood will leave behind some part of his corpse to let me store and preserve it, I still want to show my students a unique example like that in my ssroom!" Greengrass frowned as she nced at Alecto as if displeased with her brutality and vulgarity that she looked like she was born with, without any semnce of pureblood family upbringing. Barty Jr. did not respond to Alecto''s question, he simply propped his hands on the edge of the tower and looked over to the area surrounded by dragons, with a casual smile on his face. If there was anyone in the world who possessed absolute loyalty to Voldemort, then Barty Jr. dared to call himself number one, and Be would probably only be number two. He didn''t get along with Snape, not only because Snape had a higher status than the vast majority of purebloods despite being a half-blood, but a bigger part was because he always felt that Snape''s loyalty to his lord wasn''t pure. Yes, Barty never denied Snape''s talents, he just felt that this man was an unstable time bomb, useful but also dangerous, so he always tried to convince his lord that he could let Snape do his duty, but he must not give him absolute authority. Barty didn''t know if his lord had taken his suggestion to heart, but he was well aware that the focus of their entire organisation these days should not be on the inside. Dumbledore''s group, who had previously been out of his lord''s mind and had been left dangling like tormented old men, were now actually beginning to show signs of rising to the surface. And it was surprising that the one who had the most impact on Voldemort himself was a student who had only just been moved up to the fourth year. This was very unusual and disturbing, at least to a group of loyal servants like Barty Jr. and the others who were really working for this British magical government that Voldemort had created. Of course, they firmly believed in the greatness and invincibility of their Lord, but there would always be ants who wanted to tear a bite out of the giant, and because of their smallness, it was often easy to seed. But when the giant really started to pay attention to the ant, then it would no longer be a problem for the giant. Barty Jr. narrowed his eyes, and the golden-red mes that lit up from time to time under the starry sky could not have been a more beautiful picture to his eyes. Behold, the insolent Ant is about to die, and he has not reached the highest expectations his lord had for him at the beginning. As the wizard, who had killed his own father and mother, thought this, his brow suddenly furrowed. Thendscape that had been so beautiful to his eyes was suddenly growing sorge that it had gradually taken over his pupils! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 354: The Dragons Who Break out of the Forbidden Forest Chapter 354: The Dragons Who Break out of the Forbidden Forest Emil was excited. He felt that he was only one step away from sess, but when the roar from the sky made him pause for a moment. And with that pause, he suddenly felt a gust of wind blow past him and then a hand grabbed the back cor of his robe and yanked him backwards! The next moment Emil fell to the ground, caught by surprise. Diane felt the opposite, she felt the same wind, but at the same time she felt her back being pushed forward by a pair of hands, then after just two steps she had somehow overtaken Emil, and when she looked back she found herself on the other side of the silver line! Diane looked back with a bewildered look on her face, and then she saw the person who had been responsible for this - Jon, who was smiling at her with a raised eyebrow! She had thought that Jon would not be able to make it tonight, the riot in the Forbidden Forest had made it clear to the smart girl that Voldemort must have plotted something against him in private, but she also knew that even if she went there she would not be able to help Jon in any way. If Jon could handle it, then she would be able to help him, but if he couldn''t, then there was nothing she could do. Therefore, in fact, the moment Emil was about to step into that silver line, Diane had already made up her mind. Since there was no way for her topete for first ce in the time ranking, she couldn''t let Emil''s result be tied with Jon''s either, so she nned to wait here until Jon had solved the trouble he was in and then give him the second ce so that he could surpass Emil with both resultsbined. As for her own cing, Diane didn''t care. Although it would have been in her best interests and the Rosier family''s best interests toe first in this Triwizard Tournament first task, Diane had always known that it was not just her personal or family interests that were at stake, and even if no one had told her that, she knew that she could not ruin the big picture by having some small thought that she should not have. But now the tables were turnedpletely at thest minute! While everyone thought for sure that he would be entangled by those dragons in the forbidden forest and that even if he was not in danger for a while, he would not be able to get rid of them for a while, Jon appeared in a manner that no one was able to see, and they simply could not quite believe what happened. Emil, who had fallen to the ground, froze as he sat there, looking incredulously at Diane and Jon, who had stepped outside the Silver Line. The whole scene went silent, neither the judges nor the journalists who held up their cameras, expecting such a situation at the end. Jon, who was holding a cloth bag full of golden snitches in one hand and his wand in the other, first blinked at Dumbledore, before turning his attention to Matthew, the head judge on the panel. "Mr Graves, I assume the first tournament task has now been concluded?" It was then that Matthew came back to his senses, and everyone around him also snapped back with hisment, and at once countless shutters lit up, and those journalists who had been here all along and had thought they had enough big news for the night were excited, nothing could have been more incredible than such an unexpected oue. The judges also all came back to their senses, and it was only then that Beauxbatons Deputy Headmaster Bonnesante had been helped up to his feet from the ground by the Aurors present around the crowd, his fingers still unable to stop twitching, and the resentment that had been on his face was now shifting from Rosier to Jon. It was clear that Emil was on the verge of winning, that it was only the final step that would allow their Beauxbatons champion to make a name for himself in the first task of the tournament, along with that fugitive mudblood dead, it would be the ultimate victory of the Beauxbatons students who represent Voldemort. But now it was all for nought! But Matthew''s next words rekindled Bonnesante''s hopes. "Your task may be over Mr Green, Daisy Rosier finished first, and you were second, but at the moment Mr Lestrange for his part is not seem ready to finish his task." It took Matthew''s words to grab everyone else''s attention, and they turned their eyes to Emil, who was still behind the silver line, and by this time he had risen from the grass and turned in the opposite direction to where he was exiting the forbidden forest, with a determined footstep to attempt to gather more points. Everyone in the crowd could see what he was trying to do, even if there was no way to be first or second to finish the first task, there were actually four days left until the end of the first task, and he wanted to rely on those four days to get back into the Forbidden Forest and get more golden snitches to try and get first ce in the point scoring, which would also allow him to achieve a reversal in the score. However looking at his back, Jon shrugged and said. "Oh yes, I forgot to mention one more thing, you should know that those dragons in the Forbidden Forest suddenly went wild like crazy and now there''s another little ident involving them, I don''t think Mr Lestrange will be able to find any more golden snitches in the Forbidden Forest anymore." Emil''s body suddenly paused, and all eyes refocused on Jon, with Matthew frowning tightly. "Those dragons had another ident? What ident?" An inexplicable smile appeared on Jon''s face, and without saying another word about a thing, he simply reached out and pointed to the night sky overhead, indicating that everyone could look up and see for themselves. Just as someone was about to turn their head and ask Jon what the hell he was pretending to be, a gust of wind swept through the woods! Lush branches of the trees were blown, and green leaves were torn from their branches with such force that they flew up! Everyone''s hair was blown wildly by the gust of wind and their robes were swept around their bodies like banners! The next moment, huge figures enveloped the night sky, blocking the stars and spreading their huge wings as they left the forbidden forest where the restrictions had been lifted! As they passed over the ce where Jon and the others were, not a single dragon looked down, their scarlet eyes fixed on the only target they wanted to attack and destroy! The Hogwarts castle, built between the mountains, towering in the darkness of the night! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 355: Dragon Disaster Chapter 355: Dragon Disaster Hoss dashed fast. He sprinted out of the Forbidden Forest and ran across thewn at the edge of the ck Lake, just as Jon had taught him, the Aurors who were guarding the castle didn''t even notice anything, it felt like a night breeze blew through, and then that doors of the castle swayed slightly. Hoss had actually been to Hogwarts Castle when he was young, when Hagrid had first met him he was having serious health problems, so Hagrid had carried him to the castle in a panic to find Slughorn, the then Professor of Potions, to ask for some healing potions from him. So upon entering Hogwarts Castle, he didn''t wander around like a headless fly at all. Instead, he quickly found a deserted store room on the ground floor and simply crashed through the door of the room. At this time, the students and professors of the castle were basically gathered in the upper towers, and no one noticed his movements. The contents of the storeroom were a mess and Hoss took the clothes that Jon had taken off and found a corner, using his mouth to dig a small pit out of the pile of stuff and then threw the clothes in. After doing this, he cocked his mouth with a somewhat humane goofy grin, then ran off again, back the way he hade and dashed out of the castle as Jon had said, but he didn''t go back to the Forbidden Forest, instead, he ran straight out of the gates of the Hogwarts campus and turned into a gust of wind in the direction of Hogsmeade vige. That''s what Jon had asked Hoss to do, he had tied the kite to Hogwarts Castle! Just over a minute after he had left the castle, the dragons from the Forbidden Forest flew over the edge of the Forbidden Forest, right above the heads of the journalists and referees. Matthew''s face turned utterly grim as the dark shadows enveloped the entire night sky. He angrily grabbed the dragon trainer by the cor and denounced furiously. "What did you say before the tournament! You gave assurances to the Confederation and the tournament team that absolutely nothing would go terribly wrong with the dragons! But what has happened this evening!" Snape, who was representing Voldemort, also grimaced, his already pale, paper-like face looking even bleaker at this point. He turned his head first to look at Jon, the boy who had caused countless people to suffer so much, just shrugged his shoulders innocently. Snape said nothing, and then he turned his gaze back to Dumbledore, the vacant stare and gloomy countenance making him look like arge, dark bat ghoste to life. "It better not be you guys messing around." "Hey, hey, hey!" Jon interjected with some displeasure, "Mr Snape, there''s something I haven''t had a chance to report to the panel of judges yet, and you''re jumping ahead and pinning the me on us. I found that someone had hidden some potion made from dragon eggs liquid inside the Golden Snitch, and it was that potion that caused these dragons to go mad. And on that golden snitch I clearly saw the dark mark of the British Ministry of Magic''s Death Eater Guards, do you have any exnation for this?" Hearing Jon''s words, all eyes were instantly focused on Snape. Matthew also frowned tightly as he first turned his head to look at the Middle Eastern wizard, only to find that his face clearly showed some panic after Jon''s words, which couldn''t help but make him think of something that his secretary had reported to him a few days ago. It was only atst that he looked at Snape. "Do you have any exnation for that? Mr. Snape." After Matthew hadmunicated with Dumbledore on the wagon before, he didn''t care who won or lost this Triwizard Tournament in the end, he just wanted all three tasks of the tournament to end normally, without any more mess in between. But it was clear that neither Voldemort nor Dumbledore would let him have his most simple wish. Snape didn''t care about the stares he was getting and didn''t bother to exin when a loud bang came from the direction of Hogwarts Castle, causing his entire body to freeze! All eyes looked in the direction of Hogwarts Castle, the swarm of dragons had split into two, the ones that were not so big such as the Peruvian Vipertooth Dragons, and the Norwegian Ridgeback Dragons had crashed directly in front of the doors of the castle! While the other huge dragons, highlighted by the Ukrainian Ironbelly Dragons, began to rush towards the towering towers of the castle! The direct impact of these dragons did not cause much damage to the main body of the castle, but it did cause it to tremble violently! In the tower, the vast majority of the students had not yet reacted to the sight of the dragons flying from the direction of the Forbidden Forest. They looked in the direction of Cedric''s gaze, and at first, it just seemed that the dragons were flying in the wrong direction and that each one was getting bigger and bigger! Finally, as the moonlight shone on the scales of those dragons, reflecting a dazzling light, a girl let out an ear-piercing scream! An Antipodean Opaleye was fixated on the tower they were in, and the huge dragon body wasted no time in mming into the cobblestone ancient walls of the castle''s surface! The huge fangs were close at hand, and the roar of rage shook everyone''s eardrums, no matter who they were they could feel its tyranny! Many of the half-blood students were so shaken by the impact that they could not stand still and fell to the ground. Their faces were filled with terror and panic as they screamed and cried and scrambled towards the castle, no one dared to face the frenzied dragon for even a second. Cedric made no move in the crowd. His face remained as calm as ever, his gaze fixed on the pupil-less, bloodshot eyes of the Antipodean Opaleye, as the students who continued to flee around him brushed past him like waves across a reef, whichpped at it without being able to change a single thing. Cedric suddenly smiled. His smile was as gentle as ever, but there was something inexplicable in that gentleness. Sympathy for the "mudbloods"? Sympathy for Jon and the Witching Horizon? What is there for them to feel sympathy for a group of free, equal people? A group of ves who don''t even know they are ves should be the ones to be pitied. *** On the Astronomy Tower. Barty Jr. had been the first to notice the anomalies in the trajectory of the dragons, even a few seconds before Cedric. The Astronomy Tower was the highest ce in the entire Hogwarts castle, and from there, one could see almost a third of the Forbidden Forest, and every movement of the dragons was under the surveince of the professors. But no one had sensed anything unusual about the dragons wandering around the edge of the Forbidden Forest. They were all guessing that the little mudblood under Dumbledore had probably run out of steam and was desperately clinging on to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, trying to find the judges so that they could find a solution without the need to forfeit the first tournament task. However, the first moment that the swarm of dragons strayed away from the Forbidden Forest, Barty Jr. sensed that something was wrong! His face instantly turned pale, and he quickly took a pocket watch out of his pocket and looked at the time. It was exactly eight o''clock, the exact moment when the forbidden forest had been freed from the restrictions, allowing the champions the freedom to end the first tournament task as they see fit! Just by ncing at the time, he could probably guess what was likely to happen next. "Amycus! Go seek out every single Professor in the castle along with the Aurors stationed down there and gather them all up! Is that clear! All of them!" His yell startled everyone on the Astronomy Tower, the Professors looked at him with surprised faces and even Amycus, who had been given the order, looked at Barty Jr. with a puzzled expression. Barty Jr.''s face was as grim as if water could drip out of it, and he pulled out his wand and stared at Amycus. "What are you waiting for!" Amycus dared not to linger any longer, everyone knew that while Voldemort was away from this castle, it might seem like Snape was at the helm of everything, but in fact, the only one who could really call the shots on these pureblood Professors would be Barty Crouch Jr! Amycus scrambled towards the outside of the Astronomy Tower, and before he could even make it to the door, shadowspletely loomed over his head! Two Ukrainian Ironbelly Dragons had chosen to fly together right over the entire Hogwarts castle! Their enormous size,bined with wings that when unfurled were big enough to cover half the sky overhead,pletely cut off the castle from the sky! At this point, there were still many Professors who hadn''t reacted, and they all looked overhead in shock, wondering why the dragons that had previously been properly in the Forbidden Forest as their tools to hunt down that little mudblood would suddenly descend on Hogwarts to deal with them! But the actions of these dragons were not something that could be stopped by theirck of reaction. A dazzling golden-red glow shed in the gaping maws of two Ukrainian Ironbelly Dragons! Barty Jr. kicked the Alecto beside him who was still open-mouthed and looking incredulously into the sky. "Use the General Counter-Spell! Now! If you all don''t want to die!!!" His yell finally brought everyone here back to their senses as the dozen or so Professors on the Astronomy Tower raised their wands in their hands and, under themand of Barty Junior, used the General Counter-Spell! The effects of each man''s spell all connected into a single mass, weaving a great blue web over this Astronomy Tower, and just as the fiery dragon''s breath gushed out of the Iron belly''s mouth, gold and red met with light blue! The dragon''s breath failed to break through the defences formed by the professors, but the dragons that hade from the Forbidden Forest to Hogwarts Castle weren''t just the two Ukrainian Ironbelly Dragons! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 356: Hermiones Move (2 in 1) Chapter 356: Hermione''s Move (2 in 1) The Hungarian Horntail, the Hebridean ck Dragon and the Ukrainian Ironbelly, all of them are extremely powerful dragon species that have been brought here. Just as the Professors on the Astronomy Tower were using their magic to defend themselves against the Ukrainian Ironbelly Dragons, a Hungarian Horntail as well as two Hebridean ck Dragons mmed into the edge of the tower! The castle shook violently! This is the highest part of the entire school and is equivalent to a slender unit extending out from the main body of the castle, so the defences are not as solid as they could be. The shaking surface caused most of the Professors who were maintaining the general counter-spell to lose their footing, two or three fell to the ground and a few stumbled, unable to maintain the spell they were casting. With such a gaping deficit, the frenzied dragon''s breath finally broke through the blue barrier! The golden-red mes instantly swept through the entire Astronomy Tower, and the zing heat caused the Professors, who were the first to receive such a st, to scream. Alecto''s robe was set alight, she screamed and tried to flee the tower like a rolling ball of flesh in the mes. Yet before she could even make it to the entrance, a bright red curse struck her! "Crucio!" The ones who were panicking in the Astronomy Tower were instantly silenced by that curse, and every Professor present looked incredulously at Barty Jr. who was holding his wand up to cast a curse on his fellow professor. Barty Junior''s face was as grim and cold as it had never been before. Alecto let out a frantic shrill under his torment, but he unceremoniously stomped on her fat face and then looked up at everyone in the ce. "I warn you, don''t forget who you are! You are the servants of the lord, and you are expected to do whatever it takes to guard his property! This castle is our lord''s most prized possession, and if it is destroyed at the hands of these beasts, then I will kill you all without him doing it first! And then kill myself to thank him! Even if this castle is to be destroyed, we will die before it copses!!!" Barty Jr. roared out like a madman. Everyone in the crowd knew he wasn''t joking, this male wizard worshipped Voldemort to the point of sickness, how else would a normal person manage to kill his own parents for an outsider? And being one of the hidden inner circle members of the inner circle, Barty Jr. knew more than anyone else how important this Hogwarts castle is for Voldemort, and his words were not a threat, if it came to that, then he would certainly do what he said he would do and let everyone in the castle die before this school copsed! His ruthlessness deterred all those present, and looking at Alecto, who was still lying on the ground moaning, everyone temporarily dismissed the idea of escaping from the Astronomy Tower, even the Professors whose bodies had already been set alight by the dragon''s breath, fumbled to put out the mes first, and then turned to aim their wands at the dragons in the sky, who were building up their strength for the next wave of attacks. *** Inside the castle, it was chaos throughout Hogwarts. The pureblood students were fine, they had a dedicatedmon room caretaker and even three house elves dedicated to them. So at the first sign of a dragon''s attack on the castle, the pureblood students were all quickly led to the most secured great hall, where they would not be in any danger unless the whole castle copsed. The half-bloods were not so lucky, as their Head, Greengrass, was still up in the Astronomy Tower and there was no caretaker to take charge of their safety. They were left to scurry around the castle like headless flies, before finally making their way back to themon room in panic and fear, led by their Prefects. But it wasn''t exactly safe there, the half-blood students''mon room was in a separate tower, and it was likely to be the target of some dragons'' attacks as well, those creatures were looking around for a way to break into the castle, so they could be able to get in and out of the castle. Only the great hall was the safest, because if anything bad happened, the students could escape from the castle in the shortest possible time, and if something did happen, the half-blood students hiding in themon room would only die. As for the "mudbloods" who had been locked in the underground basement as soon as dinner was over, no one cared about them at all. But they were safe, and no dragon tried to dig a tunnel and break into the castle through it. Apart from the students, the Professors in the castle were also in a state of confusion. Amycus followed the orders of Barty and rallied the remaining Professors to fight back against the dragons that were attacking the castle, and also ordered the Aurors who were stationed in the school to go to the Astronomy Tower to reinforce them. The attack of the dragons was not well-coordinated, and the pressure was most heavy on Barty and the others at the Astronomy Tower. But even if they had organised all the forces in the castle, the professors, plus the Aurors who were left to guard the castle, only had about thirty people in total, and there was no way they could confront these dragons without two people taking on one! The dragons have never been easy to deal with, and even the most professional dragon trainers or American dragon yers need at least five people to work together to fight them off one by one, to control their numbers or subdue them easily. At this point in time, the men in Hogwarts Castle were at a natural disadvantage in terms of numbers, not to mention their expertise in dealing with dragons. So the battle to defend Hogwarts Castle was a difficult one for them. At the same moment that the dragons were attacking the castle, on the fourth floor of the castle, in a secret passage, Hermione was watching everyone''s movements in the school carefully using the Marauder''s Map. She had seen the vast majority of the Professor in the Astronomy Tower and the Aurors guard force heading there, the names of those Professors crowding the tower were changing their positions constantly, and it looked like a very chaotic situation. The students had all taken cover in the right ces too, and Hogwarts Castle now looked emptier than at any other time! Hermione didn''t know exactly what was going on, but the asional dragon roar from outside, and the castle that was already shaking, made her guess almost instantly that something must have gone wrong with the first tournament task held in the Forbidden Forest, and that there was a very good chance that such an ident had something to do with Jon. It wasn''t as if she knew anything about it, but she had absolute faith and trust in Jon. What was going on outside and who was benefitting from the situation Hermione didn''t know, but what she did know was that this was the perfect opportunity for her to make a move in the castle! No one would even notice what was going on inside the castle at this time, as the Professors were already understaffed and there was no way they could send another person to patrol the castle. And all thatmotion created by the dragons was so loud that it wouldpletely cover up some of the preparations Hermione would have to make next, giving Hermione, who had been waiting for the perfect opportunity in this secret passage for a long time, a chance to finally walk out. "Fawkes, no more sleep, we''re getting ready to go out." The young girl whispered to the phoenix on her shoulder. Fawkes also opened those pale golden eyes this time and opened his pointed beak as if to yawn. After making sure that everything was safe outside, Hermione didn''t hesitate, she shifted the small pouch she was carrying to a right angle and made her way to the corridor with her wand in one hand and the Marauder''s Map in the other, cloaked in the cloak of invisibility. The corridor was empty, but not quiet, the walls and floor around her shuddered every now and then, and the sound of dragons roaring outside shook one''s eardrums. Hermione''s pace was fast. She had no idea how long it would take for the Professors and the Aurors to deal with the dragons outside, and she had to assume the worst and give herself twenty minutes. She had to hurry and eliminate all the wrong options within those twenty minutes, even if she still couldn''t get anything out of the day today, she had to verify all the few targets that Mr Slytherin and Professor Dumbledore had suspected at the start. Making her way down the stairs without slowing her pace, she darted down the stairs to the ground floor. As she made her way down the stairs, her hands and feet began to slow down as the pureblood students were all gathered inside the great hall, where a caretaker as well as many house elves stood guard, and Hermione had to be careful of them noticing her movements. But after walking down the corridor to her left and watching herself get further and further away from the great hall and making sure there was no one else around, she returned to her stride and even jogged all the way around. The shoes she wore under her feet had been specially enchanted by Dumbledore to greatly eliminate the sound produced by the soles of her shoes making contact with the ground, and no one would notice unless they were standing very close next to her. Fawkes stood firmly on her shoulders and even spread his wings a little to help her hold up the invisibility cloak she was wearing to avoid any idental slippage of the cloak, which looked like it was made of liquid, off her body. Soon Hermione was in the same area that Slytherin had given her an ount of, and the girls''vatory where she hadst found the snake-marked tap was also in this area. Only this time Hermione didn''t choose to go straight into thevatory, but instead wandered along the corridor near that area, making a slightly raspy and unpleasant hissing sound under her breath. The sound she made was not small, but it was all muffled by themotion outside the castle, and there was no one else around to hear a little girl imitating a snake''s sound. After three or four minutes of such attempts, nothing unusual happened in response to Hermione. Without being disappointed, Hermione made a split-second decision to leave the area and run back up the stairs, climbing up to the upper floors until she reached the seventh-floor corridor. It was undoubtedly even emptier, not to mention this floor, no one was anywhere nearby three floors down. Cloaked in the cloak of invisibility, Hermione quickly crossed the forbidden zone that was an absolute limit for everyone else in the castle and finally stood in front of the door of an office. This ce was not new to her, it was here that she had caught Jon just after he killed the Basilisk over a year ago, and it was here that she had really met the boy who called himself "Professor under Dumbledore". And now he did be a Professor, only it happened to be Durmstrang''s. The revisit didn''t make Hermione think much about it, she knew exactly how important her task would be. Arriving at the door to this Headmaster''s office, when Hermione was about to push it open and walk in, she hesitated. Although this ce had been breached once by Jon, and something taken from inside that represented the very foundation of this school, it was certain that Voldemort would have reinforced its defences afterwards as well. She simply touched Fawkes'' smooth feathers, and then the phoenix''s entire body turned into a golden light. The lightsted for a long time, and Fawkes didn''t just disappear like the previous Apparition; the Anti-Apparition Charm had been delicately strengthened, making it difficult for Fawkes to directly apparate and move so easily. But two or three minutester, the golden-red light disappeared on Hermione''s shoulder, and then Hermione was standing in front of the headmaster''s office door with that "hissing" sounding out of her mouth again. There was a sound of movement in the Headmaster''s office, but it soon died down again. Hermione didn''t look impatient, she just waited. The wait didn''tst long, and soon the golden light of Fawkes was back on around her. When Fawkes returned, he had be a little messier than before he had gone in, his feathers were a little ruffled, but his pale gold eyes were still bright. Upon his return, he shook his head at Hermione, which couldn''t help but dete Hermione''s spirit a bit. This had been thest ce that they could suspect, and they had still ended up with nothing, and while Professor Dumbledore certainly wouldn''t me her, Hermione had a sense of frustration on her own. Just as she was about to turn away from the ce and head back into the secret passageway, a sudden sh of something Jon had once told her about while chatting to her on the Hogwarts ship suddenly crossed her mind. She suddenly became a little excited, but quickly took a deep breath to calm down, and then, without hesitation, walked straight towards the seventh-floor corridor, and it didn''t take her long to find the ce as she recalled it. There was a tapestry depicting aical image of trolls hitting a ballet teacher with a wooden club. On the opposite side of this tapestry was a nk wall. Hermione took a deep breath as she did what Jon had once said he did and stood in front of that wall, walking back and forth as she kept thinking to herself. ''I need a room that leads to the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets!'' ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 357: Slytherins Chamber of Secrets (2 in 1) Chapter 357: Slytherin''s Chamber of Secrets (2 in 1) On the nk wall, an old wooden door slowly emerged, as Hermione recited in her mind. When Hermione saw the door, there was an undisguised excitement on her face, and then she quickly walked forward and ced her hand on the doorknob. With ease, she pushed the door open from outside to inside. There was a dark space inside, and it was only after the light from the candle on the wall outside the door shone in that room she could see it was quite empty, and at a nce, it looked like there was nothing there. Without taking off the invisibility cloak she was wearing, Hermione walked in with Fawkes, and after she had entered, a fire lit up on the walls around her and then illuminated the whole room. It was only now that she could see exactly what kind of room it was. There were nk walls all around, and the room was small and empty, except for a round p door in the middle of the floor! Hermione tried to open it with her hand, but the door did not move until she uttered the unpleasant Parseltongue word, then the next moment the door opened itself! Beneath the p door was a deep, secret passage which appeared to wind downwards with no end in sight. Although she hadn''t spent much time in the castle and rarely had ess to the upper floors, Hermione still remembered that there was a Charms ssroom directly below where the Room of Requirement was located, but this secret passage appeared as if the floor beneath her feet was connected to the solid floor of the ground floor, not at all like being on the seventh floor of the castle. Hermione carefully closed the door to the Room of Requirement from the inside first, then motioned for Fawkes to get off her shoulder and swoop into the secret passage before her. Fawkes took the lead, shining a faint golden light to illuminate the way ahead, while Hermione followed, and little by little they went deeper into the secret passage. The passage was rugged and winding, and it was sometimes so narrow that Hermione could only pass through it by getting down on her knees, and at other times it was broad that she could stand up and walk upright. She had been walking through it for over half an hour when she finally managed to make a short jump off to what looked like an underground chamber! It was damp and quiet as a tomb as if Hermione was out of the confines of Hogwarts Castle by now, and all the sounds from the dragons outside that were attacking the castle and the Hogwarts professors that were fighting to defend the school had all disappeared. Fawkes returned to Hermione''s shoulders, his pale golden eyes flickering with some seriousness as if he had sensed something. In the darkness, Hermione used her Wand-Lighting Charm, and then she saw an enormous behemoth in front of her. Under the emerald green reflection, at first, she thought a serpent was lying on the ground ambushing her, but before she could even feel the fright, she had already reacted to the fact that it was just a piece of serpent skin. The skin was clearly not of normal size, probably over twenty feet at a rough nce, and was so bright green that it could easily be mistaken for a serpent. Hermione had spent thest year or so in the library on the wagon whenever she had the time to spare and had seen Jon kill a Basilisk about the size of this snakeskin back in thest year. She could easily tell that it was a moulted skin of a Basilisk, which couldn''t help but make her guard rise even higher; since there was a serpent skin present here, there must have been one Basilisk existing inside the Chamber of Secrets as well. The portrait of Mr Slytherin had said that he had ced a Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets a thousand years ago that solely obeyed the Slytherin bloodline, but Jon had killed that one in the Headmaster''s officest year, and it was quite unlikely that there would be another one inside the Chamber of Secrets ording to Dumbledore''s analysis. Voldemort had released it from the Chamber of Secrets to act as a guard for his Headmaster''s Office, so the chances that the Chamber of Secrets was now unguarded by Basilisk is quite high. But chances are just chances, if Hermione encountered one, it would turn into 100%, so Hermione was careful, with her wand in her hand, she had dimmed the glow of the Wand-Lighting Charm a little, which obscured her vision, but because of this, if she came face to face with the Basilisk, she could avoid looking directly into its eyes. As she continued to walk deeper into the chamber, she turned many corners and went on for about ten minutes or so before she finally came to a solid wall. It was carved with two snakes entwined with each other, their eyes encrusted withrge, glittering emeralds. Just seeing the wall, Hermione knew what she had to do. With a throaty tone of voice, she proceeded to utter a singlemand in Parseltongue. After her word sounded, the two snakes parted and the stone wall cracked open from the middle, slowly sliding to the sides and disappearing. Hermione took a long, deep breath, and then she gripped the glowing wand in her hands and stepped inside the door. She made her way to the side of a long, dimly lit room. There were many stone pirs carved with coiled and intertwined serpents, which towered to support the ceiling that melted away into the darkness high above, casting a long, treacherous ck shadow across the room that was filled with a greenish, mysterious haze. And the moment Hermione entered, the floor suddenly lit up with a myriad of silvery-grey lights! Those lights twisted and outlined on the floor, forming a trail of words and symbols that covered the entire room! Hermione looked in shock at what was beneath her feet, a huge scroll was forming on the ground, and the words that lit up were all in the oldest format of Ancient Runes! The characters were all about the size of a thumbnail, but they covered the entire chamber. Likewise, in the light of these illuminated rune glows, Hermione saw what looked like a statue of an old man in the depths of the room, on the wall facing her. A face that looked like a monkey in its old age, a face that was not unfamiliar to Hermione; it was none other than Szar Slytherin who had the portrait being hung in the Headmaster''s office. Even this statue was densely inscribed with Ancient Runes, so dense that it looked somehow unnerving. Hermione''s eyes continued to look down, and then she saw a small figure directly beneath the statue. It looked like a dwarf, with a broad face and arge mouth, dressed in ragged, brightly coloured clothes, but with his eyes squeezed shut and his body unreal not at all like a normal human being. Five dark chains stretched out from the ground, and they were attached to the dwarf''s limbs and neck as if to bind him firmly in ce and keep him immobile. The surrounding air was cold and damp, causing Hermione''s body to shiver slightly involuntarily. She stepped carefully over the glowing Ancient Runes and made her way to the dwarf''s side. "Hello." *** After seeing the dragons that had attacked Hogwarts Castle, Snape left the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest without a moment''s hesitation. His face turned grim, and he also took all the Aurors present with him, while giving Jon a gloomy stare and instructing one of them to go and inform Voldemort of the incident at once. This was undoubtedly the most rational thing to do because judging by all the useful men currently at Hogwarts Castle, there was little certainty that they would be able to hold the castle against these charges of dragons. The journalists were so excited that some bold ones even tried to follow Snape and the others closer to Hogwarts Castle, only to be kicked back mercilessly by Aurors at the rear. Some smart newspaper reporters, after quickly filming the current state of the castle attack, had a few men leave the area and immediately take the avable photos outside, in case that man came back afterwards after getting the news, and all their results this evening would turn into a nk canvas. Although Snape had left with Aurors, there was no longer any room to change the final oue of this first tournament task. Emil had not yet emerged from the forbidden forest, and he looked at the golden-red sky in the direction of the castle, covered in dragon''s breath, looking so lost in thought. Matthew snapped out of the shock of the situation at hand, and he straightened his expression and looked over at Emil. "Mr Lestrange, so, are you going to choose to finish the tournament now?" Emil was pulled back to his senses by this question as well, but instead of looking at Matthew, his gaze was filled with hatred for Jon. "It must have been done by him! He must have done it! Those dragons were originally after him! Now they''ve all gone to attack the castle! He must have done something!" His words brought silence to the ce, and Bonnesante red at Emil as if he wanted to shove the words he had just said back into his mouth! At that moment, the inwardly agitated Emil also realised that he had said the wrong thing, and with a pale face, he scrambled to patch up what he had just said. "We all saw it in the Forbidden Forest, it was Green who pissed off those dragons, and they went berserk and attacked him!" Jon, however, wasn''t even going to look towards him as he stood in front of Dumbledore and Rosier, pulling a golden snitch out of his cloth pouch while looking at Matthew and asking calmly. "To continue where we left off, Mr Graves, may I know who sourced and supplied all the golden snitches used for this task?" Matthew didn''t ignore Jon''s question, whether it was the boy''s reputation that had already spread through the magicalmunity before or the fact that there was a very good chance that he had done what was happening tonight, he couldn''t be dismissed as some simple student. Equally, Matthew had no intention of covering up for anyone, he had been appointed to be a judge to ensure impartiality so that no one could possibly do as they wished. He turned his head to the Middle Eastern wizard named Abdul Rahman. "Rahman, this is your responsibility, right?" The lean, Middle Eastern wizard with a short beard and a white turban on his head faced Matthew''s question without changing his face. "Palmer''s Sports Magical Item Supplies has an excellent variety of supplies, they''ve been responsible for the ball supplies at the Quidditch World Cup for three years in a row and there won''t be any problems with the quality." Jon looked over at him as well and said lightly. "And I certainly trust the standards of thispany to not have any problems in terms of quality, but some people want to add some unknown touch to this tournament and all that is needed is for it to have adequate quality assurance. I assume, Mr Rahman, that all these golden snitches in the Forbidden Forest have been fully handled by you personally?" Rahman''s countenance turned arrogant, and he didn''t even bother to meet Jon''s gaze, as if he simply disdained to answer a question from a student like him. Yet an old and gentle voice forced him to bow his head again. "Can you give us your ount Abdul? I think we need an answer." No one in the ce could ignore Dumbledore''s words, and neither could Rahman; even though today Dumbledore no longer held the title and position of Supreme Mugwump at the International Confederation of Wizards, he still had a great deal of influence. Especially after the Witching Horizon had used their strength to take over most of France from Voldemort''s hands. "All these golden snitches are, of course, handled solely by me." His face remained as unchanged as ever, "If you suspect that I have done something wrong in it, then you can use the Legilimency on me and take a look at my memory of this tournament, Albus. I know you''re a master at that, and I can''t resist it at all since I don''t know lumency at all." He locked eyes with Dumbledore''s blue ones, not trying to avoid them at all. Dumbledore looked at him and simply shook his head. "I certainly have enough trust in you, and it is precisely because the Confederation knows your character that they have asked you to be the judge, and since you do not know about this incident, that means it was not you who did it." Bonnesante, who was still being supported, suddenly said grimly from the sidelines at this time. "Things haven''t even been investigated and already people are starting to make sure that everything thates out of this boy''s mouth is true? We''ve certainly been ying a fair game." Rosier gave him the same cold look, and it was that look that caused Bonnesante''s body to subconsciously tremble a little, and fear spread through his eyes. Jon didn''t care about his questioning as he turned his head to look at all three confederation judges, alongside Bonnesante, and all the journalists. "Since I dare to say the words out loud, then of course I have tangible evidence." As he spoke, he raised his wand and pointed the tip at his temple, then he slowly twirled it and pulled a bright silver thread from his mind! The silver that represented the memory was encircling the tip of his wand as if it had life. With a little skill in the Legilimency spell, it would not be difficult to extract parts of one''s own memory; after all, one would certainly not resist one''s decision. And looking at the memory, even if no one yet knew what the scene actually contained within, everyone present there hadrgely believed what Jon had said. The Dragons had gone berserk, someone had really done it deliberately to trap him! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 358: Prelude to Death (2 in 1) Chapter 358: Prelude to Death (2 in 1) The atmosphere became weird. It wasn''t that there was no way to tamper with your own memories, it was just that even the most sophisticated lumency techniques are only easily done when altering memories from many days before, whereas if it had only happened a short time ago or less than three days before, there was no way for the memories to be tampered without leaving many traces that can be found, even if you are a master lumen. Especially since this was the memory that Jon had pulled out of himself in front of everyone around him and in in sight. Matthew''s face remained as calm as ever as he took a deep breath and walked over to Jon''s side, holding a clear ss vial in his hand. "Give it to me, there will be someone from the judge''s team who specialises in this will verify the memory, and if we do find some hint of anything that is against the rules in it, we will be sure to give you and Dumbledore an exnation." Jon looked up at Dumbledore, who also looked at him and nodded gently. So Jon shrugged his shoulders and slipped the memory into the vial that Matthew was holding. "Well, I hope you can give an ount for this after you''ve made some discoveries." So that was the end of the incident about the dragons going berserk in the forbidden forest for now, Matthew certainly wasn''t going to start examining the memory straight away in front of all these people here, some things just had to be kept out of the way of these reporters to be fair. And at this time, all eyes were once again turned to the disoriented Emil, who still stood on the edge of the silver line, and Matthew asked once again. "So, are you still going to continue the first tournament task? Mr Lestrange." Emil looked up somewhat helplessly at his deputy headmaster, but Bonnesante didn''t even bother to look at him, instead, his face was grim, and he looked down, thinking about something. Finally, the boy could not hold on against the pressure any longer, and with his head hanging, he took the cloth bag containing the golden snitches in his hand and stepped out of the silver line at the edge of the forbidden forest. The moment he stepped out, there were countless shing lights all capturing the scene, which also represented the end of the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. The three judges of the Confederation didn''t waste any time, they came to Jon, Diane and Emil, took the bags from them and started to check the results of the tournament in front of everyone. It ended with no surprises as Jon was, naturally, the one with the biggest haul, having retrieved a total of 216 golden snitches. In fact, if it wasn''t for those dragons chasing after him, he would have had more, but even if he had taken more, it wouldn''t have added another half point to his score, it would have been the same regardless. Emil''s haul wasn''t actually too bad either, finding a total of 148 golden snitches. He must have had some unknown help in the Forbidden Forest, otherwise, he wouldn''t have been able to do this at all based on his own strength, which was actually simr to Diane''s. Diane, needless to say, hade straight towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest after rendezvousing with Jon, had caught 86 when she met him, and naturally only had 86 now at the end of the first tournament task. ording to the results, Jon received 70 points for being first, and counting his 30 points for finishing second in the time ranking, he is now in first ce with a total of 100 points. Diane was third on the scoreboard with only 30 points, but at thest minute, Jon pushed her and allowed her to finish first and get 40 points in the time ranking, bringing her into second ce with a total of 70 points. Emil, on the other hand, was second with 50 points and finished third in the time ranking and got 20 points, ending the tournament with a total of 70 points, which tied him with Diane for second ce. It wasn''t bad, but it certainly wasn''t the result Emil was expecting, and the worst he could have done was to have tied with Jon for first ce, as he had thought at the start. At the bottom of thedder was of course Draco, who had been eliminated at the start of the tournament, and even though he was out at the start, he still had a guaranteed 20 points and now ended up at the bottom. But it wasn''t a bad thing for him after what happened in the Forbidden Forest, and he hadn''t intended to get any good results in this Triwizard Tournament task from the very beginning. Just as Matthew was finally announcing the results of the first task, the sky suddenly lit up with a miserable green light! The light reflected on everyone''s faces as the nearly ten curses, representing death, were shooting straight at a giant dragon in the sky! Barty Jr. was going mad with anger! His arm had obviously been burned by the dragon''s breath and a burnt smell was stilling from there. Dragons had never been a scary creature to wizards, and for wizards who had been a part of the magical world for thousands of years, there were hardly any magical creatures in the world that they could fear anymore, just as the muggles of normal society had reached the top of the food chain. But all this was based on the fact that the wizards had effectively kept these species in captivity in the name of protecting the dragons, and had hordes of professional dragon yers to hunt them down and kill or capture them even when they did have a controlled poption of dragons in the wild. But right now there were only about thirty adult wizards in Hogwarts Castle, and seventeen or eighteen dragons were attacking the castle, so on average two of them were struggling to deal with one, with none of them having had any special training in dragon fighting, so the situations were only going to get tougher. Alecto was lying on the ground, wailing like a bound-up ughtered pig. Her body was torn and ragged, with burns everywhere, and she herself had not yet recovered from the Cruciatus Curse from Barty Jr. and was forced to lie on the ground and roll around. Yet Barty Jr. still didn''t allow her to leave this dangerous ce, with a simple reason, whoever stepped out of the Tower should die! He was truly practising what he said, just three minutes earlier a professor teaching a first-year flying ss at the Half-Blood House had flinched and tried to escape down the Astronomy Tower, Barty Jr. responded with a bolt of Killing Curse without saying a word. It was both frightening and somewhat justifiable that such madness had struck him. Anyone who has absolute loyalty to Voldemort is basically insane, and if he wasn''t insane, then he wouldn''t be Barty Crouch Jr. But even if they were desperate, they had little sess against these dragons, and there was no way to do much effective damage to them. Even if some of the Pureblood House professors and Aurors could use a Killing Curse, but the power of the killing curse they cast could only deal with humans, in the case of the dragons, they could only make their noses bleed or be more insane. Barty Jr. knew this couldn''t go on like this, he had sent someone specifically to seek help from Voldemort at the start when he found out about the dragon riot, but the castle itself was very problematic and Voldemort would have a lot of trouble getting here, especially between the start of the school year and the end of the semester when the students stayed in the castle. Now whether he could make it until Voldemort''s arrival, he didn''t know, but there were really going to be casualties in the Astronomy Tower. As frantic as he was and as ruthless as his words wereid down, what little sanity he had was also telling him that the Professors in Hogwarts Castle couldn''t really all die in this simply pointless battle to defend the castle. If it came to that, not to mention the reputation of the British wizardingmunity and Voldemort himself, their entire power would be devastated! Barty Jr. clenched his teeth so tightly that he couldn''t even feel the pain in his burned left arm, and his roar, which was tinged with some hoarseness, carried throughout the Astronomy Tower. "Those who can use a killing curse, aim it at the Ukrainian Ironbelly directly above there!" He intended to organise the existing force of defence, at least to make the situation less difficult, and the one that had been most active and hit their group the hardest from the beginning until now was the Ukrainian Ironbelly. The Professors on the Astronomy Tower heard him, the killing curse is not something anyone can master, it is not just about having that killing intent in the heart, there is also a threshold for the magical power and the level of ''will''. There were only about eight or nine people on hand who could use the killing curse, and they all raised their wands together at the sound of Barty Jr.''s voice! "Avada Kedavra!" The incantation of the killing curse rang out from the Astronomy tower, and the nearly ten ghastly green curses even overpowered the golden-red light of the dragon''s breath, illuminating the night sky and shooting straight at the Ukrainian Ironbelly. The threat of death stimted the dragon''s brain, but it was thergest of all dragons, and at such a close range it could not be avoided! So, none of the killing curses missed the mark, all of them hitting its world-famous Ironbelly. In the next instant, the Ukrainian Ironbelly''s wings stopped spreading, the light of life was fading from its bloodshot eyes, and its huge body plummeted to the ground! The timing of the curse was very clever, just as the dragon was flying away from the castle, otherwise, even if it had been killed, the impact of its fall would have been enough to crush everyone in the tower into mush. After the dragon''s body fell to the ground, the entire area epassed by the Hogwarts school trembled violently for a moment. The students hiding in the castle didn''t know what had happened, but such a horrific noise made them scream, and even the surface of the normally silent, mirror-like ck Lake leapt up with countless sshes and ripples! Barty Jr. breathed heavily, his face showing some relief, no matter what, now at least they had the means to kill these dragons. But the rxation on his face hadn''tsted more than a few seconds when the next moment an even more violent tremor made the whole castle begin to shake! The magnitude of this shaking was so great that it even gave many people the illusion that the castle was about to copse! The death of a Ukrainian Ironbelly made the remaining dragons who were still alive even more frenzied! They rushed collectively against the centre of the castle''s surface, so much so that the magic that protected the castle itself became shaky as if it might break at any moment. And there was another Ukrainian Ironbelly left in the sky which, after seeing the death of its fellow kin, let out a furious roar and the zing dragon me thus covered the entire Astronomical Tower! The heat instantly enveloped everyone, who had just used a collective killing curse and had no time to react to unite again to resist with a general counter-spell. Despair gripped Barty Jr.''s heart, and he simply failed to understand how things could havee to this point. Wasn''t this their ploy against that little mudblood? Why had the bitter fruit ended up on their own heads? Just when he was already nning to close his eyes and wait for death, the burning sensation suddenly just disappeared! Barty Jr. opened his eyes in bewilderment, and then he saw the man whom he regarded as a spiritual pir standing in the centre of the Astronomy Tower. He was dressed in a modest dark green robe, the night breeze raising the hem of his robe and making him look distinctivepared to everything else around him. The man''s face did not look well. He looked up at the dragons spreading their wings in the sky and lightly raised the wand in his hand. No one heard the incantation, but in the next instant, a green glow lit up everyone''s face! The Ukrainian Ironbelly that was shooting a jet of sparks in its throat, preparing for its next dragon''s breath, had its body justpletely stiffened! It had taken nearly ten men from the Barty Jr. group to kill a dragon but with a silent spell without a single incantation. One had died. None of the living Hogwarts professors showed any disbelief on their faces, they just looked at the man with endless worship and respect. He simply seemed omnipotent. After killing the Ironbelly Dragon, Voldemort flicked his wand and the dragon''s body, which had been positioned directly above the Astronomy Tower, fell to the other side as if it had been struck by a sledgehammer. He turned his head with a cold gaze and looked all around at the people present, then without saying a word, he turned into a ck mist and flew towards the sky! In just under a minute, the flock of dragons that had surrounded Hogwarts Castle were falling from the sky like raindrops. The scourge of dragons, which more than thirty elite wizards could do nothing about, was not even a problem in front of him, and the crushing of the magical hierarchy that had allowed him tounch what was the equivalent to a dictatorship over the British magicalmunity also meant that he had almost no rivals in the world. And after resolving the troubles that the castle had faced, Voldemort did not return to the Astronomy Tower, nor did he go to see Dumbledore, he made no contact with any of them, and just made his way to the seventh floor of Hogwarts Castle, all alone without a sound and still in his ck mist form. He stood up in front of the nk wall and soon a wooden door appeared abruptly into existence, he flew in, opened the p door, went through the secret passage and eventually arrived inside the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets. Upon entering the chamber, his entire face was expressionless as he finally opened the stone door with the two snakes carved into it and made his way to the room that housed a statue of Slytherin himself as well as a room filled with magic runes. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 359: Deep meaning (2 in 1) Chapter 359: Deep meaning (2 in 1) It was quiet inside the Slytherin chamber. The shackled dwarf was still slumped quietly in front of the statue, as if dead. There was no expression on Voldemort''s face as he slowly stepped inside the chamber. The floor was lit up with the Ancient Runes, the dense lines flickering as if celebrating the arrival of their lord. Walking up to the statue, he looked at the deadly quiet dwarf and waved the wand in his hand. Without any incantation being recited, nor did it look like any magic was being cast, the written glyphs around him converged with a sudden burst, impacting the dwarf, whose body had begun to be illusory, together with the five chains. Voldemort lifted one of his feet, the expensive leather boots just stomping down on the dwarf''s body, and the next moment the round-faced, big-jawed dwarf shattered into pieces, and the ancient runes around him shone even brighter. "The spirit of the dead." With those words, Voldemort turned and walked towards the exit of the chamber, as if he hadn''t noticed that anyone else had been in this chamber sometime before. The door to the chamber closed tightly again, and the glowing ancient runes gradually reverted to their original dull appearance, and the whole chamber went dark and became iparably quiet. The silencested for a good long while, and in the dead of night there was a sudden click in the darkness, and the mouth of the statue of Szar Slytherin suddenly opened! A little girl, d in a cloak of invisibility and holding a phoenix in her arms, crawled out of it. Her face was visibly pale from the fear she felt, but instead of rushing to leave immediately, she pulled out a thick roll of parchment from the little pouch she had brought with her, spread it out on the ground and then, following the faint light from her Wand-Lighting Charm, copied the ancient runes on the ground bit by bit onto the paper. Voldemort''s presence was seen by many. At the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Jon had witnessed the burst of ck mist surrounding Hogwarts Castle, ying each and every one of those dragons with a means that was in and simple, yet made the hearts of everyone who saw it jump. This man proved that he truly possessed incredible strength. In the Forbidden Forest, even the enhanced version of Jon''s killing curse that he had used with all his might was unable to achieve the true effect on the Hungarian Horntail Dragon, but at the hand of Voldemort, the killing curse was truly a genuine Unforgivable Curse. As each green light red, there was bound to be an end to life. An ecstatic look appeared on Bonnesante''s face after he saw that all the dragon scourges in the castle had been dealt with. He looked at Dumbledore, Jon, and the others with a cocky look on his face, as if he had already thrown the tournament out of his mind. "Whatever your schemes and tricks, they are all in vain before the Lord! Do you think that a bunch of dragons can make Hogwarts Castle fall? Dream on!" Jon looked at him with a speechless expression, this Deputy Headmaster of Beauxbatons was probably scared out of his wits by Rosier. Whose plotting and scheming was this whole swarm of dragons incident? He really wasn''t unaware of it, was he? Just a few minutes after the burst of ck mist had resolved all the dragons and then disappeared. Suddenly, a handsome male wizard dressed in an exquisite dark green robe slowly came from the edge of the ckke to this tournament ground. No one was able to discern any expression on his face; he was as inscrutable as the dark clouds in the sky, changing from thunderstorm to wind and sunshine in the blink of an eye. "Sir." Matthew bowed slightly and addressed the man who was stirring up turmoil in Europe. Even now, few people knew Voldemort''s full name, and even if they did, there were only a handful who dared to address him directly by his name, or his family name. On formal asions, he is usually addressed as Sir, with the prefix "The Great" added by those who are more fanatical about him. "My lord! They''re cheating! That little mudblood cheated and beat Emil! You must bring justice, you initiated this tournament, so we must make sure it''s fair!" Bonnesante cried out and hugged Voldemort''s thighs, tearfully using Jon ofmitting their crimes. The atmosphere suddenly became a little sombre, one might even say tense. Only a few of the reporters who were willing to give their lives for the sake of the news remained to do their work, turning their shes on and off, still persisting in their efforts to freeze the frame to get the news for the next two weeks out of it. The majority of the reporters who had sensed that something was wrong with the situation didn''t dare to linger for a moment and trotted away from the confines of Hogwarts with their cameras in hand. They had got enough for today, staying any longer might lead to bigger news, but that was only possible if they had their lives to take it out with them. Jon looked at the man calmly and Voldemort was looking at him calmly as well. "You''ve really exceeded my expectations, surprising me over and over again, Jon Green." His words carried no hint of malice as if he was genuinely expressing his praise for Jon. No one could hear much angering out of his mouth like it didn''t matter to him at all what had befallen Hogwarts Castle like it had tonight. Jon stared into Voldemort''s eyes, trying to see in his eyes what thispletely different Voldemort was thinking right now. However, there was no way for a person''s eyes to express a person''s heart in detail, and the most Jon could tell was that he really wasn''t acting in some disguise, and wasn''t very concerned about not killing himself this time and instead having Hogwarts Castle attacked. So what exactly was he actually after? Hadn''t he intended to murder him, by arranging these dragons? He looked so carefree as if he still had control of the whole scene when he showed up. Bonnesante was still hugging Voldemort''sp, while his lord hadn''t even looked towards him from the beginning. "So the first tournament task is over? What was the score?" Matthew answered his question. "Jon Green got a hundred points, Diane Rosier and Emil Lestrange both got seventy points." After hearing his words, Voldemort suddenly kicked Bonnesante away from his leg. "Since the panel of judges has already agreed on a score, that means they recognise the current score, I invited the judges of the Confederation, so that means I trust their abilities, is it your turn to talk about unfairness here?" Bonnesante was full of aggression. "But they even said we cheated, my lord! They imed that we were the ones who were behind all this dragon rampage!" Voldemort''s face was t. "So we plotted it?" "Of course not!" Bonnesante''s voice had never been this loud. "Then what are you getting agitated over? We know ourselves that we''re not guilty, so let them look into it, and I assume that since Mr Graves can make sure the tournament remains fair, he won''t let either side be subjected to such a smear, will he?" Facing Voldemort''s gaze, Matthew visibly took on a lot of pressure as he swallowed. "That''s what I came here for, sir." "Very well." Voldemort''s gaze turned back to Emil, who was bowing his head, not daring to look at him, with shame stered across his face. "I never expect young people to always seed in whatever they do, but surely you won''t let me down all the time either, will you?" There was no harsh rebuke, more like a word of encouragement that allowed Emil to re-calm himself and look up at Voldemort with a look of passion and determination, a look of reverence as if he would have no hesitation if Voldemort had ordered him to die on the spot. "No more, sir, I won''t let you down again!" Jon watched all this in silence, from Cedric''s exchange with him in the Forbidden Forest and from scenes like this one now, he could easily tell that Voldemort was actually more reputable among the younger wizards. "Now that we''re all done with the first task, let''s all get back to resting as early as possible. I''m looking forward to the next task, and I hope it will bring me even more exciting scenes than tonight." It was as if he didn''t think the fact that the castle had been attacked by dragons was something that should bring him great disgrace as Headmaster, but just as he was about to leave straight away, a gentle voice suddenly rang out. "Are you nning to go back to the Ministry of Magic? Riddle." The whole scene suddenly became incredibly quiet, and everyone held their breath at the sound of the family name, which was not exactly a rarity in the magical world, but at this moment it felt strange to the vast majority of people. There was only one person in that area who dared to address Voldemort in such a manner. Dumbledore looked over to Voldemort whose pace suddenly stopped at his feet, the smile on his face not half fading. "After all that has happened at the school, yet you have to pretend to be so casual and indifferent, are you really not going to stay in the castle for the night and appease the emotions of your men and the students?" None of those present, except Jon, understood exactly what Dumbledore meant by these words which were more like a suggestion. They all knew that there was clearly an irreconcble conflict between the two men, yet they heard no hint of fire in the words. However, Voldemort, who had always remained calm, turned around at this time and looked at Dumbledore with an unmistakable grim look on his face. "Don''t me me for not warning you beforehand, old man, since you have already made a blood pact, you better honestly follow the rules of the tournament and get it over with. If you want to make any other small moves of any kind, be careful of the consequences!" His sudden outburst baffled all the others, but they could all see that Dumbledore''s words had clearly touched some sort of scale in Voldemort''s mind. But his threat didn''t change Dumbledore''s expression much, he remained as calm as ever. "Provided, of course, that you also ensure that the tournament itself is also proper." "The whole making a blood pact thing is certainly guaranteed." "It is only the result, not the tournament itself, that is limited by the blood pact, as you and I both know." "Then if you knew about it, why didn''t you refuse me then!" "Because things don''t always turn out the way you think they should do they?" Dumbledore blinked. Voldemort''s face grew colder and colder. "Then let''s keep it on track." With that, he walked off towards the castle without looking back. Seeing him leave, Bonnesante and Emil also had no intention of staying on and followed him, also leaving the edge of the Forbidden Forest. In the end, only Dumbledore and his group and the three judges of the Confederation were left there. Matthew looked over at Dumbledore, still holding the vial with Jon''s own drawn memories in it. "I will look into what happened in the tournament, Albus, but you should be able to understand that in situations like this nothing definitive will be determined at all." It was certainly clear to both Dumbledore and Jon that even if the evidence would be conclusive, the incident would have little impact on the situation. Unless Voldemort was going to be definitively defeated and lose the strength to fight them, even if there would be more evidence, as long as the other side bite the bullet there would be nothing more to follow. "I can understand your difficulty, and you have done well enough so far, after all, you are only an outsider." Dumbledore said softly, then turned around with Jon and Rosier as they too were ready to leave from here. "Get an early night''s rest, you''ll have your hands full with preparations for the second task afterwards." On the way back, Jon could clearly feel that Dumbledore was quick on his feet as if there was something urgent. "What''s wrong? Professor." Dumbledore''s face was grim. "We have to get back as soon as possible to see if Hermione has returned." Back at the castle Voldemort''s face remained the gloomy as it had been at the end of his conversation with Dumbledore. Upon his return, Snape greeted him with a quick step, surrounded by a number of Professors, even if many of them still had injuries, as long as these people could still breathe and move, they wouldn''t dare to be lying in a sickbed when their Lord arrived in the castle. "How are things being handled?" "We''ve got the students all settled in, Crouch is taking the men to examine the dragon corpses and Amycus is ascertaining the damage to the castle, but it doesn''t look like there should be much damage so far." "What about on personnel?" "Two dead, an Auror identally impaled by the fangs of a Peruvian Vipertooth dragon, and the half-blood house Pierre was killed by Crouch for cowardice." "Take all these men and get to work, and find out the reason why these dragons have suddenly targeted the castle for me as soon as possible, I want your report on my desk by this time tomorrow." "I understand, my lord." With a serious expression, Snape led those around him away, leaving Voldemort standing all alone in the castle''s entrance hall, still thinking about thatst conversation Dumbledore had with him. He felt that the cunning old man intended to say more than just that; the fact that Dumbledore had called out to him the moment he was about to leave was in itself food for thought. Suddenly, Voldemort narrowed his eyes as his body reverted to a ck mist and flew towards the seventh floor of the castle! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 360: To Blow Up the Castle (2 in 1) Chapter 360: To Blow Up the Castle (2 in 1) Hermione never closed the Marauder''s Map. Even as she was scribbling down the Ancient Runes on the floor, she kept the map spread out beside her, checking the names on it every two seconds. Voldemort''s name was on it, albeit under the name "Tom Riddle". Dumbledore had informed her of Voldemort''s real name when he had given her the Marauder''s Map and had tested it to make sure that even Voldemort himself would not be able to avoid and detect the magic on the map. He cautioned Hermione that as soon as Voldemort''s name appeared within the confines of Marauder''s Map, then whatever she was doing, she must leave the castle at the first opportunity and not hesitate in the slightest. Hermione listened to Dumbledore''s warning, she knew that if she infiltrated the castle and did something, and it got exposed red-handed, the consequences would not only be for her personal safety, but also bring big trouble to the current Witching Horizon, Hogwarts Wagon, Dumbledore, and Jon himself. As soon as she saw the name "Tom Riddle" appear on the Astronomy Tower, she had nned to have Fawkes take her out of the Slytherin Chamber. But this chamber, perhaps because of the Ancient Runes on the floor, was enchanted with a different kind of Anti-Apparition Charm than the one in the castle. There was no difference in strength between the two, but the structure of the magic was vastly different, requiring Fawkes to redo the re-decryption, something neither of them had anticipated after entering the chamber. Therefore, as Voldemort had settled the dragon scourge and Hermione watched through the Marauder''s Map as he flew towards the Room of Requirement with a clear objective, she decisively interrupted Fawkes'' preparations for Apparition. There was definitely not enough time. Hermione would need to climb down on her own, so it had taken at least half an hour to get from the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets and enter this chamber, but this was no problem for Voldemort, who mastered extremely profound magic that allowed him to cross this distance in just under three minutes, even if he had no way of Apparating inside the castle, he was able to cross this distance in the form of a ck mist. In desperation, Hermione could only take Fawkes and choose to hide. There was almost no ce to hide in this chamber, and even though she carried a cloak of invisibility, against a wizard with keen senses and intuition, a cloak of invisibility did not necessarily mean that she would be safe. And Hermione herself didn''t know whether it was her fear of Voldemort or something else, but she felt that even with the cloak she couldn''t hide from the Dark Lord''s eyes. Luckily, the portrait of the Chamber of Secrets'' creator hung on the wall of Dumbledore''s Headmaster''s office. After he confirmed that Hermione had been chosen for this task, Szar gave Hermione all theyouts of this secret chamber he had created, as well as some secret words to activate it, without fail. So Hermione hid in the mouth of that Slytherin statue, which was previously where the Basilisk that Jon had killed in the Headmaster''s office had been hiding. Voldemort must have known about this ce too, otherwise, he wouldn''t have been able to find the Basilisk hiding here and ask it to guard the Headmaster''s office, so Hermione was actually making a gamble, and now she could only bet that Voldemort wouldn''t check so carefully, because it was the time when the tournament was going to end, and he had to spare his energy to deal with Dumbledore after his good trip back to the castle. As she thought, Voldemort did not examine the chamber in detail and immediately left for the edge of the Forbidden Forest after stamping out the illusory dwarf. Hermione then watched his movements on the Marauder''s Map and crawled back out of the statue''s mouth, while Fawkes continued his preparations for the Apparition, she used the time to scribe down as many Ancient Runes on the ground as she possibly could. Hermione had read some books on Ancient Runes after ss, but her knowledge of them was rather superficial; she didn''t know any of them, let alone understand what they meant, so she had to write them down and bring them back to Dumbledore to study. But before she had even finished writing down a tenth of the runes on the ground, she suddenly saw the name "Tom Riddle" on the map, returning back to Hogwarts Castle! At once, she gathered up all her belongings, and Fawkes, standing on her shoulder, glowed with a golden-red light that kept intensifying. "Hurry up! We have to be quick, Fawkes! He coulde back any minute!" As if fulfilling Hermione''s bad feelings, the name that stood for Voldemort on the Marauder''s Map began to move abruptly and at great speed from its position in the entrance hall towards the seventh floor! In a panic, Hermione cloaked herself and Fawkes in the invisibility cloak as she recited Parseltongue secret words to the Slytherin statue once more and then moved swiftly to climb in! She knew that no ce would necessarily be safe for her to stay, and it was obvious that Voldemort was much more aggressive this timepared to thest, he must have found out something, otherwise, he wouldn''t havee towards the room in the Room of Requirement for the second time with such a clear objective. The Slytherin statue''s mouth closed again, and only Fawkes'' body glowed gold and red within the dark, ustrophobic environment. Hermione was far more mature and calm than her normal peers, but her body still trembled involuntarily at this time, her arms cradling a glowing Fawkes, her eyes locked on the name that was moving quickly. "Come on Fawkes, you can do it,e on, we can''t let Jon and the Professor down" Her voice was trembling too, but there was nothing she could do to help Fawkes at this time, only to watch as the name that represented darkness and death came closer and closer to her. So close that he had stepped through the passage of the chamber and flown over the winding, twisting path to the two stone doors carved with serpents! Hermione''s body rapidly turned cold from the chill that could not be suppressed even with the perfect warmth that Fawkes in her arms was giving her. "Hiss (open)." As the stone door slid slowly to the sides, Fawkes suddenly pecked the back of Hermione''s hand with his pointed beak, and then the light from his body wrapped around Hermione! The blinding light prated the Slytherin''s closed mouth and then disappeared abruptly, a sight that Voldemort, who walked in the next second, did not see. He had re-entered the quiet, ustrophobic, Ancient Runes-filled chamber. Everything was as it had been when he had left it twenty minutes ago, the shimmering Ancient Runes greeting their lord with joy, except that the shackles, which had lost their purpose and fallen to the floor, had at some point levitated back into existence, vaguely holding some illusory being in their grip. Voldemort''s eyes were filled with coldness as he didn''t stop this time and walked right up to the statue of the Slytherin. "Hiss hiss hiss (Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four)" The mouth of the statue opened up to reveal a circr passage. Looking in from the outside towards the inside, it was dark and did not look like there was any sign of a hidden person, but Voldemort did not stop halfway as he continued to fly into the passage as a ck mist. The passage was deep, and it connected to the sewer pipes throughout Hogwarts castle, thus allowing the Basilisk to survive inside for thousands of years by hunting for rats as well as other small creatures. With great speed, Voldemort searched the whole area for mice following the pipe. However, he found nothing. Then he returned to the Slytherin chamber and stared at the statue that represented his ancestors and frowned. "Why are you bothering to help them, regardless of my goals, the glory of the purebloods is being carried forward in my hands, isn''t that what you aspired to do when you founded this school in the first ce? So, why not agree with me?" His voice echoed through the closed chamber, but there was no one to answer him. Voldemort tilted his head as he looked at the pale, monkey-like face, and the coldness that flowed from his gaze was as if he was looking at an enemy. "It doesn''t matter if you guys don''t want to give it to me, I''ll take it myself!" *** Dumbledore and Jon returned to the Headmaster''s office on the wagon, and Jon immediately went to find someone to ask if Hermione had returned, the look on his face became unbearably grave when he received a negative answer. "Hermione and I made a promise that as soon as Riddle''s name came up within range of the Marauder''s Map, then whatever she was doing, Fawkes would have to bring her back immediately." Jon frowned back. "Hermione won''t be that careless, if she promised something she''d do it, and now she''s not back it can only be because she''s in trouble." He looked at Dumbledore, his eyes were serious. "We have to help her!" "Of course, we have to help her." Dumbledore didn''t half hesitate to respond to Jon''s demand, he had gripped his wand, "No student should be left behind, that was a promise I emphasized to all of you when you were enrolled, and it remains the same even now." Jon wasn''t half surprised by Dumbledore''s response, he knew full well that the old man was in fact an idealist, there were just times when reality would force him to ept it. "But we also have to anticipate the Dark Lord''s reaction ahead of time and if he has captured Hermione by now, then what are we going to do?" Dumbledore''s face was calm as he re-draped his robes. "He takes this castle seriously, in fact, I actually used to hold it in high regard too." Jon didn''t respond for a moment. "So?" "The dragons are not capable of destroying that castle, but even as a dull old man I''m still a little more versatile than those dragons aren''t I?" Dumbledore actually smiled at this point, "Riddle wouldn''t care about his subordinates, wouldn''t care about his students, but he certainly cares about this castle, and while I haven''t found out why he cares so much about it, it doesn''t stop us from using that as leverage." Jon looked at Dumbledore in bewilderment. "But, do you no longer care about that castle? Professor." "I certainly do care about it, Jon." Dumbledore said softly, "I''ve lived and taught here for over fifty years, people used to call me the greatest Hogwarts Headmaster ever, and even though that name has be a joke now, I still love that ce, it''s not just a school, it''s the history of the entire British wizardingmunity. " "But what makes Hogwarts a Hogwarts isn''t just based on a castle, the castle itself was built to teach and educate people, but if it no longer has the means to carry that mission and has even be a tool to oppress students, then even if it were to be destroyed, I don''t think the four great wizards who created it would say anything about it, would they? Szar." On the wall, the portrait of Slytherin spread his hands. "I don''t know about the others, but it certainly doesn''t matter to me, we decided to build the school a thousand years ago to help safeguard the wizards, rather than establish the school to hurt the wizards." Jon froze at thement, and Dumbledore said to him as if he was joking. "You hear that, I have received the approval of the original owner of this castle." With that, he buttoned up his robes and led Jon to the door of the office. "Come on, let''s go and get Hermione back." Jon rubbed his nose to ease the somewhat inexplicable soreness as he followed Dumbledore''s lead and smiled suddenly. "Yes, that castle can be called anything but Hogwarts, Hogwarts is clearly this wagon of ours!" "Ha, I like the sound of that." Just as they were about to walk out of the Headmaster''s office, a golden-red glow suddenly lit up behind them! Both Jon and Dumbledore''s steps stopped at the same time, and they turned around to see that the burst of light had outlined the lines of a phoenix and a small girl. At the sight of this, Jon''s already tense nerves finally rxed, and he heaved a long sigh of relief, while Dumbledore still had that gentle smile on his face, but Jon could also see the relief in his eyes; no matter what, as long as Hermione was safe that mattered more than anything else. He said to Jon jokingly. "We''ve done all the mental preparation for nothing." Jon lightly pped both sides of his face. "I''m actually already thinking about how I''m going to let the dark lord slip his tongue when you blow the castle down, Professor." "It''s okay, you can save the words you think of for now, you''ll definitely be able to use themter." "Shouldn''t you be lecturing me about not swearing?" "How can I teach my students what I can''t do myself." Just as they were talking, Hermione appeared in the Headmaster''s office, and she looked at Dumbledore and Jon, who looked like they were getting ready to leave the office, with a surprised look on her face. "Where are you both going." Jon and Dumbledore looked at each other and then he shrugged. "Going to blow up Hogwarts castle, if you show up a few secondster." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 361: Killing the Castle (2 in 1) Chapter 361: Killing the Castle (2 in 1) Hermione thought Jon was joking, and her face still had a paleness from overstress and fear. "Blowing up Hogwarts? Well, that''s certainly something worth discussing, but it''s a good thing I managed to escape from the castle, there was a new version of Anti-Apparition Charm set up in that chamber by the Dark Lord, it took time for Fawkes to decipher it, and it''s a good thing we didn''t get caught by him in time at thest minute." Hermione felt her whole body turn cold, her back was soaked in sweat, if Fawkes hadn''t brought her back at thest second then she really would have been caught by the dark lord. She hadn''t forgotten what was important either and took the pouch she was carrying off her shoulder after that palpitation had eased over. "I did it, Professor, I found that Slytherin Chamber of Secrets, only its entrance isn''t in the location Mr Slytherin and you guessed it would be." Jon and Dumbledore had sat back down, both of them silently not exining to Hermione that thement they had just made was no joke, but instead seriously trying to listen to what had happened to her in the castle. "Oh? Not on the ground floor or in the Headmaster''s office? Where was it then?" "It''s the Room of Requirement, Professor!" Hermione''s eyes glowed as she looked over at Jon, "When we were at sea earlier, Jon told me about how when he was ying Randy''s role in Hogwarts castle, he had initially made polyjuice potions in a room on the seventh floor of the castle, the Room of Requirement, a magical room hidden on the opposite side of a tapestry. That room was so magical that it could satisfy almost every personal requirement, so after a fruitless search of having Fawkes search through the Headmaster''s office, I thought of this room, thinking that if it truly could be that magical, it would surely help me find the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets as well." Jon guessed by this time what Hermione was trying to sayter. "It turned out that even the Dark Lord himself was actually using the Room of Requirement to get into the Chamber of Secrets!" "Right! Iter learned from looking at the Marauder''s Map that he had used this same method to get in. As you had analysed before, Professor Dumbledore, the Dark Lord was aware of Mr. Slytherin''s willingness to help us, and he must have had to shift the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets from its original location, but since whoever built it must have known better than anyone else where it might possibly be shifted, the Room of Requirement must have be his target of shifting!" Dumbledore mused in response. "It''s certainly a good choice, the Room of Requirement is very well hidden and while there''s no guarantee that no one will know about it, it''s almost impossible for anyone to associate that Room with the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets." Even Dumbledore himself only learned about the Room of Requirement after Jon returned from Hogwarts Castle in his second year, and the wonders of the castle were not fully explored even by Dumbledore himself (going by the original Harry Potter, Dumbledore would have learned about the Room of Requirement onlyter during the Triwizard Tournament because he went to thevatory). "I found a lot of Ancient Runes in the Chamber of Secrets." Hermione spoke of her haul, taking the piece of parchment she had used to take notes out of her pouch and handing it to Dumbledore. "Time was very pressing, so that''s all I could transcribe. Apart from that, there was a somewhat ghost-like dwarf tied underneath the statue of Mr Slytherin, although it was unconscious, and I was unable to wake him up no matter what I did. When the Dark Lord first came into the chamber, I hid in the secret passage that Mr. Slytherin had told me about, and by the time he left, and I came back out, the dwarf had disappeared." Dumbledore''s brow furrowed at some point as he looked at those ancient runes recorded on that parchment while listening to Hermione''s ounts. After Hermione had finished recounting all of her encounters in the castle, a silence fell over the Headmaster''s office and only after a long time did a sigh from Dumbledore break the silence. "We were correct in our guess, Szar, he is nning to kill that castle, or rather, is already carrying it out." Dumbledore''s words sent an uproar through the wall that was filled with portraits of previous Headmasters! "How dare he! To do so would be to erase thousands of years of British wizardry history!" "And if he did, what would he gain?" "Why does he try to kill Hogwarts by any means possible like this! Why not just rebuild a new school instead, why does he keep upying the position of headmaster in name only like a clown?" "Maybe he knows he can''t get it, so he''s about to simply destroy it? Leaving us with no chance of reiming the school at all?" "That would just leave uspletely without any hope or worries! The castle is dead, so what''s the difference between using the Castle as a school and wagon as a school forever in the future!" The Headmasters engaged in some heated condemnation and discussion, none of them apparently expecting Voldemort to actually dare to do this, even though there had been a certain amount of spection amongst them beforehand. Jon and Hermione, on the other hand, looked at each other in confusion. Jon hadn''t known at first what exactly Dumbledore was doing by asking Hermione to sneak into the castle at this time, and Hermione herself only knew what she was going to do, but had no idea what the point of doing so was. Dumbledore pped his hands gently, restraining the headmasters from making a ruckus. "Don''t get emotional just yet, he is indeed doing that right now, but that''s good news as well isn''t it? The fact that he still can''t stay inside the castle for long now means that his n hasn''t seeded and that the supposed killing of Hogwarts castle is just a futile attempt." Yet Szar, who had only recently been hung up on the wall, said with a serious look on his face. "But we''re not sure if he''s trying to kill the castle itself while also establishing an authority of his own over this school." "He wants to kill Hogwarts and rebuild it!" A shrill old man screamed up, and the other Headmasters looked furious. "To kill and re-establish is to cut this castlepletely away from us and make Hogwarts into something else!" Dumbledore''s fingers tapped lightly on the tabletop as if he was thinking about something, wavering over a certain issue. And by this time, Jon could almost probably make out something that these Headmasters were talking about. He remembered what Firenze had said to him in the Forbidden Forest, that after the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort, Hogwarts Castle had been constantly usurped, but that man''s purpose had never been achieved, and the star that represented Hogwarts always shone brightly right above the castle in the sky. So he recounted his encounter in the Forbidden Forest. "Hagrid asked me to help look after his friends from his former job as a gamekeeper in the Forbidden Forest before I entered it for the tournament, and in the midst of this I met several Bowtruckle, a unicorn flock and a Granian named ''Hoss'', and it was with their help that I was able to survive in the forbidden forest and solve the problems caused by the dragon''s rampage. It was also during that time I met one other student from Hogwarts Castle." Dumbledore repeated Jon''sst words softly. "A student from Hogwarts castle?" "Yes, his name is Cedric Diggory, and he is one of the students in the Half-Blood House in the castle." When they heard Jon mention the name, Hermione and Dumbledore looked at each other, surprise evident in their eyes. Jon noticed their reactions as well and asked, somewhat puzzled. "Have you guys heard this name before?" Hermione exined to him. "I had seen this person creep into the secret passageway on the fourth floor of Hogwarts and leave the school grounds on the Marauder''s Map when I sneaked into Hogwarts castle in the middle of the night, and it was reported to Professor Dumbledore, who thought that this student could possibly be pulled to our side." Jon nodded very seriously at this. "He has indeed been unable to ept the oppression of the policies practised by the Dark Lord in Britain, yet has been unable to resist. A year ago, he inadvertently met the current chief of the Centaur tribe - Firenze - while they were still struggling to survive in the Forbidden Forest, and after learning about their difficult situation and the imminent danger of being driven to extinction, he willingly risked his life to help them and try to get them out of the Forbidden Forest, but they never found the right opportunity to do so. It was not until this Triwizard Tournament that the only Centaurs left were trapped in the valley by three dragons and nearly starved to death Cedric risked his life again to help them get out of the forbidden forest and meet me at that time." "Hagrid had told me that there was a friend of his amongst the Centaur, so I agreed to Cedric''s request and helped him to get the Centaurs out of that valley together. Firenze then made a plea to me to help with the dozen or so Centaurs who remained alive, and he hoped I could find Hagrid and convince Professor Dumbledore to get them out of the Forbidden Forest and relocate their youngs'' out of Britain." Jon then told them everything about that star representing Hogwarts Castle as well, leaving Dumbledore and the others in the portrait to fall into a moment of silence. "The Centaur do have their unique way of astrological divination." The Headmaster, whose name was Dilys who had once been a St. Mungo''s healer, said, "If they really did see this a dozen years ago." Sirius'' great-great-grandfather said with a dismissive look on his face. "They were the ones who said they wanted to stay out of the filth between the wizards in the first ce, Albus had already gone to the Forbidden Forest personally to persuade them that they should better leave from there even if they didn''t want to offer help to either side, but what did the Centaurs say that time ''If any wizards doe to invade ournds, we''ll show them who we are! You can''t understand our courage, Dumbledore.'' Haven''t they said these? These are their own words, and now why are they changing their tune? Let us help them, won''t that Firenze be ashamed when he says that?" Dumbledore waved his hand. "The Centaurs are a tribe, Phineas, not amunity with a single consciousness, just as we and Riddle are both wizards, but we have equally different ideas. The Centaurs who decided to stay in the Forbidden Forest were a group who ruled that time, and Firenze, who is now asking for our help, is not from the same group as those Centaurs, he has always been friendly to the wizards. He also approached me specifically because he had divined that danger wasing, informing me even before Riddle had attacked the castle, so he is a friend of ours." "So you''re going to help them?" Phineas asked. Dumbledore nodded. "Of course, we''re going to help them, Riddle removed the human rights of almost all half-human creatures to enforce the rule of the bloodline, all of them can be our friends too, and even without that, don''t forget I said we were friends." He made a point of emphasising thest sentence, finally concluding the matter. Jon was not surprised by this, he had known from the start that Dumbledore would not give up on these Centaurs, no matter which direction he looked at it from. Since Jon had brought the subject of the Forbidden Forest, it was natural for Dumbledore to ask about his condition in the tournament. Jon told all about his experience. "Thanks to Hoss being there, I was safe; if Hagrid hadn''t asked me to look for him in the Forbidden Forest at the beginning, then maybe something would have happened to me at the start of the dragon riots." Hearing him say Hoss''s name, Dumbledore smiled. "I know that Granian Pegasus, I was the one who handed him over to Hagrid in the first ce. It was just a foal then, captured as a foal by a dark wizard who wanted to study the secrets about its speed magic from it, andter rescued by me. The physical irregrities you see in his body are the aftermath of being subjected to torment, and Hagrid educated him well, but at the time of our escape from Hogwarts Castle, Hagrid searched the entire Forbidden Forest but failed to find him, so in the end, he was not able to bring him out of the Forbidden Forest. I''m also d he was able to give you all this help." Jon also spoke about his own arrangements regarding Hoss. "I sent him off to Hogsmeade''s Hog''s Head Inn to find Percival after I let him drop something in the castle, Hagrid will die of joy to see him afterwards." Dumbledore crossed his arms in front of him, the look in his eyes bing slightly puzzled. "So we can actually be sure that it was Riddle and the group who were responsible for the riot of the dragons in this first task?" Jon, however, became a little hesitant at this point. "I was certain he did it without any other suspicion at all in the Forbidden Forest, but after he came up to me at the end of the first task and made thosements, I was a little unsure again, he really didn''t seem the least bit disappointed, like he didn''t care if I was dead or alive, which is unusual." Dumbledore said softly. "His thoughts are indeed elusive, but let''s not forget the few purposes we listed for him at the beginning, what was the most crucial of them?" Jon didn''t hesitate; he remembered all along. "His soul state is still unstable, and he needs some special means to bring himself back to full strength!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 362: Be an ordinary professor? Chapter 362: Be an ordinary professor? "That''s right, we knew before the tournament began that he was definitely in an unstable state, after you ripped up that soul contract, there was no way for the two souls in Riddle''s body toe to a peaceful way of coexisting with each other." Dumbledore said softly. "The strength of his soul is important to him, the reason he suddenly became incredibly strong sometimes was because of that. But now if two different souls in his body sh, then this must have made a great impact on him, even if the impact is small, it would at least knock him back to his original form and cause him to lose that power that is not originally his." "It''s just that Riddle obviously used some special means again to temporarily reconcile the souls in his body, but it is obviously not a longsting means, and he is bound to find other ways to stabilise this change in his soul. It was also why he showed up in France within the Ministry of Magic to organise this Triwizard Tournament by taking a blood pact with me, this tournament must be something he needed to do right at the moment." Jon had certainly not forgotten any of this, and he knew that Voldemort''s current state was definitely not normal; that soul pact in Sir Stoker''s Tower was a very crucial thing for the dark lord, and after he had torn it up, there was no way that Voldemort could have just fixed all his soul problems that easily. "But Professor, at the time, we also analysed that apart from such purposes, the purpose of him holding this tournament is rted to his need to repair his soul, and there is a bigger possibility that he wants to dy time by organising the Triwizard Tournament; it will take at least a year when the tournament is over, and he can perfectly use this time to find a solution to his soul problem. " Dumbledore said with a nod. "That is indeed a great possibility as well, and if that is indeed the case, we can''t afford to refrain from winning this tournament even if we find out what he is really up to, which would be equivalent to falling for his conspiracy." Jon mused. "Well, it doesn''t matter if it''s a conspiracy or a plot, we''re going to win this Triwizard Tournament anyway, and about your arrangement inside the castle, Professor, I think Cedric can be of great help to us." Dumbledore blinked. "Is that boy you mentioned with the name Cedric Diggory?" "Yes, he''s brave and courageous, and I can tell he''s not brainwashed by the Dark Lord''s pureblood education, and has a distaste for the present Hogwarts castle, so I think he should be of some help to us." Dumbledore didn''t look like he wanted to deny Jon''s suggestion, he simply said. "We certainly can''t miss the opportunity, but we can''t ignore his own ideas either, even if we do want him to help, we need to make it clear that he is going to be in danger and let him make that decision for himself." Jon certainly strongly agreed with this, and then Jon did not remain in the Headmaster''s office to talk any further with Dumbledore. It waste, and he hadn''t had a good rest for basically thest three days in the Forbidden Forest. He had to go to the Hog''s Head Inn in the morning to see Hoss, and he would definitely have to tag along to help with certain matters regarding the Centaurs. So Jon and Hermione left the Headmaster''s office together after saying goodbye and went back to their own dormitory. And in the Headmaster''s office, where Dumbledore has left alone, a conversation was going on between the sessive Headmasters of Hogwarts. "I trust my instincts." Szar said gruffly, "I have dealt with Riddle, and even if it was a deceptive exchange, it has provided me with some insight into his character and persona. Since he has already embarked on a n to kill the castle, he must also have a follow-up preparation when he has eliminated the magic force of Hogwarts Castle, otherwise, like you people said, if it was just to destroy Hogwarts Castle, he wouldn''t have to waste so much effort, it wouldn''t be difficult for him to make this school disappear from the worldpletely with his ability." "Besides, when Jon guided those dragons today and nned for them to wreak havoc on the castle, he ended up rushing back to defend the ce, which shows that at least he doesn''t want this school to be destroyed, or at least not on the physical side." Dumbledore crossed his fingers, there was an inscrutable calmness to his face. "But if his aim really is to truly be Headmaster of Hogwarts and be the master of this castle not only in name, then what exactly would that benefit him in the end?" His question was one that the entire wall of Headmasters couldn''t answer, they really couldn''t think of what he would gain even if he was acknowledged by the castle. Dumbledore pondered for a long moment and suddenly there was a somewhat dumbfounded smile appeared on his face. "It can''t actually just be what he told me when he made the wager, right? About his earliest wish of bing just a normal Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle?" Hearing this spection from him, the Headmasters looked at each other, and then a slight snicker rang out. Clearly, most of them thought that Dumbledore was just telling a cold joke that wasn''t really that funny. *** The results of the first Task of the Triwizard Tournament hit the headlines of almost every magical newspaper across Europe early the next morning. It is no exaggeration to say that more than two-thirds of all the wizards in Europe were following this tournament, which had the fate of the French magicalmunity at stake, and the news in the newspapers was overwhelmingly unbelievable. It was certainly not the final score of the first task that was unbelievable, as Jon had some of the best chances of winning on several betting markets. With the record he has shown and the power he has shown, most believed he would shine in this tournament and almost no one was betting on Draco. The result of the tournament was exactly the same, with no surprises, which left some wizards who wanted to bet against the high odds tumbling out of their homes and already ready to fly on their flying broomsticks and jump off at heights of over 100 metres. What really shocked them was the story about Hogwarts Castle being attacked by dragons, and there were several newspapers that stated outright and implicitly that Jon himself should have had nothing to do with the situation that happened. At the same time, the story about Jon using Voldemort''s side of cheating by pulling some tricks on the golden snitch, causing the dragons to riot and nearly besiege and kill him, was simrly publicised. It looked like a drama in which Voldemort''s side failed to gain the upper hand even after cheating, and it raised the heat about the tournament even more. More wizards are looking forward to the second Task of the Triwizard Tournament, which is scheduled to begin after Christmas, on the first day of the following year, January 1. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 363: Hosss Happy Life Begins Chapter 363: Hoss''s Happy Life Begins Jon, who had sleptfortably through the night and had a big lunch the next day, didn''t care about all the buzz. The first Task had just finished, and the second would not be held until the first day of the next year, with a long break in between to give every champion time to recuperate. And instead of lounging around in the wagon after a night''s rest, Jon followed Hagrid quietly to Hogsmeade, a wizard vige near Hogwarts. As the subject of constant Aurors surveince, it was also a question of how to get out of this school without being noticed by anyone. Luckily, Dumbledore helped them by using an extremely high-end transfiguration spell to turn both Jon and Hagrid into two birds, they then sneakily flew into the Forbidden Forest and then flown through the Forbidden Forest to go outside of Hogwarts, without alerting the Aurors. And after arriving in Hogsmeade, they headed straight for the filthy Inn with a hog''s head in front of the door. Aberforth had also anticipated their arrival today and hadn''t opened the Inn at all, but had been waiting in the yard behind the Inn with the doors closed. "Truly what a mess to throw at me! Let me look after this stupid mule, do you know what it nearly didst night? It was going to mate with my goat!" As soon as they met, Aberforth was furiouslyining to Jon about what Hoss had done. Jon, however, was unconcerned and stroked Hoss''s bald head, which looked stupid but was in fact incredibly intelligent. "Hey Percival, did you know that Hogwarts castle was attacked by dragonsst night?" Aberforth thought he was changing the subject, and although his anger had not yet subsided, he was clearly interested in that matter as well. "Of course I read today''s newspaper, the Daily Prophet had nothing good to say about you, they implicitly said that Albus had cheated by teaching you some kind of dark magic that the average person couldn''t imagine, which had helped you to control those dragons and made them attack Hogwarts Castle." Hearing this upside-down version of the story, Jonughed disdainfully as he told Aberforth exactly what had happened to him in the Forbidden Forest. The average person would never have guessed in any case that the biggest help he had received in the Forbidden Forest, and the biggest contributor to the attack on Hogwarts Castle that had happenedst night, was actually this stupid mule who seemed to be in some kind of rutting phase. In response, Aberforth had clearly changed his opinion of Hoss somewhat for the better. "Well, even though it looks a bit stupid, it does have something unique about it." Hagrid''s emotions were much more intense after seeing Hoss, and he cried out on the spot as he hugged Hoss''s big head, as if he had found his long-lost rtive. "I was looking for you in the Forbidden Forest when we left Hogwarts Castle, but you ran off somewhere at that time and I couldn''t find you no matter where I looked, Hoss, it''s a good thing you''re still alive Hoss! If I had lost you too, then I really don''t know how I would be able to live without anything to hold on to." Hoss was clearly excited to see Hagrid, too, and he struggled out of Hagrid''s bear hug to stick his tongue out and lick Hagrid''s bearded face. But there wasn''t much time left for them on their reunion, and within a few moments of staying at the Hog''s Head Inn, Kingsley, who was originally in France, arrived at the Hog''s Head Inn with perhaps a dozen wizards from the Witching Horizon through an Apparition. Upon seeing Jon, Kingsley and the wizards were obviously happy, Jon had spent some time with Kingsley during his time in Lyon and had a good rtionship with the dark-skinned wizard who was also from a pureblood family. As soon as they met, he spoke about what had happened regarding yesterday''s task. "Word is getting around all over France, we all know it must have been you who influenced those dragons to attack Hogwarts Castle, nice work Jon, even though I still have nostalgia and affection for that school, I know it''s not the same Hogwarts at all now." Jon patted Hoss''s bald head. "The major credit belongs to him, it''s because of Hoss that there was a chance for me to get back at the Dark Lord for their plot to set me up, please do look after him once you''ve taken him with you." Before, Kingsley had learned of Hoss''s existence, and one of their purposes ining here today was to help bring Hoss to a safe ce. Dumbledore had thought it through, if Hoss had stayed here and appeared in the wagon it would have been too conspicuous, and without seeing him it was unlikely that anyone would be able to guess exactly what Jon had used to divert the attention of those dragons, but once someone had noticed Hoss''s species, and given the timing of his appearance at this point in time, surely some clever person would be able to guess some truth. It was inevitable that someone would then want to take revenge on him for that, so the safest thing to do now was to send him to France, which was already virtually under the control of the Witching Horizon. "I read in the letter Hagrid wrote to me that this big contributor is a bit horny." Kingsley smiled as he looked into Hoss''srge and small eyes, "It just so happens that we have recently seized one of the French Ministry of Magic''s Abraxan winged horse breeding farms around Beauxbatons, where there are more than three times as many mares as stallions with a shortage of good stallions, so if he likes it, we can take him there." At Kingsley''s words, Hoss''s big and little eyes visibly lit up! He was even impatient to break free from Hagrid''s grasp and follow Kingsley to this faraway heaven now. This made Jon, who had been a little worried that Hoss might not want to go to France, speechless, but he could only conclude that this stupid mule would never change his nature. Of course, it certainly wouldn''t take nearly this many wizards to pick up Hoss, and Kingsley, who had risked all the scrutiny of the British Ministry of Magic and hade to Hogsmeade for more than just Hoss, a horny horse. There was a remnant tribe of Centaurs waiting for them in the Forbidden Forest. Dumbledore didn''t dy, since he had to promise Firenze to escort them from the Forbidden Forest, it was better to do it sooner rather thanter, no one was sure if Voldemort would make any other moves against these Centaurster on. After having one of the wizards take Hoss away from the Hog''s Head Inn, Kingsley, Hagrid and Jon began to discuss ns for the rescue of the Centaurs. Inside the Hog''s Head Inn, Jon spread out the simple map he had drawn in the forbidden forest and pointed out to Kingsley and Hagrid where the Centaurs currently resided. "After getting them out of that valley, I specifically told them to head for the edge of the Forbidden Forest close to this side of Hogsmeade first, only this part of the Forbidden Forest hasplicated terrain with a steep hill obstructing their path, and there is also a high probability that there are British Ministry of Magic surveince means in ce in the border area." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 364: Rescue the Centaurs Chapter 364: Rescue the Centaurs "Firenze told me that three years ago seven Centaurs from their tribe, led by a Centaur called Bane, made onest attempt to break out of the Forbidden Forest. But they only half seeded, the ce they chose was a more t terrain, but after they had charged out of the Forbidden Forest, the Aurors blocked right in front of them as if they knew their arrival, and none of the Centaurs led by Bane escaped, most died under the Aurors'' spell for resisting, and some were captured." Hagrid''s eyes reddened a little as he listened to Jon''s ount. "I knew Bane, he was a bit grumpy, but I watched him grow up, and his parents invited me to see a feast held within their tribe when he was born. He was a brave Centaur." They could all understand Hagrid''s feelings, and all of them, except for Jon, had experienced the loss ofrades and loved one''s countless times. But none of them hade here today to wallow in their grief. Kingsley stared at the map that Jon had drawn by hand and after a moment of reflection, he said. "The terrainplexity is simple since the Centaurs can''te out, we can just go in, the range of Anti-Apparition Charm coverage within Hogwarts is not that exaggerated, the fringes of the Forbidden Forest near Hogsmeade are certainly not covered, we just have to be careful around the area near Hogwarts, the British Ministry of Magic will be more strict in monitoring the magic around here. But since we managed to get here safely, it''s only natural that there''s a way to go around it safely as well." "The only problem is the unknown kind of magic surveince that you said covers the area around the edge of the Forbidden Forest, we need to look closely at what kind of magic is being ced there first." Kingsley, a typical practical man, immediately found the difficulty in getting the Centaurs out and without any half-hearted attempt to dy, he didn''t rest long in the Hog''s Head Inn and in the afternoon, together with Jon, Hagrid, quietly made his way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, avoiding the eyes of everyone else in the vige. Hagrid had been a gamekeeper for almost fifty years and was naturally familiar with every location in these woods. "This ce used to be one of the territories upied by the Aragog and his descendants; none of the other creatures of the Forbidden Forest woulde here, and there were signs of people starting to appear further out from here. There was a time when some wizard poachers sneaked into the Forbidden Forest from this ce, trying to hunt some of the endangered magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest, and it was from that time that Dumbledore also ced some magic in this ce to guard against those people, and by the way, at that time I remember that the Department for the Regtion and Control of Magical Creatures of the Ministry of Magic was also involved." About the death of those eight-eyed giant spiders(Acromant), Jon hadn''t had the time to give Hagrid the news yet, so he wasn''t overly grieved by the incident for the time being. As they listened to Hagrid''s exnation, Kingsley hade to the edge of the steep hill. He and Jon didn''t rush straight to the top of the hill but pointed their wands at the sparsely patched grass. With a clear target in mind, it wasn''t long before Kingsley made some discoveries, frowning and cupping his chin as he said. "There are indeed obvious traces of magic here, a kind of warning spell, not a very difficult thing to disable, but it has a very clever touch, and this spell will provide a kind of warning even if it is disabled." Following Kingsley''s guidance, Jon soon spotted the warning spells that had been ced on the outskirts of the forbidden forest as well. It was true, as he had said, it was not difficult to dispel these spells, but because of their nature, even if the spell itself was dispelled, the caster would be able to detect it, so it would be no different if it was dispelled or not, which caused the difficulty to be a bit higher. Before they could even enter the Forbidden Forest, they were having difficulties outside, which made things unpleasant from the start. Jon naturally didn''t have a good idea of how to deal with such magic, the second gem on the ring was able to absorb magic from magical items, but these warning spells that were being ced around were purely ongoing magic and weren''t attached to anything. And even if the ring could absorb it, the problem was the same; at the same time that the magic was no longer working, the Aurors who had set up such a warning spell would naturally be able to detect it. They certainly could not pick a fight with the British Ministry of Magic during the duration of the Triwizard Tournament, it was in the blood pact that both Dumbledore and Voldemort had made, and no one would break it. Just as they were worried about entering the Forbidden Forest, Jon suddenly thought of something, and he turned his head to Kingsley. "If I could get you something that would allow you to enter the Forbidden Forest without alerting anyone by bringing it with you, is there any way you could make use of it by deciphering it in reverse?" Kingsley nodded affirmatively. "I can''t give you an absolute promise, but the odds of sess are high, as long as the enchantments on that thing aren''t so high that I have no way of understanding them, it is possible." "That shouldn''t be the case, and even I think the magic on that thing could be calledpletely crude, an ancient relic with extremely short range." Jon turned on his heel and left in the direction of Hogwarts after waving his hand widely, he thought of the way Cedric had entered the Forbidden Forest earlier, using an arrowhead that the Centaur had given him. There was obviously no trace of advanced magic on it, but rather some kind of magic unique to the race of Centaur, but even if Kingsley couldn''t imitate the magic of the Centaur, it wouldn''t matter, it wasn''t like the Centaur in the Forbidden Forest was the only Centaur in the whole of Europe, they could find another Centaur tribe somewhere else to try and imitate this arrowhead. However, Jon hadn''t even taken a few steps before he turned back around. He scratched his head a little embarrassed in the face of Kingsley''s and their puzzled stares. "Well uh, the advanced Transfiguration skill won''t be taught until the seventh year and I don''t know it yet, can you help turn me into a bird, so I can fly back first?" Kingsley: "." There were times when Jon did things that made them subconsciously ignore his age, and it was only at a time like this that they could remember that Jon was actually only in his fourth year. It was close to an evening when Jon infiltrated Hogwarts Castle. With the first task over, the defences around the castle hadn''t rxed much because of it, but relying on the cloak of invisibility and the Marauder''s map, he had managed to get into the enemy''s main camp with ease. As agreed when he had separated from Cedric in the forbidden forest, he drew an obscure mark in the corridor on the ground floor of the castle and proceeded to wait in a secret passage behind a mirror on the fourth floor. He was not made to wait too long, and probably after the half-blood students'' dinner, he saw from the Marauder''s map that Cedric''s name wasing up in the direction of the fourth floor. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 365: Little Devil Chapter 365: Little Devil Regarding Cedric, Dumbledore hadn''t said exactly how he was going to use his presence in Hogwarts Castle to his advantagest night. But there was one thing Jon was sure of. That was he would prefer Cedric to y no role at all than to have anything happen to the boy who had abandoned the dark side. It was certainly not just out of the goodness of Dumbledore''s heart, but more so because Cedric''s own presence was an example. It meant that even with Voldemort''s oppressive administration, there were still wizards like Cedric in Britain today who still had an open mind. Even if the number is small, even if it is in the single digits, it is still a very encouraging sign. Becausepared to him being some kind of undercover spy in the castle, letting him keep his life safe and then waiting for the right moment to openly renounce Voldemort''s crimes would be the greatest blow that could be dealt to the British Ministry of Magic. Of course, before preparing to do that, Dumbledore would most certainly also find a way to protect Cedric''s family members who were still working in the Ministry of Magic at present. Once he had met up with Jon in the secret passage, Cedric recounted to him some of the voices that were now circting in the castle. "The students hate you with a passion, and the Professors are preaching that you induced those dragons to attack Hogwarts Castle, trying to burn it to the ground along with everyone inside. The vast majority of them believed it, and they privately call you the little devil and said you are a murderous viin." When he heard the name "Little Devil", Jon couldn''t help butugh in dumb surprise. He didn''t know if this was something that had been spontaneously tossed out between the students, or if Voldemort was behind it. But Voldemort himself should know better than anyone else who the real devil was, and wasn''t it a bit insulting that such a title be bestowed on his enemy? It was only logical that such a title should belong to Draco, who now represented Hogwarts Castle in the tournament. "Have you noticed any Professors missing from the school today?" Jon was interested in just how much damage had been done after that attack yesterday. Cedric had obviously observed it specifically as well, and he answered without thinking. "Almost every one of the few Professors I met today was wounded, and some of them are still lying in the hospital wing in a more serious condition, from what I heard. Then there''s Professor Pierre of the Half-Blood House, he''s believed to be dead, but it doesn''t seem to be at the hands of the dragons, rumours are going around among the students that he was killed by Barty Crouch due to cowardice." "There was also an Auror dead, I heard it from a seventh-year student, he was lying by the windowst night and saw an Auror being bitten to death by a dragon with two long fangs, blood ran over most of the castle''s walls and when he got up in the morning, someone else saw uncleared and shredded intestines on the grass." Two dead, that was more than what Jon had mentally expected. It wasn''t that he had no confidence in the dragons, but Voldemort would be back very quickly. If he were to have returned three minutester, the casualties of the Professors in the Astronomy Tower would not have been so slight, at least half of them would have died. But obviously, Voldemort himself knew that Hogwarts Castle could not withstand such a severe loss of life, the death of the men in the castle would have a lesser effect on his power, but it would give the outside world the impression that Voldemort and his forces were on the verge of copse. Such an event would be fatal and would cause those Ministries of Magic, which had beenrgely in Voldemort''s favour at the previous Champions'' Selection Banquet, to begin to re-examine the situation, severely undermining Voldemort''s intentions to rule all of Europe. After learning about the situation at Hogwarts Castle from Cedric, Jon got down to business. "I need to borrow the arrowhead you used earlier to avoid the magic around the Forbidden Forest, we are working on a n to get the Centaurs out of the Forbidden Forest and want to use that arrowhead to study a way to safely enter the Forbidden Forest." Hearing Jon''s request, Cedric didn''t hesitate and on the spot took off the stone arrowhead that had been hanging around his neck and handed it to Jon. "This was originally given to me by the Centaurs, and now if this can be of any help to them then that would be great." Jon nodded solemnly, not intending to dy Cedric too much to prevent him from disappearing for too long and thus arousing the suspicions of the others. But before he was ready to leave, Cedric still looked at Jon with a hopeful gaze. "Is there anything I can do to help at the castle?" Jon said seriously, looking back at him. "First and foremost, you must keep yourself safe, Cedric, that is your most important priority from now on. It''s best that you don''t behave strangely or enter the secret passages in private anymore during this period of time; the Dark Lord is sure to have his men tighten their grip on this castle even more, a certain unease has developed in him." Even if Cedric wasn''t the reckless type, there were still some things Jon wanted to make clear to him. He knew of the boy''s tragic experiences in the original and so was keen to see a good ending for such an excellent Hufflepuff. After finishing this conversation, Jon left Hogwarts Castle and instead of returning to the wagon, he went straight down this secret passage into Hogsmeade and proceeded to find Kingsley and the others who had taken temporary lodgings at the Hog''s Head Inn. After getting the arrowhead, Kingsley called in two of the male wizards in the group who were knowledgeable in alchemy, and after just a few brief nces, they judged that it would not be too difficult to replicate the magic contained within it. It was not an advanced magic that would resolve the warning spell, but a disguise that would closely mirror nature, something that the Centaurs are blessed with, and while it would be difficult for a wizard to pull off such a natural spell, it would not be much of a problem to replicate what was readily avable. It would only take a night at most to imitate and make a sufficient quantity, meaning that tomorrow they could go into the Forbidden Forest to find the group of Centaurs led by Firenze. Jon didn''t leave the Hog''s Head Inn that night and had Aberforth arrange a guest room for him directly here. To be honest, the Hog''s Head Inn was really filthy, and Jon spent quite a bit of time using his wand to clean the grease spots and stains with a disgusted look on his face before it felt barely habitable. The night was uneventful. By early the next morning, Kingsley and the others, who had stayed overnight in the Hog''s Head Inn, had left Hogsmeade early under the cover of the newly dawned light and sneaked into the Forbidden Forest. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 366: Office of the Deputy Headmaster (2 in 1) Chapter 366: Office of the Deputy Headmaster (2 in 1) The arrowheads modelled after Cedric''s one, all had a crucial effect. Kingsley took one of them and experimented personally, and after passing through the warning magic on the outside of the Forbidden Forest without attracting half the attention of the Aurors, all the Witching Horizons'' wizards present began to enter the Forbidden Forest using the arrowhead, including Jon. And once inside the Forbidden Forest, it wasn''t that difficult to find Firenze and the others afterwards. Jon led the way eventually to the spot he and Firenze had agreed upon, a clearing near a cliff where the Centaurs temporarily camped, free from any disturbance from the Aurors for the time being. Even Firenze, who was known for his wisdom and calmness among the Centaur, had an expression of agitated joy on his face when he saw that Jon had led Kingsley and the others to this ce, as they had agreed at the beginning. After separating from Jon in the Forbidden Forest, the group of Centaurs had likewise sensed the dragon scourge, but with only a dozen old and disabled adults remaining, there was no way they could offer Jon any kind of valuable help. A few of the Centaurs even felt that Firenze had found the wrong person to work with and that there was certainly no way Jon would be able to hold out in that fight. It was true that he could deal with a dragon by himself, but once the dragons got together in a swarm, it was simply two different species. The Centaurs felt that not only was there no chance of Jon helping them anymore, but there was also a great chance that Voldemort himself would capture him and eventually expose the information about them, the only remaining Centaurs. So they were all persuading Firenze to think of another alternative ce to move away from their current temporary base, even if he had more faith in Jon. But Firenze, just as he had done more than a decade ago, stood his ground and did not have the slightest doubt in Jon. The only difference was that more than a decade ago, it was not he who had the final say in the Centaur''s tribe, whereas now in this small tribe of only a dozen people, he gets to decide by a single vote. Firenze felt that the more Jon was in big trouble in such a tournament, the more it proved that Voldemort thought very highly of him. This further proved the ability and importance of Jon as a person, and it became even more important for them, the remaining Centaurs, to cling to this only thigh they could find now. And now it turned out that Firenze had not made the wrong choice. Being in the Forbidden Forest, the Centaurs were so closed off that none of them knew what had finally happened on the night of the tournament, and how the dragons had finally returned to peace. It wasn''t until Jon took Kingsley and the others to Firenze today that they began to realise that the Centaurs had finally made the right decision this time! Firenze knelt down on his first two hooves and gave Jon a heartfelt hug. "Thank you for bringing people to us as promised Jon, I really appreciate it, you saved our Centaur Tribe in the Forbidden Forest, and although we are almost considered too destitute toe up with anything of value to thank you, this kindness from you will be remembered by all the Centaurs here today, and anything you need from us in the future, you can just ask for it. " Jon, for his part, showed generosity at this. "There is no need to offer your thanks, I just know that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, no matter what choices you have made, but now we are friends aren''t we?" At his words, Firenze said nothing more in the way of verbal promises, just looked Jon in the eye and nodded solemnly. At first, Hagrid acted happy to be reunited with these Centaurs, but soon after he realised that more and more of the names he knew could no longer be found in the group, and then his whole being began to grow silent and sad. He was so sad, especially after learning from the Centaurs of the death of his once closest friend, the eight-eyed giant spider named Aragog, that he sat alone on arge rock and covered his face in grief. Jon felt sympathy for Hagrid now but didn''t bother him. He knew Hagrid could adjust on his own; after all, he had lost many of his animal friends in the ten years or so he had been on the run, and Aragog was just one of them, not the first, and certainly not thest. And Kinsley went to work as soon as he met these Centaurs. As he had said to Jon at the beginning, even if the Anti-Apparition Charm at Hogwarts Castle could be as powerful as it imed to be, it could not be so wide-ranging as to cover the entire Forbidden Forest. The only thing Kingsley and the others had to deal with was evading the strict magical scrutiny of the British Ministry of Magic around the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But as he himself had said, if they had the means to Apparate into Hogsmeade, they would also have the means to Apparate out of here, and taking Centaurs with them on the way out would certainly not be a problem. Jon, Kingsley and the group had actually prepared numerous ns to face the unexpected the night before they made their way to the Forbidden Forest, including what to do in between if they were discovered by the British Ministry of Magic''s surveince and surrounded by the Aurors, or what to do if they were discovered by the Professor in Hogwarts Castle and got trapped in the Forbidden Forest. But none of these possibilities happened, and they had a very smooth process in getting the Centaurs out of the Forbidden Forest, as the number of Witching Horizons'' wizards who came to the Forbidden Forest did not outnumber the Centaurs here, so the Apparition was divided into two waves, the first taking half of the men first, and the second waiting for the men to return before making yet another evacuation. "We will take you to France first, Mr Firenze, and when you are settled there, Dumbledore will meet with you to discuss what arrangements we should make for your people for the future, and also have a chat with you about the astrological signs." After seeing half of the Centaurs taken away, Kingsley said to Firenze with a serious look on his face. Firenze nodded back calmly. Even if Kingsley hadn''t said it explicitly, he could tell that the matter of astrological signs had to do with the astrological divination he had talked about that day when he had first met Jon in the Forbidden Forest. It was not long before there were sufficient wizards from the Witching Horizon to return to the Forbidden Forest, and Kingsley, Jon, Hagrid and Firenze eventually disappeared from the quiet forest with a sound that sounded like a whip striking the air. What neither Jon, who was always on the alert nor Kingsley, who had plenty of experience in anti-surveince, noticed was that. In an unobtrusive shadow, a figure in ck robes watched the rescue of the Centaurs. But from start to finish he had simply stood there, quietly watching what Jon and the others were doing. *** The Deputy Headmaster''s Office at Hogwarts. It was supposed to be the centre of power in this castle when Voldemort was away for the vast majority of the year. But the male wizard who had been given this authority, Severus Snape, hadn''t exactly been able to hold a position in this castle equal to that of that authority. His presence is not weak in the minds of the students, being Deputy Headmaster while also being Professor of Potions at the Pureblood House and Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at the Half-Blood House respectively. He was always very cold, both in ss and in private with his students, always with a cold face that looked like it was frozen in time, something that did not change even when he faced Voldemort. However, there is a rumour among the half-blood students that the Deputy Headmaster is actually a cold man on the outside and a hot man on the inside and that if you dare to hold out your hand to him at Halloween time, he will grab a handful of candy from his pocket and put it in your hand. Of course, this was only a rumour, and even those who heard it did not dare to try it on Halloween, and even those who were brave enough to approach Snape would apologise and run away in fear when they met his hollow, cold gaze. It was fair to say that Snape''s reputation in the castle was not low, nor was there anyck of respect from the students. But for some reason, when he was mentioned alongside Professor Crouch, who only holds the position of Professor of Charms, the students subconsciously felt that even if Deputy Headmaster Snape might be more powerful than Professor Crouch, he should only be considered on a par with him. Even if the students had no idea of the achievements of the Professor, who had been awarded the First ss Order of Merlin. They all knew that Professor Crouch was always smiling and kind to everyone and that he was in charge of admissions for the mudbloods, which few professors were willing to do. Yet it just somehow made the Professor feel awesome, on par with Deputy Headmaster Snape in terms of awesomeness. If one day, in Voldemort''s absence, Snape issues orders to his students to conflict with Crouch, then presumably the students will be split into two factions, with half choosing to listen to Snape and the other half choosing to listen to Crouch. And because of this, whether it be among the adult Professors or the underage students, Snape''s power was split in half by Barty Crouch Jr. But Snape has never been very concerned about this. Even when he did fight with Barty in public, the sarcasm in his tone sounded personal, but there was a littleint that he was taking over what he was supposed to have. In the political system that Voldemort had established, where bloodlines held power, despite being Half-blood Snape had held higher positions than most of the purebloods in Britain, being an anomaly. And his personality which seems to be more out of touch with the world is even more bizarre to others. It was thebination of his blood and personality that led to his current state of istion under Voldemort''smand, and even though he was trusted by Voldemort himself, not many of the Death Eaters sincerely epted him. Voldemort had never shown any interest in this situation, or perhaps he was actually happy to see it. Snape''s office was quite ordinary. It was located on the sixth floor of the castle, a windowless room. Because of this, it had to be lit with candles even during the day to carry out normal work. The office was simply furnished, the old wooden bookshelves held nothing but a few simple books and a few ss vials containing an unknown transparent liquid. Snape was reading a book when Barty Jr. walked in through the door. It was a copy of what appeared to be a tattered "Moste Potente Potions" book, one of the few forbidden books still in the library, a book that had not been taken to the Ministry by Voldemort and had been left here with Snape. "You''re obviously incredibly talented in Potions, so why are you so fixated on this position as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts in the first ce?" Snape nced up at Barty Jr. and had no intention of answering his question. "When are you going to have the decency to knock on someone''s door when entering their office?" "We''re all colleagues, there are times when rtions don''t need to be so strained, right?" Barty Jr.''s expression was still as kind as ever, his face beaming like a middle-aged man who really wanted to get along with his colleagues. "I don''t want to waste my time with you, if you have something to say, then you should better say it straight." Snape was cold and didn''t put down the book he was holding. Barty Jr. however, didn''t seem to care about his distancing and sat down directly across from Snape, staring into Snape''s eyes with those seemingly calm but actually sinister and poisonous gaze. "Things are a little out of our league, aren''t they? ording to what our lord and we had nned initially, that little mudblood was supposed to die right there in the Forbidden Forest." Snape remained unmoved, his eyes still on the page of the book. "That is why our lord did not pin all his cards on those dragons, he still has other preparations. When will those dragons'' blood I need will be delivered, plus pay attention to the way your men handle it." Barty Jr. finally reined the pretence from his face, irritated by Snape''s rambling like this. "Never mind those bloody dragons! You know that we all actually believed that this n in the Forbidden Forest would be foolproof at first! Our lord''s backup n was just ast resort option, what he wanted to do first and foremost was to kill that mudblood! To kill him!" This time, Snape finally looked up from his book, his voice still cold as he gazed at Barty Jr. "So you can kill him by shouting at me?" Barty Jr. suddenly switched back to his usual calmness. "We can''t of course do anything from here, but we can share our lord''s worries in other ways." "Those dragons have failed, what else are you going to do?" Barty Jr. narrowed his eyes as he said in response. "What do you think a boy of about fifteen ought to be thinking all day? For example, what did you, Severus, think when you were fifteen?" As he spoke, he absently nced over to a picture frame that had been ced on Snape''s desk. It was a picture that hadn''t been imbued with developing solutions, a ck-and-white picture of a beautiful, quiet, smiling girl. "A love interest to that mudblood whoter married Potter?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 367: What is the fifteen-year-old boy thinking? (2 in 1) Chapter 367: What is the fifteen-year-old boy thinking? (2 in 1) "Bang!" Snape''s hand mmed down on the desk, and right where his hand hadnded, there is a very well-maintained and polished wand! However, after uttering the words that would almost certainly be 100% capable of angering Snape, Barty Jr. also made a quicker move. He reached out with one hand and grabbed Snape''s wrist just before he could grab the wand and lift his hand. Snape is a true geek. Unless Voldemort specifically orders him to do so, he rarely steps outside of Hogwarts, and he rarely even goes out of his own office when there are no sses. But Barty Jr. had always been running errands for Voldemort outside of school as well, in addition to his regr duties within the school, so he is much stronger and fitter inparison to Snape, who gets little to no exercise at all. Therefore, Snape grimaced lightly and grabbed his wand with a death grip trying to lift it up, but couldn''t break free of Barty Jr.''s grasp. "Don''t be grumpy Severus, it''s not like I was trying to taunt you about it, it''s all true, isn''t it? We always have to talk about something relevant to lead the conversation before we can get down to the main topic." Just as Barty Jr. was beaming, like he had Snapepletely in his grasp. Suddenly, the middle-aged man, who had always stayed isted, swung his left fist! To which Barty Jr. clearly did not react; he simply did not expect Snape to simply abandon his spell-casting and use the most basic physicalbat to return a blow in kind. So he took Snape''s punch solidly, and the smile on his face turned to anger as his head twisted to the side from the force of the blow. The punch struck Barty Jr. directly in the side of his temple, causing him to feel a momentary ckout, and if Snape''s hand had been any stronger he would have passed out on the spot. But even then, he couldn''t control Snape''s hand, which was holding his wand, and surprisingly, after being able to use his magic, Snape did not swing his wand, but continued to punch Barty, who was already on the ground! He pursed his whitened lips, not much anger visible on that pale face, but the emotion revealed in those eyes was enough to make anyone who looked into his eyes feel a kind of chill. "That''s enough!" Snape didn''t utter a word, but simply continued to raise his fist at Barty Jr.''s face, which was beginning to flush with bruises and swelling, just like he had been expressing from the start, it looked like he really didn''t want to waste even a single breath tomunicate with him. "I said that''s enough!" He was still greeted with a heavy punch. "That''s really enough!" Barty Jr. finally couldn''t take it anymore, and he erupted with power, pushing Snape away with a scowl on his face! "My lord has done more than enough for your plea! Do you know how many of us have died in vain over the years to not kill that woman! What''s so wrong! I can''t even mention her anymore!" Snape''s breath was much heavier than it had been just then as if he had exerted himself a little too hard. But he still didn''t look up at Barty Jr. as if that would dirty his eyes. After straightening the robe he was wearing, he then sat back down in his seat again. "Get out." His voice was cold, but Barty Jr. didn''t make any move to leave. The young professor, whose face looked wretched, also gasped and straightened his robes and continued to sit back down across from Snape, all that grimace and gloom on his face now reined in, but there was no more of his usual false smile; with an expressionless look as if the beating hadn''t just happened at all he spoke. "Jon Green, even if he is a genius, he is only fifteen." Ignoring Snape''s repulsion, Barty Jr. continued the conversation that had just been interrupted. "After learning of his exploitsst year, I immediately retrieved everything I could about him and took a personal trip to the orphanage where he had lived, and used a Legilimency to extract the memories of the children he had grown up with to make sure he hadn''t been faking his age, and all of his experiences before being exposed to magic were traceable. " "Following the information from that orphanage, I also found his biological father, his mother had died seven years earlier and the only remaining parent was not much closer to death when I found him due to the consumption of what was known as ''heroin'' in the mouth of a mudblood. I carefully examined all the memories of this biological father of his and determined that Jon Green was his real son and not a random faked identity." At the sound of serious talk, Snape didn''t act as paranoid as he had at first, and he raised his head slightly, but his voice was still as cold as ever. "You''ve investigated all this just to confirm his true identity?" "It''s important, Severus." Barty Jr. leaned back casually, his thumb and forefinger flicking his wand. "If you had learned of all the things this little mudblood had done in the beginning, and eventually been informed that he was only twelve when he started doing them, and only fifteen now, would you have believed it?" Snape was silent, but not saying anything was tantamount to an attitude. "You must have been sceptical at first too right, geniuses certainly do appear, there have been countless talented wizards in the wizarding world, but this little mudblood is a little too genius for his own good isn''t he?" Barty Jr. calmly stated what any normal person would have thought. "After learning that he had killed Be and Rodolphus and that he had been the one who had rescued the first and second-year mudbloodsst year, I assumed that it was Dumbledore who had quietly assigned a very capable wizard to pose as a student." "Beneath that, the boyishly young exterior was most likely a wrinkled and grey-haired rotten old man; as only a wizard with enough magical umtion and magical experience like that could have defeated Be and Rodolphus one against two. Dumbledore ordered him to drink Polyjuice Potion and pretend to be a young boy, and then he did so many amazing things just to disgrace our lord and show everyone, ''Look, it didn''t even take Dumbledore himself to make an appearance, a little mudblood who had only been enrolled in school and hadn''t even touched his wand for as long as we had been reciting incantations, to leave the greatest of gentlemen dusty.''" "But then, after aplete investigation into the background of Jon Green''s life and finding several loopholes that simply didn''t exin my thinking, I dismissed the possibility that this little mudblood that has been giving us so much angst in recent years was impersonated by a wizard of great ability." As he spoke, Snape turned his attention to his analysis. The two men were at odds with each other, but at least the camp they were on today was the same, and understanding and dealing with Jon as a person was something they both had to think about together. Barty Jr''s gaze also became extraordinarily grave. "Firstly, if he really is an adult wizard pretending to be one, then there''s no way he could be able to lurk in Hogwarts Castle for so long in the first ce." "You and I both know that the Age Line magic here was arranged by our lord personally, so there is no way for Dumbledore to evade it unless hees over himself, otherwise there is no way to deceive our lord''s arrangement even with his Transfiguration without knowing the core runes; he has tried to have adult wizards pretend to be students to sneak in before and failed, so unless he haspletely surpassed our lord, it is unlikely that he would be capable of countering Age Line magic, and if that were the case, then there would be no need for him to send anyone to infiltrate or to go around roaming like a bereaved dog." "Secondly, the selection of the Goblet of Fire." "There was no problem with that cup, and it was kept safe until it was taken out, and no one would have had ess to it at all unless the Triwizard Tournament had been restarted. And after the Goblet of Fire was taken out, it was in the possession of our people at all times and I can confirm that no one has done anything to it. That means that in this case, it would only follow the rules to select students from the participating schools to be champions. If Jon Green was another person pretending to be a champion, there is absolutely no way he could have been picked under that name and the magic on the Goblet of Fire would have vetoed his entry." "Third." Barty Jr. narrowed his eyes. "I went to our lord specifically to ask him about this, and he told me that Jon Green was not impersonated by any other wizard, he is who he is, that much he can confirm." Snape just looked at him. "So what? You confirmed that he is who he is, a fifteen-year-old who has only been exposed to magic for less than four years, what does this reveal to us." Barty Jr. crossed his legs as he asked anew. "Still the same question, what were you doing when you were fifteen, Severus?" The gaze in Snape''s eyes began to grow dangerous again, his hand was already moving closer to the wand on the desk, and as if he sensed how he was behaving, Barty Jr. quickly followed up with his next sentence. "You''re simply so fragile inside, and as I said, it was just a normal question, not meant to mock or insult that woman." He continued the question with a serious gaze. "We could also ask it another way, what do all the kids in the world normally tend to think about most when they''re fifteen? Whether they''re brilliantly talented or humble and mediocre." Snape was silent for a moment, then he said in a cold voice. "Isn''t that a question you should find a fifteen-year-old student to ask?" Barty Jr. shook the wand in his hand, and a smile returned to his face. "Just in the first week of school, when the first tournament task was going on, do you know how many impatient couples I''ve met on thatwn behind the castle after being reunited after a long absence? Guess what age most of them were?" They were both smart people, and since Barty Jr. had put it this way, there was no way Snape could not still understand what he was trying to say. "You think Jon Green would be the same as those of them?" "Why not? I don''t deny the brilliance of that little mudblood, and there may indeed be a natural genius in magic, but one can''t bring one''s own emotions of exposure to these things from birth, can they?" Barty Jr. gazed into Snape''s eyes, there was no hint of jest in that gaze. "Fifteen-year-old boys, that''s when they are interested in the opposite sex, it''s not something that can be defined by talent orck of it or anything, just like you, Severus doesn''t look at me with that look, well I''ll change the subject. Like me, I had three girlfriends in school when I was that age, and lord, I remember him talking to us servants once about the time when he first became Prefect, about how he was surrounded by female students who were interested in him, and he rewarded some of them." "It''s human nature, isn''t it? No fifteen-year-old boy can avoid active advances from the opposite sex unless he''s been exposed to them from a young age, or he''s not interested in women, but apparently, from what I''ve learned about Jon Green, he doesn''t fit either of the above." There was silence for a few seconds after he had said this, and then Snape asked the most rooted question straight away. "What do you want to do about it?" Barty Jr. said softly with a smile on his face. "As has been the tradition in past Triwizard Tournaments, on the night of Christmas we are to hold a grand ball, and during this ball, each student champion is required to bring a dance partner of his or her own to lead the dance." "With that charming atmosphere, soft music and dancing, do you think he would refuse when a fifteen-year-old girl approaches him for a kiss at the end of the lead dance?" Snape scowled vividly. "I don''t think it would work, Dumbledore wouldn''t allow his students to have any contact with the schoolgirls with whom we have a connection." "I will certainly have that arranged." Barty Jr. crossed his fingers at the tip of his nose, which made his gaze seem unmistakably dark and treacherous, "I''m only talking to you this far to tell you one thing. Would you brew a potion that has no colour or taste, has a certain amount of binding properties, and if it is ingested into your mouth, then it is a certain death?" Snape didn''t answer first, he stared at Barty Jr.''s face, still the same wretched face he had beaten like he was speechless at the man''s ruthlessness. It was only after a long moment that he spoke out again. "Does our lord know what you intend to do." "I reported it to our lord before he left the castle, and he did not agree nor refuse, only told me that it would be up to you and me to decide what would happen in the castle." This answer was somewhat baffling, at least Snape didn''t hear any indication from it as to exactly what Voldemort''s attitude was towards this next move by Barty Jr. But after hearing this statement from Barty Jr. his gaze turned hollow and cold again. "Even if the potion that exists today doesn''t have such an effect, I can still formte it for you." Hearing Snape''s reply, Barty Jr.''s face held his usual gentle smile. Only the curve of his mouth was a little unnerving in the candlelight. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 368: Dobby (2 in 1) Chapter 368: Dobby (2 in 1) Jon was trying to find out if there were any so-called "beauties" among the Thestrals, or perhaps they could be better described as "beautiful mares". But to be honest, because of the difference in species, he couldn''t tell the difference between the Thestrals, not even whether they were male or female. Of course, what he had to do now was not to choose the "beautiful horse" for Hoss, but tofort Hagrid, who had been sulking since he had rescued the Centaurs from the Forbidden Forest. "It''s not your fault, you had nothing to do with Aragog and his family''s death, they simply couldn''t have left the Forbidden Forest with you, there was a whole colony of Acromant. Pull yourself together, Hagrid, the one who is really at fault is the one who is upying this castle, not you." The silent Hagrid raised his head, his eyes visibly a little red, having obviously cried in secret before Jon hade to find him. Sobbing, he spoke to Jon. "Of course, I understand all this, Jon, and I was happy to get Firenze and the others out of the Forbidden Forest, but there are only so many of them left. From what Firenze said, Aragog and his family could well be considered extinct, those Death Eaters have taken all the little spiders and bred them separately, they just want to have a permanent supply of Acromant venom." All these things, of course, Jon knew. But to be honest, there was really nothing wrong with doing so if they look at it from Voldemort''s side perspective. Originally, the Acromant was a forbidden magical creature to breed in Britain, and the venom in its body was very valuable, so instead of wasting these walking gold galleons in the forbidden forest, it would be better to kill them all and leave only the small ones for sustainable draining. But to Hagrid, Aragog was more than just a magical creature, it was an old friend with whom he had spent over fifty years. Jonforted Hagrid for a while, then returned to the wagon. Three days had passed since the end of the first task, and on the day he had gone to the Forbidden Forest with Kingsley to free the Centaurs, he had at the same time written a letter to Neville, who was far away in Lyons, to ask him about the recent weather patterns in Lyons. Today, Dumbledore, who had gone back to France to meet with Firenze, who was already settled there, hade back with a letter from Neville. In the letter Neville said that the weather in Lyons had been fine during the time Jon had been away, with only two cloudy days in between, without the slightest hint of rain, let alone thunder. This result was expected by Jon, the conditions for developing Animagus Potion were very harsh, otherwise the number of wizards who had learned this magic would not have be that rare throughout the magical world. It was a short-term goal for Jon to learn this magic, rather than seeking to learn it quickly. If he was impatient and overlooked certain requirements, he would be unable to ept them, as the end result would probably turn him into an inhuman monster like a werewolf. The various articles about the Triwizard Tournament are still being published in the outside world, and as the magical newspapers continue to report on the various idents that happened during the tournament in the past two days, more and more European wizards are learning about what really happened during the first task of the tournament. The dragons'' corpses around the castle had been tidied up, and even the crushed grass had been made straight again by the Aurors'' magic. And as for the investigation into why the dragons had gone berserk, Matthew came to the wagon on the evening of the third day after the tournament and stated their findings in front of Dumbledore and Jon. "Regarding what Mr Green stated, the issue of the dragons going berserk due to catching a golden snitch in the Forbidden Forest with a dark mark and then that snitch suddenly opening up and some suspected dragon egg fluid getting on him, we specifically went into the Forbidden Forest and searched the location that Mr Green reported to us, but after searching for three days we found nothing. " Jon wasn''t the least bit surprised by the result he said, he just said tly. "Mr. Graves, don''t forget one more thing I reported to you after the tournament, I had a confrontation with Emil Lestrange during the Forbidden Forest tournament and just as I was about to finish him off a manticore came rushing out to save him. As I''m sure you can guess, it''s certainly no coincidence." Matthew didn''t hold back here, what was to be published to the world was about proof, but in the private conversation in the wagon, there were things that even without any proof, they knew by heart who had done it. "The Forbidden Forest is his home turf, and it''s not surprising that he would haveid some arrangements in there. But let''s get something straight, Dumbledore and Mr Green, this isn''t just their home turf, is it? You have been masters of these same woods for just as long, if not longer than he has been in control, and you also received some help in the course of the tournament, right?" He made his words clear without stating the truth outright, and neither Dumbledore nor Jon had anything to deny or quibble about the matter. Of course, they weren''t going to just open their mouths and admit it either. "So even if you and I had said something like this happened, we have investigated the appropriate leads, but we can''t use this as incriminating evidence to hold the castle side ountable, and everyone is unclean, so this doesn''t need to be brought up again." Matthew looked at Jon and then turned his gaze back to Dumbledore as if trying to see something out of their expressions. Dumbledore, however, showed little change in expression from start to finish as he simply locked eyes with Matthew and asked. "I can understand what you''re saying, but at the end of the day, whether this matter can be investigated to find out who did it or not, the victim is Jon, right? The golden snitches were supplied by the judging panel, and the dragons were trained by those dragon trainers that you have ounted for, so I''m wondering what kind ofpensation we''ll get since it''s pretty much an oue of this matter?" He got to the crux of the matter. He hadn''t thought about what kind of findings Matthew and the others coulde up with when Jon had told them what had happened, not to mention that there was no tangible evidence that could be found at the moment, and even if they did, what could they possibly have done against Voldemort and the others, other than publishing it in the newspaper? Ban the students from the castle and Beauxbatons altogether? That was obviously impossible, so since the oue was already decided, all that mattered was the relevantpensation. Regarding this, Matthew had obviously been prepared for this as well, and he spoke up. "Beforeing here, I alsomunicated with the other two judges from the Confederation, and they agreed that Mr Green could get an additional thirty points for your score in the first task." Jon was not much surprised by this result, because that was all these judges could do, they couldn''t do much else in this tournament other than their power to control the scores. And adding an extra thirty points is not much, but no less too. With those points, even if he yed poorly in the second task that followed and didn''t get a good ranking, he could still have a chance to secure first ce. But as for how many points he could get, Jon didn''t really care much, and he asked Matthew with interest. "Does the Castle side know about this decision of yours?" The expression on Matthew''s face remained the same as he nodded. "Since that gentleman is not within the school, we havemunicated with Mr Snape, who is presiding over the situation in his ce, except that this Mr Deputy Headmaster does not approve of our decision very much, saying that since the investigation so far has revealed that it has nothing to do with them, then they should not be made to bear such adverse consequences as a result of suchpensation. It''s just that since all three of us have voted for this decision, then even if he has an objection, it doesn''t change anything about the oue." As Matthew had said, the power regarding the scoring was given to these three wizards from the Confederation by Voldemort and Dumbledore together, and unless one of the two took that power back again, Snape''s opposition alone would not affect anything at all. That was the end of the story about the dragon riot. Jon was in danger and nearly sustained some injuries, but Voldemort''s side clearly suffered more, especially given that, by mistake, Jon had indirectly helped Hermione with her mission in the castle, which gave Dumbledore knowledge of what Voldemort was doing in the castle. That was the biggest gain they got out of this one, and as for the Hogwarts Castle that the Dragons attacked, that was just a bit of revenge in the process. With the first tournament taskpletely over, Jon''s life had begun to get easier. There were still more than two months to go before the next task began, and in the meantime, he had enough free time to rest and rx without thinking too much about it. And as for the arrangements in the Castle, even though he had now learned something about it, Dumbledore had no intention of letting him interfere. Having Hermione find the Chamber of Secrets was clearly not the end, but rather the beginning, it was just that the guard in the castle was clearly much stronger now than it had been before, so the matter was put on hold with no rush to continue. He spent a lot of time in the library on the wagon, from where most of the books had been moved to the temporary school in Lyon, but there were still some of the rare non-standard books on the wagon, which Jon read while also taking the time to copy out the contents of the forbidden books in the gem. Much of the knowledge in these forbidden books required carriers to ensure their extraordinary nature of them, and Jon selected some of the forbidden books that were not so demanding and which he could fulfil by his own magic and re-transcribed that knowledge from the gem, which also helped him to master the magic in the books. Other than that, he spent the rest of his time wandering around the ck Lake and trying to catch any fish he could. Whenever this happened, the students in the Castle would stay away from him, gesturing at him from a distance with a strange and obviously fearful look, as if Jon was some kind of monster in human skin. To this Jon acted unconcerned, it was only natural to be demonised in this way in Voldemort''s camp, and there was nothing he could say to these students who had be ustomed to the rule of the bloodline. But one evening when Jon continued to look like he was fishing at the ck Lake, but in fact, he was trying to see if he could spot the legendary giant squid in the ck Lake and had no luck. A pair ofrge eyes hidden in the lush foliage of a tree by theke suddenly caught his attention. As Jon raised his head to meet those eyes, the owner of the eyes looked like he was startled and ducked away the next second, a movement that was a little too wide and made the entire canopy of the tree shake for a moment. "Hey." Jon greeted the little fellow out loud as he put the rod away. As if sensing that he meant no harm, the eyes that were hidden in the leaves resurfaced, along with a pair of pointed ears. It was a house elf with a tattered tea towel around its body. "Hello, Mr. Green." The house elf looked like it had gathered enough courage before greeting him. Jon was a little surprised that it could call him by hisst name and raised an eyebrow in wonder. "Do we know each other?" "Of course, Dobby couldn''t possibly be acquainted with a young and talented man like Jon Green; Mr Green doesn''t know Dobby, but Dobby knows Mr Green." Dobby had one hand sped around the main trunk of the tree, showing only half his face. Hearing his name, Jon acted even more surprised; if no house elf had a simr name, then this Dobby would be the one he knew. "Are you a house elf that serves Hogwarts Castle?" Instead of showing silence in the face of Jon''s question, Dobby looked more like he was a little jumpy like he had wanted to have some interaction with Jon for a long time. "No, Mr. Green, Dobby do not serve this castle, Dooby''s family have served the Noble Malfoys for generations." He spoke of nobility, but Jon did not hear any pride in him, but rather a hidden hate mixed in. Hearing him announce the family he serves, further reinforced Jon''s suspicions. "The Malfoys? That means Draco Malfoy is your young lord then; we have an adversarial rtionship, so why did you reach out to me if you are his servant?" Yes, Jon could be sure that this meeting between him and Dobby was not some sort of chance encounter, but that Dobby had taken the initiative to approach him. And it stood to reason that no matter how partial Hogwarts Castle was to pureblood students, it wouldn''t go so far as to allow the elves from those students'' homes to stille to the school to serve them personally; Dobby''s appearance was obviously premeditated. Standing in a tree, Dobby was still looking at Jon with those big eyes from high above, he raised his tone but deliberately lowered the sound of his voice. "Because Dobby is on a task to observe Mr Green, which was given to Dobby by Dooby''s lord and young lord together!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 369: Dobbys Three Tasks (2 in 1) Chapter 369: Dobby''s Three Tasks (2 in 1) Jon looked at Dobby with an odd expression. "Observe? Is it an open observation or a sneaky one?" Dobby finally showed his facepletely from behind the foliage, his face brimming with pride. "Master Malfoy had told Dobby to observe Mr Green secretly, but of course, Dobby wouldn''t do that, Dobby knew that Dumbledore and Green are both great wizards, but there was no way Dobby could disobey the task that Master had given Dobby, but Dobby could inform Mr Green about it by mistakenly getting caught!" After saying this, Dobby''s face, which had been full of pride, suddenly began to turn into a grimace as he began to bang his head against the trunk of the tree beside him in a self-harming manner, all the while screaming at the top of his lungs. "Bad elf! Dobby is a bad elf!" It wasn''t that he didn''t seem to be able to restrain this self-harming behaviour, it was just that the instinctive ve mentality that had been built into him made him subconsciously incapable of epting any act of betrayal against his master. Jon looked at Dobby, who, after banging his forehead a few times, had stopped with both arms hugging the trunk of the tree and gasping for breath, and couldn''t help but think of his deeds in the original story. This house elf from the Malfoy family was aplete anomaly among elves. While he too had the most basic notion of master and ve between an elf and a wizard, this notion was beneath his own notion of good and evil. In other words, he serves the Malfoys but disagrees with what they do, and the Malfoys'' treatment towards their elves can be described as harsh, which makes this anomaly among the elves, unable to like, or even hate, his master. It''s just that in the original, Dobby worshipped Harry Potter because he knew that it was Harry Potter who defeated the Dark Lord and saw him as a hero. And now in this time when there is no longer a Harry Potter, Dobby naturally has no one to worship, though he still maintains the respect he has for Dumbledore and also has a favourable view of Jon. So his im that he had exploited a loophole in Malfoy''s orders to spill the beans on his observations had a lot of credibility. This was something that Jon would have viewed with a great deal of wariness in his heart if another house elf hade over, and certainly, no one in their right mind would believe a house elf could perform such an action. "Can youe down, let''s talk?" Jon extended an invitation to him. It was beginning to get dark by now, not long before the Castle began its curfew, and with no more Hogwarts Castle students on this side of the ck Lake, only Jon was left all alone in that empty ce. Dobby epted this dly as he climbed down from the trunk of the tree and then came over to Jon. "How long have you been watching me from that tree?" "First day today, Mr Green!" Dobby said, "Master Malfoy had only yesterday called Dobby at home and had assigned Dobby tasks to do from this morning." "Which means that you have already at the ck Lake where you were before I arrived this afternoon?" "Yes!" Hearing his answer, Jon understood why Lucius had feltfortable letting Dobby spy on him. House elves are a special magical race, even without wands they can use magic with their own fingers that is very different from that of a wizard, and if Dobby wanted to be hidden then it would indeed be very difficult for Jon to spot him, unless he came out of the tree by himself like this one now, trying to get Jon to find out. It seemed to ur to Dobby at this point that Jon might be offended that he had been spying on him all afternoon and scrambled to wave his hand. "But Dobby didn''t mean to observe Mr Green in the tree all the time and note out, there were many of Draco Malfoy''s ssmates from the castle by theke and Dobby couldn''t appear in front of them or Draco Malfoy would surely have known about it." "I''m certainly not trying to me you for that Dobby, and no need to call me Mr. Green, just call me Jon." Jon said casually and then sat down on the grass. And Dobby stared at him in nk disbelief, as if he had heard something shocking. "Mr. Green. Sir, let Dobby call his name!" Hearing him subconsciously raise his volume, Jon couldn''t help but say. "Don''t get too excited, will you Dobby, it''s just calling a name, and maybe that doese as a shock with bad wizards like your master, but you know, I''m a good wizard who knows how to treat people with respect, with courtesy and decency, and that''s why you''re willing to help me isn''t it? So don''t be too surprised." Dobby was clearly listening to what Jon was saying, he did his best to calm his breathing and did seem to have calmed down quite a bit, except for those big eyes that still met Jon''s with an excited glint on them. "Okay, okay, Jo-Jo, Jon!" "Yes, that''s it, just call me Jon, and since you''re willing to help me, even going against your master''s orders, that makes us friends, doesn''t it? So I will call you Dobby, and you can certainly call me Jon. Sit down Dobby, may I ask you some questions about your master?" It was like a great effort for Dobby to finally sit down across from Jon, only he looked as constrained as ever, even sitting on the grass. "There are things I cannot say about my master, there is no way for an elf to betray his master unless he is abandoned." Jon pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said. "But it makes sense for an elf to hide the truth for the sake of his master, doesn''t it? Then we can do this, I''ll ask you something that only requires a yes or no answer and of course, you''ll have to lie to me to protect your master''s secret, right?" Dobby''s face showed a confused look for a few seconds at first as if he hadn''t understood what Jon had said, but soon his quite bright brain responded, and he instantly nodded his head vigorously. "Yes! Dobby is trying to hide the secret of his master and cannot tell the truth to Jon!" After establishing the next mode ofmunication with Dobby, Jon quickly asked the first thing that he wanted to know. "Dobby your master sent you to Hogwarts to observe me; does your master''s master is aware of this too, Dobby?" The next moment, Dobby was shaking his head like a rattle, and that action came off very naturally, without a hint of guilt. "No! Dobby''s master''s master doesn''t know about it!" Then that means he knows. Jon''s heart was now at ease, there are also arge number of house elves in Hogwarts Castle, the elves here were originally supposed to be loyal to this Castle, but after Voldemort became the Headmaster, he was not the real master of this castle, then he would certainly have made all the elves here loyal to him using his own means, but he needs to make sure that all the elves here truly loyal to him first before giving them other important tasks, otherwise it would definitely be a hidden danger. And now that Dobby had suddenly appeared in the Castle, there was no way that Voldemort wouldn''t know about it, or rather Lucius wouldn''t have had the guts not to report it to Voldemort. In other words, it wasn''t actually Malfoy and his son who had intended to observe and spy on him after the first task, but Voldemort? "Then you have no other task other than to observe me upon your arrival at Hogwarts, do you?" Dobby nodded with a happy look on his face. "Yes, no more, Dobby''s only task is to observe Jon!" Jon tapped his chin with his finger in thought and continued to ask. "The person who gives you other tasks is your master''s master, right?" "Yes!" At that answer, Jon''s brow furrowed in confusion. Not Voldemort? Then it was only Lucius, what else could he have asked Dobby to do? Thinking to himself, Jon then asked tentatively. "Does your other task is to protect your young master, Dobby?" "No!" "Are these the only two tasks that have been given to you, Dobby?" "Yes!" ''There are other tasks too?'' Jon couldn''t guess a bit at this point. Dobby is Malfoy''s house elf, the task of getting him to observe himself would have been initiated by Lucius and agreed to by Voldemort in passing, and secretly protecting Draco must have been ordered by Lucius himself to Dobby privately. So what else would they have asked Dobby to do? Voldemort shouldn''t have given any more instructions, how could he, with his arrogant personality, who even despises the muggle-born, trust something important to a house elf? Besides, even if he did need an elf to do something for him, there are so many candidates in Hogwarts Castle that there is no need to borrow the Malfoys'' any more than necessary. That meant that Lucius had other things in mind and had sent Dobby for them. As Jon thought, he looked up and met Dobby''s big, glowing eyes, and he could feel that Dobby was looking at him expectantly. Suddenly Jon''s mind wandered and he spoke up and asked. "Is your other task still rted to me, and was it ordered by your master?" "No!" Dobby said with conviction. That made Jon even more sure of something. "Did your master tell you to look for opportunities for him to meet me in private without the other''s knowledge, but didn''t give you permission to meet me or tell you why you needed to do so, did he?" "No!" Dobby replied louder and more excited and thrilled. By this time Jon had sort ofpletely figured out what kind of task was on Dobby''s shoulders. Having done so, he could not help but show a cold smile in his mind, but instead of expressing it on his face, he expressed his gratitude to Dobby from the bottom of his heart. "Thank you very much for telling me that, Dobby." "You''re wee, Dobby didn''t do anything, Dobby just lied to Jon." Dobby said the words out without a hint of heartfelt guilt in his tone, for it was only now that he spoke the truth, he had indeed been lying to Jon before. A deception that one man and one elf knew all too well. Having learned from Dobby about the nasty things in Lucius''s mind, Jon rose back to his feet from the grass. "It''s gettingte, I''m going back to the wagon, Dobby, don''t hide what happened today, if your master asks, then tell him everything I did this afternoon, but keep the conversation we just had hidden." "Understood! Dobby would not disobey his master''s orders, but Dobby can tell him some thingster for his master''s own good!" "Yes, that''s right, that''s it." Jon said with praise, Dobby was indeed different from all those house elves he had seen before. "See youter, Jon, Dobby has to get back too." Dobby said and disappeared into thin air right in front of Jon''s face. The house elves were of course free to use their Apparition within the school grounds, but the Anti-Apparition Charm here also ced restrictions on their magic as well, leaving them free to teleport on their own but with no way to take others with them. The fact that all the elves in the castle were now loyal to Voldemort himself eliminated the possibility that Dumbledore and the others would use the house elves as a loophole to exploit the situation, but he still ced other restrictions. In fact, Jon felt that the reason Voldemort was so wary of house elf magic was due to a betrayal he had experienced. A young man from a pureblood ck Family, whom he trusted, had used the magic of the house elf to set a trap for him in an extremely crucial matter. And now that Voldemort had regained the split soul in the Horcrux, naturally, he must have discovered the trap, and then he could basically guess who had done this and how he had done it. Having already made a slip-up on something once, then a man as smart as him would surely not go for it a second time. After Dobby had left, Jon did not continue to linger at the ck Lake either. He went straight back to the wagon which remained parked at the edge of the forbidden forest and entered the wagon before heading straight towards Dumbledore''s office. Knocking on the door and walking in, he then turned to Dumbledore with a somewhat ironic smile on his face. "Professor, we haven''t even had aplete victory yet and already some people are being impatient." In Hermione''s dormitory, Lady Grey who had kept her word after making a deal with Hermione at the beginning, never leaving the wagon''spartment once, came to meet her. As for Hermione, she didn''t hide from her that she had searched the castle, she just didn''t explicitly state exactly what she was looking for. "Which means you haven''t found anything at all? Well, I really don''t think I should suspect you, Miss Granger! But there are something I have to ask, in case anyone takes me for a fool!" Lady Grey looked exasperated as if she was upset at Hermione''s mouthful of nothing. "Did you get nothing, or did you just make a perfunctory promise in the first ce and didn''t actually try to help me get to that diadem at all!" Hermione''s expression did not change in the face of her questioning, she said calmly. "I rarely make promises to people, Lady Grey, and since I promised you in the first ce, I will do my best to do so, you don''t have to doubt that. It is also true that I did not lie, and it is true that I did not find what you asked me to find in the castle during the time I entered it." "But I heard some clues from another person who said that he had seen a diadem in the Headmaster''s office at Hogwarts Castle." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 370: The Malfoy Family (2 in 1) Chapter 370: The Malfoy Family (2 in 1) "Another person? Who is it!" Lady Grey''s voice couldn''t help but raise in pitch at the news. Hermione didn''t hide it and said calmly. "Jon Green, the champion who is now representing us in the Triwizard Tournament." Lady Grey was certainly no stranger to Jon''s name, and she said with some discontent in her expression as if recalling something. "Of course, I remember him, a rude young ma-" The words hadn''t even barely escaped her lips before Lady Grey was acutely aware that something had changed in the way Hermione was looking at her. It was a bad kind of change, clearly tinged with a distancing that made Lady Grey feel vaguely disturbed. "Wait! I didn''t mean to insult him, it''s just that he refused to help me right off the bat, and that''s why I said that! It was just my way of expressing some of my unhappiness about the whole thing, you can''t hold that against me for that!" Hermione just looked at her coldly. "Of course, you have the right to express your unhappiness with him in front of me, but equally, I have the right to express my dislike for such words that you voice out, Lady Grey. If you continue to speak ill of Jon in this way in front of me, then that is the end of our rtionship andmitment to each other." Words like these were clearly threatening, and if Lady Grey had acted in her usual manner, she would have turned away with no qualms. As a Ravenw''s daughter, no one had ever spoken to her like that, the worse that could happen was that she would find someone else to work with. But this time Lady Grey had a strong feeling that Hermione was most likely the only one left who was willing and able to help her, and if she did just break things off between the two of them just like that, there would probably be no more chances in the future regarding the retrieval of the Diadem. "Well, it was my fault, Miss Granger, I shouldn''t have spoken like that, and I apologise for my presumption." Hearing her put a humble enough tone in her voice eased the expression on Hermione''s face. She had never been an insensitive person, but that was excepted in the matter concerning Jon. "I ept your apology, Lady Grey, and it''s not just for your presumption, but the information about that diadem you speak of was obtained by Jon who had to sneak into Hogwarts Castle by himself at great risk in the first ce. To find the Book of Admittance and the Quill of eptance, which were hidden in the tower directly above the Headmaster''s office, he defeated the basilisk guarding the door and entered the Headmaster''s office and saw four itemsid out on a table in the middle of that room." Hermione stared into Lady Grey''s eyes and said, word by word. "A locket, a diadem, a sword and a cup." Lady Grey eximed subconsciously. "These must all be the relics of the four Founders! Although I don''t know exactly what the other three besides my mother left behind, they must all be treasures of equal value, since they can be ced alongside the diadem!" Then she added with some impatience. "So what? Did that boy take any of these things out of there? As a student of Hogwarts, it''s only right for him to bring the relics of the four Founders out of there, right?" As rude as it was, Hermione couldn''t help but look at Lady Grey as if she was looking at an idiot. "Please don''t get carried away by your desire ma''am, the purpose of Jon''s infiltration into the castle had nothing to do with those four relics at all, and he had no way of determining if they were a sort of bait and trap. So of course he wouldn''t risk touching those relics just like that." Lady Grey felt a pang of difort at the gaze Hermione was giving her, but she was also aware that Hermione was not wrong. The students had grown more mature and intelligent now, and in the nearly thousand years she had spent at Hogwarts Castle before, she had never suffered such indignation at the hands of some fourth year, even Riddle had buttered her up like a licking dog (simp) back then, although it waster confirmed that Riddle sucked up to her to get what she had by the end, while she had be a clown. Let''s just say that the Hogwarts students who had gone through the exile era had be nothing like the students who had lived during the peacetime before. Not only Hermione and Jon, but Lady Grey had alsoe into contact with a number of students like Neville, Ron and some of the senior students when they were in Lyons, and after they heard her "confession" and "request", they all looked at Lady Grey with strange eyes and then turned away from her, even Hermione was like that at first, and if it wasn''t for the fact that Lady Grey was so persistent till the end. Hermione would not have agreed to do her a favour to keep herself safe in the Castle. "Well maybe you''re right, with the situation he was facing it was not something he should have risked." Lady Grey looked at Hermione with eager eyes, "But you promised me, Hermione, now you know where the diadem is, so you''ll help me get it back, right?" Hermione just said faintly. "I did promise you, but please also remember what I said then, I can try to help you with this if it''s not dangerous and doesn''t interfere with my own task in the castle." "I remember that, I will not force you to risk your life, and you must also genuinely try to help me." Lady Grey pleaded humbly. *** Jon ryed to Dumbledore in full what he had learned from meeting Dobby and talking to him today. But Dumbledore didn''t look all that surprised as he listened, and he said with a stoic look on his face. "I don''t really find anything unusual about Lucius doing something like that." Jon settled back in the chair, and nodded in deep understanding, thinking that Dumbledore was saying that it was normal for fence-sitters like Lucius Malfoy, who swayed from side to side, to rush over to Dumbledore and his group after noticing signs of a resurgence. But Dumbledore''s next words let him know that he had guessed wrong. "Although I don''t really know why the Goblet of Fire ended up picking his son, there is really nothing a bit remarkable about that young man named Draco, but his greatest strength is that he has a good family that truly loves him." A look of surprise crossed Jon''s face. "You mean to tell me that Lucius is actually trying to make contact with us for his son?" Dumbledore said with a slight nod. "I know you don''t have a good impression of the Malfoys, it''s not just you, Minerva, Remus, Kingsley, Sirius and the rest of them all dislike the Malfoys very much. But even if they are enemies we can''t deny the good in them because of their position, one of the things Malfoys are most known for is that they hold their loved ones in high regard well enough." His tone became serious. "I do not doubt one thing, Jon. If Lucius was faced with a situation where he and his own wife and son had to die, then he would, without a doubt, choose to die himself." Jon mulled over Dumbledore''s words and then recalled some of the Malfoy family''s actions in the original story and realised that this was indeed the case. It was just that his memory of thest three parts of the original story had be rather vague, and he could only roughly remember what kind of major events had happened in each one, and not much about what the Malfoys had actually done. "The Malfoys are now one of the most prestigious families in the entire British wizarding world, and Lucius himself has reached the position of Head of Auror Office, a position that is even more important than the power of some of the Heads of Department. So having or not having this title of Triwizard Tournament Champion doesn''t matter to them at all, especially when it has been confirmed that this tournament will be exceptionally dangerous." Hearing this analysis from Dumbledore, Jon could understand that the matter of bing a champion actually had apletely different meaning for different people. Like the Hogwarts wagon, this tournament would represent whether they could really pull off aplete turnaround, they had already lost everything and were not afraid of wearing shoes when they were barefoot, so no matter who the student who became a champion was, even if it wasn''t Jon, reced by Neville or Ron they would have equally fought hard to get the first ce. As for Emil, his father had just taken over the power from Be and Rodolphus who had just died and intended to inherit the Lestrange family''s previous status on Voldemort''s side, so it was important for Emil to make his own contribution, which was why Emil''s participation in the tournament was an opportunity, and he also made sure to show his prominence in this tournament for a while, to get a victory for Voldemort was all that mattered to them. But Draco didn''t need any of that at all. There would be no change of ownership in the Malfoy family, nothing more than a single line of Lucius and Draco remained in the Malfoy family, so everything that belonged to Malfoy was destined to be theirs and theirs alone. And as Dumbledore said, under Voldemort''s rule, their family was already at the top of the hierarchy of power, with no possibility of going any further, and no matter how much merit they might make, there would be a little reward, let alone the risk of doing such a big thing. So, of the four champions in question, Draco should have been the most negative in terms of motivation to participate, and with Jon kicking him out in the opening round of the first tournament task, maybe Lucius would not only not hate Jon in his heart, but thank him. And now he''s using Dobby as a middleman to try and find a way tomunicate with Jon privately to pass on some information, whether he has any intention of falling back on them or not is still a different story, but the odds are that he might want to give something, banking on Jon being able to keep Draco safe in theter stages of the tournament, or at least not go out of his way to actively make things difficult for him. "So if Lucius makes private contact with me by sending Dobby afterwards, what are we going to do?" Jon asked. Dumbledore lifted the crescent-shaped sses on his face and said with a deep gaze. "I can understand his desire to protect his family, but people who have done wrong cannot be exempted from punishment simply because they love their family. If he''s just requested for you to look after Draco, don''t say yes just yet, find out what he''s willing to pay, and if he wants to help us with something, then stall him for now and wait until the Triwizard Tournament is over, he''ll be more eager to make contact with us than we are." *** The time had gradually started to get colder as the month of October moved closer. Almost a month had passed since the end of the first task, but the buzz about the tournament in the magicalmunity was still hot. But at the centre of it all, at Hogwarts Castle, the atmosphere has instead be calm. After the dragon attack, the students in the Castle rarely talked about the tournament, because no one wanted to ruin the atmosphere, and they were the outright losers in the first tournament task. At the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the wagon had remained in ce, with Dumbledore staying on board except for a couple of trips back to Lyons to deal with matters that had to be attended by him personally. Jon''s life hadn''t changed much either, he was either looking into the underwater creatures in the ck Lake or soaking in the library in the wagon and delving into the forbidden books in the gem. Dobby, on the other hand, had met with Jon twice more after that time, but there had been no update on Lucius'' side like he was still waiting for the right time toe along and was in no hurry to find Jon in a showdown right now. Just when it looked like this period of no tournament vacancy was going to go on as normal, Hermione made a new friend near the ck Lake in early October. A student from Hogwarts Castle. A girl from Half-Blood House, sixth year, named Assia Konrad. Late in the evening of that day, when dinner had been served in the wagon, but Jon was still fishing at the ck Lake and hadn''t returned, Hermione came out to call him back for dinner and then saw Assia, who was being abused and bullied by three girls from the Pureblood House, on thewn near this side of the Castle. Hermione, of course, had a sense of justice, and if this had happened in normal times she would have rushed to help without hesitation, but she just stood by and watched from the sidelines as this happened in Hogwarts Castle. As a former Mudblood at the bottom of the castle, she knew better than anyone else that the students in the Castle who enjoyed the benefits of the bloodline had no sympathy. As the half-bloods were blind to the fact that the muggle-born were enved, they had to be prepared to be treated just as badly by the purebloods. So Hermione just looked at them from a distance then, and then on her way back to the wagon after calling Jon back to dinner, she saw that all three of the pureblood students had left, leaving Assia alone by theke, whimpering and cleaning her trampled shoes with magic. But perhaps because she was not in a stable mood, she mispronounced the cleaning spell and the ck leather shoe flew like a sted cannonball across a small part of theke, eventually falling into the water beside Hermione. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 371: Assia Konrad (2 in 1) Chapter 371: Assia Konrad (2 in 1) Seeing the shoe floating on theke, Hermione subconsciously paused in her tracks. She looked over in the direction where Assiay and noticed that the girl, who was obviously a little older than her, was also looking at her with some trepidation. Just a moment after their eyes met in midair, Assia lowered her own eyes in panic, as if she was afraid to meet Hermione''s. Hermione stayed where she was for three or four seconds before finally failing to ignore this incident in the end. She flicked her wand and the ck leather shoe, which was floating on the water like a small boat, just flew out of theke and was held in her hand. Hermione used a Hot Air Charm on the sodden shoe as she walked over towards Assia. She could see that the girl with the long pale blonde hair looked pretty, with soft, inviting features and a slender, delicate figure that would make her a good candidate for ballet. The reason why she is being bullied by a girl of higher status than herself is obvious to any normal person. The reasons for bullying in schools are often simple: it''s out of student vanity and jealousy, and rarely will there be an underlying conflict of interest as there will be with adults. Hermione didn''t move closer to Assia, she simply ced the shoe on the ground once she was within a few feet distance. "Why don''t you try to stand up and resist?" She asked calmly, looking at the girl. The different styles of school robes of the two Hogwarts made it easy for Assia to identify who Hermione might be, and she looked pale and afraid to look up at Hermione''s face, looking like she was too apprehensive to talk to Hermione because of the rules in the castle. Hermione didn''t really intend to hear anything in reply, she just saw what happened to Assia now and thought of her own days of very in the castle and asked a casual question. The oppressed and enved muggle-borns tried their best to resist and maintain their independence of thought under such miserable situations in Hogwarts Castle, while the half-blood wizards, who had also been bullied and discriminated against, just wanted to remain in the status quo and never had any intention to change the situation; which is something that Hermione still couldn''t understand. Hermione had asked Jon about this when she had learned from him that people like Cedric were an outlier among the half-blood students. Jon replied to her with some insights of his own. He said that human nature tends to be flexible and that when the muggles are enved at the bottom of the socialdder, they try their best to resist, because if they don''t resist, they might die or live a life more miserable than death, and if they do, they might have a chance of survival. But for the half-blood wizards, the discrimination they suffered from the purebloods was far from life-threatening, and if they resisted the chances that they would die were very high. Combined with the fact that there was an even worse hierarchy of muggle-born wizards who provided psychologicalfort and benefit in return, they endured the unequal treatment given to them by venting their negative emotions on muggle-borns, leaving hardly anyone with courage among the half-blood wizards who wanted to try to overthrow Voldemort''s bloodline rule. Hermione could understand part of Jon''s exnation, and she put herself into the position of a half-blood wizard, thinking for a moment what she would have done if she had been treated like a half-blood student when she first entered Hogwarts castle; she certainly would not have been content with the status quo, but even if she had resisted it would certainly not have been mainly to overthrow Voldemort''s rule but to try to do her best to reform the system correctly and improve the status of half-blood wizards as a way of striving for Equality. When she thought of this, Hermione felt less contempt for the half-blood students and felt more pity for them instead. The half-blood wizards would be the ones who would be enved for eternity under the rule of the bloodline, as opposed to the muggle-borns who seemed like they would be oppressed to death. After dropping her shoes on the ground, Hermione turned and prepared to head back in the direction of the Hogwarts wagon without expecting any decent answer from Assia. It was just after she had taken two steps forward that a somewhat weak voice could be faintly heard from behind her. "Thank- Thank you." Hermione''s steps didn''t pause as she continued to walk forward with her back to the girl. After what she had gone through, Hermione didn''t take it all that seriously. She currently did not have much energy to be tied up with other things now, other than her sses, she was basically staring at the Marauder''s Map at all times, watching the movements of the various people in the Castle, apart from reading books. After what happened with the first task, it was as if Voldemort had sensed something even if he hadn''t found anything in the Castle, he had heightened his vignce enough to not only increase the intensity of surveince throughout the school but also to deploy more Aurors from the Ministry of Magic to enforce a strict curfew policy and patrol the Castle at night. This made it more difficult for Hermione to infiltrate the castle again, and she had to find out the usual patrolling habits of the Aurors before thinking about her next infiltration. One morning, on the third day after she had met Assia, Hermione was getting off the wagon and trying to find some herbs along the edge of the Forbidden Forest that might be of some use in enriching the greenhouse on the wagon, she saw the girl who looked like a good fit for ballet for the second time. Assia obviously looked like she hade to her of her own ord, otherwise, no student from the castle would normallye to where the wagon stood at all. Even if it wasn''t explicitly stated by Barty Jr. and Snape or any other Professors, this area became a self-imposed no-go zone in the minds of the students, and they were wary of even approaching in the direction of the wagon, let alone walking near it. For her part, Assia found a good opportunity, it was ss time, and she looked like she didn''t have a ss, and when she saw Hermione, who was walking at the edge of the Forbidden Forest from far away in the tower of the castle, she approached her like a frightened deer, avoiding the sight of those Aurors guarding the area around the castle, and nervously blushing. "What do you want?" The guard went up in Hermione''s mind after she saw her. She wasn''t fooled by the girl''s appearance, ever since she had been taken away from her parents at the age of eleven, Hermione had harboured the most basic suspicion towards any stranger no matter how they might look or speak. Even when she had first been sure of Jon''s identity, it had taken her a full three months, and she had finally made a big gamble to establish an initial trust between the two. And the girl in front of her was clearly far from that. "Assia." Assia stopped about five metres away from Hermione, her voice as weak as ever, just sounding like a perfect choice for bullying. "I... My name is Assia Konrad." Hermione still looked at her with that same distant look in her gaze. "And?" "Thanks, for helping me pick up my shoe the other day." "A small lift of a finger thing." "I was wondering, would you like to get to know me?" Assia looked like she had gathered all her courage to say that. Hermione didn''t answer at first, she just looked at the girl, her dark green Hogwarts castle robes with the silver trim that symbolised the half-blood house looked very presentable on her body, her long pale blonde hair was meticulously tended, and she carried a pearl white string on her wrist. At the glimpse of the string, Hermione''s gaze held on it for a brief moment, there was something special about the style of that item, it was clearly not an item made in the wizarding world where most ornaments still had a medieval style. "Hermione Granger, if all you wanted was to know my name, well now you have reached your goal." Assia had a somewhat jovial smile on her face, but she didn''t look content to just leave straight away after just learning Hermione''s name, so she continued to ask. "What are you looking for?" Hermione didn''t bother to look at her anymore at this point, instead kept her head down and went to examine the surrounding bushes. "Herbs, or nts with magical properties." "They are rarely found at the edges of the Forbidden Forest, Professor Grubbly-nk has told us that precious resources are only to be found in the depths of the Forbidden Forest." "If I could get into the Forbidden Forest, of course, I would go deeper to find them, but obviously I can''t do that now." Hermione said absent-mindedly, showing not much of a talkative nature to Assia, instead she had a distant attitude. "So you don''t like me either?" Assia asked timidly, with a hint of resignation in her voice, as she clearly sensed the distancing from Hermione''s attitude. Hermione said, still without looking up. "There is no such thing as liking or disliking you, it''s just that the camp we are spending time in is not suitable for us to interact more, if you just want to get to know me and show your appreciation for me then this will be enough for today; if you are looking to make friends with me then I suggest you wait until we have liberated Hogwarts Castle, and then we can formally get to know each other. " Assia pursed her lips. "Sir Headmaster, he''s very powerful." "Of course, no one would deny that, but he isn''t invincible is he?" As if she had found her target, Hermione stared at a nt with some yellowing leaves in between the bushes, then pulled a small spade from the pocket of her robe. "Once he could only do some covert terror in Ennd, and even if he won against Professor Dumbledore back then, didn''t he also lose once not long ago?" "But if you lose, then surely you will die ." "If there is no freedom or dignity, then it is better to die than live." After Hermione had said this, it was as if she hadpletely lost the desire to talk to Assia, she crouched down next to the nt she had identified and began to move skilfully to carefully dig it out of the dirt. Assia looked a little lost for words, and instead of staying to pester Hermione, she turned and ran off in the direction of the castle with red eyes. Only after her footsteps hadpletely disappeared did Hermione, who had managed to transnt the herb into the pot she had made, turn her head to look at Assia''s back, which was already fading at the edge of the ck Lake, and then, instead of remaining on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, she returned to the wagon with the herb in her arms. She took the herb into the greenhouse and then returned to her dormitory, where she stayed for about three minutes before leaving the dormitory and heading straight in the direction of the Headmaster''s office. After this, Hermione did not meet the girl named Assia. The conversation between them seemed to have killed the tender girl''s desire to make acquaintance with Hermione for good. And so it came to the end of October. Jon had beening to the ck Lake almost every minute he could spare to rx, but after more than a month had passed, he had not found much in it. During this time he had learned a few things from Cedric about the always calm, mirror-likeke, and had learned that there had never been any rumours of a great squid since Cedric had entered Hogwarts Castle for school It was as if the behemoth had disappeared from the bottom of theke after the castle had changed hands and had never been seen by the students again. Hermione woulde to theke with Jon some days, but only Jon was fishing while she was reading a book and watching the movements on the Marauder''s Map. "It looks like another unproductive day." Jon hoisted his rod and sighed as he tossed therge fish that had bitten the hook, weighing almost four pounds, back into theke. Hermione, who was also sitting on the grass in the same way, raised her head, and with her customary first nce at the Marauder''s Map, she then said reassuringly. "There''s still some time before the second task begins, so there''s no need to rush." "How far did the matter Professor Dumbledore gave you progress?" "Still waiting for my chance, can''t make any moves yet, need to see the movement in the castle." "Better be cautious, if you are ever in a situation where you need to make a choice, always go for the one that will keep you safe. Learn from me, keeping yourself alive is the main priority." Hearing Jon''sst and rather proud words, Hermione didn''t move and rolled her eyes. She could sense that Jon really felt that he was someone who cherished his life, but in truth, both in her mind and in the minds of the other students, Jon proved to be both the most reassuring and the most unnerving whenever he went out to do something. The reassuring thing was that he always managed to solve all the difficulties sessfully, but the unnerving thing was that when it came to sacrifice, he would always prefer to put his own life on the line. Just like when they were on the sea, every time he got off the ship he promised everyone that he would give priority to protecting his own life, but every time he basically put himself in the most dangerous situation and let the other students leave first. Hermione just couldn''t hate Jon for being so "unaware" of his own actions. Because in that respect, they were both simr to each other, just as Hermione had once thought about giving up on herself and letting Jon save all the other younger muggle-born students. Just as they were wrapping up their rxing time at theke for the day and heading towards the wagon, Hermione suddenly stopped in her tracks as if she had spotted something while looking in the direction of the castle. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 372: Why not just resist? (2 in 1) Chapter 372: Why not just resist? (2 in 1) "What happened?" Jon nced over in the direction Hermione''s gaze was directed, only to find a few girls clustered in front of the door of Hogwarts Castle, making their way out of it, but there was nothing special in view. Hearing his voice, Hermione withdrew her gaze and shook her head. "It''s alright, let''s go back to the wagon." *** "No don''t do this Floyd don''t hurt me please." Assia''s hands were restrained by the Incarcerous Spell and two girls, much bigger and burlier than her, held her shoulders down, forcibly dragging her towards the part of the castle near the Quidditch pitch. "I warned you, Konrad!" The girl who shouted out Assia''s family name shrilly was a girl who had a blemished face and a slightly chubby figure; she wasn''t ugly, but her face was unusually hideous when she looked at Assia. "Stay away from the young lord of the Flint family! But you refused to listen! What are you trying to do scratching your head in front of him every day? Dreaming of joining the Sacred Twenty-Eight House? I''m telling you! There''s no bloody chance! He will only y with you and then toss you out! You will never set your foot in a pureblood house in your life, because you are a lowly half-breed! A bastard! Understand? A bastard! Scum!" Two of Floyd''s goons tugged Assia and dragged her to the edge of the Quidditch pitch. Quidditch had been stopped in Hogwarts Castle this school year to make way for the Triwizard Tournament, and even the daily practices were no longer necessary, so there were no students or anyone else around now. The angle they had chosen was also very clever, perfectly avoiding the observation range of the Aurors who were guarding the perimeter of the castle, and there was absolutely no fear of anyoneing to disturb them. Fearful and anxious, Assia stomped in vain on her white socks and ck leather shoes, her slender white ankles scratched and bloodied by the weeds on the ground, but there was no way out in this situation. "I, I don''t want to be near him too... it''s Flint who wants me to stay near him. I didn''t want to talk to him, but he threatened me, saying that he would have my mum and dad fired from their family''s businesses and put them out on the streets." She just sobbed and kept exining, but it was clear that it wouldn''t change the fate she would be facing. "So you didn''t voluntarily do all that, Assia." The two goons pinned her down on the grass and Floyd cupped her chin, saying in a whispery voice. "Then it wasn''t your fault, but surely young lord Flint couldn''t have made a mistake either, could he? Just like me, a noble pureblood is always right, so who is wrong in this matter? Was it Sir Headmaster who had specified such rules?" Her words were frightening and not only did the pupils of the overwhelmed Assia constrict for a moment, but even the faces of her two underlings became flustered. "No, I didn''t mean it like that." Floyd touched Assia''s pale, tender face, her expression not as brutal and fierce as it had been at the beginning, and her calm face actually gave off a civilized look. "Of course, you wouldn''t dare to mean that, so neither of us is wrong, so what is wrong?" She patted Assia''s cheek and said with a sudden dawning realization. "I see, it must be your face that is causing the problem isn''t it?" As she spoke, she violently pinched Assia''s cheek! "Then the solution to the problem is very simple! Just make this face of yours less pretty than it is, and then all our troubles will be gone, you are so gentle and generous that you will surely agree to my proposal, won''t you? Miss Konrad?" Assia was trembling all over, she kept trying to shrink back as a way of avoiding Floyd''s iron-d hand, but she had only shrunk less than a metre before her soft back touched the cold wall. The Quidditch stadium was behind her and there was no turning back. Floyd released her grip on Assia''s cheek, and she straightened up, wand in hand, then mmed the tip of it into the girl who had been cornered. "Don''t do this, okay, Floyd, please, I beg-g you, really I beg you." "There is a spell that has been passed down in my family, Konrad, or as you might call it, dark magic. It has a very special effect, the ability to transform a person''s body in the direction of a monster, a transformation so slow that you won''t even feel it yourself. If you are lucky enough, the effects of the magic can bepletely integrated into your bloodline, allowing it to be passed on to your offspring along with your blood. Sounds great doesn''t it, a truly marvellous magic." A dangerous light glinted in Floyd''s eyes, she was still smiling and acting excited. "Of course, such a powerful curse would certainly require a lot of preparation and be extremely demanding on the caster, and it is unlikely that I would be able to use it thoroughly at my current level. But it doesn''t matter Konrad, even if it only has a minuscule effect on you, it will haunt you throughout your life." "If the Prof-fess-sor. The Professor knows about this." Assia''s two hands, already unbound, clutched her shoulders helplessly, like amb to be ughtered, and all she could do was make onest pale, feeble threat. "Professor? Which professor do you want to make this known to? Professor Greengrass? Professor Crouch? Or Professor Snape? It wille as no surprise to you, Konrad, that if you find them after you''ve been cursed by me, the most I might get is some verbal reprimand from my father, who is a noble and honourable Death Eater! And what would happen to you, the lowly, curse-tainted bastard? Let us guess?" The tip of Freud''s wand had glowed dangerously and Assia shrank back, her fear was by no means feigned, the desperation in her eyes had spread to her whole miserable face. "Hogwarts will expel you! I''ll get my father to pull the strings and leave your parents both on the streets! You guys would be no better than those mudbloods surviving! Only to roam the streets and go snatch food from wild dogs!" For some reason, instead of thinking about her parents at this time, Assia''s mind went back to the question Hermione had asked her a few days ago that she hadn''t bothered to answer. "Why not just resist?" Not sure if it was just her hallucinations, Assia felt the voice didn''t sound like it was ringing in her head. She couldn''t help but look up, and then she saw the girl with the chestnut-coloured, shoulder-length hair behind Floyd. That girl''s features seemed refined and prating, the kind of pration that is impossible to forget after just one look! Whether it was Assia, or Floyd, who had obviously heard the voiceing from behind her and turned around to find a tip of a wand pressed against her forehead. "I wonder if you heard the words Jon said in the entrance hall back then? Can you still recall it? May I ask this noble Miss Floyd to please repeat it for me?" Floyd''s body frozepletely the moment she felt the hard touch from the tip of the wand on her forehead. She saw the face of Hermione, a face she hadn''t forgotten even after almost two years had passed. Hermione Granger was the name that had spread throughout Hogwarts Castle at the beginning ofst year, she was the one who had helped the wanted man attract the attention of the castle caretaker and allowed the criminal to sessfully take many of the mudbloods. And now that she had returned back to the Hogwarts premises following the most feared dark wizard of all time, Albus Dumbledore, many of the students in the Castle were aware of Hermione''s existence and also knew that the student who had made such a scene in the Castle and caused so much humiliation to many of the Professors back then is the current champion representing the Hogwarts wagon in the tournament - -Jon Green. The moment she saw Hermione''s facial features, which were even more beautiful and refined than Assia''s, many rumours about the Hogwarts wagon rose up in Floyd''s mind. Rumour had it that the wagon housed a group of murderous fiends who would train low-born mudbloods and turn them into demons who would only destroy the social order and murder pureblood wizards. Perhaps many of these statements failed to hold up to the logic, but many of the students still took them as true in their hearts. They believe that the Headmaster of Hogwarts is Great and has no rival, so how is it that Dumbledore and his gang still exist and are so brazen in today''s wizarding world? It must be that they have built their rule on bloody and brutal violence to be so brazen. And since Hermione seemed to be one of Dumbledore''s best henchmen, she must have learnt a lot of brutal and violent methods, more so than the evilest dark wizards, and if they fell into her hands, there would be no hope for them. Looking at Floyd, whose face had turnedpletely white, whose mouth was open, but unable to speak even half a word, and whose body did not dare to move, Hermione continued tly. "Is it possible that you didn''t understand my question? Erm, do you need me to rephrase my question again?" At this point, Floyd''s two henchmen finally responded as well, their hands fumbling to raise their wands at Hermione, but the hand that was holding the wand was shaking uncontrobly. "I... I..." The aggressive and powerful Floyd was now beginning to stammer, she obviously wouldn''t answer Hermione''s question, not because she hadn''t been present during that day at lunchtime, but because Jon''s statement, was so treacherous in today''s British magical world, one that no pureblood would ever try to remember of their own ord, or they would even subconsciously try to forget. Hermione looked at the reactions of the three pureblood students in front of her at this moment in the face of her, and in her mind, she was actually certain of one thing. Voldemort''s downfall is absolutely inevitable. He possessed a superior personal strength, but his bloodline policy simply raised purebloods like pigs. They enjoyed the best resources and power of the whole society but were so low-minded that they just thought about extravagant pleasures all day long, losing the most basic level of learning and study of magic that wizards should have, in contrast to the number of half-bloods who had started to embark on a brutal internal struggle to excel and get ahead. As of now, no half-bloods, except for outliers like Cedric, have tried to defy the system because Voldemort is still alive and at his peak. But once Voldemort''s personal prestige has diminished and the half-bloods have had enough of trying hard to get ahead but still working as subordinates despite their high skills and strength, then they will begin to wonder why these useless purebloods are riding over them and will spontaneously question whether the bloodline supremacy theory is true or false based on their own interests. At that point, even without individuals like Dumbledore, the foundations of British rule would still be shaken, and there would be a session of open and covert revolts by the half-bloods. The reason why British magical society remained as smooth as it is now is simply due to the presence of a Voldemort that no one can defeat weighing down on their heads. Hermione in the Castle had previously thought that this dark magical world had been waiting for its saviour, but once she had detached herself from this society and looked at Voldemort''s rule from a different perspective, it became clear that the so-called saviour was in fact these people themselves who were being oppressed in a conservative manner. "And you, do you remember what he said back then? Miss Konrad." Hermione''s wand still resided on Floyd''s forehead, but she had changed the subject of her question to a different one. Assia, who by this time had only just recovered from the shock of Hermione''s sudden appearance, met those clear, transparent, but resolute and daring eyes with a fright that never abated, yet she answered subconsciously. "''The so-called purebloods are only noble because they can use evil Unforgivable Curses to determine the life and death of others, and when they''re not in a position to do so, they behave as ridiculously as snotty buggers''" She remembered Jon''s words well, better than many half-bloods could remember them. Perhaps it was because she herself had been in a situation where she had been subjected to pureblood bullying but had no professors to even care about it, so the words Jon had originally left behind were that fresh in Assia''s mind till now. "What about the next sentence?" Hermione asked, tilting her head as she continued. "''This status is not something they rightfully earned, this is them whitewashing their very, disguising their privilege, and adding a cr-ro-owning juss-sification for their op-oppression.''" The more she spoke, the more Assia seemed to realise exactly what she was saying, and her voice grew short of breath, her gaze lowered a little more, and her words became stuttered. Floyd turned her head to look at Assia in horror and anger. "Bitch! What are you talking about! Do you know the consequences of those wordsing out of your mouth! If the professors find out, you''re finished! You''re screwed!!!" "Instead of worrying about others, worry about yourself, noble Miss Pureblood." Hermione''s voice was cold, and the next second she spoke, a blinding red light shed at the tip of her wand, and the next moment Floyd''s body became as rigid as stone. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 373: Thank you, Miss Granger (2 in 1) Chapter 373: Thank you, Miss Granger (2 in 1) Floyd''s body fell straight backwards, her body wrapped tightly around with magic ropes created by the Incarcerous Spell, unable to make any movement except for using her mouth to speak. Her two henchmen only dared to raise their wands in their hands and hadn''t even had the guts to fight back until now. Only when Hermione turned her gaze on them did one of the girls falter and try to use a Stunning Spell, but the spell didn''t even brush the edge of Hermione''s dress, it just flew off into the distance and hit the grass on the ground. Without any difficulty at all, Hermione had dealt with the three pureblood girls straight away, and to be honest she was a little surprised that the pureblood students had been so ruined in Hogwarts Castle under Voldemort''s control. But of course, it''s not that all purebloods are rubbish, rather, it''s that Hermione encountered a few girls who happened to be good for nothing who were only good at a few hexes and jinxes that can be used in bullying, and who were afraid of a "notorious" and "infamous" dark wizard like Hermione, that they didn''t even dare to fight back. Floyd didn''t dare to scream out because she was afraid, and the ce they chose to torment Assia was particrly well-chosen, exactly in line with the statement "No one wille to save you even if you scream loudly." "You, you shouldn''t do anything to-to us, do you think you''re saving that little bitch by stopping us? No, you aren''t! As soon as the professors find out about this and learn that you cast a spell on us just to save this half-breed student, she''ll surely be tortured to death as well!" As if thinking of something, Floyd sounded nervous and rushed to tell Hermione the consequences of doing something like this, trying to salvage the situation. "Just don''t hurt me, and those two friends of mine, and set us free, then I promise we won''t tell the Professor about today and the little bitch won''t be harmed. Granger, your name is Granger, isn''t it? I make a promise on the honour of the Floyd family!" Hermione didn''t bother to look at her from the beginning to the end but just sat down next to Assia. "See? That''s how they are, not only them, but the Professors in this Castle as well, no matter how hideous and horrible these people normally act, the moment they lose their force, they are a pile of rotten meat." The short period of ups and downs had made Assia''s emotions fluctuate a lot now. She was constantly shedding tears and whimpering like a timid kitten not even daring to make her sobs louder. After Hermione sat down next to her, she buried her head in Hermione''sp without any control and wrapped both arms around her slender waist and cried out in anguish. Thinking that Assia was shocked by what she had just said, and feeling sure that Hermione would be softened by the way Assia now behaved, Floyd said more excitedly and sharply. "Not only will I not tell anyone about what happened today, I swear Granger! I will never bother with this half-breed again! Surely you are unable to kill us, right? Surely Dumbledore doesn''t want to get into conflict with Sir Headmaster since he''s willing to participate in the tournament, so if you can''t kill us, you have to trust me! Let us go, Granger!" Hermione didn''t push Assia away, allowing her tears to soak her robes while still reaching out and gently stroking the hair of the girl who was clearly two years older than she is. "Have you forgotten that there is a spell in the magical world called the Obliviate?" At Hermione''s words, Floyd''s eyes narrowed sharply, but she soon put on a reluctant smile again. "But you''ve only just studied magic for less than two years right? Obliviate spell is very advanced magic, not something that even any random seventh-year in the castle would necessarily be able to master, let alone the fact that you''re only a fourth year and have been a ve in the castle for a year, to begin with, don''t try to scare me, Granger, letting me go is the only thing you can do!" The more she spoke, whether she had convinced Hermione or not was unknown, but it was as if she herself had been convinced by her own words, her tone bing more and more firmed up, as if she was sure Hermione wouldn''t do anything to her. "She can''t, but I can, right?" A voice that didn''t belong to anyone present there rang out abruptly. Floyd turned her head sharply and looked at the boy who had appeared on the grass at some point, her shock turning to horror at the sight of the face that had appeared in the Daily Prophet who knew how many times! Hermione also looked up at the unexpected visitor, the corners of her mouth involuntarily curving in a slight curve and Assia, who had buried herself in herp, also looked up with red eyes and frozen in fear at the sight of the student who had the entire castle, during this period, scorning and cursing in fear. "When did you follow me here?" "Hey, we''ve known each other for so long Hermione, you don''t really think I haven''t noticed that you''ve be a little moody since we got back to the wagon." "Then why didn''t you ask me then?" "If I had asked, you would have told me straight away, how pointless would that have been. I kept it to myself and then popped in when you needed me, that way you got the surprise and I got the satisfaction, we both win, don''t we!" "...Has anyone ever told you that your hobby is quite bad?" "It seems not, but there are so many people here, so we''ll just have to ask a random one to find out the answer. This youngdy, I think I remember your name is Floyd? Do you think my hobby is quite bad-natured?" Jon walked up to Floyd with a raised eyebrow and asked a question, his mere approach caused the noble pureblood to scream in fear, just like Assia who they had cornered earlier, constantly trying to back away desperately further away from him. "Don''t kill me! Please! Don''t kill me!" "So she''s a victim of paranoia." Jon shrugged with a spread hand, then casually waved his wand, and the next moment Floyd''s eyes suddenly became hollow. Floyd''s two followers followed suit and cried out, but unfortunately, this ce was exactly where they had chosen to bully someone, so even if they cried out loudly, no one came to their rescue. As he did, Jon also made both of their eyes go hollow, erasing the memory of them seeing Hermione and himself here today, then weaving a false memory of Assia herself running away from them and padding it in. "Let''s move to a different ce, Heroic Miss Granger, or it''ll cost me another swing when theye to their senses." In response to Jon''s teasing, Hermione simply reached out and hammered his shoulder, then lifted up Assia and followed Jon towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest near the wagon. They couldn''t get too close to the wagon, it was a priority surveince area for the Aurors and the two of them going over there with a student from the castle like that would definitely cause trouble for Assia afterwards. After helping Hermione with the aftermath, Jon didn''t stay around, he wasn''t exactly in charge of everything, he had just noticed Hermione''splexion on the wagon and went along to help, now that it was over, he had no intention of interfering with Hermione''s social life. He had met Cedric in the Forbidden Forest before, so couldn''t Hermione also y a heroic role in saving a girl''s day? So Jon had no intention of making a scene, and after a brief goodbye to Hermione and a reminder not to forget that it would soon be dinner time, he left in the direction of the wagon. By this time, Assia had also gradually settled down, still whimpering and with her head down she whispered her thanks to Hermione. "Thank you, Miss Granger." "So why not just resist, anyway?" Hermione asked the question once again as she looked at her calmly. Assia gripped the sides of her robes with both hands. "If I fought back... They''d bully me even more, along with my mum and dad, and get them into trouble, and mum taught me not to get into trouble at school" "So you can live with the fact that she''s going to use the curse on you and turn you into an inhuman beastter?" Tears flowed again from Assia''s eyes and her eyes, which had be red and swollen, looked up at Hermione. "But, but the only person who would have to endure the torture like that would just be me, wouldn''t it? At least I wouldn''t be causing trouble for my mum and dad." Hermione fell silent. She looked at the seemingly weak girl quietly, as if she were looking at herself a year or so ago. The difference between the two of them was simply that Hermione was trying to sacrifice herself to save more of her peers, while Assia was now trying to sacrifice herself to stabilize her parents'' lives. She didn''t have the right to use her of being weak, because both of them had made the same choice. It was just that Hermione was lucky enough to meet Jon at that time, but is it possible for Assia to have the same luck now to meet someone like how she met Jon when she most needed it? Or maybe can ''Hermione'' now be who ''Jon'' was to her at that time? Hermione didn''t have that in mind, and it was fair to say that Hermione couldn''t think of that for the time being; this time at Hogwarts Castle, not only did Jon need to work hard to win the Triwizard Tournament, but Hermione herself had an equally important task. There wasn''t much she could do regarding Assia these days. "That''s a nice string you have there." There was a long silence before Hermione changed the subject and fixed her gaze on the string on Assia''s left wrist. Assia huffed and set her gaze on her own wrist as well, her eyes unnoticeably froze for a moment after seeing the string, but the next second she was back to her normal self. "My mother gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday." "She bought it at a muggle ornament shop, I guess." Hermione said staring at the string, "My mum was wearing a string exactly like the one you have on her hand back when I was brought to Hogwarts Castle, it was given to her by her dad for her wedding anniversary years ago." Assia, a sensitive girl at heart, heard something unusual in Hermione''s calm tone, and she asked in a small voice. "Is it possible that-that you are missing your mum and dad?" "Of course, I''m missing them." Hermione didn''t hide her feelings, "But I can''t reconnect with them yet, but Professor Dumbledore told us that when this Triwizard Tournament is over, maybe the Memory Charm on our parents will be lifted, or at least when it has been determined to be safe in France, I will be able to reconnect with them at that time." Assia''s eyes shone up. "Congrattions." "Such early congrattions mean that you too think that we are sure to win this tournament, don''t you?" "Your friend, the boy called Jon Green- He''s very formidable, I''ve heard a lot about him in the Castle." "He''s actually normally pretty off the mark, but he''s more reliable than anyone else when it matters. So if you also believe that in the end, he will win this tournament then you will actually get your situation changed after the tournament is over." Hermione said softly. Assia looked up as if she didn''t really understand what Hermione meant by what she said. "Don''t forget that the bet between Professor Dumbledore and that Headmaster of yours is not just about the ownership of the French wizardingmunity, but this Hogwarts castle as well." Hermione looked up at the towering castle. "Whoever wins this tournament will gain the sole ownership of the school name Hogwarts and the right to own this castle, and when that timees, the professor will surely be fighting to keep most of the students as well, and after that, you''ll be able to have a normal school life." "Is that really possible?" Assia asked in a thin voice, with hope in her gaze, but in a tone that was clearly a little unsure of herself. For some reason, Hermione suddenly remembered Jon''sment to herself in the Castle that "the professors at the other Hogwarts never lie" at this moment. She smiled and made a promise in the same way. "It''ll be fine!" As if moved by Hermione''s promise, Assia''s whole self became cheerful and bright, and she looked at the smile on Hermione''s face and smiled back as well. This girl, who was obviously two years younger than her, gave her a sense of security she had never felt before. Assia had been absent from the Castle long enough that she couldn''t continue to talk with Hermione here, and without waiting for Hermione to say anything, she offered to go back herself. "Try not to be alone when you get back, avoid those people who are bullying you, and if they still try to tie you up and leave the castle to use the curse on you, then cry out for help and I will hear you." It was a promise that shouldn''t have been voiced at all; Although Hermione had cautioned herself at first not to get too involved with the students in the Castle at this point in time, she hadn''t been able to resist saying it in the end. Assia, whose reddened eyes had obviously not yet dried up, looked at her with a smile that was as bright as the sun. "Thank you, Miss Granger!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 374: Prom (2 in 1) Chapter 374: Prom (2 in 1) Winters in the UK are obviously a little colder than in France. But Jon had basically spentst winter literally in the Arctic Circle, so this bit of cold back in the UK didn''t bother him much. It was only that as November rolled on and there was still no news from Lyon that Jon basically lost hope that he would be able to learn the Animagus this year. As winter advanced, the chances of a thunderstorm were about as good as a snowstorm in July, but Jon wasn''t expecting to be that lucky to learn Animagus in six months. And it was towards the end of November that Jon learned from Dumbledore that a different kind of event would be held the week before the tournament began, on Christmas Day. "A ball? This tournament is on the verge of bing a duel to the death and there''s going to be a ball?" Jon''s eyes widened, obviously full of disbelief at the announcement. Dumbledore, on the contrary, rxed against the back of his chair, with a gentle smile still on his face. "Of course, it''s going to be held, regardless of the purpose of this tournament, it''s a Triwizard Tournament and the Yule Ball is a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament, that won''t be erased." Jon''s mind was already going through an borate image of that scenario. "So I''ll need to dance in a hall with those guys then? And then the duel to the death will begin five dayster?" "It''s perfectly in line with gentlemanly etiquette isn''t it?" Dumbledore said with a wink, "Even rivals can share a dance on a formal asion." Jon scoffed, "Really? ording to their bloodline theory, shouldn''t it be an insult to purebloods to even have me in the Hall?" Dumbledore suddenly looked at Jon strangely. "You look like you really don''t want to go to this ball?" Jon''s little thought was noticed, but he didn''t deny it, he just spread his hands and said. "You know Professor, I was an orphan before I was brought to the wagon, and I''ve barely had a few days to myself since I came to the wagon, even in my free time I''ve basically stayed in the library or at theke." "So?" "So I can''t dance at all." Jon said bluntly. Dumbledoreughed, a smile that was clearly tinged with glee and amusement. "No one can be good at everything as long as they are human Jon, no one is asking you to learn that much in a short school life of a little under a decade, there are still close to two months until the start of the Yule Ball, I''m sure you just need to set aside half an hour a day to practice and hone your skills, then you will discover if you have a talent for it." Jon looked side-eyed, even though Dumbledore had expressed his full trust in him, Jon was actually still not too happy about going to this ball. As he had said before, he actually hated the idea of parading himself around, especially public dancing, something that Jon, who had considered himself half a social outcast in his previous life, had subconsciously resisted. "Can''t we just not go?" Dumbledore crossed his arms as if he was seriously contemting Jon''s proposal. "This ball is something we should preferably attend if we want to keep public opinion in check, as it is, we came to the Castle for the tournament and Riddle, who is the upant of the Castle, has beenpletely wary that he has settled us on the edge of the Forbidden Forest and will not permit us to even enter the Castle. It may seem that we are being belittled, but he, as Headmaster of a school and now nominal master of the British magicalmunity, will let the outside world see that he is not behaving in a way that is remotely fitting to be a leader." "The same goes for this ball, as the more we are treated with discourtesy, the more we can be seen in contrast to what he is doing. Of course, such a disy doesn''t mean much if it''s done while Riddle still holds an overwhelming advantage, but it will benefit us when the situation enters a stalemate." He made both the pros and cons clear to Jon but ended with a smile. "Of course, if you really don''t want to go to this ball then it''s fine if we don''t give Riddle that honour in kind, as long as we end up winning this tournament, who would think to use us of this then?" Jon hesitated for a moment and then asked afterwards. "Will this Ballst very long?" "As a champion, you will be expected toe and be the lead dancer at the opening of the Ball, and after the lead dance is over you will be free to do as you please with your time." Speaking of which, Dumbledore squeezed his eyes at him thoughtfully. "Got your eye on a girl? If it''s too embarrassing for you to offer an invitation, I could use the Headmaster''s authority a little to help." Jon put on a posed look. "Whatever, but you shouldn''t expect too much from me at the Ball, Professor, I''m not really interested in dancing in the first ce." "Ha, I''m sure nothing will be too much for you, Jon, if you''re sure you want to attend I''ll ask Vinda to help, shees from a family that is strict about etiquette and is very good at dancing, she will also be able to set aside half an hour a day to teach you." "As you have arranged then, when do I have to see Professor Rosier?" "She usually takes a tea break in the Professor''smon room after dinner, that would be just the right time." After hearing Dumbledore''s arrangement, Jon got up from his chair and stretched. "I''m going to continue my rxing session at the ck Lake, hopefully, I''ll find something today." "There''s no need to rush, we still have two months until the second task begins, and it''s not a major task, even if you don''t end up finding anything it won''t have much effect on our finalyout." "I know Professor, but I''ve got some spare time these days anyway, so it''s a good way to give myself something to do." Jon said as he turned his back on Dumbledore and waved, and then left the Headmaster''s office. The fire by the wall was leaping and Dumbledore was left alone in his office, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed in front of him, as his blue eyes gazed silently into the orange fire. "Tom. What exactly do you want to do." *** "When we lived in the wagon on the run, we didn''t feel much of a sense of caution because everyone knew that the professors would protect us. On some of the big holidays, like the day school started or Christmas Day, Hagrid, the coachman driving the wagon, would lead us to a ce captivating enough for us to have a wonderful meal there." Hermione told Assia about life in the wagon, and the two of them together searched the edge of the Forbidden Forest for herbs that could be transnted. They had picked a perfect spot, just behind the Quidditch pitch, and with the massive structure as a shield, they were not visible to anyone in the direction of the Castle, and it was a great protection for Assia. Hearing Hermione tell about her life, Assia''s face was filled with envy. "I''ve never been outside of Britain, not even Devon. That''s where my family is from; because in the Ministry of Magic our family was judged to be half-blood wizards, so all travel out of the country needed to be reported to the Ministry and permitted before we could travel anywhere safely, which would have cost Dad a fortune, plus Mum said the magical world had been not peaceful over the years, so my family hadn''t travelled out for a long time." "The Ministry of Magic is that restrictive on half-bloods as well?" "I heard from Dad that it''s been fairly rxed in thest few years, except that you have to fork out money to bribe the purebloods when you visit the Ministry of Magic for some key matters, or it''s basically impossible to get things done." Hermione frowned slightly. "Is this allid out in the open?" "It''s sort of an open secret, everyone knows about it, but no one will say it outright." Hermione and Assia had known each other for almost a month now, and they had met up here together quite a few times after the incident of rescuing her from bullying. The sixth-year half-blood girl apparently didn''t have many friends in the Castle either, and of those students who had followed Dumbledore to Hogwarts Castle, Hermione didn''t have many close friends, other than Jon, especially girls, so the two had sort of hit it off unexpectedly in their time together. Hermione kept a very strict hand on the bar, to the extent that she didn''t reveal any further information during their chat, apart from some of the daily routines of life on the wagon, including the adventure at seast year, she didn''t mention a single word about it. It wasn''t that she was so distrustful of Assia, but there were times when not letting her know too much would be protecting her instead. "Can we talk about that Jon Green?" Assia helped Hermione hold a herb upright, so she could move her spade to dig, "There are so many rumours about him in the Castle, the purebloods are on the verge of hating him to the bone, iming he''s a born dark wizard who can''t eat without killing someone daily with a killing curse." Hearing her sound so serious, Hermione couldn''t help butugh. "I wonder how many times Jon would roll his eyes if he heard that himself. The Professors at your school have really gone to great lengths to smear him, when really all you have to do is use your head and think about it, if Jon was really as vicious as the rumours say, then why would he rescue so many students from the Castle in the first ce, along with me?" "But everyone believes it." Assia said with a tilt of her head, "So did the students around me, eh. It was Diggory who always found the rumour suspicious, and stopped everyone from bad-mouthing you guys when the school first started, and then he was suspected of being a ''mudblood sympathiser'', so from then on he refrained from saying such things, though he didn''t participate in the others'' belittling either." "Diggory?" Hermione carefully took the herb out of the dirt, then before the roots, which waved about like tentacles when they left the soil had reacted, she violently pressed it back into the long-prepared pot. Assia bent over with her hands on her knees, watching Hermione''s face in awe as she fluidly did this. "Yes, Cedric Diggory, I feel like he''s the anomaly among everyone. Before he was very well-liked by his ssmates, very friendly no matter who he was with, and he would say yes to anyone who asked him for a favour if he could. It was in thest two years that he had made a lot of people feel that he had be dangerous because of some of hisments and actions, which had caused a lot of people to alienate him, and even Professor Greengrass had talked to him alone a few times." Of course, Hermione knew about Cedric and was likewise present when Jon came out of the Forbidden Forest and recounted his encounter within there. She in fact had known even before Jon that there was something wrong with that boy, but of course, she wouldn''t say those things out loud in front of Assia. "He does count as an anomaly then." After nting the herb, Assia was ready to say goodbye to Hermione, she couldn''t be away from the Castle for too long, and doing that frequently would surely lead to the others finding out the problem, so she was trying very hard to refrain from spending time with Hermione every day, even if it was the most happiest time of her day. "See you next time." The girl with a shy smile waved at Hermione under the rays of the sun, who waved back at her with the flower pot clutched in her hand. "Bye." Assia turned around happily, her long, pale blonde hair bouncing merrily behind her, just like the girl was feeling at the moment. She had started off humming a light tune and bouncing at a brisk pace like a little girl as she made her way across the Quidditch pitch, but after leaving the shade of the pitch and seeing the towering castle, she slowly changed back to her normal walking pace until she came into the shadow of the Castle when her long beautiful hair stopped bouncing and her pace subconsciously got heavy. The timid look returned to her face as she walked carefully into the Castle under the watchful eyes of the Aurors guarding the perimeter. It was lunchtime and the corridors of the ground floor were filled with students who were constantlying and going from the great hall,ughing and talking as they passed by Assia. Once in the castle, Assia kept her head down, both hands in front of her, clutching her robes, focusing on the robes of the surrounding students, trying to stay away from them like a scared rabbit whenever she saw a student with a gold-embroidered school robe pass by. As she entered the great hall, where most of the students were still eating their lunch, Assia made her way to the long table that belonged to the half-blood students. Seeing her sitting over, some students around her looked up at her curiously. "Assia, you often seem to head outside the Castle these days? Is it a new hobby you''ve developed?" Assia''s picked up a knife and fork from the table while answering in a small voice. "No, no, I''m just feeling a bit bored and want to take a look around outside." No one had any doubts about her words, usually, Assia''s personality was like that, very timid and easily bullied. The student who had asked the question had no interest in continuing after hearing her answer, and Assia was able to finish the lunch without any problems. Just as she had finished her lunch, left the great hall, and was about to return to her dormitory, however, a slim man with a faint smile on his face at all times stood in her way halfway. "Konrad, do you have time to talk to me in my office?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 375: Dirty Blood (2 in 1) Chapter 375: Dirty Blood (2 in 1) The moment she saw Barty Jr, Assia''s entire body froze. There were seldom any students passing by at this corner of the stairs, and now they stood alone, just the two of them. "Grrr, Professor Crouch." She could only bow her head and call out the Professor''s name, and then nothing more was done, let alone refuse. Not to mention the already cowardly Assia, even a random pureblood student could only behave submissively in front of Barty Jr. After he had finished speaking, he turned and walked towards his office. And Assia could only follow him with a pale face. The worst possible scenario had already crossed the girl''s mind; it was a major breach of school rules in this Castle for either purebloods or half-bloods to have private contact with the enved Mudbloods, let alone Dumbledore''s group during the Triwizard Tournament. It hadn''t been long since she had met Hermione and returned to the Castle, and now she was blocked in the middle of the path by Barty Junior, so Assia didn''t see any other possibility. Soon, in Barty Jr.''s office, Assia stood facing the Professor of Pureblood House''s Charms ss. Compared to Snape''s Deputy Headmaster''s office, Barty Jr.''s Professor''s office looked much more refined in contrast. In addition to books and materials that looked and felt precious, the bookcases held some porcin and carvings with introspective colours and exquisite workmanship. The floor is covered with soft cashmere carpets, and a magnificent crystal chandelier dangles from the ceiling. Snape''s office could well be called shabbypared to what Barty Jr. had here. "I have heard that you have been getting close to those people at the edge of the Forbidden Foresttely?" Barty Jr. asked casually as he looked down at the collected Charms assignments on his desk and picked up the parchment. However, upon hearing his question, Assia''s entire body trembled violently, her face had turned from pale to ghastly white, her two slim hands gripped the robe in front of her uneasily, even her breath was held back, and she couldn''t utter a word. "Don''t be nervous, I can certainly understand why you did what you did, Floyd''s kid and her group gives you a hard time and are bent on getting you out of school, and that Flint punk actually wants to use those girls to push you hard enough to get you to finally seek help from him, so he can control you better and y you around without having to worry about being responsible or fearing getting reprimanded as a result of his family knowing." As she listened to Barty Jr''s light-hearted ount of the situation she was facing, there was not much desperation or nervousness on Assia''s bleak face at this point, instead there was a gradual numbness. A numbness to herself, to the future, to what she had been put through. Barty Jr. casually marked an A on the assignment he was grading in his hand and then nced up at the girl who stood there with her head hung low, as hollow as a rag doll that had no life in it. "When ites to such things, you yourself know that even if you finally give in and submit yourself to that waste of space Flint and get his temporary protection, it won''t help at all, instead Floyd''s jealousy will be even stronger and sooner orter the two of them will be a family, as they have been betrothed to each other since they were children. At that time, Flint will certainly not risk offending his other half to protect you anymore, and the best oue for you and your parents at that time will be to lose all your jobs, properties and ie in the magical world and be beggars in Knockturn Alley, and of course, the probable oue is that there will be no more Konrad family in the British magical world in the future." He put down those assignments in his hands and looked up. "So you''ve actually chosen to endure Floyd''s tortures, haven''t you? No matter what you''re about to go through, at least the only person who will bear the consequences, in the end, will be yourself without involving your family, a brave decision, truly brave, Konrad." The gentle encouragement and acknowledgement made Assia''s body tremble slightly, and instead of the deadly numbness caused by Barty Jr. talking through everything she had been through, she started to whimper, her eyes already red, and she looked at Barty in incredulity. Barty''s smile was so warm and friendly, like a spiritual mentor rescuing a lost girl. "Pra Professor Crouch." Once again Assia''s voice trembled as she called out Barty Jr.''s name, this time with hope in her voice. She thought of Professor Greengrass, of the professors who had never shown their despise for the blood they were born with despite being purebloods. The words of Barty Jr. sparked hope within her; perhaps all those rumours about Professor Crouch before were false? Like the false rumours about Hermione and the other students, perhaps Professor Crouch was misunderstood and had never looked down on any half-blood students, but rather was as gentle and polite as he had always appeared to be, a professor who truly cared for each and every one of his students? But the very next moment she raised her head in hope, something heavy hit her head hard! The force was so great that Assia stumbled and almost fell to the ground, while the sharp stabbing pain from the top of her head continued to stimte her back to consciousness from that ckened and almost disoriented daze. "Bang!" The heavy book that had smashed into Assia''s head fell to the floor with a dull thud. As Assia stared dumbly at Crouch, whose gentle smile still hadn''t faded from his face, scarlet blood seeped through her pale blonde hair, trailing slowly down her forehead across her cheeks and finally converging in a bead on her chin. "Why. Professor." The girl could only ask the question, helpless and bewildered. The smile on Barty Jr.''s face did not half diminish but rather grew more and more pleasant as if at the sight of such a change and reaction from Assia. "Why? There is no why, Konrad. You are indeed very brave, but why did you end up epting that mudblood''s help when you had already made such a brave decision? If only you had refused her, this matter would soon have reached its best oue, no? Flint would have given up his illusions about you, Floyd would havepleted her revenge and kept her marriage, and you would have been dealt with as the most fundamental problem. Why did you end up with the illusion that you could still live and breathe safely? Thinking that little mudblood could save you?" "Pop." The blood dripped out onto the clean white cashmere carpet, leaving a small spot of ring blood-red. Assia could no longer open her mouth in the face of Barty Jr.''s questioning, her gaze was as hollow and dead as a stone statue that had no life in it. The experience of hope raised from despair and then shattered the very next second after it had risen was something no one could bear. It was as desperate as falling into the abyss. Barty stood up from his ce, with wand in hand, he gingerly walked over to Assia. He reached out his hand and gently stroked Assia''s scarlet blood-stained face. "What a poor child, Assia, to be tricked by that gang into thinking you can still escape your fate when all you have to do is resign yourself to it. See, they are the greatest scourge there is, the ones responsible for destabilising the magical world today, and the only thing that would be best for us would be to kill them all and send them off to Azkaban to be food for the dementors, wouldn''t it?" There was no emotion in Assia''s eyes, and she just looked at him vacantly as if she had be mute in the face of Barty''s words. Barty Jr. withdrew his blood-stained hand, rubbing the sticky blood between the tips of his forefinger and thumb, then ced it at the tip of his nose and sniffed it, and his lips showed an undisguised sneer and contempt. "What a dirty blood." He waved his wand, and the scarlet between his fingers disappeared in an instant, and the next moment he raised it again and tapped it on Assia''s forehead. There was no incantation, nor one could feel any kind of change in Assia''s entire being, but there was just an inexplicable feelinging from the girl''s body. Barty Jr. moved closer to Assia and whispered in her ear. "If you know that you are certain to die, you must want to give your most treasured possessions to your most precious friend, right? It''s a good thing, young Konrad, it couldn''t be better, and you can be bold enough to do it." There was still no response from Assia, but Barty Jr. knew that the preparations he needed to make werepletely done. He tapped the girl''s head with his wand anew, altering her memory after meeting him at the corner of the stairs, then sat back in his seat and continued to grade his students'' assignments. It wasn''t until three or four minutester that Assia came to her senses in that state where she looked like she had lost her soul, and the blood on her face had by now pretty much dried up. "So you''ve reflected on your mistake? Konrad." Barty Jr. said without looking up. Assia nodded with a small sob. "I... I know I was wrong, Professor, and I have no right toe to you and use Miss Floyd of anything." "You know you''re wrong, so I won''t give you any more punishment other than that, go to the school hospital wing and get that head wound healed." "Go-Goodbye, Professor Crouch." Assia bowed to Barty Jr. before leaving the office, and all that remained was the striking patch of scarlet on the cashmere carpet. *** Jon had heeded Dumbledore''s words and set aside half an hour every day after dinner to learn to dance from Rosier. But to be honest, it wasn''t just a matter of him resisting it, he really didn''t have any amazing talent in it either. "Watch your step, Professor Green, no need to be so formal, I wouldn''t me you for anything even if you stepped on me." Jon knew of course that Rosier wouldn''t me him for it, but in any case, facing such an olddy now, Jon just couldn''t bear to do anything disrespectful to her at all. "I''m sorry, Professor Rosier, I feel like I haven''t made much progress in a week of practice." "You''re just not skilled yet, no one is born knowing something and the same goes for dancing, there''s still quite a bit of time before the Ball, don''t apologise for that." Rosier reassured. "That''s all the teaching we have for today, I should get back to my rest too." Jon politely said goodnight to the Deputy Headmistress, and then the two parted from this Professor''s Common Room. It was still early and Jon had no intention of going to bed at this hour, there was nothing to do in the wagon, so he went to the front of the wagon''s driver''s seat to catch the evening breeze outside. Hagrid wasn''t here, he had his own room in the wagon when the wagon wasn''t in action and wouldn''t be in the driver''s seat all the time. So Jon upied the wide seat he was sitting in all for himself, which for Hagrid would have been a normal bench, but for Jon, it perfectly well could have been called a bed. And just as he was sitting on that ''bed'', ready to look for Hagrid''s private stash of snacks to add to his menu, a voice suddenly sounded not far from him. "Mr Green, Master has finally sent Dobby to you, saying he wants to meet with you!" Jon looked up and saw that Dobby was standing in a tree not far from the wagon, it looked like he had been there for some time and had been waiting for Jon toe out. Hearing his words, interest rose in Jon''s mind. "What did he tell you to do?" Dobby jumped down from the tree and proceeded to walk to the front of the wagon, and stood right in front of Jon. "Master told Dobby to approach Mr Green when no one else was present, and then told Dobby to tell Mr Green that he would be waiting for Mr Green''s visit with the young lord at the Hog''s Head Inn in Hogsmeade on thest night of November." Jon asked with interest. "Are you sure it is The Hog''s Head Inn?" "Yes, Dobby remembered correctly, it is The Hog''s Head Inn!" Jon was sure Lucius was unaware of the rtionship between the owner of the Hog''s Head Inn and Dumbledore, that is, he didn''t know that the ce he had chosen was actually the enemy''s home base? "What makes him so sure I''ll be there?" Jon then asked. Dobby recalled for a moment before he said. "Master said that he would use his original face to meet Mr Green on that asion, which in itself would be a kind of concession and handing Mr Green leverage which Mr Green wouldn''t possibly refuse as long as he is a smart man." Jon couldn''t help butugh. "Whether I''m a smart man or not is uncertain, but this master of yours, he''s certainly a smart man or at least someone who''s making himself look smart." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 376: Lucius Invitation Chapter 376: Lucius'' Invitation Jon certainly had no resistance to the matter of meeting with Malfoy father and son. Even if Lucius truly turned out to be a man who loved and cared for his family, Jon still didn''t feel half-good about such a person. Since when was defending kinship a basis for whitewashing? Wasn''t that supposed to be a normal thing to do as a human being? And besides that, what had the Malfoy family done? The Malfoy family, with their self-proimed nobility of blood, had an undisguised contempt for muggle wizards even before the rise of Voldemort. Also, after Voldemort''s rise to power, there was actually no hint of so-called loyalty to their so-called lord, just a desire to be a mere parasite, using the name of bloodline supremacy to suck the blood out of other wizards for their own family''s benefit. When he had taken charge of the Auror''s office, he hadmanded his men to hunt down and kill the Order of the Phoenix members, Hogwarts wagon, and other free and wanted muggle wizards; and he had even tortured a number of them to death by his own hand, so Kingsley and Moody hated him with a passion. Now Lucius wanted to seek cooperation from him, which is certainly possible, but if he wanted to use this cooperation in exchange for not getting himself liquidated in the future, it is undoubtedly impossible to do so. On this point not only did Jon not have the power to make his own decision and promise, but even Dumbledore himself did not. The blood that had been shed, and the people who had died could note back, so those who should pay must pay, no one could be exempt. Of course, there was no need to bring this point to light when meeting with the Malfoys now, and at least they still have a chance to redeem their sins; perhaps Lucius'' fate would not change in the future, but Draco is still young and has not yet had the time to do that much evil, then if Lucius wants to give up the dark side, then that part of the credit could well be inherited by his most precious son. After sending Dobby off to reply to his master that he would be on time for the appointment, Jon was in no mood to spend the evening outside blowing off steam and turned back into the wagon and walked straight into Dumbledore''s office. "Malfoy father and son have decided to meet up with me." Jon said as he opened the door. Dumbledore looked up from the pile of parchment on his desk and took off his sses a little wearily. "He had that house elfe to meet you again?" "Yes. The meeting is on thest day of the month, and the meeting ce is at the Hog''s Head Inn." "The Hog''s Head Inn?" Apparently, Dumbledore was surprised by the ce as well, but then his smile returned. "Ah, that''s right, if you want to find a ce in Hogsmeade that is suitable for a private meeting, then the Hog''s Head Inn is indeed the best ce. There are only two Inns in that whole wizarding vige, the Three Broomsticks is like Diagon Alley, crowded and lively, only suitable for bright and honourable dealings, while the Hog''s Head is like Knockturn Alley, eerie and messy, suitable for some shady dealings." Jon had a feeling that Dumbledore''s analogy was not quite pure, it gave the impression that he was teasing his goofy brother. "Are you going to meet with them, Professor?" Dumbledore shook his head. "I''m sure Lucius didn''t intend to hide his meeting with you from me, but he must not be happy to see me on that asion either. Since he is simply inviting you, you should go to the appointment on your own; but I will ask Percival to assist and look after you." "So how should I negotiate with him then?" Jon needed to let Dumbledore set the tone for himself, he certainly couldn''t decide the matter of Malfoys alone, nor could he just make any promises in private. Dumbledore thought for a moment and then spoke. "If he has expressed any intention of keeping in touch with us privately and giving us information about Riddle''s side in exchange for the future safety of his own family, you can be honest." "Don''t we need to win him over?" "There is no need for that, Lucius thinks he is smart, but in fact, his little bit of cleverness is obvious to many, and that is why Riddle has given him the position of Head of Auror''s office in name only. He doesn''t have ess to the real core of Riddle''s people, and we could get all the information he could pass on to us through your teacher, so he''s nowhere near as important as he thinks he is, and whether or not we could win him over ispletely irrelevant." Jon nodded while Dumbledore went on to say. "If he is only seeking you out for something concerning his son, in other words, Draco Malfoy, then it is entirely up to you to decide on this subject. He will certainly have to make a sufficiently impressive offer if he wants to ask you to ensure his son''s safety, and you can weigh that offer for yourself if it is eptable." There was little doubt in Jon''s mind about this. He was actually curious as to what kind of offer Lucius could really make to him if he really just wanted his help in keeping Draco safe for the rest of the tournament. Time flew by and thest day of November arrived in a sh. Jon didn''t stay in the wagon early in that morning, he went straight to Aberforth''s Hog''s Head Inn. Aberforth brought Jon a sausage and omelette with a cup of milk and asked disgruntledly. "Why did you set up the meeting point at my ce? Are you carrying out an operation to capture the Malfoy father and son?" "I wasn''t the one who decided on the ce, it was Lucius Malfoy himself." Jon was quite satisfied with Aberforth''s omelette, at least it was much better than eating George''s omelette on the wagon. At Jon''s words, a sarcastic smile appeared on Aberforth''s grubby, goatee-bearded face. "Then this Auror Office head is really stupid." "That would actually prove you''re hiding well enough, wouldn''t it? No one would ever expect this sort of underground ck market in Hogsmeade to be connected to Professor Dumbledore." Aberforth grimaced. "Because this ce wasn''t actually intended to have anything to do with him in the first ce, it was that old shameless prick himself who unterallymandeered it!" Jon shrugged, not bothering toment much on the strange bond between the two Dumbledore brothers. Whether it was Lucius'' active arrangement or a coincidence, the visitors to the Hog''s Head Inn were sparse today, and Jon sat in a corner in a robe that made his face not visible, reading a book on charms in boredom the whole time without being disturbed by anyone. Just as it was about to get dark, two men, onerge and one small, dressed in ck robes, with their faces concealed in hoods, pushed open the door of the Hog''s Head Inn. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 377: The Price Chapter 377: The Price There was no doubt that the two men who entered were definitely Malfoy father and son. They had obscured their faces, but at this time of day, there couldn''t have been anyone else at the Hog''s Head Inn with such abination. Once the two men entered, they quickly found an empty table and sat down, Jon didn''t approach them first, but instead locked eyes with Aberforth who was walking towards the father and son with a tray. "Can I get you anything?" Aberforth''s manner wasn''t exactly great, it could even be called bad by the standards of the service staff, but this wasn''t some personal target against the Malfoy father and son, but it was the way he had always served since he had opened the establishment, and it wasn''t the quality of service that was supposed to attract customers to a ce like the Hog''s Head Inn. "A whiskey." The taller man spoke up. His voice was gruff and one could tell it was obviously altered by using a potion. Aberforth nced at the ck-robed man who was a little shorter in stature. "What about this one?" "Just one drink, he doesn''t drink." "All right, as you wish." Jon didn''t waste any time and got up and went to the Malfoy father and son and sat down opposite them as Aberforth went to get the alcohol for them. He could distinctly feel the shorter, ck-robed man''s body tremble slightly after he sat down, and subconsciously shrink towards the other man''s position beside him. Jon raised an eyebrow that was hidden under his hood and spoke. "Got an appointment?" He didn''t mask his voice, so anyone who spoke to him and knew him well could easily tell who he is. Lucius looked at Jon and then slightly pulled back the ck robe that covered his face to reveal the face that is well-known in the British magicalmunity. The spot they had chosen was in the far corner of the Inn, the ceiling was dimly lit, the greasy stains around them seemed to absorb the light, and with both Jon and Malfoy dressed in ck, no one would even notice them unless they stopped right next to them. Apart from Jon''s table, there were only two drunkards who had been drinking since noon and were bragging to each other about their travels to dangerous ces in the middle of the inn. "You came alone?" Even if he couldn''t see Lucius'' face, Jon could imagine from the tone of his voice that he must have been frowning when he asked the question. Aberforth brought the whisky Lucius had asked for at this time, and he put the goat-smelling mug down heavily on the table as if to express his displeasure at having three people at the table and only ordering one drink. It was clear that Lucius was only trying to satisfy the owner of the establishment, and had no intention whatsoever of letting any part of his body touch the mug. Only after Aberforth had left to go back behind the bar and continue polishing the endless sses did Jon speak up casually to answer Lucius'' question. "Who else would you like me to bring? Tom Riddle?" At the name, Draco was visibly startled, and his body couldn''t help but shake even more violently, Lucius was clearly acting much moreposed, except for the fact that his tone could be audibly much grimmer than before it had been. "This joke isn''t funny." Jonughed and said nothing more, Draco''s reaction had been enough to let him know what he wanted to know. "Well, let''s talk about something funny then. As a hardcore follower of that great gentleman, the head of the Auror office, the noble pureblood wizard, Mr Lucius Malfoy, what do you want from a wanted criminal like me in private?" Lucius ignored Jon''s quip, he had been prepared for Jon''s attitude before he arrived, this sort of thing would have been a case for whoever took the initiative to be on the weaker side. "Do you have the power to make decisions regarding some matters?" "That would require you, Mr Malfoy, to start by saying exactly what those things are." Jon shrugged, "You know I''m just a normal student." There was silence in the air for a few seconds, it was clear that Jon''s bullshit was not believable to anyone and in the end, Lucius didn''t choose to beat around the bush like a regr profit negotiation, instead, he got right to the point. "I''d like to make a deal with you, Mr Green, with you alone. A deal that has nothing to do with the sides or positions between us, a pure and simple deal." Lucius took a deep breath, "I want you to keep my son alive for the next two tasks." Draco bowed his head as he nced aside, of course, he ought to have felt humiliated, simrly a champion in the Triwizard Tournament, the other three were able to shine for their school, and he was the only one who still needed his father to beg his rival to keep him alive. Jon was not surprised by this request from Lucius, it was just as he and Dumbledore had guessed earlier in the Headmaster''s office, the odds were that such a meeting with Lucius would be about his son is high. "Why do you need my help to ensure that? We are enemies, Mr Malfoy, and isn''t Emil Lestrange also very capable? Why don''t you ask him to protect your precious son?" "You know why I didn''t ask his help, everyone has seen what he did in the first task." Lucius'' voice revealed a rare honesty, "I stated that it was not about camps or positions, your character was more worthy of my trust." It was a ridiculous statement he made, that his enemies were to be trusted more than his own people, but again, it was true. They could do nothing more about that, Voldemort had literally gathered a bunch of human scum under hismand. "So, what are the conditions?" Jon asked the question that interested him most, "You can''t ask someone to do a job with empty hands, can you?" Lucius looked at Jon calmly as he lifted his head and the two men locked eyes. "I know about that ring." Jon subconsciously froze, but he soon reacted, his original careless expression disappearing instantly in favour of an unreadable gaze. "Adrian Fawkes, traveller, adventurer, archaeologist, master alchemist, master of charms, he travelled the world but left little fame behind till his death. But I know that ring you''re wearing, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Fawkes once at a party, and he was wearing the exact same ring you wore when you entered the Forbidden Forest that day." "So?" Jon narrowed his eyes. Knowing that the ring existed didn''t mean he knew exactly what it entailed, and he was curious to know just how much Lucius knew. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 378: Trading Chapter 378: Trading Neither the Malfoy father nor the son, nor Jon himself, had put their hoods down during the conversation. In Britain today, their faces are basically well-known to the public, and if their presence in the Hog''s Head Inn today were to be discovered, it would certainly make the headlines the next day. Because of this, Lucius was only able to lock eyes with Jon, but he couldn''t exactly detect the change of expression on his face. Jon didn''t really think Malfoy would know more about the ring because when Slughorn had given it to him, he had clearly said that there were only two people in the entire magical world who knew the true nature of the ring. One was thete Adrian Fawkes, and the other was Slughorn himself, and Jon is the third person after that. This is why when Slughorn was teaching him about the secrets of the ring, he made sure that he learned lumency magic first. At the moment almost all wizards in the magicalmunity can''t learn about the ring-casting magic, so, the fewer people know about it, the better it would be. "Just knowing about the source of this ring I''m carrying is not exactly a deal that will impress someone, Mr Malfoy." Jon said ndly. Malfoy, on the other hand, acted calm in the face of such a reaction from Jon. "But you had brought it along with you into the Forbidden Forest even when you carried out your first tournament task, so it''s very dear to you, isn''t it?" Jon didn''t deny this, nor did he need to. "It was just something left to me by an elder who I respect, so of course, I''ll always carry it with me." "I have researched your past and know that neither in your mother''s family nor your father''s family, counting three generations back, has any trace of a wizard. This means that you were not even remotely connected to magic until you were epted into the school by Dumbledore. So there is basically no chance of this ring being passed down through your family, but since it is in your possession, it means that you were familiar with Fawkes, a wizard whose name is not well known. So I''m sure that you would be interested in Fawkes as a person as well, no?" Is he interested in the man Adrian Fawkes? Of course, Jon was interested, not to mention the fact that he had created the ring he was holding, he still couldn''t get a clue as to where the two remaining gems of the ring might be. And if there is any information about Adrien himself, Jon would certainly be very interested, but only if what Lucius is holding is something of value. Instead of pondering what Lucius knew, Jon rxed against the back of the chair that creaked so loudly that one would wonder how long it wouldst, then took a sip of the whisky that Lucius had shown no interest in since he had ordered it. "I never expected Mr Malfoy, who has always been known for his shrewdness and cunning, to be unable to figure out something so simple; you and Mr Fawkes only met once at a party, and I have something he used to carry close to me, so anyone should be able to see how close or distant we are to him, right?" Draco nced up cautiously at Jon, who was drinking underage, with an odd gaze as if he couldn''t understand how he could actually stomach the grease on that mug and put his lips on it. Actually, Jon didn''t want to take a sip either, he had always detested Aberforth''s personal hygiene, but when negotiating, one had to drink something to keep the momentum steady and keep the pace of the conversation in his hands. He didn''t mind trying to assure Draco''s safetyter in the tournament, and originally he had no intention of killing the bratty young lord as long as he didn''te around to mess with him. The point was that since Lucius wanted him to give an assurance, what kind of sincerity would the Malfoys show? "It may be true that you might be closer to Mr Fawkes based on your rtionship alone, but you certainly never got to know him personally. For he was already dead by the time you were truly introduced to the magical world, and the ring you obtained was most likely given to you by someone else, and after that banquet, I came into deep contact with this knowledgeable wizard for some special business. And thus learned and acquired something that belonged to him, something that wouldplete this bargain between us?" "The dinner knife you secretly collected from him is also an item that once belonged to him, I have to know exactly what this item is, right?" Hearing Jon''s words, Malfoy was silent for a moment, as if he was weighing it up, and soon he was done thinking. "A key, a key that would open the door to Adrian Fawkes'' house, enchanted with a spell." Jon gave a sudden snide remark. "I don''t think how you got this key was very honourable." "No, it was legal andpliant." Lucius said calmly, "He was under suspicion ofmitting private production and collecting magical banned items back then, and I had the authority as head of the Auror office to issue a search and seizure warrant for his residence, and he fled from Britain that very night." "So you''ve searched the house, what use is that house you can open with a key would have to me?" "You don''t need to hide your appeal in that way, and since I dared to offer this as leverage, it''s already established that you certainly care for things rted to Fawkes. If you do have a strong rtionship with him, that house that we''ve searched and found nothing in it is not necessarily empty to you as well." Lucius stared at Jon as if trying to see fully through the shadow covering his face. "Ie in good faith Mr. Green, and my demand is simple, as long as you can assure me of my son''s survival, this is something I ampletely truthful with you about, so I hope you can be a little more straightforward in this as well." Jon pondered, tapping his fingers on the old wooden table, and soon he gave his answer. "How do you expect me to trust you?" Hearing him say this, Lucius inwardly breathed a long sigh of relief, knowing that this was a "yes" from Jon. "I will prepare a pact, you can take it back and have Dumbledore apply a spell to it, and we will sign it together, as long as Draco is in one piece after this tournament, then I will provide you with what I know and that key." "Yes, but that''s not enough, I need to add one more condition." "What condition?" "I''m also interested in that house elf Dobby you sent over to deliver the message, so include him in the deal." Jon was indeed interested in the matter of Adrien, but he could also see that Lucius was actually trying to get something with nothing, the key was no longer even useful to him, and now using the useless key to make a deal with Jon seemed nothing but pure gain without any loss to himself, and how could Jon let him get his way like that. A house elf in exchange for the safety of his own son, would be an eptable trade, wouldn''t it? "...Okay." And after making sure the deal could be made, Lucius resumed organising his tone and began the next, equally important attempt at a deal in a tentative tone. "One more thing; do you need someone who can give you information from within the Ministry of Magic?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 379: Jons Dance Partner (2 in 1) Chapter 379: Jon''s Dance Partner (2 in 1) It might seem like a question, but as long as Jon didn''t think about it that much and simply gave an affirmative or negative, it would give Lucius a wide range of interpretations. There was no doubt that even if Jon and the others would win this Triwizard Tournament next, there would definitely be a need for someone who could provide some relevant and reliable information from within the British Ministry of Magic. So Dumbledore''s side actually needed a person to y a role of an undercover agent, in that situation if Jon decisively refused without thinking, it would be a straightforward signal to Lucius. Compared to you, we already have a better undercover agent under Voldemort. It was the sort of thing that Jon certainly couldn''t reveal to someone like Lucius. Malfoy''s entire family is a typical fence-sitter, now seeing signs that Dumbledore''s side is trying to regain its momentum, showing goodwill to them is just for the future continuation of his family, it doesn''t mean that he has reallypletely abandoned the darkness to the light, it is just a purely spective act. As soon as the wind changed a little, he would not hesitate to break off his cooperation with Jon and the others without a second thought, and would most likely fall in line and offer his "absolute loyalty" to Voldemort. So when he heard his question, Jon didn''t hesitate to say no, but he added one more reason to his refusal. "Of course we need such a person to pass on information to us, but if that person is you, Mr Malfoy, then let''s forget about it." Lucius visibly grimaced at this disy of unadulterated dislike on Jon''s part. "Why if it''s me forget it? Would you be able to find someone more suitable than me? I can provide you with a lot of valuable information, and it costs you nothing." Jon said ndly. "I think you know better than I do what your true status is under your lord. If you had truly been the Head of Auror Office like everyone had thought before, then you would indeed have been worthy of our solicitation, but these days you and I both know exactly who controls thergest armed force in the British magical world, and you are now, to put it nicely, the Head of Auror Office, but to put it more harshly, the leader of a misceneous squad, not even close to the core of power." Lucius'' face was hard because he knew that what Jon was saying was the truth, but it was because it was all the truth that it hurt his pride. Jon, however, didn''t care what kind of mood Lucius was in, like Dumbledore had said, even if they had to win over a few of Voldemort''s men, it wasn''t someone like Lucius. "And, as you said, Mr Malfoy, you chose to make a deal with me because you believe in our character. Then I''ll be honest and truthful, we''re not willing to work with you on this just because we simply don''t trust your character, even if you would be willing to take a blood pact. However, if you have anyone of reliable character within the British Ministry of Magic as a suitable rmendation, then perhaps we can still consider it." Having finished those words, Jon stood up from his chair. "If there is nothing else you want beyond that, then we will end here for today." Lucius'' face was visibly a little greying, Jon''s blunt words made it hard for him to refute them, but to have his character despised in such a straightforward manner was a little unbearable for the normally privileged and respectable Mr Malfoy. Even if you were telling the truth, couldn''t you have phrased it more politely? But although Lucius was a little disappointed by Jon''s refusal, he wasn''t too frustrated. The main point of today''s meeting with Jon was still for Draco''s safety, and as long as he gave his word on this matter, then his desire to work with Dumbledore on something unseen afterwards would be incidental. After all, the Triwizard Tournament is not over yet, even if Jon does win, the war between Voldemort and Dumbledore is only moving to an even footing, and for Lucius, a professional fence sitter, it is still a bit too early to choose sides, the most he can do is to make sure he has contact with both sides and in the end, no matter who wins or loses, he will have a familiar person to negotiate with. Now that Jon had rejected him outright in ce of Dumbledore, Lucius didn''t have the kind of enthusiasm to stick his hot face in the cold ass. There would be plenty of opportunities to do so in the future. After the deal with Lucius was over, Jon did not stay in Hogsmeade for long and went back to the wagon. The only thing that surprised Jon was that he had actually managed toe up with a deal that would really impress him. Jon thought it was a good deal because he had no interest in Draco, and Draco himself clearly had no intention ofpeting with him for the number one spot, so there was no rtionship between the two, so he didn''t really need to do anything deliberately to get Lucius'' request done in the end. And he gained the freedom of Dobby, in addition to having some information about Adrien. Forget about the rest, at least getting a good ending for the house elf who had made a big impression on him in the original story, Jon already felt that this deal between him and Lucius was worth it. And after the end of thest day of November, time officially entered thest month of 1994. On the third day of December''smencement, snow began to fall from the sky. Overnight, the whole of Hogwarts Castle was covered in snow and the ck Lake was covered in a solidyer of ice in temperatures that had been below zero for several days. A number of the Castle''s students had a new ce to y, and after theke froze over, Jon ended his fishing expedition and spent his free time sitting by the ice with George watching the shapely girls skate on it from afar. "I''ve extended an invitation to Daisy, and she said yes." George said in a bragging tone as he raised the wand in his hand and tapped it on the ice in front of him. Jon rolled his eyes. "And did you know that before you extended the invitation to Daisy, she had asked if a champion could ask a fellow champion to be a dance partner?" "Damn it! You mean her first choice was actually you?" "That''s not quite true, just telling you not to overthink the signal of her ''yes'' this time, I''m afraid the more you hope, the more you''ll end up disappointed." "That worry of yours would bepletely superfluous, I just wanted to gain a chance to get to have a dance with a champion, so that I could go back and brag to Fred." "Gee, if you say so, then actually you can be my dance partner." "No way, Jon Green hasn''t decided on a date by now, huh? You''re looking for someone like me?" "What do you mean, someone like you? What''s wrong with having a male partner? Is there a rule that says a male partner is not allowed?" "If you were to get a male partner, you''d be in the headlines all over Europe the next day, and I''ve got a perfect headline for the journalists: ''Shocking! Jon Green''s Untold Same-Sex Love''." "Sorry, my preference will always be female." "But the Ball is only twenty days away, and if you don''t strike now, all the surrounding girls are sure to be invited. Don''t look at me, even if you didn''t care about your reputation there''s no way I''d give up Daisy for you for sure!" "No, I''m just saying, there''s no way I''d choose you even if I ended up with no one!" The two men exchanged insults before turning their sad attention back to the girls who were showing off their bodies on the ice. "Actually, I''m a thin-skinned person and a bit embarrassed to take the initiative to ask for a dance partner." Jon said sadly, "You said I''m very famous, so why don''t any girlse forward and ask me?" George gave him a contemptuous look. "There''s only a total of a few girls who havee to Hogwarts Castle this trip, who are you expecting to take the initiative and ask you? You''re a professor at Durmstrang''s side, and ording to their rules, would a student take the initiative to ask a professor to dance?" His analysis made sense to Jon, the rabbits didn''t eat the grass in their nest, they were ssmates who met every day in the wagon, it was hard to get too familiar with them, and in Durmstrang, he has the status of a Professor, a Professor can''t dance with his students at Christmas, right? Especially since there wasn''t much of an age gap in the first ce, and Hogwarts Castle, well, there was no need to think about it. Jon felt that Grindelwald was at least 50% to me for this, he was to me for dragging him into the whole thing at the time, and now the bad side of it was showing. "Do you think Hermione has a date for the dance now?" Jon suddenly asked. George shook his head instantly. "I haven''t heard of it, she''s been spending a lot of time on good terms with a girl from the Castle and I don''t even get to see her much on the wagon anymore." "So if I ask her to go with me to this Ball, do you think she''d agree to be paired up with me for this Christmas day?" George turned his head to look at Jon as if he were looking at an alien. "Are you really going to just make an invitation to a pretty girl, like that?" Jon was confused like he didn''t understand why George was reacting in such a strange way. "What''s the problem?" "Brother, have you never been with a girl before?" At George''s question, Jon thought hard about it and then nodded deeply. "I really haven''t spent much time with girls." This answer of his left George speechless, and again, he couldn''t really argue with it. Jon seemed to be making a ssh in the magical world right now and was still in his teenage prime, but he was surprisingly pure. To be honest, Jon could have casually flirted and made love with his fellow wagon mates upon his return from Hogwarts Castle in his second year if he wanted to, and had even more opportunities to do so in his third year at sea. But Jon, not to mention having secret girlfriends, hadn''t even been known to have a slightly better rtionship with a girl other than Gabrielle who had turned into a ghost; well, Hermione could be counted for one. And with the fact that they were on the run until they upied France, there would be no one in the mood to think about rtionships, and Jon was almost too busy every day to think about anything other than the wagon journey and improving his strength to feel more secure to even think about the fact that he was at the right age to be "in early love". "Well, you''re right, you don''t have experience with girls, but that''s hardly justification." George told Jon with great conviction, "Even if Hermione and you are normally very close, and you were the one who saved her from the Castle despite the odds, you can''t treat her the way Fred and I treat you, she''s still a girl after all." "So?" "So if you''re going to invite her to be your dance partner you can''t say it in such a way that sounds like you''re calling your best buddies to go fishing with you, you should impress her with an invitation that is more romantic and shows your sincerity and makes ady swoon." Jon looked at him with nk eyes. "Why does it sound more and more like the more I think you''re giving me this lecture not to ask Hermione to be my dance partner, but to try to make me ask her to be my girlfriend?" "Then what do you think it means for a guy to ask a girl to dance at Christmas? Especially if you''re also going to be the opening lead dancers." George asked in return. "Can''t it just be a simple dance? What kind of period is this, where am I in the mood for love? And to be honest, I do have a pretty good impression of Hermione, but it''s not to the point where you''d say I love her though." George showed a look of hate for Jon''s honest statement. "Usually when you''ve got a pretty good impression of a girl, that''s when it''s time to make a move, otherwise until when are you going to wait? Do you really think there is love at first sight in the world? It''s all just an excuse for men to show their desire! You have to interact with each other more to know if you''re right for each other, right?" Jon, however, remained unfazed and shrugged his shoulders. "We''re interacting with each other right now, why do we have to start talking about love to be considered interacting?" George was speechless, finding Jon''s conservative thinking towards the rtionship part almost un-English. "If I were a woman, I''d be calling you practically a rock!" He waved his wand hard and struck the hard ice surface as if it was Jon''s brains that were being struck. Jon, however, thought it was nothing; he had been considered a bit conservative-minded in his previous life, but not exactly blind and dense, he simply thought it wasn''t time for him to deal with his personal romantic rtionships. And he only turned fifteen now, so to be honest, it was a bit early to be talking about rtionships at this point in time, and Jon was not really interested in the kind of girls around him who hadn''t quite grown into big girls yet. "It''s decided then, I''ll go and see Hermione in the next few days when I can and ask her if it''s convenient for her to dance with me on Christmas night, do you think she''ll decline?" George rolled his eyes. "Just with your current rtionship with her, I bet she''s actually waiting for you to ask first right now, will you believe me?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 380: Hazy smile (2 in 1) Chapter 380: Hazy smile (2 in 1) "The Ball?" Hermione crouched on the ground dealing with the des of herbs that contained hallucinogenic toxins on their surface wearing her dragon-hide gloves, and heard the question that Assia asked her. "I don''t know what your professor at the Castle had arranged for Christmas Day, but with how that Headmaster of yours is targeting us these days, shouldn''t he have banned those of us from the Castle?" Assia shook her head. "I don''t know, but Professor Greengrass has already announced the Ball and told all of us that the students are going to be spending Christmas break in the Castle this year, so that means that the Ball must still be going on normally, and there''s no reason why you would still be turned away." Hermione didn''t show much concern about it. "If it does, it does, and if it doesn''t, it doesn''t, and this Ball, even if it does take ce, is just to maintain a few things on the show, it won''t have any impact on the oue of the tournament." "I assume you''ve gotten the word of it from your side as well." Assia blinked at Hermione, "Did someone ask Hermione to be their date?" Hermione''s face didn''t change as she said casually. "Not really." "But Hermione is so pretty and sweet, she should be very popr." "It''s probably because we all never thought about that." Hermione said, "Because we''ve been on the run before, which means we''ve been running for our lives, so everyone has been thinking about studying and also making ourselves stronger and getting back to the home we were supposed to be in and meeting our families, and there has never been a ball organized at school." "So what kind of entertainment do you have?" Assia asked curiously. "Well we had a fishing tournament once and Justin, who is in the same ss as me, even caught a mermaid, unfortunately, the weight of that mermaid wasn''t eventually counted in his catch, resulting in him not winning the fishing tournament two times in a row." As if she had thought of something, Assia dropped her head slightly, her white cheeks flushed faintly, and her otherwise normal voice ofmunication became unmistakably tinny. "Well, then, if Hermione doesn''t have a dance partner by then either, why don''t we just..." Her voice was so small that Hermione, who was concentrating on the herbs, couldn''t hear her very well. "Why not what?" Eventually, Assia couldn''t get the words that she wanted to say out, her head bowed and she looked a little despondent. "Nothing, I''m just musing about something." Hermione looked like she wasn''t aware of Assia''s change in mood as she gathered up those herbs in her hands and cocked her head at something that came to mind. "I remember reading about it, it seems that at every Yule Ball for the Triwizard Tournament, the chosen champion from each school has toe out as the opening lead dancer, right?" "Yes, that young lord of the Malfoys has invited the Miss Parkinson''s I believe, and that champion of the Lestrange family has recently gotten close to a pureblooddy with the name Selwyn." Hermione didn''t really have much interest in exactly what kind of dance partners those pureblood students would choose, she just had a faintly imperceptible smile on her lips, like she had thought of something interesting. "Jon''s been learning to dance with Professor Rosiertely, I''ve heard himin many times about how torturous it is to learn it properly, he doesn''t really want to go to any dances at all, but has to learn for the sake of something." Assia asked, a little puzzled. "Who is Mr Green''s dance partner?" "He hasn''t found a dance partner yet." "Why hasn''t he found one? Is it because there are so many to choose from that he''s still hesitant?" "Contrary to what you think, I guess, he must still be fretting about who exactly he should ask to dance." Assia was baffled by this, if it were in Hogwarts castle, not to mention having Jon''s great feats and fame, there were actually quite a few half-blood girls around her that Assia knew of that were secretly having private intimate rtionships with pureblood boys, not necessarily to climb thedder, but the castle promoted the theory of nobility of blood all day long to the point where quite a few students really believed in it from the bottom of their hearts. There is a certain admiration for the strong, and the girls at the half-blood house subconsciously think that pureblood boys are better, even if, ording to the rules set by their headmaster, they cannot marry each other, but that would still leave a good memory for the future, wouldn''t it? So, ording to Assia''s understanding, with Jon''s current status and reputation on Dumbledore''s side, he should have had many girlfriends, even if not one on his right and one on his left, he should still be extremely popr with the opposite sex. Hermione didn''t exin much about this; although both shared the same Hogwarts name, the two sides werepletely different in every way possible. With what Assia had seen in her six years of schooling in the castle, she certainly wouldn''t understand exactly how the students in the wagon got along. Assia didn''t spend a lot of time with Hermione at one time, and even though she cherished it, if not craved the rtionship she had with Hermione, she knew that if anyone in the castle found out about their rtionship, it would surely end in an unbearably miserable fashion. Once back at the castle, she kept her head down at all times, like a scared rabbit, timidly avoiding everyone and everything around her. But there were some things that she could not avoid just because she wanted to. Walking up the stairs, just as Assia was heading back towards her dormitory, a tall-looking boy with curly brown hair suddenly stopped her in her path with a smile on his face. "Good afternoon, Assia." At the sound of the boy''s voice, Assia''s body visibly stiffened, and she tried to open her mouth to stop the intimate gesture of the boy calling out her name directly, but in the end, the words didn''te out. She didn''t respond in any way, still keeping her head down and just being stopped in her path by the boy. "Hey, I heard that Giraldo guy asked you to be his date, didn''t he? But you turned him down, well done Assia, I had someone give him a good beating and a warning this morning, he won''t be bothering you again." The smile on the Flint guy''s face became softer and softer as he tried to take Assia''s hand as if he was showing off his infatuation persona, but this time she plucked up the courage to dodge it. "You know, I told you Assia, Floyd was just a marriage arranged for me by my family, I don''t actually have any feelings for her at all, the person I really like is you, you charmed me and I couldn''t hold myself back from the first moment I saw you." Assia was terrified, she cowered against the wall and said in a trembling voice. "School, Mr Headmaster has said that a pureblood and a half-blood cannot be married." "Of course Mr. Headmaster is right, but love is also great, and it doesn''t matter if we don''t marry as a nominal couple as long as we truly love each other, does it? Don''t worry Assia, I''ll make arrangements for you after you graduate from Hogwarts, and you don''t have to worry about Floyd, she''s a pureblood too but only a new school pureblood after all, I can''t help if she''s picking on you in school now, but she won''t be able to find out about us afterwards." Flint said in a soft voice but instead of reassuring Assia with such words it even gave her a sick feeling. It was as if he liked Assia and Assia had to like him, it was not a great love at all, it was just his own vile personal wishful thinking, a wishful thinking that used his position to prevent any refusal. Assia had no chance whatsoever of refusing, the half-blood ss seemed no different from previous lifestyles before Voldemort''s rule, but that was only if the vast majority of purebloods were able to maintain their so-called prestigious nobility and pureblood pride and not abuse the power they had. Once the purebloods tried to tear apart that illusion, the forced half-bloods had little room to resist at all, and it had been very difficult for Assia to keep going on this long. "Remember, don''t say yes to whoever approaches you to be their date, I can''t dance with you on the day of the Ball, that would make my ssmates around meugh at me, but after the Ball, we can spend some time together dancing alone in the garden outside the castle, that''s when we can bare our hearts to each other and think about the future, don''t you think?" Flint came up to Assia''s face with a smile on his face, he sniffed drunkenly at the scent that lingered in the pale golden hair, and then, without further ado, turned and walked towards the ground floor. Even after he had left, Assia''s face had not returned to normal, and she was frozen in ce, pale and unsure of how she was going to deal with Flint''s "invitation". Flint''s family has arge business in the British magical world, and Assia''s parents are both employees of his family''s magicalpany. As the only heir of the Flint family, it was easy for him to take advantage of Assia. As Assia froze in ce, a movement from the stairs above her head suddenly woke her up, and she looked up to see Floyd''s cold, hideous face. Instantly, chills ran through Assia''s body and her entire face had gone white to the point of bloodlessness. "No. Miss Floyd, I didn''t." Floyd didn''t even give her a chance to exin, the look on her face was as if she had already decided that Assia is a dead person, and she immediately turned her head and left the ce. Assia could only dully drop her hand, her back against the wall, she slowly slid down and sat on the top stair, and eventually, all that came to mind was the sound of her sobs muffled in the coldness and darkness. *** "I always like to stay here." After dinner was over, Jon invited Hermione to join him for a moment in the driver''s seat at the front of the wagon. "When I first came here to meet Hagrid, there were fields of golden wheat all around us, and before the hooves of the Thestrals could trample on the sheaves, they automatically parted a path as a way for us to pass, and the view was truly unforgettable. At the time I asked Hagrid if there was an end to our journey, but I never thought that after only three years we would already be at the end." The cold winter wind was cold, but it didn''t manage to blow through the enchantment that had been ced on the driver''s seat of the wagon, so Jon and Hermione, who sat looking at the snowyndscape, didn''t feel the slightest chill. "No matter how hard it snows, it will always stop one day, right?" Hermione asked softly. "Of course, not only that but usually after the storm and snow, the world is a better ce than it was before." Jon picked up the teapot that Hagrid had left here and poured both himself and Hermione a cup of moderately warm ck tea. "You''ve been getting on well with that Assia girl for a while now?" Hermione clutched her steaming cup of tea, and the red and yellow scarf wrapped around her neck made her face look so delicate. "I learned from her that in fact, the half-blood students I used to think were also high up in the Castle actually don''t have a very good life." "Because purebloods control absolute power, even if they are not reduced to being ves, how their lives are really lived depends on the self-consciousness and moral integrity of the pureblood wizards, and it is better to imagine that those clipped winged crows in the Tower of London will surely bless Ennd with longsting peace and prosperity than to believe they will have a good life." Hermioneughed at Jon''s analogy and wiggled her little legs as she said. "So we can go to school here once we''ve recaptured the castle?" "Depends on the Professor, I guess we''ll have to see exactly what happens then, it won''t help if we just retake the Castle, with Britain still in the hands of the Dark Lord." "Let''s hope we haven''t graduated from school by that time." "Of course not, to be honest, I kinda want to have lunch in the Hogwarts Great Hall." "That starry sky ceiling is beautiful, I have heard." "You haven''t seen it yet?" "No." "Well, there''s actually a pretty good chance for it this time. Well, there''s a Ball at the castle on Christmas Day, as you know. If you want to see the Starry sky ceiling for yourself. That night would be a good time. Of course, I''m also in need of a date, so if you don''t mind, we can go and look at the Starry sky ceiling as a partner, and you don''t have to do anything more than dance with me at the beginning." He rambled on and on and Hermione just turned her head and smiled at him once he had spoken. The white mist rising from her teacup made her smile as hazy as if it were reflected in theke, it felt like it was somehow out of reach, yet close, like the starry sky above their heads. She nodded as if after some serious thought, and then gave a thoughtful smile. "That sounds like a good idea." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 381: Early Christmas Present (2 in 1) Chapter 381: Early Christmas Present (2 in 1) Assia left the Castle in a daze. She was like a shell that had lost its soul, not knowing what she was supposed to do or what she could do. The look that Floyd had given her yesterday had shown Assia a clear picture of her future fate, and she was sure that Floyd had heard what Flint had said to her. No woman, let alone the jealous Floyd, could tolerate the idea that her fianc making such remarks to another woman. She made her way to the ck Lake; it was still school time and there weren''t many students skating in theke for leisure, so Assia''s arrival drew little to no attention. Walking along thewn and around the Quidditch pitch, she made her way to the spot where she and Hermione often met. It was here that Assia sat with her knees in her arms, staring nkly at the ground that was clearly different from the rest of thend, with a patch of fresh dirt. It had been filled in yesterday while Hermione had been digging out the herbs, and she had even told her to fill it in firmly so that it wouldn''t leave another hole behind when the snow melted and water seeped in. Yesterday''s experience was still fresh in her mind, but for Assia now it was as if a century had psed. She had no intention of asking Hermione to protect her; even if they might indeed be owners of the castle again in the future, for now, the order in the Castle continued to function ording to the rules set by the Headmaster. Hermione could protect her outside the Castle where no one else would notice, but inside the Castle, there was little she could do. If she asked for help, she was sure that eventually, Hermione would find a way to help her, but in the end, even if she did, it would be at great risk. Assia didn''t want to see that happen, and she would rather sacrifice herself to get this thing straightened out than have it involve any more people, whether it was her own parents or Hermione, who right now is her only friend. She just sat there from morning until noon, just after lunchtime, Hermione''s voice sounded behind her. "Assia?" Assia didn''t turn around at first, she briefly straightened up her facial expression and put back on the same soft smile that she had worn every time she hade to meet Hermione before. "Good afternoon, Hermione." The sun shone down on her, her pale blonde hair reflecting a faint halo of light that made the girl look as gorgeous as she was. "What brings you here so early today?" Hermione looked as if she had been tricked by Assia''s disguised faade and didn''t notice anything wrong with her, sitting down next to Assia with the small basket in her hand that she had used to temporarily store herbs. "I have nothing to do in the Castle, so I am just sitting here casually." "We can meet at the Castle on Christmas Day." Hermione propped her hands on the grass and raised her head to look up at the azure sky, an involuntary smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, "We were talking about it yesterday before we parted ways, and he ended up asking me at the same night." Assia''s expression staggered. "You''ve found a dance partner? Who was it?" "The same one I told you about yesterday, who else could it be,st night he called me into the driver''s seat at the front of the wagon to talk about it and finally managed to find a somewhat romantic excuse to extend an invitation, I was expecting him to say something like, ''Hey Hermione, you must have nothing to do on Christmas night too, right? Why don''t we go and dance together in the great hall?'' Turns out he was a lot better than I thought he would be." Assia froze, her fingers tugging at her robes, and for some reason, when she saw the look on Hermione''s face as she said this, a wave of envy or arguably some small jealousy rose up in her heart for no apparent reason. But soon she shook this strange feeling out of her mind and blessed her from the bottom of her heart. "That''s lovely, congrattions, Hermione." "And you? Assia must be very popr at the Castle, right? Have you promised anyone that you will dance at the Ball then? We''ll have to pretend then, just as if we were meeting for the first time." Assia''s nose couldn''t help but tingle a little at the question, and she forced a smile as she kept her head down, not letting Hermione see her face. "I''ve been asked by many people, but I haven''t epted, you know, I''m rather scared of dealing with strangers and I can''t dance." "So when the timees, if I invite Assia to a dance, will you ept it?" Hermione''s eyes curved into a crescent, and she smiled as she looked into Assia''s eyes. Assia had been acting a little dumb today, and she was even more lost in thought for a moment when she heard Hermione''s words. "You, don''t you have a date for the dance?" "Jon, he will most certainly only do one opening lead dance at most, the rest of the time I can certainly do as I please." Assia felt tears welling up in her eyes, but eventually, she managed to hold them back and shook her head in refusal. "Well, forget it, I might not even be able to go to the great hall on the day of the ball." Hermione looked at her and blinked, not bothering to ask why, but instead after two seconds of silence like she was giving Assia time to think before she spoke up and asked. "Don''t you have anything you want to say to me today?" Assia''s eyes subconsciously averted in panic as she was held in such a gaze, she replied without half a moment''s hesitation. "No. Why would you ask that?" "Because it feels like you''re acting a little weird today." "I was just thinking about what to get you for an early Christmas present." As Assia said this, as if she had made up her mind about something, she took off the string she always wore on her wrist with a solemn look on her face and handed it to Hermione. "As I told you, it was a birthday present from my mother to me when I was little, and it''s the most precious thing I''ve always had. I can tell you like it very much Hermione, so I''m giving it to you as a Christmas present, you must take care of it." Hermione didn''t show much surprise at this sudden gift from Assia as she slowly epted the string. "It''s still two weeks before Christmas, even if you''re going to give me a Christmas present why do you have to give it so many days in advance?" Assia had a smile on her face in return. "Because the most valuable thing I have on me is this string, and I wanted to give it to you, but I was afraid that I would regret it by Christmas, so I simply gave it away now, before I could regret it." With that, as if she hadpletely let go of a matter of the heart, she instantly got up from the grass and prepared to return to the castle. "I''m going back; because there are no additional holidays for Christmas, the professors have added a lot of after-school work these days, so I probably won''t have much time toe and see youter, so don''t worry too much if you don''t see me for many days, I''ll be in the library catching up on my assignments." Her smile was soft and sunny, telling Hermione about the bright life she had on campus so that this only friend of hers wouldn''t worry over the fact that she would most likely never be seen again afterwards. Hermione stood up from the grass as well, she didn''t say anything as she looked at Assia''s smile for a moment, she just called out to the girl as she was about to leave. "Wait here for me, just for five minutes, and then you can go when Ie back." She bade Assia, then turned her head and trotted in the direction of the wagon, her long chestnut hair skipping along through the snow-covered trees like an elf in the world. Assia didn''t take this time to leave, she knew in her heart that this was probably thest time she would see Hermione, and even though she had made up her mind, she was still bound to be sad to part with her life. And Hermione really didn''t keep her waiting for long, not even five minutes before she was back running again. "Now that you''ve given me your Christmas present early, I won''t hold it off until Christmas Day. Take this, just like the string you gave me, which I will carry with me all the time, you must also keep it on you at all times and then don''t let anyone else see it, it is considered a forbidden item in the castle, so you must treasure it." Assia looked at the crimson feather that was handed to her by Hermione and didn''t recognise what it really was. But she didn''t care what kind of value the feather had, as long as it was given to her by Hermione, she would always carry it with her. Just as Hermione had not hesitated to ept her string, neither did Assia hesitate to ept the feather, cing it in the inner pocket of her robe with a serious look on her face. "I will always carry it with me, always!" After making her promise, she didn''t stay any longer and waved at Hermione before trotting off in the direction of Hogwarts Castle. "Bye, Hermione." Hermione waved back at the girl''s back, the white string already on her hand, her voice soft as if she were blessing the wind that was wafting away. "Goodbye, Assia." For two whole days, Assia was at peace with herself. It was as if the look Floyd had left her with earlier was actually an illusion, that the so-called revenge was all in her head, and that even the greatest hatred between students could not possibly involve human life. However, on the evening of the same day that Assia''s mind started believing such a stroke of luck, she was about to go to get lunch in the great hall when she was knocked unconscious from behind with a stunning spell. She had been very careful these days, even though she had no friends at school, but whenever she left her dormitory she would stay close to her ssmates. But even so, that evening Assia was attacked and dragged away by Floyd''s group in front of two female students around her. Before leaving, Floyd''s face was grim and she left only onement. "If anyone asks, you''d better tell them you didn''t see her at all this afternoon, or you''ll know the consequences." The two pureblood girls just looked at her in dread, not knowing whether to nod or shake their heads. Floyd, however, looked like she didn''t care how they would actually react, and after saying her threatening words, she left with her two goons who were holding Assia''s arms. When Assia woke up, she realised that she had been taken to an abandoned Potions ssroom. The ce was cluttered with tables, chairs and benches, but there were obvious signs that it had been tidied up before; Floyd had been premeditating this for a long time, and the calmness of these days was just her doing some preparatory work. "I''ve given you plenty of chances, Konrad." Floyd''s face was frighteningly calm, she held a vial of blood-red potion in her hand and was pouring the blood-like liquid from the vial onto the floor as she spoke to Assia. Assia, her body restrained by an Incarcerous Spell, and positioned right in the middle of the ssroom, with a number of bizarre runes and symbols surrounding her. "You''re a slippery one, you''ve escaped from me many times before, but that''s what gave me time to prepare, without these preparations the chances of sess in casting the curse directly on you would have been too small and too slim, now there''s at least a thirty percent increased chance of sess, which is great, isn''t it, a fate you chose to suffer. " Even though she had been prepared, Assia''s face still showed a deathly pallor when she actually had to face such a situation. "You heard me the other day, Miss Floyd, I have refused, I didn''t ask for anything of that nature, I didn''t-" "I never said it was your fault, Konrad. I said it, you''re not at fault, I''m not at fault, Flint he''s even less at fault, no one''s at fault, but now it''s gone horribly wrong, so there''s no point in finding out whose fault it is, we can just get rid of the problem itself." The red liquid soaked through the magic runes and symbols that had been carved out of the ground and Floyd looked down calmly at Assia. "We all want to solve this problem, so you should be happy to do me this favour, just get rid of this problem you have so that Flint will never be obsessed with you again, that would be good for all of us, wouldn''t it? And all you have to pay for is simply bing a blood-cursed Maledictus." At the sound of the term blood-cursed Maledictus, the pupils in Assia''s eyes visibly contracted for a moment. After hearing this curse for the first time from Floyd''s mouth, she looked up a lot of information in the library and knew what kind of effect this vicious curse had. It could be said that if she had to bear such a thing, then she would rather die! "Bang!" Floyd dropped the already empty potion vial in her hand and raised the wand in her hand as she aimed the tip of it at Assia''s forehead. "Without you having to give your life, once you be that kind of freak, then surely Flint won''t have his mind set on you anymore, he''ll love me with all his heart, what a perfect solution, isn''t it, Miss Konrad!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 382: The Person Forgotten by the Castle (2 in 1) Chapter 382: The Person Forgotten by the Castle (2 in 1) From the abandoned ssroom, Floyd headed back towards the dormitory with a cheerful smile on her face. Behind her, however, the two followers had some apprehension on their faces. "Are we really going to be okay just leaving her here? I just got the feeling from watching her that something might go wrongter on" The smile on Floyd''s face turned cold. "Something might go wrong? What do you think could go wrong with her?" The follower exined in a panic. "I''m not sympathising with her, I''m just worried that she might not think about herself afterwards, might, might kill herself." "Commit suicide?" "Yeah, if it was just a curse then we''d still have a way to push through it without getting into any trouble, but if she dies, the Professors will definitely be looking for someone to me, it''s against the bloodlinews." Floyd snorted disdainfully. "If she really had the nerve to do that would she have endured it until today? Don''t worry about it, I know Konrad, and there''s no way she''d kill herself even if you lent her a hundred more guts." She said it with such conviction that the two followers who were trailing behind her could only put their worries aside. That very night, however, after the curfew patrols in the Castle had begun, the Aurors suddenly began to search every part of the Castle with great fanfare. Floyd was woken from her bed in the middle of the night, her temper ring up, and she was screaming that she would use her family''s connections to make sure these brazen Aurors are taken care of. Then she met Lucius Malfoy, who had been stationed inside Hogwarts Castle, the head of all British Aurors, the purest of purebloods. "Miss Floyd, I heard you were thest person to see Assia Konrad." After seeing Lucius, Floyd panicked. Even within purebloods, there are differences in status, and someone like her and the new school of purebloods behind her, who had only been building up their heritage for ten years, aren''t worthy of stepping up to the te to show their arrogance in front of the Malfoys. "She, what''s wrong with her?" "Has anyone ever taught you to answer the questions people ask you first before proceeding to ask them?" Lucius was looking at Floyd with undisguised contempt and disdain in his gaze as if he was looking at a bumpkin who had just arrived in the city from the countryside. Such a gaze sent a wave of humiliation through Floyd, but she didn''t have a single ounce of courage to lose her temper. "I, I did see her, and she offended me, so I tried to use a little trick to frighten her, and other than that I did nothing more to her!" "Use a little trick to scare her? What kind of trick?" Lucius sat calmly in his chair, a case involving a half-blood should not have required his personal attention at all, but it was special because it was happening in Hogwarts castle at this particr point in time, and he was needed in case it would involve someone from Dumbledore''s side. Floyd''s eyes fluttered. "It''s just a. A little curse for fun." "Those marks of spellcasting we found you left on the sixth floor of the castle were clearly not some little curse." Lucius'' eyes were filled with indifference, the kind of indifference that Floyd had when he looked at the mudbloods, "A blood curse, do you know the consequences that are clearly stated in the magicalws should anyone be found to have used such a curse?" "Sir, first, there is no record of it in the bloodws." "So your family usually only taught you to read the bloodlinews?" Lucius'' disdain was not a bit disguised, "Did you know that somews override thews of bloodline?" In front of Lucius, the quill that was taking notes of its own on the desk suddenly paused as he nced down at the parchment and then continued with his question. "Onest question, Miss Floyd, and it is the most crucial one, so I hope you better think it through before you answer me, it is a matter of exactly what kind of verdict you will be given in the end." Floyd''s body tensed up. "Did the blood curse you cast on Miss Konrad seed in the end?" The scene suddenly fell silent and Floyd froze, but soon she gulped nervously again and asked in a shaky voice. "Mr Malfoy, I remember in the bloodlinews. There is a rule that no matter for what reason, amid any interrogation, the use of the truth potion and the Legilimency is not allowed without the consent of Mr Headmaster himself, right?" Lucius said carelessly. "Since you are familiar with thews of bloodlines, do you need to ask me for rification on such matters?" "No! I was just trying to scare her! Set up a blood curse ritual, but didn''t actually use it to cast a curse on her at all!" Floyd''s suddenly raised her voice, the words sounding firm and unquestionable, as if she was certain of it. Hearing her answer, Lucius had no intention of wasting any more time here and tapped the parchment on the desk, which had been filled with notes from the trial, and rolled itself up and flew into the pocket of his robe. "You will stay here until the final verdict is made." With that, he turned and left the makeshift interrogation room. Apart from his personal interrogation of Floyd, other Aurors were interrogating her two followers on the same issue, and Lucius did not linger after finishing his interrogation and went once again to the abandoned ssroom where the crime had taken ce, where there was already Auror dealing with the scene. In his hand, he held a small transparent vial in which some white ash was stored. "Head, it has been established that she drank the Deathfire Potion to cause her eventual death, but it is still debatable as to whether it is a suicide." "Were there any traces of a fifth person''s activity collected at the scene?" "No, we''ve only found four people, the three identified suspects and the victim herself." "What information did you get from the other people who investigated and took evidence from the surrounding students?" "Some students around the victim were willing to confirm anonymously that the three suspects and the victim had a lot of issues on a day-to-day basis and frequently used violence against the victim, which has been escting in scale as ofte. We have also essed the victim''s library records and found that she had recently checked out several books on the introduction of the blood curse. We also found a list of her purchases of materials for the preparation of the Deathfire Potion in her parcel collection records." Lucius looked at the information in his hands while listening to his men''s reports, and finally casually tossed the statement about Floyd over to his men. "Now that it''s all been checked out then what are you waiting for, close the case, the result is obvious, the studentmitted suicide believing that she had been subjected to a blood curse." A moment of hesitation appeared on the subordinate''s face. "But if she wanted to kill herself why did she have to drink a Deathfire Potion and just burn herself to death?" "It''s more reasonable to assume that she thought that if she got hit by the blood curse and simply ended her life, the activated beast''s soul wouldpletely take over her body, making her unable to maintain her human image even after her death, instead of revealing such an ugly appearance that would be intolerable to her family, it would be better to just drink the Deathfire Potion and still retain a trace of her face in her families'' memory." Lucius said nonchntly, looking uninterested after he had established that there was no Dumbledore''s involvement in this, just a simple case of school bullying. But that subordinate of his still didn''t dismiss the disbelief in his mind as he continued to ask. "But is it really true, as this Floyd''s statement says, that she was only scaring this Konrad kid and didn''t actually mean to inflict a real curse on her at all, that Konrad kid got freaked out and killed herself? How could she have deliberately failed in the end when all these magic runes and remnants of potion we found at the scene could prove that she had actually made all the preparations?" Lucius suddenly turned his head and looked at him indifferently. "Then how about you go and request that gentleman to use the Truth Potion on that Floyd brat?" The Auror''s body tensed abruptly, and he stood upright and lowered his head. "I dare not, sir." "If you don''t dare, don''t give me so much crap, close the case immediately, inform the victim''s family, and give Snape and Crouch a copy of the final report, let them decide what to do with the three suspects, this has to be over in three days, you know what time it is, a half-breed bastard killing herself for such boring reasons cannot affect the subsequent part of the Tournament!" With that Lucius turned and left without a backward nce, leaving the Auror, who had Floyd''s statement and Assia''s ashes, standing in silence, finally letting out a long sigh. All the evidence was sufficient, and there was no difference in the statements made by Floyd and her two ''friends'', all of them iming that they had not really cast a blood curse on Assia, but simply wanted to scare her, the case of the half-blood student''s suicide was quickly closed. The penalties for the Floyd and group were immediately handed down, with the main offender, Floyd herself, being sent home to reflect on her actions until the start of the next term, while the two aplices were each sentenced to two-month detention. The punishment was better than nothing, as ording to Auror, Floyd and the others had only yed some "trivial" pranks, and it was mainly Assia''s own weaknesses and vulnerability that led to her suicide. With the special status of purebloods, this minor punishment did not cause any fuss, not only among the professors, but also among the students, whose attention was mainly focused on the uing Yule Ball, and the suicide of a half-blood student, which should attract little attention normally, hardly caused any buzz. It was as if Assia had never been in the Castle before, and was soon forgotten by everyone in the Castle. This incident was quickly sealed off inside the castle, and once the students inside were no longer talking about it, it was even less likely to spread outside the castle. This meant that up until the day before Christmas, Jon was still wondering why the half-blood girl who had beening to Hermione''s side hadn''t turned up recently. "Is there some sort of falling out between you two?" Jon and Hermione chatted idly over dinner. Hermione''s face was calm as she shook her head. "No, it''s not that we''ve had a falling out, it''s that the school she''s attending is sick." Jon couldn''t help but blurt out. "I always get the feeling you''re talking like me." Hermione''s eyes couldn''t help but narrow into crescent shapes. "Just because you can feel it, doesn''t mean I''m trying to sound like you." "How''s that thing you and Professor Dumbledore have been working on progressing now? Is there anything else I can help you with?" "It''s been most helpful for me that you asked me to go to the Ball with you." Hermione said as if she was half joking, half serious. Jon couldn''t help but shrug his shoulders. Hermione was clearly a different girl now than the cautious little girl he had first brought back from the castle two years ago, she had more confidence and was bing less and less of a fifteen-year-old girl as she experienced more and knew more, she truly a teenagerpared to Jon who wasn''t mentally that age in the first ce. Snape, who was now the temporarily in-charge of Hogwarts Castle during this time, had also officially extended an invitation to Dumbledore and his group, who were always stationed outside the castle. Apart from the champions and their partners who were leading the dance, all other students who wished to attend the Ball were allowed to rx in the great hall, but only in the great hall or the temporary garden created outside the castle; the rest of the school remained closed off to them. In the end Dumbledore and Rosier left it up to the students to decide whether they wanted to go to the Ball or not, and the majority of those who had signed up toe here were actually disinterested, apart from Jon and Diane who had to go, plus their respective dance partners. After all, this type of behaviour from the Castle was more like a handout than a sign of respect, so only eight students decided to go to the ball in the end. On Christmas Day, it snowed again. Only it was not very heavy, and instead of the wide nket of snow, it was scattered as if the gods were putting some finishing touches for the uing Ball. As usual, every student in the wagon received a Christmas present of their own, and since some of the Durmstrang students were in the wagon this year, Hogwarts had thoughtfully prepared one for them as well, which made every student happy at lunchtime, even with the hectic nature of the current tournament. And byte afternoon, it was up to Rosier to lead Jon, Diana and the rest of the students who would be attending the ball tonight into Hogwarts Castle, while Dumbledore stayed in the wagon to spend this Christmas with the rest of the students this year. The Hogwarts great hall had long been decorated in grand style and the ce was already filled with many of the students from the castle, and when Jon and the others arrived it drew a lot of attention and pointing from the students. Jon paid no attention to the others as soon as they entered the great hall, but quickly swept a nce at the figures in the great hall, but did not find the one he was trying to spot. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 383: Crouchs game Chapter 383: Crouch''s game Voldemort did not return to the castle on Christmas night. This was somewhat surprising to Jon and at the same time somewhat understandable. The Ball wasn''t nearly as important as the tournament task that was held at the start of the tournament, and Voldemort hadn''t even been present during the first task other than start and end, to begin with, let alone this one. Combined with the absence of Dumbledore, the two men of the highest power who had organised the tournament were not present at the ball, which allowed the students present to let loose a little more. Apart from them, all the professors in the Castle, including Snape and Crouch, and the three judges of the Confederation, were all present. And the newspaper reporters, who had been in the castle all along, didn''t miss the opportunity to be a part of it. Of course, newspapers can''t cover the big stories all day, and sometimes it''s more interesting to read about the gossip surrounding the champions. So as soon as they entered the great hall, led by Rosier and with Hermione taking Jon''s arm, numerous shing lights lit up in their direction. Almost none of the students in the Castle recognised the pretty girl standing next to Jon, Hermione had changed so much since two years ago that even if 80% of the people in the hall had seen her hanging in front of the entrance hall, no one was able to recognise her now. There were whispers throughout the hall for a while, but very few people acted disrespectfully, even the haughty pureblood students. Jon had a reputation for being vicious out there, and every pureblood student had been sternly warned by their families beforeing to school this year that they should not mess with Jon unless they were in a situation where they could beat the shit out of him. As they entered the great hall, sometime before the Ball was officially due to begin, Jon was guided to his seat in a special section by a Professor from the Half-Blood House who hade to receive them. Hermione was sitting next to Jon, her long chestnut hair meticulously tended by Diane and pulled back into an elegant bun at the back of her head, wearing a gown made of a wispy light purplish-blue fabric that Professor McGonagall had chosen for her when she found out she was Jon''s date in Lyons. Jon looked at the starry sky ceiling. "It''s beautiful isn''t it." "It''s a very advanced form of projection magic, I''ve read the history of Hogwarts and also heard from Mr Slytherin''s portrait as well as Lady Grey that this Enchanted Ceiling was actually bewitched by the founder of Ravenw House - Rowena Ravenw " "Shouldn''t a normal girl see this andpliment it on how pretty it is?" "Would you like a normal girl?" Jon swallowed hard at her sudden question and turned his head to look at her with wide eyes. Hermione looked like she was amused by his reaction like that and covered her mouth tough out loud. "Actually, if I hadn''t been brought to this castle back then, and I hadn''t had the experience of being rescued by you, wouldn''t that mean you might have had to go and find someone else to be your date for this Ball tonight?" "Why are you suddenly asking questions like this?" Jon found Hermione odd today like she was hiding something on her mind. "I was actually thinking, from a different perspective, about how the experience of being brought to this Castle in the first ce isn''t exactly a traumatic memory." She looked quietly at the starry sky ceiling, then turned to the mostly smiling faces of the surrounding students. "If I hadn''t been enved here, I might actually think this Castle was some kind of a good ce to be right now. Sometimes you only know what the world is really like when you''ve actually experienced it." Jon suddenly noticed the white string that Hermione was wearing on her hand that he had never seen before. "Is that one also from Professor McGonagall? It''s quite pretty." Hermione held up the hand in which she was wearing the bracelet, the candlelight reflecting on her slender white wrist and on the string, which reflected a flowing glow on its surface in a beautiful way. She whispered. "Not Professor McGonagall, but a person who has been forgotten by this castle." On the raised tform in the great hall, Snape, in a rare urrence, was actually sitting right next to Crouch. The two were notorious for their ipatibility with each other not to mention throughout Hogwarts, but even throughout the entire British wizarding world. They never greeted each other at meetings, they never sat together at meals, and apart from being summoned by Voldemort personally, they were hardly ever seen together at any other time. At this Yule Ball, these two people, who were among the highest ranking decision makers in the whole of Hogwarts Castle in Voldemort''s absence, were actually sitting together from the very beginning! This not only surprised the other Professors, but even Lucius, who was keeping order in the great hall with Aurors and watching over Jon and the others to prevent them from doing anything abnormal, found it a little hard to believe. The seats around both Snape and Crouch were also empty as if they were having some sort of secret conversation between them, and no other professor moved over at this juncture after a nce from them a while ago. "I thought you''d just let that Konrad girl get close to Jon Green." Snape said expressionlessly as he nced out of the corner of his eye at Jon who was chatting idly with Hermione in his seat. Barty Jr. still had his gentle and approachable smile on his face. "Who do you think that kind of cheap trick is going to fool? The perfect n is something that goes with the flow and lets things move forward on their own trajectory, and all we need to do is to go a little further at one of the most crucial points." "Konrad thought till the day she died that the string was a gift from her mother and was firmly convinced that it was her most precious possession, and that mudblood called Granger was first noticed and attracted to the girl because she saw that it was exactly the same as the one her mother had once worn. You see, it only takes a very simple little thing to bind two otherwise unrted people together." Snape turned his head to look at the man beside him who had been secretly rumoured in the British magicalmunity to be an even crazier lunatic than Be. "So that bracelet is?" "Don''t forget who got that little mudblood named Hermione Granger into this Castle in the first ce, I met her parents, a pair of rotting dentists, and I disguised myself as a Professor from a prestigious University to get them to order their daughter to sign the pact straight away, and at the time that disgusting muggle woman was wearing that string on her hand. I had someone go and search the whole of London a while ago to find the exact same string, and used some of our connections on the Muggle side of the government before I finally found it in a second-hand variety shop." Barty''s voice was calm, but Snape clearly heard a hint of smugness in it, and he knew this man was deliberately showing off in front of him, bragging about how he had shared his lord''s concern. But Snape was not offended by his bragging, instead, he was curious as to whether these set-ups of Barty Jr. would be effective or not, and what methods had been used to conceal this from that cunning and scheming Dumbledore and that weird as-hell student, Jon Green. "And then you chose Konrad, who was in the midst of being cornered and bullied by Floyd and Flint, and gave her an borate string of memories, along with the bracelet that I had finished modifying so that she would think it was a birthday present from her mother and the most precious thing she had?" The smile on Barty''s face grew even wider at Snape''s question. "Honestly, it was not easy to find such a suitable candidate; Assia Konrad was practically tailor-made for my ns. Shees from a half-breed background, so she''s naturally bonded to the even lower mudblood bunch, and she''s so weak that she''s been coerced and intimidated by Flint for so long that she''s nearly about to choose to give up her life than ept it, and more likely to make that bunch sympathetic. What a great fit, I decided she would be the final piece of the puzzle for my entire n after I had taken the time to look into all the half-breed students'' profiles." "So it never urred to you to go straight for Jon Green himself in the first ce?" "If he really was just an ordinary 15-year-old boy, then, of course, it would be easiest and most effective to go straight for him personally, and I wouldn''t even need to expend so much effort and means to just control a beautiful, young schoolgirl instead of throwing her at him. But that would obviously be impractical since the boy has caused our lord so much trouble, and Dumbledore has such high hopes for him, that such a straightforward and instantly recognisable scheme could not possibly work. Not to mention others, but you, Severus, would you have been charmed by a Gryffindor girl when you were fifteen?" Instantly, Snape''s countenance darkened, and his voice turned cold. "Given our rtionship, we''re not close enough for you to call my name directly, and don''t you ever think that because we''re in a great hall now that I''ll be considerate enough not to attack." Barty Jr. smiled and raised both his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Look at you, I didn''t say which Gryffindor girl it was, excluding her, if any other girl approached you, would you even look at her, you wouldn''t deserve to be called Severus Snape if you do that right? Not even you would fall for such a simple beauty trick, let alone Jon Green who is making a big noise these days. Although he''s a lowly bloody mudblood, the fact that he has caused our lord so much trouble means that he nevertheless has some special qualities, so we''ll just end up like the Lestrange family if we use the same tactics we use against ordinary people to deal with him." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 384: Grangers game Chapter 384: Granger''s game Snape didn''t make a sound, he just listened quietly as Barty Jr. continued, knowing that he didn''t have to be some kind of yes-man and that Barty Jr. would spell out his entire n on his own because tonight was the night when the results for the game he set up would finally be seen. "As I told you before, I researched a lot about Jon Green, not just some of his experiences before he entered the wagon but also after he entered the wagon for school, I also went to that fool of a Weasley family in the Ministry of Magic specifically to find out a few things. Among them, there was something about which girls Jon Green had been closest to at school." "It was from him that I learned that the only girl on the whole wagon who was a bit closer to him was this mudblood girl he had rescued from the castle in front of everyone back then - Hermione Granger - and that fool thought I was trying to listen to his grievances and told me that when he was arguing with Jon Green, this girl whose family name was Granger was standing in defence of Jon Green. It''s not umon to find heroes saving the day and falling in love at first sight, both in the magical world and in the filthy society of muggles, and if he had to pick a date for the Ball, the most likely choice for Jon Green would be this girl called Hermione." "Having reached that conclusion, it was even easier to investigate Hermione as a person, she had lived in the Castle for over a year, not all the mudbloods who had been with her at one time or another had been rescued along with her, I extracted the memories of a few mudbloods who had known her, and it became incredibly clear what kind of character the girl really has. Brave, kind andpassionate, ha, full of weaknesses at first nce, a simple and easy target, it might be hard to fool Jon Green about some things, the boy didn''t even look like a student of his age, it was like he could figure some things out at a nce, but a young girl like that, who was also fifteen but full of kindness and likely to be sympathizer would be much easier to deal with. " Barty Jr. narrowed his eyes and smiled widely as he looked through the crowd to see Hermione''s raised right hand that reflected the light from the candle, on which a white bracelet barely distinguishable. "See, the bait has been sessfully hung on the hook, and as long as you are certain that this bait you have created will not go wrong, then we are in for a treat tonight." Snape''s voice was calm, he didn''t bother to look at the bracelet in Hermione''s hand that he had soaked up in potions with his own hands, instead, he looked at the candbra that floated in the middle of the great hall, the bright candle me reflecting on his vacant eyes. "I have not made a single mistake with the potions I have made so far, and if you had any doubts about my abilities in this regard, you would not have approached me to share in this credit that should have all belonged to you in the first ce." Barty crossed his legs and rxed against the back of his chair as he watched the flying candbras gradually all converge in the centre of the great hall, and after a music band in ragged, non-mainstream clothing came out, the whole great hall began to grow quiet. "Then let''s take our time and enjoy." As his words fell, soft music yed in the already quiet great hall, signalling the start of the day''s ball. As the candles on the tables went out, Jon helped Hermione to rise from her chair, and Diane and George rose together beside them. Not only them, but Draco pulled the girl named Pansy and Emil put his arm around the girl named Selwyn, and together they made their way to the centre of the great hall, dancing to the mncholy and quiet music. They were being watched by everyone around them, which Jon always felt a little ufortable about, but luckily the dance steps he had been practising with Rosier for two whole months did the trick and didn''t make him identally step on Hermione''s pale white feet or something stupid like that. "Honestly, I sort of got the feeling that you and Professor Dumbledore were hiding something from me." Jon''s face was so close to Hermione''s that he could even clearly feel the girl''s warm breath, and being so close to a girl for the first time, coupled with the fact that he had little interest in dancing itself, he simply found something to talk about at this point in time. "It''s not like we''re keeping it from you, but the professor said that you''re taking up enough energy just to deal with the tournament, so there are certain things we should be able to handle without worrying you about them." Jon wrapped his arm around Hermione''s slender waist and spun in ce. "So, are you guys doing something tonight?" "You really want to know?" Hermione looked at Jon, blinking her long eyshes, the eyes reflecting in the candlelight like stars twinkling in the dark. "Maybe you could talk to me about the part that has to do with me?" At his words, Hermione couldn''t help but smile, the corners of her mouth seeming to eclipse everything around them at the moment as it curved into a wonderful curve. "Then actually, this whole thing tonight should have something to do with you." Jon was a little puzzled by this answer from Hermione, he thought he was having a pretty leisurely day, either going fishing or on his way to dance for the night, so how could it all be about him. "We''re going to take a breakter on halfway through the Ball, then I''m going to make a trip to thevatory, after that, there will be another me returning to continue to spend some time with you in the great hall, and then finally we will go out for a walk in the garden." Hermione didn''t continue the riddle any further as she pressed herself to Jon''s ear and whispered as she shifted her dance steps to the melody. "There''ll be plenty of people watching us then, especially the two that are right behind us right now." Jon looked up in a feigned casual manner, and then he saw Barty Crouch Jr. who was leaning back leisurely in his chair on the raised tform, and Severus Snape who looked like he had been expressionless for three hundred and sixty-five days. "They have ns to target us today?" With just a simple turn of his head, Jon could guess that the cause must have been these two who were up to no good. "Remember that half-blood girl from the Castle that I was so close to before?" "Yes, and I remember her name was Assia Konrad." "Why do you remember her name so well? And especially saying it so openly while dancing with ady." "Ahem, it''s nothing, I guess, I just thought at the time that you were getting too close to her and that you might be tricked into falling into a trap." "She''s not a liar, she''s just being used by a bad bunch of liars. I''ve always kept my distance from the students in the Castle, no matter who they are too, and at the time you didn''t wonder why I was suddenly so close to Assia?" "I thought you were too bored in the wagon." "Even if I was bored I knew the limits, and contact with anyone or anything in the Castle at a time like this is dangerous. Also, the very day I saved her from those pureblood students, and you got involved; when Assia returned, I kept a constant eye on the Marauder''s Map for her movements to see exactly who she was in contact with in the Castle. That was the biggest advantage we had, with the Marauder''s Map in our possession, these people in the Castle had no more secrets to keep from us, and they were all unaware of that." "So you saw Crouch or Snape in contact with Assia on the Marauder''s Map back then?" "Only Barty Crouch to be precise, he was in contact with Assia, but each time it was short, and it was as if the two had just met in the Castle unintentionally, but even if it was just that, it still allowed me to conclude that, whether Assia knew it or not, the fact that she was in contact with me must have had something to do with Crouch. Having established this, I went to Professor Dumbledore as soon as I could, which was the evening of the day we rescued Assia." "Was it the professor who told you not to voice it out first?" "Professor Dumbledore said that their ultimate goal must be you and that using Assia to contact me was most likely just using me as a springboard. Professor didn''t tell me how to handle it, he said he wanted my opinion, and I was still at that point doubting whether or not Assia herself knew anything about what she was doing, so I decided to continue down the line with her for a while before seeing what happened, and then I found out about the second problem." With a slight movement, Hermione shook the hand she had on Jon''s shoulder at him, the white beads on the string hitting each other with a crisp sound. "My mum used to wear this exact kind of bracelet, but I also remember very clearly that when my dad gave it to my mum as a gift, he said that it was a specialmemorative piece for that year and that there were only a few pieces sold, and that this one was only bought when my dad got lucky and drew the right to buy it, and that there hadn''t been any more of the same piece for sale since then. But when Assia told me that her mother had given it to her for her eleventh birthday, I was sure that it hadn''t been given to her by her mother, but that someone had found the exact same bracelet that my mother wore and handed it to her in order to get my attention and the only person in Hogwarts Castle who had ever seen my mother was Barty Crouch, who had taken me away from my family." Jon couldn''t help but be a little lost in thought as he listened to this calm analysis from Hermione, he hadn''t forgotten that Hermione is really only fifteen years old! "It was the same day that I discovered that there was something wrong with this bracelet that I established that Assia had been kept in the dark from start to finish, that she was just an ordinary girl who had been bullied in Hogwarts castle and was nning to sacrifice herself for the safety of her family. It was also at that time that I found Professor Dumbledore and told him all of my findings and discussed with him that perhaps we could use this plot of using me as a springboard to eventually target you for something to aplish the n that we had been struggling with how to carry out." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 385: Hermione and Hermione (2 in 1) Chapter 385: Hermione and ''Hermione'' (2 in 1) "I saved Assia the very day she gave me this bracelet, she thought she was hiding well enough, but I could tell exactly how low-spirited and desperate she was, and then I asked for one of Fawkes'' feathers from Professor Dumbledore, I didn''t tell her what it was and how it needed to be used, it was just used as an anchor point to use as an Apparition positioner just in case." "But actually that feather didn''t end uping in handy because I happened to be in the secret passage when I saw her being taken by those pureblood students from the Marauder''s Map. The purebloods were totally ignorant and did not know how to perform the curse, but they thought they had seeded and left smugly. Assia also thought their curse had worked at the time, she was actually ready to kill herself and had a potion of Deadfire on her and was going to set herself on fire, I stopped her and got her out of the Castle and returned to the wagon and asked Professor Dumbledore to help find a dead body and burn it with the Potion of Deadfire before returning it to that ssroom." The mncholy music began to grow grander and higher as the surrounding students began to leave their seats and move into the centre of the great hall. Jon felt his ear tickle a little as Hermione whispered in his ear, exhaling hot breath that tingled his nerves. "You''re taking a risk, if Auror or Crouch had investigated a little more carefully, they would have found out that those ashes didn''t belong to Assia at all." Hermione was nonchnt about it. "It''s a gamble, and my leverage lies in the fact that I know Crouch and his contempt for half-bloods and muggle-borns. He''s certainly an extremely capable man to be given such trust by the Dark Lord, but equally, he''spletely lost in his lord''s lies about pureblood supremacy and has contempt for all non-pureblood wizards, plus he''s high and mighty, to begin with, and thinks everything is within his control as far as the n goes. So I''m just betting that he won''t bother to look into Assia''s ashes so thoroughly because she''s done her whole job, the bracelet was handed over to me, and she eventually ended up taking her own life as he expected, so why would he bother to observe the ashes?" Gutsy, Hermione had done almost everything she could have done, she hadn''t just watched Assia go through her miserable fate, nor had she backed down in the face of difficulty and danger, leaving Jon feeling impressed. "So what exactly does this bracelet do? What effect will it have on me when it is on your hand?" Jon asked, puzzled by this most crucial question. A mysterious smile appeared at the corner of Hermione''s mouth, and there was actually an unexpectedly yful note in her voice. "Guess." "Couldn''t it be that Crouch actually cast some sort of vile curse in it, and as soon as he saw mee into contact with this bracelet at the Ball he would trigger the curse and have me die a violent death in public?" "Wouldn''t that make it even more risky for him to do that? Assia delivered the bracelet to me so early in the morning, if Professor Dumbledore finds out that something is wrong with it on the wagon, then all his preparations will go down the drain." "Then I can''t guess." Jon said bluntly, it wasn''t that he didn''t have enough brains, it was that he hadn''t been involved in this whole thing from start to finish, it was all Hermione and Dumbledore plotting together, he was just fishing at the ck Lake these days. "No more guesses huh." The smile on Hermione''s lips never faded, like there was some interesting secret hidden in this bracelet. Jon couldn''t help but feel a sense of breathlessness, not only did he feel like Hermione was learning to talk like he usually would, but she had also picked up the bad habit of being a riddler from Dumbledore. "What are you going to doter? Coming up with all these ruses just to get both Crouch and Snape''s attention all over us?" About this Hermione didn''t hide it from Jon as she said softly. "While you were working on the first tournament task, I was looking for the chamber that Mr Slytherin left behind, the one that hid the secret of the Dark Lord''s intention to kill this castle, but if that was all it was for, then it waspletely pointless for him to do so. ording to Mr Slytherin''s spection, he must have wanted to kill the castle while also wanting to imbue his ''will'' into the entire Hogwarts castle, which means he would have two sets of preparations, one being the chamber, and one elsewhere." "And you have determined where that ce is?" "It''s an easy thing to figure out, isn''t it? It was obviously more important to him to imbue the castle with his ''will'' than to his set-up in the chamber of secrets to killing it, plus he only gets to return to the castle twice a year, so surely he would check such a key ce on his return to make sure the set-up in it was firmly in ce, and there''s only one ce in the whole school that he goes to every time he returns." Jon held his breath slightly and whispered. "The Headmaster''s office." "Yes, and because you entered the Headmaster''s office once before and brought back information that there were relics of the four founders on the table in that office, it was all the more reason for Professor Dumbledore and Mr Slytherin to be certain of this, that his greatest setup must be in the Headmaster''s office." Jon thought deeply about this, he had felt something was wrong with those four relics lying there when he first entered the Headmaster''s office at the time, so he hadn''t taken it lightly then, and now something was definitely wrong. "But I remember that after I killed the basilisk guarding the front of the entrance hall in that Headmaster''s office, there were no more guards inside, so it has been re-arranged with new ones now?" "That''s right, Fawkes tried going in there once before while searching for the entrance to the chamber of secrets and I heard from Professor Dumbledore that he saw a snake in there, a snake that was different from the basilisk and didn''t feel as threatening to him." "So you''re trying to use this Yule Ball to draw Crouch''s and Snape''s attention to me by using their own setup against me and then get into the Headmaster''s office to sabotage the Dark Lord''s preparations in there?" "Those things aren''t that easy to sabotage, this time like thest time I went to the Chamber of Secrets, I just need to copy the ancient runes on the table that holds those four relics, the snake will be dealt with by Fawkes." "Why does this n always feel a little familiar to me." "Of course, it should feel familiar to you, don''t forget who covered for you when you first entered the headmaster''s office to kill the basilisk when you infiltrated the castle, now our identities have swapped, and it''s your turn to cover for me." "You stole my idea." Hermione''s eyes curled into a crescent moon. "And how do you want me to pay for the loss?" "Forget it, I''m a generous person, take whatever you want. And onest question, who''s going to pretend to be you to tag along with meter?" "Lee Jordan, I originally wanted to find a girl, but you know there are only so many students whoe along to Hogwarts castle, and it was difficult to find the right one. So Professor Dumbledore, also in a sign of respect to me, decided to just forgo the use of the polyjuice potion, and instead, he personally used the Transfiguration spell on Lee, which would be a little more secure at the same time. You should do as he sayster, Professor Dumbledore should have said everything that needs to be exined to him." Jon was certainly happy to do so, he finally didn''t have to use his head this time, he just had to go through the steps and do a few things they had nned to do. Halfway through the Ball, he and Hermione left the centre of the great hall and returned to their seats, Jon didn''t keep his eyes on Crouch and Snape, but whenever he pretended to nce up at the raised tform inadvertently, he always noticed a hidden and clear line of gaps in the hall for those two men to observe him whenever they tried to, which was obviously no coincidence. "Wish me luck." Hermione got up from Jon''s side and Jon looked up at her without giving his blessing, just saying in all seriousness. "Make sure to keep your safety as your main priority." "Remember what you promised us every time you went on an adventure? I''m just like you, Jon, I''m afraid of dying too." Jon looked helpless. "But I''ve never felt you were afraid of death for as long as I''ve known you." "And that goes back to you as well." Their mouths looked like they were bickering, but they acted as if they had just exchanged some funny joke. On the raised tform, leaning back in his chair, Barty looked at Hermione who stood up and walked over in the direction of thevatory, the smile on his face looking a little grim. "Why is the potion taking so slow to take effect?" Snape remained as expressionless as ever. "You haven''t given me an exact time at all, so I don''t know exactly when the first whiff of the potion will take effect, but what is certain is that by eight o''clock at the very slowest all the potion in that bracelet will be evaporated." "That''s all the guarantee you can give." Barty Jr. said coldly, then he beckoned to a female professor from the Pureblood House and whispered something in her ear, after which the female professor also walked towards the girls''vatory. In the middle of the great hall, the Ball was still going on, or rather the students in the castle were only now getting into the swing of things, and Emil had already kissed his partner after the end of the first song, in front of arge crowd, causing a lot ofmotion. At the sight of this, a feeling of irritation rose in Barty''s mind for some reason, a vague unease in his mind, but he could not tell where it wasing from. Soon Hermione re-emerged from thevatory, followed by the female professor he had arranged for, who shook her head implicitly at Barty from a distance. This made him drop some of his restlessness and set his eyes on ''Hermione'', who had regrouped with Jon. Jon also looked at ''Hermione'' who looked exactly the same as she had left a moment ago, one could not feel any difference, the expression on his face did not change much, but he could not resist a wave of oddness flooding his mind. "This is a nice dress, Jon! To be honest, I was a little resistant to it at first when Professor Dumbledore brought it to me, but after I put it on I couldn''t get enough of it, am I gorgeous!" ''Hermione''s'' duck-like voice spoke and Jon almost couldn''t resist puking on the spot, barely managing to hold out the juice he had just drank into his mouth. "Howe you didn''t change your voice too?" He asked, lowering the volume of his voice and turning his back in the direction where Crouch and Snape were staring at them from. ''Hermione'', who was still the same on the outside but in fact, Lee Jordan on the inside, helplessly spread her hands. "There was a professor from the castle following Hermione when she went in just now, the voice changing potion has a time limit and the n was to drink it when I took over her identity, but since someone was following her along, there was no time to drink it, so I had to juste out like this." "Well, you can still drink the potion when you get the chance, but can you stop saying such disgusting things! And asking me if you''re gorgeous!" "Hey, you''re treating me differently, I''m sure if Hermione had asked you that herself, you would haveplimented her on her beauty by now!" "Shut up! Since your voice hasn''t changed, keep it down! How much longer do we have to stay in the great hall?" "Twenty minutes, counting from the time I sit next to you, in twenty minutes I''m going to take your arm and then share a romantic outing in the garden~ Also, we have to act like we''re bantering all the time, so I can''t shut up." "Can you please stop grossing me out with that kind of ent?" "I thought you''d like it, George obviously told me originally you were going to find a male dance partner, he said you were actually a hidden gay." "Thanks for conveying that, and don''t worry, I''ll blow his mouth off with a sting curse when tomorrowes!" "Ho! Make sure you call me over to watch then, I''ve wanted to do that for a long time!" Suddenly, Jon watched as Lee narrowed his eyes and stared at the slightly bulging chest area in front of him. "How much of Professor Dumbledore''s Transfiguration affected you? The same effect as the polyjuice potion?" "Of course not, it would have been more appropriate to get a girl for this actually, but there was really no suitable candidate, so Professor Dumbledore had to let me do it. To protect the privacy of thedy, the professor has only altered my face and the parts of me that are exposed, if you don''t believe me you can lift my robe and look inside, it''s still healthy dark skin!" "And what''s going on with your chest?" A look of "I know what''s going on in your mind" appeared on Lee''s face. "A kind of ergement spell, wanna feel it? It''s soft." "Fuck off! You''re grossing me out!" They were talking in hushed tones and there was no one else around, so even if someone else had looked over at their location, they would have just thought they were talking about some funny and obnoxious joke. Crouch saw the scene from afar, and his mouth curved in a somewhat shady arc as Lee and Jon exchanged insults which he saw as more of a "flirting". "I have a feeling your potion has taken effect." Snape, however, shook his ss of cider and took a sip from it. "It''s obvious that he''s be much more rxed than before, he hasn''t taken his eyes off the girl''s breasts since earlier." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 386: Snape: The Effect of the Potion Has Begun (2 in 1) Chapter 386: Snape: The Effect of the Potion Has Begun (2 in 1) If Jon had heard what Snape was saying right now, he would have greeted him with a big fat p on the mouth. Even if they were enemies, they couldn''t think of someone as being so lecherous, could they? It was also while Jon and Lee were hurling insults at each other that Hermione quietly arrived inside the Headmaster''s office. Instead of bothering to avoid Auror from the ground floor again and then climbing up to the seventh floor, she simply asked Fawkes to use Apparition and take her straight into the interior of the office. Fawkes had been inside once before when looking for the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets alone, plus this had been Dumbledore''s office which makes it his formerir, so he was kind of at ease with it. Fawkes deliberately picked a corner near the tower andnded with Hermione, but the golden-red glow still caught the attention of the cold-blooded creature in the office. This particr snake was not as exaggerated in size as the basilisk, but nheless still massive in form, with bright green scales on its surface. Nagini. Voldemort''s pet, a fully bestialized Maledictus. But Hermione obviously had no idea of the snake''s background or identity; as it stood, she was kind of clueless about the snake''s condition, but there was no need for her to worry about dealing with it. The moment Nagini and Fawkes locked eyes, the snake and the bird dashed off at each other! They had crossed paths once before, not that much time had passed since that day, so it wasn''t an unfamiliar meeting. And Hermione didn''t hesitate afternding, the evening gown she was wearing had been reced with the loose robe she wore usually, and from the pocket of her robe she pulled out a silver instrument with the appearance of a lighter. The next moment Fawkes rushed towards Nagini, she flicked the switch on that silver lighter! "Boom!" At the same time, the magical portraits that had not been on the walls when Jon entered the headmaster''s office, but were now hung all over, burst into countless sparks, and then the frames shattered, apanied by a faint howling sound, and all the portraits went up in mes. The only problem was that the lighter was too loud to be used under normal circumstances, which was why Jon and Lee were needed in the great hall to attract Crouch and Snape''s attention and hold them on the ground floor. At the same time, Hermione also had to keep an eye on the movements of those patrolling Aurors in the castle, making sure that none of them came near the seventh floor before choosing to make a move. Such opportunities were not easy to find, but fortunately, all the actions so far had gone smoothly; Fawkes was not even afraid of a Basilisk, so he had no problem dealing with Nagini, a venomous snake. Putting away the silver lighter, Hermione''s attention was finally avable to focus on the four relics thaty in the middle of the desk, in the middle of the office. *** "Well, it''s about time, we need to leave now for a trip to the little garden outside the castle." Lee nced at the wall clock directly in front of the great hall and whispered to Jon. Jon nodded back. "Hurry up and get out first and find a ce where no one is looking at you to drink the voice-changing potion." "Hey, how can you do that, with Hermione''s appearance, doesn''t my voice sound more stimting?" "If you keep throwing such disgusting crap at me in here, I''ll blow your mouth off along with George''s tomorrow!" "I was wrong! You might as well just blow up George''s, he''s more abominablepared to me!" The two kept their mouths shut while they stood up from their positions together, Lee naturally took Jon''s arm, Jon controlled himself not to expose anything, but he couldn''t help the goosebumps that ran up his arms. "Why do I feel like you''re shaking?" Lee whispered. "Is it possible for you to let a man hold you and not shiver?" "Rx, why can''t you just imagine me as Hermione herself." "If you can just make sure you keep your mouth shut, then maybe I can do that." The movement of them getting up was actually noticed by quite a few people, Jon''s every move was watched, even the Aurors around him who were on guard had most of their attention on him. Because Jon was so good at making trouble happen, and it''s easier to let your guard down at a time like this when there''s so much buzz, the more Lucius told his men to keep an eye on Jon. If Jon had said yes to his request for cooperation, Lucius would have turned a blind eye and let Jon do whatever he wanted. But after being turned down like that, it was like a bit of a love-hate situation, and Lucius felt he had to be loyal to Voldemort to deserve the high position and status he had been given. So he had actually been watching Jon and Hermione tonight, and knowing what he knew about Dumbledore all these years, Dumbledore wouldn''t be Dumbledore if he didn''t let his students pull something off on Yule night. However, just as Lee took Jon''s arm and the two of them headed out together, a pair of male and female students suddenly stopped in front of them. This made all those staring at Jon go silent, and because of this, the entire great hall went quiet for a moment, with only the Weird Sisters band in the centre of the stage still ying dance music. Jon narrowed his eyes at Emil and his dance partner who were in front of him, mentally wondering if this was some kind of n on the part of Crouch and Snape. But what he didn''t see was that Crouch was now showing more aggravation now on his part rather than what he had expected. "What''s going on here? What was that Lestrange fool trying to do over there?" Snape spoke as coldly as ever. "You''ve called him a fool, do you think I would understand what a fool thinks?" Everyone else in the great hall didn''t know what Emil was trying to do either, but everyone was looking forward to the show. The vast majority of the people here were students from Hogwarts Castle, and Jon is their current enemy now, and although Emil was also representing their Mr Headmaster in the tournament, he wasn''t a student of Hogwarts after all. So whatever conflict urred between them, these people only had the mindset of watching the show. Emil''s face was flushed, and he looked like he had been drunk. It was normal, he was a seventh-year student and now an adult, a few drinks were nothing, but he was clearly in the wrong state. "Jon Green!" Emil called out Jon''s name. Jon looked at him with disinterest, not intending to respond, just waiting to see what this young lord of the Lestrange family would pull off now. "Don''t think that just because you won the first tournament task you''ve proved to be better than I! Next, I will show everyone who really deserves to be called a champion!" Jon brought himself into Emil''s point of view, and he was getting embarrassed for the young lord who wasn''t even sure if he was sober or not at the moment. He could also see that Emil stopping himself was certainly not some sort of n by Crouch, it was just the typical case of the boy having a couple of drinks, plus having his dance partner around to chat about the first tournament task, and getting some stimtion toe and prove he wasn''t some loser in front of Jon and put up another g for the rest of the tournament in the process. After seeing what kind of state Emil was in, Jon genuinely said. "For you to say something like that to me on this asion is proof enough that you''re a true champion." Emil didn''t hear the true meaning of Jon''s words and thought he was reallyplimenting himself, his frustrated heart floating a little under the influence of alcohol. "Hmph, you have a bit of self-awareness, but don''t think I''m going to hold back on you in the next tournament task because of this." And while Emil was talking, the femalepanion beside him kept her gaze focused on Lee. Lee didn''t flinch from her gaze but held his chest high, but beyond that, there was no more provocation. He knew that he could not speak without a voice-changing potion and that if he did, he would be exposed, so he had to try to keep a low profile. But the girl from the Selwyn family clearly had no intention of letting him off the hook, and she opened her mouth with an impish smile on her face. "Hello, Miss Granger, I''ve heard a lot about you for a long time now." Lee, too, put on a show, nodding slightly as if giving a response but not making a sound. Such a gesture seemed a little arrogant, but it was reasonable. Jon, however, didn''t want to be here any longer, as soon as the subject came up with Hermione, the chances of Lee exposing himself were high, and they had to get out of this ce. But sometimes things just don''t work out the way they''re supposed to. Just as everyone''s attention had drifted away from them, and they began to follow the music back onto the dance floor, Selwyn looked as if she was irritated by this arrogant stance of Lee''s, and she lowered her voice but raised her pitch and tone of voice. "I''ve heard of Miss Granger''s most famous debut, being hung like a stinky fish over the entrance hall behind here, but unfortunately I was in France at the time and couldn''t see it for myself!" These words instantly silenced the scene, even to the extent that Emil sobered up a little from the shock. He stared wide-eyed at his partner, who had just kissed him passionately in the middle of the dance floor nearby, and subconsciously pulled away the arm that she was holding. Selwyn, however, looked at Lee as if she hadn''t noticed Emil''s reaction, her eyes burning with jealous rage. As soon as they entered the great hall, all the attention was on Jon and Hermione, which angered Selwyn, who had thought that being Emile''s date would make her the centre of attention. This anger was especially fierce after she realised that she couldn''t pick a single thing wrong with Hermione''s appearance and dress. Emil had alsoe to block Jon at her instigation, such was the case with men who had just got in the mood for sex, it was hard to refuse a girl''s request, and with the alcohol on top of it, he had said what he had said earlier. Now Emil had obviously been startled awake, but Selwyn hadn''t sensed her malepanion''s reaction. Lee knew he couldn''t speak up at this time no matter what, and although he felt the anger in his heart over the insult to Hermione, he couldn''t let it out, so he was still looking at her with a kind of scornful gaze. Jon''s eyes, on the other hand, narrowed at some point, and it was the realization of this that caused Emil to take two more steps backwards. "If you really know something about that matter, then you should also know what I did back then, right? This Miss Selwyn." Hearing Jon''s words, it was at this time that Selwyn turned her head to look at him, yet the very moment she turned her face away, all her view was covered by a p! "p!" The current Jon was certainly not the same as he was two years ago, whether it was in terms of magical attainment, or even more so in terms of physical strength, he had reached the standard of a young adult. So this p, which he didn''t hold back, pped Selwyn to the ground on the spot, and the loud sound made a lot of students around to hear it all. "Ah!!! Don''t you dare hit me!" Selwyn''s screams even overshadowed the dance music, and the weird sister''s band who were ying stopped what they were doing and looked in that direction. The whole great hall went silent as all eyes gathered towards their position, and the Aurors who were on guard around them began to move, Lucius even frowned and whispered something into the ear of one of his men. On the high tform, Barty Jr''s face was hard to read. "What the hell are these two stupid pigs doing!" The target of his insults was not Jon and Hermione, but Selwyn and Emil, who had got in the way of his ns at the moment. Snape didn''t make a sound, he was quietly watching Jon''s next move. Jon was certainly quick, and he knew what he should most certainly do now. After pping Selwyn to the ground, he instantly grabbed Lee''s arm, then with another kick, he kicked Selwyn, who was still screaming in front of him, out of the way, and walked briskly towards the outside of the great hall, skipping past Emil, who had just a moment ago been talking grandly, but now had shut up and be mute. The surrounding Aurors picked up their pace and were about to catch up with him, beating up a pureblood at will in such an event, even if Jon is one of the champions in the tournament, he can''t just leave without a proper exnation. Snape on the tform, however, looked like he had an insight into everything. "He can''t wait, under the influence of the potion he''s starting to get all frisky, even going so far as to attack directly in public regardless of the cost." Barty Jr.''s face also showed joy at the sight of Jon''s attempt to leave the great hall immediately, and he instantly left his seat and went to Lucius, who was directing his men and told him to stop all of Auror''s actions, then without any exnation, rejoined Snape''s side under Lucius'' confused look. "Ah yes, of course, it''s not proper to do it in front of so many people in the great hall, they need a quiet ce, don''t they? We''ll just have to help them out and give them such a ce." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 387: Armour (2 in 1) Chapter 387: Armour (2 in 1) Jon didn''t know exactly what rude things Crouch and Snape were saying, but what was clear to him was that since they had made so many preparations, they wouldn''t let anyone interfere with him and Hermione at the Ball tonight. This meant that when it came to these things, the two of them simply walking away would be the best solution, and those Aurors around would certainly note after them. And that was indeed the case; after he had dragged Lee away from the great hall at a brisk pace, Lucius had been given instructions by Barty Jr. and those Aurors around did note after them. This couldn''t help but make Selwyn, who was lying on the ground having not only received a p on the wrist but also a kick from Jon on his way out, even more vociferous. "Why don''t you go get him! My father is a Death Eater! My mother is head of the department in the French Ministry of Magic! Does nobody care in Hogwarts castle when the glory of the pureblood is tarnished!" Before she could get up from the ground, however, the Aurors at themand of Barty Jr. went over and brought Selwyn to her feet. This left the proud pureblood female student with a shocked and bewildered look on her face as she turned her head to look at Barty Crouch Jr. who had approached her, not being British and having grown up in Beauxbatons had left her with little to no fear towards the notorious number one thug under Voldemort. She was just about to open her mouth to issue a question when Crouch raised the wand in his hand and her mouth was instantly sealed. "Shouting and acting in such a vulgar manner in such a formal setting, the glory of the supposed pureblood is truly disgraced because of you." His voice was cold, and his face was devoid of the gentleness that had always been there in the past, and then he waved his hand, signalling the two Aurors who had held her up to take her out of the great hall. "Send her to the confinement room, and let her stay there tonight to reflect." The two Aurors faithfully carried out his order, while everyone in the great hall watched the scene in incredulity. If they didn''t know exactly what kind of things Crouch had once done to serve Voldemort, then for his behaviour now some people would probably believe him for being a second-rate pureblood and a spy. But in Voldemort''s absence, without Snape speaking out against him, Hogwarts was now a ce where Crouch had a say. Among those present, only that deputy headmaster of Beauxbatons, Bonnesante, had a bit of a hard face, because the Selwyn who was taken away is his student, and this was almost equal to Crouch ignoring him now, and as a professor of Hogwarts directly interfering in the disciplinary actions of the Beauxbatons, which made Bonnesante''s face a bit ugly. Voldemort''s power was huge, and arge power could certainly not avoid having factions within it. In addition to the new school of purebloods and the old school of purebloods that Voldemort had artificially divided; after France was upied by him, the factions within his ranks were further divided into tworge frameworks, the British purebloods and the French purebloods. This division became more and more apparent after the Witching Horizon counter-attacked France and most of the French purebloods took refuge in Britain to escape liquidation. But now the French Purebloods remain as outsiders in Britain, and the British Isles are the home of the British Purebloods, so with the active tolerance and restraint of the French wizards, the conflict between the two sides has not been stirred up. So, even now, Bonnesante, who felt Crouch''s impudence, chose to hold back and not let his discontent and anger out. He knew very well that there was nothing he could do on such an asion, and that breaking out into internal conflict would only make others see him as a joke, and Voldemort would be even less likely to speak up for him afterwards. As Selwyn was dealt with, the atmosphere in the great hall gradually returned to what it had been before. A piece of more upbeat dance music was yedpared to before, and the students re-entered the centre of the dance floor to begin the night''s revelry. But there were still quite a few students discussing the scene that had just taken ce, all of them believing that as long as their Mr Headmaster was not in the castle, then no one could control Jon, even Barty Crouch Jr. who had always been known as a kind and loving son of his parents, had chosen to set things straight when he was so rampant, not to mention others who were not capable of pulling strings. Jon, of course, didn''t care what the students in the castle thought; together with Lee, he had arrived at the temporary garden outside the castle that had been created for this Yule ball. It looked secluded, but many students were hiding in the little bushes around, and as soon as Jon and Lee walked in they bumped into a young couple who were in the middle of a love affair. It was only halfway through the dance, but for some people, the time when everyone was engrossed in the dance was their best chance. Jon looked at the nymphs that were fluttering on a bush of roses and said, somewhat breathlessly. "Honestly, I suppose this garden was built to facilitate student rendezvous?" "Ahem, or else for what?" Taking this opportunity, Lee had already drunk the voice-changing potion, which scraped his throat somewhat when he first drank it, so his voice was still a little strange because of its hoarseness, although it had already produced a partial change. But such a transformation would be quick, plus there were no longer a lot of people around after arriving in the garden, so Lee didn''t have to be particrly careful. "Aren''t those professors in the castle afraid they''ll make a mess of things by doing this?" Jon remembered that the couple he had met on the way in were about his age, how would they exin to their parents if they didn''t control themselves and created a baby? Or is there no need to exin at all and the parents are happy to see it happen? Even though he had lived here for many years, Jon still didn''t know much about the deep culture of Great Britain, but he didn''t need to find out about it now. Lee, of course, didn''t catch the meaning of Jon''s words, and he said, with disinterest. "How can a normal Yule ball possibly cause a fuss? It''s not like we''re at war now, you''re thinking too much Jon, instead of thinking about that we should be thinking about how we''re going to cope with the rest of the dayter." This time the n didn''t really put that much pressure on Hermione in terms of infiltration. Dumbledore wasn''t thinking about possiblypletely hiding their movements in the castle from Voldemort, even if he didn''t have full control of the castle yet, he had been managing it for over a decade. Hermione''s mission would be a 120% sess as long as the four relics could be safely retrieved from the Headmaster''s office and the runes could be copied; as to whether Voldemort himself would be alerted or discovered by him was a matter for Dumbledore to consider. But the first thing that had to be ensured was that the runes had to be copied in full so that Dumbledore and Slytherin could determine exactly how far Voldemort had reached in his infestation upon the castle so that they could decide what to do next. So Hermione moved quickly, this time with all her preparations, and without even having to do it herself, the shorthand quill that had been sent to her from France was already fluttering on the parchment. Hermione didn''t stay still at this time, she raised her wand and tapped it against the four relics on the desk itself. There was nothing special about these relics from the outside, apart from the fact that the desk that held them was covered in dense, tiny and unnoticeable magic runes, it looked like an ordinary desk with a few ordinary ornaments. When Hermione''s wandnded on the Ravenw diadem, the blue jewel-encrusted diadem glowed faintly but did not budge in any way. Her levitation charm did not appear to be as effective as it should have been. This did not surprise Hermione, she thought the same as Jon, since Voldemort had dared to ce the four relics here so openly, he must have had something to fall back on, and obviously, they were not that easy to take. The n that Dumbledore had given her did not say that the four relics should be taken away now, they were basically connected to the whole Hogwarts castle, and from the moment Voldemort chose to use them as a medium to prate into the castle, the four relics couldn''t leave the castle. Hermione was only attempting for the sake of the promise made to Lady Grey; the diadem was found, but there was no way to take it out, so that was considered a fulfilment of the promise on her part. And just as the battle between Fawkes and Nagini had reached a fever pitch, with the shorthand quill still scribbling rapidly on the desk, and Hermione was about to assist Fawkes by ganging up on the snake with two spells, there was a sudden heavy footfall at the staircase that separated the Headmaster''s office through the tower that formerly held the Book of Admittance and the Quill of eptance! Hermione instantly tightened her grip on her wand, and Fawkes, who had already managed to make a bloody hole in Nagini''s head, raised his head alertly! She didn''t take the parchment and leave right away, as she hadn''t copied the whole thing and her visit would be much less worthwhile, so she kept her eyes on the corner of the tower stairs and listened to the heavy footsteps getting closer and closer. Then a metal armour reflecting the bright moonlight from the window came down the stairs! The armour held a sharp knight''s sword in its hand, and although it had survived hundreds of years, the surface of the armour was still smooth and shiny, and the limbs moved without any sense of rigidity, but rather with a coordinated beauty. It turned towards Hermione when it stepped out of the staircase and raised the sleek, gleaming knight''s sword in its hand! Hermione was slightly relieved to see that it was not a living person, but an enchanted suit of armour, but her heart still did not drop its guard, and before the suit of armour could make its next move, she took the lead and used a spell! "Repello!" Instead of a bright spell beam, a stream of air that created a ripple in the air surged out, and then the armour was sent flying violently as if it had been struck hard by a sledgehammer, and then crashed heavily against the solid stone wall of the Headmaster''s office. It seemed that Hermione''s spell had had an excellent effect, but in reality, it had only partially restricted the armour''s movements and had not done any substantial damage. "Incarcerous! Immobulus!" After two consecutive incantations of the Incarcerous Spell plus the Freezing Charm were used by Hermione, a rope that appeared out of thin air steeply bound the armour that was nning to stand up from the ground all over its body, and at the same time, a cold frost was on the surface of its body, which soonpletely sealed all the parts of its joints that could move. Having done this, Hermione didn''t stop what she was doing, she instantly turned to the Nagini, who was lying in a pool of blood and still flopping around, and swung her wand down in her hand. "Incendio!" The mes scorched the snake''s blood while illuminating the entire Headmaster''s office with a dazzling light, and just as the mes were engulfing Nagini, another heavy footstep came from around the corner of the stairs. Hermione was acutely certain that it was a thump from many, not a single one, for it was clear that the sound was definitely not from one suit of armour, at least two more hade to life and made their way to the Headmaster''s office! She nced at the progress of the parchment on the desk, the shorthand quill was quick to copy, or at least much quicker than normal human writing by hand, but even so it was only half done now, and Hermione would need to stall for a short while to finish copying all those magic runes on the desk. As Hermione had guessed from the sound of footsteps, two pairs of armour appeared, one with a shield and a heavier armour than the previous one, and the other with a long axe in both hands. Upon arriving at the headmaster''s office, the armour with the shield and sword in its hands rushed towards Hermione without hesitation, it was fast and did not show any sign of clumsiness, as if a real live human was being inside. The more she got into this kind of situation, the more collected and rational Hermione became, and she waved her wand quickly in her hand. "Impedimenta!" Instantly, the air began to be sticky for a distance of about five metres in front of her, and the armour with the sword and shield acted as if it had fallen into the water, and its movements visibly began to slow down. But this slowdownsted only a second before a light red light shed from the shield it was holding, and then Hermione''s Impediment Jinx was broken through, and the sprint reverted to its initial speed, raising the knight''s sword in its hand and shing violently towards Hermione''s position! Even if it was only a second''s dy, it gave Hermione enough time to react, and as the armour brought the sword up in its hand, she darted backwards to give herself enough distance. The sword that the armour shed down finally struck the Gryffindor sword that had been ced on the desk, and the moment the two swords met, there was a sound of metallic nging! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 388: The Vicious Beauty Trap Chapter 388: The Vicious Beauty Trap It was as if the Gryffindor''s sword was welded to the table, struck by the knight''s sword in the armour''s hand, yet it did not budge even a bit. Instead, the quill that was writing on the parchment bounced for a split second in response to such force and left a cloud of ck ink on the parchment before it regained its angle and continued writing. The armour holding the long axe took the opportunity to cleave through the Incarcerous Spell and Freezing Charm effect to restore the first armour''s ability to move. The sword and shield armour also raised its sword and shield, and the three armours formed a triangr formation, surrounding Hermione in the middle! The only relief for Hermione was that the armour seemed to be aiming at only her, and did not bother with the shorthand quill that was still scribbling away on the desk, and therefore did not interfere with the process of transcribing the magic runes. Fawkes stood at Hermione''s shoulder and made no other move. The armours, not to mention the fact that all of them are extremely solid and highly resistant to physical attacks, make it very difficult for Fawkes to do any effective damage to them, and if he were to fire arge fire st at them, it would certainly make the office the most visible presence in the night, and all their efforts to conceal and restrain would then be in vain. So his task was to keep an eye on Hermione, and as soon as he saw that she was in a desperate situation, he would take her away with him. This was the task Dumbledore had assigned to him, to prevent Hermione from throwing her life away toplete the task. Hermione didn''t try to fight the armour, her eyes nced at the progress of the shorthand quill every now and then, ording to the time estimation, it would take at least three minutes to copy down all these magic runes on the table, and she would have to hold out for three minutes against the attack of these three suits of armour. Originally, Hermione had suggested that since only the electronic devices of Muggles could not be used in Hogwarts Castle, she could use a purely mechanical camera, and if she could bring such a camera in, she could copy the runes on the table as quickly as possible. But Dumbledore said that it was impossible to record such runes in that way, just as there was no way a camera could possibly be used against the eyes of a basilisk, the power of which would be so great that the camera itself would copse, and the film would be burnt to a crisp. The only way to copy such runes is to use the most basic form of handwriting, with no other possibility of trickery. Well, if it was for only three minutes, Hermione took a deep breath as she looked at the three suits of armour, and the hand that wasn''t holding her wand reached into the pocket of her robes as she pulled out the Marauder''s Map and took a quick look at the location of the closest Aurors visible at close proximity to the Headmaster''s office. Most of the Aurors were on the ground floor, and only one group of Aurors looked like they had just walked down from the third floor to the second and were returning to the great hall on the ground floor. That meant that with all the stairs that could be moved now stopped, even if those below had spotted any movement in the Headmaster''s office, it would take them at least two more minutes to reach the seventh floor at the earliest, which would be enough time for Hermione to take the parchment that had beenpleted and transcribed. Then she found Jon''s name at a quick nce, he and Lee were now in the garden outside the castle, and not far from them were the names of both Snape and Crouch. After making sure everyone was in position and also counting the time, Hermione tucked the Marauder''s Map back into her coat pocket as the three suits of armour had finished their initial power build-up to increase their speed and charged towards her with weapons in their hands. And Hermione waved her wand, only this time it was clearly aimed not at any of the armour, but at the wall facing the window! The garden, on the bench. Jon and Lee had been sitting on it for a while now, still chatting, only at Lee''s behest, the distance between the two had moved closer and closer from a somewhat spaced-out start, to the point where they were almostpletely next to each other. "I mean, I really can''t figure out what kind of effect this bracelet you''re carrying has to make us need to sit closer?" Jon couldn''t help but grunt after once again making sure there were no ears in the surrounding wall. Lee''s voice had now be exactly like Hermione''s, except it was like he was trying to deliberately mimic a girl''s speaking ent, yet he was so singrly familiar with girls that he sounded like a green tea bitch (girls who pretend to be sweet and innocent but are dishonest) whenever he opened his mouth. "Hermione actually didn''t tell you about this? Then she probably kept it from you on purpose because she worried that you''d feel ufortable." "What''s in there that would make me ufortable? What could this bracelet do, anyway it can''t be that Crouch used some kind of dyed aphrodisiac on it, right?" Lee obviously knew exactly what this bracelet was supposed to do, and after hearing Jon''s words, he stared at Jon with a suspicious look on his face. "Did you just tease me on purpose? Did Hermione actually tell you all about what the bracelet does long ago?" Hearing him ask such a question, Jon just felt like the world was starting to get ridiculous. "It''s actually really an aphrodisiac drug? What the hell? What would Crouch be able to do by using Hermione to drug me with an aphrodisiac? Does he want me to be a ve to sex and then go brain-dead?" Lee could see by this time that Jon had guessed it purely on his own, and he couldn''t help but spit it out. "How would I know that viin''s brain circuit, I acted more surprised than you when I first found out about the effects of the bracelet from Professor Dumbledore, not only does it have an aphrodisiac effect on it, but it''s also been infused with a very strange potion." "A strange potion? How strange?" Jon asked with a slightly copsing look in his eyes, he thought that the trick of using Hermione to give him an aphrodisiac was strange enough, there couldn''t possibly be a trick that could be even stranger than that. "It was on one of the beads of the bracelet, Professor Dumbledore found some sort of potion hidden in it, and the person who wears it will be constantly being infiltrated by this potion. The potion itself is not harmful to the person, but after the potion is absorbed into the person''s body, it will assimte into the bodily fluids in that person''s body, allowing the potion to mix with them. The aphrodisiac effect that turns on from the bracelet when it activated tonight, would then blend with this potion to create a new potion that would also have no effect or harm on the person who carries it, but" It was as if Jon had thought of some image that was extremely contrary to public order and social morality, he stared at Lee with horror in his eyes. "But what?" "But this new potion created after mixing with aphrodisiac effect has no effect on women only, but for men, it is tantamount to the most deadly poison." Lee was blushing strangely even as he said this like he was somewhat unable to imagine what kind of brain circuit the person who had devised this poisonous scheme had. Jon''s whole being was in a strange daze as he was rationalising the logic of this potion with his confused mind. The potion itself was harmless, but it could be incorporated into a person''s bodily fluids andter fused with an aphrodisiac effect to be a new kind of potion. The new potion was harmless to women, but highly toxic to men, and the person wearing the bracelet was Hermione, which meant that the potion on the bracelet would have no effect on her. But Crouch''s real target was him, and the potion itself would only work on men, but the point is that it was Hermione''s bodily fluids that would be poison after the bracelet was put on her hand. The target was him, the poison was Hermione''s bodily fluids, the aphrodisiac effect was the trigger, and there was a quiet, and undisturbed environment provided. After thinking this through, Jon''s entire face instantly turned iparably gloomy and ugly, and he could only grit his teeth and squeeze the words out of his mouth. "Damn you, Crouch!" This n sounded odd, but after Crouch had alreadypleted all the pre-conditions and delivered the bracelet to Hermione in a logical manner, it actually had a surprisingly high sess rate! Jon wouldn''t have guarded against Hermione at the Ball at all, and the aphrodisiac wasn''t amon poison, or even a poison at all, so even if Jon had been exposed to the chemical he wouldn''t have felt anything wrong himself. If he actually held a small crush on Hermione in his heart, his subconscious mind might even have contributed positively to the effects of the drug. If he and Hermione kissed in the fit of passion created due to aphrodisiac, he''d be dead for sure! If it wasn''t for the Marauder''s Map and the fact that Hermione herself was alert enough, then maybe he would have fallen for it by now. Crouch had definitely studied him well enough to at least understand his rtionships on the wagon, to know that he was a little closer to Hermione among the girls, and to know full well that it would be extremely difficult to deal with Jon himself directly, so he was forced to work in a roundabout way. A normal fifteen or sixteen-year-old student would hardly be able to withstand this, and at a time when youthful hormones are on the rise, such a n would be incredibly sinister. If Jon had fallen for it, Hermione would have been doomed even if she had lived, and it hadn''t cost anyone on Voldemort''s side at all, just a small half-blood student''s life and a special bracelet. It was no wonder Jon was so angry, the chain of events was truly disgusting and poisonous, but with Crouch being so ruthless that he would even be able to get his own father and mother killed, it was no surprise that he coulde up with such a poisonous scheme. "So what are we going to do next?" Soon Jon calmed himself down, it was now clear that Crouch''s n was no longer going to work, all they needed to do now was to stall Crouch''s attention and facilitate Hermione''s movements in the castle. Lee gave Jon a look and indicated a window on the seventh floor of the castle. "See there? We need to wait for Hermione''s signal up here, if a signales we need to keep this charade going, if no signales thenter Hermione herself wille and call us back to the wagon." And just as Lee''s words fell, a sh of red suddenly shed through the window of the Headmaster''s room he had signalled! ---- #Jacob de, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 389: Snape: Is Jon Green a boy? Chapter 389: Snape: Is Jon Green a boy? The tip of Hermione''s wand shot out a cluster of not-so-blinding red sparks. The spark only hit the wall by the window and then went out, but she was sure that Lee and Jon outside the castle had definitely spotted the signal she had sent. Hermione didn''t hesitate after that, she waved her wand and used a transfiguration spell! The next moment, countless pieces of parchment fluttered out of her coat pocket, and they fluttered around the headmaster''s office, while transforming into countless bright green vine stalks, which then grew and sprawled around her like living snakes, and soon surrounded the three armours which were charging. The armours raised their weapons and the sharp des cut through the vines that surrounded them! What Hermione needed from the products of transfiguration was not to defeat them but to keep the armours at bay for a while. Just as the fastest armour with a single sword was within a metre of her, Hermione pulled a sphere the size of a ping-pong ball out of her pocket at some point. The knight''s sword raised high hade crashing down from mid-air and Hermione lightly tapped the surface of the suit of armour with her own wand at the same time! "Arresto Momentum!" Since the tip of the wand was right next to the surface of the armour, the spell basically took effect as soon as Hermione recited it! The armour''s swinging motion was noticeably slower, but the de still fell with a firm motion and shed straight down towards Hermione''s head. Hermione didn''t try to dodge, the de, reflecting the orange candle fire, was stopped by a pale blue shield of light ten centimetres above her head! Hermione waited for this opportunity, the hand holding her wand caught the corners of the armour where the head and body met, using it to hold the armour close to her body while holding the orb high in her other hand and shoving it into the armour''s dark eye sockets! "Bam!" There was a distinct sound of an orb meeting metal inside the armour, and Hermione''s entire body backed up as fast as she could as soon as she heard the sound! No sooner than she had just pulled away from the armour by a distance of three metres, a loud, ear-splitting boom rang out abruptly throughout the Headmaster''s office! At the same time, outside the great hall, the few Aurors guarding the stairway to the ground floor clearly heard a muffled sound from above the castle. The Aurors looked at each other and eventually, the leader of this squad sent one of his men to inform Lucius in the great hall of this incident, while he took the others to the various floors upstairs in the castle to check out the situation. Compared to inside the Castle, it was actually from this position in the gardens outside the Castle that the movement in the Headmaster''s office was more likely to be noticed. It was just that by this time, both Jon and Lee had already received an early signal from Hermione. "Can you pinpoint Crouch and Snape''s location?" Lee asked, somewhat hesitantly. Jon said calmly. "We took a straight path when we came in; unless they specifically went around this garden to the back, they could only be in the same direction we came from the castle, so take my word for it, just have your back in that direction." Even at this point, Lee still had the leisure to say rotten things. "I''ll say this upfront, even if I look and sound like Hermione at the moment, you can''t really mistake me for Hermione, I still have my first kiss and I don''t want to give it to a man, even if it''s you." Jon wished he could just shove his wand in his mouth and throw a sting curse on him right then and there. "What do you mean, do you think I would actually kiss you for being Hermione? It''s not like Hermione and I have any special rtionship right now, and what do you mean even for me, you couldn''t possibly have any special feelings for me, right? That would be pretty sickening." "I''m just describing our brotherly love, but still, your words are hurtful." "Shut up and hurry up, don''t drag the time any longer than we already have!" As they spoke, the position of the two men had changed at the moment, with Jon''s back facing the direction of Hogwarts castle and Lee facing the castle, only most of his face was blocked by Jon''s, and looking from the direction where the castle was located, all that could be seen was, the two of their faces slowly getting closer, but there was no way to see what sort of actions the two were actually carrying out. The spot where Crouch and Snape stood now was one that they had just hijacked by scaring away a young pureblood couple. It couldn''t really be called scaring, as the two students who had been exchanging saliva saw Crouch and Snapeing together silently like ghosts in the cold, the girl almost bit the boy''s tongue off in fear. "Keep your mouth shut and get out, and when Christmas break is over hand me up a foot-long review each!" After Crouch''s whispered reprimand was over, the unlucky young couple left in disarray, not knowing whether the night''s experience would haunt them for the rest of their lives. The spot they had picked was indeed a good one, with the cover of the bushes and the light from thatmp on the garden path giving them a clear view of the bench where Jon and Lee were sitting, while Jon and Lee could not see them. "Have you activated the aphrodisiac effect or not? Why haven''t they made any further moves till now?" Crouch''s tone gradually became aggravated, and it was clear that he was a little impatient to wait. He had been nning this for so long, waiting for this opportunity tonight, and now that things hade to this point it was out of his hands and he could only trust the potion Snape had brewed to be reliable. Snape''s voice remained calm. "This kind of potion that emits from the bead is not as effective as the one you drink directly into your stomach, it won''t work abruptly and will only affect a person subtly. If you really can''t wait, I have a ready-made vial here, so you can just rush out and force it into Jon Green''s mouth and tell him to kiss the girl." Crouch, who had long ago be immune to Snape''s cynical tone like this, simply nced at Snape. "You can just make sure that nothing has gone wrong at your end." And just as they spoke, there was a noticeable movement at Jon and Lee''s end. A view from both Crouch''s and Snape''s side of the line revealed that the two figures were slowly ovepping, and their heads could be faintly seen getting closer and closer together, illuminated by themp on the path by the bench. And as the two figures ovepped, even Crouch, who was known for his moodiness and anger, subconsciously clenched his fists. As long as Jon and Hermione kissed, his n would be aplete sess, and Jon himself would be dead for sure, regardless of whether or not it was a vition of the blood pact Voldemort and Dumbledore had made, the point was that by killing the most popr rising star on Dumbledore''s side, it would be aplete victory for them! Whether it was Crouch or Snape, they were staring at the boy and girl under themplight, their eyes narrowed with almost zero emotion, no one could tell what was going through their minds right now. Both men almost held their breath, their attention entirely fixed on Jon and Lee, not even noticing that behind them, on the seventh floor of the castle, there was a distinct shuddering of the window frames in one ce. They simply saw the figures of Jon and Lee ovepping in themplight and did not separate for a long time. Jon was close to Lee, but of course, the two didn''t really kiss; they were practically face to face, wide-eyed. Themotioning from the castle that Crouch and Snape hadn''t noticed was obvious to both of them, as their attention had always been on that spot where the seventh-floor window had been from the beginning. "Hermione must have got into a fight with something in there, it''s a good thing the ss didn''t break, or they would have noticed themotion even if we had kissed in front of Crouch and Snape." Lee whispered, as he faced the castle, he had a clear view of what was really going on up on the seventh floor. Jon, for his part, couldn''t help but frown. "What did you just eat?" "Hey, you guys are having a big feast in the castle great hall, and you won''t let us have something nice in the wagon yet? Professor Dumbledore has sneaked out some goodies for us, telling us it''s a secret Christmas present, it''s the famous food he brought back from France, blue cheese." "That yucky stuff that is made specifically by growing mould on cheese?" "How can you say such a thing about it? There are a lot of scaredy-cats out there who are afraid to try it, but you''ll only find out it''s actually a rare treat after you get over the prejudices in your own mind and take a pretty bite." "Have I had a vendetta against you before? If so, I''ll apologise once we get back, but please don''t get back at me in this way, okay?" "I can''t believe you think like that, you must try it for yourself when we get back to the wagon, and you''ll know I''m right." "Please, Lee, don''t open your mouth, will you? Otherwise, Crouch''s n is really going to work, and I''m going to die of stink!" Crouch and Snape were no fools after all, on the contrary, each of them waspletely sharp-witted in their own right. After not even daring to blink for a full minute as he watched Jon and Lee, Crouch turned his head to look at Snape. "You assured me that no man would live past the next second once that potion took effect!" Snape frowned slightly, looking like he was a little confused as well, but still said in an icy voice. "Of course, the potion I''ve prepared won''t have any problems, can''t you think of a reason why from your side?" "There would be even fewer idents in my n! You saw it, that little mudblood has taken the bracelet with her, and they are now kissing! But what now? They''re still kissing!" Snape was silent, there was certainly no way that what was in front of him was a lie, but he was also convinced that nothing could go wrong with the potion he had made. So what was the problem? After a few seconds of silence in the air, Snape suddenly spoke again and asked. "Are you really sure, Jon Green is a boy?" ---- #Jacob de, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 390: Voldemorts Attitude (2 in 1) Chapter 390: Voldemort''s Attitude (2 in 1) Hearing this question from Snape, Barty Jr. froze for a moment, then whispered with a grim look on his face. "Do you think all that investigation I did earlier about him at the orphanage was for nothing? That his biological father, who had abandoned him would not have known whether he was a male or a female?" Barty Jr. certainly had a point; Snape had only made a hypothesis, and he wasn''t certain about it. "So since there is nothing went wrong with your n, my potion is also perfectly fine, and Jon Green''s gender can be fully confirmed, what is the problem now?" His question once again brought a moment of silence to the conversation, and after a long moment, the two men suddenly looked up at each other as if they had thought of something possible at the same time. *** The huge explosion shattered the armour that held the sword in one hand, and the magic that kept the dead thing moving could no longer be maintained, the knight''s sword fell to the ground, and the armour that had been put together fell apart. Only the broken glove was still moving its fingers slightly, dead but not rigid, but that alone was no longer a threat to Hermione. The other two suits of armour, as if stunned by Hermione''s outrageous behaviour, stopped their charge with their weapons in hand and stood facing her instead. Hermione''s breathing became noticeably more rapid and the bun on her head was scattered by the aftermath of the st, with her long chestnut hair flowing right over her back. Tiny cracks like spider webs had appeared above the pale blue shield charm, but the charm had not beenpletely destroyed in that downward sh of the armour, retaining its basic effect. The st from earlier was clearly not small, but it couldn''t do much harm to the armour; this sting curse alchemical bomb that the Weasley twins had developed had actually lost much of its powerpared to the actual sting curse, and if it continued to diminish its effect any further, there would be no way to make an effective attack. It was precisely that bomb that Hermione had managed to throw into the inside of the armour. Internally this magical armour certainly didn''t have any overly strong defences, and if it was just thrown at it randomly and the bomb was allowed to explode on the outside, it would basically do little effective damage to this incredibly defensive armour. And the sound of such amotion had actually been damped down considerably by the Slowing charm Hermione had cast on the armour in advance by slowing the velocity, otherwise, it would have been louder and attracted more attention. Soon the two remaining armours did not remain silent for long, and they resumed their attack with a new burst. Hermione was certainly no match for Jon in terms of mastery of advanced spells and dark magic, but she had the advantage of having learned the basic spells extremely well. In a scenario where everyone waspressing their time outside of school and studying as hard as they could, given the danger that apanied the Hogwarts wagon, Hermione was also good enough to be called a rightful king of the grind. Even though she had a year and a half less schooling, she had managed to keep up with the pace of the normal fourth-year students on the wagon and was even at the top of them all. It was only Hermione''s low profile on the wagon andck of activity in the ssroom,bined with the fact that there were no proper exams on the wagon due to the ups and downs of the past few years, that gave many people the false impression that she wasn''t actually all that good. Freezing Charm, Incarcerous Spell, Slowing Charm, Transfiguration Spells. Hermione had clearly decided that her offensive direction should only aim to limit the movement of the two suits of armour as much as possible, and after blowing up one suit of armour to relieve her defensive pressure, the rest required minimal offensive control on her part, as long as she dyed until the shorthand quill hadpletely copied the runes on the desk, it would be fine. Things went smoothly after that. The two suits of armour hadn''t even touched a corner of Hermione''s robes, and the Aurors were clearly moving much slower than she had previously predicted; they had only just made it to the third floor from the ground floor in about two minutes. They had only heard the sound of movement from the upper floors of the castle, but could not tell exactly which room on which floor the sound was from, so it was extremely time-consuming to go from floor to floor. After the shorthand quill hade to aplete stop andy quietly on the parchment where the ink hadn''t quite dried, Hermione didn''t half stop, she instantly dodged the armour''s raised axe once more and then grabbed the parchment on the desk. "Fawkes." Ever reliable, Fawkes shed golden-red light at the same time Hermione called out his name. That golden sh illuminated the window panes of the Headmaster''s office, and Lee, who had been watching this window on the seventh floor, was inevitably able to see it. "Well, well, Hermione''s signal has arrived, her mission at the castle is over,e on, we''re going back to the wagon!" Lee instantly had no intention of pretending with Jon any longer, and Jon was well aware that the moment they started pretending was also the countdown to things falling apart. So Jon didn''t hesitate, he got up from the bench as soon as he heard Lee''s words, and the two of them didn''t stay any longer, they just walked straight away in the direction of the exit of the garden which was near the edge of the forbidden forest. Barty Jr. was no fool, without having to question Jon''s gender at all, just from the way they were now rushing to get ready to leave, even if he really was a fool at this point he knew exactly what was wrong. "Do you think it''s possible that it was actually your n that had failed from the very beginning, and they''re now ying us from start to finish?" Snape''s words were full of sarcasm, he didn''t seem to have much empathy for Barty''s failure, he had only yed a supporting role in this scheme, doing what he had to do as Voldemort''s second inmand and fulfilling his duty, the only person who would benefit and be responsible for this, whether it seeded or failed, would be Barty Jr. Barty''s face was blue, and he had also obviously thought of that. "What are you gloating about? Haven''t you considered why they''re putting on a show for us like this? There must be something went wrong in the castle if they were drawing our attention to them!" "Whatever went wrong doesn''t it stem from your arrogance, ''Mr.'' Crouch." Snape said scornfully, "I just did what you have asked me to do, and all the consequences are of course yours to bear alone." Barty Jr. knew this of course and without any notice he had pulled his wand out of his own sleeve at this point and stood up from the shadows with his eyes fixed on Jon and Lee''s backs. "If they''re using themselves as bait, why can''t we just attack and keep them behind, even without a poison?" The mockery on Snape''s face remained the same. "If you could have thought of that five minutes earlier maybe that would have been possible, but now, look carefully ahead, do you think you have a chance?" It was only at this point that Barty Jr. looked in the direction Snape was indicating, and there, at some point, in the direction of the end of the garden path, stood an old man with crescent-shaped sses and dark purple robes and grey-white hair and beard. He was right next to themp, in the shadows where the light didn''t reach, and Jon and Lee obviously saw him too, as they called aloud for Professor Dumbledore and then walked quickly towards the old man. Dumbledore still had his gentle smile on his face, as if he was looking at Jon and the other, and his gaze looked past them to meet Barty Jr.''s eyes. Barty''s expression grew grimmer and gloomier than ever before, but at the same time he had the sense to drop his half-raised wand and, without another word, turn around and walk towards the castle. Snape did not leave with Barty Jr. right away, he stayed where he was and looked deeply at Dumbledore, and there were a lot of thoughts passing through his eyes before he turned around again and returned to Hogwarts Castle. Jon''s mood, which had been slightly tense after seeing Dumbledore, rxedpletely. "Has Hermione gone back already? Professor." Dumbledore walked beside them as the three returned side by side in the direction of the wagon. "Of course, I came over just as she got back to the wagon, to pick you up and take a walk at the same time, and to be honest, it''s quite a nice setting they''ve decorated in that ce." He sounded rxed, not bothering at all to mention the encounter he had just had with Barty Jr. and Snape as they ran to meet him. "By the way, Jon, I also left you a secret Christmas present that I think you''ll really like, Lee ate a chunk of it before he came looking for you." "You''ll have to give me a break Professor, I shudder to think of the thought of shoving that thing in my mouth, really you might as well have me have a one-on-one bout with some Death Eater." "You''ll really regret it if you don''t try it, Jon! That''s really a rare delicacy!" "Thanks to you, I''ve already indirectly felt the potency of that thing from you earlier, so it''s better to leave such a delicacy to you to enjoy alone." The three figures faded into the light, and finally, only a snippet of Dumbledore''s happyughter came from the direction of the Hogwarts wagon. At midnight, in the Headmaster''s office, Dumbledore looked at the copy of ancient runes on his desk that had been brought by Hermione from the castle. "He''s actuallypleted it." The Slytherin''s voice came over the wall, he had obviously read what was on that parchment. Dumbledore didn''t look up, there was actually a lot that could be gleaned from these runes. "Leaving aside the question of whether hepleted it or not, what I''m thinking is that Hermione''s entry into that Headmaster''s office was so obvious, and he didn''t really notice it at all?" His fingers tapped lightly on the desktop in his office. "I don''t think he noticed it at all, Hermione said a snake was guarding that office, with lots of portraits and three suits of armour, it may seem like a perfect setup, but there''s really no need to go to all that trouble, if he really cared about that office he could have had one or two of the castle house elves stationed there, and at the first sign of anyone breaking in they would have immediately gone to him, then no one could possibly get a clue about what''s going on there at all." Dumbledore''s words caused the entire wall of portraits of the Headmasters to look at each other, they were clearly a little confused by this spection of Dumbledore''s. "But if he doesn''t care about the office, then why all these preparations? Aren''t these just all pointless?" Dilys asked. There was silence in the Headmaster''s office for a few seconds before Dumbledore suddenly said. "Is it possible that he did it on purpose, that he deliberately gave us the illusion that he actually cared about that office and was actually covering up something else?" "But he''s about to finish his progress isn''t he?" Phineas argued loudly, "You and Slytherin both verified these ancient runes and determined that if he had actually managed to finish this entire process as per the magic based on these runes, he would in fact havepleted his control over this castle, so what''s the point of him making this demonstration, purposely trying to trick us for fun?" His words sparked a debate among the many Headmasters, each of them seemed to have their own opinion, but in the end, no one could quite put their finger on it. It was Dumbledore who eventually put a stop to their bickering and said in a quiet voice. "Actually, there are only two crucial questions about Riddle that we have right now, namely why he must start this Triwizard Tournament, and then what exactly he wants when he is about to seize this castle." "Our demands are quite simple themselves, one is to get the castle back in its entirety rather than just gaining only nominal ownership through a blood pact, and two is to win this Triwizard Tournament and establish our foundational roots in France." "The first and most important thing that we have to do is to satisfy our own demands first, I trust Jon in the matter of the Triwizard Tournament and with himpeting, there is no need for anyone else to interfere too much. So for now all we have to work on is figuring out how to get this castle back intact that has been tossed around by Riddle, which is the aim of my decisive promise to him to hold the Triwizard Tournament in the first ce." Dumbledore turned to look at the group of Headmasters on the wall. "I think you all know better than I do that this castle may not even be worth anything to Riddle, it''s just a sign to show off his reign in Britain, but to us, it''s the root of everything." At this, the headmasters in the portrait, all nodded solemnly, agreeing strongly with Dumbledore''s words. Then, Slytherin''s voice rang out. "Taking back the castle intact is not really a problem for us. For this castle has never been subservient to Riddle from the beginning, it belonged to us in the first ce, and all we have to do is remove all the heavy influences that have been inflicted upon it now, and then Hogwarts can be Hogwarts castle that it once was." Dumbledore''s gaze deepened as he looked like he was contemting something. "If that''s all, it is of course wouldn''t be that difficult for us, but the first thing we need to make sure of is, that the influence he exerts on this castle can''t be allowed to go any further, or I always feel that it would lead to a consequence that no one, no matter who it might be, would be able to bear." ---- #Jacob de, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 391: Lost Contact Chapter 391: Lost Contact Inside Hogwarts Castle, the Ball continued in the Great Hall. It was just that after Jon and Lee have hooked Barty Jr. and Snape out of the castle, the students from Hogwarts wagon who were still attending the Ball, as well as Durmstrang, had left early with Rosier leading the way. And Lucius here had also received a report from his men about a disturbance in the upper levels of the castle, but he didn''t take the matter too seriously and just sent a team of Aurors to check out the confinement room where Selwyn was being detained, thinking that the youngdy was throwing her bad temper around. However, once Barty Jr. returned to the great hall with a nasty look on his face and found him, Lucius sensed that something had gone wrong. "Send someone to the Ministry of Magic immediately and inform the Death Eaters left at the Ministry to meet me in Hogwarts without dy! Then seal off the entrances and exits of the great hall for me now, but don''t disturb the students, judges and newspaper reporters here, tell them that there is a routine inspection going on in the castle and their cooperation is needed by remaining here. Send all other Aurors out to search the entire castle and report anything unusual immediately!" Snape stood calmly by Barty''s side, acting as if he was an uninvolved person when the orders were being given. When Lucius heard Barty''s order, he turned his head to look at Snape and, after noticing that the deputy headmaster, who had always been at odds with Barty, did not make a sound, he went to arrange for the Aurors to proceed ording to the order. After directing Lucius, Barty Jr. turned his head back to Snape and he lowered his voice. "This matter must be informed to our lord, I will bear all the consequences." Snape just nced at him faintly. "No need to give me special emphasis, whether you admit it to yourself or not, the consequences are meant to be borne by you, and why do you need to tell me specifically about informing our lord, you are perfectly capable of doing it yourself." Barty Jr. pursed his lips, it was clear that Snape''sment was undoubtedly the same as adding another bucket of oil to his already burning anger. "Don''t try to y games with me at this point! I can''t contact our lord at all! After the first task ended, and I briefed him on my ns, I never received any instructions from him." Hearing him say this, Snape frowned slightly as he gave Barty Jr. a deep look. "You''re sure?" "I''m sure, I tried to contact our lord twice in the meantime but received no reply, I assumed our lord was dealing with something else important and didn''t have time tomunicate with me!" Snape didn''t go on to make any more gloomy remarks, he obviously noticed the big issues at stake as well. "Follow me." He left those words and Barty Jr. didn''t hesitate, leaving Lucius to organise arrangements for Aurors to carry out the search through the entire castle, while he followed Snape to his office. Snape selected a book with a ck cover and no markings on it from the shelf, then spread it out on his desk, sprinkled some Floo powder onto the pages, and finally tapped the book with his wand. The next moment, the Floo powder on the pages red up into a green me, which was not violent, but like a small me burning on a candle. However after the green mes lit up nothing more happened, the green glow reflected off the faces of both Snape and Barty, making both of their faces look as grim as they could. "Our lord has broken all contact with us." Barty''s voice was trembling, he rarely showed such emotion, especially in front of Snape. Snape didn''t say anything, he just kept quiet and stared at the ghastly green fire, his already pale face looking even more bleak now. "When was the first time you couldn''t reach out to our lord?" "The second week of October." "It''s been almost two months now, you''ve contacted him twice, this is the first time I have, and it''s certainly no coincidence that we have failed to contact him three times in total." After Snape''s words had fallen, a dead silence fell over the office. It was a long time before Barty said in a voice that had reverted back to its frighteningly calm tone. "Absolutely, by all means, no one else must know about this." Snape didn''t make a sound, he was still looking at the green fire and just nodded heavily. In the castle, young Barty''s arrangements were quickly carried out. Voldemort had given him and Snape a great deal of authority, previously it would have been necessary to include both the Lestrange couple while making big decisions when their lord was away, but after the Lestranges had now been killed in public by Jon, then the two of them were considered to be above all others and below one in the entire British magicalmunity. Once the Death Eaters had arrived at the castle, they assumedmand over the Aurors as a matter of course, each one leading a squad of Aurors as they searched the castle. The students who were still mingling in the great hall hadn''t noticed anything wrong yet, and it was still early enough that no one wanted to go back to their dormitories for the time being, and when they had spent enough time in the hall, they went in pairs to the garden, a move that the Aurors didn''t stop. In an hour or so, the Death Eaters and the Aurors had searched every possible area of the castle, but none of them had found anything unusual. The news soon reached Barty and Snape, who had been in front of the castle entrance hall since they had left the Deputy Headmaster''s office. Barty Jr.''s face didn''t look as grim as it had when he had just returned to the Great Hall; instead, he showed enoughposure at this point. "Are you sure all the locations in the castle have been searched?" "There''s only one ce we still have to check that we know of," Lucius said as he stared into Barty''s eyes. Even if he didn''t say where it was directly, both Barty Jr. and Snape knew where the ce that both the Death Eaters and the Aurors knew but were too afraid to search would be. Snape stepped forward at this moment, and he looked at Lucius with a cold face. "Our lord has left me with this authority, I will lead you into the Headmaster''s office." Lucius frowned. "I''ve never heard of it before, and besides, even if you did have this permission, wouldn''t we need to report it to our lord first before making a decision?" At this point, Barty Jr. showed ample tacit understanding with Snape. "You don''t need to doubt his word, I can totally vouch for that. And right now our lord is in the middle of a very important matter and has warned us that no one should bother him." Voldemort had divided the vast majority of the authority in his hands equally between Snape and Barty Jr. for just such a situation. If everything had been going smoothly, Barty Jr. would definitely have targeted Snape, who had been clearly born a half-blood but held a high position and fought him for authority at every turn. But when ites to special circumstances, then Barty''s loyalty towards Voldemort will definitely make it possible for him to put aside all his previous disputes with Snape and join forces to deal with the situation. And in Voldemort''s absence, if the voices of Barty and Snape were to be united, then even the Minister of Magic, Fudge, would not be able to decide most things as they could. So after hearing Barty Jr. step up to Snape''s side, Lucius had no objection. They led a group of people to the door of the Headmaster''s office on the seventh floor, and then, in the presence of everyone, Snape pushed the door open. There were broken and damaged portraits everywhere, a huge snake with a hole in its head in a pool of blood, pieces of armour scattered all over the floor, and two pairs of enchanted armour guarding both sides of the desk together! The sight before them was so obvious that whoever looked at it knew exactly what had transpired in this office. Snape led the way by stepping inside the Headmaster''s office, he made his way to Nagini''s corpse and gently dabbed some scarlet snake blood with his finger. "It hasn''t been long since it died, two hours ago at most." His gaze was on Barty Jr. as he said this, both of them well aware of who they were following two hours ago. Avoiding Snape''s gaze, Barty Jr. made his way to the desk and looked at the four relics that had been ced on it as well as the tabletop that was covered in ancient runes that he wouldn''t have noticed if he hadn''t paid close attention. He soon discovered the carved inscriptions. It was a few drops of dark green ink, the aftermath when the knight''s sword hit Gryffindor''s sword while the shorthand quill was transcribing the runes. Seeing the traces of ink, and looking at the ancient runes on the desk, it was easy for Barty to connect the dots. But he did not voice out these findings and simply turned his head to look around at the shattered portraits. "Put these portraits back together for me at once, then find them in other locations and see if you can figure something out." Soon an Auror carried out his orders and returned to the Ministry of Magic with the shattered portraits to try and mend and search for them. It was at this time that a Death Eater finally raised an objection. "Shouldn''t we report this situation here to our lord first?" They all entered the Headmaster''s office for the first time, so no one even knew what the ce was like before it was destroyed, and no one knew for sure if anything precious had been stolen, so someone suggested that it would be the right thing to report it to Voldemort first. But Barty Jr. simply said indifferently. "Our lord is in the middle of something from which he cannot afford to be distracted, even if there is such an ident in the Headmaster''s office." Snape, the only one who could question him for speaking like this, did not speak up, so the others had the good sense to choose to believe it. And this time Lucius went on to ask a new question. "So how do we track down the perpetrator now?" "The perpetrator doesn''t even need to be traced, there is only one group who has any chance of having the ability and idea to get into the Headmaster''s office to do this within this school now!" ---- #Jacob de, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 392: Betting Every Second Chapter 392: Betting Every Second Barty Jr. knew exactly what he had to do next. The biggest problem now was no longer the invasion of the Headmaster''s office by Dumbledore''s men, but how should he keep the fact that they had lost contact with Voldemort under wraps. Both Barty and Snape understood the reason why the Purebloods had been able to fight against Dumbledore''s men for so long and still have the upper hand most of the time because they relied on the superior strength of their lord. And now, especially with Dumbledore still inside Hogwarts, there was no guarantee of what Dumbledore would do if he learned that no one in the castle or the Ministry of Magic could contact Voldemort. But while Barty was rmed by this, he was not afraid. They had experienced such a month more than a decade ago when everyone had learned of his disappearance and the Death Eaters got nearly wiped out, and the fence sitters began to turn towards the former Ministry of Magic and the loyalists were taken into Azkaban. But then, Voldemort showed up in time and became even more powerful than before making it possible to recover all the losses of that month. This time, the only two people who knew what the situation was, Barty Jr. and Snape, were not going to let such a thing happen again. Soon after the Yule Ball, Barty and Snape gathered all the newspaper reporters currently in Hogwarts Castle, as well as the three judges of the Confederation, and informed them of the intrusion of a burr into Hogwarts Castlest night. "The castle is heavily guarded, I think those of you who have lived here during this time know that better than anyone, and the real answer to the question of to what side the person with both the ability and purpose to infiltrate the school at this time belongs, even if there is no clear answer yet, the real answer is actually in the back of your minds." Barty Jr''s face was serious as he stared intently at Matthew, who was sitting in front of everyone. "This is undoubtedly a tant breach of the rules and order of the Triwizard Tournament; we graciously invited certain people inside for this tournament, but by doing so we have been unable to probate those people''s wolfish ambitions, just as if the host had opened the door wide to warmly entertain a group of thieves who, while appearing to sit honestly in the seats we had prepared for them, had actually long since wandered the entire room and stolen the possessions belonging to the host." He didn''t explicitly name anyone, but one only had to look closely at who was missing from the scene to know who Barty Jr. was calling out. "As the most impartial judge of this tournament, I think you should say something, Mr Graves." As Batty Jr.''s words fell, all eyes turned to Matthew. Matthew frowned as he was baffled by the incident. "I am the judge of the Triwizard Tournament, not the judge for the feud between your two sides, and there are still four days to go before the start of the second task, and anything that happens in between, between you two, has nothing to do with us." "But they are doing this vile and evil act with the help of a Ball that is being held for this tournament!" Barty Jr.''s voice echoed through the great hall, and he spoke with a voice that silenced all the whispers below. "I have exined this incident to my lord, and he does not care what these thieves have done, but while my lord may not care, we, his people, cannot ignore it." He lowered his head to look at Matthew. "I won''t make it hard for you either, Mr Graves, just help take a word to that man and tell him that what he has done is not unnoticed by us, and we can wait and see how it goes on when the final ounting will be madeter." With those words, Barty Jr. left from the great hall, Snape following right beside him, frowning a little bit. "You can hide it from Dumbledore by doing this?" "What do you think we should do about this?" Barty Jr. said coldly, "Pretend we don''t know anything, that nothing had happened? That would be the stupidest thing to do, telling them inly that we''ve lost our footing, what we need to do now is to speak up about it, let the whole wizarding world know, let them know that we know too, that would be the best thing to do." Snape, however, was clearly not much in agreement with this. "But what''s the point of doing nothing after you''ve said it out loud like that? Doesn''t it make it look even more like we''recking in strength and are just barking?" "That''s only because you already know our lord is out of touch with us. Let''s make a hypothetical, if our lord was still in contact with us, then what do you think he would have done to Dumbledore''s group after learning of this?" Snape was silent for a moment as he brought into the perspective of that happening. "Our lord wouldn''t have done anything to Dumbledore or those students of his either." Barty Jr. spared Snape a nce of interest. "How did youe to that conclusion?" "Our lord takes this Triwizard Tournament very seriously, all he has done before is make way for this tournament, and now that there are no more than a few days before the second task begins, as long as nothing happens that touches his bottom line, then he will just pretend not to see it and let the tournament proceed." Snape''s response allowed Barty Jr. to verify that he wasn''t some mindless idiot. "So our reaction now is the right one, to say things out loud and let everyone know so that Dumbledore will at least suffer in terms of public opinion, but then we won''t do anything definite against them afterwards, only we will know that it''s because we can''t contact our lord anymore, and it won''t even ur to anyone else, they will just think that our lord is still the same as before, swallowing his breath to keep the Triwizard Tournament going." "Are you so sure that what Dumbledore had let his man do in the Headmaster''s office didn''t touch our lord''s bottom line?" Barty Jr. said softly. "I''m betting on it. We started the nning for this whole incident, and all that Dumbledore and the others did was to go along with it, and I''m betting that they had no way to make a more crucial n at the Ball yesterday than to make an extension of what we had nned. And we didn''t lose any of those four things in the Headmaster''s office, did we?" "You''re taking a chance." Snape gave him a deep look. But Barty Jr. spoke with disinterest. "Every second from now on, the moment we know that our contact with our lord is lost, we''re taking a risk, it makes no difference." *** With what had happened in the castle, Matthew soon found his way to Dumbledore. Dumbledore listened intently as Matthew finished his ount of what Barty Jr. had said in the great hall and had a very surprised look on his face. "I had absolutely no idea what happenedst night." Matthew expressed full confidence in Dumbledore''s words in response. "I certainly do trust you not to provoke them into doing anything at this time, it would be the best possible oue for you if you could carry on the Triwizard Tournament in peace and win it." Dumbledore nodded with deep agreement, and behind him, a group of headmasters all nodded in agreement. "So what did Crouch mean by that, did someone really take the opportunity ofst night''s Ball to break into the castle, or did he just want an excuse toe after us before the second task?" Matthew gave his opinion in response to Dumbledore''s question. "No matter what it is, I don''t think they would do anything to affect the uing Tournament task, you know, Albus, he''s that serious about the Triwizard Tournament, surely he wouldn''t just stop halfway." Dumbledore showed a thoughtful expression. "Probably not before, but now that both Beauxbatons and the Castle''s champions are falling behind on the scoreboard overall, there''s no way to guarantee if he has changed his mind." Hearing him say that, Matthew had a solemn look on his face. "I can assure you, Albus, that I will make sure the rest of the tournament goes properly, and as long as the blood pact between you and him is not broken, then nothing will go wrong." "I certainly trust your assurance." Dumbledore gave a timely smile. They then exchanged a few more pleasantries, and after a final reminder from Matthew to get them ready for the start of the second task on the first of January, he excused himself and left. The office fell back into silence. Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and frowned slightly. "Is this what we''ve been waiting for?" The Slytherin calmly picked up on his words. "As we predicted, if Riddle came to see you in person today, it means he still cares about the arrangements in the Headmaster''s office, and if he didn''t, it means he doesn''t care if we know about his progress." "But he has sent someone here at the moment, still Matthew Graves." Dumbledore said, lost in thought. "So what exactly is he trying to do? To im the castle and after that? To win the Triwizard Tournament? But does he truly want to win?" No one could answer his question, and silence fell back into the room. Whenever there was news, the magical newspaper reporters were there, so of course they reported the news, and soon Barty''s statement appeared in the next day''s major newspapers. But this unconfirmed information didn''t make much of a ssh in the wizarding world, as it was already December 27th the day the papers were distributed, just three days before the start of the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. More people were still more concerned with the progress of the tournament than with the intrusion of someone into Hogwarts Castle. And it was in this environment that the first day of 1995 arrived and the second task of the Triwizard Tournament was officially announced by Matthew on thewn by the ck Lake. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 393: The Second Task (2 in 1) Chapter 393: The Second Task (2 in 1) Jon got up from bed each day and routinely used an Animagus transformation incantation with his wand aimed at his heart area. He had done this almost daily for six months and had never stopped, and only after he had done this would he start to wash up and then have breakfast. When he arrived in the great hall, Lee, George and Hermione were all already seated. "I read the Daily Prophet, and it''s the only one that sticks stiffly to the Ball, insisting that we stole something valuable from the castle, and it''s only because of the Dark Lord''s generosity that we weren''t pursued and continued with our day. Oh yes, and they''ve published photos of those portraits and pieces of armour you destroyed, Hermione." George said smugly, holding a cup of pumpkin juice. "Looks like Fred and I got great results for our Weasley orb!" The alchemical ball Hermione had used to sessfully blow up that armour in the Headmaster''s office was of course the Weasley twins'' research sess that Jon had discovered in the middle of the summer. The most perfect thing they had made so far was this little bomb, with a stable trigger and a decent amount of potency; right at the end of the first task, George had shown Dumbledore what they had aplished and shared all the tricks and materials to make it in the hope that it would reduce some casualties and injuries to the wizards of the Witching Horizon. As the twins had said to Jon during the summer holidays, they didn''t hide their research from Dumbledore, and with Durmstrang''s funding, they had no worries about their experiments, and could also make it possible for the Witching Horizon to get the blueprint for free. But even if they wanted to give them away for free, Dumbledore certainly saw the value in them. The Weasley twins were ingenious and gifted in alchemy, and it was not unheard of for wizards to think of embedding a sting curse within a sphere to mass produce this advanced dark magic, but the biggest problem with this idea was the instability of the sting curse runes, the timing of when the finished product would explode and the nature of the explosion would be unknown even to the person who made it. The Weasley twins, however, had ovee this difficulty, and Jon had no idea how they had done it, but it seemed that they had used some ancient rune that had been passed down in the Weasley family, and when the technology of the alchemical sphere had maturedpletely, they had given away all their research for nothing, and of course, Grindelwald''s side had paid for it, so they had received a copy of such technology as well. After learning of the Weasley twins'' work, Dumbledore did not ept the gift, but after careful consideration, he offered to give them a patent for their invention and a share for each Weasley Orb they produced. But such a payment was also refused by the twins, who remained true to their initial idea of giving it away for free without taking a knut. In the end, Dumbledore didn''t insist any further, and simply left a trophy in the Weasley twins'' names in the showroom he kept in the wagon while giving the Weasleys a generous bonus in the Witching Horizon for George and Fred''s absolute excellence, honouring and rewarding their parents. In response, George and Fred didn''t refuse again when they learned of it, and Arthur and Molly, although they didn''t know exactly what they had done, were both happy and proud of it. The Weasley Orb Hermione had used in the Headmaster''s office this time was the finished product that Dumbledore had given her, which Witching Horizon had made using the technology provided by the Weasley twins. It was the first time it had been used in a real battle now, and it had yielded remarkable results. "It is very useful and not too shabby in power." Hermione gave her approval. Although they were the ones who had actually infiltrated Hogwarts castle on the day of the Ball, outside opinion had little effect on Jon and the others. It was even safe to say that this incident was no longer even mentioned in the magical dailies except for the Daily Prophet, which was still covering it, and instead, the focus began to be on the second task of the Triwizard Tournament that would be taking ce today. In fact, as early as the end of the first task, Jon already knew what the second task would be. The three tasks of the Triwizard Tournament had been proposed by one task each from Voldemort''s side and Dumbledore''s side and the final task would be decided by Matthew and the others. The snatching of the Golden Snitches from the Forbidden Forest was the task proposed by Voldemort''s side, and the second task was naturally chosen by Dumbledore and the team, so Jon and Diane had a huge head start against Draco and Emil. Of course, such a head start was allowed by the rules, just as Draco and Emil actually knew about the first task well in advance before the first task started. So Jon had been at the ck Lake since the end of the first task to prepare for the second one. That''s right, the second task would be in the ck Lake. Only unlike the original task, this time instead of trying to save someone from the merpeople, they had to search for pearls from the bottom of theke. Unlike the first task, there would only be ten such pearls in total, and given the scope of the ck Lake and the fact that the students would not be able to stay underwater for anywhere near as long as they would in the Forbidden Forest. ording to Jon''s estimation, this task would be over in just one morning at the earliest. The most critical issue faced by the champions was not simply being underwater, but the fact that it was only the first of January and the ice on the surface of the ck Lake was still at its thickest, making it a problem just to break through the ice and get into the water, and the difficulty of staying in the cold water. Compared to these two, the search for the pearls and everything else would be a much simpler problem to solve. Dumbledore''s proposal to task in the ck Lake was not without reason, and Jon had been fishing at theke every day for some time to prepare for his entry into the water. As for how to get into the water, this was something he and Diane certainly had plenty of ns for. After breakfast, Dumbledore and Rosier led the group to the ck Lake, where many students from Hogwarts Castle had already gathered. Now that the winter holidays were not over, and the fact that everyone had not gone home to attend the Yule Ball over the holidays, these students were in the most boring state of mind in the castle with the absence of sses. There was no restriction on them in terms of spectating the tournament which would be held on the ck Lake due to the holiday, so naturally, they could alle and be spectators. Other than the students, Matthew and two other judges were already waiting there, and Snape and Beauxbatons''s Deputy Headmaster Bonnesante were likewise at theke with Draco and Emil. Jon and the others were sort of thest to arrive, but there was actually still half an hour before the official start time of the tournament at nine o''clock. When they arrived, Jon obviously saw something unusual in Emil and Draco''s hands, it looked like a herb, which made him and Diane look at each other. Diane obviously saw what they were holding in their hands as well, and spoke to Jon in a mumbling tone. "Gillyweed." It is a herb that allows the person taking it to breathe underwater for up to an hour. It wasn''t the herb itself that was really a problem for Jon, but the fact that both Draco and Emil had actually prepared in advance like this as well. Who had told them the rules of the tournament in advance? Jon subconsciously nced up at Matthew as he thought of this, but then he also realised that it wasn''t just the American wizard, but actually, the other two Confederation judges who were more suspicious than him, especially the Asian wizard who had already revealed some problems in the first task. After everyone had arrived, Matthew read out the rules for the second task in public. "After passing through the woods, your challenge turns underwater in its wake. This ckke is the venue for the next task, and even as an American I have heard the legend of how the four great wizards rowed across it a thousand years ago when they chose this spot to build Hogwarts Castle." "So of course in this tournament to determine the ownership of the castle and the Hallmark of Hogwarts, you will also be required to retrace the path taken by the founders of this school. We have hidden ten pearls in the ck Lake in advance and all you have to do today is to collect them as quickly as possible in the shortest time, with the final score being judged simrly to the first task, with 70, 50, 30 and 10 points for the number of pearls gained and 40, 30, 20 and 10 points for the time taken to return. This task is unlike the first task. There is no time limit for this task, you can stay in theke as long as you want if you can, but again, if someone doesn''t return for a long time, we will send someone underwater specifically to check if they still have any vital signs." "There is one more thing you need to be aware of, all of you, because of the unique underwater environment, whatever you experience in it, we will not be able to know in time, so I cannot guarantee your safety once you have entered theke, and it is for this reason that I have to inform you of this in advance so that you can be prepared." Matthew gave a serious nce at all the champions present, but of course, he only gave a quick nce at Jon and just focused on Diane, Draco and Emil. Diane was certainly not swayed in any way, she had been all set when she registered herself from Durmstrang and chose to throw her name into the Goblet of Fire. Emil certainly didn''t grimace either, not that he wasn''t afraid, but the moment Voldemort had found their house to make them rece the Be couple in the Lestrange House it had been predetermined, he could only move forward, not backwards. Draco was also calm, except that if anyone had been staring at him, they would have noticed that his calves had actually been trembling slightly. For him, only from the second task onwards would he really be participating in this Triwizard Tournament, having previously, thanks to Jon''s blessing, made him escape the first Dragon crisis without suffering much disdain or scorn. And now, though, he couldn''t even show how much panic he had inside on the surface. Jon had actually contacted Lucius privately once before this task had started, asking him if he wanted to do the same scenario as the first task again, where he had eliminated Draco at the very beginning of the task, and there was no need to inform Draco himself, as long as Lucius agreed to it, he would find the opportunity to do it at the very beginning of the task, that way Draco''s reaction would still look realistic at that time, and anyway, the Malfoys didn''t really care about results. Well, maybe Draco would care a little, but even if he did, it wouldn''t matter. Lucius had obviously given this a lot of thought and eventually turned Jon down. He obviously had some regard for saving some dignity for his son''s future life in the castle. It would be fine to be knocked out by Jon the first time, after all, Jon''s strength was obvious to all, but if he had to be beaten by Jon in the same way in two consecutive tasks. Draco would not be able to stay in Hogwarts Castle, and even Lucius himself might be doubted by the other Death Eaters. So no matter what, this time Draco was going to have topete in the tournament on his own. After seeing that no questions were raised, Matthew nced at the time on his pocket watch and, without further dy, officially began the inspection process before the tournament began. They checked the wands and belongings of all four of them in turn, as they had done before, and it was worth noting that the herb held in the hands of both Draco and Emil was allowed to be held, and the item made using shards of Ashwinder snake eggshell and worn by Jon and Diane were allowed to be kept. The second task is different from the first one as the champions are allowed to use magical items to the appropriate extent, and this appropriateness can only be as appropriate as the judging panel allows. After making sure there were no other problems, at nine o''clock in the morning, Matthew announced in front of all the students, professors and journalists around that Jon and the others could proceed with their pre-tournament preparations. It didn''t take long for Jon to figure out exactly what this so-called pre-tournament preparation was; it was a period of time specifically reserved for them to figure out how to break the ck Lake ice fast. During this time, the four champions were not allowed to attack each other. Such a rule in disguise was restricting Jon, because if the task was announced straight away, the ice surface of the ck Lake would surely turn into a battle royale stage. It didn''t matter if they got the pearls or not, they would just do it and eliminate everyone else, and the person who won would end up first in the second task. To avoid this, there was a period of preparation before the task, and the task would only begin once the champions had gone underwater. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 394: Under the Black Lake Chapter 394: Under the ck Lake All at once, the four of them were standing on the ice of the ck Lake. Each of them was still wearing their thick robes, and there was still unmelted snow all around them, and the cold wind was blowing their hair. Instead of standing together, the four stood apart, and Jon made no first move after making it to the ice, instead turning his head to look at Emil and the others. Apparently, Emil and Draco had already exchanged words beforehand, and although the two were not standing together, their wands were aimed at the same patch of ice to cast the spell. Only Emil was using a Smashing spell, while Draco was using a Severing Charm. It was not that Draco didn''t want to use the Smashing spell, but he was only in the fourth year, and he didn''t know the advanced spell that only sixth-year students could learn yet. With thebined efforts of the two of them, a crater appeared in the ice, but it hadn''t quite broken through theke yet. After observing Emil''s spell-casting, Jon didn''t linger any longer. He turned his head and looked at Diane, then nodded and held his wand in both hands, aiming it at the ice five metres in front of him. This strange grip on his wand attracted the attention of many in the audience, but then the next moment a loud st shook everyone''s ears! "Confringo." "Boom!" A dazzling fire suddenly lit up in the direction that the tip of Jon''s wand was aimed, from which a deafening boom caused the students who hadn''t reacted at all for a moment to scream in fear. The entire ice surface of the ck Lake trembled, and countless pieces of broken ice turned into shards like snowkes in that impactful st, flying around Jon. Not only did the sting curse blow right through the ice, but the icyke water shot up into the sky, leaping perhaps two metres or more in height before finally sshing back down onto the cracked ice! Draco and Emil who were at the closest distance to Jon and were destroying the ice with their spell before the explosion went off, almost fell to the ground from the sudden loud sound and impact that caught them both off guard. It was a good thing that Jon''s curse was not aimed at them, otherwise, there would have been no point in continuing this tournament, and Dumbledore would not have won either, as Jon would have seriously broken the blood pact Dumbledore had made. Soon the reporters around the ce reacted, pressing the shutter as fast as they could, as Jon''s sting curse would be a big mention in tomorrow''s headlines. After sessfully breaking through the ice, Jon didn''t stop, he immediately used the special bubble spell on himself that Rosier had taught him and Diane some time ago. Immediately thereafter, his entire body was encased in a transparent bubble of water. This spell was an enhanced version of the Bubble-Head Charm and was simr to the rtionship between the Protego Maxima and the Shield Charm, which went from encircling the head to being able to encase the whole body along with a slight protective effect. Diane used the same spell as Jon, and then Jon leapt into the cold waters of the ck Lake, with Diane right behind him. The two could breathe underwater with a bubble spell to ensure their breathing, and the shards of Ashwinder snake eggshell that they had prepared from the start would ensure that their body temperature would not drop due to theke''s waters. Soon theke was calm again, leaving only Draco and Emil to look at therge gaping hole in the ice that Jon had blown. Emil stared at the ice hole that had returned to calm after Jon had jumped underwater with a torn look on his face, but in the end, he continued to use the Smashing spell on the unbroken ice crater without a second thought. There were many students around who saw this scene, and Cedric was watching likewise. He was actually thinking about howplicated the Triwizard Tournament was being designed to be, if the three tasks had been designed as three duels straight from the start, the tournament would have been over quickly and wouldn''t have had to span a whole year. "Why didn''t Lestrange and Malfoy just go in through that hole in the ice that Green sted out? And have to go through the trouble of making the hole themselves here?" A student beside him asked the question in confusion. Cedric said softly. "Remember how Malfoy was eliminated on the first task? It''s not that they didn''t want to, but they were afraid that Green and Rosier would just stand guard underwater, waiting for them to jump in and then just attack and eliminate them both before they even started." Cedric''s answer answered the doubts of many around him, which made the half-blood students nce at each other, although they didn''t say it outright due to the presence of their professor, they still felt a sense of shame. Finally, through the efforts of Draco and Emil, they managed to open a piece of a hole that would allow them to enter theke from there. Without stopping, the two of them immediately ate the Gillyweed, then used what looked like some kind of spell on their bodies to keep them warm against the cold, and finally jumped into the cold waters of the ck Lake. As they jumped in, they had a sense of relief for some reason. Neither of them was a very thick-skinned person, and having just had that starkparison with Jon in full view of so many people, neither of them could stand the pressure. As soon as they entered the water, it was obvious that the cold water was irritating their skin, but the cold repellent spell they had used beforehand soon had some effect, helping to keep the cold out and keep the heat in their bodies protected, allowing them to remainfortable in the cold water as if it is warm even after they had taken off the heavy robes they were wearing. Once in the water, Emil did not cken off, raising his wand at first to keep an eye out in case that dastardly Jon had not yet gone far enough to ambush them near the hole they had made. But in fact, Jon had no interest in ambushing them at all. He had more than just a task on his te in entering the ck Lake in such an open and honest manner, plus he had got enough of an advantage in the first task that he didn''t really want to do anything to Emil and Draco. After entering theke with Diane, he gestured for the two to separate here and there, with Diane mainly going to try to finish the task, while Jon kept diving deep and straight towards the bottom of theke. The ck Lake wasrge and deep, the deepest point was probably forty or fifty metres from the surface, and it took Jon close to ten minutes to get his feet on the soft soil of the bottom. He nced around him, then identified the southwest direction, and proceeded to walk along the bottom of theke in that direction. Upon entering theke, his first objective was to first check if there were any merpeople still present in thiske. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 395: Spotting Wild Draco (2 in 1) Chapter 395: Spotting Wild Draco (2 in 1) When it came to formting what the task would be, Dumbledore clearly didn''t put much thought into this one His goal was clear, as long as he could get the students who would represent his camp in the Triwizard Tournament to enter the ck Lake Fair and Square when the time came, it would be okay, as to whether they would get an advantage in this tournament task, it was out of his consideration. Theke had a very special meaning to the thousand-year-old Hogwarts school, not only because the four creators had crossed it first before building Hogwarts Castle, but there were also some hidden secrets in theke. Dumbledore thought that when Voldemort became Headmaster of Hogwarts, he must have known the importance of the ck Lake and guarded it as closely as the Hogwarts castle. But after actually arriving here, things didn''t seem to quite turn out as he had expected. Jon had been snooping around theke for many days and had found no sign of any kind of tampering being done to the water, as if Dumbledore''s suspicions werepletely wrong and Voldemort didn''t actually care about theke at all, or what they might be nning to do to the inner parts of it. But it was true that they hadn''t done anything and didn''t bother to make any direct snooping inside the ck Lake, the problem was that after all these days at theke, Jon hadn''t found what Dumbledore wanted him to look for. This left Jon with a not-so-good guess, and he told his guess to Dumbledore, who was silent for a while then and eventually told him to head down to the water on the day of the tournament and see what had happened. And now, he was going to take a look to confirm whether his guess was right or not. The ground beneath the ck Lake was uneven, but Jon didn''t have to walk along the ground like he had to onnd, he could just keep floating in the water as long as he could see the bottom of theke in his vision. His time was precious, not to mention the tournament task, the bubble spell that was being maintained on him wouldn''tst too long, at most Jon was able to stay underwater for an hour and a half during his daily practice sessions. So now he could only spare up to half an hour of that time to search for the merpeople in the ck Lake. But it didn''t actually take him that long to find them at all, and soon he made a discovery in the southwest corner of the ck Lake as a whole. Only what he found was not a sign of merpeople, but a crumbling expanse of underwater buildings. It was a number of stone buildings, but they had obviously suffered damage a long time ago, with broken walls everywhere and green algae crawling over the surface of the pirs, which were swaying with the icy current. Jon frowned; this was certain to be the once-underwater dwelling of the merpeople. Dumbledore, after all, had been a professor and headmaster at Hogwarts Castle for fifty or sixty years before, and he certainly had interacted with this tribe of merpeople living in the ck Lake and had a general idea of where their territory had been. It was based on his guidance that Jon had found this ce, but now there were only a few schools of fish wandering around. This made his heart sink slowly. But he didn''t stop there, he went deeper into the merpeople''s territory to try and see if there was any chance of finding any surviving creatures like the Centaurs in the Forbidden Forest. But all the way through he found nothing, not even amon steel fork used by the merpeople. Just as Jon was disappointed and nning to leave from there, at the end of this broken wall he suddenly spotted a vast ditch at the bottom of theke. Therge ditch was clearly not the product of nature, and from the neatly crumbled stones around it and the fish bones half buried in the soil, he could tell that it must have been the result of magic like Invisible Sword Curse. Such a discovery could not help but make his mind sink; he did not know if such a feat was possible for Dumbledore, but there was certainly no way he could have done it, even if he had cast a spell with both hands. He slowly approached the line of the ditch in theke and eventually froze at the edge of it. The vast ck ditch that was as deep as a gateway to hell was filled with ghastly white skeletons! The upper half of these bones were basically the shape of a human being, except that the lower half did not have leg bones, but skeletons like fish bones! Looking at those dense skeletons, Jon now finally understood where all these vanished merpeople had gone, just by seeing the number of bones in thiske trench, he could generally determine what might have happened. This entire tribe of merpeople in the ck Lake had beenpletely exterminated. If Voldemort really wanted to kill them, it would be less of a psychological burden than even killing centaurs, after all, a creature like merpeople had less contact with a wizard normally, and was closer to the beast category than a human. But in all likelihood, whether it was about killing all the Centaurs or all the merpeople, this demon would have no psychological burden. Jon''s heart was a little heavy. It wasn''t that he was mourning for these never-before-seen merpeople in some way, it was just that once again he was distressed by the sight of the bloodshed under Voldemort''s rule. The man''s bloodline policy was not just about gaining power for himself; he really did not treat any beings other than pureblood wizards as human beings. Centaurs, merpeople, may be defined in the magical world as a ss of beasts rather than human beings, but even so, these species are still intelligent, emotional and civilised beings, like the age-old question, if pigs could speak and think and feel like humans, would you still eat pork? If you look at it this way, it is not surprising that under his rule the muggle wizards became a ve. But what would Voldemort think of the muggles if, in the future, he had fulfilled his long-cherished dream of bing master of the world? Jon took onest look at the white bones in theke ditch, presumably just as what he had thought of the merpeople. It was with such a heavy heart that Jon left the merpeople''s territory. He had only been looking for the merpeople to confirm his suspicions and try to see if he could find any clues, but now that the merpeople were all gone, he naturally wouldn''t stay here for long. It was just that now that the clues were gone, Jon didn''t have too much rity on what he would be doing next. The biggest goal that Dumbledore had asked him to do after entering the ck Lake was to look for the giant squid that lived in the ck Lake other than the second task, and Jon had spent so many days at theke without finding any signs of the squid''s presence, andter he even learned from Cedric that he had never seen the legendary behemoth that lived in theke with his own eyes since he started attending school. This,bined with what had happened to these merpeople, had given Jon a very bad feeling in his mind, but in the end, he still had to go and check it out for himself. Originally he had intended to ask for some information about the squid from the merpeople, but now it was clear that it would not work. Just as he was circling the ckke to try his luck around the perimeter, a cowering figure hiding in a pile of water nts suddenly caught Jon''s attention. He looked with interest at Draco who was surrounded by water nts and didn''t dare look over in his direction. "What are you doing here? Taking a shit?" Draco instantly turned red, reasonably after he had followed Lucius and witnessed his father make that deal with Jon, he didn''t have to be afraid of seeing Jon, but that night in the French Ministry of Magic Ballroom always lingered in the back of Draco''s mind. But while the fish gills allowed him to move freely underwater, there was no way he could still speak as Jon did; all he had to do was open his mouth, and he could be drinking water from the ck Lake non-stop. It was a good thing that Jon had thoughtfully cast a bubble-head charm on him, which brought a deadly look of despair to Draco''s face when he saw Jon cast the spell, but the next second he realised he hadn''t been knocked unconscious, paralysed or killed, but could speak instead. "No, I''m not." "Then what are you doing? nning to ambush me here and catch me by surprise? Knocking me out as a form of revenge for the first task, um?" In the face of his words, Draco simply gritted his teeth and eventually pulled two pearls out of his own pocket. "Here you go! All for you! Let me go, don''t make me leave in disgrace like before again! They''ve been talking a lot about me behind my back! Saying I''m a rubbish wretch among purebloods!" The sight of his actions and the words that came out of his mouth caused Jon to raise an eyebrow. He came over to Draco''s side with his wand in his hand with considerable interest and nced at the two pearls he was holding. "Quite a haul, it''s only been a while for you to find two out of a total of ten, just one more, and you will be stable enough not to be at the bottom. You''re not actually hiding another one, are you?" "This is all I have!" Draco acted a little exasperated, that was in anger at his own cowardice and Jon''s getting ahead of himself. Jon reached out and took the two pearls from Draco''s hands, the young Malfoy obviously feeling considerable pain in his heart in the process. It was only by luck that he had found two so quickly; he had just descended into the ck Lake when he spotted a fish with a pearl in its mouth, and he was wise enough not to strike at the fish immediately, but trailed far behind it, and eventually did find another pearl where it lived. Draco didn''t wait any longer and knocked the fish unconscious and took the one it was holding in its mouth. As it turned out, before he could even get excited about the fact that he could be able toe first in this task and clear his name of the previous defeat, and be back to unting his might among the purebloods, he saw Jon float by. Draco, in a panic, had no choice but to choose a patch of water nts close by, and didn''t have time to think about whether he would get tangled up in it, and ducked in immediately. Even so, however, he still did not escape from Jon''s clutches. Not only Jon wasn''t angry at his sudden tantrum, but he also looked at him with a smirk. "How about we make a deal? Young Lord Malfoy." Draco became instantly wary, and his body, which had emerged from the water nts, retracted again as if that would give him some sense of security. "What do you want?" Jon shrugged. "Don''t be so wary of me, your father and I can barely call ourselves business partners no matter what, right? I have a very nice offer, how about I give you a pearl, and you give me the location of Emil Lestrange?" Draco''s eyes widened at the suggestion Jon made. "The pearls would have been mine!" "But you just gave them to me, so of course they''re mine now." "I would never tell you that!" "You''re that righteous?" " Emil was required by Mr Headmaster to get first ce in the Triwizard Tournament, and if I help you to deal with him, I''m going against Mr Headmaster, and if you reveal thister, my family will be in danger!" Jon looked at Draco and tsked. "I''m surprised you''re not stupid." Instead of Jon''s praise making Draco feel half proud, it filled him with humiliation. "Alright then, but we can also talk about another deal." Jon looked at him with an honest smile, "Again a pearl as payment, as long as you can reveal something of value to me, how about that rumour you heard at school about this stretch of theke?" Draco was showing some hesitation at this point. Of course, he wanted to get the pearls back from Jon, but he knew he couldn''t beat Jon, even his own father was cautious enough when dealing with him, let alone him. "What do you want to know about this?" Draco asked cautiously. "Don''t worry, it''s certainly not to screw you over, if I really wanted to do something to you, wouldn''t it be much better to just use the Imperius Curse on you now than to waste my time here?" On this point, Draco was convinced, even of the fact that Jon knew the Imperius Curse. Did that need to be questioned? For other fourth years, it might need to be, but Jon Green was certainly the exception to the rule. If it was said that he didn''t know the Imperius Curse, it would be the matter that needed to be questioned properly. Such words made Draco drop some of his guards a little, and he thought about it incredibly carefully. "I''ve heard, from the seventh years, that there used to be a giant squid living in the ck Lake, but now it''s gone." "And do you know when was thest time anyone saw that giant squid?" "I don''t know." Jon shook his head in disappointment at that. "So this one doesn''t count, are there any others?" "That''s not fair! No matter what I would say you wouldn''t count it, you''re not going to fool me!" "Do you have a choice? But if you try you might even get a pearl out of my hand, if you don''t, you''ll get nothing." Draco gritted his teeth and continued to think for a few more moments before he said with a sense of hesitation. "There''s another one which I''m not sure counts as a rumour. I''ve heard of this from my father that once upon a time when Hogwarts was still divided, the Slytherin Housemon room was located underground, deep down in the ck Lake." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 396: The Abandoned Slytherin Common Room (2 in 1) Chapter 396: The Abandoned Slytherin Common Room (2 in 1) "The Slytherin Housemon room is in the ck Lake?" Jon mused, he hadn''t really thought about that one. "Yes." Draco spoke more fluidly with each passing second, "My father had told me that Slytherin''s previousmon room used to be underground, but when Mr Headmaster ruled Britain, he eliminated the old standards for the sorting of houses. The criteria for the three Houses; Mudblood, Half-blood and Pureblood, were set before there was even an admission. So once it was established that the basement was the domain of the mud- muggle-borns, there would, of course, be no other Houses left inhabited there, and naturally the Slytherinmon room was left deserted, and no one has ever gone back in there for over a decade." Jon looked at Draco with renewed interest, wanting him to say some more secret stuff. "So what? Thatmon room was deserted in the ck Lake and just because of that it became a rumour in the castle?" Draco did manage to squeak out more. "That''s not what the rumour is about, someone has spoken about how, right where the Slytherinmon room used to be, some odd sound of movement could be heard faintlyte at night, like something pounding on the foundations." Jon frowned at this. "I remember there is an extremely strict curfew policy in the castle, so who is the person who was able to hear something like thatte at night?" "Stricter policies are no real problem for purebloods to break, if a muggle-born breaks the curfew it''s a death sentence, if a half-blood breaks it they would be expelled from Hogwarts Castle, a pureblood would just be asked to hand in a statement or spend a day in the confinement room." Draco, even in front of Jon, couldn''t help but feel a sense of smugness when talking about the privileges that belonged to purebloods. "Purebloods can''t be expelled, it''s a rule set by Mr. Headmaster, even when there was an incident a while back about a half-blood studentmitting suicide, the primary perpetrator who was also a pureblood was only given a year''s dy in graduation and sent home for a year of reflection." It was true and Draco was not wrong about this, the privileges that purebloods held not only at Hogwarts Castle but even in the British magicalmunity were obvious. Purebloods who broke magicalws, no matter how serious, were not imprisoned in Azkaban, where Dementors acted as jailers, but in a special "prison" for wizards located on British soil. Jon said nothing about Draco''s current self-satisfaction; he was still too young to think about how much privilege the purebloods had now, and how they would all have to pay it back double and triple if Voldemort should ever be defeated. "You''re getting off-topic, in that case, do you know exactly where the Slytherinmon room used to be in the ck Lake?" Hearing Jon''s question, Draco reached out and pointed to the northeast. "Thatmon room extends from Hogwarts castle, so it must be in the direction where Hogwarts castle is located, keep going northeast from here and you should be able to find something." Jon was true to his word and returned a pearl back to him as payment after getting useful information from Draco. "What do you want to know this for?" Although it was clear that it was actually better not to ask, Draco couldn''t resist asking after he got the pearl. "Would you believe me if I said I am nning to dig up the roots of your gentleman, ''Mr Headmaster''?" Jon said without looking back. His reply sent a shiver down Draco''s spine, and he watched as Jon faded away with a look of horror on his face. Only after his figure hadpletely disappeared did Draco dare to carefully swim out of the water nts. But only then did he realise that he had be so entangled in the water nts that he couldn''t even reach for his wand! "Come back! Green! Mr Green! Pleasee back! I''ll pay you with a pearl! Help me!" However, the sound didn''t travel far underwater, and with Jon long gone, he couldn''t get any response to his cries. Jon soon arrived at the northeast corner of the ck Lake. To be honest, he didn''t really have much hope for this trip, he just wanted to take the chance. Having seen the miserable state of the merpeople, there was a great chance that the Giant Squid, which meant so much more to the whole of Hogwarts Castle, had met with misfortune as well. Still, he continued to follow the clues Draco had given him bying this way, Jon was just trying to give Dumbledore a little more relief when he got back. Following the edge of the northeast corner, Jon made a quick inspection sweep, and just as he swam up to a deeply recessed rock formation, he actually did find something! It was a huge opening, and it was clear to him that this opening had previously been a wall, only now the wall had been broken through, and the Lake had poured into themon room, turning what had been a sealed-offmon room into the part of the ck Lake as well. Jon swam through the opening and into the space that had obviously been the Slytherinmon room. There was still furniture all around that had been infested with water nts and underwater creatures, green and silver cloths still fluttered on the walls as theke water flowed, and some broken portraits could be faintly seen on the surrounding walls of the former distinguished house representatives that had hung in the Slytherinmon room. Looking around at this motley and dpidated scene, Jon felt an inexplicable sense of irony. He hadn''t forgotten that this had once been the ce where Voldemort himself had lived for seven years, and now it was in this state, so obviously he couldn''t have been unaware of it or even deliberately done it. After a careful examination of the surroundings, Jon could clearly see some signs of what looked like a huge whip, leaving extremely deep gouges in the floor and walls. From these signs, it was clear that, besides all else, the giant squid must have been here before! Jon''s heart perked up a little, and he proceeded deeper down, thismon room wasn''t the end of it, the wall directly opposite themon room had also been opened up, only this opening was clearly facing upwards, he predicted that a little further up he would be out of the water level of the ck Lake, which wasn''t much deeper in this part of theke in the first ce. As expected, he continued to swim upstream for about three or four metres before his head was blocked by an equally thickyer of ice. Without hesitation, he immediately raised his wand in his hand and used a sting curse underwater to explode theyer of ice. In fact, when Jon climbed out of the water, he was already in serious breach of the rules of the second task. As soon as apeting champion went ashore, he could not go into the water a second time, as Matthew had read out in front of everyone before thepetition began. But Jon obviously didn''t care about that, not to mention the fact that no one would know if he went ashore a hundred times in this shithole, and even if they found out, he would just be given a ranking on the spot, and he wouldn''t necessarily be second tost in terms of total points. Aftering out from underwater, Jon could see that this would be the area that belonged to the former Slytherin dormitory. The reason why he didn''t say it was a particr room was that the surrounding walls had been broken through, the floor was littered with debris and pieces of broken beds, tables and chairs, and the space was so huge that only the ceiling was still present above. But the ceilings of the original Slytherin student dormitories were not very low, they were four or five metres high, so even though the space was huge it did not feel oppressive. As Jon removed the bubble spell from his body and breathed in the cold, damp air, he went over the pile of rubble in front of him and then saw a shocking sight. A giant squidy spread out on the hard, cold ground, a circle of light green ancient runes shining with a faint silver light beneath it. But it was only when you stepped into the runes and looked closely that you could see that the light green colour was not the runes themselves, but the blood that was slowly dripping from the squid''s body! Jon looked at the giant squid and held his breath, noticing that its tentacles still showed some signs of movement, which meant that even though it was on itsst legs, it was not dead yet. Without any pause, he then pulled out a feather from his body and started summoning Fawkes over. Soon golden light appeared around him, Fawkes, as ever reliable, did not linger after he appeared and took the giant squid straight away with him. Jon, on the other hand, didn''t leave right away, he stared at these ancient runes on the floor and examined them carefully for a while. He had studied the basics of ancient runes when he had pretended to be interested in it in front of Sir Stoker at sea, andter in the year, he had been able to see and listen to Dumbledore exin the principles whenever Hermione had copied some ancient runes out of the castle. So even though he was still a half-baked schr when it came to ancient runes, he was still a half-baked schr who had been exposed to the high end of the board and was no longer dumbfounded by what looked like ghostwriting to ordinary people. After some careful scrutiny, he could at least tell that these ancient runes had not been inscribed here for a long time, probably only within thest year, which meant that the giant squid had been drained of its blood for almost half a year in total. But it hadn''t been in the ck Lake before, so the odds of it being here in captivity for the past decade or so are high. Jon looked around again and saw some broken chains scattered on the floor, as well as signs of an obvious blow to the ceiling directly above where the giant squid had been before. As Dumbledore had predicted, when he had first taken over Hogwarts Castle, Voldemort had discovered the unusual nature of the squid, and although he had made no precautions against the ck Lake itself, he had simply imprisoned the giant squid, the root of the problem, to be used when needed. And now the various arrangements he had made in the castle were clearlyid out in front of Dumbledore and his men''s faces. The ancient runes used to sap the ''will'' of the castle itself in the Chamber of Secrets, the runes in the Headmaster''s Office which intended to imbue his own ''will'' in the castle, and the runes in this room which had been transfused with the blood of a giant squid, the meaning of which was for the moment unknown. Three ces, all key to Voldemort''s setup, and he seemed to have a lot of preparation for gaining absolute control of the castle, but now it was as if he didn''t care about each one of them. As Jon was examining the runes, he suddenly realised that as the giant squid was taken away, the runes themselves were not only not fading, they were bing brighter and brighter! Without any hesitation, he turned around and rushed towards the water of the ckke, using a new bubble spell on himself as he ran. Then he leapt down from the sted ice and dived back into theke! And just less than a minute after he entered the water, the ancient runes had be blindingly bright. The curved symbols swam and spread across the ground as if they hade to life, and eventually, the dark green lines bulged from the ground, one by one, turning into living things and rushing straight into the water! In less than three minutes, all the space in that area was crowded with these rune snakes, and they seemed to be able to spawn from those ancient runes endlessly, appearing and jumping into theke over and over again. After leaving the confines of the Slytherinmon room, Jon kept swimming forward, sensing that something was wrong and even suspecting that the ancient runes under theke itself were only a trap. Yet even though he was swimming fast enough, he was still no match for the snakes that were like lightning in the water. Jon knew he wouldn''t be able to escape, he had to find out how much trouble they could cause him. He kept moving forward, but turned with his wand in both hands and aimed at the swarm of snakes that looked like hos! "Sectumsempra!" The cold water was instantly cut by invisible sharp shes, the resistance of theke water reduced the power of Invisible swords, but it was still better than using a sting curse underwater. In the blink of an eye, the snakes at the front of the pack were silently split in two, but the de didn''t stop there, splitting the whole pack along the middle, as if a chunk of chocte had been neatly sliced up! But none of the snakes that had been cut in half showed any signs of death, instead, they split in two, spewing dark green liquid from the breaks and growing back to their original size, making the whole group even more massive! As Jon turned back to cast the curse, some of the snakes began to approach Jon, and when they were still a metre or so away, they exploded, creating a violent impact underwater. Luckily, Jon had always maintained the shield charm on his body and did not suffer any damage as a result, but the bubble body charm, which was used to keep him breathing underwater, was destroyed as a result. It took away Jon''s ability to breathe underwater, and there was no way he could re-cast it here. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 397: Go Ashore Chapter 397: Go Ashore Oncepletely submerged in theke, he had no way to recite the incantation, and the bubble spell, a spell he had only mastered in thest few months, although he could cast it out normally, there was simply no way to do it silently yet. Immediately Jon knew what choice he should make. He had alreadypleted his original goal of entering the ck Lake anyway, and the score or whatever it might be didn''t matter at all to him who had already got first ce in the first task, and now he could do nothing but go back and count it as a great sess. Because of that, he didn''t stop for half a second, having made up his mind he pushed on and started swimming upward, while more and more rune snakes kept approaching him, and kept exploding in the area around him and diffusing a dark green liquid! These snakes weren''t just targeting Jon, in addition to the group that was specifically clinging to him who might have been the first group, more rune snakes were pouring out of the Slytherinmon room towards the various parts of the ck Lake in all directions. Jon tried to use the general counter-spell on his ring as he floated upwards, but it still did not affect the rune snakes. Luckily, he was sufficiently well-versed in the shield charm and had no problem at all casting it silently, so he was able to keep reinforcing it even under the constant destruction of these rune snakes around him, giving him plenty of time to break out of the ckke. Jon was fast, he had drowned in the water in his previous life, so of course he would not die in the water so simply in this life. Once he saw the thick sheet of ice above him, he raised his wand with both hands once more. A silent sting curse instantly made theke around him boil, and even the rune snakes that had been tangling around Jon broke into a dark green liquid under the st. But the dark green liquid soon reassembled itself into the form of a snake, but by that time Jon was already out of the water! Thewn was filled with students from the castle, and many of them were already betting on who would be the first to emerge from the ckke. Most people were betting on Draco, followed by Diane, then Emil, and finally Jon. Many thought that Jon would still try to win the task just like he did in the Forbidden Forest, and would mainly focus on getting the points instead ofpleting the task quickly, so basically no one thought he would be the first to finish. However, it was Draco who received the most pressure because everyone thought there was a good chance he would be the first to be eliminated. However, when the ice on the shore exploded, no one was expecting it, and many students were caught off guard by the ssh and screamed as they scrambled backwards. Jon leapt up from theke and climbed onto the ice, then gasped for breath. He looked back behind him; the rune snakes hadn''t gone wild enough to follow him ashore, but theke, which had been dark, had turned dark green and didn''t look like themotion in it had ended with his departure. None of the students had noticed that Jon had actually been chased out, so of course, the first thing on everyone''s mind was why had hee back so quickly? Had he found more than five pearls and determined his first position on the scoreboard? The judges waiting by theke had of course noticed the sight of Jon back on the shore, and they walked quickly over to him, where Jon looked up and locked eyes with Dumbledore while using a spell on his wet but not too cold robes that were protected by the soft shell of the Ashwinder snake. There was no special nce, but everything clicked. "So, are you concluding your task? Mr. Green." Matthew asked in a loud voice. Jon was also blunt enough to pull the only pearl he had managed to get from Draco''s hand out of his own pocket. "I have already gone ashore, I certainly have no further chance of continuing the task, so of course it''s over." The scene fell somewhat quiet as everyone in the audience looked eerily at the pearl in Jon''s hand, and soon those students on the shore responded by erupting into a rather loud cheer. Although they all thought at first that if there were no surprises, Jon would probably stille first in this task, in the end, Jon and they weren''t on the same page, and as long as they were enemies there would be no chance of any favourable treatment. Now even though he had finished first, he had only got one pearl back, so the score would definitely not be higher, so wouldn''t that mean that Draco and Emil and the others would have a high ranking? In the face of their cheers, Jon was not bothered, because neither he nor Dumbledore had any intention of achieving much in the second task itself, it was enough for them as they got the victory in thest task, not to mention the fact that these students were happy a little too early. While Snape still had the same emotionless face among the judges, making it impossible to tell what kind of mood he was in at the moment, Bonnesante couldn''t hold back his inner glee, he didn''t know if Jon was just careless or if he was doing it on purpose, but this time it was undoubtedly an opportunity for Emil. With Jon scoring 10 points at the bottom of the table for the second task and 40 points for finishing first, this would only give him a total of 50 points, which would probably make him second or third in the overall ranking. Emil, on the other hand, has the highest score if he finishes second. 70 plus 30 is 100, which is roughly the same score or a bit higher than Jon. That means Jon''s advantage in the first task is gone, and they are on the same starting line at the start of the third task! This of course thrilled Bonnesante. But soon the next thing Jon said to Matthew cooled his heart. "There''s a riot in the ck Lake for some reason, there are strange snakes that attacked me on sight and explode themselves, and they can''t be killed, I suspect it''s the castle side trying to cheat!" Jon started by snapping back without saying a word. Voldemort himself wasn''t here anyway, so who would have known that there would be ancient runes like that in the Slytherinmon room anyway? Since no one knew and this ck Lake had previously been under the castle''s jurisdiction, it was his turn to sling as much mud as he wanted. His words silenced the scene again, and some students around the ce heard it and were spreading the news privately. Soon there were whispers on thewn, many of whom didn''t believe Jon''s usation at all and thought he was making excuses for his own blunder in the task. But the truth is that Jon really didn''t care how many points he would get in this task, because he would not be ranked lower no matter what in the overall ranking. There was one thing that many people had forgotten, but he hadn''t. ---- #Pato Senalima, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 398: Final Ranking (2 in 1) Chapter 398: Final Ranking (2 in 1) Just as the students of the castle on the shore were rejoicing, before Jon could finish drying the robes on himself with a magic spell, a wretched figure crawled out of the hole in the ice that Jon had blown out earlier. Diane was covered in a dark green liquid, and it was clear that the rune snakes had also sought her out underwater and had pestered her for a long while. And once she was on shore she followed suit and made an angryint. "There''s something wrong with theke! The rules didn''t mention any snake attacks before we went into the water! Those snakes can''t even be killed, and they explode!" Her eyes widened when she saw Jon at the same time as she spoke. Jon locked eyes with her and didn''t say anything, just shrugged his shoulders. Matthew had furrowed his brow by this time, and he turned his head to look at Snape, who just said indifferently. "The judge''s team had inspected the entire ck Lake before the second task started and no one has entered it since, I think you know very well if there is a problem in thiske, Mr Graves." Rosier tilted her head as she said with a frown. "No problems? Why is it that only our students are having problems now? Where are the other two champions? Did those snakes also attack when they met them? Or are they still simply clueless about this?" The scene was starting to make Matthew''s head hurt again. To be honest, he just wanted this Triwizard Tournament to end peacefully without getting involved in any other messes, but apparently, neither Dumbledore''s side nor Voldemort''s side had been honest from the start of the tournament until now, and there had been two messes in the two tasks that had taken ce to date alone. "I will look into the situation regarding what happened at the bottom of theke when both Mr Lestrange and Mr Malfoy return, for now, I need to get a sum up of your match results." Diane turned her head to look at Rosier for a moment, who still had the frost on her face undiminished but nodded to her nevertheless. Then Diane pulled three pearls out of her wet pocket. "I would have had the fourth, having found it in a shell, but these snakes disrupted my movements!" Ignoring what she was now saying, the students at theke became even more excited after seeing that she had pulled out a total of just three pearls. Jon had only found one, Diane had found three, and although they were now first and second respectively in terms of speed, the haul just wasn''t really that much at all. Diane had a few more, but the students at the castle hadn''t considered her to be a threat at all. The students at the castle didn''t have much faith in Draco and Emil, but now that they both have plenty of time, they can at least continue to find the rest of the pearls without worrying, right? However, just as they were having such thoughts, theke surged up again and Emil came up from the water in rags, looking much worse than Jon and Diane, not only had he been attacked, but the cold repellent spell that had been cast on his body had failed, and his lips were purple from the freezing water, he was trembling and clutching both arms, ring at Dumbledore and Rosier with hatred as soon as he came up. "These wanted men must have done something underwater! Jon Green must have released some vicious dark magic, and none of those snakes are real snakes, but formed out of magic or some potion!" Just as he was still using, out of the corner of his eye he suddenly also caught a glimpse of Jon who was standing off at the side, watching him cursing and screaming with Diane, and the whole person froze on the spot. "What are you doing here!" He practically blurted out, obviously meaning what he had just said, he really thought that those anomalies in the ckke were Jon''s doing. It was to force them to finish the task as soon as possible without having more time to find the pearl, so he didn''t think Jon would finish the task before he did. But now Jon was actually here already. "You''ve got several pearls." Even though his frozen body was still shivering, Emil still had no intention of trying to warm up his body yet, but instead stared hard at Jon and asked. Jon simply spread his hands and gestured in the direction where Matthew stood. "Why don''t you show your results first and find out what I''ve got?" Before he could move, Bonnesante had already helped him dry the tattered robes on his body with a spell first, whileing up to his ear and whispering something, and everyone in the ce could visibly see his eyes suddenly light up! Instantly the anger and anxiety on his face were half gone, and by this time he shut up about whether any of the snakes at the bottom of theke were Jon''s handiwork, and instead turned to face Matthew and reached into his coat pocket. On the shore, all the students held their breath, although Emil was not a student from Hogwarts Castle, he was now tantamount to representing their Mr Headmaster, and that meant representing Hogwarts Castle. As for Draco, well, he would be an add-on. And while Emil showed great calmness andposure in full view of such a crowd, many could see from the smile that he simply could not suppress at the corners of his mouth that he was not really asposed as he pretended to be on the surface. He pulled the hand out of his pocket and opened his palm at the same time, and in the light of the sun, four pearls were reflecting a dazzling light. The next moment all the students were abuzz! Now even if Draco hadn''t returned yet, the situation was all clear, Emil''s four pearls were firmly set him in the first ce because there were only two pearls left, and even if Draco could happen to find them all, it wouldn''t affect Emil''s ranking now, and even if he finished the task in the third ce, the proportion of that part was very low anyway. This has basically doomed Jon to only be fourth. Also, just as they were cheering, a greenhead shuddered and crawled out of theke. Draco had finally returned as well, and it was not clear whether the rune snakes that Jon had identally released were a blessing or a misfortune for him. Just as he waspletely tangled up in the water nts and his whole being was in despair, the snakes found him and blew up around him, helping him to shred them all. Of course, Draco himself suffered a lot of damage, his right arm was a bloody mess, but the bubble head spell Jon had cast on him earliersted a while before the snakes broke it, allowing him to reinforce the cold repellent spell on his body in time not to freeze to death in theke. But he was miserable as hell in this condition, and as the boy crawled out of the water, Lucius'' whole face darkened, and he rushed to his son''s side in a hurry to help drag him out of theke. The snakes that had followed him were still in the water making a "bang, bang, bang" sound, and Lucius tried to grab one out of the water, but as soon as it was out of the water it turned into a puddle of dark green liquid that could not be moulded. A loving Lucius didn''t even need help, he dried the robes off Draco himself while turning his head to stare at Snape. Without letting him speak, Snape pulled a ss vial full of white powder from his inside pocket and handed it to Lucius, the white dittany powder was extremely effective on external wounds. Draco flung himself into Lucius'' arms on the spot, his body trembling, not from the cold, but from the shock. If it hadn''t been for these rune snakes, by the time the effects of the Gillyweed had ended, then he really would have been trapped by the water nts and drowned, experiencing the same pain that Jon had experienced in his previous life, but it was the same rune snakes that had almost blown him up in theke. Matthew, however, hadn''t forgotten his duty. Now apparently all championspeting had been attacked by those monstrous snakes, which made the situation seem fair again, and of course, he was also counting up the final scores of this task at that moment. "Mr Malfoy, may I ask how many you have gained?" A pale Draco looked up, he nced at Jon before turning his head and shivering, he pulled two pearls out of his pocket and said. "Ha-um, I originally found two, but one of them was lost, then when I was being chased by these snakes I suddenly found another one from a shell that was swept up by the snakes, and then I still have two in my hand" His words made Matthew nod, the oue of the task was now clear. Even Lucius hadn''t expected much from Draco''s results, and now even his unexpectedly decent results hadn''t made much of an emotional difference to him, if the pureblood students weren''t all a bunch of sloppy sods, there was no way his son would have been chosen topete back then. His only hope was that Draco would survive this treacherous Triwizard Tournament, just surviving would be better than anything else. The students on the shoreline reacted evenly to this, Draco had been lucky, but he was still going to be fourth, but the smiles on their faces showed no sign of fading, even if Draco had done badly, Emil would now surely be first, undisputedly first! Matthew returned to the panel of judges and turned his head to Dumbledore, Snape, Rosier, and Bonnesante. "Now, do you all have any objections to the final score of this task?" In Voldemort''s absence, Snape was acting as his substitute to adjudicate, and the most respected person at the moment was naturally Dumbledore. He said softly. "It is up to the panel of judges to investigate how these disturbances were caused during the tournament, but since all the contestants suffered such an attack, it means that the tournament itself is now still fair, and we have no objections." His attitude was, naturally, Rosier''s attitude as well. And with no question from Dumbledore''s side, Snape and Bonnesante had even less to say about it. "Since everyone has no objections, we will investigate in more detail afterwards as to how the anomaly under the ck Lake was caused, but for now we can announce the result of the task." Matthew announced the rankings for this task in front of everyone. "Emil Lestrange has four pearls and is in first ce, with 70 points, and he is the third champion to finish the tournament, with a further 20 points to his name, giving him a total of 90 points in the second task, making him first ce!" There was a roaring round of apuse, previously after the first task the students in the castle had had a mediocre response to the tournament because the two men representing them had been third and fourth, and the results were so embarrassing to bring up, that, there was nothing to mention naturally. But now that the first ce went to one of their own, it was definitely time for some celebrations! Naturally, Hermione and George were there, but they stood alone with the Durmstrang students, separated from the huge number of half-bloods and pure-bloods. Lee couldn''t help but grimace as he watched their excited and jubnt cheers. "Why do they give off a petty air, and even if that whatever Lestrange is first now, the total score for both tasksbined doesn''t seem as high as Jon''s, does it?" Hermione thought for a few seconds and quickly calcted the scores. "Lestrange got 70 in the first task and 90 in the second, making a total of 160, Jon was 100 in the first task, and now it''s 10 plus 40 which is 50, making a total of 150, he''s still 10 points higher than Jon." Lee, who hadn''t done the maths carefully and was just going on impressions to get a feel for it, suddenly grimaced. "We''re still 10 points lower than them!" "Yes, because at the time he couldn''t actually be said to be third, but tied for second with Diane, who also scored 70 points in the first task, and with the 80 points from this one it would make 150 points, overall equal to Jon." Such a result made George and Lee look around at the cheering students with even more irritation, but Hermione was clearly not finished with her words. "Except Jon''s score is not only that." She smiled and looked at Lee and George, "Aren''t you forgetting something?" From the judging panel, after announcing the scores of the other three as well, Matthew announced the scores, the same as Hermione had counted. In the second task, Diane was still in second ce, with 50 points plus 30 points making a total of 80 points, while Jon only had one pearl but was the first toe back, so naturally the score was 10 plus 40 making a total of 50 points, while Draco could only be described as having a stroke of luck at the end, and despite the situation of finding a needle in a haystack, he actually found another one, with 30 points for being third on the pearl plus 10 points for being thest toe back, now making a total of 40 points and still at the bottom of the rankings. Matthew coughed softly at the end to stop the jubnt crowd, all the students had already mentally worked out their final scores and knew that Emil was now first overall. Still, now that the two tasks wereplete, Matthew had to announce everyone''s scores before the final task began. "With the tournament now underway, the exact scores concerning the final task have been thoroughly determined. Currently, Jon Green is in first ce with a total of 180 points, Emil Lestrange is in second with a total of 160, Diane Rosier is in third with a total of 150 and Draco Malfoy is in fourth with a total of 60." The crowd grew quiet as soon as Jon''s first ce was announced, and the smiling half-bloods and purebloods just stared at Matthew in disbelief, looking like they wanted to grab him by the neck and ask him if he could count! Jon had a total of 150 points and was tied with Diane, where did he get the extra 30 points! ---- #Pato Senalima, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 399: 30 Points (2 in 1) Chapter 399: 30 Points (2 in 1) "How did Jon Green get 180 points!" The first to question this was Bonnesante. The smile on his face was the first to freeze, and he was also the first to react, barely even resisting the urge to interrupt Matthew on the spot. On the shore, the students from the castle were also staring at Matthew, and when they heard someone take the lead in asking the question, they shouted along with him. "Yeah! Jon Green got 100 points in his first task and now this 50, how does that add up to 180 points!" "Did Mr Graves miscalcte?" "Such a simple addition couldn''t have been intentional on his part, could it?" Listening to such questions, Matthew just put down the parchment in his hand as he calmly stared at everyone and said. "There''s nothing wrong with Jon Green''s score of 50 for this second task, but he didn''t just get 100 points on the first one." "There were no students around, but we were all there! He was the one who found the most golden snitches, came first on top of the count to get 70 points and then came back from the Forbidden Forest second to get 30 points, that''s still nothing more than 100 points! You''re announcing this kind of misinformation in front of all the judges!" Bonnesante waspletely impatient, it was as if he sensed some sort of conspiracy, Matthew could not help but want to turn things upside down with Dumbledore, there was no way to change the result of the second task in full view of everyone, so they made a move on the first one. He shouted while still turning his head to look at Snape. "You were there at that time, weren''t you, say something, Snape! They''re cheating!" Snape simply responded to him with a cold look and did say something, only it was addressed to him. "Incorrigible fool." With that, he nodded to Matthew as if saying hello, then turned and headed off in the direction of the castle as everyone watched in disbelief. Naturally, none of those students gathered around dared to stop him, and one by one they all scrambled to part a pathway for their Deputy Headmaster to pass through. Bonnesante didn''t react at first and froze in ce, waiting until Snape was already far away before the expression on his face began to twist. "What does he mean by that? How dare he curse me like that! Cursing in such a manner!" The expression on Matthew''s face remained unchanged from start to finish as he continued with the words he hadn''t finished earlier. "I think that you may have forgotten something, Mr Bonnesante, after the first task, the panel of judgesunched an investigation into the issue of the dragon gue at the time, and although there were no clues or results in the end, thepensation for Jon Green was approved by all the judges at the time, including Mr Headmaster of Hogwarts Castle, and thispensation was to add another 30 points on the first task score" The twist on Bonnesante''s face was instantly frozen for a moment. Naturally, he had been informed of this when it was confirmed, but he didn''t care about it at the time, thinking that Jon had alreadye first in the first task and that adding a few more points to him wouldn''t affect anything. But it was only after the second task was finished that he realised that the scores of the first two tasks were added together to calcte the ranking which would have an impact on the third task. In other words, the 30 points given to Jon at the beginning were crucial and basically ensured that he would be on top! No wonder he was able to go ashore with such an unchanged face after harvesting only one pearl, and showed no concern for Emil and Draco''s scores. In fact, even if Jon hadn''t shown any interest in finding the pearl at all, he would just have to return immediately after entering the water and get the guaranteed 50 points, and that would be a win! As for whether the 30 points he waspensated for were justified, it was something Voldemort had agreed to, so Bonnesante couldn''t have any objections to it. So it was already a foregone conclusion. And he''s still acting like a jumping clown, questioning Dumbledore''s collusion with the panel of judges to cheat up until now, and actually asked Snape to speak up? Almost as quickly as the naked eye could see, Bonnesante turned red, because by now all the students were looking at him, and with Snape gone without a word, they could only get an answer to the question of whether or not the information was true from the Deputy Headmaster of Beauxbatons. "Yes, there is such a thing!" Bonnesante practically squeezed the words out of his teeth. Matthew''s eyes averted from him, he couldn''t understand from the start how the Deputy Headmaster could be so happy. The surrounding students didn''t understand how the points for the first task were calcted, but you don''t understand either. It really confirmed what Snape had said before he left, incorrigible fool. Emil also felt like a basin of cold water had been poured on him at this time, and his whole body wilted. At this point in time, Jon''s extra points were not onlymunicated to the judges, but also to the participating champions, but at that time they had all recognized Jon''s first ce, so they didn''t think it was a big deal. But when the two tasks werepletely finished and the total points were added up, the advantage was downright obvious. No one in the castle side had a smile on their faces after hearing Bonnesante''s personal confirmation. The look on their faces could even be described as embarrassment, as if a flock of ducks had carried a swan''s egg back to their nest, only to have it tantly pointed out that a duck is a duck, and it can''ty a swan''s egg. Where George and Hermione stood, there was no cheering after it was confirmed that Jon hade first overall. It was as if this was the way things were supposed to be, and the cheers from the students from the castle side simply didn''t matter to them. In front of everyone, Matthew finally asked again. "Are there any questions about the overall scores of the first two tasks?" The ce was iparably quiet, every point the four champions got was now well documented and following the rules, so of course no one would have any more questions. At this time, Matthew also breathed a long sigh of relief inside. No matter what, these first two tasks had finally ended safely, and as for the anomalies that had urred under the waters of the ck Lake during the task, it would probably be just like the dragon gue in the first task and would be nothing more than a messy ount. "Then I announce that the third task willmence at 10 a.m. on the 12th of April this year, and the exact rules will be made public on that same day." When Matthew finished these words, it meant that the day''s tournament waspletely over. The students in the castle looked as if they didn''t want to stay for another moment, and they turned their heads and hurried back towards the castle, looking as if every second they stayed would add further embarrassment to their faces. Barty Jr. watched the scene from the tower of the castle from high above. He already knew the oue of the task before it even started, so there was no point in trying to watch it. Only a fool like Bonnesante would have any illusions about the final oue of the second task, if only he had counted Jon''s score in the first task, he wouldn''t have lost his temper. Instead of going to his office, Snape also came to this tower and stood next to Barty Jr. after returning to the castle. "There''s been an ident in the middle of the task." "Can you identify who did it? Dumbledore? Or was it a means left behind by our lord earlier?" "I''ll check theketer, the exact source of where it came from is up for debate." Barty Jr. narrowed his eyes as he looked at a girl with long chestnut hair in the group that was returning to the Hogwarts wagon. "Regardless of the oue of the task, as long as Dumbledore and the others don''t find out about our lord''s disappearance, it won''t be a big deal. If you lose the first two tasks, so be it, it''s not like the key to winning is in this, even a big advantage would just give thest task some boost, if you really want to win, you still have to lift that Triwizard Cup." Snape was also looking down, his eyes narrowed as he was watching Jon, who was being carried around the shoulders of both George and Lee together, as they bantered along behind Dumbledore. "Does the lord have made any arrangements for the third task?" "Of course, but I don''t know what kind ofyout the lord has, and so far you, I don''t even know what thisst, crucial task is about. But since our lord has not left us any message, he has either actually arranged everything, or" Barty took onest deep look at Hermione, the girl who had made him fall so heavily before, and finally turned to leave the tower. "Lord doesn''t actually care about this Triwizard Tournament at all, that so-called blood pact and the attitude of importance nowadays is just to catch the attention of Dumbledore." He left hisst words and his entire body had disappeared into the doorway, leaving only Snape still standing in the tower, and instead of continuing to look at Jon and his group who had returned to the wagon, he lifted his head and looked out into the azure blue expanse of space. The harsh sunlight shone on his hollow eyes, and it was unclear whether he was murmuring to someone or to himself. "Whatever it takes, just live well." Jon wasn''t surprised that the second task had ended this way. He and Diane had known early on what the second task would be, the format was the same as the first, so naturally then they had already worked out what they would need to go through on this second task early on, and essentially nothing would change as far as the first position was concerned. Stretching the score a bit more might have had a better impact on the third task, but again, there was really no need for that at all. Back in the wagon, just as he used to go to the Headmaster''s office for a wrap-up meeting after all the big events, Jon followed Dumbledore to the Headmaster''s office for this one as well. "That big squid is fine, right?" Jon asked with a blink of his eyes just as he sat down. Dumbledore''s face looked calm. "Fawkes has helped to bring it to Lyons, where there are specialists who are specialized in magical creatures working on its rescue, but even if we can keep it from dying outright, it doesn''t have more than a few years left to live after losing so much vitality." Jon was silent for a moment. He had never seen the big squid before today, but both in the original and from the other students he could hear that this massive creature maintained the friendliest of attitudes towards each and every student. "Can I know, this squid, why he is being tortured by the Dark Lord like this?" A heavy look appeared in Dumbledore''s gaze. "Because its existence is deeply connected to the other founder of Hogwarts in history, Godric Gryffindor, and that is what Riddle had his eyes on, and if those four things that are disyed in the Headmaster''s office are all relics left behind by the founders, then this squid is a living fossil that means even more to the whole castle. " Jon frowned, even if he hadn''t been much involved in all those ns Dumbledore and Hermione had made in the castle before, he could see the problem now. "But Professor, if the Dark Lord is really very concerned about how to take the castle into his own hands, why hasn''t he shown up to stop us until now? Leaving aside the ancient runes in the Chamber of Secrets for now, whether it''s in the Headmaster''s office or the Slytherinmon room under the ck Lake, we''ve basically left quite a few hands and tails behind, and I don''t think the Dark Lord wouldn''t have sensed that we''ve pried into his secrets." Dumbledore spoke softly. "Actually, it''s not just about what you said Jon, we haven''t even figured out what sort of purpose Riddle had in mind when he wanted to gain control of the castle itself. The castle should have meant nothing to him, having a nominal headmastership is enough for now, but he still wants to go to all the trouble to obtain the whole of Hogwarts." Jon also became curious about this. "Does Hogwarts really has a consciousness of its own?" "Why not?" Dumbledore asked rhetorically, "Gryffindor took off his hat and that hat became a sorting hat that could somewhat discern the students. Hogwarts castle is a school founded by four great wizards together, everyone who studies and lives here is a young wizard with magical powers, so it''s fair to say that it will develop its own set of rules and consciousness ." "And how did the Dark Lord determine whether he was recognised by that castle and suffered rejection instead?" Dumbledore did not answer his question, but instead had a sudden look of interest on his face. "If you ever get the chance, Jon, promise me one thing." Jon froze a little, he didn''t know why Dumbledore was suddenly saying this. "What is it?" "The next time you go back to that castle and are going brightly and openly, try to go to that Headmaster''s office once more and then just say a word inside it." Dumbledore said with a big smile on his face. "Just pretend you''re talking to yourself this sentence, [throw rotten eggs at my head, Hogwarts]." Jon couldn''t help but wince at the corners of his mouth. "Is that some kind of secret password?" "Just try it if you get the chance, it''s not a task or a secret code, it''s just a fun experiment." Dumbledore looked like he was really just being impromptu about this and his face reverted to a serious expression as he finished the sentence. "Alright, let''s get back to the main topic now. We still have up to four months until the final task which will determine the victor, and in the meantime, Szar has a request for you." ---- #Pato Senalima, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 400: Looking for Baron (2 in 1) Chapter 400: Looking for Baron (2 in 1) There are still over four whole months to go before the final task began, so of course Jon didn''t have to stay in the wagon every day for that. Exactly what and how the final task would bepeted, even Dumbledore was not sure. The first two tasks had been devised by both him and Voldemort respectively, while the third had been nned together by Matthew and his associates from the Confederation. And the content of this task would only be revealed to them on the day of the tournament, and unless there was someone on the judging panel colluding with one side or the other, there was no chance that anyone would have the ability to prepare in advance. Jon returned to Lyon the day after the second task, along with the rest of the students on the wagon. Winter was not over at this time, it had just snowed heavily on Christmas Day in Lyon and the snow had not melted at this time of year, so when Jon and the others returned to Hogwarts'' temporarypound in Lyon, the ce still looked like it was covered in silver. "I''ve been keeping an eye on it all autumn, it did thunder a few times in between, but it didn''t end up bing a storm, just a cloudy day, or a day with heavy rain but no thunder to ring out, and now that it''s winter the chances of there being any more thunderstorms are pretty low." Although this had been said in the letter to Jon, Neville still wanted to give him the details of the situation again. Jon didn''t have much regret about this, he just shook his head and said. "That''s normal, I never thought I could run into it in the snow right now by chance, but when the snow melts and spring arrives, there''s a good chance for a spring thunderstorm." Back in Lyon, Jon didn''t stay long. They weren''t supposed to make the trip back to France, but since Slytherin had asked Jon to help out on a special errand, Dumbledore had simply returned with all the students from the wagon. It was also just on the third day back that Jon set off with Nick and the other ghost. "If you trust me and Hermione enough, please rx, the diadem will be retrieved when this tournament is over, and there is no use in being anxious now, Professor Dumbledore has made it clear to you that the four relics have been mutually integrated with the whole of Hogwarts Castle, there is no way for them to be taken out of the Headmaster''s office." Before setting off Jon was still sober enough to exin the current situation to Lady Grey, in case she still had some uncertain illusions and would try to do bad things privately behind their backs. In response, the witch, who had been dead for thousands of years, was not as proud as she had been at the beginning when she had met Jon, her temper was as if it had been almost tamed by Hermione, and after hearing Jon''s frank statement, she opened her mouth and said. "You have told me just what Dumbledore has told me, I understand it all and would not be so obsessed with retrieving the diadem, returning from that castle with you is proof enough." It did prove something in disguise, but Jon still felt it was better to make everything clear in advance, no matter what. "Well, since you have said so and Professor Dumbledore has chosen to trust you enough to let you help lead the way, then of course I will give you my trust as well." After the frank announcement from both sides, Jon certainly didn''t remain as wary of Lady Grey as he had been, on his outside. "So do you have a clue about where the Bloody Baron is headed, as advised by the Professor?" "When we parted from Hogwarts, he told me that if I ever wondered where he would be in the future, I could look him up at the Headless Hunt''s quarters that have relocated to Norway." Hearing these words from Lady Grey, Jon inwardly chuckled. Although very few people knew about the hidden secrets between ghosts, Jon certainly wasn''t unaware of them, he knew that Lady Grey was a wizard from the era of the Four Founders, just like the Bloody Baron, one was the real daughter of Rowena Ravenw, and the other had a deep rtionship with Szar Slytherin, there was certainly a feud going on between the two, as well as unrequited love-hate entanglement, and now even after bing a ghost, their true hearts still remain the same. At this point, Nick couldn''t help but interject. "Why would he ask you to go to the Headless Hunt to look for him? He didn''t have his head cut off, would the Order take him in? I didn''t even qualify to apply for membership back then! They said my head hadn''t been cut off in full." For her part, Lady Grey was clearly not even half interested in Nick''s question. "How should I know what those crazy sods are thinking, you can ask them yourself when we get to that ce." Nick couldn''t help but look at Jon with a shrug at hearing such a nonchnt reply. "Well, let''s talk about it when we get to that ce then." They used the Floo powder and soon arrived at thergest wizard alley in the Norwegian magicalmunity, but it was obviously a much smaller cepared to either the British or French ones, as most of the wizard poption of the whole of Europe was actually concentrated in the three main countries of Britain, France and Germany. In thest year, due to the war in France, there had been an outflow of wizards, but most of the poption flowed around France, as most people were still optimistic that Dumbledore would be able to take back France from Voldemort and waiting for it while hiding. Jon and the others did not linger long in the wizarding streets of Norway, and after enquiring in a tavern where some ghosts of the Headless Hunt were stationed, they left for Birkenes, a small town in the south-east of Norway that was not well known, and in the easternmost part of the town, in an abandoned manor house,y the headquarters of the Headless Hunt, which had been relocated from Irnd. Although Voldemort''s policies in Britain and Irnd wouldn''t affect the Ghosts, and the Ghosts couldn''t be persecuted for their bloodlines, there were nevertheless many of them who were not of pureblood. They couldn''t stand it, so they gathered a group of ghosts who were able to leave Irnd and Britain and came together to this small town in Norway. The Headless Hunt is one of thergest of all ghost organisations. Their visit was well received by them, and they were led by the head of the Headless Hunt, a ghost called Patrick. As soon as he saw Nick he burst into a wildugh. "Nick!" He yelled, "How are you? Is that head of yours still hanging there?" Nick didn''t look too happy about such a warm greeting from him and muttered. "Well, well, don''t mention it, it''s certainly still hanging nicely around my neck." "Hey! I''ve told you before, you can''t get it off like that." Patrick gripped his thick moustache in one hand and then yanked the whole head right off his neck with such a fluid gesture that Jon couldn''t help but take a step backwards. He tossed his head around as if he were tossing a cabbage sack around. "See! This is the kind of poise only a real man could disy! I advised you a long time ago that if you wanted to join us you would have to find a way to find someone to chop up that bit of skin you had attached to your head with another axe!" Nick outwardly acted in what appeared to be feigned indifference, but in fact, the envious nces he stole now and then towards Patrick betrayed him. Jon was rather speechless at this show-off among the ghosts, and if Gabrielle had seen this scene, she would probably have started thinking again about how to find a skilled executioner to chop off her head intact and join in when she turned back to live. Luckily this trip was kept hidden from Gabrielle. Inparison, Lady Grey just seemed much more normal. Her face was full of impatience as she said. "I''m not interested in watching your boring show, we''re here to find Baron." You could tell that Patrick''s main object of bragging, apart from Nick, was to get apliment from Lady Grey, who was, after all, a beautiful and pretty female ghost no matter what. As a result, her words hurt Patrick. "Baron? That Baron?" He asked, looking as if he had lost his interest, repositioning the head, which was volleying casually like a cabbage, back around his neck, muttering under his breath, distractedly. For the first time, Jon interjected into the dysfunctional exchange between the three ghosts. "The former resident ghost of Slytherin House at Hogwarts, Bloody Baron." "-Well, Baron, Bloody Baron. Wait! You''vee to see Bloody Baron?" Patrick looked like he had just reacted, his eyes widening and his head tilting back a little from the force of his actions. But it was clear that he was not concerned with such "form and appearance", and he said with a mixture of shock and emotion. "Baron was with me for a while, and he wanted to take us under his wing, to bring us back to Britain and make the Dark Lord, who had turned his back on Slytherin''s glory, taste regret. We just thought he had gone mad at the time and no one paid any attention to him at all, then after realising there was no way to persuade us, he left and now seems to have made a big name for himself over in Germany, bing the head of that region of ghosts." Jon''s expression looked a little strange, he had heard something from Nick about the once few Hogwarts resident ghosts that had dispersed, and Baron had once expressed a desire to rely on his own power to take the castle back from Voldemort again, he hadn''t given it much thought at the time, and now it was confirmed that he actually had such a n! At this, however, Lady Grey merely sneered. "He''s always like that, trying to be the leader of everyone wherever he is and swaying everyone''s opinion, but when has he ever got things right?" Jon, of course, had the good sense not to interject, something that Lady Grey was certainly entitled to say. Nick also showed considerable surprise as he asked. "And do you know where he is in Germany?" "That''s for sure!" Speaking of which Patrick had obviously be immensely proud again, "We''re the best ghost group in the whole of Europe Nick, after being the head of the whole of German Ghosts, Mr. Baron has invited us several times to y warm-up shows at parties he throws, where we have a lot of fans and everyone fights tooth and nail to join us, but it''s not likely to happen." He started to get vocal when talking about the glorious past of the Headless Hunt, but it was good that Jon managed to interrupt him in time. "We want to know where Baron is now, can you tell us, Mr Patrick." "Oh well, he''s in a castle just outside Hamburg, Germany, it used to be the residence of a group of vampires, it seems that Baron arranged for the ghosts to expose them, and then the German Ministry of Magic did some cleaning up on the vampires,ter on, they took over the property, and used their contacts to make a registration in the Ministries'' office to make it a ce that legally belonged to them in our side." Jon and Nick looked at each other, clearly stunned by Baron''s maniption. Other than that, he was a real "kingpin" when you looked at it in this light. After learning Baron''s exact location from the Headless Hunt, Jon and the others didn''t stay there any longer. Patrick had kindly invited them to join the Headless Hunt''s internal party tonight, but it was clear that he was still not convinced by Lady Grey and wanted to show off his charms as a headless ghost. Naturally, Jon and the others declined his kind offer and soon departed Norway and went on to Hamburg, Germany, through Grindelwald''s channels in Northern Europe. Hamburg, the secondrgest city in Germany, had a number of wizards settled here, and with the recent influx of wizards from Britain and France, which had not been peaceful in thest two years, there was a local wizarding market in Hamburg that rivalled that of Diagon Alley in Britain. And after arriving here, it was easy for them to enquire about Baron. "You mean the nutty ghosts? They''re in a castle in a deep forest on the outskirts in that direction, it''s a hard ce to find, they''ve paid a team of professional wizards to conceal the castle and the Ministry of Magic has approved that asnd belonging to them, so if you want to pay a visit maybe these two ghosts would be more qualified to find that ce." After getting the information from one of the tavern owners, Jon went on his way with Nick and Lady Grey. They soon found the woods on the east side of Hamburg but were troubled as to how to find the castle. It seemed that Baron had indeed protected this part of his residence extremely well, and without an invitation, even ordinary wizards, let alone ordinary people, could find it. And just as Jon and the others were at a loss, a whining voice with a sobbing tone vaguely caught their attention. "They just dislike me for being useless but what can I do, it''s not like I had a distinguished reputation like they did when I was alive, I was just an innocent student who was killed" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 401: Ghost Castle (2 in 1) Chapter 401: Ghost Castle (2 in 1) As if the cry had stirred up some memory, Nick had a look of surprise on his face and then without hesitation he drifted in the direction from which the sound hade. "Aha! It''s Myrtle!" Soon Nick led Jon and the gang to the ghostly girl who was hiding behind a tree and crying in private. It was a girl with freckles all over her face, not very pretty looking, having a bitter look on her face. Myrtle froze for a moment at the sight of Nick, then saw Jon and became incredibly flustered after realising he was a living person. "It''s over! It''s over! I''ve got Mr Baron in trouble again! I''ve been spotted by a muggle!" She drifted up in a panic and was just about to flee when Nick called out to her. "Don''t say anything silly, Myrtle, the fact that he came with me proves he''s a wizard. Come on, take us to that Baron fellow." Myrtle, who was already a little on edge, seemed to respond only now, lowering her still sobbing face in mid-air to look at Nick and then at Lady Grey, who stood with a haughty look on her face without saying a word. "Tis, erm, Nick?" "Bollocks! You haven''t seen me for just over ten years and you''ve forgotten me! Come on, it was Dumbledore who sent us over, you''re following Baron, right? Come on, take us to him." Only then did Myrtle fly back to Nick''s side, wiping her eyes, only this time noticing what Jon was wearing and the end of his wand that stuck out of his pocket. "Oh! It was Dumbledore who sent you!" Her mood seemed to shift quickly, one second she was in the midst of grief, and the next she was getting excited. "I thought that he had forgotten about us! We''ve heard about Dumbledore here too, we know he''s in France now, and Mr Baron is still nning to wait for the next good news to hit, to re-sell the castle to some vampires, extort them for a fortune and then get back to Dumbledore with us!" Myrtle led them in the direction of the Ghost Castle, all the while floating around happily in mid-air. "Is this a Hogwarts student? How long has it been since I''ve seen a student of the school, I used to be one of the students just like you, but an ident turned me into a ghost." As she said this it seemed like her mood had turned sad again, but soon the tone of her voice was ramped back up! "And we''ve heard about the Triwizard Tournament recently! Baron read us the newspaper and told us that Dumbledore would soon be reiming Hogwarts Castle! Everyone is overjoyed!" Nick asked at this time when he had the chance to interject. "Who else besides you followed Baron here back then?" "Professor Binns, who taught me the history of magic, and the Fat Friar who used to stay at Hufflepuff all the time, and about a dozen other Ghost Gentlemen and Ladies are here with Baron." Myrtle gave Nick a giddy ount of their time here. "Baron pitted the vampires badly by using the connections of Professor Binns'' family over here in Germany to contact the Ministry of Magic and also found one of the Fat Friar''s descendants to help him dig up the treasures hidden by one of our ghosts who had died in the Goblin Rebellion. Half of those treasures were taken by the Fat Friar''s descendant, and at the same time he helped us toplete our dealings with the German Ministry of Magic and put the previously uninhabited castle under the Baron''s name. We then used the money to hire professional wizards to set up muggle-repelling spells and concealment magic around the castle, and we also transformed this castle to look like Hogwarts Castle, except it wasn''t as big as the real Hogwarts" Listening to her gushing, Jon realised that the ghosts who had left the castle were all still doing well under Baron''s charge. Soon, with Myrtle leading the way, Jon passed through what felt like a cold barrier of water, but in reality, he could see no difference, but as he went deeper, an increasingly chilling aura began to sweep over him, and at some point the dense woods around him disappeared, reced by a wastnd of rubble. And in the middle of this wastnd was a towering grey and ck castle! It was a small castle, not nearly as big as Hogwarts Castle or Durmstrang Castle, but to be called a castle meant it couldn''t be small either. Just as he reached the front of the castle, Jon saw an old, grizzled ghost sitting on the steps of the main entrance, propping his chin up and staring at a stone tablet mumbling something inaudible that made one feel subconsciously drowsy. "Professor Binns!" Myrtle''s loud cry seemed to wake the ghost, and he looked up to see Jon approaching along with Nick and Lady Grey floating beside him. "Ah, Sir Nichs and Lady Grey, have youe to join Baron as well, that''s good, after all, we''ve all been together for so long before." His voice was not loud, a bit like an old monk reciting a sutra, and he addressed Nick and the others with an old-fashioned salutation without being distant. Then he looked back to Jon. "There''s another living person, ah, a child you saved in the middle of your journey? A ce where ghosts gather is not a ce for the living, but that''s okay, I wonder if he''s interested in the first all-wizarding vige that Hengist of Woodcroft founded, it''s a memorable history" Myrtle didn''t seem to want to interact with him much, which would make for a very draining experience. "I''m going to take them to Baron, Professor Binns." With that, she led the way and led Jon as she floated past the ghost professor who had once been in the castle and drifted inside. As Myrtle had said, although the whole castle wasn''t very big, it had been deliberately decorated by the ghosts to look like Hogwarts, even if the ghosts didn''t enjoy any sort of material things at all, it did give them some sce in their minds. Nick met quite a few acquaintances along the way; he had been well-liked among the ghosts as well as the students at Hogwarts before, and now he was pleased to see many old friends here. Soon they were led by Myrtle to where Baron would be. They went to the highest floor of the castle, to an empty office. It imed to be an office, but there wasn''t really a desk or chair in it, and there were no bookshelves around, just some portraits of Hogwarts Castle and the Four Founders that hadn''t been topped up with a developing solution. Baron looked just as Jon had seen him depicted in the original book, with his hollow eyes, slim face, and silver specks of blood on his robes, a look that would have scared the faint-hearted even if he had just stood still without moving. At the sight of Nick, who had been brought in by Myrtle, a friendly smile was evident on Baron''s thin face, but it froze at the sight of Lady Grey. That didn''t mean the smile faded, though, but rather it was then reced by an even bigger pleasant reaction. "Hel." He opened his mouth as if to call out Lady Grey''s name, but eventually swallowed back the wordster with an ashamed look on his face. "There you are, just in time, we were recently discussing finding Dumbledore, the students he is leading have been settled, and I am almost done with my preparations here, it is time to go to see him." Lady Grey acted as if she hadn''t seen him, her eyes not even ncing towards Baron. Nick acted enthusiastic on the contrary, but Jon could sense that even Nick himself was actually a little intimidated at the prospect of dealing with Baron. "That''s exactly why we''re here, Baron, let me introduce you to none other than the champion representing us in the Triwizard Tournament this year - Jon Green." It was at this time that Baron''s eyes fell on Jon, there was a look of scrutiny in his eyes, but Jon didn''t avoid it. "I have heard of you, your exploits have spread throughout Europe in thest few months, is it Dumbledore who has sent you to find me to return?" As the main ambassador of this "mission", Jon was of course the only one qualified tomunicate the true purpose of their visit. "It was not exactly Professor Dumbledore, who sent me to find you, Mr. Baron, but one of the founders of Hogwarts, Szar Slytherin." After hearing the name, Jon could tell that Baron''s entirely transparent and hollow eyes tightened violently. "Lord Szar Slytherin." "Yes, the very same gentleman, except that the one who conveyed his wishes was a portrait left behind by that man himself a thousand years ago. He sent me to find you to ask if you had kept what he had once told you to keep when he left Hogwarts." As if in tears, Baron covered his face, making it impossible to tell exactly what kind of expression he was sporting at the moment, but his raspy and low voice rang out nheless. "Of course. That thing, I don''t dare forget it even for a moment" *** Malfoy Manor, Britain. Lucius had a rare period of leave after the second task had ended and the Hogwarts castle side had learned that Dumbledore had temporarily returned to France for a while. Draco still had to attend school, so he and his wife Narcissa were the only ones at home today. Oh yes, there was also Dobby, the house elf, to count. "I told you to let the tea cool before you brought it over! What are you doing!" Lucius, who was always in a tense mood even back at home, looked like he was holding fire in his belly and was trying to find an outlet for his boiling-hot emotions. Dobby was unfortunate, as he had to be the one to handle this outlet every time it would appear. "But, but lord, Dobby wanted to leave it here to cool as per your instructions, it was the lord who hade over in advance" "So the fault is mine!" Lucius was full of anger, "Punish yourself!" The next moment, Dobby rushed to the wall and kept banging his big head against it while screaming shrilly. "Bad elf! Dobby is a bad elf!" It was only when his forehead was bleeding from the impact that Lucius let him roll out of the drawing room. Narcissa heard themotion and came down from the bedroom upstairs. She was pale and thin, looking like she had been having a tough time since Draco had been chosen as a Champion. "Why aren''t you at school keeping an eye on our son?" She couldn''t help but question her husband at the first sight of him. Lucius walked around the drawing room in annoyance. "With three or four months until the next task begins and Dumbledore taking all those students of his away from the school for the time being, there is little to no danger around Draco." "It''s not for us to say whether there''s danger or not." "Well, I know! But you have to trust me with this as well, I won''t harm my son." Eventually, Lucius sat down on the couch with a thump. "The point is, I always felt something was wrong somewhere, Narcissa, especially in the castle, something was very wrong." Narcissa couldn''t contain her red eyes whenever she talked about what was going on with Draco these days, she sat down next to Lucius and grabbed his hand. "Is it because of Dumbledore and the lot of them?" "They''re definitely up to something petty, everyone knows that, but it''s not where something''s wrong." Lucius stated the source of his annoyance, "It''s the two of them, Crouch and Snape, they seem to be hiding something from the others, I can feel it, they think they can fake it, but who''s a fool after being under our lord for so long?" "What do you think it is? Something to do with this tournament?" "I have a feeling it''s going to be much more troubling than even this tournament itself." Lucius said gruffly, "I''ve been in touch with that Jon Green, and he has promised to keep our son safe during the tournament." It was only when she heard him say this that Narcissa let out a long sigh of relief and looked much better. She wasn''t interested in all the rivalry among the Death Eaters, the only thing she cared about was her son''s safety. And there was no more dangerous figure in the Triwizard Tournament than Jon, even her own sister and brother-inw''s side of the family had died at the hands of that boy, so how could her poor son possibly survive. "But they rejected my private intention to offer them some help, the reason actually being that they couldn''t trust my character." As he said this, Lucius'' face visibly darkened a little, he was clearly still reeling from those blunt words Jon had spoken at the time. Narcissa reassured her husband by saying. "There''s no need to rush, the situation isn''t really clear yet, is it? Even if they do win this Triwizard Tournament they''ll just have France and Hogwarts Castle, our lord still controls the whole of Britain, and we''ll have plenty of chancester." Lucius didn''t say anything more. Narcissa stayed at home all day or else had afternoon tea with the pureblood wives, so she wasn''t aware of what was really going on at the forefront of Voldemort''s conflict with Dumbledore. After the second task, and especially after Draco had survived a narrow escape from underwater, shivering and hugging him, a sense of unease rose up inside Lucius. He could only hope now that this premonition would not affect his family, especially Draco, who was in the middle of the vortex. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 402: Spring Rain & Thunder Chapter 402: Spring Rain & Thunder Unsurprisingly, Baron followed Jon back to Lyons with all the ghosts in the entire castle. Their loyal allegiance had always been to the Hogwarts castle, and now that Dumbledore''s situation seemed to be improving, it was only natural that they would not want to continue to roam around the streets. It wasn''t as if the ghosts hade back to share the wealth but ran in misery; they hadn''t been able to do much in response to Voldemort''s manhunt, and they hadn''t left the castle with Dumbledore in the first ce; they had left only after Voldemort had gradually changed the atmosphere of the castle. Baron had always talked about wanting to rely on himself to take the castle back from Voldemort, and Jon had realised after finding him that he wasn''t just talking nonsense or just shouting a loud slogan, he was really working towards that goal, using what Slytherin had once told him to keep. Now Baron had not only brought back all the ghosts from the castle but also the item that Slytherin himself had needed, which was now in Dumbledore''s hands. And once this was done, and he returned to Lyons, it had nothing to do with Jon for the time being, until the third task began, when Slytherin would give him some part of that item. In the time that followed, Jon had not left Lyons. Apart from following along with his fourth-year sses and spending his free time in the library every day, he just stared at the weather conditions in Lyon and studied them. Finally, inte March, a spring rain fell. The temperature had risen considerablypared to the winter and the young wizards had changed out of their heavy robes and jumpers, and it had been rumoured that Professor McGonagall was nning to organise an outing during the recent period, which of course would take ce in France. When it rained, Jon leaned by the window and eyed the cloudy sky, chatting in passing with Neville and Ron, who were ying wizard''s chess beside him. "Why do people get in a different mood when it rains?" "If we go by scientific exnations, theck of sunlight on rainy days leads to ack of production of some hormones in the body, especially a decrease in the production of dopamine hormone, resulting in a lower level of stimtion in the brain, which then manifests as a moody state." "What kind of stimtion and what is less? It''s a mess, so what if we go by the magic exnation?" Ron asked scratching his head as he focused on the chess game. Jon would love for a thunderbolt to strike down from the dark clouds at this time. "The magic exnation would be that rainy days are good for dark wizards to use dark magic, perhaps such weather would affect their mood and make their spell casting stronger." Neville was thinking hard about Jon''s nonsense. "No wonder then that when we were in Britain, every time we were hunted it was on a rainy day." "Er, that could just be a coincidence." Jon changed his tune to prevent Neville from going astray then refocused his gaze on the sky, "Do you guys think it would be a problem if I learned the weather spell and created an artificial thunderstorm toe?" His preparation to learn Animagus had obviously not been hidden from Neville and Ron, and he was not even intended to hide it from them who are staying in Lyons to keep an eye on the weather for him. "A big problem." Neville said with a straight face, "Ancient wizards weren''t stupid, and they were certainly much more skilled at using the weather spell than we are, but the conditions for learning Animagus have remained just that harsh since the ancient times, meaning that trying to cheat with magic and take shortcuts won''t work." Jon was just saying that, and he hadn''t meant to take shortcuts. When it came to extremelyplex spells like this that affected him, he had always maintained the view that he should be as cautious as he could be, preferring not to learn them and not to take the risk. Just like when he was lurking in Hogwarts castle preparing to go against the basilisk, Jon actually had many ways to get Aberforth to use a spell to help preserve the sound of a rooster to face the basilisk, but to be on the safe side, he chose the most troublesome option of just bringing a live rooster with him. When faced with a situation like this, it is best not to gamble with your own safety. If it worked out then naturally it would be good if it didn''t, it would be aplete disaster. "I heard your date at the Ball was Hermione?" As though the game of chess had settled into his rhythm, Ron''s mood rxed suddenly and he asked teasingly. Jon waved his hand. "It was Hermione in name only, but actually the person I stayed with the longest that night was Lee." Neville and Ron looked at each other, both of them obviously still unaware of all that had happened that night at the Ball. And just as Jon was about to give them a concise exnation, a blue-purple bolt of lightning suddenly reflected in his face! Jon froze for less than two seconds and the next thing he knew he was jumping out of the window without a word, not even leaving through the door, and just flying into the rain that was falling harder and harder! "Rumble!" Thunder followed, leaving Neville and Ron to only vaguely watch as Jon''s back was gradually covered by the downpour. What with all the talk about people being in a poor mood on rainy days, at this moment Jon found himself in apletely childish state of mind! Even though he had been hinting throughout the tournament that he wouldn''t try to be pushy about Animagus, he had been waiting for so long that it would be a lie to say that he didn''t have expectations in his heart. And now such a long wait was finallying to an end. Jon didn''t take the risk of letting himself get wet on this day, as he would have caught a cold afterwards, he turned the robe he was wearing into a raincoat as he flew out, and put on arge hood. He soon arrived at the ce where the potion had been buried, and after the first p of thunder was over, the next bolt of lightning followed. The sky was half illuminated by the lightning, and the next moment it was dark again. He didn''t dare to use magic to prevent the potion vial from shattering by ident. The more he got to thest minute, the more he couldn''t rush, after all, he had waited for more than half a year, and he didn''t want to waste this wait. Within a few minutes, he had dug out the vial of potion. In that small crystal vial, a mouthful of blood-red liquidy silently, exactly as it had been described in the book and Professor McGonagall''s exnation to Jon. This meant that on the potion part, he had seeded! After getting the potion, Jon didn''t linger, the process of drinking the potion didn''t have to be forced to necessarily stay in the middle of a thunderstorm, he then moved to arge meeting room in the school. This ce was not normally used and would not be disturbed, and the ce was empty enough, a ce Jon had chosen early on to use toplete his Animagus transformation. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 403: Animagus Change (2 in 1) Chapter 403: Animagus'' Change (2 in 1) Instead of picking up his wand, Jon aimed the ring at his chest. The pronunciation of the ring version of the Animagus Transformation incantation had been worked out long before he had officially made the Animagus potion. It was not difficult, for even in the absence of the potion, one could attempt to cast a spell on one''s heart with the ring and one''s body would feel the reaction, as long as he kept changing the pronunciation of the incantation, then he can find the one that made his heart react most strongly. "Amato Animo Animato Animagus." Jon pronounced the incantation with a different pronunciation than the normal one, and the very next second after the incantation, he gulped down the red potion from the crystal vial! In an instant, a heart-rending pain swept through Jon''s entire body, forcing him to fall to his knees in the first instance, sweat soaking out of all parts of his skin. The pain surpassed even the pain that would have been caused by a Cruciatus Curse, but Jon held on without making a sound, just clenching his teeth and feeling with his mind the changes his body was producing. He felt his body temperature drop and then rise, one moment his body was hot and covered in sweat, and the next he was shivering from the cold, but soon this temperature change subsided and although it was obvious that Jon felt different from what he had just felt, he was not ufortable, but rather he felt very warm andfortable. All of a sudden, a second heartbeat drummed in Jon''s eardrums. The sound of that newborn heartbeat distinguished itself from his original one, so powerful and empowering even in its first beat! Yes, Jon felt the power. He didn''t know if it was an illusion or if it was real, but just as the second heartbeat sounded, he inexplicably felt that his body had be much lighter, his hands he is clenching became much firmer, and his whole body felt like it had been reborn. Because he had read through a lot of actual cases and had got relevant experience from Professor McGonagall, Jon could be sure that a normal Animagus transformation would never have such a change. A different kind of magical power surged through Jon''s body and soon followed along with the beating of the newborn heart to the third gem of the ring, which then immediately returned to his body and was then injected into his "new" heart. Jon could feel the pain in his body begin to diminish, while a golden light lit up in his mind. He was tempted to make contact with that light to see what his other form really looked like, yet the dazzling light burned like fire, and itpletely obstructed Jon''s ability to have a clear picture of the creature within. Gradually, the slow-beating newborn pulse began to beat for the seventh time when, the next moment, everything stopped! Jon''s senses returned to reality, the golden light that had been clearly visible in his mind was gone, and the newborn pulse ceased to be active and fell silent again, leaving only the sound of his original heartbeat. The feeling of his body being wrapped in a hot spring also disappeared, as if nothing had changed in his body from the beginning. Jon stood up from the ground somewhat bewildered, his body was dry, not drenched in sweat as his robes had been at first, and he looked at his hands, his nails were neatly trimmed, and his fingers were white and long, even feeling a little more tender than he had seen them before, with no sign that they had turned into any kind of ws or furry palms. But now, with all the magical signatures on his body seemingly stopped, it was only logical that Animagus had seeded. Except that Jon hadn''t turned into any animal, nor did he show any physical changes that were different, at least not that Jon himself noticed any difference. If there was anything really unusual, it was that he felt like he had be a little lighter, jumped a little higher in ce apparently than he had before, and his body was a little more powerful; let''s say that Jon had felt like he was at the normal level of bodyposition for a normal 15-year-old close to entering high school before, but now he felt like he was fully reaching the slightly upper strength of an adult. And vaguely, he also felt that this physical strengthening was not over, his body was being nourished by a strange and unusual magic of another kind, one that was strange, yet he was sure it belonged to him. But what kind of Animagus doesn''t change the shape of a wizard? This magic was still essentially a type of transfiguration, but Jon did not exhibit the slightest trace of transfiguration. Puzzled, Jon touched himself all over his body, neither something was missing nor anything was added, he was sure that there was no change to his physical appearance, and to experiment further he picked up his wand and casually cast two spells, neither the strength nor the effect was half as different as before. He looked at the third gem on the ring, which had been marked by Animagus'' special magic and there was no way to add any more magic to it, which meant that he had actually seeded, but could Animagus be considered sessful without turning into an animal? Jon was puzzled, and after puzzling over it all by himself, he decided to go and see Professor Dumbledore just to be on the safe side. Dumbledore is a top Master of Transfiguration anyway, and he would know more about it than Jon himself. When Jon had just walked out of the meeting room with a depressed look on his face, he happened to run into Hermione and Lavender, both of whom were holding their books as if they were going to return them back to the library. "Good evening, Jon." Lavender greeted him with a wave. Jon also snapped out of his musings and responded. "Good evening." Upon seeing his face, however, Lavender yelped in surprise and Hermione froze in ce. Jon noticed the difference in their expressions and couldn''t help but touch his face, frowning as he asked. "Is there something different about me?" "It feels like you''ve got handsome!" Lavender eximed, he could hear that it wasn''t apliment from her. Hermione blinked and said the same. "And your eyes." "Eyes?" Jon was about to raise his wand and turn it into a mirror to look at his eyes when Hermione pulled a small round mirror out of her own pocket and handed it to him. Looking in a mirror, Jon then realised just what kind of change he had undergone. His skin looked a little more refined and fair than before, so that''s what Lavender had said about looking more handsome, and it was the change in his eyes that was most striking. Jon''s turquoise pupils had turned pale gold at some point, and the dazzling gold did not just appear on the surface; if you looked closely, you could see that there was a golden fire pulsing slightly in his eyes, just like the golden glow he had seen lighting up in his own mind after drinking the potion earlier. Such a change made Jon feel even more incredulous. Even if the Animagus used was no longer the same as normal, it wasn''t as if this was the only change that the transformation produced, was it? What was the point of just making him a little more gigolo-looking? Is it more conducive to picking up girls? Instead of making Jon''s depressed mood better, the discovery of such a change made him even more unhappy. He hurriedly said goodbye to Hermione and Lavender and made his way to Dumbledore''s office. When Jon arrived, Dumbledore looked like he was crafting something under the verbalmunication of the Slytherin portrait, and when he looked up and saw Jon for the first time, the expression on his face froze visibly for a moment, and then he smiled andplimented him. "Very good Transfiguration, Jon, you can even change the pupils of your eyes meticulously already, this would have added 20 points to your house for such a skill as yours if I were still Professor of Transfiguration at Hogwarts again." "Don''t be ridiculous Professor, I can''t believe you can''t see that a change like this in me isn''t from a normal transfiguration technique." Jon was certainly not in the mood to joke about anything with Dumbledore at this time, he scratched his hair and sat down opposite Dumbledore. "As Professor McGonagall should have told you, I have been nning to learn Animagus sincest year, and it was supposed to be my sess on this thunderstorm day, I don''t know why I didn''t transform into some kind of animal, just the surface of my body changed in some way like this." Dumbledore crossed his arms at the top of his desk and his face turned serious. "I know you''re studying to master Animagus, but I also know that this Animagus you have to learn is very different from the normal ones, right?" Jon had only concealed the source of the ring magic, as he and Slughorn had agreed to do in the first ce, but he hadn''t intended to hide what he was learning from Dumbledore. "Yes, as I envisioned when I was learning it, this Animagus I am mastering not only can change a wizard''s appearance, but it can make the magic itself change as well, meaning that it can turn a wizard into a magical creature with unique magical abilities. But I can feel now that the magic within my body has indeed changed, though the body does not have that much of a change in outward form, which makes me wonder if my Animagus has seeded." Dumbledore listened to Jon''s statement, while carefully observing Jon''s appearance at the moment, and he gave his guess. "I have never read in any spell book of this Animagus you speak of, nor have I seen anyone who has sessfully learned to do so. But there have been many cases of wizards throughout the ages who have tried to transform into magical creatures, but without exception, their magic not only failed to change but it prompted them to be half-human, half-beast monsters. Since you have sensed a change in your magic, I think you have actually seeded, as to why your appearance has not yet changed in the same way as your magic, perhaps there is some sort ofck of chance?" Jon mused. "A chance?" This time Fawkes flew up to his shoulder at some point and pecked him in the face with his pointed beak. "Sorry, I don''t have time to y with you right now, Fawkes, I''m trying to think of something." As if he understood Jon''s words, Fawkes flew back up to the golden perch but didn''t groom his feathers as he had done when Jon hade in there at first, and just cocked his head and stared into Jon''s eyes. Dumbledore''s words this time didn''t have that riddler''s guise of being clouded and unintelligible, but Jon still hadn''t figured it out. "And what kind of chance should it take?" Dumbledore shook his head directly at this. "There has never been a sess story, so naturally no one knows this, but I think that just as a thunderbird will be born in a thundercloud, a phoenix will be born in a sea of mes, and a newborn unicorn will surely receive nature''s favours, the kind of chance you need still depends on what kind of creature your Animagus is. I can''t help you with that, you need to find it out for yourself." Jon eventually left the Headmaster''s office with doubtsing and going one after another. He felt that Dumbledore had a point, the Animagus transforming into a magical creature with magical abilities would be different from a normal animal no matter what. Even the mostmon magical slug in the world contained its own unique kind of magic ability, and while Jon had magicallypleted his transformation, he was still in the process of transforming into an Animagus, and when exactly that process would bepletely finished would require a chance that no one could predict? A chance that no one could have predicted? Jon suddenly blinked, when it came to predictions, didn''t he know one of the most famous prophets in the magical world? Thinking of this, Jon felt like he had found the key to breaking the game. He became excited and immediately rushed to the firece in the school dedicated to floo powder teleportation, and using the floowork connecting France and Durmstrang, he arrived that night in Durmstrang, far away in the northernmost part of Europe. The students of Durmstrang were surprised when he appeared in this castle, as everyone knew that he was participating in the Triwizard Tournament and should not have had time to drop in at this time. Still, every student who saw him addressed him respectfully as Professor Green. Such an address was much more respectful and formalpared to before; after all, Jon''s achievements were all visible to the naked eye after he departs from Durmstrang. Other than that, Jon had good luck today when it came to finding someone, Grindelwald hadn''t gone anywhere tonight, he was in the headmaster''s office reading a document that looked like ab report. After hearing Jon''s reason foring, there was no half-hearted change of expression on his face. "It''s been so long since you''ve been back, I thought you had forgotten all the promises you made in this office before, and then youe back to ask for my help?" A cheeky smile instantly appeared on Jon''s face. "You know, I''ve beenpeting in the Triwizard Tournament for the past six months or so, and I really haven''t had much time in between. Besides, haven''t Ie to see you specifically now? That little help or big help is all incidental and by the way thing." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 404: The Third Task (2 in 1) Chapter 404: The Third Task (2 in 1) Grindelwald also seemed to be speaking casually and had no intention of dwelling too much on this with Jon. Simrly, when confronted with Jon''s question, he answered bluntly. "True prophecy couldn''t see anything so detailed." He didn''t take his eyes off the piece of experimentation data in his hand, "Not to mention the fact that this magic you are mastering has never appeared in history, that would leave even less of a trail in destiny, or if it did, it would be hard to see, at best it would only give some vague indication." Jon pressed on, still undeterred. "And what indication have you seen in me, sir?" Hearing him press the question, Grindelwald then put down the parchment in his hand and looked up to meet Jon''s golden eyes that simply could not be hidden. "Death." Jon''s entire body froze. "What?" "Death." Grindelwald repeated his words again while picking up the parchment again, his voice remained calm, "From the first moment I saw you, I felt it, the aura of death wrapped around you was heavy, much heavier than thest time you left from here with me." Jon wasn''t frightened, he just rubbed his chin in thought. "Could it be Thestral?" "I may not have meant for you to associate it with the Animagus magical creature you are about to turn into, it was just a personal prophecy for you. I suggest you be as careful as you can be in whatever you do these days, or the next time we meet, I can expect to see you in a coffin." Grindelwald''s words were still as sharp and harsh as ever, but Jon didn''t care, knowing full well that it actually constituted nothing more than a unique expression of concern on the part of the old man. "Don''t worry sir, even without your reminder I know I have to contest in the final task of the Triwizard Tournament soon, if the Dark Lord has any big ns then that''s when he''ll probably initiate them, I''ll be careful." "If you know that yourself then why are you still being here?" Grindelwald got up from his chair and threw the piece of research he had finished reading into the burning fire, "I''ve already given you all the information you can get from me, so get out of here." Jon, who had wanted to exchange pleasantries with Grindelwald and ask him how his life was going and if he was still eating and sleeping normally, could not help but look a little down, the old man was like that, saying he did not know how to be considerate of the elderly when he arrived and then telling him to get lost when he was ready to be considerate. But of course, Jon had no problem with that, he got up and said "Take care of yourself" and left the headmaster''s office. Grindelwald was left alone, looking at the leaping fire and squinting his eyes. If Jon had been here now and had looked into his eyes, he would have noticed that the sight reflected in the old man''s eyes was exactly the same as the one he had just shared. At the end of the day, Jon hadn''t been able to figure out what his Animagus actually is. But overall after this episode, his body was moving in a good direction. The physical changes had stopped the next day, and Jon had gone to a gym in Lyon city with his identity concealed to have some tests done with professional equipment and determined that his body was now at a point where all the athletic parameters were on par with some professional athletes. It may not sound like much, but Jon had never trained systematically, and his body had not gained much muscle or size, it was still the same as before. Such a change was still useful in the end, even if in the magical world wizards would basically never encounter a situation where there would be close physicalbat, but with the trait of Jon''s own ring that enchants the spell on it, should there be a situation where the wave of magic against cannot be countered, it gives him a possibility of forcing both sides into closebat. Now that his physical qualities have improved, and the vast majority of wizards in the magical world, especially dark wizards in particr, arergely homebodies, if ites to a closebat situation, then his chances of winning are even higher. Not only that, but better physical fitness would also allow him to cast spells much faster and enhance his reactions and movements to avoid spells, which means it would amount to an all-around improvement. Then there''s the change in appearance. To be honest this was something that bothered Jon more than anything else, he had recently noticed that it wasn''t actually just his skin that had changed, that new-found magic had changed his whole aura along with it. ording to the information that Jon had asked Hermione to help him inquire privately among the girls, a number of young girls were secretly saying that just looking at Jontely gave people a very warm feeling, like a spring blossom, and if Jon smiled a little more, it could make one''s heart melt away. Such a description left Jon speechless, and he made a point of asking Hermione if she felt the same way, only to find that Hermione didn''t say anything, just looked at him and didn''t say a word. Well, even without saying anything, Jon could alreadye up with the answer. It was like he had a different kind of charm on his body, somewhat simr to the effect of a Ve, but obviously not as radical, just an invisible change, and only for the opposite sex, for example, Neville, Ron and the others thought that Jon was no different from before, except that those eyes were quite cool. To verify the range of such a charm effect, or affinity if you prefer, he went to Gabrielle, who had been ying crazy with the new ghosts who were arriving at the school these days, to verify it. Although Gabrielle kept shaking her head and saying she felt nothing different about Jon than before, Jon still sensed something unusual in her flushed cheeks and a bit heavier breathing. Even the ghost could be affected? Jon didn''t dare try any further, and he began to concentrate on how to hide his eyes which had be more conspicuous. At first, he had gone to Lyon''s downtown to buy a pair of contacts, but before he could even get them on his eyes, they were burnt to a crisp and the dust blew into his eyes, bringing tears to Jon''s eyes, but unfortunately, Neville was the only person around, and if Hermione had been there, she could have helped him blow them out. It was at this time that he realised that the golden eyes did not just look like fire on the surface, they showed the characteristics of a me. There was no way to control his pupils, and there was no way for Jon to finely manipte the transfiguration to the point of only changing his eyes. He had no choice but to squint his eyes as much as possible to keep his pale gold eyes from showing too much, but it was this squinting that made him look even more warm and sunny like a central heating device to the girls. It was just that wearing the hood all day at school was even weirder, otherwise, Jon would have refrained from taking the hood off his robe. Luckily, the days passed quickly and Jon didn''t have to wait long before the final task of the Triwizard Tournament was drawing nearer and nearer. The day before the tournament officially began, Dumbledore took Jon and the gang back to the premises of Hogwarts Castle, and unbeknownst to them, there had been some unspoken secrets happening within the castle during the time they had been away. Snape officially received a message on the third day before thest task began. He rebuffed Matthew at first, but Matthew simply stated that he wasn''t asking for Snape''s opinion, but rather that they, the three judges, couldn''t reach Voldemort right now, which was why he had asked him to pass it on to him. "Even if I did pass it on, our lord is unlikely to agree, so I think there''s no need to waste your time, Mr Graves." Snape grimaced as he wondered exactly what had gone wrong in Matthew''s head that he had made such a request to him. Matthew just smiled mysteriously and then said to Snape. "Yes or no, please just go and ask the gentleman''s opinion, if he reprimands you, you can put all the me on me; since I dare to ask you this, it means I know what to expect in my mind." Snape was silent. Of course, he didn''t think Matthew was a fool, but if he wasn''t a fool, and yet he could make such an absurd request, then he had something to stand on. But the key problem was that he couldn''t contact Voldemort at all, so how could he authenticate the story? The truth could not be told to Matthew, so Snape had to stall him and then find Crouch. And Crouch, after hearing Snape''s retelling, instantly grimaced. "Who gave them the nerve!" "That''s the problem, a request that no normal person would even think about, and he just told me, what made him think our lord would agree?" Snape''s question silenced Crouch. He paced back and forth in his office as if restraining the anger in his heart. "This is something that if we give the wrong answer, then there is a good chance that it will reveal that we have lost contact with our lord." Such things were certainly known to Snape, and he looked at Crouch. "We need to think about this from the beginning. For starters this tournament was initiated by our lord, the first and second tasks had nothing to do with Graves and the group, but the third was organized by the three of them themselves. But what the task was actually going to bepeted against was determined long before the tournament had even begun." Crouch stopped his pace as he picked up on Snape''s words. "And in the first task, since we had the means to get that faulty golden snitch into the Forbidden Forest and have Jon Green get it, it means that one of the three Confederation judges who are primarily running this Triwizard Tournament has submitted to our lord. It would mean that our lord actually knew everything about all three tasks before the tournament even started, and that person would tell all that he or she had learned." Snape said calmly. "And there was the intrusion into the Headmaster''s office, we all know full well that to actually secure that office, there were many ways our lord could have actually been able to use, even the simplest house elf could do the work, but he didn''t use any of them, and it was at this same time that he had disappeared. Does this mean that he didn''t actually care about such a thing happening from the beginning to the end?" Crouch looked closely at Snape. "You need to think carefully about the consequences of this if we have guessed wrong about our lord''s thoughts." "That''s why I came to you." Snape said with an expressionless face, "The risks and responsibilities need to be shared." Such blunt words made Crouch look slightly annoyed, of course, he knew what Snape had in mind, and he wasn''t in fear of taking responsibility, but he was worried that if he chose wrongly it would ruin the ns of his lord, whom he considered a god. Eventually, Crouch sat back in his chair and spoke. "Go and reply to Graves and say that we agree." *** Jon and the others spent the night in the wagon and were ready to leave early the next morning. As they left the wagon, Dumbledore pulled out what he had got from Baron''s side that had been prepared for a long time as per Slytherin''s advice. "Two copies in total, you keep one, and I''ll keep one, it depends on which one of us encounters bad luck first." Dumbledore said softly. Jon ced the item in the interior space of his robe''s inner pocket, where a special spell had been applied specifically to hide alchemical props of a magical nature. "Still, I hope I don''t have to be the one to encounter it." Jon muttered and then walked down the wagon with Dumbledore, "Be careful Professor, I don''t want to turn up to find you in a hospital bed after my task is over." Dumbledore blinked. "Maybe when youe back you''ll find me turned into a tombstone?" "That joke isn''t funny." The two men stopped talking once they got closer to Matthew and his group, and it was at this point that they realized that there were a lot of students gathered in this spot right in front of the Quidditch pitch of the castle. A quick nce at it only gave Jon the impression that there were only more spectators than at the previous task, which made him frown. ording to what he had expected, there would be no spectators for this task, or if there were, those who weren''t involved in the task wouldn''t be able to see much, but as far as he could tell, it was different from what he had thought. As Jon and Diane approached, Emil and Draco were brought along by Snape, and only when all four of thepeting champions arrived before Matthew that he was ready to start announcing the exact rules for thisst task. "I''m actually rather honoured as I have received the appointment to be a judge for this tournament." Matthew''s voice carried across the stadium, "This is not just a grand event that has been restarted after hundreds of years, it is about the merits of two ideologies and two systems. And now we are well on our way to the final task, which I hope will bring the tournament to a sessful conclusion, whatever the final result may be." "And the venue for this final task is not in this stadium." He faced the four of them, and with a smile on his face, he pointed a finger towards the towering Hogwarts castle. "The next task that you will be contesting will be in this castle itself that you are contesting for!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 405: Throw rotten eggs at my head, Hogwarts (2 in 1) Chapter 405: Throw rotten eggs at my head, Hogwarts (2 in 1) Hearing his words, the four champions, including Jon, all looked at Matthew in shock. Even those castle students who had already sat in the audience let out a series of gasps. Hogwarts Castle is one of the stakes in the Triwizard Tournament and even holds a position equal to that of the entire French wizardingmunity in the blood pact made between Dumbledore and Voldemort. The students in the castle had been brought out of the school thinking that the final would be at the Quidditch pitch and that they, for once, would be able to be proper spectators. What they didn''t expect, however, was that the real purpose of having them out was actually to make room for the fourpeting champions and reserve the ying field. Of course, Jon also felt shocked, and after hearing Matthew''s announcement he turned his head to Dumbledore, who met his eyes and shook his head. This meant that the final task of the tournament being held in the castle was something that even Dumbledore himself didn''t know, but then Jon looked over at Snape, who was also sitting in the judge''s seat. Dumbledore was unaware, but there was absolutely no way that Snape and the others were unaware. If they wanted to use Hogwarts Castle as a venue for the tournament, they would have to get the approval of Voldemort, the current nominal owner of the castle, or else Matthew and the others would not have the guts and ability to make the decision privately. In other words, the Voldemort side must have known about this before anyone else, but how much earlier was unknown. After thinking of this, Jon''s first reaction was not how much of a head start and advantage Draco and Emil and the others had over them, but rather, he could not help but have a question rise up. Why had Voldemort agreed? And just as this question arose in Jon''s mind, Matthew''s voice, enhanced by the Amplifying Charm, once again rang out across the Quidditch pitch. "From the Forbidden Forest to the ck Lake, and then from the ck Lake to the castle, this Triwizard Tournament involves every corner of this school, and it will be within this castle that the ultimate winner will be crowned." "The Triwizard Cup! The trophy that belongs to the winner of this tournament, the champion who lifts it at thest moment is the only winner and the camp to which he/she belongs will receive everything in the oath that has been made between you. The trophy is now hidden in the castle, and you will have to discover the clues to reach this final glory. There is no time limit for this task until someone has lifted the Triwizard Cup, and there are no forbidden areas within the castle, so any ce you can think of that you can get to and enter could be the ce where the final trophy will be hidden." "And the ultimate ranking of the first two tasks will be used as the order of entry for you to enter the castle to start this task next. Jon Green, who has the highest score, will be the first to enter the castle to start thepetition at exactly 10 am, whereas Emil Lestrange, who is in second ce will enter the castle at 1 pm together with Diane Rosier due to close difference in points and problem happened in the previous task, and finally, Draco Malfoy, who is thest ce holder, will enter the castle at sunset." After the exact rules were announced, there was even more outcry from the audience. Because as the one with the leading score, Jon''s advantage on this task was simply too great. He would enter a full three hours earlier than the person in second ce, and even closer to a day earlier than Draco, and if he was lucky enough, then maybe he would find the Triwizard Cup and end this task even before others coulde in first. But even if some people felt that such a big advantage was unfair, the rules were unlikely to change at this point. As soon as Matthew had announced all the rules, there were less than five minutes to go before the 10 o''clock mark. And by this time, the confederation judge from Africa had given Jon aplete inspection. "What''s wrong with your eye?" She asked warily. Jon certainly didn''t think that the changes in his eyes could be hidden from such an inspection, and he shrugged and said. "A failed magical experiment has caused it to be like this, you can also find someone to help change it back to its original form if you prefer, there is nothing more I can do about it myself." The African witch eventually found a professional wizard who had made a critical assessment of Jon''s condition. But apparently, even the professional had never seen anything like Jon''s condition before, and his pale gold eyes, which burned like a fire, did not reveal much to him even after long observation. As the time for the task drew nearer, Matthew stepped in and, without questioning the change in Jon''s eyes, permitted him topete as normal. After another round of inspection to make sure he wasn''t carrying anything that is against the rules, ten o''clock arrived. Jon was led to therge open castle door, all eyes on him, and he looked back at Dumbledore before approaching the door, the two men simply locked eyes and nothing more was exchanged. Finally, he stepped right into the doors of that castle without a second thought. And just after he entered, the doors were mmed shut again from the outside until they would be opened again at one o''clock. After watching the doors close and Jon officially began the tournament''s final task, Dumbledore slowly rose from his seat, very few people were paying attention to him now, the vast majority of students and journalists were discussing the format of this final tournament task, and it was at this point that he wordlessly turned and left the venue and Hogwarts Castle, leaving Rosier alone as the representative of Witching Horizon. Crouch noticed Dumbledore had disappeared only three minutester. He looked at the empty spot and turned his head to Snape and asked. "Who''s guarding the French Ministry of Magic side?" "Selwyn and Luke Wood." Snape said lightly, clearly concerned about Dumbledore''s departure as well, but acted like he wasn''t overly worried about it. "Just remember who we are now and guard this castle for our lord, who I''m sure is better prepared than anyone else." *** Jon hadn''t felt any difference after entering Hogwarts Castle from when he had been here before. But even so, he gripped his wand tightly in his hand, his mind kept on alert at all times. As predicted before this third task, Voldemort himself was still absent from the stage for this final task, never appearing before the public since his return when the castle was attacked by the dragons in the first task. It certainly didn''t go unnoticed by Dumbledore and Jon; several people in Witching Horizon had actually been snooping around about Voldemort himself since the start of the year. The results did bear some fruit, which is why Jon and Dumbledore spoke those words before the task began. While the third task was in progress, Dumbledore naturally had to go and do some of the things he had to do, and this would most likely involve facing Voldemort himself. But that didn''t necessarily mean that Jon''s side was safe. Anyone could see Voldemort''s attitude towards Jon since the very first task. If getting rid of Dumbledore was the number one thing he had to do, then Jon was bound toe in second. It was not just that Jon was the best student of the new generation on Dumbledore''s side, it was also that Jon had disgraced Voldemort in front of so many people across Europe, killing two of his best men. As a vengeful man, Voldemort would not let go of the opportunity to kill Jon if he had it, and if he didn''t have it, he would create it! And in thisst task, it was certainly one of the perfect opportunities. Jon, of course, had no idea what Voldemort was thinking or doing, but what he did know was that he had to be extra cautious at this point in time. Now that he could enter the castle openly, he certainly had nothing more to hide, the search for clues or whatever came first, he walked up the stairs and began to head straight for the seventh floor, soon arriving at the door of the Headmaster''s office, which was a restricted area for all students and professors in the entire castle, and instead of reaching out, he waved his wand and pushed open the door of the room. Looking inside from where the foyer was, Jon didn''t notice anything out of ce. There were no longer any living creatures guarding the ce, and once he had stepped into the Headmaster''s office, there were no magical devices that looked like they had been activated, everything was as normal as it could be. The furnishings werergely unchanged from Jon''s first visit, and all traces of the previous Hermione battle had been cleaned up. Of course, the four relics on the middle desk hadn''t been taken away and ced elsewhere; Jon didn''t know that Barty Jr. and Snape couldn''t contact Voldemort nowadays, but assumed that Voldemort himself had something to fall back on and knew that the four relics associated with the castle weren''t likely to be taken out of the room without permission. After lingering in this Headmaster''s office for a while, Jon made his way up the corner staircase that ran up through the room, and he eventually made his way to the tower that had once been used to house the Quill of eptance and the Book of Admittance. The table in the middle of the tower was now empty of any items and the walls around it were devoid of magical portraits, it was as if the ce had been vacated. After a careful search along the perimeter without any luck, Jon could not help but leave in disappointment. Even if Voldemort had allowed Matthew to set up the tournament in Hogwarts Castle, they probably wouldn''t have dared to hide the Triwizard Cup in the Headmaster''s Office. So Jon went back to the Headmaster''s office and first tried to see if he could take the Gryffindor sword with him, thinking that even if he couldn''t take it out of Hogwarts Castle, he could just use it in the castle. No matter how hard Jon tried, he couldn''t get it off the desk. In the end, Jon had no choice but to give up, not even fulfilling his wish to be a Gryffindor Sword Knight for once. And just as he was about to turn around and leave the Headmaster''s office, which had failed to bring him any semnce of gain, he suddenly stopped in his tracks as if he had thought of something. To enter the castle openly. He was now entering the castle openly, wasn''t he? Having made sure of that, Jon turned his back to the door of the headmaster''s office and spoke with his face in the direction of the desk. "Throw rotten eggs at my head, Hogwarts." It was a phrase that Dumbledore had told him after the second task, a strange secret password. It had been four months, and originally Jon''s memories were all rather fuzzy; after all, Dumbledore hadn''t shown much solemnity at the time when he had uttered it, it had sounded more like a joke, so Jon hadn''t been too bothered by it. But now he suddenly remembered this matter, anyway, he came here, it is not like Dumbledore would harm him if he tried. And right after Jon said the secret password, the whole headmaster''s office was quiet, nothing changed, and no one or ghost jumped out and really threw rotten eggs at his head. Just as Jon waited for a good three or four seconds, spread his hands, thinking that it was probably just a casual joke from Dumbledore, and was about to turn around and leave the Headmaster''s office again, a slightly weak, but extraordinarily jumpy and excited voice suddenly rang out in his head! "Hi! Hi! Hi! It''s been so long, it''s been so long! I can''t believe there''s still someone allowed toe here!" Jon''s steps, which had been halfway forward, stopped instantly, and he turned to look at the still-empty Headmaster''s office but failed to spot where the voice wasing from. "Why aren''t you talking? Are you looking for me? If that''s the case, then please walk forward." Jon didn''t do what the voice that rang out from his head said, but spoke softly and asked. "Who are you?" "Who am I? You don''t know who I am? Then why did you open your mouth and say those words to wake me up? Don''t be ridiculous, little friend." "It was taught to me by Professor Dumbledore, do you know him? Albus Dumbledore." The voice suddenly fell silent and Jon couldn''t figure out what was going on, and just as he was about to speak again, the voice rang out with a long sigh. "Albus Dumbledore, Albus. Of course, I know. You call him Professor? You''re his student?" "Yes, my name is Jon Green, and I was a fourth-year Hogwarts student under him." "He set up a new Hogwarts after he left here? The school was split?" "It was split, but not a new Hogwarts, we have always firmly believed that there is only one Hogwarts and this castle today as it is, doesn''t deserve to be called a school, and now we are preparing to take it back." Having said this Jon then went on to ask tentatively. "Who are you exactly? Are you the castle?" The voice looked like it was amused by Jon''s question. "Haha, the castle? Me? If you really want to know who I am why don''t you just do as I say ande forward? A fourth-year student of Hogwarts - Jon Green." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 406: The Sorting Hat (2 in 1) Chapter 406: The Sorting Hat (2 in 1) Jon didn''t hesitate this time, he took a step forward and kept walking until he reached the wall directly behind that desk before the voice in his head called out to him to stop. "It''s this wall in front of you, reach out and push against it, a gentle push is all you need, you are qualified to do this already." Following its words, Jon''s hand touched the cold wall, and just as he ced his hand on it, just as he pushed, the whole surface began to tremble. Immediately afterwards the bricks on the wall in front of Jon suddenly began to split, and soon an entrance opened up before him for people to pass through. The candlelight from the headmaster''s office shone into the dark chamber and Jon saw a pile of tattered frames, tossed parchments and notes and a tattered hat in the corner as if it had been used as a dump. As soon as Jon entered the chamber, his eyes fixed on the tattered hat, a grey, patched and dusty peaked cap. "Is that you?" He asked as he opened his mouth. The voice rang in his head once more. "Aha, I never thought I''d see a living Hogwarts student after all these years!" The top hat voice sounded a little emotional, and Jon certainly noticed the hidden meaning in its words. "You have seen Hogwarts students before, but they''re all dead." "It was about seven or eight years ago, I think, when the daringd stumbled in by mistake and was then swallowed alive by that great serpent, and I could still vaguely sense something happening out there at the time." As if the hat itself didn''t want to talk much about the subject, it quickly moved this conversation elsewhere. "I suppose even if the Hogwarts you went to wasn''t this castle, you would have heard of my existence? The Sorting Hat, the one once used to give new students the choice to decide which house they should attend." There was certainly no way Jon couldn''t recognise it, and he walked over to the side of the Sorting Hat and picked it up off the floor while patting the dust from it. "When I first enrolled, the upperssmen told me about how there were once four houses at Hogwarts and you were the hat used to sort the students into them, but school tradition doesn''t usually tell new students that sorting into houses is as simple as just wearing a hat." "Of course, it''s a good tradition. After all, when the little kids know that the Sorting is just about wearing a shabby hat like mine and not duelling with trolls or dragons they usually just breathe a long sigh of relief and think about how wearing me on their head will mess up their hair that was so well groomedst night." The Sorting Hat looked like it hadn''t spoken to anyone in a long time, it was a bit talkative and hadn''t stopped talking since it saw Jon. But Jon obviously couldn''t continue to carry on wasting time here, although he had a good three-hour advantage over Emil at his disposal, for one person to search the entire castle, let alone three hours, even thirty, he wouldn''t necessarily be able to finish searching every part of the entire Hogwarts castle. "Would you like toe out with me, Mr Sorting Hat? I''m still in the middle of a tournament, and that tournament is about whether Hogwarts Castle will remain in the hands of that Dark Lord or return to Professor Dumbledore, and there''s no time to waste." "Why not?" The Sorting Hat replied dryly, "I''ve been thrown in here for so long that I certainly wouldn''t turn down the chance to get some air. Although I''ve also been kept in a cupboard for most of the year before, there''s always a day when I''lle out and sing and chat, and now I haven''t spoken to anyone for a long time." Seeing that it agreed, Jon solemnly folded it up and finally tucked it into the pocket of his robe. And that didn''t stop the Sorting Hat from being able to continuemunicating with him in his head. After leaving the headmaster''s office, Jon descended the stairs with a clear objective and started walking towards the great hall on the ground floor. By normal reasoning, the Triwizard Cup certainly couldn''t have just been ced in the great hall in such a clear and straightforward manner, but as the ce with the highest concentration of students in the entire castle regrly, and the first ce that came to mind upon entering the castle, Jon felt sure that Matthew and the others would have left some sort of clue in the great hall. "What kind ofpetition are you in? How can it actually decide who gets to own Hogwarts?" The voice of the Sorting Hat rang out in Jon''s head. Jon answered as he descended the stairs. "The Triwizard Tournament, before the tournament began the Dark Lord and Professor Dumbledore made a blood pact together that two separate Hogwarts and champions from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang woulde topete, whichever side won would be the only rightful Hogwarts and would also have the legal right to upy the castle." "Using the Triwizard Tournament for such a wager?" The Sorting Hat''s voice sounded a little odd, "Did you guys know that that Dark Lord, he has never actually gained control of the castle and can''t even stay here for more than a day or the castle will either crumble on its own or he''ll get the hell out." It was the first time Jon had heard what would happen to Voldemort if he stayed in Hogwarts for an extended period of time, but he soon asked again. "But we also found out that he is trying to wear down the original consciousness of this castle and then impose his own." "Of course, he''s going to do that anyhow, and it''s actually already sort of working, all that''s missing now is the final step." The Sorting Hat said so matter-of-factly. Jon subconsciously stopped in his tracks as he frowned. "Only one final step left? What do you mean?" The Sorting Hat seemed to know everything about Jon''s question, and it quickly replied. "I have a deep connection to this castle and can sense what he is doing more intuitively than anyone else. He has actually sort of seeded, the only thing left to be done is that the original ''will'' of the castle still hasn''t beenpletely worn away, so that means he''s only missing the final step, that is, the final step would involve the Triwizard Tournament you''re engaged in right now." Jon couldn''t help but hold his breath, he felt like he could uncover the purpose of why Voldemort was holding this Triwizard Tournament in the first ce. "So this tournament will help him takeplete control of the castle?" "Of course, it will." The Sorting Hat acted like it snapped a finger, "Don''t think that just because the Triwizard Tournament was a tournament that only began to arise after the death of the Four Founders that it won''t have any effect on this school, just like when this castle was first used by them as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it was just a normal magical castle with some enchantments ced on it during that time, far from having a consciousness of its own extent." "Almost every wizard in the whole of Britain for thest thousand years has graduated from this castle, and they have spent the whole seven years from the age of 11 to 18 here, which is equivalent to this castle having witnessed their entire youth. So while the students were performing magic at the school, the magic that dispersed through the castle also continued to affect the castle; the magic of a single young wizard was of course limited and would not have much effect at all, but over the years, the changes just happened slowly over time." "Sometime after this school was first started up, the Peeves appeared. At first, both the students and the professors thought he was just a ghost that had wandered into Hogwarts by chance, but he became more and more unusual and showed amazing abilities." "Peeves Ghost?" Jon was certainly no stranger to the name, knowing that he had once been one of the ghosts at Hogwarts. "Yes, Peeves Ghost." The Sorting hat patiently continued to tell Jon, "It is a spirit that presents itself as a ghost, or you could call it a castle spirit, it is a manifestation of the consciousness that this castle has created, except that it represents the naughty and nasty side of the students of this castle throughout time, I don''t know if you have heard how much the caretakers of this castle loathed it and how hard they tried to banish it from the castle." Jon shook his head. "Well, that was actually back in 1876 when the caretaker of this castle was still Rancorous Carpe, who had carefullyid out traps, using various weapons that he thought the Peeves could not resist as bait, and then prepared a huge bell-shaped enchanted hood reinforced by various Containment Charms, ready to catch the Peeves when he walked up to the trap." "And the result?" "The result was that Peeves not only escaped easily but also sprinkled broken ss all over the corridor and even evaded a trap consisting of several scimitars, crossbows, a musket and a small cannon. The Peeves Ghost put everyone''s lives in danger by randomly firing at windows for its own amusement, resulting in the evacuation of everyone from the castle and a three-day stand-off between the entire castle faculty and him, which finally ended with Headmistress Eupraxia Mole agreeing to sign a contract granting the Peeves Ghost additional privileges." "The privileges included permission for Peeves to swim in the boys''vatory on the ground floor once a week, priority in bringing in and throwing out any bread that wasn''t fresh from the kitchen, and a new hat made by the Madame Bonhabille of Paris, and from that point on, no caretaker or headmaster ever entertained the idea of expelling Peeves, no matter how annoying it might be. " "Just think how a normal ghost could possibly do all these things? That fool Carpe would never have thought of it, how could he drive the castle itself out of this castle? The Peeves Ghost is the spirit generated by the students'' magic and also represents this Hogwarts castle itself." "But also just after the Dark Lord took over this castle, within a few days Peeves ghost disappeared. There were many rumours at the time, some said that it had angered the Dark Lord himself and was killed by him with the most powerful killing curse, and others said that it was because Hogwarts was no longer the original Hogwarts that Peeves Ghost had disappeared. But in fact, it was the Dark Lord who imprisoned it, plus oppressed a portion of the students in this school, allowing that repressed emotion and magic to work against the ''will'' of the castle itself, constantly erasing its powers and existence." Jon had arrived at the great hall by now. "So what does this have to do with the Triwizard Tournament?" "Not so fast, I''ll get to that next. As much as the magic and emotions of the students affected the castle, around the thirteenth century, not even three hundred years after this school was built, the Triwizard Tournament, a tournament used to bring together young wizards from all over Europe, was brought up and held every five years, with the venue being held on a rotating basis by the three magic schools. Thepetition was suspended only in 1792, after 500 years. Do you know how many times Hogwarts has won the Triwizard Tournament in those 500 years?" Without waiting for Jon to guess, the Sorting Hat itself had already spoken the answer. "Sixty-three times, the most times a school has acquired the championship. The imprint of this tournament is etched into the castle that was given the name Hogwarts itself, and no one can erase it; like magic, it is the ''will'' that makes all the difference. And it is for this reason that the Triwizard Tournament has an extremely unique significance for the castle, especially once a studentpeting in its name has won the championship. And to top it all off, the Dark Lord has made a bet with the ''will'' of this castle that a Hogwarts student will never win this Triwizard Tournament." Jon suddenly seemed to think of something as he asked immediately afterwards. "What if it''s the student representing Hogwarts who gets the title?" "Then his n would be over, especially if it was you, the student named Jon Green. The fact that you were able to wake me up means that the castle itself is extremely favourable to you, and if it is you who gets the championship, then all the efforts the Dark Lord has made over the years will all be in vain, and the ''will'' of the castle itself, which he has worn down, will be restored, and you will be the new master of this castle." Hearing such a reply, Jon did not have any half-hearted surprise or any kind of excited psychological fluctuation but continued to ask. "And what if it was another student who represented Hogwarts under his tutge that had got the title?" "It wouldn''t be good for him either, I don''t know how the castle feels about that student, but as long as the title is won in the name of Hogwarts, it would be a huge boost to the ''will'' of the castle itself, a boost, yes that should be the word. But once this tournament with Hogwarts as the main venue, especially if the tournament is still yed in the castle and the tournament ends with the victory of the other two schools, especially if it is a reintroduction of the Triwizard Tournament which has been discontinued for over two hundred years, this is a terrible consequence for the castle, because the obstruction that the castle has pressed down on itself by itself will simply vanish on its own if the students of Hogwarts do not win, and it will no longer be in the position to be resistance to the Dark Lord." It was at this point that Jon finally realized! Understood why it was Draco Malfoy who was ultimately representing Hogwarts Castle in the tournament, and why it was Emil Lestrange who was expected to win! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 407: The First Person Out (2 in 1) Chapter 407: The First Person Out (2 in 1) Figuring that out wasn''t a big deal, because Jon still hadn''t figured out the most crucial question. "Do you know why the Dark Lord wants Hogwarts Castle to be in his own hands so badly?" But apparently, this was a question that even the Sorting Hat itself had no exnation to offer. "I''m not sure about that, it''s only logical that he shouldn''t have cared so much about the castle in the first ce, because even if he did own it, it wouldn''t give him half the benefits and promotions, at most it would allow him to stay inside the castle for a long time." This question did not only bother Jon, but also the whole group of headmasters, including Dumbledore, who were all wizards who had once owned the castle, and each of them had failed to figure out exactly what Voldemort''s purpose was in wanting to acquire the castle. But even if they couldn''t figure it out, it didn''t really stop Jon from doing what he was doing right now; the more the enemy wanted to do something, the more it would be necessary to make it impossible for him to do it. As long as he could win this tournament, it wouldn''t matter if he knew the answer to that question. So Jon stopped thinking about Voldemort and focused on how to find the Triwizard Cup. As he entered the great hall, he didn''t notice any significant difference in this ce from his previous visit. The mes from the candles were dancing, illuminating the shadowy areas where the sun did not shine, the tables and chairs around him were clean, nothing was ced on them, and only the ceiling, which reflected the sky outside, could give a hint of daylight deflection. It was now a little over 11 o''clock and almost noon, with just over an hour to go before Emil and the others entered the castle topete, and if Jon didn''t find any further clues within that hour, it would be a waste of all the advantages he had got in the first two tasks. Jon checked the hall out first along the perimeter of the great hall, and after finding nothing, he walked up to the long table on the high tform where only professors were normally allowed to sit and saw the seat where only Voldemort himself was allowed to sit. There didn''t seem to be anything wrong here either, but Jon was keen to notice that just behind this long table, a lit candle was hovering in ce. At first nce, there was nothing wrong with having a candle here, quite a few identical candles were floating up in other parts of the great hall, but Jon noticed that this one was hovering under the rays of the sun. And all the other candles were used to illuminate areas where the sun did not shine, to enhance the brightness. Of course, this candle might have flown into the wrong ce, but Jon preferred that it was, in fact, a clue that Matthew and the others had deliberately left behind. After observing the candle and not finding anything on the surface, Jon raised his wand and tapped it against the wick of the candle. The next moment, the candle''s me surged up, and the me rose more than half a metre high, but eventually, the me soon declined, and the whole candle was half shortened straight away. It was also at this moment that he discovered the real difference in this candle. Although the wax on the surface of the candle was half burned dry, the wick inside was still not burned even a little bit, and it was on this wick that was standing that Jon saw a small line of words in a vertical column. [The nature of the school is what makes it a school]. Just after Jon had finished reading this vertical line, the whole candle suddenly lit up, and then the candle waspletely burned out, leaving only an extinguished wick on the ground, and on the wick, the small line of words had also disappeared. Jon picked the wick up, not finding anything more special on it, and then he spoke softly and asked the Sorting Hat. "So what''s the nature of the school?" With the Sorting Hat following him, Jon certainly wouldn''t be foolish enough to not use this aid and try to solve the mystery himself; the Sorting Hat certainly knew a lot more than he did about this castle. "That depends on whether the school referred to here is a narrow proxy for Hogwarts or a broad representation of all the schools." "What if it just stands for Hogwarts?" "If it''s just a proxy for Hogwarts, well, actually the four wizards at the time created the castle itself only to allow the young wizards to escape the oppression of the muggles, so they could control the magic in their bodies." Jon cupped his chin as he continued. "So, if it''s a proxy for the range of schools, then the nature of a school is to teach and impart knowledge? One to escape oppression and one to impart knowledge, and if this clue is meant to lead to where the Triwizard Cup is" Jon looked down at the ground. "Do Graves and the others honestly use this kind of dark sarcasm to make riddles?" The sorting hat didn''t offer any answer to that question. If the riddle was a proxy for Hogwarts, then, in fact, this castle under Voldemort''s rule had defied its very nature, as the ce that freed the oppressors became the very field used to oppress, and the key ce used to enve the muggle students is in the underground floor. But the problem is that, by now, Jon could actually almost read the position of the judge Matthew himself, who, judging by the attitude he had shown from the beginning of the tournament until now could indeed be said to be unbiased, so when it came to thest task, would the task designed by him would present in such a more biased stance towards Dumbledore''s side? But if the school was meant to be a whole range of schools, then the concept of teaching and education was so big that all the ssrooms in the castle would fit into this concept of the nature of the school, and it would be basically not possible to search every ssroom within two or three days without finding the exact clues in the search. Jon felt that it would be better not to leave such a broad concept as a clue, as it would only take a little more effort to search the whole castlepared to just the ssrooms. In the end, he decided to go to the underground floor where the muggle-borns lived daily, maybe Matthew really wanted to help Dumbledore, but was just not in a position to express it clearly because of the Wizarding Congress standpoint itself? He soon found his way to the stairway to the basement, which was located at the very edge of the castle, but it was the ce Jon knew best. It was here that he had spent more than half a year two years ago, and it was not possible for him to feel unfamiliar. Down the stairs, the ce was still no different from when Jon had departed, still as dark, damp and cold as ever, and it was deserted. Dumbledore and his team had been here for so long without seeing a single muggle student in the castle, obviously, it was the result of Snape and Crouch''s vignce. Walking through the gloomy basement corridors, surrounded by the dormitories of the muggle students, it was assumed that none of the participating students would be more familiar with this ce than Jon. He didn''t stop, but of course, the first room he came to was the one he used to live in as "Randy Smith". The old, damp bed was fully organized, with a linen robe hanging on a hanger beside it. Jon didn''t touch the things in the dormitory, as it was obvious from a quick nce that there was no ce to hide the trophy, as there were so few items in it. Jon spent another half hour quickly checking the rest of the dormitories, each of which had no locks on the doors, so his progress wasn''t really slow, but until he had checked all the rooms in this basement, he hadn''t got anything. This didn''t disappoint Jon much; if things were really going so well, then he would have been suspicious. After making sure that nothing more could be found here, Jon decisively left the basement, and he started looking through the ssrooms on the ground floor to see if he could take his chances with the concept of a school in the broad sense of the word. There weren''t many ssrooms on the ground floor, and it only took him an hour to reach the first floor, and just as he had walked up the easternmost stairs of the castle to the first floor. 1 pm had arrived. Outside the castle, Matthew let Diane, as well as Emil, inside on time. But with all eyes on them, neither Diane nor Emil made the first move, and they watched each other from the front door of the castle, both clearly on guard. No one would waste their time staggering around the door instead of searching for the trophy, as a failure to do so would be aplete waste of all the advantages and effort they had put into their first two tasks, but it was a different story when they both had the same score and entered the castle together. Both Diane and Emil knew in their hearts that there was no way to guarantee that the one who entered the castle first would notunch a surprise attack on the other and eliminate one of them on the spot. And so it was in this way that they stalled in front of the door for a full five minutes before it was Emil who finally gritted his teeth knowing that it would not be in his best interests to continue to drag on like this, as every additional second dyed was tantamount to giving an added advantage to Jon who was already inside the castle. "Get in together." He said, staring intently at Diane. Diane didn''t want to stall here any longer either, not that she didn''t see that by holding Emil here now she was actually indirectly aiding Jon, but holding her wand up like this all the time was starting to make her arms feel distinctly sore and numb, and with so many people watching, she couldn''t stay up here any longer either. So she nodded and agreed to Emil''s proposal. Arge door like this was certainly more than enough for two people to enter at the same time, and they stared at each other, neither lowering their aimed wands and together they slowly took steps towards the castle until they werepletely inside. It was also just after they had entered the castle that the open door closed again, separating the castle from the space outside the grounds. Diane didn''t rx for a moment, even after she had entered the castle, she kept her eyes on Emil, calcting in her mind what her chances of sess would be if she made her move as soon as the doors were closed. Even if they were both disqualified here, it would still be a victory for her, and Draco, who was left to wait until sunset to enter the castle, would not be able to make any impact on Jon. And just as the doors of the castle closed, and the entrance hall began to grow dark, Emil, who was also facing Diane with his wand raised, suddenly had a sarcastic smile on his face. In that instant, Diane''s heart jolted with a sudden sense of foreboding, but before she could recite the incantation, a scarlet beam of light had silently struck her in the back! "Poof." Diane, who had been struck by the Stunning Spell, just fell to the ground, her bare forehead knocked on the ground with blood. "Should we leave her right here, or just throw her out?" Emil asked. The sneaky wizard was modifying Diane''s memories. "Throw her out, not only are we trying to get the championship, but we also always need to show that you eliminated them by your absolute hard work." At these words, Emil''s face did not show any sign of shame, instead, he simply grabbed one of Diane''s arms, who had already passed out from the memory alteration, and proceeded to push open the closed castle door, throwing thepetitor, who had walked in with him in public only half a minute earlier, out of the castle. When the castle door was reopened from the inside, many people outside noticed the scene. They saw that the person pushing the door open was Emil, and they also saw him throw Diane, who had passed out and was bleeding from the head, out, and then Emile mmed the door shut again without saying anything, with a smile on his face. There was a brief moment of silence among the students of the castle before a loud cheer erupted the next second. Other than that, the fact that Emil had eliminated an opponent like that not even three minutes after he had entered the castle was definitely encouraging for the castle students who had been depressed from the first task until now. While the faces of the students at Durmstrang were certainly sombre, Rosier on the other hand was calm as she walked forward and helped Diane, who had fainted in front of the castle door, to her feet while removing the Stunning Spell on her. Diane opened her eyes in some confusion, and it was only after seeing Rosier that her pupils gradually began toe into focus. "I''m sorry, Professor, I didn''t beat him in a duel." Rosier just shook her head. "You''ve done all you need to do, the rest is none of our business." She assisted Diane, who hadn''t fully regained her strength, back to the audience, and it was at this point that Matthew made his announcement about Diane''s elimination. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 408: Lestrange (2 in 1) Chapter 408: Lestrange (2 in 1) Because he didn''t know beforehand that the third task would take ce in the castle, Jon didn''t bring the Marauder''s map with him. Otherwise, in fact, he would have already figured out the full extent of Diane''s exit by now. But then again, even if he had known in advance, it would have been a matter of effort to bring the Marauder''s map with him by avoiding the screening before the tournament started. Having searched the entire first floor, Jon stopped in one of the charms ssrooms and began to calmly rethink the riddle left on that candle with the Sorting Hat. "If this nature is a proxy for a ssroom, it''s just too extensive, it''s already three o''clock, and we''ve only just finished the first floor, it would take at least a day and a night to search the whole castle, and if a champion and a champion met in the middle of it once and something happened, it would continue to drag the time back even further, and with the tournament taking so long, the Castle Students have to stay outside all the time, and they can''t guarantee that the ssroom is where the trophy will eventually be hidden, so when the tournament will finally be over is simply out of reach." Jon continued after a serious flurry of analysis. "So, I don''t think the answer to the riddle should be a ssroom, but a specific ce." The Sorting Hat mused. "[The nature of the school is what makes it a school], what is the nature of this school other than teaching and educating people?" Jon pondered for a moment, and then he said. "There may not be anything wrong with nature, but teaching is mainly used to pass on knowledge, and a ssroom is normally a ce used to pass on knowledge, but now that there are no more professors or students in this school, then the ssroom would just be an empty room. Thinking about it differently, there is actually another way to get knowledge in the school other than from professors -" "The library." Jon stood up from the chair. "Compared to the idea of a ssroom, the library is much more specific, and there isn''t a second library in the whole of Hogwarts." To which the Sorting Hat agreed more than anything else. "Maybe you''re right in your feelings, we should take a look there." Jon then didn''t continue to look around from ssroom to ssroom but instead went straight down from the second floor to where the Hogwarts library was located. Here the doors were closed, while on each side of the doors were two armours guarding each side. After seeing the two suits of armour, Jon couldn''t help but feel his spirits rise. "I don''t think I remember these two armours being present in the library before." The Sorting Hat simply said cautiously at this. "I was able to determine that there was no armour here before I lost consciousness, whether it was added on after that is unclear." "I came here once two years ago and the armour wasn''t there then, as to whether they were specially ced there by the judges, we''ll actually know if we test them a little." As Jon said that, his eyes were fixed on the two armours as they neared the door of the library, and just when he was less than a metre away from the door, the armours that were originally motionless suddenly raised their knight swords in their hands together and stopped in front of Jon. Instead of being deterred by such a sudden movement, Jon raised his wand with a smile on his face. "I remember when that Mr Graves read out the rules, he said that there are no restrictions on this castle as long as you can get in, which means these two things are actually a test, if you can beat them you will prove that a library is a non-restricted ce for you; if you can''t, then this is a restricted area." The wand in his hand waved after the words had fallen, while the sound of an incantation rang out from his mouth. "Confringo!" Meanwhile, on the seventh floor of the castle, Emil walked out of the Headmaster''s office with a grim look on his face along with the wizard who had sneaked up on Diane to get her out. "Why can''t we get any key information about the location of the Triwizard Cup?" Emil couldn''t resist asking. The male wizard shook his head and said. "Graves is also on guard against people within the Confederation, and when it came to setting up the location of the trophy, he was the only one person responsible for it personally and didn''t tell anyone else about it. Besides, even if we don''t know where the Triwizard Cup is it doesn''t matter, as long as we can find Jon Green and finish him off, then the Triwizard Cup will be in our hands sooner orter." Emil then asked. "So how do we find Jon Green? The castle is so big, it''s not such an easy thing to find someone, not to mention the question of exactly what kind of clues he has found and how many steps he is ahead of us, maybe he will have secured that trophy and finished the tournament before we can find him?" Just as the male wizard was lost in thought over this question of Emil''s, a sudden explosion caught both of their attention instantly! "You''ve lived in the castle for almost a year now, do you know where this sound ising from?" The male wizard''s voice was slightly excited. Emil also had a look of joy on his face. "Should be in the direction of the library!" It didn''t take much effort on Jon''s part to tackle the two armours. They didn''t look like they would fight the contestant to the death either, Jon just used a normal sting curse to test the armour''s sturdiness first, and they automatically gave up their duty of guarding the library, the swords that had been blocking the door retracted, and they returned to their rigid, dull appearance. This time there was no hindrance to Jon in opening the door to the library, he easily pushed it open and entered. Just as he entered, the door closed of its own ord and a candle was lit, illuminating a room as wide as the Great Hall. The bookshelves were neatly arranged and the chairs and benches were neatly tidied up, so it looked as if the various venues had been cleaned before the students and faculty were taken away from the castle. Jon didn''t stop at the outer shelves, he walked down the long corridor after entering the door and went deeper into the library, eventually approaching a red line. Further along was the Forbidden Books section, however, there was not a single forbidden book left in the Hogwarts library now, most had been entered into Jon''s ring and a small amount had been transferred to the British Ministry of Magic by Voldemort. Crossing straight over the red line, Jon continued on, and before he could get to the end, a creature with the body of a lion and the head of a woman blocked his path. It was a sphinx. A magical creature from Egypt, it has been used by wizards to guard their precious objects and secret dwellings, a very clever creature that loves riddles and anagrams, it usually only bes dangerous when what the thing it is guarding is at risk, and anyone who tries to walk past it is forced to guess a riddle or suffer its attack and be eaten outright. In the original Triwizard Tournament, one such magical creature appeared in the final task, and one surprisingly was scheduled toe in for the Triwizard Tournament in this world too. But before this Sphinx could say anything, Jon had already raised the wand in his hand and aimed it at it. Without reciting the incantation, the tip of the wand already started to light up with a miserable green glow. The sphinx clearly felt the deadly stillness in the green light, and its mouth, which was just about to open, subconsciously closed again. Jon was not in much of a riddling mood with it here, and if he could solve the problem most simply and brutally, then naturally there was no need to use his brain. "Get out of the way or die." To be honest, this part of the library was very unfavourable to the Sphinx, it certainly wasn''t small in size, and trying to deftly dodge a spell in this cramped space could be considered a nightmare. If it were a normal spell such as a stunning spell or a full body-bind curse, it would not have had to fear Jon''s threat, as all high-level magical creatures usually had thick hides that provided great protection against magic. But for a killing curse, unless the hide is as thick as a dragon, no magical creature can take a hard shot from a spell like that. The Sphinx had a good head on its shoulders, or it wouldn''t have loved riddles, and as soon as it saw the green light at the tip of Jon''s wand, it dodged to one side and kept a close eye on Jon without making a sound. Jon didn''t let his guard down in response, he kept his wand aimed at the Sphinx at all times while slowly passing it by, and just as Jon was about to pass itpletely, a loud boom came through the door of the library! It was clearly a sting curse as well, and a much more powerful one than the one that Jon had previously cast to restrain the guardian! Even the door of the library was shaken by the violent shockwave, and a lot of dust fell from the ceiling. Taking advantage of this, the sphinx jumped back steeply and leapt from the narrow forbidden book area into the wide library study area, where the stern woman''s face was ring at Jon intently. The doors to the library were also opened at this time, and two figures of roughly the same height came in through a puff of smoke. Jon tightened his grip on his wand and looked at the two figures, unable to help but narrow his eyes. Eventually, the smoke cleared and the men who had walked into the library revealed their original faces, one of whom was naturally Emil Lestrange. The other man standing beside him, however, brought a sneer to the corner of Jon''s mouth. "So this is yourst resort, tant cheating like this?" Emil''s father, the man who had be the new Lord of Lestrange after Jon had killed Rabastan, Rodolphus and Be, Brandon Lestrange, stood straight in front of Jon in quite a brazen manner. Faced with Jon''s question, Brandon looked unimpressed, his wand not lowered in his hand as he aimed it at Jon alongside his own son. "Cheating has never been shameful at the Triwizard Tournament, it''s rather a tradition." Jon watched the father and son with cold eyes, neither of them made the first move, it wasn''t that Jon was afraid of anything, he always felt that things weren''t that simple. It could be said that the original Lestrange family had been killed off by Jon alone, and it was because of this that Brandon now had the opportunity to rise to the top with his son. This father and son should know better than anyone else what kind of threat he possesses, so how can they be sure that someone like him, who is only an obscure person among the Death Eaters along with a seventh-year student, is better than Be and Rodolphus, two long-established dark wizards in the magical world? Brandon, of course, had his own backing, and he kept a close eye on Jon, thinking of the time before the Triwizard Tournament had officially begun when Voldemort himself had paid a visit to the Lestrange house and, in addition to attending Rodolphus and Be''s funeral, had personally exined to him the ultimate goal of their father and son in this tournament. To kill Jon Green and get the Triwizard Cup. As a championpeting in the tournament, Emil of course could not kill someone with a killing spell, so the only person who could do it was Brandon. As for how to get Brandon to intervene in this final task when the time came, Voldemort certainly had his own arrangements. Now that this arrangement had worked, and Brandon had already reached the critical moment of facing Jon directly, at this time, he did not hesitate or could hesitate, and the next second he waved the wand in his hand. "Avada Kedavra!" A miserable green glow instantly lit up the entire library as the killing curse came straight towards the spot where Jon was standing! And as Brandon fired the curse, Emilpleted a perfect match with his father, raising his wand together and instead of chanting the spell, he released a silent stunning spell directly above Jon. They had both studied the magic Jon had been relying on and knew that he could fly, so their spell was mainly to block off the space above him! Jon didn''t have the dead brain to necessarily use a levitation charm at the first sign of trouble. The forbidden books were all gone from the forbidden area, but the surrounding shelves were all still honestly in ce, and he ducked behind them in a sh to avoid thebined attacks of both Lestrange father and son. Animagus hadn''t managed to turn him into some magical creature but had strengthened his physique and reaction time as a human being. It was also in this way that Jon''s movements were actually going to be more dexterouspared to before. After sessfully dodging the killing curse and the stunning spell, he didn''t immediately counterattack, but turned his head to look at the end of the forbidden book area where the Sphinx had originally blocked, there was no trophy there, just a very ordinary-looking wooden door. It was only after realising that the tournament would not be over any time soon that Jon gave his full attention to the Lestrange father and son. He hid behind a bookshelf while aiming his wand at Brandon through a gap in one of the many bookshelves. "Sectumsempra!" The invisible de cut through one of the desks blocking Brandon in a sh, while stirring up a pale blue shield of light twenty centimetres in front of him and making countless cracks on it. After the shield charm had narrowly deflected Jon''s spell, Brandon did not hold back any longer and immediately pulled out a ring with a ck gem. In the next second, a never-ending ck mist erupted from that ring! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 409: Surge of Black Mist (2 in 1) Chapter 409: Surge of ck Mist (2 in 1) The moment the ck fog started to spread, Jon felt a strong sense of crisis. Without hesitation, he used the general counter-spell in his ring and covered his body with it, and at the same time, he used the levitation charm and flew off the ground! The ck mist enveloped the entire library in an instant, and at the same time, Brandon extended his wand and aimed it at Jon''s location. As if under his control, the ck fog surged towards Jon, who was already floating in mid-air! The ck mist gave him a bad feeling, and even with the ring magic he had been maintaining, there was no way to resist it, so he could only dodge around in mid-air to avoid the ck mist. "I have never underestimated you, Jon, to kill Be and the others, no matter what means you used, it is proof enough of your strength." Brandon''s voice rang out loudly through the library, "My lord has helped me to make all preparations, how can you resist the power of my lord, even if you can fight?! Today, this is the ce where you will die!" As he spoke, the tip of his wand glowed with a miserable green light, and the killing curse shot out from it in the next instant! Although Jon''s attention had been on the ck mist, he had notpletely missed Brandon''s movements, and the moment he saw the green light, his body snapped to the left, dodging the attack. His physical fitness and reflexes were now able to keep up with his brain, otherwise, that situation would have forced him into a state of distress, even if it didn''t kill him. On the ground, the Sphinx that had hidden in the foyer of the library sensed something was wrong the moment the ck fog spread out, and it ran to get out of the library, but before it could break open the door, the ck fog had already wrapped itself around it. The next moment, the Sphinx let out a miserable wail, and then, as the ck mist receded from it, it made no sound, leaving only a terrified and ashen face. Jon had of course noticed the change in the Sphinx, the ck mist was not really strange to him, it was a standard product of Voldemort''s body. But the ones Brandon was letting out at the moment gave him a distinctly different feeling, and the odds were that the root cause of this was that the ck gemstone ring was high. Jon wasn''t sure yet, but the ck ring reminded him of one thing from the original story, one of the Three Deathly Hallows and Voldemort''s Horcruxes, the ring created with the Resurrection Stone embed in it! Of the three Deathly Hallows, the Elder Wand had the most direct effect, enhancing all the user''s magic, the Cloak of Invisibility also had the most apparent effect, a cloak whose invisibility effect never faded, and only the Resurrection Stone was not much described in the original story, and the exact effect was rather vague, anyway, it was certainly not as simple as being able to directly revive someonepletely intact. And just as Jon was thinking of either escaping from the library or entering the room behind him that the Sphinx had barricaded, the Sphinx, which had lost all its life and was lying on the floor, suddenly rose again! Only the "resurrected" one looked like a soulless walking corpse, and its gaze was directed at Jon in mid-air with an expression of hatred. A corpse! Naturally, Jon recognised the current state of the Sphinx, and his heart sank a little as he became more wary of the ck fog that filled the room below, and then, after deciding that the door behind him, which might house the Triwizard Cup, might not be so easy to open, he used a spell to blow open one of the library windows! Lestrange father and son obviously noticed Jon''s movement, and together they raised their wands in an attempt to hinder Jon''s movement, thus slowing down the time to give the ck Mist a chance to catch him. However, Jon''s movements were clearly much faster than they had thought. As he broke the window, he faked a move, pretending to move back into the wooden door at the end of the forbidden zone, but in fact, he secretly approached the nearest window and, after silently casting a spell to shatter it with a sting curse, he immediately dashed out. The Lestrange father and son''s n to stop him was obviously toote, and before their spell could be shot out of their wands, Jon was already out of the library, and the ck mist, as if it had a consciousness of its own, flew out of the library after him without being controlled by anyone else! The Hogwarts Library was located on the first floor of the castle. In fact, it was very simple for Jon to solve the problem in front of him, as long as he could open the door of the castle along with this ck mist, and let everyone outside see the presence of the ck mist, then at least Rosier and the judges of the Confederation would not be indifferent, and this was exactly his chance. But obviously, the ck mist did not want to give Jon this chance, and as he rushed out of the library, Jon could clearly see that some of the ck mist had prated the floor, blocking the stairs to the ground floor in advance, just to prevent Jon from trying to escape from the ground floor. But naturally, Jon was not dead in the head, and after knowing that going to the ground floor would no longer work, he then started to fly towards the stairs towards the higher floors of the castle. If he could find a tower, it would be equally possible to tangle with the ck mist up there! Jon''s flight speed was obviously no match for this ck mist, so he could only take advantage of theplex terrain in the castle and keep on tugging and just kept on flying from the first floor to the fifth floor. "Where''s the nearest tower?" This was his way of opening his mouth to ask the Sorting Hat. Although he had also been in this castle for more than half a year, he was not as familiar with the castle as the Sorting Hat had been with it. "You have to go to the seventh floor first, the tower closest to this staircase you are on is the former Gryffindormon room, after you reach the seventh floor you can ess it via one of the long staircases over there." The very next second that Jon heard this reply, as if he had an early premonition in his mind, his body lunged forward! At the very moment, he lunged, a ck mist filled the air above his head, and if he had reacted half a secondter he would have been drowned in it. He didn''t even have time to rejoice as he turned around and left the stairway without saying a word! Going forward was definitely out of the question, the ck mist had overtaken him and flown ahead, so he had to change his route for the moment. "Where are the stairs up ahead!" "Seven ssrooms ahead in the run, there is another staircase, and the closest tower to this one is also the Gryffindor Tower." As if it could also sense that Jon was now in a very dire situation, the voice of the Sorting Hat started to get a little more hurried. Jon was indeed under a lot of pressure right now, he didn''t dare let these ck mists touch him and had no solution avable to solve them at all for the time being, luckily the Lestrange father and son weren''t as fast and couldn''t help giving this ck mist an assist on top of this. As for the Triwizard Cup that could possibly be hidden in the library, Jon could only hope that more than just Sphinx was resisting that path to the Triwizard Cup. This time Jon''s dash up to the seventh floor went much more smoothly than it had earlier. As if because of splitting up quite a few bodies to prevent blocking Jon''s other possible escape routes, the ck mist had apparently pulled down a lot of speed, allowing Jon to sessfully run up to the seventh floor and find the staircase that led to the Gryffindormon room tower. "I seem to remember that Gryffindormon room tower is locked shut with magic?" "It used to be the Gryffindormon room, but after the Dark Lordter ruled Hogwarts castle, it was abandoned and turned into a utility room, and the protective magic inside was diminished as a result. You can reach themon room and go straight to the girls'' dormitory, where there is arge coloured ss, break the ss, and you will be visible from outside the castle!" Jon could only give the Sorting Hat his full trust now, after all, he didn''t have any other options to go on to make a decision. Still, on his flight towards the Gryffindormon room, Jon sensed something was wrong. The ck mist that was chasing him had thinned considerably more than it had earlier in the library and had slowed down as a result, now looking like it could only go so far as to hang behind him without losing sight of him. A sense of concern rose in Jon''s mind, but he really had no other choice, not to mention that he had already flown up the stairs that led only to the Gryffindor tower, and even if he wanted to turn back, it was impossible to do so now. Soon Jon saw the entrance to the Gryffindormon room. In the original story, it was supposed to be guarded by a portrait of the Fat Lady, and only when the password was spoken would a passage be made avable for people to climb in, but now, before he even got close to the entrance, he could see arge hole in the wall, and from the outside, he could see that it was littered with all sorts of misceneous things. Jon flew into the Gryffindormon room, which had indeed been turned into a utility room, a mess of desks and chairs, various magical joke toys that looked like they had been collected, and a series of scrap armour, flying broom, crucibles thrown around haphazardly. Without paying too much attention to what was going on in themon room, Jon was quickly guided by the sorting hat to the staircase that used to lead to the girls'' dormitory. He dashed up the stairs and made his way to the long hallway of the dormitory, and also saw the huge coloured ss that the Sorting Hat had told him about, which, ording to the direction the ss was facing, would be in the direction of the Quidditch Pitch spectator gallery. If he could only break the ss he was bound to alert those on the pitch! He could also guarantee his escape from the castle! But just as Jon had raised his wand to the coloured ss, a ck mist rose silently from beneath it, covering the entire surface! It had sensed Jon''s intention and had prepared for it in advance! At this moment, Jon''s front and back had beenpletely blocked by the ck fog that split into two parts, and the doors of the surrounding dormitories were tightly closed. Even if he could open them with the unlocking charm, there would be enough time for the ck fog to swallow him up. Jon was in a dead end. The corridor was so narrow that he had no room to escape. And just as the ck fog that surrounded him was slowly gathering over, Jon suddenly looked directly in front of him with a calm face. "Voldemort." The moment he uttered that name, the ck fog around him suddenly paused. "I know it''s you, a normal magic even if it''s powerful couldn''t possibly be able to think on its own to get to a ce like this, much less be so familiar with Hogwarts castle." Jon''s voice echoed down the corridor, and after his words had fallen, the ck mist that had stood still surged up and soon a handsome young upper body made up of ck mist appeared in front of Jon. "You''re really clever, Jon, really clever." Voldemort''s voice was a little muffled as if muffled by the fog. "How nice it would be if you weren''t a mudblood, but a pureblood or even a half-blood." He let out an exmation, but the grim gaze didn''t move from Jon''s body for half a moment. Jon wasn''t baffled by his words, he simply said softly. "In your book, birth can of course determine everything, but in my book, blood orck of it is simply bollocks, the most important thing is the mind and talent of the person isn''t it?" "Of course it is, you are quite right, a truth that all agree on." Voldemort wandered through the ck mist while keeping his eyes on Jon, "But why do so many others believe in my proposed theory of bloodlines from the bottom of their hearts? It''s the benefits! My theory can bring them enough benefits! With that, what does it matter if it''s right or wrong?" Jon was outwardly calm, but in reality, his body was tense all the time, while his hand, hidden in his sleeve, was approaching his inner pocket little by little, following what the Sorting Hat had said in his mind. As if he could tell that Voldemort wasn''t actually much in the mood for him and talking about this, Jon threw in another topic that was bound to get his attention straight away. "You''re not the real Voldemort himself, are you? You''re just one of the souls he split off." Sure enough, Voldemort, who had been moving closer to Jon, once again stopped his movement, looking a little puzzled that Jon could actually know so much. "Did that old man Dumbledore tell you that?" Jon took a deep breath. "I know a lot more about you, Voldemort, or rather Mr Tom Riddle." Yet just as Jon thought he could drag this out for a little longer, the ck mist around Voldemort suddenly boiled up, while his sneering taunt echoed throughout the corridor! "You still want to y these little tricks in front of me! Who do you think I am!" The ck fog almost drowned Jon in the blink of an eye, but at that same moment, Jon''s hand had reached into the Sorting Hat! In this long corridor, which waspletely enveloped by darkness, Jon drew a sword with a sh of sharpness. The light of the sword cut through the ck fog! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 410: Fate with the Lestrange Family (2 in 1) Chapter 410: Fate with the Lestrange Family (2 in 1) Jon was sure that it was the Gryffindor''s sword that he was holding in his hand. For it was the only thing that could be pulled out of the Sorting Hat, and as to why he could pull the sword out now when he hadn''t been able to pick it up from the Headmaster''s desk at all before, he could only chalk it up to the fact that the magic Gryffindor had once put on his hat was extremely powerful, and even with all the efforts Voldemort had made, he hadn''t been able to break the link between the sword and the hat. The moment the sword de, which reflected a cold glint made contact with the ck mist, it melted through it like a zing hot knife melting through butter. Jon did not know any swordsmanship, but after he discovered the restraining effect of the Gryffindor sword on the ck mist, he did not hesitate for a moment to wave it around. Instantly, a half-metre radius around him turned into a vacant zone, with not a single trace of ck gas still remaining! "There''s no way a Gryffindor''s sword is capable of something like this!" Voldemort, who had formed out of the ck mist and was far enough away to avoid Jon''s sword de, gritted his teeth and spoke. ''What did you do to that sword!'' Jon actually asked the Sorting Hat this question in his mind, it was also true that he was under the impression that Gryffindor''s sword was not that powerful either. "Not me or you, don''t forget what was done to this sword by him." The Sorting Hat said loudly in Jon''s mind, "The Gryffindor sword has been linked to this castle, and Jon you are now fighting for the castle, so of course someone will be helping you too!" Just as the words of Voldemort sounded in Jon''s ears, the Gryffindor sword in his hand visibly lit up with a faint glow. It was obviously not a function that the sword itself possessed, but it gave Jon a huge boost! For the first time against this ck mist, Jon, who had been running away,unched a counterattack! He stepped forward and shed down with the sword, and the ck mist no longer pursued Jon as it had before, but instead began to retreat backwards under Jon''s step-by-step intimidation. Under the coercion of his raised sword, the ck fog clustered around Voldemort had retreated to the coloured ss, as if it had in turn been forced by Jon to the point of no return. "I wasn''t wrong about one thing, was I, Voldemort." Jon stared at the shadowy face of Voldemort, made of ck mist, "You''re not ''you'' at all, you''re just a useless scrap, a cast-off to be given to his men as a tool and a weapon." "Nonsense! There is no way anyone can rece me! The ''me'' that I was will not, and the ''me'' that cameter will not! I am what I am!" As if some crucial nerve had been struck by Jon''s words, Voldemort suddenly screamed! A ck mist rose up with his mood swings, and Jon ignored the ck mist that was rearing up around him, seemingly brazenly, and instead aimed his sword straight at the upper half of Voldemort''s human form in the position of the heart and stabbed it down without hesitation! "Bang!" The Gryffindor sword''s tip struck something hard as if it was not just a ck fog, and a clear sound of metal meeting stone was heard! The next moment a ck ring suddenly fell from mid-air andnded on the floor with a series of loud noises. Then the ck mist that had seemed endless in the corridor began to shrink in an instant, as if it had been sucked up by a powerful vacuum cleaner, and poured in towards the ring with resurrection stone that had fallen to the floor! Even Voldemort himself was not spared. He stared at Jon with an iparable resentment, as if he wanted to skin him with such a re, but before he could utter a word, he was sucked into the ring with the rest of the ck mist! In a matter of seconds, the corridor, which had been a hellish ce, waspletely silent. Only Jon was left gasping for breath with the Gryffindor sword in hand. During his escape he had seen through the strengths and limitations of the ck mist, the ring of resurrection stone left behind by Voldemort himself, most probably still a Horcrux, had an extremely bizarre dark magic attached to it. This gave the remnants left behind in the ring the ability to directly deprive people of their lives, a magic that, with the power of the Resurrection Stone itself, was virtually insoluble. But Jon now had the help of the entire Hogwarts castle, and with Voldemort''s long-standing infestation of the castle over the years, there was arguably no one else in the world who would be more familiar with Voldemort''s power than the castle, and the castle''s magic was attached to the Gryffindor sword, giving Jon the ability to fight these ck mists. And that was the limitation of the ck Mist. Once there was a targeted approach, that ck fogpletely ceased to be of any use, as the Horcrux itself could not do much damage to people directly, and that Voldemort, who had been transformed from the ck fog, was no longer a threat to Jon. All Jon had to do was focus on the location of the Resurrection Stone, and it would have made all those arrangements made by Voldemort futile. Of course, since the Gryffindor sword in this time and ce had not been tempered with the Basilisk''s venom, it could not directly destroy the Horcrux. The sword that Jon had just used had onlypletely broken the ck mist magic that Voldemort had inflicted on the Horcrux, while the Resurrection Stone Ring itself was still a Horcrux. The fact that Voldemort had kept a Horcrux was enough to surprise Jon, and the fact that he had given it to his men to use as a weapon made him feel even more unusual. Because of this, after getting the ring, Jon had no intention of keeping it in his hand. He hid the ring in one of the Gryffindormon room''s dorms to be on the safe side, nning to wait until the Triwizard Tournament ended to discuss with Dumbledore what to do with the Horcrux. With the Resurrection Ring ced, Jon carried the sword out of the Gryffindor girls'' dormitory. Now that the problem of the ck Mist was solved, then the rest of the Lestrange father and son would need him to solve just the same. Rather than staying in the library with Emil, who had obviously discovered that Jon was solving the riddle concerning the Triwizard Cup hidden in the castle, Brandon let Emil stay behind and continue to follow the clues Jon had found, while he followed the trail of the ck Mist in the direction Jon had fled. Voldemort had left him with the clear task of having to be the one to kill Jon himself, while Emil took up the task of looking for the Triwizard Cup. Brandon may not have had much of an impressive ability, or he couldn''t have failed to exhibit much of a ringing reputation while his brother and sister-inw were still alive, but the key thing about him was that he carried out any orders Voldemort gave him without missing even a word or letter in the order. So he followed suit and rushed up to the seventh floor of the castle, finding the staircase that led to the Gryffindormon room, and just as he reached the door where the Gryffindormon room once was, and carefully prepared to walk in, a hand suddenly reached out from the wall and grabbed his wand! A look of horror crossed Brandon''s face, and just as he was about to force his wand back out of the slim, not-very-strong-looking hand, Jon had snapped it! "Click!" There was a crisp sound and Brandon''s wand was snapped hard by Jon! The dragon heartstring''s wand core glowed with a faint red light, and by this time Brandon had already reacted quickly, decisively abandoning his broken wand and trying to get out of the way and back out of the Gryffindormon room. However, before he could even exit through the hole, a sword with a cold gleam of light plunged abruptly into his chest! Under Brandon''s incredulous gaze, Jon walked out from the Gryffindormon room, throwing away his wand, which had been snapped in half, with one hand, while holding the hilt of the Gryffindor sword and looking calmly at Brandon, whose eyes were already losing their sparkle with the other hand. "Go down there and say hello to your brother and sister-inw for me." With that, Jon pulled the sword out of Brandon''s chest. The scarlet blood fell in drops down the shiny de, something that was so obvious in front of the empty staircase. And the subsequent sound of Brandon fallingpletely on his back was even more abrupt. Jon shook the sword off emotionlessly, and soon the Gryffindor sword was as shiny and new again as it had been at the start. This wasn''t the first time Jon had killed someone, he certainly didn''t feel anything, moreover, there was a funny coincidence about it. Everyone he had killed so far, had the family name Lestrange. A very interesting pattern. *** "Confringo!" Looking at the wooden door in front of him, Emil used a sting curse with indignation. But the explosion only caused the wooden door, which looked so weak, to rattle without damaging it a single bit. This could not help but annoy Emil even more. He had been examining the wooden door for a good long time since he had been separated from Brandon, but he could not find anything crucial in it. He was certainly not as familiar with the castle as Jon or Draco and had no clue as to what might possibly be thest hurdle before attaining the Triwizard Cup. Emil had used all the violence he could muster today, but none of it had the slightest effect on the door, which made him very anxious inside. He shouldn''t have been so anxious, as Brandon was already chasing after Jon with something that Voldemort had left behind, so there was no chance of Jon surviving this time regardless of what might happen. That meant that in the next period of time, Emil could focus all his attention on finding the Triwizard Cup without worrying about who else might be a threat to him. As for Draco, who should have been entering the castle for the tournament by this time, Emil had never given that kid a second thought, and there had been an internal consensus even before the tournament started that the final title would be Emil''s to win. But it was a situation that should have put Emil''s worries to rest, but it still made him feel agitated. And it was amid this agitation that the door to the library, which had begun to shake, was suddenly opened from the outside! When he heard the movement, Emil''s heart was first filled with joy, thinking that his father had solved Jon and hade to help him solve the puzzle of getting the Triwizard Cup, but when he saw the figure that had entered the library in the darkness of the night, a coldness swept through his body! "Why you! Where''s my father!" Hearing Emil''s questioning, in which he seemed to have lost his mind, Jon simply walked slowly into the library with a sword in one hand and his wand in the other. "The Lestrange family and I really do have a lot of fate; First, it was that little uncle of yours called Rabastan, then the couple called Rodolphus and Be who are your aunt and uncle, and now your own father Brandon. The world really is a wonderful ce, I used to scoff at the so-called fate, but when you think about it, maybe your fate might have been predestined a long time ago?" Emil''s eyes were filled with blood. He must have thought of the terrible consequences when he saw Jon emerge unscathed. But he still didn''t dare to believe it, and he didn''t want to believe it! "You ditched him, didn''t you! You sneaked back in and tried to catch me to threaten him, didn''t you!" It was as if they were talking to each other, but Emil wasn''t listening to what Jon wasmenting, and Jon didn''t want to answer Emil''s self-deceiving question. "To be honest, I''ve never looked at anything with prejudice before, but my experiences over the years have made me wonder if all people with the family name Lestrange are actually bad." Jon had walked into the Forbidden Zone as he muttered to himself again. "Unfortunately so far, no one has been able to prove me wrong in this impression, just as your family is fated to be a bunch of bad guys, isn''t that right, Emil Lestrange?" "Avada Kedavra!!!" Emil couldn''t contain his angerced with fear any longer, and with a red face and an almost snarling voice, he chanted the killing curse against Jon! But Jon simply side-stepped without a care, and the miserable green light fell short, leaving a small fissure of ck fumes on the otherwise smooth ground. Jon, who was already well versed in the three Unforgivable Curses, could see that Emil had not yet learnt the killing curse, and even if he hit himself with the curse in his rage, he would still fail, or at most, he would just bleed to the ground and fall unconscious. As if he had lost his mind, Emil kept chanting the killing curse, trying to kill Jon to avenge his father''s death, but even these failed spells, none of them hit their target, and instead, Jon was already in front of him. Without wielding his sword, Jon simply extended the hand that held the Gryffindor sword, and as it neared Emil''s body, the general counter-spell immediately took effect, instantly erasing the shield charm from his body, while his other hand flicked his wand. In the next moment, thest scion of the main house of the Lestrange family fell to the ground with endless hatred and resentment. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 411: I Am Talking to You, Voldemort (2 in 1) Chapter 411: I Am Talking to You, Voldemort (2 in 1) Paris, France. The wizards of the Witching Horizon have surrounded the French Ministry of Magic again after less than a year. After all, they had been operating in the French magical world for almost a full year, social order had been restored, and after losing their freedom and power and now regaining it, the muggle wizards naturally cherished it even more than before. And because of this, their obsession with theplete liberation of all of France and theplete eradication of the so-called Pureblood supremacy theory from thend of France was very deep. It was only because they had been bound by the blood pact between Dumbledore and Voldemort regarding the Triwizard Tournament that they had taken a break. But this time, Dumbledore himself returned from Britain and once again announced the action that would take ce today. Apart from the Order of the Phoenix, which is led by Dumbledore''s inner circle, the other forces of the Witching Horizon were shocked by Dumbledore''s move. "Why would you abandon the Blood Pact like that? Doesn''t Jon Green have a huge advantage right now, being in Hogwarts Castle for the third task? Just wait until we win the championship, and we can simply get it without a fight, which is why you were willing to make this blood pact with the Dark Lord in the first ce, no? Or do you actually have no confidence in your student? Thinking he''s bound to lose thispetition today and that''s why you''re breaking the blood pact early and taking Paris over for good?" Javier Iniesta, who was now appointed as the acting minister of the temporary French Ministry of Magic from within the Witching Horizon, was very puzzled by Dumbledore''s decision and asked his doubts without masking his doubts at all. Dumbledore simply said calmly. "It''s not that I''m not confident in Jon, it''s because I''m confident in Jon that he will definitely win this tournament, that I''m going to besiege Paris early." Iniesta was no fool, he could hear what Dumbledore was saying beyond his words. "What do you mean? You''re thinking the Dark Lord will tear up the Blood Pact after we win the Triwizard Tournament." Dumbledore didn''t give a definite answer, he simply said. "I wouldn''t rule out the possibility that he wouldn''t do that, but I think he might also get around the consequences in some other way, or he''ll find a way to make up for it somewhere else. I dealt with him for a long time, Javier, before he took over Britain, and the reason his mind was hard to guess at that time was because he was crazy back then, but after he became master of Britain, everything he did and decided was never only geared in the direction of sess." "Since he came up with this Triwizard Tournament, it means that he has already thought about the choices he will face in both winning this tournament and losing it, I can''t guess what his choice will be at this moment, but one thing is for sure, we can''t give up the warpletely just because we may win without fighting, instead we must be even more ready to fight at all times, like now, while the third task is underway, we have to surround Paris and move into the Ministry of Magic as soon as the final results dere Jon''s victory." Javier had no more objections to Dumbledore''s decision, but he couldn''t help but ask. "I know you trust him, and I certainly hold the utmost trust in him, but what if, I mean it seriously, what if it happens at the end, where Jon Green loses?" Dumbledore''s gaze deepened, and he was silent for a long moment before finally answering this question of Javier''s. "If that does happen, you take all the others, who are, willing to leave and withdraw from France to the Nordic Witching Horizon territory, while I will stay here." As if guessing exactly what Dumbledore wanted to do if that did happen, Javier didn''t make a sound, he just quietly signed his name to the mobilisation order for all the wizards of the Witching Horizon. And so, on the afternoon of the same day that the third task was in progress, the French Ministry of Magic in the centre of Paris was re-encircled. Selwyn and Luke Wood, the two Death Eaters Voldemort had left to guard Paris, stood guard in front of the entrance hall of the Ministry of Magic with grim expressions on their faces. Dumbledore stopped just before the tie of the French Ministry of Magic with the Witching Horizon members, wands in each hand and a shield charm on each body, putting an unusual amount of pressure on the Death Eaters, who were less than a tenth of their number, who had been left behind. "What do you mean by this! The Triwizard Tournament is not even over, France is still within the protection of the Blood Pact, are you trying to tear up the Pact made in blood!" Selwyn''s questioning was clearly tinged with some horror, he was afraid to bet on whether Dumbledore had the guts to tear up the Blood Pact or not and wasn''t sure what kind of changes had taken ce at Hogwarts Castle, whether Jon Green had won the tournament, and it was just that Witching Horizon had blocked the news and wanted to wipe them out straight away. Dumbledore didn''t make a sound, nor was he inclined to answer Selwyn, he simply looked towards the deepest part of the French Ministry of Magic, where a man with a wand in his hand wearing a ck standing cor robe was slowly walking toward where they stood with their wands. Behind Dumbledore, the wizards of the Witching Horizon all held their breath after seeing the man''s face, while Selwyn and his party also noticed Dumbledore''s gaze, and as they turned back to look over, a look of ecstasy appeared on each of their faces. "Lord!" Voldemort did not respond to their shouts, but simply looked at Dumbledore as he always had, with a cold and sneering smile on his face. "Dumbledore, it''s been a long time." *** Jon of course didn''t kill Emil. It wasn''t that he was afraid of breaking the rules of the Triwizard Tournament or being moved bypassion. The tournament had already reached this point, and the Lestrange father and son had made it clear that they were going to kill Jon at this castle, and even if Jon was found out to have used a killing curse and killed thepeting champion, no one would or would dare to dispute it as long as they managed to win the final task of the tournament. But Jon was not that murderous, Emil could not get away with it, and Voldemort will ultimately lose the castle ording to the terms of the Blood Pact, not to mention an outcast whose family had been killed by Jon. If you are talking about retribution, wouldn''t it be more painful to keep him alive than to kill him outright? As for retaliation, if Jon was really afraid of this, he would havemitted suicide a long time ago, as those who wanted to kill him could have lined up from the British Ministry of Magic to Diagon Alley. And just as Jon had cleared all the obstacles in the castle, and the only thing left between him and the Triwizard Cup was the wooden door, a figure peeking cautiously from in front of the library entrance caught his attention. Seeing Draco, Jon''s face didn''t change much, instead, a smile appeared. It was just that the smile narrowed his eyes and hid his golden pupils in a way that those who were familiar would find Jon approachable, and those who were not would just feel chills all over their bodies. Take Draco for example, right now. He scrambled out from behind the door and held up his empty hands to show that he had no intention of making a move against Jon. "I have no intention of dealing with you! Grrr, Green, you know that. I only just heard themotion over here in the great hall after I entered the castle, so I came over to check it out, and I''m definitely not going to fight you for the title!" "What are you afraid of." Jon said nonchntly, he looked like he wasn''t really wary of Draco and just turned his back to him and walked over to the wooden door at the far end of the forbidden book section. The door really didn''t look like it gave much of a clue from the outside, but Jon was more familiar with this current Hogwarts castlepared to Emil after all, and he saw the brass eagle-shaped door ring on the wooden door. Perhaps many people had forgotten it in this day and age, but Jon, who still remembered the original story, would not forget it. This door ring was the very same door ring that had once guarded the Ravenwmon room when Hogwarts still had four houses, and only those who could answer its question could enter through the door. Seeing that Jon had no intention of doing anything to him, Draco made his way shakily into the forbidden book section entrance, and, seeing Emil on the floor and the shattered and copsed bookshelves, tables and chairs around him, he eventually made his way to the forbidden book section, all the while trying to show that he had no intention of fighting for the Triwizard Cup, or out of fear, he didn''t get too close to Jon but stopped about five metres away. "I, can I know what you will do with students like me after you finally win this tournament?" Jon was looking down at the eagle-shaped door ring, trying to trigger it to make it tell the riddle. "What will we do with you? Do you think you''ll fall into our hands? Even without Hogwarts Castle, that Headmaster of yours wouldn''t give up on a pureblood student like you, your parents were his pirs, so unless it came to a situation where you were already bound to lose the war, something like that wouldn''t happen any time soon." Draco gritted his teeth, looking as if he was debating something in his mind, and asked immediately afterwards. "So what would you guys do to the pureblood students if Mr Headmaster were to lose?" Jon finally figured out how the eagle-shaped door ring worked, it was like it had been modified by someone, it no longer had the effect of saying a riddle for people to guess, but was instead controlled by a specificmand imposed on it, that is, a specificmand had to be spoken in order for it to open the door. This was obviously the design of the judges, who had probably left a clue somewhere else in the castle for the champions to find out for themselves what themand is. But Jon had clearly run out of energy for guesswork, and he simply waved his ring and snapped the magic off the door ring, solving the riddle by the most elementary means possible. Just as the wooden door gave a creak and was opened, Jon answered Draco''s question. "ording to the more established practice we''ve already explored in France, adult students are held ountable for whatever mistakes they make, just like normal pureblood wizards, and even those who don''t make mistakes are arranged for further education andbourpensation, no matter what position they''re in, all these people are eating the dividends from pureblood oppression of the muggle-born wizard. As for people like you, you know very well what kind of role your father yed for the dark lord, I''ll be honest with you, your parents are definitely going to die, which is why I refused to cooperate with him at that time, it''s important to correct what you did wrong, and if you can do that, you won''t have to be responsible for the wrong you oncemitted. Of course, you''re not guilty enough to die, but you''ll have to pay the other price." Behind the wooden door, there wasn''t much room, but the Triwizard Cup was just disyed in the middle of such a room. Jon saw it, and Draco certainly saw it. Only neither Jon nor Draco focused on the trophy for a moment; Jon answered Draco''s question thoughtfully, while Draco''s body trembled as he heard it, and his eyes flushed red as he looked at Jon. "But my mother and father, they just wanted us to have a better life as a family though! What''s wrong with that?" Jon looked at him calmly. "So that means you don''t even have the most basic idea of what''s right. There''s certainly nothing wrong with loving your own family, but why would your mother and father have to go out of their way to hurt other people''s families? We are all human beings, you enjoy a rich life and the warmth of family, but have you ever thought that once right under this castle there was a group of people your age who were suffering because of you guys?" "How can you me us for that! It''s not like it was up to our family to decide!" Draco looked irritated by Jon''s words and instead of his previous caution, he erupted, "Why should we have to die! And how are you any different from us? How many of the purebloods would survive if that were the case!" The fire in Jon''s golden eyes leapt. "It''s a choice you made, the Weasleys, the Longbottoms, they could have stayed in Britain and enjoyed the benefits and privileges of being a pureblood too, but why were they still willing to follow a bunch of us into exile with their entire family, because they knew what was right and wrong, and your mother and father didn''t, and they didn''t teach you what was really right and wrong. " "You are talking nonsense! It''s up to who to decide who is right and who is wrong! We are obviously not wrong! There is no wrong!" Draco fell to the floor after his outburst, and he pulled his hair out without making another sound. Jon looked at him and didn''t say another word either, only after a long time he suddenly and inexplicably said. "Why haven''t you done anything yet?" Draco raised his head, and he was in tears by now. "Do you want me to fight you? If that''s the case you can let me out now, I know there''s no way I can beat you!" Jon was serious, never more serious than this and shook his head. "No, I''m not talking to you, I''m talking to you, Voldemort." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 412: Voldemort: Im Happy Chapter 412: Voldemort: I''m Happy Draco''s entire face froze when he heard the word Voldemort from Jon''s mouth. There was no hint of pretence in his horrified and panicked expression, his body trembled, and those reddened eyes stared at Jon. "You, you, how dare you utter that name!" Jon, however, had lost all interest in talking to him and instead simply grabbed him by the cor with one hand and forced Draco to the wooden door. "I''m not testing, Voldemort, and if you really think I''m just trying to trick you, then we could just as well give the title to Draco Malfoy." Draco subconsciously tried to struggle, but his body itself didn''t have much strength, much less the ability to break free from Jon''s grasp today! And just as Jon was about to lead Draco into the room that held the Triwizard Cup, a ck aura emerged abruptly from Draco''s body! Jon stopped moving his hands as if Draco had been turned into a soldering iron and threw him back down on the floor. Draco panicked, and he obviously noticed that something was wrong with him, but he soon realised that he had no control over his body. His mouth, which had been wide open from panic, gradually closed and then revealed an eerie, smirking expression. The Draco standing in front of Jon was apletely different person, not just in the expression on his face, but in his demeanour and aura as well! ck mist twisted around his body as he came to his feet from the ground and gently patted the dust from his robes while his eyes locked with Jon''s. "I''m curious, how did you guess it? I don''t think you would have found anything wrong with him?" The Gryffindor sword in Jon''s hand wasn''t lowered, and the wand was held simrly in his other hand as he looked coldly at the man who hadpletely taken over Draco''s body. "It''s just me and Malfoy standing in front of this door now, it''s a bit too much of a coincidence and smooth sailing for us isn''t it?" Voldemort shrugged as he stroked Malfoy''s hawthorn wood wand. "Can you still call this smooth? You could have really died just now if you hadn''t found the Sorting Hat and pulled that sword out of it. That''s what you fought to the death to get, Jon Green, and if that can be called smooth, is it only right in your eyes that I appear before you in person?" He looked like he was having a good time talking, but Jon actually knew exactly where his desire to chat stemmed from. "It took my desperate efforts to obtain this result, but both I and Professor Dumbledore have high esteem for your intelligence, Mr Riddle." Jon changed his address, the golden mes in his eyes looking as if they were leaping to the rhythm of his heartbeat, "You''ve tried very hard to deal with me, and have tried to scheme me personally; to take my life, but you''ve failed twice, once with the Lestrange''s and once with the Dragon in the first task, and if this Triwizard Tournament is what you''re ultimately after, then today is yourst chance. Thisst time, I don''t think you''re going to pin your hopes on your man; even if you gave him a part of your soul, that''s not good enough, these are just preparations, they''re just preparations to get me to let my guard down and get the Triwizard Cup unsuspectingly; because, if nothing is to be done, then surely you, knowing me, know that I''m going to end up finding out because of suspicion, right? Am I right?" "Malfoy is the perfect target, you know he''s a worthless student and that''s why you deliberately chose him to represent Hogwarts Castle, no one would be interested in a contestant like that, not to mention that Lucius Malfoy''s previous contact with me would not have escaped your eyes and I even suspect that you deliberately let Lucius do that, to paralyse my attention on that ount and make me drop my guard against himpletely. And just now he arrived a little too coincidentally, it was such a coincidence that he was scheduled to enter the castle at sunset for the tournament, and such a coincidence that he arrived in the library just as I had finished with the Lestrange father and son. Perhaps he didn''t necessarily know himself that you had in fact already had a subtle influence on his consciousness a long time ago." Voldemort listened intently, he looked as if he was not half hostile to Jon, but instead, his gaze was full of admiration, the unabashed kind. "Actually, you still haven''t guessed what I''m thinking, Jon." He looked as if he was talking to a close friend, "It''s only your vignce and wariness that has led you to discover my secret regarding Draco Malfoy by mistake, but in truth, you still know nothing of my ns." Jon wasn''t in a hurry, viins die by talking too much, and now it was obvious that he was the good guy and Voldemort was the viin, so the more he talked, the quicker he would die, Jon certainly wasn''t in a hurry. "So, can you give me some answers to my doubts?" "You''ve done something big, Jon, bigger than you can imagine." Voldemort fixed his gaze on Jon with that same cold gaze that was always sinister no matter how much the smile on his face changed. "It was on that tower, the moment that pact was torn up from the hands of that fool Stoker who was so intent on flying to the sky, that is when everything changed, you know?" "That was the only best way I could find to bnce two souls at that time! It allowed me to be one with myself, and, even if it hadn''t quite been sessful, I became a wizard like no other, powerful enough to be a god. But you tore it up and messed up my setup in that tower and got me into a lot of trouble, Jon Green." "The other me who was originally resisting, that brainless fool who always wanted to gain control himself, and now that you''ve given him such an opportunity he certainly won''t give it up. There''s no way we''ll be able to go back to the way we were, but that idiot didn''t lose his head after all, and after seeing that Dumbledore had besieged the French Ministry of Magic, he was willing to make a deal with me to work together to get rid of the immediate threat before fighting over the ownership of the body. It was at that time that Be and Rodolphus went on a hunt for you, and I admit that it was that time that I really wanted to kill you, but that was the only time, and after that failure, I wasn''t actually as angry as you might think, Jon, on the contrary, I was happy, happy that there was actually someone as talented as you in this wizarding world!" Jon noticed the change in his eyes, it was more than just coldness, there was now a vague hint of... Greed! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 413: Ingest the Castle Chapter 413: Ingest the Castle "A bnce maintained only by a brief verbal agreement will notst long at all, neither will I as well as my other self will maintain it, so with me unable to control him and him unable to control me, we must find a way to resolve the situation at hand, or else we will only end up making it easier for Dumbledore if we keep fighting internally like this." Voldemort said in a loud voice. What came out of his mouth remained the same vocal sound as Draco''s, but the ent and tone of it was something that Draco could never have uttered. "So I chose to take a step back and leave my body to him, who had long been eyeing it, while I found another way out for myself." He looked over at Jon, with a teasing look on his face. "Now that I''ve said that, can you guess what kind of way out I have in mind next?" Jon turned his head to look at the Triwizard Cup behind the wooden door, the matter was obscure but not really that hard to guess whenbined with the cause and effect. "After you are separated, even if there is no more conflict for a while, you will not be as strong as when you were fused, so you must want to keep your strength from diminishing, or even be able to advance it further. But I don''t think this fusion of souls is just some random merging of two different souls, otherwise, you wouldn''t have tried to devour your other self instead of finding someone else,bined with the fact that you had done so much in Hogwarts castle before and that Hogwarts castle had a consciousness of its own" Jon looked deeply at the man standing in front of him who was talking to him using Draco''s appearance. "You were preparing a backup as early as you took control of this school, nning to conquer the castle if you didn''t seed in devouring yourself in the end." "Ah aha!" Voldemort let out augh and snapped his fingers. "Very true! I''m sure Dumbledore will have a headache when he finds out that I''ve been trying to be the true owner of this castle all along. He would wonder what the hell I was trying to do by doing this; because ording to normal thinking, this castle would be of no use at all even if it did belong to me." A wide smile appeared on his face, an expression that had never appeared on the previous Draco. "A castle where countless bits of magic of young wizards have been gathered and influenced for thousands of years to form a consciousness. It''s a meal that''s bound to be very tasty, isn''t it? Jon, if I can manage to stomach it, who cares about my other self? That short-sighted fool who split his soul and is now brought back together by me cannot see such long-term benefits! Magic is emotion and emotion is soul! Dumbledore keeps emphasising the love within the soul, because to his perception, he only understands that love is the strongest emotion, and he ignores the power of the soul itself! So what if there is no love! As long as my soul is strong enough, as long as I can ingest this one consciousness that has been gathered for thousands of years! I am a god!" "Throughout the whole world! Whether wizard or muggle, earth or sea, a God of all things!" His emotions were high, yet he gave no semnce of ridiculousness or madness. For he expressed himself with such seriousness that his words were not too fast, not too slow, speaking methodically, telling Jon everything he had done, everything he had prepared so that Jon would understand how terrifying this Voldemort before him really was. He had been preparing for his own defeat in advance since more than ten years ago, starting to restrict this castle bit by bit, preparing it for the failure of the fusion of his two selvester on, and at that time, Dumbledore hadn''t even formed Witching Horizon yet, and Jon himself hadn''t even crossed over yet, and at that time he was as great as the sun in Britain and even in the whole of Europe. Now that all his setups had been used and everything hade to its final step as he had nned, even if Jon had guessed ahead of time that it was him in Draco''s body for one or another reason, there was no way it would have made one more bit of difference to the situation at hand. "But devouring the castle''s consciousness isn''t that easy, if it was that easy you would have just done it instead of using it as a reserve fallback." Jon took a deep breath. "So you had your eye on me, and apart from the fact that the Triwizard Tournament was something you wanted to stall for time, it also had the purpose of pulling me into your devised game." "You''re absolutely right." The better Jon performed now, the happier the look on Voldemort''s face became. "The only reason your name was chosen in the Goblet of Fire was because I had it thrown in. After learning that you were the one who tore up that pact of mine and killed Rabastan, I chose you, Jon. Be and Rodolphus were just an add-on to try your luck and strength, and if they did kill you, it would prove that you were nothing more than that, and I would have to choose another candidate, whereas if you managed to kill them back, it would be a great surprise. It means you''re a perfect choice, but again, I need to prepare more for you to be the perfect candidate." "I was going to make a series of illusions to make you and Dumbledore think that I was actually trying to kill you for real, that way not only would I win this Triwizard Tournament outright, but I would also put an end to it. That''s why there was that dragon riot, that''s why I agreed to that beauty ploy that Barty nned, I put myself in your shoes and thought what you would think, I had to not hold anything back and do my best to kill you, it was the only way to fool you and that wretched old man who was not easy to fool." "Not only that, but I have to lead you to discover what I have set up in the castle, Dumbledore cares more about this castle than anyone else because he was the one who lost it in the first ce and became the biggest sinner among the headmasters of all time, so this is rather easier. All I have to do is pretend that I have made some oversight and let you discover the secrets of the castle, and you will think that I care about the castle and infer that I care about the final oue of the tournament because the castle is one of the stakes, and only then will you do your best to win the tournament andplete the puppet show that I have personally set the stage for you to perform in! " Voldemort''s spread his arms wide and seemed to be in a pleasant mood. "So, wise and witty Mr. Jon Green, can you guess what it is that I have gone to all this trouble and effort to set this up just so that you can think that you have won this tournament after all the hard work and by your own efforts?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 414: You can try it now Chapter 414: You can try it now Having heard this far, Jon would have a real problem if he couldn''t guess. All the guesses he had made about Voldemort''s possession of Draco had not been much more than a feeling. The kind of intuition that had saved Jon so many times in battle, something that Grindelwald hadmended as having the gift of prophecy. Voldemort''s set-up for this task went deeper than anyone could have imagined and made use of unknown information that Jon and Dumbledore would never have guessed. For example, although they had guessed from the start that the hosting of the Triwizard Tournament would most likely have something to do with his need to restore his own soul, which had been split by Jon''s tearing up of the pact; so that he could regain his strength, they had never imagined that Voldemort had actually intended to achieve his goal in such a way. And then there was the castle itself, and it was because of theck of guessing what Voldemort actually had up his sleeve that until he said so himself, Jon and Dumbledore could never have imagined, even if they thought about it, that he had made so many preparations within the castle to actually try to devour the ancient castle that had been passed down for thousands of years. But once all these things had be public and the clues had be coherent, the trajectory of everything became obvious. "You can''t devour the consciousness of this castle by normal means." Jon tightened his grip on the hilt of the Gryffindor sword. "The Chamber of Secrets, the Headmaster''s Office and the Slytherinmon room, you''ve tried all of these setups and couldn''t do anything to it, so you came up with another way. To have someone who could be acknowledged by this castlee over and first have him inherit the castle and be recognized by the consciousness of the castle itself, and then use his identity to gain the consciousness of the castle in its entirety." Voldemort turned his head to look at the Triwizard Cup. "So, you should have guessed by now what kind of end you are going to face today on your own, right? Jon Green, you should be thankful for that portrait of Szar Slytherin that you brought out of the North Pole, it is because of the ancient magic he taught me about how to re-fuse Horcruxes that I am where I am today. It is also because of that I have researched more about magic on the soul!" He regained his gaze and looked at Jon. "The script I set up after that was simple, you get the Triwizard Cup, get this castle, I kill you and be you, and live on in the future as a stronger, wiser, and more respectable Jon Green than you''ll ever be! There are many ways to gain power in this world, and since it is a mistake to tread on the path of united purebloods, then it is better to take a different route." His smile was as unnerving as it could be. "Many people know very well that I actually don''t care about the so-called pureblood, half-blood and mudblood races, as long as it allows me to be the master and lord of all, then no matter what kind of person I lead, isn''t it the same? Everything would go in a good direction after that, I would be the first in the line of session after Dumbledore, and I would even have Dumbledorementing his old age to let me take the throne early because of my brilliant role in defeating Voldemort and counter-attacking Britainter on. I would have a young and energetic body like yours, everyone would be loyal to me from the bottom of their hearts, I would be the new Lord of Britain, and then things would be even easierter on, the muggle-born have been oppressed so much that with the slightest provocation, they would explode with even more powerful hatred and desire." "Liquidation! I will lead them to purge purebloods throughout Europe and the world! Perhaps with their help, I will even have an easier time controlling the Muggle world, what a wonderful future, you will not fall out of grace, Jon, I will help you so that your name will live on in history and all will never forget the title of Lord of the World!" There was a shivering terror in his words that one could not help but shudder at. But the fire that danced in Jon''s eyes showed not a hint of fear. "So there are now two of you in this world." "Since that fool wants that original body so badly, what''s wrong with just giving it to him and letting him give me thest bit of residual value as a target for my new identity?" Voldemort chuckled contemptuously. "He watched me out there calling the shots and thought he could do all that I could, and now he''s only looking at the immediate benefits and is impatient when he sees that France is about to be taken over in its entirety by Dumbledore. I did it on purpose, this fight was destined to be Dumbledore''s to win from the start, and then the cut out of France and Hogwarts castle would be a huge loss for him and the first step in my new life. See, not only you but even the other me as well, you are all being yed by me." "All of which was in response to me answering you, now, I have onest question and I wonder if you can answer me, Mr. Riddle." Jon gazed into the eyes that should have belonged to Draco. "Two people don''t just appear in this world for no reason, who are you really? Are you the one from the Horcrux? Was it the original soul that you split off from yourself? Or have you actually been lying all along?" There was a rare period of silence in the room. After that, Voldemort burst outughing! He was clearly not putting on a show or mocking Jon about something, but an inexplicable smile of emotion, delight, and joy. "Let''s keep this mystery to ourselves, there''s no point in exploring this anymore Jon. I know what you''re suspecting, you''re thinking I''m deliberately baiting and deceiving you with those words, when in fact I''m not me at all, and neither Riddle is a Riddle, what person in the world would call themselves stupid, what person would count themselves dead, right?" His smile didn''t narrow, but his gaze turned cold again. To the side of the library, the window that had been blown open by Jon''s escape was blowing in a whistling cold breeze that ruffled the hem of both his and Voldemort''s robes. Without getting the answer that had been bothering him for so long, Jon was not much discouraged or frustrated. He could see that Voldemort had unted all of his ns and he lost the idea of continuing to keep this conversation going and instead was ready to start reaping the fruits of the rich harvest which he had been nning for so long. Jon flexed the ten fingers that held the sword and wand respectively, a striking light radiating from those golden eyes within the shadowy library. "I admire your intelligence as a person, Mr Riddle, but if you really want this body and name of mine, then I suppose now is the time for you to try." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 415: Bloody Triwizard Cup Chapter 415: Bloody Triwizard Cup It''s been a long time. The term used was quite the same, yet it made Dumbledore feel a lot different. He looked at the same Riddle who had been nked by many Death Eaters and had made his way to him. The man was still the same, and the face was still the same, but despite nothing having changed, Dumbledore felt a distinct difference. "It''s been a ''long time'' since I''ve seen you." Dumbledore said in a soft voice. "It''s been, well, almost fifteen years, I guess?" Voldemort gazed into his eyes, the expression on his face didn''t change a bit. "It''s quite surprising that you can recognize me." "It is not that surprising to recognize you as you are much different from him, isn''t that right?" The conversation between the two men was like a riddle so that the others present could not make out what was actually being spoken between them. But everyone held their breath, knowing that once these two men had appeared on the scene it was no longer relevant to them whether there would be a fight or not. Even if the people following them won an unexpected victory, it would not have any effect on the situation on the whole stage. Hearing Dumbledore''s words, Voldemortughed heartily, and everyone felt his mood, rxed, happy, excited, joyful! "Yes! That damned thing has kept me suppressed for 15 whole years! Now atst I''m back! It''s time for me to take back control of the world, and no one can stop me anymore, no one!" His grim gaze was fixed on Dumbledore, with a twisted expression that sent chills through the bodies of everyone standing behind Dumbledore. Even the Death Eaters who had clustered around Voldemort sensed something different from this lord of theirs. He was far more insane, twisted and cruel than he had ever been before! Dumbledore looked at him calmly. "Are you that sure that you can do better than him?" Voldemort suddenly went quiet. No matter who it was, they all could feel a chill emanating from the man after Dumbledore had uttered those words. "You think that I would be inferior to him?" It was clear that his voice was nd and cold, but it still raised a thick sense of unease in the hearts of everyone present. "Judging by theparison of what he has managed to aplish after he became you, and what you achieved before he came, he perhaps could aplish more than yo-." "Then let''s find out today!" Voldemort suddenly interrupted Dumbledore''s unspoken words with a gruff voice, and he raised his wand in his hand with a face full of ruthlessness! "Who the bloody hell is! Could do better!" *** "Are you really going to fight me?" Voldemort looked at Jon who had a sword and wand in his hand, the smile on his face remained the same. Jon raised the wand in his hand. "You were forced out of your own body, and now that you have possessed Draco''s body, you surely can''t use your full strength properly, right?" "You are right, I can only muster the magic within this boy''s body, in a way that is not so overpowering, you could even say it is feeble." Voldemort said lightly, "But have you forgotten what I told you Jon, the strength of the soul is what makes you truly strong, I may not dare to face that lousy old man Dumbledore now, but are you really as strong as Dumbledore?" Jon pressed the ring he carried in front of him with the hand that held the hilt of his sword, and the next moment the levitation charm was in effect silently! "Whether it can or not, let''s just try it!" His entire body rose into mid-air while he waved the wand in his hand! The silent transfiguration spell was instantly activated, and the pieces of desks and chairs around him turned into countless thick chains in the next second, winding towards the direction where Voldemort was standing. Jon, on the other hand, turned into a dark shadow in the air and rushed towards Voldemort with the Gryffindor sword in his hand! He knew very well the gap between himself and Voldemort. Even if Voldemort was temporarily borrowing Draco''s body, just by the ck mist surrounding him, Jon knew that he would definitely not be able to defeat Voldemort if it was just a contest of magic. He would have to exploit the one strength that Voldemort was now certainly inferior to him, and that was physical strength! How well Voldemort''s own body had been tempered and whether it had undergone any kind of magical transformation Jon was not sure, but Draco, the young lord born with a golden spoon in his mouth, was certainly not as physically strong as he could be. And even if Voldemort was very powerful, there was no way he could break through the ceiling that this body of Draco''s brought him. As for whether killing Draco would vite the pact between him and Lucius. If at this point in time, Jon was still considering such a question, then he simply shouldn''t even resist! Jon''s series of strikes were quick, and in the span of a second, the chains from the transfiguration spell had reached a distance of about three metres around Voldemort. But before the chains, each of which was the thickness of a baby''s arm, could take hold, the ck fog that had been surrounding Voldemort erupted! The moment the chains came into contact with the ck fog, the chains, which had been transformed and had the same quality as steel, made a series of violent cracking sounds. At that moment, Jon had already reached Voldemort''s face with his sword! The smile on Voldemort''s face hadn''t even changed, he didn''t even try to dodge, he just raised his wand in his hand, without reciting an incantation or waving the wand, and a dazzling green light shed out! The moment Jon saw the tip of the wand light up, the hairs on his body stood upright! Almost by instinct, he cancelled the levitation charm on his body without hesitation, and narrowly twisted out of the way of Voldemort''s killing curse while his body plunged down! But just as his body had fallen to the floor, and Jon was about to get up from the ground. Voldemort stretched out his hand, and the ck mist that had scattered around him became an extension of his arm, and rushed towards the wooden door of the room where the Triwizard Cup was hidden! The trophy, which would be the final proof of the championship, was wrapped up in the ck fog and mmed down on Jon, who had just risen from the floor, with tremendous force! "Thud!" The hard trophy hit Jon''s chest so hard that the tremendous impact caused him to roll around several times on the ground, and only when he hit the wall in the deepest part of the Forbidden Books section did hee to a halt. "Poof!" Scarlet blood and bits of meat spurted on top of the trophy, and at the same time, Jon''s name was visible on the surface of the cup as proof of the championship! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 416: Come with me (2 in 1) Chapter 416: Come with me (2 in 1) "Dang, dang, dang!" The sound of the Triwizard Cup dropping to the floor made a clear, crisp sound unique to metal. And at that moment, it was obvious to Jon that something was different about the castle. Outside the library, those staircases that had been dead and dull suddenly began toe alive again, and the statues and armour all around the castle began to take on an air of vibrancy. Everything began to look special, and such a change felt like a revival, and a new beginning. Jon himself did not feel a single change in his body, but the Gryffindor sword that he held in his hand was clearly different. The slender de glowed with a faint light as if some strange magic had been attached to it. But instead of the joy and excitement of such a transformation, Jon''s mood sank to the bottom. He could feel the connection to Hogwarts Castle that Voldemort had been trying to establish for so long, and it was that connection that he needed! "Did you feel it? You could be the one this castle desires for over ten years, Jon." Voldemort waved Draco''s wand and smiled as he walked slowly towards Jon who had his back against the wall, a ck mist rising around him like the countless unjust souls who had died under him over the years and couldn''t escape from his bindings! "You and Dumbledore should both be thanking me, I''m doing you a great favour here, aren''t I. This is the championship you''ve always wanted and the castle you''ve always wanted to take back, and now that all your demands have been met, shouldn''t you satisfy me in return?" Jon wiped away the blood left at the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. Staring intently at the approaching Voldemort, he plunged the Gryffindor sword into the ground and effortlessly regained his footing back up on the ground. And just then, the ck mist that had just attacked Jon with the trophy suddenly dispersed, and then invitingly revealed a crimson feather inside! It had snatched it from the pocketpartment of Jon''s robes, a backhand that Dumbledore had left with Jon as a precaution, but Voldemort had seen through it all early on. "That bloody phoenix, I will make it live a life that is worse than death sooner orter." Voldemort said such ruthless words, but his face remained smiling while he tapped his wand in his hand at the Fawkes feather, and the next second the feather was reduced to a handful of flying ash. "Dumbledore himself used such a tactic to escape from me in the first ce, do you think I would give you that chance again?" Jon watched as the feather was destroyed and turned into ash which drifted to the ground, without much of a ripple raising in his eyes. Or rather, since his pupils had turned to that golden fire, no one could urately read his mood from his gaze at all. The feather that had actually been carried on Jon''s body from the very beginning of the task was indeed a backup that Dumbledore had prepared for him to summon Fawkes out immediately in the event of an extremely dangerous situation so that it could lead Jon to escape. But now such a safety measure had been discovered and destroyed by Voldemort at the very beginning, it was as if Jon''s only backup route had beenpletely blocked and there was no possibility of escape from the castle. Jon leaned on his sword and looked at Voldemort who was already three metres away, the sword light emanating from the Gryffindor''s sword protecting him from the ck mist. "From the year that Professor Dumbledore was defeated followed by the conquest of all of Britain to scheming the annexation of France, it was you all along, wasn''t it?" Voldemort did not deny it. "Do you think that dumb bastard could have done what I did if he had been the one to do it all?" Jon breathed heavily, his lungs having been badly damaged in the blow he had just taken, but he narrowed his eyes as he locked eyes with Voldemort. "Yes, of course, he can''tpare to you, all the changes that have happened in this world actually started with you, if it was the original Voldemort, even if Professor Dumbledore couldn''t kill him, there is no way he could have defeated Professor Dumbledore, let alone have that ability and means to control Britain for over a decade without any major mishaps, it has been smooth so far. " The smile on Voldemort''s face faltered slightly at his words. It was an expression he hadn''t even shown when he had been recognised by Jon and used Draco''s body to show himself. "What are you trying to say?" His face grew calm, and his t voice sounded like it was unmixed with any emotion. Instead, Jon smiled, the blood still left on the corners of his mouth, the shift in Voldemort''s emotions hadn''t made much sense to him, but Voldemort had been acting like he had everything under control from the start, and now there was finally some change of emotion in his expression, much to Jon''s amusement. "I''d say you are variable, and I am a variable too, and our presence has both changed the course of the world in unknown ways. Perhaps God knew this from the beginning, no, you can''t exactly call it God, I think it''s called fate ording to a term used in the magical world, fate had anticipated it a long time ago, the world needed to be fixed, and to remove the wrong changes, of course, it needed a person like me." "I do owe you a debt of gratitude, Voldemort, let''s call you by that name for now, for helping me to make a choice as well." While listening to Jon''s words that sounded like riddles to an outsider, Voldemort''s face looked increasingly grim. "What''s the point of you talking about all this? You''re not really so whimsical as to think you have a chance against me one-on-one, are you? If that''s the case, then I was wrong. I always thought you were a smart boy, and a smart boy should have a clear understanding of himself!" The moment his words fell, the ck mist rose up around Voldemort! At the same time, he whipped his wand in his hand, and without any forewarning, the green light of death swept towards Jon with a bolt! As Voldemort''s movement unfolded, he dodged the killing curse with the speed of an instantaneous levitation charm, almost as if it were an instantaneous movement. And as the ck mist flooded towards Jon, the light of the Gryffindor sword rose up like a solid shield charm, holding all the ck mist back by a metre! After dodging Voldemort''s attack, Jon''s body didn''t half rx, his feet, which had been pressed against the wall, suddenly shot up, causing his body, which was floating in mid-air, to fly towards Voldemort like an arrow being shot out! He raised his wand in the face of Jon''s counterattack, without reciting a spell or waving it, the surrounding air became sticky the next moment. The obstruction that seemed to surround him caused Jon''s speed, which had been so overwhelming, to be sluggish. But not even a second before such a sluggishness was created, Jon unleashed the magic of the second gem on the ring! The spell stopped immediately, all the magical effects clinging to Jon''s body were erased, and the Gryffindor sword Jon was holding in his hand was already stabbed in front of Voldemort''s face! The wand in Voldemort''s hand, which had been held upright, changed abruptly at that moment. The entire wand began to stretch and widen, and by the time the tip of the sword had pierced him, the wand had turned into a sturdy iron shield! "Bam!" A shuddering, ear-splitting sound echoed throughout the library, and Jon''s arm went numb from the shock, yet he still held on for dear life without letting go of the sword''s hilt! The wand that had been turned into a shield then reverted back to its normal form after deflecting Jon''s sword, while Voldemort looked at Jon with grim eyes. The green glow lit up again, and Voldemort had clearly figured out the weirdness in Jon''s body. Not just the kind of flying magic that didn''t spill out with any magical fluctuations, but also the strange defence that could wipe out magical effects. Any other spell would definitely be absorbed by Jon''s magic before it could hit him and take effect because even if Voldemort''s spell casting was as powerful and subtle as it could be, he still could only mobilise Draco''s magic. This was Jon''s biggest advantage, Draco''s magic was of course not as good as Jon''s, so after using the ring magic''s general counter-spell, Jon didn''t have to worry about Voldemort''s other spells at all, the only thing he had to watch out for was the killing curse which had no counter-spell to speak of! Voldemort had found this out too, so the only two ways he could kill Jon would be if the killing curse hit him head-on, or if the ck mist broke through the defences that came from the Gryffindor sword with the help of the castle and engulfed Jon. Jon could only be thankful now that Voldemort had a powerful soul and means, but no magic to keep up, and understood very clearly that the most important purpose of the killing curse was not actually to kill him, but to force him away from his side! The Voldemort in front of him was definitely a man who was willing to use his head no matter what he did or how he fought. He knew precisely what Jon''s strengths and weaknesses were today; human physical strength had its limits, while a wizard would not feel much fatigue at all in the case of casting spells, provided that they would not cast spells at a fast pace for more than three hours in a row. Voldemort now just had to keep Jon from getting close, like a vicious wolf biting a bull, and when Jon, an already wounded bull, was exhausted, that was when he would really deal with him! But at such a close range, Jon was more than ready for his chance! Faced with the green light from the tip of Voldemort''s wand, Jon''s face was fearless instead, he smiled and threw the Gryffindor longsword out of his hand! Without the protection of his sword, the ck mist around him swallowed Jon up like a swarm! Voldemort''s heart was suddenly filled with fear and anxiety at this very moment! The killing curse was lit up and shot out from the tip of his wand, but even though he had pushed it to the limit, there was nothing he could do to stop Jon''s next move! Jon opened his arms and embraced the body of Draco Malfoy, which had been manipted by Voldemort! The moment he did, Voldemort felt a painful pinprick behind him, in the hand that Jon had held the sword in! It was so close that the shield charm could not be used as a normal defence! At the very moment when the pain, which was not too strong, came from his back, Voldemort felt a violent shuddering in his soul! And Jon''s eyes werepletely filled with that deadly green colour. He could not avoid it from such a close distance and had no intention of avoiding it from the start. After Fawkes'' feather had been destroyed by Voldemort, Jon was destined to have no chance of escape today, and he knew better than anyone else that he was bound to die if time dragged on in what seemed like an evenly matched situation. Voldemort''s mastery of magic was not something he could catch up with just by studying magic for a few years, and Jon''s only chance was to try to find a perfect timing. A time when he could die with this Voldemort in front of him. It was another backhand that Dumbledore and Szar had prepared together, one that both Jon and Dumbledore themselves had on hand. Since Voldemort had learned the knowledge of fusing Horcruxes from his ancestors, it was only natural that Szar could also figure out a way to break his soul back together. Before the third task began, neither Jon nor Dumbledore knew exactly what Voldemort was trying to do, but both of them had such preparation for disintegrating Voldemort''s assembled Horcruxes so that if either of them encountered the Voldemort who had fused the remnants of his Horcruxes, then they would have the means to specifically target him. ording to Szar''s deduction, there was no way a normal person could withstand such soul damage when the soul that had been brought back together was violently torn apart again, but it was up to Dumbledore or Jon himself to create the right opportunity to use the thing. And Jon had obviously found the right moment, Voldemort thought he was bound to dodge the killing curse, and he just didn''t! It was just like what he had just said. The world had changed at the very moment that the man who called himself Voldemort was standing in front of him appeared, and Jon himself was not supposed to be a soul of this world! The world of magic, which had been going through trials and tribtions but which would eventuallye to light, had be so full of holes that Jon was conscious of the fact that if he could just erase this Voldemort in front of him, then everything would be corrected to the way it was again. As for him. It started out as an unexpected experience that he was not supposed to have, and he had earned it by dying in hisst life and crossing over here to meet so many lovely people and have experienced so many wonderful things! The green light hit Jonpletely. At that moment, there was only one thought left in his mind. ''Come with me, Voldemort, and leave this world that was meant to be without you.'' ---- #Rahul Davuluri, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 417: The Fire of Nirvana Chapter 417: The Fire of Nirvana Jon copsed to the floor. After two melees, the library had be a mess, the floor was littered with broken wood chips and dust, and when Jon''s lifeless, throbbing body fell, it shook up a cloud of dust. "Poof!" Voldemort fell to his knees, blue veins bulging on his forehead, his hands clutching his head, his face red as if blood could seep out of it, and his eyes filled with blood. He reached out to grab the thing behind him that Jon had stabbed into him before he died, but he couldn''t reach it for a while because his arms and legs felt like they were twitching! Then suddenly, Voldemort''s face became one of panic and fear as Draco''s soul regained control of the body. He looked around him in bewilderment, and after seeing Jon''s body on the ground right in front of him he finally couldn''t help but cry out. "Mum!" But just as he cried out, the expression on Draco''s face froze anew, once again turning into that cold, ruthless look. This time there was no trembling in Voldemort''s hand as he violently grabbed the long needle stuck in his back and proceeded to pull it out from where it had been in his backside! There was nothing physical about the needle, and as Voldemort pulled it out of Draco''s body, there were no wounds or blood marks left where the needle had been inserted, not even a sign that his clothes had been pierced. Yet when it was held in the hand, it was tangible to feel that it was a real thing. "Bloody old thing!" Voldemort cursed, while continually mming Draco''s head into the wrecked ground, the pain originating from the depths of his soul, more than ten times more painful than the Cruciatus Curse, leaving him unable to think about anything else. The ck fog that had surrounded Voldemort churned as if it were boiling, and the faces of Voldemort himself, but of varying ages, began to appear in the ck fog. Their mouths opened to utter silent howls as if they were uttering the vilest of curses at Voldemort, and one by one they tried to break free from the fog that was on the verge of disintegrating, but in the end, they were unable to leave. At a certain moment, the ck fog scattered all over the library tightened up and then, like a ck cloth spread out on the floor,pressed all the split souls that were trying to break free back into Voldemort''s body. Voldemort''s forehead was bleeding as he stopped his self-inflicted wounds and stood up from the ground with a pale face, his eyes fixed on Jon''s body lying on the ground with such hatred as never before. "Jon Green! Good death you have died! Well done for dying!" He stumbled over to Jon''s side, the pleasure, the loathing and the relief that passed over his face no longer disguised. "There are so many geniuses in this world, but what''s the point of having a talent? This is what happens when you go against me!" Voldemort fought back the pain that came from the depths of his soul and let excitement take over his entire mood as he extended his hand at Jon''s head. "Just wait, when I be you, I''ll make those around you pay. Sure, they''ll have a good time ahead of them, but some of them will always have to suffer my wrath and revenge after that, but s you won''t see it anymore Jon, you won''t see it anymore" Just as his hand was less than a centimetre from touching Jon''s body, Voldemort suddenly raised his head warily. The surrounding temperature seemed to have risen a little. The temperature change was inconspicuous, perhaps only two or three degrees higher on the scale but Voldemort nevertheless noticed it. He squinted around and finally returned his gaze to Jon as if he suspected that the source of such an anomaly was Jon''s corpse itself. Voldemort no longer wanted to wait any longer, no matter what else was unusual about the corpse in front of him, Jon was dead after all, the magical world had the means to make people live forever, potions to cure all diseases, spells to kill all life, but no magic could bring the dead back to life. Not even that resurrection stone. As the current owner of the Ring of Resurrection, Voldemort knew better than anyone else how ridiculous it was to call it a resurrection, that the ring was more of a cursed murder ring than a treasure that could save people. So Voldemort had dropped all caution about Jon''s corpse and without hesitation he ced his hand on Jon''s head, intending toplete his n and take possession of the body. However, the moment his hand made contact with Jon''s forehead, a golden fire suddenly burnt up around Jon''s corpse! The mes didn''t even seem to be warm, but Voldemort''s hand, which had just touched Jon''s body, retracted as if it had been electrocuted! And the moment he retracted his hand, the golden me began to spread like a tidal wave in all directions! Soon the whole library was consumed by the fire, and Voldemort was isted from Jon''s corpse, the mes surrounding Jon as if they were burning him, and as if they were embracing their king! The pleasure and fury that had been on Voldemort''s face all disappeared as he looked in shock at the golden mes raising up from the ground like it was the only presence in the bright library. "Why! What have you done to yourself!" He could not vent his inner rage and could only question it out in a roar! And at that very second, mes burst out of the library and began to spread throughout the castle. The students and faculty who had set up countless tents on the field outside the castle, ready to spend the night right there on the Quidditch pitch, all saw the scene. Each of them watched in disbelief as the golden mes that spread from the ground began to rise around the castle as if they had plunged the entire Hogwarts castle into a sea of fire! The professors looked at the castle in disbelief as Crouch and Snape found Matthew together. "You didn''t mention to us that something like this could happen to the castle when it was requisitioned for use, Mr Graves!" Matthew murmured as he looked at the magnificent scene, his eyes just reflecting the golden light. "As I said, I will discuss a payout n with the owner of Hogwarts Castle after this tournament for any damage to it afterwards." And just as every student and faculty member stepped out of the tent to see the strange scene, a mellifluous song suddenly resounded in all directions! No one could hear what voice was singing, no one could make out thenguage in which the song was humming, and no one was even sure if it was any kind of spoken expression or not. But all of them heard an ethereal, sacred and undefiled breath in the song. In the middle of the mes that spread out, Jon''s body had disappeared. In recement, there was a bird with golden-red feathers! The golden mes of Nirvana spread around him as if they were his vassals, and the ethereal song sang of the birth of a sacred creature! Voldemort was surrounded by a ck mist that prevented the nirvana fire from scorching his already broken soul, and he looked at the phoenix poised above the sea of fire with a gaze of unbelief that he had never shown before. "How did you do that! No one was ever able to do this! No wizard in history has ever turned into a magical creature! How could you possibly achieve that! Why!" Jon simply looked down with those pale golden eyes at Voldemort who looked more like he was in an impotent rage, without a word, the Nirvana fires that littered the surrounding area spontaneously increased their attack on Voldemort. The mes that filled the castle did not burn anything, they did not seem to have a temperature of their own, but they were a deadly poison to Voldemort himself! The ck fog surrounding Voldemort had already tightened to the extreme as the golden mes continued to erode, and Voldemort looked reluctantly and resentfully at Jon who was swooping down on him with his wings spread in the sky. "It''s not over yet! Jon Green! Don''t think you''ve won with just this, you and Dumbledore couldn''t handle one of me, let alone two of me in this world! Wait for me, wait for him!" Just as the phoenix''s pointed beak was about to strike Draco''s skull, thest remaining ck mist rose up and Draco fell to the ground, as if dead,pletely covered by the golden mes. But the ck mist that was above the sea of fire, trying to escape, was violently scorched by a ball of me that fell from the ceiling! The ck mist echoed with Voldemort''s shrill howl of pain! Then the ck mist disintegrated, mostly engulfed by the golden mes, but a few ck shadows managed to squeeze through the gaps and escape from the sea of fire. Jon didn''t go after them, he couldn''t, because he was in a half-bewildered state at that moment, and was not fully familiar with the power of the Phoenix itself. At the moment he was struck by the killing curse, he was certain he was dead. His consciousness was plunged into infinite darkness, and his soul was about to be absorbed by the wand that had killed him, so that not only would he not be able to walk the path of death, but he would also be bound forever. But at that very moment, a golden eye lit up in his mind. That eye was familiar to Jon, he could clearly feel like he had seen it somewhere, and not just met it by chance, but seen it often. But before he could think carefully about whom that eye belonged afterwards, countless mes red up from the depths of his soul! The fire spread out from his body, not only bringing a new lease of life to his soul but also to everything around him. After not knowing whether it had purged Voldemort''s soul already or driven it away, Jon flew down from mid-air to the ground and reverted back to his human form. He then looked at his two hands, which were obviously countless times smaller and more tender than before and fell into deep thought. ---- #Rahul Davuluri and #Mathias Zink, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 418: Another Phoenix Chapter 418: Another Phoenix The battle for the French Ministry of Magic hase to an end. At the end of the day, the battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore seemed to be a draw, but it was only a superficial showdown. The two parties themselves could feel that if the battle dragged on much longer, Voldemort would be the one to lose in the end. So in the end it may seem that the result was a draw, but it was the wizards of the Witching Horizon who actually remained in the French Ministry of Magic. Behind Dumbledore, Iniesta and the others of course saw this and after Voldemort had chaotically left with his men, there was a loud cheer from everyone! But Dumbledore personally only had a frown on his face instead of showing much joy. Since the Voldemort he now encountered here was the one that clearly did not fuse Horcruxes, where was the other Voldemort who had fused Horcruxes? "You guys stay here and wait for word from Britain while I go back to Hogwarts to check, don''t enter beyond this boundary until you have confirmation that Jon has been victorious." With the matter exined Dumbledore was swept up in the glow from Fawkes and disappeared from the French Ministry of Magic. And by the time he returned to the Hogwarts school, the golden mes that had wrapped around the castle had disappeared. But all the students and faculty who had seen this scene did not immediately return to their tents to rest but stayed outside the castle. With all themotion that had just taken ce, everyone could guess that something extraordinary had happened in the castle, and many had a feeling that the winner would soon emerge from the castle with the trophy. By this time, Dumbledore had also returned to Rosier''s side, and he listened as Rosier recounted to him what had just happened in the castle, and then he looked deep into the castle as if he had understood something. Fawkes, standing on Dumbledore''s shoulder, looked at Hogwarts castle, his light gold eyes inclined with a look as if he already knew everything in advance. And just as everyone was staring at the castle, the doors of the castle were suddenly opened from the inside. Outside the castle, everyone instantly fell silent. At first, the silence only lingered among the students at the front, closest to the castle door, but it was as if the silence was contagious, those at the back when realised that those in front of them were holding their breath and looking towards the castle, they also fell silent, their eyes fixed on the castle door that had been opened. Everyone was wondering who wasing out of the castle, and of course most of the students there were hoping that Emil or Draco would be the final victor, but they felt a little unrealistic if that was what was going to happen. But when the figure appeared at the main door, everyone''s eyes widened in disbelief and bewilderment. The boy who emerged from the castle was a boy of six years old at most, with blond hair floated by the night wind and a pair of extremely rare pale golden eyes on his boyish face, which would have killed both men and women if he had walked down the street normally. But that calm, indifferent expression was not something that a normal six-year-old could possibly have. And everyone saw what he was holding in each hand, it was Draco Malfoy and Emil Lestrange, the two champions representing Hogwarts Castle side! Draco''s face was white as a sheet, but he was still breathing faintly, but Emil''s face gave a glimpse of the deadly blue-grey pallor in it. He was dead; while Jon had suppressed the dark thoughts in his mind that were fuelled by the dark magic and had not killed him, Voldemort had helped him to do so. The ck fog that filled the library simply did not distinguish between friend and foe, and Emil, who had merely been lying on the floor while affected by a stunning spell, had been reaped from his life in such a way that Jon could not help but sigh a little when he found him dead. The Lestrange family had been sort of loyal to Voldemort, and now thest of the main blood had actually been killed by Voldemort himself, which was ironic. Even though his body had undergone a bizarre change, Jon''s physical qualities didn''t seem to have changed with it, and he easily hauled up the two stiff, heavy bodies of Emil and Draco, while controlling the Triwizard Cup with a levitation charm, and made his way out of the castle. Everyone outside the castle was looking at him, both the students of Hogwarts Castle and the wagon students met his eyes with shocked expressions. Even if it was so quiet outside that all you could hear was the whistling wind, Jon could read that question in their eyes. ''Who the hell are you!'' "Ahem, I''m Jon Green." Jon looked over to Matthew, who was also standing frozen, and introduced himself in a slightly awkward childish voice that had obviously be childlike as well. Matthew reacted at the sound of his voice and he looked at Jon up and down as if he had seen a ghost, and then looked at the Triwizard Cup that was floating in mid-air. The cup had been enchanted so that the first person to touch it would have his or her name marked and would be the winner of the Triwizard Tournament. And it was Jon''s name that was marked on the cup at this very moment! But while it''s true that the boy in front of him resembled Jon in many ways, just this morning everyone saw that the person who walked in was a 14 or 15-year-old boy named Jon, not a little boy who, from the looks of it, didn''t necessarily look old enough to even be in school! Well, now Jon had defeated Voldemort, got the title and in the end was actually in agony over how to prove he was himself. It was at this point that Dumbledore, however, had walked up the steps of the castle with a smile on his face. "You met him?" "I''ve even been killed by him once." Jon threw Draco and Emil to the ground and looked at his tender, white hands with a frown. "But I may not have killed him, Professor, the thing Mr Slytherin gave us worked, but he didn''t look as dead as expected." "Why didn''t you call Fawkes over as soon as he arrived?" The expression on Dumbledore''s face turned serious when he heard Jon say that he had died once. Jon raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "This Voldemort is very different, the first thing he did was search and destroy that feather from me. But luckily, we have another phoenix as of today, don''t you agree, Fawkes?" Fawkes jumped onto his shoulder and rubbed his face affectionately. And Matthew, who was standing at the side staring as if he had heard something terrific, and at some point his back soaked in a cold sweat. ---- #Rahul Davuluri and #Mathias Zink, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 419: Waiting for Mr Headmaster to Come (2 in 1) Chapter 419: Waiting for Mr Headmaster to Come (2 in 1) Matthew was aware that this Triwizard Tournament is destined to not end as peacefully as it appeared. But he had never imagined that such an ending as the oneing out of Jon''s mouth would happen. Matthew couldn''t guess exactly what had happened, but from the conversation between Jon and Dumbledore, as long as he wasn''t a fool, he could naturally hear that it was Voldemort himself who had juste after Jon in the castle, and as for the final result Now it was Jon who walked out, Emil who died, and Draco who was seriously injured and unconscious, there was no second guess to the oue! The expression on Matthew''s face became slightly more strained. He had noticed amotion resounding among the crowd of students and faculty of Hogwarts Castle and knew that by this time someone must have sensed that something was wrong with Emil''s state, and the crowd, including Lucius, Snape and Barty Junior, had rushed in the direction of where they were with a grim look on their faces. "What''s next? Albus." Matthew asked in a whisper. The oue of the tournament was now clear, and since it was Jon''s name that was left on that Triwizard Cup, it was only natural that Matthew, who wanted to hurry up and end the tournament, should ask the winning side, Dumbledore and the others, for their opinion. Dumbledore didn''t say anything, he just took a slight step forward and stood in front of Jon. "There is no need to ask me that question Matthew, you are the judge and now that the results of the tournament are out, you should know what to do." Hearing Dumbledore''s words, Matthew turned to look at Lucius and the others who had rushed up, and the Hogwarts castle students whose eyes were looking at them, each practically holding their breath as if they had guessed something but couldn''t believe it until it was officially announced. "I dere!" He gritted his teeth, took a deep breath and suddenly said in a loud voice. Snape and Barty stopped in their tracks, with only Lucius still rushing to Draco''s side without a care in the world, looking panicked and making sure his son''s life was safe. All eyes on that area had converged on Matthew as if they doubted, doubted that this American wizard, who hade on behalf of the International Confederation of Wizards, would truly dare to finally say that result? However, in the next second, Matthew''s voice, which had been enchanted by an Amplifying Charm, reached the ears of everyone present! "The winner of this Triwizard Tournament is - the champion of the Hogwarts wagon, Jon Green!" The moment he had made this deration, an old piece of parchment flew out of Dumbledore''s robe pocket! On it, the blood pact Dumbledore and Voldemort had made regarding the victory or defeat of the Triwizard Tournament was written in ck and white! And now that Matthew, the judge whom both men had agreed upon, had announced the final result, the bets and pledges they had made on the blood pact took effect immediately! The parchment burst into mes in full view of everyone and soon burned to a fine cloud of dust, disappearing into the night wind. By this time, Barty and Snape had already pulled out their wands, and behind them, the students and faculty of Hogwarts Castle were in an uproar! The only ones who rang out in cheers were the few Durmstrang and Hogwarts wagon students that Rosier had kept protecting by her side. Relief crossed Rosier''s face as well, but such relief did notst even a second as she met Dumbledore''s blue eyes. She then immediately nodded knowingly and dragged the barely a dozen or so students from the two schools around her quickly away from the meadow towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where the Hogwarts wagon was parked! Winning the tournament did not mean that all will go well, and there was a good chance that Hogwarts Castle would be even less safe next. So it was essential for Rosier to take the students away, and at the same time send the news to the Witching Horizon so that Inishta, who was already in front of the French Ministry of Magic, could take over the whole of France immediately. As for the Hogwarts castle, Dumbledore would be there. As long as Dumbledore remained, there would be no surprises, even if there were more Death Eaters here unless Voldemort himself came. As for whether Voldemort woulde or not? Rosier didn''t know the inside story just yet, but what was clear to her was that if everything had been nned to work out as Voldemort had predicted, he wouldn''t have let what was happening in front of them happen, let alone fail to even deliver a word when this castle and all of France had already changed hands in the name! Their departure certainly did not rm the students of the Castle, who were already about to fall into turmoil and mour after hearing the results that Matthew had proimed, and not only them, but also the journalists from all over Europe who had been standing together with the party from the Castle, all quietly broke away from therge group. The smell of danger was strong here, and these journalists couldn''t miss it with their acute senses. But now the big news is so big that none of the journalists who are still here and want to cover the whole Triwizard Tournament is willing to leave at this moment. They all understood that tonight was bound to be an extremely important point in the history of European magicalmunities. Now that Jon had been dered the winner of the tournament; if Voldemort''s side agreed with the result, Witching Horizon would havepletely taken over France, and with the sole right to seed the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, they would have been freed from their previous status as mere bereaved dogs and be a force to rival the British Ministry of Magic under Voldemort''s control! And if Voldemort chose to tear up the Blood Pact, or if he found some other way to circumvent it and reneged on his initial agreement and intended to keep Hogwarts Castle by force, and also continue the dispute with the Witching Horizon about the French magicalmunity, then the whole of Europe would be thrown into great chaos again. At that time, with the current situation in Britain and France, and The Alliance, which has been mysteriously silent in Northern Europe but has not been ignored by anyone, everyone will be forced to take a stance and take sides! It would be an even fiercer battle than the one that preceded the start of the Triwizard Tournament. Basically, every one of the journalists who stayed here thought that the second possibility was more likely to happen. For they had no idea what had happened in the castle, nor did they know that inside the French Ministry of Magic just ten minutes or so ago Dumbledore had had a duel with one of the Voldemort, they only knew that the master of this castle had not shown up either before or after the start of the tournament. If he had made it back, would he really be willing to ept such an oue? The students and the faculty of Hogwarts were thinking the same thing as the surrounding journalists who had not yet left. There was probably no way to change the oue of the tournament, as Jon, who somehow managed to change after what he had experienced in the castle, won the final title. But their Mr Headmaster hadn''t shown up yet! This was the Hogwarts castle in which they had taken sses and lived, and which had always been considered the personal property of their Mr. Headmaster! So what if they had made a blood pact? What could they do if Mr Headmaster simply reneged on his promise and turned against Dumbledore? The students of Hogwarts Castle, no, the former Hogwarts Castle students by now, who had no semnce of knowledge of the inner workings, had blind confidence in Mr Headmaster, who they had assumed was waiting to make his grand finale appearance. Whether it was taught in school or at home, professors and parents alike had all instilled in them the idea that Voldemort equalled invincibility. Plus Dumbledore did take the Order of the Phoenix and other unrecognised students into exile in Britain for so long that no one felt that even if Jon had won the tournament, they had to abide by the rules and give away the castle and France! Compared to them, Barty Jr. and Snape were obviously in a position to know more about the inside story. With their wands still in their hands, they looked at each other after hearing the results that Matthew had dered forth and then gave Dumbledore and Jon, who was a length behind him, a deadly stare. "What''s going on in the castle!" Barty Jr.''s voice was grim as if he had guessed what was going on; if their lord hadid out different arrangements in the castle regarding the third task of the tournament, as he and Snape had thought at first. Then now Emil''s death, Draco''sa and Jon''s sess in walking out with the trophy in his arms meant that Voldemort''s n had failed! For some reason, Barty Jr. was panicking a little inside, like something horrible had happened that he didn''t know about, but he couldn''t find the source of this panic. He was constantly asking questions to himself inwardly. What would happen even if they lost this Triwizard Tournament? As long as his lord was still alive, with his invincible powers and superior wisdom, why should he bother about losing the tournament? The expression on Snape''s face was a little deeper, he didn''t have the same inexplicable feeling as Barty, he was just thinking about what to do after such a scenario. If Voldemort himself appeared, fine, but if Voldemort never showed up, were they really going to take on Dumbledore and Jon Green in front of them? If they did, there might seem to be a lot of them, but who would be able to beat them? Jon, who was standing beside Dumbledore with Fawkes on his shoulder, took in the changes on everyone''s faces on the grassy field. He didn''t find it funny that these students below, were still under the delusion of their Mr. Headmaster. Jon was just thinking that if he had actually died then, not havingpletelypleted his Animagus'' transformation and resurrection by dying, and Voldemort''s n had seeded intact, taking over his body, fusing the castle and taking his life instead, and also walking away from the castle as he was doing now. Then he would surely be faced with the exact same scene before him. The students of the castle would have expected their Mr Headmaster to stand up for their school and tear up the pact that had been pledged. But the headmaster, on whom they had pinned their hopes, had turned out to be the very person responsible for all this, with the strictest and cruellest liquidation in tow for them. To this moment, every time he thought of Voldemort''s n, Jon felt a chill run down his spine. He really was a man who would do anything to gain power and status for himself, not caring about which ss or ideology he was fighting for, and was so cold-blooded that he could treat his most loyal servants as new enemies, including the Barty Crouch Jr, who had killed his own father and mother for him, as though he had never been loyal. And when that time came, could Dumbledore find out that Jon was no longer the same Jon as before? Well, all of that had be an if, and ultimately it was Jon who stood his ground. "The lord has yet toe, how can you announce the result like this, do you think we would agree if the lord was not present?" Snape spoke first to silence the other students on thewn whose mour was growing louder and issued the first question to Matthew''s announcement of this result, which had been won by Jon. Hearing the question, Matthew frowned only slightly. "Mr Snape, it''s not a matter of who agrees or disagrees, and since Jon Green''s name appears on the Triwizard Cup, he is the eventual winner of this tournament ording to the rules." "But Emil is dead!" Crouch grimaced, his eyes gradually shifting towards madness, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that all he had to do now was to first determine what had happened in the castle during today''s task, and for that purpose, he had found a breakthrough. "ording to the rules of the Triwizard Tournament, tournament champions are not allowed to kill each other! But now Emil Lestrange is dead! Surely we have to question this final result! And it''s not a matter of what you see now. How did Emil die, how did Jon Green, who entered the castle in front of all of us, who was a 15-year-old student, be what he is now, all of this needs to be exined! To acknowledge this oue, we must have to know what happened in the castle!" His words gave the students on thewn an outlet to focus all their discontent. The students all followed suit, screaming that they had to have an exnation from Jon right now, about Emil''s death, about the changes that had happened to him. In response, Jon did not shun and avoid those people''s anger, one might even say resentment. He said with unmistakable bluntness. "Emil Lestrange died at the hands of your headmaster, I did not kill him at all, I think it would be easy to find out the state of his death, after all, not many people know that kind of magic, as for my current state, it is a matter of personal privacy, noment." Just as silence returned to the ground below, and faces were scowling at Jon''s ridiculous lie, Jon''s voice rang out again. "Finally, if we''re talking about killing someone, then I did kill a man in the castle, the man''s name appears to be Brandon Lestrange, he tried to team up with his son to kill me and then win this Triwizard Tournament, and was finally stabbed to death with the sword I used, well, a sword left behind by Gryffindor, the body is still in what used to be the Gryffindormon room, inside that tower, it''s easy to find if you want to." ---- #Rahul Davuluri and #Mathias Zink, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 420: Who Are the Prisoners of War? (2 in 1) Chapter 420: Who Are the Prisoners of War? (2 in 1) Jon''s words made the crowd erupt in an even bigger uproar. There was really too much information in it, not to mention theter thing about Lestrange''s father and son cheating in the castle as a team, but just the fact that Jon had said earlier about Emil''s death being caused by Voldemort himself, was beyond absurd to all the students. That their Mr Headmaster would show up in the castle in person not to kill Jon, but to kill Emil, who waspeting on his behalf. It was simply nonsense, something that no one would possibly believe, no matter who had brought it to their attention. The students didn''t believe it, and there was no way that Crouch and Snape, who were professors, would believe it. "Do you think everyone here is a fool?" Crouch''s face was cold, "Lord killed Emil? Even if you wanted to make an excuse to get away with murder, you should have thought of a more usible lie, right? If you had just said that the Lestrange father and son had cheated and attacked you in the castle, and you were forced to fight back, then perhaps that reason would have been believable!" As Crouch was speaking, Snape red at several of the professors and castle caretakers on thewn. In response, these men immediately understood and instantly stepped up the steps, trying to enter the castle in front of Dumbledore and Jon. "We need to investigate the truth of the third tournament before we can determine if we can recognize the oue of this tournament or not." Snape said tly as he fixed his gaze on Dumbledore. Yet Dumbledore and Jon both just stood in front of the castle doors, not even remotely trying to move out of the way. "I''m sorry, Severus." Dumbledore said calmly as well, "This castle has not been yours from the moment the pact went into effect, and you certainly have no right to enter it now." His words certainly made Barty Jr. even angrier; hardly any of the students on thewn had ever seen their Charms ss Professor lose his temper like that. "The final result of this tournament has yet to be approved by our lord! This castle will still be ours! Or do you want to start another war!" With such unbelievably strong words and stances, Barty Jr. caused all those students in the crowd behind him to boil up even more! They shouted even louder, trying to intimidate Dumbledore and Jon, shouting chaotically for them to get the hell out of there, and now that the result of the tournament had not been approved by anyone, the castle would remain as it was before! However, Jon just exchanged a nce with Dumbledore, otherwise, there was no intention of making any movement at all. Dumbledore just looked down at the rowdy students below him in a nd manner, then at Barty Jr. who was already ring at him angrily, and at Snape. "Perhaps you could try and snatch it away from me one more time?" Such words from him ignited the anger of the students below even more. Young people were the most prone to be hot-blooded and emotionally aroused,bined with the fact that these pure and half-blooded students had been taught that Dumbledore had always been the defeated enemy of their Mr Headmaster and that Jon and the rest of the students were bereaved. If they had met them alone in private, then most of them would probably have been like Draco who looked too scared to say anything excessive to Jon. But now, in public, with the professors around and Mr Headmaster likely to arrive at any moment, everyone''s nerves were all up. They vented their anger and emotions, and some of the more radical ones even raised their wands, waiting to help out in the background once Barty and Snape had started their fight. Seeing this look on their faces, Jon finally felt ridiculous. In fact, he and Dumbledore didn''t even need to exin this after this tournament was over, the castle was already theirs both legally and substantively, and there was no chance of these people making waves at the moment. The only reason why they continued to waste time here was that Dumbledore and Jon self-evidently both wanted to maximize their gains in battle together. One bet to avoid war was over, and that meant another war could begin! Just as themotion below grew louder and louder, and Dumbledore and Jon showed no sign of moving away from the castle doors, the professors who had made it to the main doors were forced to mount a tiger by themand and raise their wands against Dumbledore. Suddenly, the night sky was covered by a white shadow. Countless wizards in white robes with the Witching Horizon insignia embroidered on their chests rode on flying broomsticks over thewn in front of Hogwarts Castle! Sirius with a cruel, quick smile on his face, Lupin with a deep look on his face, Moody with a serious one-eyed gaze, and Kingsley, who wasmanding thisrge Witching Horizons'' force to beginnding, and so on, the vast majority of wizards who had been members of the Order of the Phoenix before the formation of the Witching Horizon, came together in this long-lost school grounds. Such a scene caused all the students below to be flustered. The former students of the castle, who had been screaming that they would make Dumbledore and Jon suffer and that this would be the ce where they would be buried once their Headmaster arrived, lost all blood on their faces when they saw that all those criminals who were wanted by the Ministry of Magic at the top of the list arrived. Most of them were spoilt young lords anddies who dared to shout along in the heat of the moment, but, when the big show came, when the war was about to begin, when they have to fight with their lives, they all became terrified of the situation. The purebloods had a bright future ahead of them if they graduated from school honestly, and two whole sses of half-bloods and mudbloods were at their service. And just as they were feeling scared, Kingsley and the others didn''t let that stop their movements. Soon their trained men encircled all the students gathered on thewn and the professors of the castle, and although the circle did not look very dense, and they were obviously not as numerous as the students, wars between wizards were never won by the one with the most numbers, and even without them, they could not win with Dumbledore being here. It was just that now that Kingsley and the others had formed an encirclement with their men, coupled with the fact that Hogwarts itself had been enchanted with an extremely strong anti-apparition charm, it was unlikely that anyone else would be able to kill their way out of here. Barty''s face had turnedpletely grim, he had never expected that Dumbledore would really dare to tear apart the whole thing like this and call his own people over like this. But he was no fool either, and knew that as long as Dumbledore wasn''t senile, he would never do something that he wasn''t sure of unless he was sure that Voldemort wasn''t going to show up tonight! What had happened in the castle at today''s tournament? The uneasiness inside Barty grew stronger and stronger, while Kingsley, Sirius and Lupin raised their wands together and aimed them at Barty and Snape, who were standing at the front of the crowd. As long as they were killed at the first opportunity, the rest of the students and faculty would not be able to do much more than jump around. The situation had changed in just a minute. Those newspaper journalists who remained behind were equally panicked, they had a feeling that something dangerous was going to happen, and now that the confrontation had taken ce, they were both scared and excited. Matthew had be extremely Buddhist about the situation. Whether or not Snape and the others acknowledged the results he announced, the work of the judges of the Confederation had beenpletely finished with this task. In this visit to Europe, apart froming to organise this tournament toplete his task as a member of the Confederation, he would also have to make a trip to Northern Europe afterwards as a member of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, toplete his task as a member with a higher status in Congress as well. Just as the atmosphere had dropped to a freezing point for a moment, and after Kingsley and Dumbledore had locked eyes, he raised his wand in his hand ready to start leading the charge against all the adult wizards in the encirclement, a ck mist suddenly swept in from the sky not far away! Voldemort, who was visibly a little pale, with a cold, vicious expression and not half as calm and rxed as usual, appeared in front of the castle. He was followed by a group of ck-robed wizards on flying broomsticks, all Death Eaters also descended from the sky with their lord! At the sight of Voldemort''s still handsome young face, the students, who had been worried and scared, instantly erupted in loud cheers! They were confident that Dumbledore had only dared to be so arrogant because he was betting that their Mr Headmaster was too involved in other matters to show up, and once he did, there would be no chance for Dumbledore to run amok! All the pure and half-blood wizards in Britain knew that it was their great sir who had defeated the Dark Wizard Dumbledore in the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts more than ten years ago. It had been so long, and Dumbledore was getting older, while their Sir still looked younger! As for the defeat in France earlier, everyone knew that Dumbledore had used some dishonourable means of backstabbing and sneak attack, which further proved that in fact Dumbledore could not beat the great sir at all and had to use such underhanded means. Looking at Voldemort''s appearance, Barty''s face, which was already hard to watch, finally soothedpletely at this time. For him, winning or losing the tournament and winning Hogwarts was not important at all, what was important was that nothing happened to his spiritual pir! Like him, the faces of the other professors around him also became more rxed. Voldemort''s name had an excellent morale-boosting effect, his name had been synonymous with invincibility for years, otherwise, he would not have been able to take over France and Britain so smoothly without a hitch. Voldemort, with a group of Death Eaters behind him, and a group of people who could not be seen from the outside, arrived outside the encirclement where Kingsley had surrounded the former castle students and the professor. He looked at Dumbledore, who was still standing in front of the castle, but such a gazested only a few seconds before turning to Jon. Jon didn''t half bother to avoid it, he knew what this Voldemort in front of him was trying to do with such a gaze at this time. He was examining, examining whether there was anything strange about Jon at the moment or not. The other Voldemort would certainly not have told the current master of the body about his ns, but the two souls had lived together for so long that some things would surely reveal themselves even if they tried to hide them. Voldemort at the moment must have known that his other self had prepared so much, hoping to bet on this Triwizard Tournament and this Hogwarts castle, and now that Jon had walked out and won the tournament just like that, it made Voldemort at this moment even more suspicious as to what kind of n his other self had prepared and whether it had seeded or not. He scrutinised him in such a manner, it caused the others in the crowd to get the wrong idea. Those former students of the castle thought it was their Mr Headmaster putting pressure on Dumbledore with a re! He was about to speak up and force Dumbledore to let them all go, or he would make everyone here today suffer! And as they thought so, the next moment, Voldemort did speak up, only what he said was slightly different from what the students had thought. "I admit it was you who won this one Dumbledore." Voldemort''s face was still as cold and stern as ever, but he simply admitted his defeat like that, causing the students who were still surrounded to look at each other together. How could he admit defeat just like that! If they lost, they would lose the castle, and the name of Hogwarts would only be used by Dumbledore, the most wanted man, and what would they do in the future? Where would they go to school and what would it be called? Dumbledore stood on the steps and looked down at Voldemort. "Of course, the bet was yours to lose, but that would equally mean that the short-lived peace would be over, the liberation of France would only be the beginning, and now it is time for us to reim Britain." His voice was not loud, but it was loud enough for all present to hear. Everyone except the wizards of the Witching Horizon looked at Dumbledore in shock, whether it was the former students or the faculty of the castle, or even the journalists who still had the audacity not to leave, all stared at Dumbledore with wide eyes. Then, they immediately shifted their gaze towards Voldemort again. How would Voldemort respond to the fact that Dumbledore had dered war in such an open manner, in his former home base, against his base? The students were desperate for their Headmaster to immediately wake up this mad old man with unrivalled strength and show him what nonsense he was talking about and what foolishness he was trying to pull. But Voldemort simply opened his mouth once more, and this time, it nearly caused almost all the students to nearly break down. "So, before the war starts, do we need to talk about exchanging prisoners of war?" Prisoners of war? Who were the prisoners of war that Dumbledore had? Could it be them? ---- #Mathias Zink, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 421: Must leave one (2 in 1) Chapter 421: Must leave one (2 in 1) Once again, the scene wentpletely silent. The former castle students all stared nkly at Mr Headmaster, on whom they had ced so much hope, for a moment they simply couldn''t figure out what the hell he was talking about. Why was there talk of a prisoner exchange? Leaving aside the question as to who the captives were, there was a big question as to why they were being exchanged in the first ce. Hadn''t Dumbledore always been their Mr Headmaster''s defeated enemy? Even if the final oue of the Triwizard Tournament was acknowledged, the other side had dered war at their own doorstep! Shouldn''t there be a tough response at a time like this? While the students could not see the problem, the other adult wizards could hear a lot from Voldemort''s words. The journalists who remained behind cast a meaningful nce at Voldemort, who looked no different from before but always gave the impression of being a different person. That statement was in itself a sign of weakness. The enemy had dered war, and here you were talking about exchanging prisoners, and who was this so-called prisoner, those students couldn''t see it, but they, the outsiders, could still not see it? It was obvious that these students, surrounded by the Order of the Phoenix, had been treated by Voldemort as Dumbledore''s captives by default. In other words, Voldemort himself believed that if he took the forceful approach, there was no way he could safely rescue these people from this ongoing mess under Dumbledore''s watch. Not only them but also Barty and Snape, the professors, had found out about the situation. The adult Death Eaters were much more nervous than the bewildered students, and while only Snape''s face remained as cold as ever, Barty''s gaze turned to Voldemort as soon as he spoke. That look and expression, like he was having doubts about something. None of the Witching Horizon men spoke either, but Jon was able to sense the obvious difference between this Voldemort in front of him, and the one who had just tried to kill him in the castle. No wonder that Voldemort in the castle had been cursing his other self for being such a fool; this version one Voldemort now clearly seemed to have quite a bit of scruple against Dumbledore, but was acting as if he wanted to preserve his forces from excessive loss. But when you think about it, the Voldemort Two who had confronted him in the castle was clearly the one who had recovered the split soul in the Horcrux, and he was the one who appeared to be more sensible and powerful. The one in front of him was a mutted soul, the same one as the original madman who was addicted to killing and wanted to kill Harry Potter without regard for anything else! Now that he has regained control of his body, and has suddenly gained a high position he hasn''t held since being squeezed out by his other self, and with no more prophetic dangers, there is only one threat in the form of an exhausted, winded Dumbledore. The other Voldemort had alreadyid a solid foundation by adopting the ideas of the original Voldemort, and in this Voldemort''s mind, as long as he was himself again, he would already attain more than half of what he once wanted. To gain authority over the whole of Britain! Compared to the other Voldemort Two, it could be said to be ideal with no great ambition. Of course, what Jon didn''t know yet was that this Voldemort One actually wanted to keep France, after all, the blood pact was signed by the other Voldemort Two with his own soul and had nothing to do with him at all, which was something the current Voldemort One had no intention of honouring. It was just that Dumbledore''s strength at the French Ministry of Magic had woken Voldemort One up a little, making it clear to him that the previous him being able to crush Dumbledore in strength was the result of the two of himself working together, and now that he was the only one left, he wouldn''t be able to get much of an advantage in a one-on-one fight. So Voldemort One, who was originally full of greed and who also thought that his other self was wasting time and that he hadn''t been able to devour France after nning for so long, chose to slow himself down a bit. Intending to first sort out the other mess his other self had left behind, after which he would take his time to deal with Dumbledore, who had regained his momentum. Now that the situation in France was sure to be irreversible, the biggest remaining problem was the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now that he had decided to slow down, Voldemort One had already given up the idea of fighting Dumbledore immediately and wanted to preserve his maximum strength for the time being, then restore himself to his peak condition and finally fight Dumbledore. It is precisely because of such thoughts that he hase to Hogwarts Castle with so many people in tow, but he does not really have much intention of confronting them face to face, but rather to rescue the professors and students who are now surrounded by them. Of course, Voldemort was a little bit more crazy now, but not really that much of a fool. If Dumbledore refused to make a deal and was going to fight him here, Voldemort wouldn''t just give in. There was no guarantee that he would beat Dumbledore, but the two had fought to a draw at the French Ministry of Magic for a while, so he was not bound to lose badly. Dumbledore looked over at Voldemort as well, as though he had seen the people enclosed by the Death Eaters. "So where are your captives?" Voldemort waved his hand coldly at his men behind him and the Death Eaters in their ck robes and iron masks on their faces scattered at that, revealing the people they had been encircling in the middle since they had arrived. It was a group of young boys and girls in ragged linen robes, all of them looking around as if they had been under a Confundus Charm, their faces looking terrified and unsettled. They are the muggle students from the castle who were moved out of the school directly after the start of the Triwizard Tournament, that is, Voldemort Two had removed these students in case Dumbledore and the others would make private contact with them and then replicate what Jon had once done by rescuing these students. And this now gave Voldemort One suitable hostage, while in addition to these students, there were also some of the Witching Horizons'' wizards who had been captured by Voldemort''s side during the previous battle in France. There were not many of them, although many had died in the battle, less than ten were captured and left alive. They were the ones that Voldemort wanted to trade with Dumbledore at this time. They were fighting to free the muggle wizards and restore equality, and it was unlikely that they would sit idly by in front of arge crowd. There appeared to be prisoners, but after realising that the prisoners in Dumbledore''s hands were themselves, the former Hogwarts students looked humiliated when they saw that the prisoners their Headmaster had used in exchange were the "mudbloods" they had previously despised with contempt. They had been taught to hold purebloods and half-bloods in high esteem over mudbloods, but now that their headmaster, who had put forward this theory, had used such a lowly group of "mudbloods" to exchange for them one for one, they certainly felt humiliated. But even if they all felt humiliated, seeing the captives Voldemort had presented, Dumbledore''s men, Sirius, Lupin and Kingsley, were all full of disapproval of the exchange. "If we release these men back, then we are bound to sacrifice many more for this in future wars." Moody looked solemnly at Dumbledore. "We can''t give up more human lives just because of some kindness." Kingsley, who had been known to be gentle and kind, was also in opposition, "These pureblood students don''t matter, but both Barty Crouch Jr. and Severus Snape must be kept behind!" Their voices were not loud, but Voldemort in the distance could still guess exactly what they were talking about now, and he simply said in a cold voice. "I hope you consider this carefully Dumbledore, if you are not willing to ept this proposition of mine, then, of course, these men are of little use, for the greatest value that I can find in a useless mudblood is death. Whereas would you kill these students of mine? As in kill them all?" Such a vulgar and despicable statement just came out of his mouth, which was a great contrast to the bare and magnificent persona that Voldemort Two had been presenting himself in Britain before. Not only did this statement make these already humiliated former Castle students turn pale, but the group of Death Eaters that Voldemort was leading behind him also seemed to be in slight turmoil, their faces were covered in iron masks, and it was impossible to see their expressions underneath them, but it was clear that Voldemort''s statement had caused some concern in their minds as well. When Jon saw this disy from Voldemort One, he looked at Barty Crouch Jr. who had a slightly wrong expression on his face since this Voldemort had spoken, and suddenly turned his head to Dumbledore and whispered. "Professor, how sure are you of defeating this Voldemort?" Dumbledore had fought this Voldemort only an hour before, so he knew the difference in strength between the two today. "In a real fight, I''m 60% sure I could kill him, but I remember you mentioning that there''s still a piece of his Horcrux in Hogwarts castle now?" The matter of that Resurrection Stone ring had certainly beenmunicated to Dumbledore by Jon. "Yes. If one is left behind, we can''t guarantee he won''t have a second one behind, which means there''s no way we can put an end to the mess tonight no matter what?" "It seems like that." "Then give him what he wants, Professor." Jon said decisively, only his words were clearly not finished, "But only a part of the men can be agreed in exchange, it''s obvious that the value of the prisoners they have is not equal to what we have, so, of course, we can''t let all of them go." Off to the side Kingsley and Moody, both of whom had also heard Jon''s words, Moody spoke up and asked. "We should only agree to trade students for students? Are we going to insist on leaving Crouch and Snape, the Death Eaters, behind?" At this, Jon just shook his head. "Voldemort isn''t stupid, surely he wouldn''t agree to such a deal. What I''m saying is that, instead, we''re going to keep these students and trade them for just these Death Eaters, Crouch, Malfoy, and Snape." Hearing his words, Kingsley and the others, including Lupin and Sirius, all frowned. "What''s the point in that? What''s the difference between letting all of them go, and just leaving the students, and letting all the Death Eaters go for us?" Jon side-stepped, using Sirius'' tall stature to block the smile that was gradually tickling his face. "This Voldemort now is very different from before, do you think these Death Eaters won''t notice?" The change between the previous Voldemort and the current Voldemort was too great, not to mention the big strategic decisions, but the personal style alone was a huge contrast, and these Death Eaters were no fools, it would be a joke if they didn''t notice anything. "So if they find out, what kind of changes are going to happen within Britain? Fence-sitters like Malfoy aside, what about the diehards who were once loyal to Voldemort because of his policies? How will they choose when they find out that there are actually two lords? Or how will this current Voldemort force them to choose?" Jon''s question had Lupin pondering. "You mean that without us doing anything behind the scenes, the Dark Lord will mess up on his own internally? But the Dark Lord himself is still exceptionally powerful, and even if these people have grievances, will they really dare to resist?" "Then we''ll send him a former Voldemort die-hard who has the guts to rebel and is equally influential." Jon said softly, while turning his gaze to Barty Crouch Jr. who had fixed his deadly eyes on his lord from the moment Voldemort had appeared. The people around them, including Dumbledore, had also noticed Jon''s gaze, and they all saw the unusual reaction of Crouch at this moment. "Besides, these students seem to me to be a lot more useful than these Death Eaters." Jon continued, "The kids of all the Pureblood and Half-Blood wizards in their prime in the British magicalmunity are all here, so if they learn that their lord has abandoned them, and we have captured them as prisoners, what will they think?" The consequences were easy to see, and after being reminded of this by Jon, Kingsley and the others could see the value of these former Castle students. By releasing Voldemort''s adult Death Eaters as a destabilizing factor and keeping these pureblood and half-blood offspring to continue to expand that destabilizing factor, then as long as Britain itself messed up first, it would undoubtedly be much easier for themter on when they started their counter-attack. Finally, Jon continued. "And we''ll add onest condition, all the other Death Eaters can be released, but the two, Barty Crouch Jr. and Severus Snape, one of them must be left behind!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 422: Give up Chapter 422: Give up Jon''s words brought a look of tion to the faces of all of them, whether it was Kingsley, Moody or Lupin. Of course, they could hear that Jon was seemingly giving Voldemort a choice, but in fact, it was a disguised way of asking for Severus Snape outright, or asking Voldemort to give him up himself! Between the pureblood, absolutely die-hard Barty Crouch Jr. and the half-blood Snape, whose loyalty must not be as high as Barty Jr.''s, there was actually no need to guess who Voldemort would choose between the two. Plus they could now see that Barty Crouch Jr. had clearly developed some misced suspicions and opinions about the current Voldemort, and by letting the current Voldemort take him away, it would be like bringing back a time bomb which no one knew whether it would blow up or not. In addition, keeping these former Castle students as Jon had said would pretty much involve all the purebloods and half-bloods that Britain would produce in the next seven years, and if they were all taken away, it''s not clear what the families behind them would think of the current Voldemort, although it''s true that Dumbledore was the one who broke up their families, but is there really no one that would me Voldemort for that? Sirius was the only one who was slightly unhappy with this suggestion from Jon, he had a deep hatred for everyone on Voldemort''s side and didn''t want to let go of even a single Death Eater, especially the sinful Barty Crouch Jr. among them. But he also knew that this idea of his was simply not going to happen, and Jon was now offering the best solution. And what they could consider now was whether or not Voldemort would ept the offer. Jon had a feeling that Voldemort one would ept it. Because he simply didn''t have the same long-term vision as number two, just like in the original where he burned, looted and terrorized Britain, he would only look at the immediate benefits and not even think about the future. And he was bound to know that Snape wasn''t that loyal to him, and probably would have thanked them for helping to clear up the internal unrest after learning that all Jon and the others needed was taking Snape alone. As for these students, that was even less of a big deal. People all over the world believed in Dumbledore''s character, and this was analogous even in Britain, as when Lucius believed Dumbledore more than Voldemort, and if one were to look at it from Voldemort''s point of view, Dumbledore taking only the students away like this might as well be a way to help him raise his children in disguise, and with his arrogance and cocky conviction that he would be able to do what Voldemort Two had done and ultimately defeat Dumbledore after getting used to his body so that he would have no rival in all of Europe. Dumbledore then turned to Voldemort and requested the offer that Jon had stated. "Among all these students, professors and Aurors you have left in this school, you can only bring along the adult wizards in exchange for those captives, we want all the students to stay." The crowd was quiet, everyone knew that the only two people who could make terms and demands at this negotiation talk were just Dumbledore and Voldemort. And after hearing the offer from Dumbledore, as Jon had expected, Voldemort didn''t hesitate much at all. "You can keep the students." Behind him, some movement arose from some masked Death Eaters who had their children among the group of students that were surrounded at the moment. And some of those former Castle students who had been gathered together burst into tears on the spot after hearing Dumbledore''s terms and Voldemort''s words of agreement! Mostly because Voldemort Two had just left no stone unturned in his smear campaign against Dumbledore''s side in the castle, almosting close to describing the group from the Order of the Phoenix as demons crawling out of hell. So when they heard what they were about to face, there was a look of horror and unease on everyone''s faces, some of them even cried out to their Headmaster and pleaded. But Voldemort was unmoved by this, except that he was not foolish enough to abandon the students'' hearts and mindspletely, and stared at Dumbledore and said coldly. "You have to make sure that they can live in your ce properly, and for every one of them that I find missing in the future, I will take ten of your men on your side to pay for their lives!" In Voldemort''s mind at the moment, even if he gave up these students in their presence, he would not lose their loyalty afterwards. This was not only because of his confidence in his own prestige and strength but also because he was sure that these pure and half-blood students would be tortured after being taken away by Dumbledore and the others. Even if Dumbledore didn''t want to do such a thing, the other mudblood wizards would force him to do it. The mudbloods had been oppressed so badly over the years that there was bound to be a retaliatory bacsh, and when he finally rescued them from France, the hearts of these students would still be turned towards Voldemort. Dumbledore didn''t care at all about Voldemort''spletely pretentious show of threats, and he then slowly stated his second condition. "You should know how much damage your men have done to us Riddle, the two most sinful of these are now in our hands, there is no way I can exin to the others by letting them all go, so all the other Death Eaters are free to go, but you can only choose one of them to take, Barty Crouch or Severus Snape." His words certainly silenced the scene even more, even those students who were still crying and sobbing froze one by one. All eyes turned to the two people standing together right now in the middle of the group - Barty Jr. and Snape. The journalists from the far side of the crowd were shocked and turned their cameras to focus on the two wizards whose names were mentioned, tempted to press the shutter, but too wary of Voldemort''s presence to letting the sound of the shutter and the exposure of the sh disturb the silence. The two parties involved, on the other hand, acted differently after they heard Dumbledore''s words. Snape''s face remained like that of a dead zombie, cold, pale and stiff, without the slightest change; he didn''t even shift his gaze, even when the crowd turned their attention to them, he continued to look straight ahead with a nk gaze, and there was no hint of emotion in those eyes. In contrast to him, Barty turned his gaze to Voldemort once he had heard Dumbledore''s request. To the others, it looked like he was pleading to his lord for mercy at first, but when someone actually met Barty Jr.''s eyes now, they realised that there was no trace of pleading in his eyes. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 423: Voldemorts Choice Chapter 423: Voldemort''s Choice Instead, there was a look of scrutiny in Barty''s gaze, as if he was patiently waiting to see what choice Voldemort would actually make regarding this condition. Voldemort''s face showed a clear look of surprise the moment he heard Dumbledore''s words, obviously not expecting him to make such an offer. But that surprise soon disappeared, and he became cold and grim again. "Do you think I willpromise again and again? Dumbledore!" Dumbledore looked at him quietly, the previous Voldemort would never have said such a thing if he had been in such a situation. If he had more than a fifty percent chance of defeating Dumbledore, he would not have hesitated to lift the table and fight it out. If he felt that he did not have even a fifty percent chance of winning, he would have used some more clever tactics to offer other more tempting conditions so that Dumbledore would have to give up the demand. Or simply put on a show so that Barty Jr. or Snape themselves would willingly make the sacrificial choice. Faced with such a condition, Voldemort could have chosen many different solutions, but his words now were actually a threat to Dumbledore, as anyone with a discerning eye could see: he would have agreed to this condition, but he needs to make sure that this was thest condition. "Just as you were the one who proposed the Triwizard Tournament in the first ce, then inevitably you would have to give more, now since it is still you who want peace, you will likewise need to give some more in return." "How much does some mean?" Voldemort said in a cold voice, "If you include having my hands tied, do I have to ept that too?" Dumbledore shook his head seriously. "I promise this is thest one, how about a promise to take your men and get out of here if you agree, and how about adding another promise of my own? As long as the British Ministry of Magic remains yours, I will not return to this castle with my students." Jon knew that Dumbledore was actually ying a bit of a little smart game here. Now, ording to the Triwizard Tournament, after they had won, Hogwarts Castle would of course belong to them, but the castle didn''t run around like a horse and wagon, it still remained in Britain, which was still under Voldemort''s rule. If they moved the whole of Hogwarts back to Hogwarts Castle, there would be too many opportunities for Voldemort to infiltrate it and too many opportunities to attack it, and Dumbledore would not be able to send too many men to Hogwarts Castle because his main power was in France, and he could not even stay at the castle for very long, as he was still needed at Witching Horizons'' headquarters. So for them at this point in time the ownership of the castle was actually highly counterproductive, having the sole im to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was all that mattered. The deal to coax Voldemort''s heart out with the terms of a vacant castle was certainly a good deal. Dumbledore had undoubtedly proved his bets were right, as Voldemort became less hesitant and doubtful about the condition he had addedter. He looked at both Barty and Snape as if examining and weighing up the two. Even every molecule in the air seemed to stop moving until Voldemort''s voice reverberated across everyone''s ears. "Severus." When he said the name, the masked Death Eaters behind him all breathed a long, tense sigh of relief. As far as Snape was concerned, he had been isted from the forces within Voldemort from the beginning to the end. Not only because he was the only half-blood in a high position, but also because everyone knew that Voldemort had agreed to his request of not killing the woman named Lily under any circumstances, resulting in the loss of several Death Eaters. No one liked Snape, and even Voldemort One, who was now in control of his body, didn''t like Snape because he knew something that was not known to the outside world, and he chose Barty Jr. and discarded him to his satisfaction. After saying Snape''s name, he had nothing more to say, and there was no need for him to say anything more, as the meaning was quite obvious. Barty''s face didn''t show any semnce of the relief that the others had thought it would, but on the contrary, he looked at Voldemort with that strange look in his eyes, strange as if he were meeting this lord of his for the first time. And even now, Snape''s face had not changed a bit, as if he were a dead man carved out of stone. Dumbledore, having gained no unexpected results from Voldemort, waved his hand to the wizards of the Witching Horizon, and then Kingsley and the others gave way to a passage meant for one person to pass through. The Carrow siblings, the half-blood Dean Greengrass and a group of former Hogwarts professors walked out of the encirclement in turn, and before they left, their wands were collected from their hands, in case Voldemort had gone back on his word while their captives were being exchanged. Voldemort''s side also released the muggle students he had imprisoned as well as the Witching Horizons members he had captured in France, and ironically, many of them were on their knees when they were released, begging the Pureblood lord to not abandon them. All they got were the relentless curses from the Death Eaters, forcibly driven to keep them close to the Witching Horizons'' side of the line. And while all the other Aurors had begun to leave in line, Lucius was left at the end. He gave Jon aplicated look, then Dumbledore, and thenid the still unconscious Draco down slowly on the ground. If his son was to be handed over to the others, even if it meant disobeying Voldemort''s decision on the spot, Lucius was not afraid to risk his life, but if it was to be handed over to Dumbledore and the others, then not only he but also his wife Narcissa would not have much to worry about. Staying in Britain, if the battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore was not going well, it was not impossible that Voldemort would go mad and forcibly draft students who had not yet graduated into war, but if it was on Dumbledore''s side, none of them would harm the students even if the Witching Horizon died out. "He is still just a boy and has done nothing evil, I hope you will not take it out on him because of me." Lucius whispered these words before following Auror''s group, taking onest look at Draco before leaving. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 424: It chose you, and you saved it (2 in 1) Chapter 424: It chose you, and you saved it (2 in 1) The Triwizard Tournament this time ended up with a bleak ending. Of course, it was rather disastrous for the students and faculty of the original Hogwarts Castle. For the faculty, the school was lost outright, and they lost their original privileged status as professors, but luckily it didn''t affect their normal lives behind it yet. For the students it was very different, not only did they lose their school, but they all had to go along with the whole thing and be taken away by Dumbledore, something that they never thought would happen before tonight. Voldemort eventually took his men and left. There had been no sneak attack from behind, no intention to start a war today, just as Jon had guessed, he thought he had just regained control of his body, his strength had not yet been fully restored and nned to wait until it was all recovered before he could have another showdown with Dumbledore. And all he had done today was to solidify the power he already had as a way to gain time to grow. Once he recovered enough, he could resume the unfinished ns of the fool who had tried to devour him and show him who the real Tom Riddle truly is! Voldemort led his men away from the premises of Hogwarts Castle, leaving the students, whose faces were filled with apprehension and unease, to turn and look at Dumbledore. Dumbledore said nothing to them, nor did he say anything else, but simply had Kingsley and his men take the purebloods and half-bloods back to Lyon in groups. This included the mud-blood students who had been exchanged as well as the Witching Horizon captives too, except for Snape, who was left in front of the castle. After Snape had been selected, he had been bound by Sirius with a Binding spell, his wand had been seized, and everything he carried that had anything to do with magic had been confiscated. Throughout all of this, he did not resist or ask for mercy but epted everything calmly and indifferently. It was only when Dumbledore, Jon and he were the only ones left in the entrance hall of the castle that Snape looked at Dumbledore. "Atst the day hase when I have fallen into your hands." His voice was quiet, but it could clearly reach the ears of everyone present. Dumbledore''s face didn''t show much of a smile, instead, he looked at Snape with aplicated look. "When you came to plead to me that night, do you remember what you promised me?" Hearing this question from Dumbledore, Snape suddenlyughed. "So that''s what you wanted to ask me all along? I thought you had it all figured out a long time ago Dumbledore." Facing his smile, Dumbledore simply said seriously. "And can I get an answer now? Why did you turn your back on what we had agreed upon in the beginning?" The smile on Snape''s face narrowed to an expression that appeared to be a bit sarcastic. "Because the Dark Lord at that time was just like the Great Sir right now, a fool who never thinks of anything but himself and has no regard for other incorrigible fools! His promises were simply not believable, and that''s why I reached out to you, Dumbledore, I needed you to help me." "Butter on he surpassed your expectations?" "Not only did he surpass my expectations, he surpassed yours as well didn''t he?" Snape said calmly, "Would you have thought at the time that he might have achieved what he didter? No, because at that time he didn''t show that kind of brilliance at all. Besides, he truly did what he promised me he would do, so why would such a man not be worthy of my allegiance?" Dumbledore was nonmittal about this, no one could deny the various decisions Voldemort had made and the feats he had achieved over the past decade or so. "What about now, he has changed hasn''t he, you should be able to feel it." Hearing Dumbledore say this, Snape''s gaze turned to Jon instead. "The reason for his change must have stemmed from you!" It wasn''t a question, but an affirmative sentence, and Jon didn''t deny it, he just shrugged having no intention of interjecting himself into the conversation. Dumbledore''s expression turned serious at this point. "There''s no point in talking about this anymore, so Severus, are you ready to face the person who is most hurt by what you''ve done back then?" Snape didn''t make another sound, he just looked up at the castle. Dumbledore had no intention tomunicate with him as well, there could be no second end to Snape after he was in their hands, he waved his hand and Lupin came forward with a cold look on his face, ready to take Snape away from here. Thus, Dumbledore and Jon were the only two people left in front of the castle. Dumbledore led Jon inside Hogwarts Castle as he turned around and walked inside, the ce was brightly lit, but it was deserted, Dumbledore strolled inside with Jon as if he just wanted toe in and wander around with no clear objective. "Now we can talk about what happened to you, Jon. How did he target you?" Jon didn''t hide anything as he told him all the plots that Voldemort Two had nned in the library, including what he had to do to prepare for the sess of his ns. After hearing all this, even Dumbledore couldn''t help but be impressed by it. "If he did seed, indeed, I wouldn''t necessarily be able to spot your change, and that would be the worst possible thing. I''m sure that since he''s ready to rece you, he must already have a good understanding of everything about you, otherwise, he wouldn''t have the confidence to be able to fool even me." Jon nodded. "Actually he has seeded, I''m not kidding you, Professor, I really have died once, but that different Animagus I''ve spent all my time at school to cast before has worked. You were right, at the time after I drank that potion it just produced some insignificant changes, it wasn''t that my magic failed, but it only half worked, toplete itpletely it needed some specific conditions, I don''t know whether to feel unfortunate or to feel lucky that my Animagus is a phoenix." Jon said while reaching out to touch the bright, smooth feathers on Fawkes'' body. Dumbledore blinked, of course catching Jon''s implication beyond his words. "That is to say, without the experience of Riddle killing you in the library today, it is likely that you would not have been able toplete the transformation of Animagus until you died of old age; no one would have ventured to die without knowing for sure that they wouldn''t die, and this act of Riddle''s, in disguise, still helped you." Jon looked with some annoyance at his hands, which looked exactly like those of a little boy. "Well, Professor, will I ever be able to change back to my old self? Or will I just have to wait another eight or nine years before I can grow back again?" At Jon''s question, Dumbledore suddenlyughed. "I can''t believe you''re bothered by this, do you know how much effort Riddle went through and how many ways he searched for to achieve immortality on his own? The phoenix is a magical creature that is almost impossible to die, whenever they get old or in danger of dying, they can simply perform a nirvana and start a new cycle of life, which is truly immortality." Perhaps he was still young enough not to have experienced the panic of growing old and having all his bodily functions age to the end of his life, he was not particrly attracted to the word immortality. "I can''t go on meeting people with this appearance in the future at any rate, now can I?" He rubbed his head with a headache. Dumbledore thought the question over seriously for him. "From what I''ve been able to gauge from Fawkes'' many nirvana, you won''t always continue to be in such a young state, it will only take about a week for your body to quickly return to the state it was in when you experienced nirvana. But all the same, the first Nirvana is actually the Phoenix''s mes forming a permanent memory of your body once, meaning that no matter what you have be in the future when you experience Nirvana you will revert to that previous 15-year-old state." Compared to the image of a child, Jon could still barely ept the image of the 15-year-old teenager from before. Besides, he wasn''t someone who liked to die, so if he didn''t die once in the future, he wouldn''t have such troubles. After the questions about Jon himself were spoken, Dumbledore asked about the state of Voldemort Two. "How did he escape?" "The Phoenix''s fire apparently had a strong restraining effect on that ck mist magic of his, and there was no way he could have broken free and got away, but it seems he gave up on maintaining his souls, which had already been crumbled by the means left behind by Mr Slytherin and split into three to escape from this ce, I think." Dumbledore''s eyes became deep. "He wouldn''t simply let his souls split up, unlike this Voldemort whopromised with us today, he surely would retrieve what he had lost. But in any case, without having a body anymore, there is no way he can still pose any threat to us for the time being, and now what we have to deal with is the Riddle of today." Jon was actually a little curious about Dumbledore''s ns for Britain behind the scenes. "So Professor, how do you n to reim Britain backter on?" A smile appeared on Dumbledore''s face. "What I know for sure from today''s encounter is that the Riddle I have met now is the same Riddle from fifteen years ago, the one who hadn''t yet brought forth the change. He is mad and cruel, but this whole thing has both bad and good effects on us." "The bad is obvious, a madman is as destructive as he can be, and he is willing topromise today because he thinks he can control what the other he has left behind and wants to prove that he is not worse than the other himself. But if at the end of the day, he finds out that the situation within Britain is not as easy to control as he thought it was, from what I know of him, he''s bound to flip the tables on everyone." "Including the purebloods?" Jon asked. Dumbledore nodded affirmatively. "Including the purebloods, whichever Riddle it is, he doesn''t really care if the purebloods are noble or not, he just wants to use the conflict between bloodlines to stabilise his power. So when he found out that even purebloods had the potential to disobey his authority, he will destroy all the original order and proceeded to use his terror to rule." "That won''tst long, will it?" "A normal person would know that it wouldn''tst, but a madman wouldn''t think so, and he would even enjoy the fear that others have of him, thinking that it is his greatest masterpiece. That way in a short time everyone in the whole of Britain will be on their own, and it will be hard for us to infiltrate, especially if I can''t guarantee myself a sure victory over him." "And the advantages?" "The advantage stems from the same, precisely because he will initiate a reign of terror, and although it will be difficult for us to infiltrate at first, with a little time, even if we don''t take the initiative, we will be contacted by wizards from within Britain. Do you know why this Riddle, who also showed unprecedented power at the beginning, failed to seed in his n to annex Britain even after nearly ten years?" "Because his theory was not perfect at that time?" "Because everyone at that time, including many portions of the pureblood wizards, knew that he was a lunatic. Under the leadership of a madman, no matter how many tempting benefits he gave verbally, the purebloods would consider whether they would live to enjoy the benefits in the future or not. It wasn''t until after that night fifteen years ago that Riddle suddenly told everyone he wasn''t crazy anymore, that he wouldn''t just kill and break the order, but that he would establish a new order that would safeguard only the purebloods, and that even he himself would not go against it, and it was only at that point that more people joined him and Britain changed hands within a mere two years." Dumbledore looked to the high tform at the front of the great hall, the chair thaty right in the centre. "That tension of being on the edge of your seat is terrible, it''s not pleasant to be mentally stretched every moment, and as soon as the wizards of Britain realize again that their great sir is no longer great, but has gone back to being that madman, at that point, it will be the perfect time for us to counterattack." Jon also looked at the chair, in this castle no one would dare to put their arse on it even if Voldemort himself wasn''t here, it was like a throne in the castle, showing off the authority of the king. But at that moment the king was gone, abandoned his soldiers, and discarded his castle and the only two men standing were Jon and Dumbledore. "You went to the Headmaster''s office and said the words I asked you to say in that room as well didn''t you?" Dumbledore suddenly asked. It was only then that Jon remembered that he still had a Sorting Hat on him. "It was a talking hat that answered me, it said that Hogwarts had chosen me?" Dumbledore looked up with emotion towards the starry sky enchanted ceiling of the great hall. "That''s right Jon, it''s not me or Riddle who owns this castle now, it''s you, it chose you, and you saved it." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 425: Will you come to me? (2 in 1) Chapter 425: Will youe to me? (2 in 1) Frank, who lives in Devon, thinks he has found the love of his life. It was Miss Marita Coulibaly, who lived right at the foot of the town''s hills, and who had only recently moved to this small town of Billis three years ago, where everyone else in the town thought she was an odd woman. She spent all her day in her house, either studying the strange, untouchable flowers and nts or hiding away on the first floor, where no one was allowed to go, doing unknown activities. But Frank found Miss Coulibaly to be a rather attractive woman. It was a mysterious and sensual beauty that no normal person would appreciate, and he loved watching thedy in her old-fashioned robes that no normal person would ever wear, and he had secretly caught her in private wearing a peaked hat that only a yful little girl would wear on Halloween. Miss Coulibaly was all nervous when her little secret was discovered by him, she had a little wooden stick in her hand and kept asking Frank if he had seen anything else, acting like a witch in the process! Frank thought that he had uncovered Miss Coulibaly''s private secret of being a childish little girl at heart, which made him happy, as the quickest way to promote affection between a man and a woman is to have a shared secret to keep. Of course, he said he hadn''t seen anything and reassuringly told Miss Coulibaly that he would never tell anyone about her being all alone at home role-ying. When he left that day, he could clearly feel Miss Coulibaly''s struggling expression as she held the little wooden stick, as if she was really debating whether or not to cast a spell on him. It was that feeling that made Frank feel even more amused. Miss Coulibaly was such an interestingdy. It was just that for the past two days, somehow, Miss Coulibaly had been hiding in her house as if she were ill, and had not even looked after the flowers outside her door, but Frank had kept an eye on them, and from time to time had stopped by to water them. Yesterday, however, as he stood hesitantly on the doorstep to pay a visit, he ended up vaguely seeing that charming youngdy through the window as she was, for some reason, drawing on paper a chilling design of a snake poking its body out of a skull. Frank didn''t know what happened when he saw the design, but he felt his body go cold and his mind go nk as if his body had triggered a sense of self-preservation, and by the time he came back to his senses, he had walked away from thepound of Miss Coulibaly. But the uneasiness in Frank''s mind did not dissipate when he got home, and he fidgeted around the house all day today, finally feeling the need to take the biscuits his mother had just made and visit the youngdy. He took his gift to the foot of the hill at the very edge of town, where there was just a fenced yard that looked so out of ce with the rest of the town''s homes. Frank looked outside the fence, but before he could make a sound, the small gate to the courtyard suddenly opened itself, whether by the wind or by some other means. He didn''t hesitate for a few seconds before he entered Miss Coulibaly''s yard with the basket containing the biscuits. Thedy with ck-framed sses and shoulder-length brown and ck hair was sitting in the middle of the garden drinking tea. The morning sun shone on her making Frank''s heart stop half a beat. "What can I do for you? Mr. Frank." The beautiful, elegant youngdy held her cup of tea and didn''t look up, her gaze stayed on a piece of parchment that looked like someone had written her a letter. "Er, I''vee to apologise for yesterday, Miss Coulibaly." Frank swallowed, "I didn''t mean to peek at you, I wanted to exin at that time, but my brain for some reason went nk and took control of my body and went home on its own." "Don''t worry about it, it''s not your fault, there was some mishap in my Muggle-Repelling Charm." "Muggle-Repelling Charm?" Frank stammered and repeated the phrase he had never heard before. "What have you got for me?" Coulibaly asked casually, without sounding like she was deliberately pulling away from that conversation as if she just took an interest in what Frank was holding. "Pies, biscuits, my mum made them herself, I always believed there was no one in the whole of Devon who could make them better than she would." Frank said as he walked into the garden to ce the basket on the table. Coulibaly looked interested and Frank caught a glimpse of the parchment at this time. ''-The only lord we need is you, not that madman, without you to sail the ship, Britain will not be able to withstand Dumbledore''s rebellion.'' The words shed through Frank''s mind for just a moment, as before he even had time to fully grasp their meaning, he politely averted his gaze from the parchment. It was strange, wasn''t it? Who would call another person ''lord'' these days? And Coulibaly looked too preupied with the basket of biscuits to care what Frank was looking at. Just then, an owl suddenly flew overhead and started gliding low, aiming for the centre of the garden, and when it reached Coulibaly, a roll of a newspaper was dropped andnded precisely on the wooden table. Frank watched the scene in awe, while Coulibaly unfolded the roll of newspaper as if she was used to it. On therge front page was a moving ck-and-white photograph of two men standing together, one with a straight, hawkish nose, long greasy hair that fell to his shoulders like a seaweed, a nk stare and a pale, gloomy face. The other has short blond hair and a much younger appearance, except that his face also looks unsightly, staring at the camera with indifference and suspicion. Around the background of these two men stood what looked like several children in robes, and even a young boy who looked to be six or seven years old could be seen standing directly behind them, as well as an old man with oddly crescent-shaped sses. The headline on the front page was also seen by Frank. [A week after the end of the Triwizard Tournament, the defeat didn''t end as badly as we thought] "This, why this newspaper..." "That idiot dared to pick Barty Crouch in that situation but discard Severus Snape, does he even know what he''s doing?" A grim smile that Frank had never seen before crossed Coulibaly''s face. The curved corners of her mouth reminded him of a viper, cold and deadly! "Miss Coulibaly. What is the meaning of this." Frank subconsciously swallowed, "What was that owl all about just now? And this newspaper, why is the picture on it moving." "Thank you for the biscuits you sent, Frank, and thank you foring to my door today and saving me the trouble of going after you." Once again Frank''s words were interrupted as the hand with the bright red polished nails had somehow managed to grip the little wooden stick that Miss Coulibaly had always had at her side, and the tip of it was aimed at him! The next moment Frank only saw a green light re up, and then he was plunged intoplete darkness. "Plop." A young body fell to the ground, but "Miss Coulibaly" acted as if she had done something trivial, her smile unchanged as she returned her gaze to the Daily Prophet. At the same time, she savoured the morning tea with biscuits that had been given to her by the being she had just killed. Her eyes gazed into the vacant eyes of the greasy seaweed-headed man in the front page photo, as if the two had actually met face to face in reality, and ''Miss Coulibaly'' licked her scarlet lips. "After knowing how stupid that fool was I suppose you wille to me now, won''t you, Severus?" *** France was restored to its former glory. After thest isted part of Paris, the French Ministry of Magic waspletely upied by Witching Horizon, it represented the fall of the whole of France into Dumbledore''s hands. When the results of the Triwizard Tournament were known, Headmaster Karkaroff, who had only been at the school for a year or so, abandoned the rest of the school and fled back to Britain using the special Floowork that had been linked to Britain. The other professors who had supported Voldemort''s rule in France, and the students who had been divided up by bloodlines over the course of the year, were all taken over by the Witching Horizon. This meant that all three well-known schools of wizardry in Europe hade under the control of the Witching Horizon, at least in terms of education, Dumbledore and the others had won aplete victory. Not only did the students brought back from Hogwarts Castle have to be dealt with, but the brainwashed and mind-altered muggle-born also had to be rehabilitated back to normal, dignified human beings. As for the current ruling and governance within the French magicalmunity, Dumbledore had no intention of interfering either, leaving it entirely up to Iniesta to organise and set up the new French Ministry of Magic. He was frank enough to assure Dumbledore, in front of the new Ministry of Magic, he dered, that as long as the Death Eaters represented by Voldemort were notpletely defeated, the French Ministry of Magic would remain under Dumbledore''s Witching Horizon. And as long as there is a single French muggle-born left alive, then they will never forget the sacrifices and efforts made by a group of British wizards like the Order of the Phoenix to bring equality to France today. This was certainly a wee development, and Iniesta''s clear statement not only silenced some of the negative and discordant voices within the newly formed French Ministry of Magic that had emerged after theplete restoration of France but also dissipated some of the doubts and mistrust towards the French that had existed within the Order of the Phoenix. Also with Beauxbaton having beenpletely liberated, Gabrielle was finally able to return to her normal self and never have to live as a ghost again. When Jon took her to find the body that belonged to her that Madame Maxime had hidden in Beauxbaton, Gabrielle seemed a little reluctant to turn back into a human being, the life of a ghost had made her a little addicted to it. But in the end, she let her soul return to her body, happy as she was as a ghost, but she was also aware that her mum, papa and sister would be devastated if they saw her as a ghost in the future. A body without a soul is still alive and breathing; Madame Maxime was fully prepared for this when she left her body in Beauxbaton, knowing that when she escaped from Beauxbaton, there would be no one to maintain the energy that Gabrielle''s body would need to grow naturally, so she soaked her body in a special potion that suppressed her growth. This led to the fact that although Gabrielle had been with Jon and the others for two years in her ghost form, her body had only grown in age for about a few short months, which left her, who should have been ten years old, still only seven or eight in appearance. But even so, she still looked older than Jon, who still maintained the appearance of a six-year-old today. "Jon, please, Jon, will you call me sister, you see it fits our current age!" Even though she had returned to Lyon, Gabrielle was still clinging to Jon, like she couldn''t wait to hear Jon call her sister for the pleasure it would bring. But Jon never relented, no matter how sweetly Gabrielle persuaded him to do so. "You need to stop daydreaming." The outwardly non-threatening Jon rolled his eyes, "Instead of bugging me here now, why don''t you think about how you''re going to write to your Mama and Papa now that the situation in France has stabilised, and you can be reunited with them." Jon''s choice of diversion was masterful, and sure enough, Gabrielle stopped pestering him. "Then you can''t sneakily grow up all of a sudden, at most, you can grow up until you''re as big as me and we''ll go to wizarding school together in the same yearter!" What was going on in the little girl''s head, Jon figured he would never be able to guess, he just nodded his head repeatedly and agreed with all his heart, but was already muttering in his mind that in less than two months he would probably be back to his previous 15 years old self. Just as Jon was getting ready to head back to his dormitory in Lyon''s temporary Hogwarts school site, he suddenly ran into Lupin who was walking briskly out of his office and looked ready to head towards the Floowork firece room. "Did something happen? Professor Lupin." Jon asked, seeing the hard look on his face. Facing Jon, Lupin didn''t hold anything back. "Today was supposed to be the day that the group of Death Eater captives were to be executed, but as they were bringing the prisoners over, they discovered that Snape was missing!" Jon froze as well. "Snape''s missing?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 426: Should I go with Professor Potter? (2 in 1) Chapter 426: Should I go with Professor Potter? (2 in 1) Jon and Lupin came to Paris together. Unlike Azkaban of Britain, the French wizard prison was not quite as intimidating. After Voldemort became Minister of Magic in France, the British and French prisons werepletely merged and all the felons were sent to Azkaban. Now that the Witching Horizon has regained control of France, the new wizard prison has been built near the outskirts of Paris, and the most guilty felons have been ced in the centre of the Witching Horizons'' centralbatant quarters, with Snape being the most critical of those men. Snape was the highest-ranking Death Eater captured by the Witching Horizon, apart from the Lestranges, who were killed by Jon himself. Therefore, upon being brought back to France, he was guarded with the highest level of security. Not only were all his magical items confiscated, but his clothes were also reced with simple prison clothes, his hands and feet were shackled, and the cell he was kept in had no windows except for a door, not to mention venttion ducts and sewers. For someone as guilty as Snape, he could have been sent on his way after all the useful information had been extracted from his brain. But Dumbledore had dyed Snape''s sentence, to amodate Lily, who was in Find at the moment, receiving support from the Nordic Ministry of Magic, as if to let Lily take her revenge. But on the morning of Lily''s return, Snape disappeared from his cell! Not only had Dumbledore personally arrived, but Sirius, Moody, McGonagall and Lupin had also arrived. Jon had followed suit and of course, no one had raised any objections; with his contribution to the Order of the Phoenix these days, there was no way anyone would still treat him like a normal student. "All we found in this cell was this chipped denture, and these two pairs of intact hand and foot cuffs." Moody gruffly cupped a broken denture in his hand, the pair of shackles were nothing to look at, the only thing of interest was that Snape hadn''t used any violence to break it, it was as if the man had just got smaller and pulled the hands and feet out of them. "The denture has hollow space, and our men have found residues of potion in its interior, and the initial judgment is that he should have kept a backhand in his mouth all along so that when faced with a situation like the one at hand, he could simply bite the dentures out of his mouth, drink the potion in them, and escape from the cell by the effects of the potion, which we haven''t examined yet. " Looking at the cell, Sirius behaved more grumpy than anyone else here seemed to. "This can''t be happening! We checked his entire body when he first fell into our hands! Our Aurors are professionals, there would never be such an obvious omission!" "But Snape is also a more professional Potions Master than anyone else." Lupin said in a hushed voice, "His talent in potions is undeniable, and with all the resources he has enjoyed by staying in Britain all these years, he must have mastered a lot of potion recipes that are not known to the public. Some potions are much more magical than even magic, is it possible that our people were dazzled by some kind of potion that he drank?" They made various guesses, except for Dumbledore who kept calmly observing the cell and eventually his eyes settled on the wall near the door. He walked over to it, and such a move certainly caught the eyes of the others. Dumbledore touched the area between the wall and the door where it was slightly damppared to the rest of the room. "He escaped through here." Moody, who had decades of experience as an Auror, also spotted something wrong with the area, his magical eye darting around. "It''s a potion that can cause a brief transfiguration of the human body?" "Yes, like the polyjuice potion that can produce a change in a person''s appearance, there are many other kinds of potions in the magical world that can turn the human body into something dead as an alternative to the effects of certain transfiguration spells." Dumbledore said softly. Sirius had stepped out of the cell, and he followed the dampness that stretched from the doorway to the outside and soon spotted a very shallow trail. "He hasn''t been gone long enough yet without his wand in his hand, we still have a chance to find him!" Having spotted this, Sirius didn''t stop and followed the trail out of this prison cell with impatience, Lupin and Moody following close behind, with only Dumbledore and Jon following unhurriedly at the end. Once Sirius and the others had all disappeared from view, Jon looked at Dumbledore with a suspicious look on his face. Dumbledore noticed the look in his eyes as well and turned his head to ask with a smile. "Why are you looking at me like that?" "A prisoner like Snape, especially with a vengeance of so many people staked out in his death, Professor, I don''t think that you would make such a clumsy mistake as to let him escape from here." Jon said looking straight at Dumbledore. Dumbledore blinked. "That''s just your guess, Jon, once people get older there will always be times when they get confused, I''m no different, no one is free of mishaps all the time." But Jon didn''t withdraw his gaze, he was still staring into Dumbledore''s eyes. "But Headmaster Grindelwald has always said that I have a gift for prophecy, and for some reason, Professor, I just have a feeling that this has something to do with you." Hearing such an almost brutal determination from him, Dumbledore looked like he was running out of options as he suddenly asked Jon softly. "Have you mastered your Animagus powers by now?" Jon sensed that this was a serious question from Dumbledore and not some kind of diversionary move. "Probably have them all at my fingertips." "What about the Apparition, which is unique to the Phoenix?" "That''s what I''ve been practising, and by now it''s basically wless." Dumbledore lowered his voice. "When Lilyes backter and finds out that Snape has escaped from prison, she''s going to want to track him down herself. You take the initiative, say you''re going with her and then just keep following her, be on guard to protect her in the meantime and if anything goes wrong don''t hesitate to just turn into a phoenix and bring her back." Jon''s eyes twitched, Dumbledore was clearly treating him like Fawkes. "No problem, but Professor, you have to give me the inside story on this, right? Why did you let Snape go?" "As I told you, Jon, Snape is actually a very pure man and such purity is what made him the Death Eater and murderer he is today, but it''s also the same purity that makes him hateful and pathetic at the same time. And he''s much more important than anyone could have imagined, something that even I only learned yesterday, and I''m sure Voldemort will find out about that soon enough, so his departure will be useful to us." There was some inconsistency in his words, if Snape was important, why would it only be useful for him to leave? But Jon looked like he had thought of something about it, had a thoughtful look on his face, and didn''t pursue the matter any further. And at this point, they had also made their way out of the cell and into an area of the Auror''s quarters outside the cell. The ce was lit up with lights because of Snape''s escape, and each of the Aurors searched every corner of the premises, and soon they found something more. Someone''s wand was missing! It was no small thing, but it wasn''t one of the Auror in this quarter who had lost his/her wand though, it was the French wizard who was in charge of logistics. The cook, who was responsible for preparing food for the Aurors on night patrol, who had just fallen asleep during the morning hours of the day, ended up waking up not even an hour after resting to the sound of movement from the search in the premises and then realised his wand was gone. Sirius and the others had all arrived in the room as well when Jon and Dumbledore approached, and there were obvious signs of dampness on the floor. "This garrison has been enchanted with Anti-Apparition Charm, even if he had the wand he wouldn''t have been able to just leave like that!" Moody grimaced, he was the main person in charge of watching over Snape, and he was certainly the one with the most responsibility now that the prisoner had escaped. Sirius took the lead and rushed out, the trail Snape had left was still there, but the air was dry today and if they didn''t hurry it wouldn''t be long before the trail would eventually break again. The group followed the trail left on the ground all the way beyond the garrison, and by the time they werepletely out of the reach of the Anti-Apparition Charm, Sirius and the others were looking worse and worse! At this very moment, Lily, who hade all the way back from Find through the Floowork, also finally arrived at the Witching Horizons'' Auror headquarters. No emotion could be seen on her face, she just followed behind them with an expressionless face and came out of the quarters as well. "What''s the result?" Seeing the look on her face, Sirius became slightly nervous instead. "He stole a wand and is now out of range of the Anti-Apparition Charm based on the trail left behind, and the professionals among us are scouting the surrounding area for a residual Apparition Charm record." Lily didn''t make another sound, she just looked up at Dumbledore. "Why didn''t you tell me about catching him in advance?" Five days had now passed since the day the Triwizard Tournament had ended, and Lily hadn''t had time to follow the information on the British side of things due to her busy schedule in Find. Being in the far north of Europe, Find people hardly paid much attention to the situation on the British and French sides, and the Finnish magical newspaper reporters had been the first to run away for fear of their lives at the start of the Triwizard Tournament, so they were now doing secondary reports in the country based on information from other newspapers. So with no notice from anyone, it was only yesterday that Lily got the news from the Witching Horizons'' inner circle that Snape had been taken alive as a prisoner, but by the time she got back today, the man had escaped! Dumbledore said with a sigh. "I was hoping to give you some buffer time." Jon squinted at the old man, if he didn''t know the inside story he would have thought that Dumbledore had no knowledge of how Snape had got away. Lily didn''t continue to question Dumbledore about anything further. Hatred took over her, but it didn''t overwhelm her; it wasn''t her who had captured Snape, so she had no reason to use anyone of anything. "It''s a good thing that he had escaped." She said coldly, just as she faced the vacant stare. "I''ll catch him with my own hands and kill him to do right for my husband and my son!" Everyone in the crowd fell silent, everyone knew exactly what kind of animosity there was between Lily and Snape, and that if Snape hadn''t overheard the most ridiculous prophecy ever made in the first ce and proceeded to inform his lord, then James and Harry wouldn''t have died at all back then. This silencested for a long time before Dumbledore spoke with a slight nod. "Let''s wait until the resultse inter. If he did use the Apparition to leave, it wouldn''t be too far from the headquarters, as that would leave more of a trail, so we won''t be waiting too long I guess." Just as Dumbledore had predicted, since this was part of the Witching Horizons Auror headquarters, scouting around thepound didn''t take much time, and soon a group of Aurors spotted the traces left by the Apparition in the woods near the fringes of the premises, and using the spell, they then backtracked to the point where the apparition hadnded. "It was on Knockturn Alley." Sirius said restlessly after learning of Snape''s whereabouts. "He must have gone back! Back to rejoin the Dark Lord and serve him up!" At that, Lupin said calmly. "Not necessarily, let''s not forget that it was the Dark Lord who gave up on him at Hogwarts Castle, and for him to go back now at this time, let alone get rehired, it''s still up in the air if there''s even a ce for him around the Dark Lord." "Then why is it, Knockturn Alley? If he doesn''t want to go back to the Dark Lord, he can go anywhere in Europe!" Lily had drawn her wand and her voice was cold. "He''s not a fool, rejoining Voldemort would not guarantee either his future or his life, but it''s also clear that the destination he fled to would not hide from our search, and these days Britain is the only ce in all of Europe where we are least likely to investigate and operate." Moody frowned at her. "You want to go to Britain and track him down?" Lily didn''t answer his question but looked up at Dumbledore. "You know what has been the driving force that has kept me meticulously alive in this world, Professor Dumbledore." She used the title she had used as a student, while quietly waiting for Dumbledore''s answer. Dumbledore rubbed his brow. "We cannot send many people to enter Britain, so heading to Knockturn Alley to continue the chase would be dangerous, and that is precisely why I would not approve of you going off on your own like that, Lily." The atmosphere became unbearably silent. And it was at this point that Jon, who now maintained the appearance of a six-year-old and was only just above Lily''s waist height, gave her sleeve a timely tug. "Er, so anyway, the Triwizard Tournament is over, and I''ve got nothing to do for now, so why don''t I go along with Professor Potter?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 427: Knockturn Alley (2 in 1) Chapter 427: Knockturn Alley (2 in 1) The eyes of Lupin and the others turned to Jon. To be honest, since Jon had be younger, his current appearance didn''t exactly give off the impression of reliability; after all, when a six-year-old stood in front of you and said he would go after a top-ss wizard currently at the apex of the magical world, a normal person''s first reaction would be that the boy was pretty funny. But of course, Lupin and the others didn''t take Jon''s appearance as reality. It could even be argued that Jon''s appearance was the best deception, and no one would be wary of a child who didn''t even look like he was enrolled in a magic school. After hearing Jon''s words, Dumbledore then spoke. "If it is Jon who follows you then there is no problem, we cannot send many people to Britain, but you can perfectly well pretend to be a mother and son, such abination would not be conspicuous when moving around Britain and no one would suspect that the wizards of Witching Horizon would send a small child over to prate into the enemy camp." Lily turned her head and nced at Jon, who of course knew what kind of feats Jon had performed in the just concluded Triwizard Tournament. It was safe to say that there was no one else in the Order of the Phoenix right now who could be given more credit for fighting Voldemort than he had. "If Jon doesn''t feel like he needs to take some time off, I have no problem with that." Jon shook his head at that. "Thepetition cycle in between the Triwizard Tournament was long enough for me not to feel tired and require a break or anything, and although my body is smaller now, it hasn''t caused any changes in either my magic or my fitness, so there''s no problem going to Britain." Neither of them had any problems and Dumbledore finally looked at Lily and said with immense seriousness. "I have one more request, if you guys aren''t able to track down Snape in Britain, then you can deal with the general circumstances as you encounter them, but if you encounter something that''s an emergency, you''ll have to listen to Jon." Lily, for her part, nodded her head in agreement without hesitation at this. It wasn''t that she had some straightforward trust in Jon, but she couldn''t wait any longer. Every second more spent here risked Snape escaping altogether, so now she agreed to whatever Dumbledore was asking for first. Dumbledore could also see that Lily''s patience was at its limit at this point, and he didn''t say much more of anything. "Set off. Remember, if it drags on in Britain and you need a legal identity, go to the joke shop in Diagon Alley and see the shopkeeper there, he is our new stronghold connector in Britain." Lily stopped lingering as she grabbed Jon''s hand and proceeded to take Jon with her outside where she Apparated in ce and disappeared from this Aurors'' quarters. Only Dumbledore, Lupin and the others were left on the scene. It was only by this time that both Lupin and Moody felt that Dumbledore''s decision to allow both Lily and Jon to travel to Britain had been made somewhat hastily. They did not know the secret of Jon Animagus, although Jon''s transformation into a six-year-old child after participating in the Triwizard Tournament had been spread all over Europe by those magical newspapers, no one even thought in the direction that he could turn into a phoenix and could be resurrected, and many people spected that Jon most probably used some special magic in Hogwarts Castle which caused him to turn into this state. So even though they didn''t doubt Jon''s strength, they were still uneasy about whether it would be safe to go deep into Britain like this with just Lily and Jon. Dumbledore did not exin much about this but simply told them to go about what they were supposed to be doing and to keep the news of Snape''s escape from prison under wraps so that no word could get out. The good thing was that this was the core of the Witching Horizon, and the wizards who stayed here were all trusted wizards, so there was no need to worry about information leaking out so quickly. Once Lupin and the others had left, Dumbledore looked to the west and murmured to himself or to someone else. "What a hateful and pathetic love." *** Lily''s hands were cold, something Jon had felt when he was eleven years old. At that time he was required to choose between the two, Barty Jr. and Lily, and although he hadn''t yet thoroughly verified Lily''s identity, he didn''t hesitate to choose the Hogwarts wagon after learning Barty Jr.''s name. It was from that moment on that his fate was deeply tied to Dumbledore''s gang. So even though he had never shown it in the open, Jon had always had a deep gratitude for Lily in his heart. To them, risking their lives to snatch the students from Voldemort''s men might have been an act of duty, but it was such apletely selfless act that pulled Jon out of the bottomless pit. Otherwise, even if Jon had discovered that Barty Jr. is a dangerous man, he would not have been able to break free of that fate. So even if Dumbledore hadn''t asked for his help in advance, Jon wouldn''t have refused to apany Lily on this trip to Britain if she needed it. After the Apparition manifested into a dark and enclosed hut, theynded. Lily still seemed to be anxious to catch Snape with her own hands, but her anxiety did not cause her to lose her mind. "Your current appearance has been featured in the newspapers, and even if your child-like appearance is not very recognisable, you will have to change your appearance slightly." As she spoke, she pulled a bunch of vials and jars from the pockets of her robes, from which she soon found a clear vial of ointment, which Lily poured all over her hands and proceeded to dab half of it onto Jon''s head, then smearing all the rest directly onto her own head as well. "Rub all this hair dye in well, it will change your hair colour to a chestnut colour, which will look more realistic than the Transfiguration whilesting a long time, and it won''t be washed out with normal water." The effect of the potion was truly amazing, it was clear and sticky when it touched the person''s skin, and once it came into contact with the hair it adhered smoothly to the hair and dyed it a chestnut colour straight away, and because of this Jon and Lily soon changed their hair colour, which made them look more like a mother and son. Jon didn''t need any more changes once he changed his hair colour a little. It was only recently that his look had been featured in the newspapers, and his toddler-inclined face didn''t have that much of a distinctive look, plus the fact that his body had been growing much faster than normal in the past five days, as Dumbledore had said, it had already changed his appearance quite a bit from a week ago, so even people who knew Jon well wouldn''t be sure it was Jon without staring closely at his face for a few dozen seconds. Lily, on the other hand, needed more preparation, using thoseplicated potions to make her appearance a little younger, looking like she was under thirty, more in line with the mother-son setting associated with Jon''s current age group. At the same time, she added some length to her own hair and changed the colour of her eyes from that remarkable turquoise to the same pupil colour as Jon''s. That is, in a minute, she looked like apletely different person, and with Jon around, it was easy to subconsciously assume that she was a young mother. It was just that even after whatever changes in appearance, the cold aura that Lily exuded remained intact. "Let''s go." Once all the preparations werepleted, she led Jon out of the cabin. It was at this time that Jon realised that they were in fact in Knockturn Alley. It was a street that looked run down and destepared to Diagon Alley, surrounded not only by shops with signs that were all covered up, but also by run-down dwellings, and the room they walked out of was one of those dwellings that looked like a safe house that had been prepared by the Order of the Phoenix during their previous exile in Britain. "Where are we going to check first? It''s not a small street, and there are living peopleing in and leaving all the time, so if Snape uses the Apparition again immediately after he arrives here, we won''t be able to find it." Jon asked, lowering his voice and following Lily''s side like a normal little boy following his mother to a strange ce, tugging on Lily''s sleeve. Lily didn''t exin much, just said briefly. "Follow me." They soon crossed the area that was already considered shabby in Jon''s eyes, but in fact, it was actually in pretty good condition for an area in Knockturn Alley. And Jon saw several wizards scattered around in small groups. The male wizards were basically wearing hoods over their robes, while the female witches all wore pointed hats with wide brims that blocked their faces. It wasn''t that Lily didn''t want to, but she had Jon with her, and there was no point in hiding her face with such abination, so she could just show her face openly, like some noble youngdy with a young lord, and avoid a lot of trouble. But as they went deeper into Knockturn Alley, there was no way of avoiding some of the trouble. As they passed a cluster of shacks that looked like a gathering ce for tramps, a man dressed in a ragged robe that could only be called a rag, with his hair standing up and a visible bush of chest hair, fixed his wolf-like eyes on Lily while standing up from the ground. He looked at Lily''s white neck, licked his tongue and followed slowly, while the people around him, who looked to be in simr condition in terms of clothing, just watched the scene with cold eyes. Someone was bound to make an attempt, especially since this is a Knockturn Alley under Voldemort''s rule. It would have been easy, if not stress-free, for Voldemort to clean up this part of Knockturn Alley with his iron hand. But it was as if he had deliberately ignored this ce, he never ordered the Death Eaters or the British Aurors to clean up this grey area of the magical world, and even deliberately drove some special, less dangerous people who did not listen to him, towards Knockturn Alley. This has led to this street of wizards bing darker and darker over the years. Originally, Knockturn Alley was a grey area at best, superficially subject to the magicalws of the British Ministry of Magic, and at least on the surface, it did not go too far. But during Voldemort''s reign, the ce waspletely out of order, and many powerful people from the magical world were driven here, including werewolves,wless goblins, cruel and shady dark wizards, and wanted criminals who killed countless people. It was only in recent years when the territory and power in Knockturn Alley had been divided up, that a little order returned to this ce, and because of this, the street returned to its role as a ce for the pureblood nobles or the wealthy half-bloods to trade in shady goods, thus restoring the original purpose for which Knockturn Alley was established. It was during that period that the Order of the Phoenix had ced some of its men here, but now, because of the tensions between France and Britain, there was only one safe house still left. Lily, of course, had noticed that they were being targeted. And as the man with no wand in his hand, but hands covered in sharpened nails, was about to pick up the pace and start running towards Lily and Jon. Lily turned back with a cold look on her face and without hesitation, she recited an incantation! "Crucio!" The curse hit the man who had only just run up in an instant, and the pain was so deep in his soul that he could no longer move his body''s limbs and could only curl up like a boiled prawn and fall to the ground, wailing! Lily''s hands didn''t stop moving! "Crucio!" The second Cruciatus Curse fell on the man once more, his body already in spasm, his eyes beginning to ze over with pain, even giving the impression that he could die or go mad at any moment. But no pity appeared on Lily''s face at this, and the tramps cowering under the wooden shacks looked indifferently at the man whoy twitching on the ground. It was thew of Knockturn Alley that if you wanted to go after someone, you had to be prepared to put your life on the line. If Lily hadn''t struck back so strongly, she would have ended up worse off than the man on the ground, because once the innocent-looking prey had revealed that she was really just a sheep, there wouldn''t have been just one wolf trying to eat her. So Lily''s strike was vicious, an unforgivable curse that waspletely ipatible with a decent human being, but Jon did not have a single psychological difficulty with it. A man like him who had killed a whole family of purebloods with his sword, with a serpent''s fang, and with a killing curse, had no right to have a psychological disturbance, right? ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! *** [In P@treon; the ongoing volume now ends today, the next volume will be the final volume which will end in a month or 2. There will be no more bonus chapters on Saturday and Sunday from now on, as some single chapters'' word count has begun to increase to 1.8 chapter for each 1 chapter, together with a decrease in updates of chapters by author.] Chapter 428: Do it if you can (2 in 1) Chapter 428: Do it if you can (2 in 1) These two strikes back from Lily restricted any trouble they might have encountered in Knockturn Alley this time. The other dumb people could see that this mother and son were not to be messed with. The Unforgiven Curse is by no means a low-end spell, not to mention the fact that normal magic schools simply don''t teach the slightly higher levels of dark magic, and ess to learning it is a huge problem. Even if there was a way to learn it, there were very few wizards who could use it sessfully and make it work, and the vast majority of those people were concentrated in the Death Eaters under Voldemort. And with Lily casting two Cruciatus curses without saying a word, and the audacity to bring a child to the infamous Knockturn Alley at such a young age, any fool could guess that this was a tough nut to crack. After that, Jon and Lily had no further trouble in Knockturn Alley. It wasn''t until they reached the end of Knockturn Alley that they found a section as dirty as the wooden shack area ahead of them, but with a few open shops. Lily selected one of the most unassuming ones, more like a humble wooden shack than a shop. She led Jon inside by lifting the rag that served as a door, and inside there was a small room with all sorts of vials and strange things. During his time in Durmstrang, Jon had studied a lot about dark magic in addition to the three unforgivable curses, and with many forbidden books in his ring, he could see at a nce that 80 percent of the things in the shop were rted to dark magic. The remaining twenty percent were not without problems, but with Jon''s current stock of knowledge, he could not recognise them yet. As he entered, Jon saw an old woman sitting behind the counter, wearing arge pointed hat that hid her face, a cane full of wooden knots in her hand, and hunched over behind the rickety counter. "A rare visitor, a rare visitor indeed." She looked as if she saw who the visitor was through the gap in the wide brim of her hat and let out a sigh of exmation in that unpleasant voice. "I can''t believe you would actually visit me at this time of the year, why would you risking to Britain when it is your time to spring into high gear? Or is the peace that Dumbledore and the current Lord of Britain have made since the end of the Triwizard Tournament just a blindfold? Are you nning a new move?" Lily frowned at the bowed and hunched old witch and said in a cold voice. "You better talk to me in your old voice and look, Tom, you should be able to tell I''m in a bad mood." Hearing the name Tom caused Jon to look slightly sideways. As far as he could remember there were only two well-known people named Tom in the original story, one was naturally "Tom Riddle" who hated the name his mother had given him, and the other, ording to the normal worldline, would have been "Old Tom", the owner of the Leaky Cauldron Inn in Diagon Alley. The old witchughed twice at Lily''s nonchnt words, then she pulled a rope hanging from the ceiling, and the rag that had been used as the door to the room was sealed as if it had been caught in the door frame, sealing the only way in and out. Having done so, the old hag reached up and removed the peaked hat with a wide brim that she wore on her head, and just at that moment, it left her head. The old hunchbacked, elderly witch changed shape in an instant in front of Jon and Lily, and a balding, slim, but straight-backed old man stood up from behind the counter. Sure enough, to Jon''s surprise, it was the former owner of the Leaky Cauldron Inn, the same Tom now posing as an old hag and hiding in Knockturn Alley to set up shop. The Leaky Cauldron Inn, which Jon had visited with Dumbledore during his first year summer holidays, now under Voldemort''s rule, had turned out to be owned by the former owner of Borgin and Burkes shop, Voldemort''s boss when he was working in his younger days, and it was somewhat saddening to see that the old Tom, who used to be the owner of the Leaky Cauldron Inn, had actually swapped ces with Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley. "It''s been a long time, Mrs Potter, and I have heard that you are doing well in France?" Old Tom had a ttering smile piled on his face, his wrinkled face gleaming like a blooming daisy, as he turned his head to look at Jon. "And this is? I''ve never heard of anyone in the Order of the Phoenix with a child who''s only this old?" Jon was standing right behind Lily, one hand still clutching the corner of her coat, pretending and acting the image of a scared little boy. For all intents and purposes, this old Tom should have some connection with the Order of the Phoenix, but apparently, the connection wasn''t all that deep. Without any semnce of pleasantries or conversation about anything else, Lily went straight to the point and stated the reason for her visit. "Never mind who he is. Find out how many people in total came to Knockturn Alley between 9.20 and 9.30 via Apparition for me now, and whether any of those people have left yet." The smile on Tom''s face froze at Lily''s request, but he soon smiled a little wryly in return. "Perhaps you don''t understand, since the end of the Triwizard Tournament and your win, the British magicalmunity has be somewhat restless now, and only yesterday an Auror came to Knockturn Alley for an inspection, and they also have assigned a permanent group of personnel here, so if I were to check for you, then-" Lily just looked at him indifferently and cut him off. "Don''t forget who helped you get a foothold here in the first ce, and don''t forget what you promised then. Or do you think some of those words can no longer be counted as time goes on?" "No, no, no, of course, I don''t mean that, but you have to think about my safety too, right?" Old Tom said in a rush. However, Lily just stared at him. "If you really wanted to be safe then you could have gone to France by now, it might not be easy to leave the country from the rest of Britain, but it''s not that difficult of a feat in Knockturn Alley, you''ve been holed up here because you thought that there would be a day when the Dark Lord might be able to rule all of Europe, and you''ve been under the illusion of still being able to submit a proof for your bloodline right? " Tom looked as if he had been caught red-handed, a look of embarrassment and some fear crossed his face as he looked at Lily with an almost pleading gaze. "I''ve already been through all sorts of things Mrs Potter, Professor Potter, I''ve lost my Inn, and I''ve lost my home, the only reason I''m still lingering here in Britain to this day is to get back what was mine, so proving I''m a pureblood is the only way to fulfil my wish, not me trying to bully the muggle-born or anyone else! " "You were saved by Dumbledore when you were thrown out of the Leaky Cauldron Inn and were left on the streets nearly starving to death with your wand broken. He was also the one who helped you find a ce to stay in Knockturn Alley when you didn''t want to join us. Why didn''t you say at that time that you just wanted your possessions back? Why did you promise at that time that you wouldn''t say no to anyone in the Order of the Phoenix whenever they needed your help in the future?" Lily pulled out her wand and aimed it at Old Tom''s forehead. "Now you only have two choices, either you do it or I will find a way to get it out of your head and I will find someone who could do it myself!" Old Tom was stunned. His pleading and crying face was gone for a moment, he had thought that he had got the psychology of the people on Dumbledore''s side correctly, that these people were typically soft rather than hard, and that if he acted sufficiently weak now, then he would not have to take that risk at the end. But apparently, Lily''s behaviour waspletely beyond his expectations! This "Mrs Potter" was not acting like a righteous person at all, but more like a Death Eater than a Death Eater, turning her back before he could say a word, and her wand was about to poke Old Tom''s head in! Old Tom could see that this widow in front of him was not joking and that her calm, restrained face looked like she would go mad at any time! "Take it easy! I''ll look into it! I''m checking!" He faltered, not daring to hesitate any longer, and reached out to rummage through the broken cupboard at the back and pulled out a clear round ball. The ss ball looked filthy, its surface covered in dust, and in ces, it looked like it had been knocked out of ce and covered in ck mud. Lily hadn''t lowered the wand in her hand, still aimed at old Tom''s skull, and just stared at him fondling the dirty ball, then the whole thing lit up with a kind of greyish light. "Three, there were three people who came to Knockturn Alley in thest ten minutes using Apparition." Before Old Tom could finish his words, the tip of Lily''s wand lit up with a red light and the next moment Old Tom''s body went limp and his whole body fell to the ground. The ss ball he was holding also rolled off and rolled under the cupboard. Jon blinked, for a moment failing to understand why Lily had made her move just as Old Tom was about to reveal the location of the three people, and then he saw Lily waving her wand again, gazing at none other than Old Tom''s greasy, bald head. "Legilimens." Silvery wisps of memory appeared along Lily''s wand as a bridge to her mind, and the full information Old Tom had just received from the ss ball was thus truly and unmistakably avable to her. "For those who are unable to give you any credibility, then be suspicious of anything he says or does." With these words, it was not clear whether Lily was lecturing Jon or exining her actions, and as she spoke she turned towards the street outside, as if she had already determined the location of everyone who hade to Knockturn Alley at this time of day through Apparition. Jon took one quick look at Old Tom, who had fallen unconscious on the ground, and then he quickly followed Lily''s lead. After exiting this old Tom''s shop, Lily turned and cast a spell with the effect of blocking the entrance. This was certainly not done simply to keep the unconscious Old Tom safe but for the greater purpose of protecting their own whereabouts. Lily didn''t say much more to Jon, and after getting the information about where those who Apparated had arrived here in Knockturn Alley at the time of Snape''s escape from France, she led Jon at a brisk pace in the other direction of the street as if she had already made up her mind. They soon crossed most of the street and came to a much cleaner and tidier section of the Alley, which was also a part of Knockturn Alley, except that the wizards who had set up shop here were obviously more capable or had more background than those elsewhere. They arrived at a shop marked "Hancock''s" and pushed their way in. The shop looked like it sold some forbidden potions, and Jon even saw a sign hidden in the corner with the price of truth serum clearly marked on it. The shopkeeper was a tall ck man, and as Lily led Jon in, he took keen note of Lily''s extraordinary demeanour. "Good morning, this elegant and beautifuldy, I wonder what you need?" He had the rare courtesy that most wizards in Knockturn Alley did not have. Even if Knockturn Alley had been reorganised and turned into a ce for pureblood families and some half-bloods to sell their loot and make some nasty transactions, not every noble people might be able to receive the service, and the owner of this magic shop had obviously seen the big world; Lily''s dress and the fact that she had brought such a young child to such an area, which could be called the rubbish dump of the magical world, was obviously something only some crazy pureblood family could do. "You may address me as Lady Nott." Lily said in an icy and condescending voice. Jon craned his neck in return, tugging at the bow Lily had put on him earlier in front of him, and tilted his head with a haughty look on his face, pretending to be the little punk, no, the little young lord of some noble pureblood family. "Mum, it really stinks here, it''s dirtying my nose and eyes! When are we going to get home." Seeing Lily''s intention to be roundabout for a bit, Jon also had a heartfelt look of disgust and disdain on his face. "Shut up! I told you to maintain the Nott family manners!" She scolded Jon in a low, stern voice, then after blinking a little, she returned her gaze to the ck shopkeeper. Hearing their conversation, the shopkeeper rxed slightly; he dealt with these pureblood lords all day long and naturally knew all about them having such a foul temper like that. "Ah, so it''s the Lady and the Young Lord of the Nott family, you-" "Petrificus Totalus!" The shopkeeper, whose attention had been on Lily as he spoke, hadn''t been expecting Jon, whose appearance was only six years old, to suddenly pull out a wand to cast a spell! Without surprise, his eyes widened, and he could no longer control his already stiff body. Having done so, Jon didn''t stop and locked the door, while Lily began to extract the owner''s memories of the wizard who had arrived at the shop via Apparition. It was clear that both Jon and Lily were now acting on the principle of not forcing the issue if they could, and not causing more trouble if they could solve it with magic! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 429: Questions and Answers (2 in 1) Chapter 429: Questions and Answers (2 in 1) "Snape had always kept a back door for himself in Britain, and previously when he was a deputy headmaster here in Britain, he had been in contact with this potion shop in Knockturn Alley, using an alias called Prince to supply the shop with illegal potions on a full-time basis. At the same time, after the two parties had worked together long enough to have trust, a sum of money was deposited in the potion shop, and it was agreed that if someone came to his shop and uttered the name, Prince, then the money would have to be given to that person, no matter who the person who uttered that name was." Lily had learned all she could from the memories of the owner of the potion shop and quickly discerned the link to Snape in these. Jon wasn''t surprised by this, it was only normal for Snape to have a back door in Britain, it would only strike Jon as wrong if he hadn''t prepared anything for himself after all these years in a high position. "So we''re off the trail now?" Jon said, squeezing his chin. Lily, in turn, said calmly as she cleared the memory of the terrified-looking shopkeeper. "It''s not broken, after getting that money from this shop he left using the shop''s firece, just ten minutes ago, and we can still find out where he went now." Jon''s face couldn''t help but look a little strange, he couldn''t help but remember the conversation Dumbledore had had with him privately before he left, telling him to just protect Lily and not to worry much about Snape''s affairs. To leave a clue in this situation gave the impression of a deliberate attempt to lure people into a trap, no matter how you looked at it. He blinked, did Lily not even notice such a problem? "Professor Potter, would Snape not even guess that someone from our side would be tracking him all along?" The expression on Lily''s face was calm, and she kept her feet moving as she led Jon towards the room at the back of the shop. "So what if this is a deliberate trap he hasid, as long as he doesn''t dare go back to his lord who has abandoned him, we will catch him sooner orter, even if we go along the trap." Her words were like dead water without any semnce of emotion, but Jon could hear the determination in them. "Open the shop door again, in a couple of minutes this shopkeeper will regain consciousness, don''t give him any unnecessary suspicion." Jon turned back and reopened the door of the potion shop, there are very few customers in Knockturn Alley, not even a few people can be seen walking down the street, and even fewer of them would enter the shop to make a purchase, so unless their luck was extremely bad, Jon and Lily wouldn''t have to worry about anyone else entering the shop and noticing something wrong in those few minutes. He then followed Lily''s lead to the room at the back of the Potions shop, where a firece was present, and although there was only some ash left in it, it was obvious through the warmth around the edges that someone had just lit it a short time ago. After ascertaining that the firece was the one that had been used, Lily reached out and took a handful of ash from the firece and gently ground it in her hand while raising her wand and waving it at the dust. The next moment the ashes suddenly re-gathered in the firece and then actually rekindled into a small, faint ze! "Pinch some floo powder and then watch what I do, walk into the fire without mumbling any names of ces in your mind, and preferably without thinking about anything at all, empty your mind." With that, she sprinkled the Floo powder she was pinching in her hand into the firece, and the fire, which had been faint, instantly glowed green as if a bucket of oil had been poured on it, and just as the mes were at their peak, she stepped into the fire. The mes wrapped around her and disappeared back into the firece. Leaving Jon alone in front of the firece, he looked at the green mes that remained in the fire and silently put the Floo powder back in its ce again, and instead snapped his fingers softly and the next second a golden me lit up right in front of him! Jon stepped into the golden me, and his figure disappeared into the firece. The whole firece then looked as if a Cleaning spell had cleansed it, the remnants of the ashes, and the haze on the firece walls were all swept away and made clean, and no one would ever find anything else from the remaining traces of the ce. By the time Jon felt his feet hit the solid ground again, he could feel a choking, musty smell permeating his surroundings and making its way to his nose. He pinched his nose and frowned as he waved the presumably mouldy ashes that hadn''t been cleaned for who knows how long around him with the hand holding his wand while taking in the situation in front of him. Lily was holding her wand, staring nkly without saying a word, and in the spot where her gaze had been focused, there was a firece that was lit by a green fire, the mes of which formed the face of a man with greasy hair. He wondered if it was because there was no way to see the original pallor of Snape''s face under the green mes, Jon actually felt that he was actually bing very energetic now, even the expression on his face was vibrant. "I knew it would be you, knowing that I had escaped, you would havee to capture me yourself and simply would not have delivered such a perfect opportunity to someone else." He looked at Lily with an unblinking gaze, the voice didn''t sound all that smug, but instead, like it hid a different kind of sneer. Lily didn''t even look at the image that Snape was sent over using the Floo powder, she walked right up to the ming Snape with her wand in her hand and reached into the firece to see if she could still find any ash left to determine where Snape might be. It turned out that she had actually grabbed a handful of ash. The firece in front of her was upied by Snape, but the one they hade from was still empty, but, when she threw the ashes into the firece, they didn''t rekindle as they had before. "Do you think I am that stupid? Here is a fallback I had prepared five years ago, I always had a Portkey kept here, and whenever the dayes that I need to have disappear from this world, then I will use it to secure the rest of my life." Snape looked like he was sitting in some kind of chair as he narrowed his eyes at Lily, and Lily stopped her futile attempts after making sure that the ashes in her hands were really just in, mouldy, useless dust that had been left lying around. She met Snape''s gaze, and a fire, a fire called hatred, finally welled up in those eyes that had no semnce of emotion in them. "You want to live the rest of your life in peace and stability?" She said in a t but clenched voice, "Why do you believe you shouldn''t have to pay for what you''ve done? Severus Snape! Do you think it can all be over just like that?" Snape in mes looked at Lily silently, as if he was looking seriously at this expression now on her face, and then he leaned forward as if to poke his head out, the face made of green mes filling the firece. "You also believe that past hatred should not be forgotten, don''t you? Then as a wise, fair and righteous witch, you also tell me, Lily Evans, that what James and the others did to me at school back then must not just go away either, can it? So my revenge is just, and I have never taken my anger out on a wrong person by doing so, just like you, even though you chose him and became his other half, I begged my Lord not to let them harm you who have shown some kindness to me in the past, and I have been merciful, what''s wrong with that!" Jon who was by the firece, had quietly found a small bench to sit on, he certainly couldn''t interject much in the middle of this conversation, so he quietly acted as a spectator. Well, even with the eyes of a spectator, Jon could actually see how out of character Snape''s mockery and sarcasm were; he had said it deliberately, and what the purpose of this was, Jon didn''t know at that moment. But of course, Lily, who was the person in question, couldn''t see so much, Snape obviously knew her far better than anyone else, and in three or two words he stirred her heart, which had been as silent as stagnant water, to reach out in the direction of the firece without a care in the world, as if she wanted to take the ming Snape in her hands. "Then why did you kill my son! And what did he do wrong! Why did you have to kill Harry! You tell me! When did my son ever offend you before!" Her hand passed through the mes, unable to catch the phantom made of Floo powder, the green mes lingering around her hand like it was something she had always wanted to hold onto but never could. Snape was still looking at her with his head held high, not looking half shaken by her emotional turmoil at the moment. "I didn''t kill your son, Mrs Potter; if anything, if you want to press the me for James'' death on my head, then, of course, I''ll dly ept it, but not with Harry Potter. My great lord couldn''t have made a trip to your house like that just to avenge my revenge, could he? Harry was his purpose and I provided him with the prophecy as a part of the payment in exchange for your safety, why else do you think you are still alive and talking to me here? So, remember what I said to you every time I saw you? I''m your benefactor, and you should be thanking me for that." Lily ckened her expression, as if collecting her outbursts, and looked at Snape gloomily. "Then why don''t you meet with me in person? Only when we''re face to face I can thank you properly!" Snape shook his head like he was enjoying the way he wasmunicating with Lily right now. "It''s rare, it''s rare to hear you speak to me like this for once, aren''t you eager to find me? Then we can make a deal now, I''ll ask you three questions, and you have to make sure you''re telling the truth, and at the same time I''ll also show you a piece of information about where I am, and again, I guarantee that this information is absolutely valid and not half-assed, how about that?" Jon, who was sitting on the sidelines watching the show, raised an eyebrow, he hadn''t really thought that Snape, who had seemed like a boring gourd back then at Hogwarts Castle, was unable to get the honest word from his heart out of his mouth for a long time, could actuallye up with such a deal now. Lily had calmed downpletely, she had changed back to her original expressionless face, she had lived through all these years and now even though Snape''s words had stirred up that repressed hatred that still lingered, she didn''t lose her mind that easily. "What do you want to know?" Snape just looked at her, his gaze not even once averted from Lily the moment she appeared in this room, even if he had sensed Jon was there at the beginning. "If I hadn''t called you a ''mudblood'' that one time, that one time, would you still have cut off ties with me?" At the question, Lily''s face didn''t change a bit, even a sneer crept across the corners of her mouth. "What do you think, Snape. Is it really hard to figure out why I was so determined to cut off our friendship in the first ce? Just because of that one insult? Do you remember what I said to you when you went off with those pureblood students from your Slytherin house and started to explore the dark arts, became interested in Voldemort''s theories, and became associated with the already infamous Death Eaters outside the school?" Snape was silent. He certainly hadn''t forgotten what Lily had said to him then, when they were still friends, best friends, she had advised him to stay away from the students around him who were already involved with Voldemort and told him to stop delving into those forbidden potions and dark magic. But at that time he hadn''t heeded her advice at all, or rather he had beenpletely obsessed with it, overwhelmed by his achievements in the dark arts and the sense of recognition he had gained from his friendship with the purebloods, and that was the key to their parting of the ways. Could Snape really have failed to figure out these answers? The question rose in Jon''s mind as he sat off at the side, and he soon came up with the answer himself. It wasn''t that Snape couldn''t figure it out, he was just trying toe up with a major excuse for all the wrongs he had done, and all his previous actions had actually been putting gunpowder in the powder keg, and that ''mudblood'' was the trigger for it all. So he had actually been fooling himself into thinking that the only thing that was his fault was that mudblood slur and that if only he hadn''t cursed that phrase in the first ce, then none of what followed would have happened. However, it was only his self-delusion after all, and now Lily had stripped down the lie that he had used to deceive himself. It just that Snape''s silence didn''t leave Lily with any semnce of emotion or any kind of emotional turmoil, she had long ago lost any other feelings she had had in the past towards Snape, after the night that had left her family in ruins, all that still remained was blood revenge! "I answered the first question." She said icily. Snape snapped back, and he made sure of his word to be in an indifferent tone. "Don''t worry, I''m not leaving Britain, I''ll always be here. Neither Dumbledore nor my former lord, neither of them will be able to drive me out of thisnd, so if you want to, then look for me on this British Isles." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 430: Eternal (2 in 1) Chapter 430: Eternal (2 in 1) "That''s the location you are giving?" Lily gripped her wand tightly in her hand as if she wasn''t satisfied with Snape''s broad answer. Snape, however, said without any concern. "That''s why I said it would be three questions, and telling you I wouldn''t be out of Britain was my best possible sincerity, otherwise what did you expect? Let me just throw myself right in front of your feet?" Lily just stared at him quietly, like she had no more retort to Snape''s words, but was waiting for him to ask a second question. Snape showed only his face in the mes now, but as Jon looked at the face that was just expressionless, he somehow always felt that he must be wriggling his fingers nervously and uneasily right now. "I''m curious to know if you know about all that James did to me at the very beginning? And at what point did you two get together?" Jon furtively covered his face from the sidelines. Those two questions from Snape simply made all of his previous intrigues seem futile; a slightly more sane person could use their brain and figure out that if he really hated and resented Lily, then he wouldn''t have even asked or cared about such questions. It was unknown if Lily had thought of this, but the expression on her face remained unchanged even for a moment as Snape spelled the question out, just staring indifferently at the human face made of green mes. "You actually still care about that? That''s why I said that you never listened to anyone and never changed. Of course, I knew about what James had done to you, so I always had a bad opinion of him at that time, and even with all his attempts to get my attention and try to woo me, I never thought about any kind of future with him." As Snape heard this he clenched his teeth as if subconsciously and said in a voice that tried to sound as calm as possible. "Then why did youter ..." "The best thing about himpared to you is that he knows what he has to do to change. No one is immune to making mistakes, but to know to change after making them, especially when such mistakes are pointed out by others. James changed, not just because he knew I didn''t like it, but because he realised what he had done was wrong, he apologised sincerely and was willing to correct it, and it was because of that I epted him at that point. Is my answer clear enough?" Snape lowered his head and the mes formed by the Floo powder became somewhat blurred, making it impossible to see the expression that was showing on his face at the moment. But what Jon could be sure of was that the expression on the face of the former Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts, who was once a man below one and above most in Britain, was certainly not looking very pleasant. No one would look happy to have the difference between him and his rival revealed so decisively and directly by his beloved. After a long time, he raised his head again, his face showing no particr emotion, and he simplypleted the second transaction he had agreed to. "If you want to find me, I suggest that you better be quick, because my previous lord, has not discovered my importance yet, and if he does, you will not be the only ones who want to find me." Lily''s face turned dark as she heard this information. "That''s considered a piece of clue?" Snape held his head high. "Why wouldn''t it count? How long do you think your side will be able to keep the news of my escape from prison under wraps? As soon as word of this gets out, then you won''t be the only ones trying to find me, and isn''t it an important thing to know in advance what kind ofpetition you''ll have?" Lily let out a deep breath as she didn''t dwell on the matter for long, but continued to ask. "And the third question?" Snape didn''t go silent either as he asked a question that couldn''t have been any simpler in a soft voice. "We''re destined to be eternal enemies, aren''t we?" Lily didn''t answer first, she simply gazed into those eyes and asked coldly in return. "What do you think?" That had given the answer, and Snape didn''t need to ask any more follow-up questions. He closed his eyes, then reopened them two secondster. "Come and get me, then." He rose as if from his chair and did not give information on the location for Lily''s third exchange as promised. But the image presented by the Floo powder was expanding, revealing not just Snape''s face, but several things around him as well as the background. Then the mes suddenly went out, and the whole room fell silent, leaving only the ash from the firece still swirling in the air. Jon stood up from his chair self-consciously, knowing that the time for munching popcorn was over, and it was time to get on with business. "Damn, he actually didn''t keep his word, he said three questions and three pieces of information about the location, but then he actually walked away on thest one without saying anything!" He said that on purpose, he just wanted to test how Lily was feeling now and if she needed any more relief. Lily just resumed her walk towards the firece. "He didn''t break the promise, thest piece of information was given to us, and I know where he is now." Jon blinked and followed Lily''s lead, this time they disappeared back into the firece''s mes and by the time they reappeared they were inside a magic joke shop in a busy magical street. Diagon Alley, is the busiest street in the British magical world, even in this era where Voldemort is ruling Britain, there is no way to change its status in the wizarding world. And as soon as Jon and Lily stepped out of the firece, they found it to be the shop''s storage room, the firece that was used to receive them hidden behind a pile of barrels and wooden crates. This was the exact location that Dumbledore had given Lily before she left, a ce where she could obtain legal identity in Britain "If we get dyed here, then won''t he get away for sure when we go back for Snape?" Jon asked in a whisper. Without alerting the clerks and shopkeepers who were busy outside, Lily searched right through this storeroom and soon opened a hidden secretpartment beneath with a tiny phoenix mark, which concealed a few simple pieces of parchment. "As he said himself, there''s no way he would throw himself at us after escaping from prison, and since he was so at ease with revealing his location to us, that means he''s not afraid of us looking for him next." Lily handed Jon one of the parchments, a legal and well-documented identity of a half-blood wizard in the British magicalmunity. Dumbledore had been so well-prepared that Jon even wondered if he had already intended for him to follow Lily to Britain, as even the identity information they had now been given indicated that they are a mother and son. Jon memorised the contents of the piece of parchment and then asked. "So we have to be prepared for a protracted battle?" "He told us that his former lord would soon find out about his importance ande looking for him, so then it''s best not to reveal our next move, or we''ll only be left with more trouble afterwards." Her wordspletely put Jon''s mind at ease, now that Lily was at least in a state where she was not overwhelmed by hatred, and had been clear about what she wanted to do, as well as judging exactly how to go about it, he can just treat it as a game to rx. So Jon didn''t bother to interfere with the decisions she made, just doing as Dumbledore said and getting Lily back in case of absolute danger, the rest of the time he could just follow along and feel at ease as a spectator or at most act as a helper. After getting the legal proof to move around Britain in this magic joke shop, they didn''t stop, and then they left Diagon Alley and arrived in a grey city through an Apparition. Wherever they looked in the city, they could see severalrge chimneys, giving the impression that ck smoke was constantly billowing out of them at every moment. The city is situated on the edge of a dirty river, the banks of which are strewn with wrappers of French fries and potato chips, and the water is so ck that there is no sign of life in it. A typical industrial city with an extremely bad living environment, simply by living here, one would probably not be in a good mood every day. "Where is this ce? Professor Potter." Jon asked as he breathed in the tar-filled air. "Cokeworth, my former hometown." Having heard that answer, Jon raised an eyebrow and didn''t ask any further questions. Then with Lily leading the way, the two soon arrived at a rundown mugglene called Spinner''s End. Thene was lined with dpidated brick houses with windows that looked dark and lifeless in the daytime. The dirty river was right next to Spinner''s End, and the fishy smell from the river was not so strong, as thene itself was already stinky enough. Lily led Jon to the veryst two-storey house at the end of thene, where the two stopped. The house didn''t look like anything specialpared to the surrounding buildings, the front door wasn''t locked, and you could walk in with a gentle push. Noticing Jon looking around, Lily took the initiative and spoke up. "This is Snape''s home." Jon couldn''t help but subconsciously think about the meaning in that statement, although the very sound of Snape''s home made it sound out of ce, he hadn''t popped out of some rock after all, this so-called his home was where his parents had once given birth to him and raised him. After taking a fresh look at the filthyne where the house was located, information about Lily and Snape came flooding back to Jon''s mind. If he remembered correctly, Lily and Snape would have lived in the samene and grown up together as childhood friends. But soon he didn''t have time to think about that anymore, because Lily had already walked into the unsecured room, and Jon could only follow at a quicker pace. The house was a mess, with various pieces of furniture that had obviously been deliberately rummaged through by someone and discarded randomly all over the ce, even the murals on the walls hung crookedly as if they had been inspected by someone. "Was this ce searched by Death Eaters?" It was easy for Jon to guess what had happened here before, "Snape was taken away by us, and it would be normal for the Death Eaters to search the ce where he used to live thoroughly, but if that''s the case, is it possible that they still might have left Aurors around to keep an eye on the ce?" Just as Jon was looking into some hidden part of the alleyway suitable for hiding and making observations, Lily had finished examining the firece that was piled high with firewood that was only half burned. "This is where he met us earlier." Lily looked in the direction directly opposite the firece, where Snape hadst revealed the background before ending the Floo powder transmission feed. "If he dares to re-enter here and not return to the side of the lord who abandoned him, that means there is no Auror left around to watch." With that, Lily picked up a newly dated copy of the Daily Prophet, which was tossed just beside the firece. The front page of the news had long since stopped featuring the Triwizard Tournament, and as the ultimate loser, it was only natural for the British side to try to y down the impact of their defeat on the Triwizard Tournament in Britain, and the easiest thing to do that was to try not to mention it so that one-day people would be drawn to other things and actively turn the page on it. And the recent news has basically been some news about changes in positions within the Ministry of Magic. Firstly, there was a change of head of the Auror office, and there was spection that Draco''s abysmal performance in the Triwizard Tournament had angered the gentleman and that Lucius had been removed from his position in the Ministry because of it, and was now sitting idle at home doing nothing. Even Slughorn, who had been the "dedicated" Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation for the past two years, was transferred from his position as Head of the Department to the Secretarial Division of the Minister of Magic''s Office. These were extraordinary signs, and even more unusual were the vague rumours in the sub-page of the Daily Prophet that the great gentleman recently seemed to have wanted to set up a brand-new school of wizardry in Britain. The newspapers reported the matter in such a verbal manner that it seemed as if the journalist who wrote the article had seen the new school of wizardry being set up with his own eyes. But Jon, who read the article, didn''t believe half the letters written in it. The notion that Voldemort wanted to set up a new school of wizardry was nonsense, at best a pretext to appease the wizards in Britain. Not to mention whether he had the energy to build a school of wizardry or not, and even if he did, what about the students? Dumbledore had taken away all the purebloods and half-bloods who were fit to enrol in the school, to France! Would Voldemort''s new wizarding school have to begin again with first-year students? This was obviously impossible, it was just that the supposed establishment of a new school of wizardry might have sounded exciting for a while, but wizards are not fools, and they could quickly react to the fact that the rumour was a joke. ---- #Toontown Hero, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 431: The Dursleys (2 in 1) Chapter 431: The Dursleys (2 in 1) Jon stared at the copy of the Daily Prophet, in thought. "Is this something Snape deliberately left for us to read?" Lily after tossing the newspaper aside continued to search the room. "Whether it was deliberate on his part or not, it doesn''t matter." Jon nodded, the things in the newspaper really weren''t a big deal, just some poor political manoeuvring by Voldemort to appease the British magicalmunity after the failure of the Triwizard Tournament. It wasn''t even a patchpared to what the other him had done before. But Voldemort''s own prestige was still there, so even if he did nothing, Britain would not be in chaos, unless he himself was ufortable and insisted on doing some big bloodbath. They spent enough time quickly checking every room in Snape''s house, but no oddities were found anywhere. Just as Lily started to cast an Apparition through the rooms, starting with the bedrooms, a series of sonic booms in the air suddenly rang out from the living room! Both Jon and Lily reacted quickly, the cloak of invisibility was in Jon''s hands, and they didn''t hesitate, they instantly draped that cloak of invisibility over both of them, and together they hid in a secluded corner. Just as their bodies were concealed, a series of footsteps came from the living room. It was a male wizard with a long horse-like face who pushed open the door to the otherwise hidden room, scanned the empty bedroom and, after finding nothing, turned back to whoever was in the living room and opened his mouth toin. "So what the hell did they send us over here to find? Didn''t an Auror alreadye over and search the ce three days ago? There was nothing here except some useless potions, and now they''re making use all the way over here for what?" The voice that responded to him was a cold female voice. "Now that we''re here, and you''re asking me about it, I received the task from Barty with you, why don''t you ask for rification in front of him?" The long-faced male wizard turned and returned to the living room. "It''s not like you don''t know that ever since he returned from that tournament, Crouch has be strange, he hasn''t shown a friendly face to anyone, he doesn''t even pretend anymore, so who dares to ask more questions." "Since we don''t have the guts to do that, let''s stop nagging and start searching now, once we have searched this house in its entirety, we can go back and resume our duties." Jon and Lily looked at each other from under the cloak of invisibility, of all the people in the British magicalmunity, Aurors were basically all half-bloods and none of them dared to call Barty Jr. by his first name, the two people who hade to Snape''s house were clearly "fighters" of a higher status than Aurors, that is, they could only be Death Eaters! Lily quickly refocused her eyes on the living room, which was cleverly positioned so that they could see the firece right from the open bedroom door. And as the two whined and searched the room that Jon and Lily had already searched in its entirety and found nothing, then eventually a witch in a ck leather jacket suddenly set her eyes on the firece, which was still covered in ashes! "Come here! Selwyn,e and see this!" The long-faced male wizard named Selwyn soon came to the witch''s side, and together they saw the ashes in the firece. It was the easiest thing to spot, the ashes hadn''t even been cold when Jon and the others had arrived here, and they still held a residual heat, obviously left over from some time recently. Then there was the wood in the firece that had been half burnt and then extinguished, the length of time it had taken to cool was something that could be easily discerned. "Someone has been here today!" The expression on Selwyn''s face became stony as he looked around with a wary and suspicious observation, then held his wand, which he had been holding in his hand, up in front of him. Jon also gripped his wand under the cloak of invisibility, and just as he was about to make a move to finish off the two Death Eaters before they could report anything unusual about the ce, Lily suddenly grabbed the arm he was holding his wand in. Jon looked up and Lily shook her head at him, clearly signalling him not to do anything rash just yet. Soon the two Death Eaters had rechecked the whole house up and down, they hadn''t spotted Lily or Jon, yet they hadn''t let their guard down either. "You go back first and bring in the Floo Network Authority from the Ministry and have them check if this firece has had any recent use of Floo powder, and if so, find where thatnding point is!" After hearing this, Lily withdrew her hand that was holding Jon down and then extended her own hand, the one that was holding her wand. Just as the male wizard named Selwyn was about to use Apparition to get out of the room, a fallen chair at his feet suddenly turned into a rope as thick as a baby''s fist and bound his feet! Since it wasn''t a straightforward spell, the shield charm on Selwyn didn''t show any signs of triggering, so he just fell to the groundpletely bound! The witch in the leather jacket reacted quickly too, except that Lily''s silent spell-casting left her with no way to identify the direction of her enemy''s location. It wasn''t until the sound of an incantation that she instantly locked on to her target, but when her eyes looked over, only a green colour filled her vision! "Avada Kedavra." Struck by the killing curse, the witch no longer had any chance of surviving, and with that, her body fell straight to the ground with a horrified expression still on her face. Selwyn, the one who had been bound by the ropes from the Transfiguration spell, with a grim expression, fought to raise his upper body from the ground and aimed the wand in his hand in the direction where Jon and Lily had already lifted the cloak of invisibility off first. "Avada Kedavra!" Once again the green light shed across the room, but unlike the leather-jacketed witch from before, Jon had been prepared for such a counter-attack, and as he pulled the cloak off, he also held up a broken board that looked like a tabletop in front of him, and Selwyn''s killing curse struck the board, leaving only a charred crater and unable to do any more damage. After deflecting the killing curse, Jon dropped the nk in his hand and rushed to Selwyn''s side with a single fluid stride, his ringed left hand outstretched, the general counter-spell that had been activated instantly erased the shield charm he had been maintaining, while the tip of the wand he held in his right hand began to glow with red light! The next moment, the full body-bind curse struck Selwyn, who was struggling desperately to swing his wand back at Jon, and his body then went rigid, with only those vicious eyes ring at Jon. Lily came forward at this time and aimed her wand at Selwyn''s head, and soon a silvery memory was forcibly pulled from the Death Eater''s mind! Selwyn obviously began to resist violently, but magic like lumency was not something anyone could master, especially under Voldemort, either they could learn it to the extent like Jon and Slughorn that they could weave false memories so that no one could even notice that the person whose memories were being spied on had learned it, or they should not bother learning it. Or else when one day their lord suddenly wanted to view their memories on a whim, only to be hindered by the lumency, wariness would be raised about their intentions to learn this magic. A strand of memory was drawn out while Lily nced at the leather-jacketed witch''s corpse and said calmly to Jon. "The killing curse should be used sparingly, at most as a means of necessity. Even if you can control the hostility in your own mind, the dark magic of this magnitude will still affect you in a subtle way that you as the person in question will hardly notice." She had drawn all the memories she needed, and as she spoke, she nudged a shard of teacup aside with the wand in her hand. "If it''s a desire to kill, then there are actually many means to do so, and there is absolutely no need to use such magic with side effects." The very next second she spoke, that teacup shard turned into a short de under the effect of a transfiguration spell! Selwyn''s bloodshot eyes were filled with fear, and then the de fell out of mid-air and plunged straight into his chest! Blood spurted out! Jon''s eyes could not help but twitch, he was not sure if the killing curse had a subtle effect on his consciousness, but the bloody scene in front of him would have been difficult for the average person to experience without being affected. After finishing the two Death Eaters, Lily didn''t want to stay here any longer, she took Jon and left Snape''s house. It wasn''t until after they werepletely out of Spinner''s End that Jon asked in confusion. "Why don''t we just strike and capture them both? Now this way the British Ministry of Magic, if they react quickly, will probably notice their deaths in two hours at the most, and when they send someone to investigate, they''ll surely be able to trace the source of the Floo powder, and then find Knockturn Alley based on that, and maybe get the information that Snape has escaped back to Britain based on that." "There''s no way to alter a Death Eater''s memory so easily without them finding out." Lily exined softly to Jon, "They have special internal screening, the same as within the Order of the Phoenix, everyone who returns from a mission is checked for memory integrity and likewise tested for the Imperius Curse, this testing is not always 100% urate but if there is a problem found then there is no mistaking it. So it''s no use us catching them at all, the British Ministry of Magic was already doomed to discover the trail of Snape the moment they arrived at Snape''s house." Jon rubbed his chin and nodded. "So doesn''t that mean that if they keep following the trail and go to Knockturn Alley for clues, they''ll simply find something wrong with the memory of the owner of that potion shop, and we''ll be found out as well?" Lily said tly. "So since we''re going to be found out sooner orter, we might as well just kill these two right here, at least we''ve made a profit with two lives." Jon continued to nod in deep thought, Lily was acting more murderous than he had expected. Instead of just using the Apparition to leave the city, they analysed the situation at hand along the foul, stinking river. "These two Death Eaters suddenly stopped by at this time to search, could such a coincidence have something to do with Snape? Did he deliberately reveal something to the British Ministry of Magic and then have them block us in here?" Lily shook her head. "From what I could hear in the conversation between the two Death Eaters, the person who gave them the order was Barty Crouch, and if it really was Snape who revealed the information to the Ministry of Magic, then it''s unlikely that he would have sought this man out. The second piece of information he told us about the location said that sooner orter Voldemort would find out about his importance, and it''s not beyond the scope of coincidence that those two Death Eaters just came over for that purpose." Jon turned his head to look at Lily. "So what do we do now? Do you have any more clues about Snape, Professor?" Lily didn''t make a sound at first, she just looked silently at a grey building in its ce, lost in thought. It was only after a long time that she resumed the conversation. "Since we''ve both re-entered Britain, Jon, I wonder if you''d be willing to do me a favour?" *** "Dudley! Come on, your mum''s already got some delicious sausages and steaks ready!" Vernon, whose neck was about to drown his chin, shouted in the direction of the stairs. Soon there was a violent "thud"ing from the first floor as if something heavy was tumbling on the wooden floor. A boy who looked very much like Vernon, and was just as fat, stared at the table with small eyes as he descended the stairs. "I told you, I need the stamina!" He yelled out in discontent, "Roast elbows! I told Mum I had to eat it to beat my opponent in the most heroic stance at a boxing match! Not these usual steaks and sausages!" In stark contrast to the father and son figures, a thin and lean Petunia carried the sd from the kitchen to the table while offering reassurance to her son. "Don''t worry babe, I''ve got it all ready, we''ll have sizzling roast pork knuckles this evening, so let''s get padded up with these for lunch." Dudley reluctantly sat down at the table, he looked in a bad mood, fork in hand, poking at the slice of steak with a reluctant look on his face. Just then, the doorbell to Dursleys house suddenly rang. "Open the door! Honey, I''ve got work to do!" Vernon looked up at his son just in time to meet those little eyes, and all he could do was drop the knife and fork he was holding and get up and walk in the direction of the door, all the while muttering. "Well, well, let''s see who the hell is interrupting this fine lunchtime." Dudley stared at Vernon''s movements as he forked over the sausage that was still on his dad''s te and took half of it in one bite, all the while looking in the direction of the door. Vernon opened the door, he didn''t see anyone at first and only after looking down did he see a kid with some brilliant blonde hair and a smile on his face waving a greeting at him. "Hello, sir, may I ask if this is the Dursleys?" ---- #Toontown Hero and #Fiendsjoke, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 432: Taking Control of the Situation (2 in 1) Chapter 432: Taking Control of the Situation (2 in 1) Vernon couldn''t help but pull that fat face as he looked at the boy in front of him who looked to be seven or eight years old at most in appearance. "If you''re being a mischievous kid, I promise I''ll have you caught by your mum and dad." Jon pulled his wand out somewhat helplessly, there were times when an appearance like his was the best cover, but equally, there were times when it would be much more inconvenient. To Vernon''s eyes, he simply saw the boy in front of him pull a small wooden stick from his sleeve, and then his whole body slid aside as if out of control, making some way to the door. As Jon walked into the Dursleys'' living room, there was a person who was halfway through the sausage stealing watching with small, shocked eyes as Jon moved his near three hundred pound father aside by using some kind of sorcery. Vernon froze for a couple of seconds before his face turned red and he shouted. "What did you just do! Who let you into my house! Get out!" Jon didn''t pay him any mind, the Dursleys were in a different ce now than they had been in the original story, as there had been a change in the middle without the adoption of Harry, so Vernon and Dudley, father and son, had no knowledge of magic nor the existence of wizards, and even the memories of their previous meetings with the Potters had beenrgely tampered with and erased protectively. And the only person in the family who had any knowledge of magic was Petunia. So, once Jon had entered the living room, he called out straight away. "Excuse me, is Petunia home?" Petunia, who had been busy in the kitchen, had of course heard themotion outside, and with her apron still on, she walked briskly out of the kitchen in a hurry while wiping her wet hands on it. "What''s the matter? Is something wrong?" She saw Dudley, who was at the table holding up a sausage that was still about half left, just reacting from his dazed state. "Mum! Mum! He just did that, and then this, and Dad flew off to the side! Yes, with the little wooden stick he was holding! That stick!" Vernon, for his part, did not speak, ironically, having heard from Jon''s shout that he was acquainted with Petunia. And Petunia''s whole face lost all its blood when she heard Dudley''s description and at the same time saw the little wooden stick that Jon was holding in his hand! A look of horror passed through her eyes, and she subconsciously held Dudley behind her! "I have no more contact with that sister of mine! We have no contact with those people! Please! We''re just normal people! My husband and son don''t even know that world exists!" Vernon could see the panic Petunia was feeling at this point, and although he didn''t know exactly what his wife was afraid of, he did pull a baseball bat from a sideboard, and he threatened Jon menacingly. "Get out! Do you hear me, I don''t care who you are! You''re not wee here!" "No! No! No, Vernon!" Petunia looked like she was about to cry out in fear, "Stop it, they''re not afraid of what''s in your hands, they''re not even afraid of guns!" Jon couldn''t help but shrug a little breathlessly as he watched the chaotic scene. He could obviously see that Petunia was mistaking him for someone from the British Ministry of Magic. Petunia Evans, as Lily''s own sister, was once naturally registered in the British Ministry of Magic''s list of muggle and squib rtives, and when the British Ministry of Magic waspletely under Voldemort''s control, the Order of the Phoenix had proper arrangements for the families of its members, those who were willing to leave Britain were transferred to some safe ces in Northern Europe, and those who were unwilling to leave werepletely severed off the contact between the members and their families, and some even had their memories modified, and a new identity was made in Britain to cut off from the magical world and move on with their lives. Petunia, on the other hand, apparently fell into the second category; at that time she had already married into the Dursley family and had Dudley, plus she was not a witch herself, and the only channel ofmunication with the magical world, her own sister, had a very mediocre rtionship with her, so instead of epting the arrangement that the Order of the Phoenix made for them to be transferred to Northern Europe, the Dursleys stayed in Ennd. Petunia was also the only one in the entire family who still had memories of her witch sister and the wizarding world. Neither the period two years ago when Voldemort hadplete control over Britain, nor the current war between Dumbledore and Voldemort, had affected the Dursleys, which had made Petunia on the verge of forgetting about the danger from another world. Until today, when Jon had suddenly found his way here, and the information about wizards in her head was still stuck on the fact that the Death Eaters had overwhelmed the Order of the Phoenix and the whole of Britain was under Voldemort''s rule; so the first thing Petunia could think of was that her rtionship with Lily had been exposed, and Jon was naturally Voldemort''s man! "Calm down Mrs Dursley, if I were really the group you think I am, then there would be no need for all this nonsense at all once they walk in the door, they are superior freaks who would feel insulted at the sound of your voices." Jon pulled a chair out from the side and sat down, he hade on this trip on Lily''s behalf to help her confirm some spection about what Snape was going to do next, so he was probably going to be in this living room for a while next. Petunia did also see that Jon was obviously not carrying any malicious intent and her face, which had turned red from nervousness, gradually calmed down. From what she knew of those people, if Jon had reallye to capture their family, he would have done it straight away when he walked in the door, and wouldn''t have bothered to do much talking at all; once they were captured, there were plenty of means in the magical world to pull information out of their mouths and minds. Of course, they didn''t really have any information on them, the only thing the Dursleys could be useful for was being used as hostages to threaten Lily, whichbined with the fact that Lily had always been treated special because Snape had got special permission from Voldemort, had led to the fact that no one had ever thought she had a sister for over a decade. Since Jon wasn''t Voldemort''s man, it was only natural that he could have found his way here in rtion to a different group of people. Petunia stared hard at Jon''s face like she wanted to see something on Jon''s expression. "Did that sister of mine send you over here? Did she find another man?" Hearing her second question, Jon froze for a moment before trying to understand exactly in what direction Petunia was thinking at the moment. "I''m a student of Professor Potter''s, not in the way you think." Jon said with a breathless look on his face, "Aren''t you guys eating? Don''t mind me, there are things you can talk about while you eat." Petunia didn''t rx at thisment from Jon, she stared at Jon''s face and said with a somewhat sombre expression. "So what are you doing here looking for us? You were already about to be driven out by that man, so Lily was left with no choice but to have youe to my house and ask us to protect you?" Jon was losing his patience a little, he could understand Petunia wanting to protect her family from getting involved with anything that was dangerous, but at least she had to find out everything before concluding, and how could Lily do something like that if the Order of the Phoenix was about to be destroyed and spill over the danger to her sister. He raised the wand in his hand, the tip of which lit up with a red shimmer, while his eyes lit up with a golden me. "Let''s sit down properly and talk again, shall we, Mrs Dursley and that Mr Dursley in the back who is trying to swing a baseball bat at my head, I''m not making this trip to bring you trouble, but to help you out, so please don''t test my patience." Just as he spoke the bat in Vernon''s hand instantly came out of his hand and flew into mid-air, no longer under his control, and Petunia was forced to sit at the table as if she had been forced into a chair by some force. Jon actually understood why Lily was reluctant toe over on her own, if she hade to the house then the situation would only have got worse, probably Petunia would have tried desperately to get her out of the house at the first sight of her and would not havemunicated calmly in any way. Vernon, rmed and angry at Jon''s manoeuvres, when he sensed that his wife was resisting Jon, instead of giving up the fight when the baseball came off, he rushed to the phone and shouted threateningly. "I don''t care what you are! Whoever sent you here in the first ce! Get the hell out of here! Get the hell out of my house right now! Or I''m going to call the police, boy!" "Langlock." Jon aimed his wand directly at Vernon, and the next moment Vernon''s tongue was glued to his pte, unable to shout any more except for a whimper as his face turned red, and he covered his mouth. Petunia, on the other hand, was stunned by the scene before her, she had already decided that since Jon was on Dumbledore''s side, and with such a young appearance, he would surely not just cast a spell on a muggle, but now it waspletely out of her expectation. Just as she was about to scream out, Jon redirected the tip of his wand at her. "I can certainly give you one too, ma''am, if you''re not calm enough." Petunia shut up and at the same time quickly held the head of Dudley who was too slow to react and wanted to scream out but hadn''t had time to open his mouth yet, saving him from the tragedy of bing just like his dad. "The world has finally calmed down." Jon breathed a long sigh of relief, and he spoke straight away, not caring whether Petunia was in the mood to listen to him now or not. "Now finally you can listen to me seriously right, the wizarding world isn''t as dominated by the Dark Lord as you thought, he has suffered a major defeat in his recent year of annexing the French wizarding world, not only did he fail to take over France, now it has be our base; he also lost the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in a recent wizarding tournament. You know the school, so you should be able to understand what this means, that is to say, we have escaped the situation of exile that we were in before, and have a considerable advantage over the Dark Lord or you could describe it as such." After giving a brief ount of the situation at hand, whether Petunia believed it or not was another matter, Jon went on to say. "It was also recently that we not only reimed Hogwarts but also captured one of the Dark Lord''s top henchmen and an acquaintance of yours, Severus Snape, a name you might remember." It was obvious that Petunia''s pupils constricted for a moment after she heard the name. "We caught him, but he was cunning enough to escape from France through the help of a lousy old man who wishes to remain anonymous, and is now in Britain but unable to rejoin his original lord, and he knows about Professor Potter, and I am here in Britain to hunt him down; Professor believes that there is a good chance he will be after you guys next. Of all the wizards in the whole of Britain, he knew the most about Professor Potter, and he knew you, so if he wanted to find you, then it wouldn''t be difficult to find you, so just in case, the Professor had mee to your house first and give you a clear picture of the situation while she would try to keep watch, and in the end, even if Snape didn''te, you would have to move away from here for a while, just to be safe. " At this point Jon paused for a moment, he waved his wand in his hand as Petunia and Dudley looked on in horror, and the next second the kettle on the table flew up on its own, pouring a cup of tea into a mug which then flew into Jon''s hand. After such a long speech with a somewhat dry mouth, Jon downed the cup of tea that he, the guest, had entertained himself with. "Was I clear enough? Nod your head if I am." Petunia instantly nodded her head like a chicken pecking at rice, but without Jon''s permission, she didn''t dare make half a sound. Seeing her performance, Jon turned his head to look at Vernon behind him who could not separate his tongue from his pte no matter how much he tried. "And what about you, Mr Dursley? If you can guarantee that you will stop shouting then I will help you to have the magic removed from you, or of course, if your performanceter proves that you actually cannot then I can help you to keep your mouth shut forever." Jon had a wicked grin on his face as he said it, it was clearly a threat. But Vernon couldn''t take that as a threat, and he didn''t dare take it as such, he could only keep nodding his head over and over as Petunia had done. Jon kept his word and lifted the spell from him, and Vernon gasped violently as he looked on in horror at Jon, then ran to his wife and son and shielded them in his arms. He moved in such a way that Jon felt like he was some kind of great viin. He didn''t care though, the Dursleys obviously had a low eptance of special events, especially as Petunia herself had some issues with wizards and magic, leaving them with no way to have any sort of rational mind to interact with Jon as a wizard. So Jon had actually thought about this possibility before he came, and if they couldn''tmunicate peacefully, then even if they were intimidated, it was better than them being foolishly yed by Snape as a tool man and maybe thrown to Voldemortter. As for what they thought of themselves, Jon didn''t care at all. "You may speak now, so what do you have in mind now? Mrs. Dursley." ---- #Fiendsjoke, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 433: Family Chapter 433: Family "Are you saying that Snape mighte looking for uster?" Those were the first words Petunia spoke, her voice trembling, obviously showing great fear at what Jon was saying. It was also clear to Jon that Petunia should have known all about Snape''s former position among the Death Eaters, otherwise, she couldn''t have been so terrified of the "snotty" boy she had known since she was a child. But Jon was relieved that they were finally able tomunicate effectively without him having to go through all the trouble of talking. "It''s just a possibility, Mrs Dursley, and it''s very unlikely, it''s more likely he''ll try to lure you in some other way." "So. What exactly would be the way?" Petunia asked, shivering. Jon shook his head. "I wouldn''t know about that, after all, I''m not Snape. But at most, we''ll wait through the afternoon, and if nothing has happened by the time the sun goes down, it means he''s not targeting you, and in that case, if we encounter any situation, I''ll have to ask your advice on what to do after that, whether to continue to risk staying here or to follow me to France for the time being to avoid getting separated." Vernon could not resist calling out at this juncture. "Why should we go to France! We are certainly not leaving our home! It doesn''t matter whoes, that Snape fellow or whatever, the big deal, we''ll call the police and let them know all about it! Don''t you think so, Petunia!" However, Petunia didn''t respond to Vernon''s question, her eyes remained locked on Jon while she continued to ask. "What''s the worst possibility of encountering a situation if, if we choose to stay in Britain?" Jon gave her a serious analysis. "The worst case scenario is that if Snape has a bad opinion of you; after he''s done using you, he''ll pass on the information that you and Lily are rted directly to the British Ministry of Magic, and then nine times out of ten that Dark Lord will send someone to take your family away, andter either threaten Professor Potter by holding you, or take control of your bodies and actions, and then after that, as you can probably imagine. Regardless of your role orck of it, you would have ended up in a miserable situation." "It wasn''t supposed to happen to you guys." Jon said bluntly, which was what Professor Potter had asked him to help convey, "If it wasn''t for Professor Potter, your family would be living a normal and peaceful life, but it''s because of a sister like her that you''ve been pulled into danger, so she has an obligation to keep you safe, which is why I''m here, but again. The final choice in this matter is yours, and in the end, it is up to you to agree toe with me or not." "Dudley has to go to ss." Vernon turned red, not daring to look at Jon, but at Petunia, "Don''t be frightened by his nonsense, Petunia, we have a normal life to lead, we can''t all move to France for no reason!" Petunia, however, still didn''t look at Vernon as she continued to ask Jon. "Which means that Dumbledore is going to start a big war with that man in Britain sometime in the future isn''t it?" "That''s for sure, we''re not giving up on taking back Britain." Petunia''s attitude came down firmly. "We''re going with you, whether Snapees today or not!" Vernon looked at his wife with an incredulous look on his face, as if he couldn''t understand how she had actually made this decision, and Dudley was even more reluctant. "I have a tournament topete in! If I go I won''t have a chance to get the title!" Petunia didn''t cate her baby boy as nicely as she always did, but just said to Vernon without blinking her eyes. "Trust me, Vernon! Those people are not something normal people can deal with! It''s not just a matter of dying if you fall into their hands!" Normally in this household, it was Vernon who usually made the decisions, but if Petunia was firmly determined on something, then Vernon, as a husband, would not object to it. Even a middle-aged man like Vernon, with all his ws, can be fearless in protecting his family. So there are times when using preconceived notions to look at people is an absolutely wrong approach; you can''t deny everything about a bad person, nor can you affirm everything about a good person. Once both Vernon and Petunia had epted this decision, it was useless for Dudley to object any more, it was a form of coddling to keep him safe, not to mention the fact that Jon, who had just scared him, was still around. Things went smoothly after that, with Jon staying at the Dursleys'' house, sitting in the living room and flicking through the magazines that had been ced on the coffee table. And the Dursleys'' finally finished their lunch in a bizarre atmosphere, and after Petunia had gathered everything up in the kitchen, she looked at Jon with an air of desperation. "No need to be so formal madam, Professor Potter usually takes care of me a lot, so I don''t really have much animosity towards you guys, and I have to say sorry for the little unpleasantness I just had when I walked in, although the underlying purpose is still to get you guys to calm down and listen to me properly, but, no matter how I exin it I''m a viinous guest who burst into your house, so if there''s anything you want to ask, just say." Jon''s words did help Petunia to let go of a lot of her apprehension, as Jon had acted a little less like a Dumbledore when he had first entered, with a deadly determination that the Order of the Phoenix didn''t have. But Jon wasn''t really like that, he had just spent thest two days with Lily and couldn''t help but catch a bit of her habit. "I just wanted to understand." Petunia had a slightlyplicated expression on her face, "Lily how she''s been over the years. How''s her life been?" In the end, it was still her own sister, and of course, Petunia''s first instinct when in danger was to make sure her current family couldn''t get hurt first, but, it wasn''t like she would just be so indifferent to her own sister. Jon could guess what she was trying to ask even before she opened her mouth. "Actually if you think about it, you can see that she''s actually living a pretty average life, we always see Professor Potter all by herself at school, in fact, if you still want to maintain some kind of bond with her, I suggest you talk to her moreter on, after all, you were once a family no matter what." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 434: Plan (2 in 1) Chapter 434: n (2 in 1) Voldemort looked indifferently at the fallen corpse before him and slowly withdrew his wand. The high-ranking purebloods all stood trembling on either side, peeking at the corpse in the middle that had lost all its breath and its temperature had begun to turn cold, and some of them had suppressed panic running across their faces. "I don''t care what kind of agreement I had with you before, and what kind of benefits I divided up." Voldemort''s voice was not loud, but it reached the ears of every person present. "From now on, the only thing I want is obedience! Unreserved obedience! I have brought you to a lofty position, then you must be prepared to offer me everything at any time, no matter what it is, your wealth or your life, it will all be part of the deal. Now is there anyone else who does not understand?" There was silence in therge hall, and no one made a single sound, as if everyone had be mute. Voldemort seemed satisfied with the reaction of his men, he did not demand absolute loyalty from all of them, because very often when one is strong enough, then one can forciblymand the loyalty of all. Just as the meeting was about to end, a Death Eater suddenly hurried from outside and whispered something to Voldemort. Only a few people had the guts to look at Voldemort''s face now at this time, and those people could obviously notice that Voldemort''s face turned a little strange after he heard the news. Yes, very strange. After that, he didn''t bother to say anything to this Death Eater right away but turned his head to the man who had reced Lucius, the newly appointed head of the Auror office - Igor Karkaroff. That''s right, not only had he not been reprimanded in any way after he had fled back from France after abandoning Beauxbatons, but he had been given an important responsibility by Voldemort to take over the position held by Lucius after his dismissal, in charge of basic policing throughout Britain. "What about the things I asked you to look into?" Karkaroff bowed his head, not daring to look Voldemort in the eye. "I looked into the name Prince, as you had instructed, and found that a wizard in a particrly high position within the Ministry of Magic did previously hold a position within the Department of Mysteries and that you had given him permission to enter and leave any room within the Department of Mysteries. We then discovered that he once had a special room within the Department of Mysteries that was used for making potions, and we traced some of the remnants of the materials and things in that room to a shop in Knockturn Alley, and we just sent someone there today, and I was going to wait until the results from Knockturn Alley were known before I reported them to you." Voldemort, however, sneered. "Report back? What else is there to report? The so-called Prince is Snape." Hisment left everyone in the room puzzled, and it was not clear what Snape could do even if he had used the alias of Prince. But Voldemort didn''t look like he wanted to exin it to them, he just talked about something else. "Just this morning, in Snape''s home in Cokeworth, Selwyn and Travers died, one from the Killing Curse and the other from a lethal weapon made using Transfiguration, and in the very house where Snape used to live, signs were found that the Floowork had been privately connected and used that day. They traced thework to a potion shop in Knockturn Alley, the owner of which had been memory tampered with this morning, concealing the memory of a wizard named Prince who had been in contact with him and had suddenly appeared to withdraw a sum of money from him, and had used the firece in his shop to leave, after which a mother and son iming to be Nott broke into his shop and extracted all his memories of this Prince." After hearing Voldemort''s statement, an older, genuine Death Eater with the family name Nott looked up in a panic. "My lord! This is certainly not someone from my family!" "Do you think I''m stupid, or are you too clever?" Voldemort looked at him with gloomy eyes, "I would not even be aware that this was just a false identity?" "No, no, my lord, I" "If you think you are that clever, can you tell me why I should bother talking more about this?" Nott stammered, his head and back covered in cold sweat, ever since the Triwizard Tournament their lord''s temper had started to be more and more vtile, and he had started to kill more freely, so it wasn''t because he couldn''t guess, but his mind was running wild, would he die if he answered the question, or would he die if he didn''t? "Snape got away from Dumbledore!" Voldemort looked at him coldly, looking like he had had enough killing for the day and was not prepared to carry on looking for someone to kill, "Dumbledore''s men are after him and have located his home and met up with Selwyn and Travers!" Even though many had guessed this possibility before Voldemort spoke, it still came as a shock to many when Voldemort said it himself! Was it really possible that a captive of Snape''s calibre could have escaped? Was it possible that Dumbledore was plotting something? Or had Snape been controlled or even surrendered? After all, everyone knew that this outwardly aloof guy was actually a dog licker (simp), and if Lily could really put aside her former hatred to be with him, it was absolutely possible that Snape would surrender. As for the reason why Snape didn''t contact the Death Eaters and return to Voldemort immediately after he escaped back to Britain, no one asked. For everyone knew how he had been captured by Dumbledore in the first ce. After a long moment of silence on the scene, Voldemort suddenly said. "Find him! Everyone go and find him for me! I don''t care what method you use, you must bring Snape back alive! Remember, bring him back alive!" Together, the Death Eaters knelt around his feet and answered in the affirmative. Voldemort''s gaze then turned to the Nott who was also on his knees as well. "That person who went after him into Britain is nine times out of ten that filthy woman, I remember she has a sister and her family still staying in Britain, you take a few men and go and get her sister and her family." Nott raised his head tremblingly. "Lord, Lord, what do we do if, what do we do if we run into Lily Potter again now?" Voldemort was silent. Since no one but Nott looked up to see his face at this time, no one but Nott noticed the real thoughtful expression crossing his face at this point in time. After a few seconds, he spoke again in a faint voice. "What you did before, you will do it again now, and bring her back alive too!" The moment he said this, it brought bitterness to the faces of many Death Eaters around him. Over the years, Lily had acted recklessly in every siege against the Order of the Phoenix just because of the special treatment she had received from the Death Eaters, causing significant casualties to the Death Eaters. And now just when they thought that Snape was gone, and they could finally be relieved from such a constriction, they actually still couldn''t do anything to the woman at all. Soon Voldemort was out of the room, and the Death Eaters were finally able to take a breather from their lord''s recently growing oppression and get up off the ground. Some nced pityingly at the corpse lying on the ground, just before this meeting had begun, they were all still fellowrades. The vast majority of them then used Apparition to leave, not daring to dy the orders Voldemort had given them, while others dawdled, watching the others around them as they gathered in the direction of Barty Jr. These were all people who were not on the list of the Sacred Twenty-Eight but were still standing here, which meant that they were the new purebloods who had benefited from the bloodline reform over a decade ago. "Crouch, have you considered the matter?" Someone spoke up and asked Barty Jr. and the new school purebloods around them all looked up at the male wizard who had maintained his position even after the failure in the Triwizard Tournament when Snape had been abandoned and Lucius had been discharged. Barty Jr.''s face was calm. "Consider it? Why should I bother to consider anything about this?" The purebloods around him froze, they had thought that this was something that Barty Jr. would basically not refuse, as a number of them had seen the change in his face in front of Hogwarts castle back then. And now that Voldemort had changed so much, the little moves and preparations they had made in private afterwards had allowed them to "anticipate" some of Barty''s thoughts. But now, the result was the opposite of what they had thought. "Why? Do you really think that the current lord is the same as the previous one?" Someone lowered his voice and said, "What do we gain by working for this madman? A killing curse that will appear out of nowhere? We need to find our true lord! Only he can lead us, and only he can bring the purebloods forward!" Yet Barty Jr. remained unmoved as he simply looked faintly at the man who had spoken. "I will not tell the lord what you have said today, but you should know very well exactly what you are talking about. If you want to go and find whatever true lord you are talking about, then do it yourselves and don''t drag me along, my loyalty will not be given to someone who doesn''t know what they are talking about." With those words he disappeared from the crowd, leaving behind the new school purebloods to stare at each other in disbelief. *** "You''re a student?" Petunia''s real surprise at Jon''s words was this, "Doesn''t Hogwarts only ept students who are at least eleven years old for admission?" Jon couldn''t help but ruffle his blonde hair at the question. "How can you assume my age based on looks alone? To introduce myself, my name is Jon Green, a fourth-year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, 15 years old now, but you can count it as 16 years old." With thisment not only Petunia but even Vernon, who was sitting in the back calming Dudley, couldn''t help but stare with those small eyes. Petunia even looked at Jon from top to bottom. "Excuse me, is there something special about you? Or have you always been like this since you were a kid." "It''s magic that turned me this way temporarily, I''ll be back to my old self in a month or two at the most." Not wanting to dwell too much on the subject, Jon changed the subject and said. "After I drop you off in France, you''ll probably have to wait a little longer to see Professor Potter, who won''t be able to return until she''s done with hertest task." Petunia was silent for a moment before she suddenly said. "She''s looking for Snape isn''t she?" There was nothing to hide since Petunia had agreed to follow him, Jon was sure not to let them fall back into the hands of the Death Eaters. "Yes, that''s why the Professor is back in Britain, otherwise she would be in France right now clearing out the scum." Jon said as he took a sip of the tea. The new Ministry of Magic that Iniesta had formed promoted equality for all, but the wounds suffered by the muggle wizards during Voldemort''s reign in France had to be paid for by someone, and at an internal meeting of the Witching Horizon, at Jon''s suggestion, the extent to which these people would have to atone for this would have to be decided in a public trial (show trial). Even the former students of Hogwarts Castle who had been brought to Lyons had a small public trial within the school, the vast majority of whom were certainly not guilty, but would still be punished to varying degrees for all the crimes they had previouslymitted. As the initiator, Jon was actually quite interested in this public trial, but unfortunately, he couldn''t attend it now. The conversation with Petunia didn''tst long before the Dursleys started packing up their home. As for Vernon''s job, Jon assured him that someone would help him with the end of his handter on, even if he came back from France to rejoin afterwards. As for their lives once they were in France, of course, Witching Horizon would take care of that. And so Jon waited at Dursleys until the sun was setting, just as he was looking out at the clear yellow sky, the little bit of sun that remained was about to setpletely, and thinking that the whole day had been a waste of time. An owl suddenly streaked across the sky and thennded in front of the Dursleys'' window, carrying a letter in its talons. Jon''s spirits lifted as he pulled open the window and took the parchment from the owl''s talons, and with a mere scan, he finished reading the letter, which had neither an addressee nor a sender. Then his eyes narrowed, and he turned his head to look at the Dursleys. "Is everything packed?" Petunia nodded with a nervous look on her face. "Then hurry up, we''re leaving now!" And the very next moment Jon said those words, a different kind of spell suddenly enveloped the part of thepound where the Dursleys now reside! Muggle-Repelling Charm! And then the door to the living room shattered with a bang! Three figures in ck robes and iron masks appeared outside the door! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 435: One Against Three Chapter 435: One Against Three The moment the Muggle-Repelling Charm had enveloped him, Jon had reacted! Snape had definitely timed the delivery of that message to make sure that someone would be present here at the Dursleys'' house! And as the door to the room was blown open by the Death Eater''s spell, Jon rushed to the Dursleys'' side, and at this moment, seeing the three men in masks and ck robes, Dudley was the first to be unable to stop himself from screaming. Golden mes red up in Jon''s eyes! Most of the phoenix''s abilities required him to use them after he hadpleted his transformation, but there are still some that Jon could use intuitively once he had partially changed the magical properties within himself! The next moment, without chanting a spell or waving a wand, an ethereal song rang out and the nirvana fire that belonged uniquely to the Phoenix suddenly lit up around the three Death Eaters! Nott hadn''t expected any kind of resistance at all once he arrived at Dursley''s house with his men. He had only nned toe alone, after all, it is only a family of Muggles and there is no need to waste any other manpower, but hunting down and especially capturing Snape alive is an absolute chore, so immediately two friends who are usually close to him offered toe along with him on this mission given by Voldemort. It wasn''t a big deal, so Nott had no reason to refuse, but just after they had set up all the preparations to avoid disturbing the neighbours by breaking into the Dursley house, there was an unexpected counterattack! Looking at Jon, who looked like a 7 or 8-year-old boy, at first Nott and the others didn''t immediately raise their guard, as all wizards knew that even for children of wizarding families, the official time to start learning magic was after the age of 11. But once the golden mes, which were not warm enough to be felt, had surrounded them, Nott knew they were wrong! The mes did not cause them any direct damage, but the moment they burned, they caused them a pain that was deep in their souls. The pain was somewhat like a Cruciatus Curse, but not as intense as the Cruciatus Curse, yet you could clearly feel the burning sensation building up in your soul! The next moment they felt the burn from these mes, a wave of panic rose in Nott and hispanions'' hearts. All magics concerning the soul were extremely rare in the magical world, but as long as they were rted to the soul, there were basically no easy spells to deal with, the most famous of which was undoubtedly the three Unforgivable Curses. One kills the soul, one tortures the soul, and one controls the soul. The mes that Jon used were not something they had ever seen before, but they could not help but make a subconscious connection with the Unforgivable Curse. And also just as they began to dodge away from the golden mes, Jon waved his wand. "Stupefy." He heeded Lily''s words, trying not to use the killing curse if he could, not to mention the fact that if he could capture one of them alive, he could also probe into how far Voldemort''s side knew all the things going on targeting Snape these days. The red spell shot straight at the Death Eater on Nott''s left, who had some time to dodge and react after hearing Jon''s chanting, but didn''t try to dodge again because of the shield charm he kept on him, instead trying to get out of the range of the golden mes as quickly as possible. But the spell was not blocked by the shield charm, as he had expected, and at some point, this magical protection had been consumed by the golden mes, and the spell hit him unhindered and straight on! The next moment, he fell to the ground without incident, and those golden mes on the groundpletely enveloped his body in an instant! Luckily for him, both Nott and the other Death Eater were still dependable enough that one of them started a counterattack on Jon, holding his attention while the other grabbed the arm of his fallen and unconsciouspanion and pulled him out of the golden mes. "Avada Kedavra!" Without hesitation, Nott used the killing curse. Even if these people had only seen a picture of Jon in his young state in the newspaper, the fact that he could use such magic despite his current appearance was enough for him to identify him as someone who was recently making a name for himself in the magical world. For Jon, Voldemort and the Death Eaters alike, the goal was the same from top to bottom. Kill! Kill when you can, without the slightest hesitation! Not to mention, now that all the Lestrange main family''s deaths have been ced on Jon''s head, as no one believes that Voldemort killed Emil, along with the death of Be, the Rodolphus brothers and Brandon. Even if Jon was wrongly used of ughtering a family, it was certainly his fault for making them extinct. At such a young age and with such ruthlessness towards the pureblood family, it was only natural that none of the Death Eaters would have any good feelings towards Jon. Jon watched the sh of green light and muttered silently, "The bad guys are really unscrupulous, and the good guys are restricted everywhere." Then he simply moved his body to the left and dodged the ordinary killing curse that was cast out while waving his wand and making spell-casting movements. The effects exerted on his body before the sess of the Animagus transformation did not disappear with the eventual sess but were slightly enhanced again. Allowing Jon''s reaction speed and physical fitness today to exceed that of the average adult, so it was not difficult to dodge the killing curse. The curse struck the wall behind it, leaving a ck crater resembling a big bullet hole. The Dursley family, hiding in the kitchen, saw the scene in horror; there was no way they could get involved in this fight unless Vernon could clutch a gun at this point and maybe pull off a dirty trick. After making his dodge, Jon didn''t keep his attention on Nott, but stared at the Death Eater who had just escaped from the range of the golden mes, dragging his unconsciouspanion with him, and gripped his wand abruptly in both hands. "Close your eyes." These words he spoke were addressed to the Dursley family, and just after the words fell, the incantation rang out from his mouth. "Sectumsempra!" He held his wand high, and as he swung it down, his body began to dodge and twist, dodging the second attack that was followed by Nott while pointing the tip of the wand straight at the Death Eater who was roaring out the shield charm incantation! Petunia subconsciously closed her eyes, and she protectively cradled Dudley''s head in her arms to keep him from watching the scene in the living room. "Bang!" A sound like ss exploding suddenly rang out, followed closely by the muffled snap of a sharp object cutting into flesh! "Psst!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 436: Dismembered Chapter 436: Dismembered Petunia shuddered and squeezed her eyes shut, and she helped to blind the already stunned Dudley. Of the three Dursleys, only Vernon didn''t keep his eyes shut, and then he saw the blood-red sight! In his eyes, he simply saw Jon dodge a second green beam from Nott with extreme dexterity, while waving the small wooden stick in his hand, and then chanting an unknown incantation. Then the blue light reflecting off the other Death Eater who was still standing shattered with a bang! Then the eyes hidden behind the iron mask gave an unbelieving look and his body began to separate from the waist as blood, guts and entrails gushed out! And the wall behind him, which had been clean and t, was now left with a huge gaping gash! As he grew older, at the age of 16, the strength of Jon''s magic had grown to above 80 percent than that of a normal adult wizard, and this, coupled with his already superior willpower and the strength of the spell he was casting with both hands, allowed him to use this invisible sword attack with more than twice its normal power! The Death Eater''s makeshift shield charm couldn''t resist it, and was split on the spot! Vernon looked at the scene with horror on his face, his mind was nk at that moment, just shing back to the time when he had just seen Jon, when he was about to attack him with his bat, and when he had picked up the phone and said he was going to call the police, he felt like he had been on the edge of life and death countless times today! Then his stomach turned over, and he began to cover his neck and vomit down. Jon was nauseous too. He had really restrained himself, and since the Killing Curse could unknowingly affect a person''s state of mind, Jon had refrained from using the killing curse after this morning. Although the Invisible Sword Curse is also dark magic, the degree of darkness is certainly nowhere near the level of the three Unforgivable Curses, so he doesn''t have much to worry about when he uses it. But with the current results, in terms of affecting his mind, he had the feeling that the Invisible Sword Curse was not as civilized and friendly as the Killing Curse. Jon still had time to think about this, while Nott, who was trying to put pressure on him, gasped in horror at the fact that three minutes ago three men had broken in forcefully, and were fighting three against one, but now he was the only one left standing! Even the normally vicious Nott could not ept such a brutal and bloody scene. He had already started to back off, and even if Voldemort punished him, as long as he didn''t die, then he would ept it! Many of the Death Eaters had heard of Jon''s reputation, but for a student who was still at school, even with his glorious record, most of them remained dismissive, thinking that a student who was not even in his fifth year at a school of wizardry could not be that powerful. Now, it wasn''t clear what others thought, but at least Nott knew that there was a difference between this student and other students at the School of Wizardry! Then, he used Apparition! Without half a moment''s hesitation, just as Jon was about to turn his wand towards him, his body twisted and the next second, the whole man disappeared from Dursley''s house. The senior masked gentleman was surprisingly fast in his Apparition, even to the extent of being able to silently cast the spell, and he didn''t even consider taking his teammate who was still lying on the ground after being hit by the stunning spell with him, which made Jon not able to react for a while. But it didn''t matter if one of them got away, there was no way to hide the fact that someone from France had chased Snape here, and Jon wasn''t afraid that the British magicalmunity would find out who he was. After learning the Phoenix''s Animagus, he was arguably the least likely wizard in the world to be killed or caught. If he could really focus the attention of all these Death Eaters on himself, he would also be doing Lily on the other side a great favour. Instead of letting Petunia and Dudley open their eyes, Jon dragged the unconscious Death Eater over to the Dursleys. "Keep your eyes closed, hold what you''ve packed, and open your eyes again when I tell you to." A blushing Vernon squeezed his eyes shut as well, before Jon snapped his fingers and his whole body lit up with a golden red light! He turned into a bird with bright red feathers on his body, except that the bird still looked a little juvenile in size and appearance, obviously because he had just died once not long ago and had not yet reached adulthood when he was resurrected. But that didn''t stop Jon from using the phoenix''s natural abilities normally. He stood on Petunia''s shoulders, a glow from his body wrapped around the Dursley family of three, and finally everyone, along with their luggage, disappearedpletely from the ce where they were! *** "Prince? Yes, that''s the name." The male wizard sitting in front of Lily was clearly not in his normal state now, as he said with an expression that looked a little dull. Lily looked at him with an expressionless face and continued with her question. "So he has purchased many kinds of precious materials from you here at your ce?" "He''s a big customer, every year just after the Christmas season he buys a designated batch of potion materials from this ce." The male wizard replied. "Do you keep a list of those potion materials?" "Yes, it''s in the second drawer of the cupboard in my room." Lily didn''t rush to get the list of materials but continued to ask in a low voice. "Has anyone elsee to you inquiring about the name Prince recently?" The male wizard answered quickly. "Yes, just two days ago, they hid their identities, but I could tell they got to be very influential in the magicalmunity, and that kind of cloak is not something that can be bought by the average person." "Did you tell them everything you know?" "No. I don''t think so." The male wizard clearly hesitated when answering the question, though Lily could tell he wasn''t hesitating to say anything, but really remained sceptical about that memory in his head. "I don''t think I told them, but I think I slept that day, and then those people disappeared." Lily looked deeply at the merchant in front of her, who specialized in selling some precious and scarce potion materials, and the information he was now saying had obviously been exined to another gang of people at one point two days ago. It was even questionable whether the list of materials that was still in his drawer was still the original one or not! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 437: Clue Chapter 437: Clue Lily still took that list of materials. It was just that she threw the piece of parchment on the floor casually after taking one nce at the materials listed at the top of the list. This could never be something Snape would once have had to go through the trouble of using an alias to buy. All these ingredients, even if he had bought them openly and directly in Diagon Alley it wouldn''t have raised any suspicion, as they were allmonly used in the normal production of potions. Lily turned to the male wizard, who was still under the effect of Truth Serum, and then abruptly asked it in a slightly different context. "Do you still have the inventory list of your warehouse stock afterst Christmas?" The male wizard then spoke up. "It''s in the bottom cupboard of the bookcase." Lily instantly turned around and went to find the ce the wizard had mentioned and rummaged through it, pulling out a thick pile of inventory lists from various periods and soon found the one from afterst Christmas! Most of the magical ingredients needed special storage and preservation time, so herb merchants like this usually made sure they received arge deposit from their customers before helping them proceed with their orders and usually didn''t store them for long periods at all. That meant that at the point in time when Snape came to get his materials after Christmas each year, the warehouse should only contain materials purchased by him alone or by a handful of people. She didn''t need to know exactly what Snape was buying, and it was unlikely that Snape himself wouldn''t be prepared to mix in a few temporarily unused ingredients with therge number of materials he needed to cover his tracks, which was amon sense tactic for any Potions Master. Lily only needed to pay attention to those materials that had a very limited shelf life and were particrly precious and hard toe by. Sure enough, on the inventory list, Lily really did see something very different! She looked at the names of the ingredients and squinted, her mind shing to several potions that she would need it for, but before she couldpare the other ingredients in the list, a series of sonic booms suddenly appeared in the living room outside! "I got the information from Karkaroff, Aurors found this supplier of potion ingredients after being given the task to investigate Snape''s alias Prince by our lord, this guy is a half-breed, but has a lot of connections with the Shafiq family, so he has been controlling the trade of those precious potion ingredients." After the sonic boom sounded, a string of conversations also came from the living room. Lily immediately held her breath, the only people who could have Apparated in a wizard''s house with such impunity and brazenness were those from the British Ministry of Magic! Sure enough, through a gap in the door of the study, she saw four wizards dressed in ck robes and iron masks, dressed as Death Eaters, along with an Auror of the British Ministry of Magic. "Atkins, why are you still sitting there! Can''t you see the lords! Stand up now!" Just as the Auror was admonishing the male wizard who was sitting on the sofa with his head hung low, seemingly not half-responsive to these sudden intruders into his home. One of the Death Eaters suddenly sensed that something was wrong! "Wait, go check his statu-" Before he could finish his sentence, a wand protruding from the Study swung abruptly down! A silent spell was cast with a st! A dazzling explosion of fire burst through the confined space, giving the Death Eaters and Auror present no time to react! But the Purebloods who had fought with Voldemort through the First Wizarding War were not a bunch of pampered losers like their next generation, who could not even use the shield charm properly. They kept their shield charm on during any mission and were always on guard against any sneak attack, especially when two Death Eaters had already died for this task in Snape''s old house! But Lily had been dealing with these Death Eaters for years and knew their habits and psychology well enough. Before the Death Eaters could locate their attackers, Lily pulled two small balls out of her pocket and threw them into the living room! Before the smoke from thest sting Curse had dissipated, the two new sts continued! It was a bit of a stretch for the shield charm the Death Eaters maintained on their bodies to hold off a round of sting curses, and even if the two Weasley Orbs that followed were slightly less powerful, they would still be enough to break their shieldspletely. "Bombarda Maxima!" Finally, Lily used the strongest variation of the Exploding Charm on the ceiling above the heads of the Death Eaters, and the next moment the whole building trembled while she grabbed the male wizard who had been woken up from the effect of Truth Potion and was shivering under the coffee table directly and used Apparition to leave the ce. The entire ceiling shattered intorge chunks and crashed down, Lily''s flurry of attacks happened so quickly that her silent spell and throwing of the Weasley Orbs was done almost instantly, and the moment the explosion urred, which was when the Death Eaters were just trying to prepare their counterattack and reinforce their defences, the ceiling shattered! "Move! Get out of here! The building''s going to copse!" A Death Eater shouted, yet it sounded like not many of hispanions were responding to him, the air only resounding with one or two infrequent sonic booms, and all he could do was mentally curse and then immediately use Apparition to get away as well. But while some were still able to escape safely, two Death Eaters whose heads had been hit by rocks and who had fainted were already sprawled out on the ground, along with the small two-storey building, which stood alone in the wilderness, copsing with a crash andpletely submerging itself! The loud noise here startled a flock of birds in the distant woods, while beneath the trees a pretty woman sitting on her knees on the grass with a cup of tea in her hand, looking as if she was having a pic, watched the scene from afar. She took a gentle sip from her cup of ck tea, and the smile on her face was as charming as it could be. Miss Coulibaly, who had arrived from Devon at some point, whispered softly to herself. "Work hard, Severus. And you, stupid as hell, other me." *** After Jon had dropped the Dursleys off in France and left them in the hands of Professor McGonagall to settle in, he then rushed back again and waited at the rendezvous point he had agreed with Lily. Dumbledore had given him the task of keeping Lily safe in Britain, and it had been a bit of a risk for the two of them to move separately on this trip. But Jon wasn''t a mum, and Lily wasn''t a child without the ability to defend herself, so he didn''t need to follow her every step along. Of course, to be on the safe side, Lily had a feather from his own Animagus transformation ced on her body to locate her whereabout. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 438: Potion Chapter 438: Potion Every time he had got Fawkes'' feathers before, Jon had actually pondered whether there woulde a time in the future when the feathers on the phoenix would be pulled bald as well. It turned out that when the time came for him to turn into a phoenix, he would actually face this problem as well. The form in the state of Animagus is of course based on the various parts of the wizard''s body that change together when in his human form, including some of the adornments worn by the wizard at the moment ofpleting this magic, which are incorporated into the transformation. The most typical example is when McGonagall turns into a tiger-spotted cat, there is a pattern of sses around the eyes of the cat form, which is a fusion of a specific item. The feathers on Jon''s body after he turns into a phoenix are actually the various body hairs of his human form, most of which are simply his hair from the head. If he really gets his hair pulled in an uncontrolled manner in a short period of time, he will really appear to be bald after he turns back into his human form. Just as Jon was pondering whether his hair growth would be affected if he had excessive feather pulling in the future, Lily''s figure suddenly appeared beside him, carrying an elderly male wizard who was shivering in her hand. Jon rose to his feet from the ground at once, and Lily, having rejoined him, immediately grabbed Jon''s arm and led him away from the ce at a brisk pace. "How''s Petunia''s family?" Lily asked in a clear voice as she grabbed Jon''s arm with one hand and dragged the older male wizard with the other. Jon quickened his pace to keep up with her. "I''ve dropped them off back at Lyons and handed them over to Professor McGonagall, I did run into a problem at their house, three Death Eaters came to the door looking for them, I killed one, captured one and thest one got away, then I handed the one I caught over to Professor Lupin, they''ll probably be able to get quite a bit of information out of his head soon." After walking quickly away from the rendezvous point where they had been before, and making sure for the moment that no one else had followed Lily''s trail of Apparition, Lily grabbed the male wizard and instructed Jon. "Wait here while I send him back to France, there''s still quite a bit of information to be asked from this man." Jon nodded instantly, then he watched as Lily and the male wizard disappeared from his sight again. During the previous period when the former Voldemort had controlled the British magicalmunity, the whole of Britain had been monitored for Apparition magic movement by the Ministry of Magic; to use cross-country Apparition magic, one had to apply to the Department of Magical Transport, and all private cross-country Apparition movements were illegal. In the most serious cases, Auror would simply follow the traces left by the Apparition and trace it abroad, and even a pureblood would be questioned by the Ministry of Magic when he re-entered Britain to exin the reason. And now, because the Triwizard Tournament had just ended, and the current Voldemort had also carried out some major changes to the top echelons of the Ministry of Magic, a temporary state of paralysis in the basic work of the Department of Magical Transport had been caused, and the extremelybour-intensive task of monitoring all aspects of Britain''s Apparition had been temporarily shelved. Of course, such information was not avable to the wizarding public outside, but there were obviously some internal channels avable in the Witching Horizon. Jon didn''t have to wait long, and in ten seconds or so Lily reappeared at his side. She looked dusty as if she had just stepped out of a construction site, and it was only then that she had time to use a cleaning spell on herself to clean up all the dust. Without rushing to talk about their experience today, Lily led Jon to the central street of the town and found a restaurant for their first proper meal of the day. They hadn''t had a serious meal during the day in the rush to get there, in fact, Jon could have dined at Dursleys'', but unfortunately things hadn''t gone too well when he had arrived at lunchtime, and so the meal hadn''t been possible. Once the food had been served and no one else was around, Lily ate and exchanged softly with Jon about what she had learned today. "I found out that Snape''s alias, Prince, used to buy potion materials from the supplier, the wizard I just sent to France. He had in his possession a catalogue of the batch of materials that were necessary for Prince''s persona each year." "You found that catalogue?" "Almost sort of found it, but the ingredients are so disorganized that it''s impossible to tell without further clues exactly what kind of potion he''s trying to make, but there''s one thing I can probably guess." Lily''s gaze flickered. "He''s been making some sort of very important potion for that lord of his before." Jon asked thoughtfully. "Why would you say that?" "If he needed these ingredients for himself, there would be no need to bother using a false identity and finding a third-party supplier for the ingredients at all. He used to be the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts Castle and also a Professor of Potions at Pureblood House, with his position and connections he could have used Hogwarts'' resources to get these materials, which would have been much easier and more cost-effective." "But now he''s using the Prince persona, which means he doesn''t want or someone wants to keep it from being noticed by the others that making this potion has something to do with Snape. And when we saw him this morning he said that when his lord reacted, he would be reaching out to him on his own initiative. The only person in Britain who could have the authority to order him to do so would be his lord. But as a result of this Triwizard Tournament, Voldemort has inherently changed, and he wasn''t aware at first of how important Snape was to him, but by now he has finally reacted to the fact that no one but Snape can help him make the kind of potion he needs to use." "So while we were at Snape''s house a second investigation into his ce was made, and it happened to coincide with us, and today while I was following this ''Prince'' identity I also met up with a team of Death Eaters who had apparently dug up this identity of Snape''s as well." Jon nodded thoughtfully as he followed Lily''s train of thought and asked. "So what we''re trying to figure out now is just what kind of potion was Snape making for Voldemort before? That would actually cause him to have such an after-effect that he can''t stop being able to be free of it?" Lily didn''t answer this question from Jon, as she sipped from her bowl of creamy onion soup and recalled the list of ingredients she had seen in the evening, every suspicious ingredient on it was etched in her mind. So what kind of potion would these ingredients, if made into a potion, actually be the kind of potion that Voldemort couldn''t free of and that only Snape could make? ---- #Mihael Medved, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 439: The Hogwarts Public Trial (2 in 1) Chapter 439: The Hogwarts Public Trial (2 in 1) "He approached me. The so-called transferring me from the Department of International Magical Cooperation to the Secretary''s Division of the Minister''s Office on an equal footing, that''s what it''s all about." The old man, who was eating crystallized pineapple, said with a grin in Dumbledore''s office. Dumbledore rubbed his brow, he didn''t have any free time these days. "How did you answer him?" The old man licked the remaining frosting from his fingers and then spread his hands. "What else could I say? Since he had treated me with such great trust, then naturally I had to tell the truth. That thing is hard to brew, but I can''t be worse than Snape by any means, but the hard part of it is that the pre-brewing requires a lot of material to strengthen the feel of the craft, and, to ensure sess every single time, you need to have at least more than five attempts at making it, and for me to be able to fully rece what Snape once was, he needs to give me time." Dumbledore asked calmly then. "And then what?" "Then of course he had asked me to do the preparation work from then on, and there was no one else but me around him who was capable of making such a potion and still having guaranteed loyalty. Of course, on Snape''s side, he had likewise stepped up his efforts and made preparations for both, and Snape was still his first choice if he could get him back again, no matter what methods he used, it was his first choice to get him to work for him again willingly." Speaking of this, the old man wiped his hands as he asked with some difficulty. "I''ve actually never been able to figure out how on earth you managed to convince Snape? Is it really just this abandonment by his lord that haspletely broken his heart? I never could tell before that he was all that loyal?" Dumbledore showed some emotion in the face of this question. "It''s not that he didn''t have much loyalty before, it''s that he''s never been loyal to anyone. He is cunning, evil and insidious in your eyes, but all the choices he has actually made have been simple and pure in a way that one would expect." The old man frowned. "When will this bad habit of yours of keeping others in riddles change?" "When when you no longer need me." Dumbledore grinned and winked, getting up from his seat. The older man followed suit and stood up with him. "Now that you''re settled in France, some of the students have been able to see my name from some of the newspaper articles about my position in Britain, have they reacted to it?" "It hasn''t raised any major suspicions yet, as very few photographs havee out about you, they just assumed it''s someone with the same name, after all, you''ve been dead for almost three years now, who could possibly think that your death was a fake at this point." Slughorn, who had appeared in France somehow, couldn''t help but bristle at Dumbledore''sment. "At least my student found out on the spot, didn''t he? Now that I think about it again that night really took me by surprise, and if you hadn''t helped me get my wand back, there would truly be a shame in being a teacher." They walked towards the outside of the office, not many professors or students passed in the corridor and even if they did, there was no way to tell who Slughorn was from the way he looked now. Dumbledore said softly as he led Slughorn towards the outside of the building. "Your student has surprised everyone over the years. It is just about time to take a look, there was a great deal of controversy within us before on how to properly dispose of those people brought back from Britain, only for Jon, who was on the sidelines, toe up with what I thought was a very good suggestion. Some people still had some doubts about it, so we simply took Hogwarts as a pilot project first, after all, we brought back quite a few former Hogwarts students this time as well." Slughorn said with a nod. "In fact, if we just punish these purebloods alone, it''s not a problem, unless someone in the middle is deliberately covering up for them, there will basically be no problem as long as they are dealt with severely, the key point is, now how to go about resolving this idea of bloodline brought about by the Dark Lord. There were disputes over bloodlines, but they were always in the shadows, now they have been cemented into policy and implemented in Britain for over a decade, for French wizards it is fine, but for British wizards, it is a different story." Dumbledore said in agreement. "Yes, you are right, this was also found in those students we brought back from Hogwarts Castle, purebloods and half-bloods alike with their unwarranted condescension and arrogance, treating the muggle wizards coldly and cruelly based on their bloodlines. And the older muggle students brought back from Britain, our people have done their best these days to correct their original modified memories, but their cowardice and inferiority and reverence for the bloodline that is engrained in their bones cannot be changed so simply. It is on this that there has been much discussion within the Witching Horizon, and that is just what we are facing in France, if and when we do retake Britainter on, how on earth are we going to reformte their mindset into that of normal people when we are faced with all the wizards in Britain who have been ruled by the bloodline ss for so long?" "Jon made a very interesting proposal in that meeting, he said that it''s hard to change habits once people have developed them, especially this already formed sense of inferiority or superiority, but we could use the opportunity to make a y on the trials of the purebloods and hold a massive public trial(show trial). Something like a kind of mass court, where every Pureblood who has been found guilty is judged one by one, in front of everyone, and the former oppressed are allowed to speak openly as witnesses to the treatment they have suffered, and everyone in the room decides what kind of punishment the person on trial should receive." Slughorn pped his hands with emotion after a long moment of thought. "A great idea, it should be an emotional release, no one would want to be a grovelling ve all the time, as long as the repressed emotions of those who were oppressed are brought out, there is some chance to change." "It''s probably going to start soon now, so we''d better go and see." Dumbledore led Slughorn to the open space outside the school, which was by now surrounded by students. Thergest number of them, naturally, was the former Hogwarts Castle half-bloods and purebloods who had been grouped into a separate section, and there were also distinct groups within these two sections, where a small number of them consisted mainly of half-bloods who had been carefully checked and interviewed by the Order of the Phoenix to make sure that they had done nothing evil in the school. But there was also arge part of them who were being manned at the moment by people like McGonagall, lined up in front of a raised tform. Most of these students had an obvious calm look on their faces, while some of the younger ones couldn''t maintain their "pride of blood" and were looking around with panic on their faces. The second most crowded group were, of course, the students of the Hogwarts wagon, with chairs set up around the raised tform, where they were sitting and watching the castle students waiting for the trial, whispering and talking. Next to the wagon students were a small group of fidgeting students, obviously the muggle students who had been oppressed at Hogwarts Castle and who seemed ufortable being out in the open, especially as they were sitting while the purebloods and half-bloods were standing. After the purebloods and half-bloods, all of whom who had their wands taken away, had been left in the care of the sixth and seventh-year-old students of the wagon, McGonagall, Flitwick and Lupin walked up to the high tform and sat at the long table on the side of the high tform, the three of them being the final judges of the trial and a safeguard to prevent the students below who might be in the heat of the moment demanding the maximum penalty no matter what offence they heard. Dumbledore, with Slughorn, whom no one could recognise at the moment, sat at the front of the audience, not there to be judges but simply to be spectators to thisrge social experiment of wizardry. "Jon told me that he didn''t pioneer such a method." Dumbledore said softly, "He said it was some Muggles who used it decades back to stimte and awaken those who had be numbed by oppression." Slughorn made no furtherment, for by this time this public trial had begun. McGonagall acted as the chief judge in this particr court, and after keeping order, she dered the trial to begin. At this point, everyone in the audience fell silent and looked at the first pureblood student to be brought up on the tform. It was a male wizard who looked old enough to be a seventh-year student nearing graduation. He was brought up to the high tform without being offered a seat and stood alone facing everyone else, while all eyes in the area were on him. This obviously made him feel even more nervous and flustered, his face still barely maintaining a calm expression, but with those white lips and trembling hands, anyone could see the unease in his mind. "Garnos Flint, former seventh-year Pureblood House student at Hogwarts Castle." McGonagall''s voice was cold as she stated the identity of the student standing on the raised tform while reading out the charges against him by checking the piece of parchment in her hand. "You are charged with having coerced a half-blood student, Assia Konrad, to submit to you, and with using Hedda Floyd and others, also of pureblood origin, to make further threats of death against that Miss Konrad, which ultimately led to her death, yes or no?" Hearing McGonagall''s words, the faces of most of the students in the audience below who were previously members of the wagon instantly froze a little. They hadn''t thought of the Inquisition as anything more than a special extracurricr event of a different kind, and even if the students in the castle had been bad before, how bad could they be? Hogwarts Castle was once a school in any case, so surely there was no need for any kind of outrage. But when they heard the charges against the first pureblood student on trial, many people were in disbelief, not expecting to see one used ofmitting murder right off the bat! Flint''s voice trembled and he denied it loudly. "No! I didn''t do any of this! We were two lovers, it was all Floyd, it was all that wicked woman who did it!" Murmurs rang out from the audience, but McGonagall''s face was unchanged as she continued. "Bring up the witnesses." Three people were soon brought up from beneath the raised tform, and all three were girls, and they were all a little anxious once they stood on the tform, especially the two girls who had been brought out of the group that was supposed to be on trial. "Villette Stahl, and Celia Peck, you are both former students of the Seventh Year Pureblood House at Hogwarts Castle. In your statements you have exined that you were involved in an incident of school violence against Miss Konrad and that this violence started because your friend, Miss Floyd who was not present, thought that she won''t be able to win Mr Flint''s favour because of Miss Konrad, which made her jealous, didn''t it?" The two underlying of Floyd nodded with pale faces like chickens pecking at rice. "Yes!" "Does Mr Flint know anything about this?" The two followers stole a nce at Flint, who was standing in the middle of the tform and found him looking at them pleadingly, but knowing that they were only aplices and that their guilt could be lightened by an honest confession, they did not hesitate to betray the former "Young Lord Flint". "He knew!" The Stahl follower shouted, "He knew everything about what Floyd had done, at the time Konrad had been avoiding him and rejecting his advances!" The follower whose name was Peck shouted after her. "I, we heard Flint''s friend talk about how he used to brag to his roommate that he had purposely let Floyd bully Konrad so that he could take advantage of the situation and create the best opening for his advances." Their confession brought a chorus of boos from the audience below, in disdain for Flint''s earlierment about the two being lovers. And McGonagall''s turned her attention to thest witness. "Misty Mesa, you were Miss Konrad''s roommate, and regarding the rtionship between her and Mr Flint, you testified that she was terrified of Mr Flint''s advances." "Yes, she was terrified!" Mesa looked as if she had gathered all her courage, "In Britain, there is no intermarriage between wizards of different bloodlines, even just having sex is a crime for the lower bloodline partner! So she''s always been terrified of the whole thing, but she can''t fight against it!" Hearing the testimony of these three individuals, Flint''s face turned pale to the core, knowing full well that his biggest lie had been exposed, that he was the main reason why Assia had been reduced to that, and that it was from his persecution! The mour from the audience below became louder, many of them deploring and despising Flint for this behaviour. Slughorn, sitting in the audience, however, noticed the reactions of the innocent half-bloods, as well as the former Castle muggle students who had sat down in fear at the moment. This was not a tragic drama about the difference between those with and without lineage, yet it was all the more appropriate for the first one to be held as a public trial. ---- #Mihael Medved, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 440: The Damned Bloodline (2 in 1) Chapter 440: The Damned Bloodline (2 in 1) In this conflict over bloodlines, the most vivid rtions are naturally between the side with bloodlines and the side without bloodlines. But in fact, from beginning to end, there was also conflict within the bloodline side, and it was not a small conflict at all. But many people were fooled by the appearance of peace in Britain, and those who saw the ring problems were too afraid to do anything about it, and were unable to do anything about it because of Voldemort''s personal prestige. But now in France, it is different. This is not Voldemort''s territory, nor is it the domain of the purebloods, and with no Death Eaters or Aurors to back up the noble blood, the issue between the purebloods and the half-bloods can bepletely stirred up. It would not only make those half-bloods who covered their ears and blindfolded themselves, pretending that they could hear nothing and see nothing, see the reality once and for all, but it would also aggravate the oppression that they usually put up with at Hogwarts Castle, which they consoled themselves that they deserved it. And so it did. The former students of the castle''s Half-Blood House were aware of what had happened to Assia, but they all assumed that Floyd, the "main culprit", had been "punished", and many of them, whilementing the loss of such a beautiful person, were relieved that they were, after all, not a mudblood, and even if a pureblood has done something wrong against them, there is still a price to pay, isn''t there? But now this trial is a severe p in the face of those who thought so in the first ce. The source of this school violence was Flint, a pureblood student from a stronger family and a purer bloodline, who was not only not punished, but he was not even included in the briefing on the internal disciplinary process at Hogwarts Castle. This made those half-blood students who still had empathy for the purebloods who had been pushed up to the high tform to be judged, unable to ept it anymore. We thought we were all on the same side, but it turned out that you never treated us like human beings! Such a thing made these half-bloods, whose three views had only been formed for a short time, all look at Flint, who was standing in the middle of the high tform, in shock and inexplicably, and they didn''t know what kind of expression they should be showing right now. Should they be angry? The half-bloods in the castle had received an influential education, but they were not really bad, and of course, they would feel angry when they heard such a god-awful thing. But should such anger be expressed? It''s not. How could half-bloods express resentment and discontent against purebloods who are much more noble than they are? Just as there was a mour for Flint to be punished severely by the students of the wagon and the former Hogwarts castle students were all still a little overwhelmed, Professor McGonagall regained control of the scene. "Let the next witness take the stage." So with all eyes on her, there was a girl with long pale blonde hair, slender and timid, being pulled by Hermione''s hand to the front of the stage. At the sight of the girl''s face, a gasp rang out from all the former castle students, and Flint stared at her with daggers in his eyes! "Impossible! She''s obviously dead! You must have had someone pretend to be her! You must have had someone pretend to be her!" Flint shouted, causing Flitwick to frown and gesture at the Weasley twins, who were acting as guards, on the sidelines. Then George took the hint and instantly held out his wand at Flint and the next second a rag was gagged over his constantly screaming mouth, and at the same time his hands and feet were bound in ce, both behind his back, tied up by the rope that had suddenly appeared. "Introduce yourself, youngdy." Professor McGonagall said as she looked at the girl beside Hermione. The girl looked nervous as she turned her head to look at Hermione, who gave her an affirmative look in response. "I... My name is Assia Konrad, and I''m a student of Hogwarts Castle Half-Blood House." Hearing her introduce herself, it was at this time that it finally dawned on the group of Hogwarts wagon students why the students of the castle had erupted in shock and Flint had said what he had said. The victim of this incident was actually not dead! "Can you tell us how you survived that incident?" As if sensing the unexpected amiability in McGonagall''s calm voice instead of the meannessced in the Professors, it eased much of the tension within Assia. "It was Hermione who saved me from the blood curse that I thought I was about to be subjected to that night, and helped to modify Floyd and the others'' memories and fake the scene in which I had actually killed myself to prevent any further harm to my family afterwards." The castle half-bloods couldn''t help but look over at Hermione standing next to Assia, none of them had expected that the person who had ended up saving Assia would actually be the one from the Hogwarts wagon. Between them, wasn''t there supposed to be an antagonistic rtionship? Slughorn could obviously see the brilliance of having Assia appear in this situation, and the very fact that she had been rescued sent a clear message to the other half-bloods. Dumbledore and his group had never been in opposition to the people of the bloodline, they had not only had muggle wizards in their ranks but also many half-bloods and even purebloods, and now they were not going to treat all the wizards of the bloodline in Britain as enemies, but instead they would help those who were being oppressed and just punish the perpetrators. This was essential, because it was important to ensure that the students brought out of Hogwarts Castle were not only stripped of their notions of nobility and inferiority but also to ensure that they did not think that under Dumbledore the so-called bloodline theory would be reversed, with the muggle-borns bing noble and the defeated bloodline people bing inferior. The best proof of this was the experience of Assia, who was helped when Jon had not yet won the Triwizard Tournament and when the conflict between the two sides was at its peak, with both pureblood and half-blood students in the castle treating the students from the wagon as if they were enemies. And yet it was these "enemies" who had risked so much to infiltrate the castle and rescue the half-blood student who was being bullied to death by the purebloods! The half-bloods opened their mouths, their feelings now even more mixed. The empathy when they had been brought here together with the purebloods who had also been brought out of Hogwarts castle at the beginning had now be ridiculous. All this while the trial on the raised tform was not over. "I know this may perhaps reopen your still unhealed scars, Miss Konrad." McGonagall said solemnly, "But can you tell us what Mr Flint and Miss Floyd did to you back then when you were at Hogwarts Castle?" As if thinking back to those days, Assia''s face turned a little pale, but Hermione, standing beside her, held her hand tighter and whispered in her ear. "It''s okay if you don''t want to talk about it, just tell Professor McGonagall your wish, it''s all right." Her words, however, instead of making Assia back down, caused her to take a deep breath and gather all her courage. "F, Floyd, she started bullying me when I first entered the castle, at first she just verbally abused me and called me a bastard in private, then she started practising minor Jinxes on me, saying that the mudblood students were only worthy of being experiments in muggle studies sses and that a half-breed like me would be more suitable as a target for her." "She threatened me at the time to not tell anyone else about that, or she would make my family suffer badly. At first, it was just minor Jinxes, but in thest year, she started to test the hexes and curses on me. At first, it was just a dark curse like the Invisible sword curse which only caused a hair size wound, and then,ter on, she started saying that she wanted me to help her learn the Unforgivable Curse." Everyone in the audience couldn''t help but hold their breath as they heard her tell the story. Seeing the fear in Assia''s eyes as she spoke of these memories, it was clear to all that these things would be a shadow that she would never forget. Her narrative also caused some of the Castle''s half-blood students to quietly lower their heads. What had happened to Assia was certainly not an isted case, and there must have been a handful of purebloods bullying half-bloods like this in the castle. "Is it true that you never once tried to ask for help from anyone else?" McGonagall asked. Assia pursed her lips. "Last year, Professor Carrow once ran into a scene where Floyd and the group were experimenting on me with a vicious curse, but she didn''t stop them then and told them, told them, that they were doing a good job" There was an uproar from the wagon students! They had tried to imagine the professors and students in that castle badly enough, but in reality, the wickedness that took ce in it was far more than they could have imagined. The first thought that came into the minds of the castle''s students was that this was something that the Carrow siblings could do! However, Assia''s narrative did not end there. "Fortunately for me, Floyd, she''s not proficient in dark magic, and her Cruciatus Curse will only make me experience some pain for a day or two at most; it won''t cause any more pain if I endure through it." Her tone was full of thankfulness, from the bottom of her heart, but the people listening to her story below were not able to share her thankfulness. "But when the academic year was about to endst year, Flint, noticed me because of Floyd. He found me privately and said he liked me and wanted me to be his girlfriend" As she recounted this, Assia couldn''t help but shiver, and none of the wagon students could understand why a simple word about him wanting her to be his girlfriend would make her feel so scared at first, but the students of the castle knew all about it. The hierarchy of bloodlines and the separation of boundaries let different bloodlines not think about the possibility of something happening between them. Except for a few half-bloods who had the whimsy to think that there might be a pureblood lord who would risk his life for them, sensible half-bloods never presumed to gain the favour of any pureblood, not to mention that Floyd, who had been tormenting and bullying Assia, was Flint''s fiance! If she were to learn of this, then Assia''s fate could be imagined. "I, I mustered up the courage to refuse him at that time, saying that it was not allowed by Sir Headmaster, and, besides, he had a fiance. But he said that I had no right to refuse him, that my mum and dad worked for the magicpany under his family, and that if I didn''t agree to him, he would make my family be tramps, and that he would continue to let Floyd torture me until she half-killed me, and then go to the professor and turn me in, saying that I had seduced him" At this point, everyone offstage looked at Flint with an increasingly unkind eye, and the more they listened, the more they could feel that this man was a scum among scum! "All I could do was beg him to give me a little more time, I couldn''t ept such a thing in a short time. He was impatient but agreed, but somehow Floyd heard about it the next day. She started torturing me even more violently than before until just before Christmas when she started nning to turn me into a monster using a blood curse and make me endure such a curse for all eternity, and then after that, then after that was when Hermione, she, she rescued me." As Assia finished her story, there was a brief silence below the raised tform, then all the wagon students rose from their chairs in anger as they rushed at Flint raising their wands high in anger and demanding that he be put to death on the spot! It was a good thing that there were still some new faculty members around who recruited after they arrived in France, to keep order, otherwise, the students would probably have cast a spell on Flint on the spot! And the castle''s half-blood students, many of them had sad expressions on their faces. It was in sympathy for what had happened to Assia, resentment at the purebloods for daring to say something like that, and anger at their own former self-delusion and stupidity. Their emotions were so mixed that it felt like a fire was burning in their hearts, it was so strong that it was in their throats, but they didn''t know how to vent it. At that moment, a figure among the half-blood students suddenly picked up a piece of mud from the ground and threw it towards Flint on the tform! The mud was thrown with perfect timing, hitting him right on the head, and all the castle''s half-blood students saw who the mud-thrower was. It was one of them, Cedric Diggory, one of the good old boys! His face was red, and he was panting heavily with rage as if the fire in his heart could not dissipate even after throwing the mud! "For what reason should there be such superiority or inferiority!" He shouted, "Why should people be bullied to the point of being treated as lesser human beings!" "Damn the Bloodline!" Those words were like the ignition of a fuse that created a massive explosion in the minds of all the castle''s half-blood students present! They finally knew exactly how to vent their unbearable inner mes, and exactly why and at whom they were going to explode! Like Cedric, they picked up the mud on the ground and threw it like maniacs towards Flint on the high tform, shouting at the same time. "It''s all because of this damned bloodline!" ---- #Mihael Medved, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 441: The New Gallows (2 in 1) Chapter 441: The New Gallows (2 in 1) There was mud all over the high tform. And Flint, who was restrained in the middle, looked like a mud man. The mud that had always been under his feet before, that he had never cared about and never paid attention to, was running down the top of his head and across his face, and it humiliated him to the core. Even after being captured and brought to France, at first Flint and many other purebloods were not worried about their fate. Their Sir Headmaster had not lost the war, their parents were major pirs in the British Ministry of Magic and even among the Death Eaters, and abusing or killing them would not do any benefit at all to Dumbledore and the others. The smartest move would have been to keep them under house arrest in France as a way of keeping the British purebloods at bay for the rest of the war so that even if they lost the warter, they could be used as a bargain. Add to this, the irony is that, although the half-bloods and muggle-born students don''t know much about Dumbledore other than him being a dark wizard, Dumbledore has always had a high reputation in pureblood circles. It was a very strange phenomenon, but indeed a reality, just as Lucius would have trusted Dumbledore''s promise to protect Draco more than that of his fellow Death Eaters. As such the pureblood students who considered the heir to their family knew that Dumbledore was in fact not some notorious dark wizard at all, as advertised in the Daily Prophet, but instead a good old man with a saint''s heart. But now that Flint had been treated like this, it had shaken his entire being. Listening to the shouts of the half-breed bastards below, he was unable to move his body, unable to wipe the mud off his face, and could only stare with resentment at Assia, who was still standing on the stage. It was all because of this bitch! And these bastards off the stage! Did they really think that this would mean victory and liberation for them? Sir Headmaster hasn''t lost yet, and neither the purebloods did! Sooner orter they''ll have to pay for what they are doing today. The purebloods are too lenient with the half-bloods in the end, they deserve to be squeezed as hard as ves like the mudbloods! They should all be treated like ves! ves worthy only of serving the noble blood for the rest of their lives! What Flint was thinking, of course, was unknown to the audience, and if it had been, the anger of the half-blood students would have been multiplied tenfold. This emotional outburst went on for some time before it was stopped by the faculty who were around to keep order, and then the mud that littered the raised tform was cleaned up with just one cleaning spell from Lupin. Flint looked a mess, but McGonagall''s face didn''t show any semnce of pity as she looked over at him. These students off the stage were just learning about all the things he had done to Assia, but McGonagall and the others had actually known for a long time that neither Flint on stage nor the pureblood students on stage who were awaiting trial were worthy of pity. At first, when Jon''s solution was proposed, McGonagall along with Flitwick and the rest of them were not really in favour of it. They felt that it would be too radical and insulting to the dignity of the purebloods, who were just a bunch of kids who hadn''t even graduated from school, who couldn''t be as bad as their parents, right? Jon didn''t say anything about it but suggested that they could finish the individual interrogations of the purebloods first and then decide whether to hold a public trial for them. Whether there was a public trial or not, the purebloods would still be subjected to a rigorous interrogation, especially as arge proportion of the senior students were already involved in their families'' operations, and each of them knew a lot of secret information about the British purebloods, which would be of great value to the Witching Horizons''ter operations against Britain. To ensure the uracy of the information they received, the Truth Potion was not used sparingly in this private interrogation, and it was after this interrogation that McGonagall and the others were silenced and no longer had any qualms about the public trial that followed. They even took the initiative to determine the minimum sentences for each of the purebloods participating in the next public trial, and they were all surprisingly consistent. After bringing the order back to the ce, McGonagall picked up another piece of parchment in her hand and read it out in a cold voice in front of everyone in the audience. "In addition to the crimesmitted in Hogwarts Castle, we have learned many crimesmitted by Garnos Flint, for which there was no witness or evidence, so we have obtained the approval of the Humanitarian Audit Department of the Wizards'' Equality Front to obtain necessary evidence by using a Truth Potion, and the results are as follows." "In 1994, in Flint Manor, he killed two living beings for the first time, ves assigned to serve his family. One was a witch named Stacy Angel, who had caught Flint while he was intending to rape her daughter, and in a panic he used a sting curse that he imed he had not yet fully mastered, blowing down the family''s storage room. Both Angel mother and daughter were killed there, and he fled from the scene in panic,ter after calming down, Flint together with the help of his family''s steward murdered Angel''s husband in his assigned room, and his parents covered up his crime by iming to the public that the Angel family had been executed by them for their attempted escape." "In 1995, also at the beginning of this year, after Miss Konrad''s affair took ce, he had returned home once after Christmas and to vent his anger for not getting Miss Konrad, he cast the Unforgivable Curse indiscriminately on the muggle wizards working in his family''s magical products factory, there were no fatalities in this incident, but his Cruciatus Curse made one of the muggle wizards to turn insane, who was subsequently evicted from the Flint household." The scene became quiet. The half-bloods, whose hearts had been burning with anger over what had happened to Assia, had be silent at the moment. Shouldn''t the mudblood wizards feel anger at these two incidents just like they did before? But when they looked at the mudblood students rescued from Hogwarts Castle, they all had numb expressions on their faces, calm at McGonagall''s deration of two crimes that were several times more brutal than the persecution of Assia, like this was the way it was supposed to be? But there was no way for the wagon students offstage to be numb. They all clenched their fists, their eyes zing with rage as if they could eat Flint up on the tform alive! This one was a pure beast! A beast who simply is not worthy of being treated with dignity! "And now, the sentence for Garnos Flint..." Before McGonagall had even finished her words, a shout rang out off the stage like an explosion of thunder. "Hang him!!!" Every one of the wagon students rose from their chairs in righteous indignation, their necks even turning crimson from agitation, all their voices converging into one phrase. "He must be hanged! This damned beast does not deserve to live in the world!!!" Even the half-bloods were infected, and together they rose from their chairs, shouting with all their strength, demanding that Flint be hanged! Of all those present, only the muggle-borns from the castle remained seated. They sat on the edge of their seats, looking around wondering if they too shouldply and join the others in standing up and shouting for the hanging of the pureblood lord on the tform. They were still a bit confused. It was normal for the others to be angry about the half-blooddy, who also had noble blood, but why were they so angry about what had happened to them, the "mudbloods"? Aren''t "mudbloods" born to be inferior? Isn''t this what they were born to endure? At this wave of shouting, at McGonagall''s signal, George untied Flint''s gag. "Is there anything else you wish to say for yourself? Garnos Flint." Flint was so flustered as he had no idea that he had actually been fed a Truth Potion, he just remembered that after lunch the day before all the purebloods had been taken into a room that looked like a nap room, then the men had asked them some questions, and then they had fallen asleep. When they woke up again it waste afternoon, and everyone thought it was just a normal lunch break, and there were even purebloods who gloated about it, thinking that Dumbledore would treat them well even after bringing them to France. But Flint now sensed that something was wrong, that the anger of the people off the stage was ignited, that even if the adults didn''t want to kill him, the students would drive him to his death. He shouted. "You can''t! You can''t kill me! I am still useful! All the captured purebloods are still useful! My father is the head of the Department of Magical idents and Catastrophes at the British Ministry of Magic! My mother is one of the Death Eaters! If you kill me they will surely fight you to the death! If you wish to fight your way back into Britain, you will pay a far more painful price! Leave me alive! You can trade me back! That''s what''s best and most beneficial for you!" He tried desperately to exin the pros and cons so that McGonagall, Dumbledore and the others, who truly controlled his life and death, would not listen to the students. But this is a public trial (Show trial). Perhaps even now, hardly any wizard in the wizarding world knew what a public trial (Show trial) meant. The moment he was brought to this high tform, the only people who could really decide whether he lived or died were those students off the stage! "Garnos Flint, to be hanged!" McGonagall made her final verdict! There was a tsunami of cheers and apuse as if they had done a great feat at this moment! Flint''s face turned deathly pale as he heard the verdict, his legs trembled, and he fell to the ground, his crotch became wet and smelled fishy at some point. When the execution by hanging was delivered, there was no dy, no postponement of the execution, no private execution avoiding the others, but in front of everyone, right here on this high tform, McGonagall used a Transfiguration to build up the gallows! Flitwick added the ropes to this gallows. Lupin ordered both George and Fred to work together to raise Flint from the ground. The cheers from all the students off-stage grew louder and louder, and even those muggle students from the castle couldn''t help but look inexplicably shocked by the atmosphere and stood up from their seats. Were they really going to be hung? Is it true that they were going to hang the innately noble purebloods? Even Slughorn, who was sitting in front of them, turned his head to look at Dumbledore with a shocked expression. After hearing about Flint''s crime, he was not surprised by the crime of the pureblood student; Flint was not a child anymore, he was a seventh-year student in the castle and would have graduated this year, which meant he is actually 18 years old and deserved to pay the price for what he had done. What he didn''t expect was that Dumbledore would actually dare to let such a group of children, the vast majority of whom were not yet adults, watch their enemies hang in front of a crowd of students, the youngest of whom had only just enrolledst year and were not even 12 years old, and the oldest of whom was barely 18! "Wouldn''t this be too cruel for the students?" Dumbledore just looked calmly at the raised tform as George and Fred jostled and gritted their teeth as they came to put a rope around the neck of Flint, who was already limp as mush. "Look around you, my old friend, do you see any semnce of intolerance or pity for this man on the stage in the eyes of all these young ones?" Slughorn didn''t bother to look, for he knew full well that if they could kill Flint with their own hands, these students would be scrambling to do it, and right now the Weasley twins who were hooking the rope on the stage were doing the job that everyone envied the most and wanted to do instead, and they were all dying for the scum-beast to die right now! "I know they all hated and wanted to get rid of that scum on the stage right now, but Albus, I don''t think these students need to be involved in this, it''s important to cut off the violence and cruelty in this generation right now, isn''t that what you and I want most, that these children don''t have to step into that bloody battlefield and watch lives die after they graduate from Hogwarts? So why bring such death to school now? Letting the verdict of this public trial be known by the end of the trial is enough, and the procedure for execution can be done entirely in private." "I was thinking the same thing as you before." Dumbledore said softly, "But that night Jon specifically approached me and stressed to me with immense seriousness that if there would be a public trial (show trial), then, by all means, let the students see this scene, this scene of the enemy being hanged by our own hands." "Only then, even in ten, twenty, thirty or even a hundred years from now, the students sitting here will not forget this day when they recall this episode. It will make them remember that our battles will never cost only the blood of our own people, but also the necks of our enemies!" "They themselves will learn, and they will teach their next generation to understand, that if any further injustice happens in the future, then even a streetmp by the road can be the new gallows!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 442: Who is on trial? (2 in 1) Chapter 442: Who is on trial? (2 in 1) Slughorn fell silent at these words from Dumbledore. Looking around at the wagon students whose faces were red with rage and fist-pumping, the castle half-bloods who were only now getting up the nerve to vent the fire in their hearts, and then at the muggle-born students who were standing up in the corner at a loss for words, following the others, their gazes tinged with fear and with some emotion that looked like something that had been ignited, looking up at the high gallows. He had understood what Jon had said to Dumbledore, just as Dumbledore had understood what Jon was trying to say at the time. They had to do more than just break the oppression of bloodlines at this time, to pull the high and mighty down so hard that their faces were pressed against the dirt so they could feel the power of the mudbloods, as they had called them. It is about engraving the idea of resistance to oppression into the minds of every student. In the past, Hogwarts, or any other wizarding school in Europe, had only taught students about magic, but now they were going to learn something different. And it was also during the conversation between Dumbledore and Slughorn that George and Fred had ced the knotted rope around Flint''s neck! At this point, the normally pampered young lord of the Pureblood family waspletely stunned. He had never thought that he would die here, or that Dumbledore would dare to kill him! But right now there was no room for disbelief, for he had been dragged to the scaffold on the high tform, his neckpletely strangled at this point! Hogwarts hadn''t prepared a ck cloth for him, which was used to reduce the death row prisoner''s fear, which defied the original purpose of their execution of Flint. After everything had been prepared, instead of the two Weasley brothers taking the job of an executioner, Flitwick waved his wand indifferently, and then the top board of the scaffold that had been supporting Flint''s body was abruptly removed! Flint was hanged in public. Amidst loud cheers and celebrations, he became the first pureblood wizard to be publicly judged, and the first to be hanged, in this war to overthrow oppression! Looking up at the dead body still hanging on the gallow, there was horror in the eyes of the pureblood students on the stage, who had been controlled and were waiting to be judged! Flint was a viin, and even among the many purebloods, his crimes could be considered disgraceful by most pureblood families. But the rest of them, even if they did not have such a long list of sins as Flint, nevertheless could not be considered clean, otherwise they would not have been put on show trial. Soon after, Flint''s body was dragged down, but the gallows on the tform were not removed but stood out in full view of everyone. Just as the purebloods waiting to be judged trembled on the stage, the students who had attended the first public trial (show trial) ever held in the magical world were in a state of exhration. But the second culprit to be brought up was not a pureblood. Instead, it was a boy in a linen robe, with a frightened face and an age that looked like he might as well have been seventeen or eighteen! While the wagon students might not have recognised this man, all the half-bloods as well as the muggle-borns of the castle below the stage knew that there was only one type of person in Hogwarts Castle who would dress like this. That was the muggle-borns who were only allowed to live in the basement, ves who could only work for the higher blood for the rest of their lives! Wasn''t this a trial against the purebloods? Wasn''t it a rave of revenge for the muggle-borns? Why hold it against the muggle-borns who had also been rescued from Hogwarts Castle? Apart from a very few like Cedric, who could see that the round face of the muggle student was different from all the others and his hands clearly free of marks from rough work, most of the other half-blood students were left with a lot of confusion. The muggle students, on the other hand, all looked in shock at the male wizard being brought up on the raised tform, and of course, they all knew who this man is. McGonagall''s voice rang out across this entire square. "Pape Henderson, a seventh-year student of Hogwarts Castle Muggle House who also holds the job of Head Boy, yes or no?" Henderson''s entire body was shaking uncontrobly, and he shivered as he was dragged by both George and Fred to stand. "Yes, I am not guilty, I was enved. I was forced." He replied so quietly that the students at the back of the seat could only see him open his mouth and then wonder what he was saying. Fred had the good sense to ce his wand against Henderson''s throat and use the Amplifying Charm. "Answer again, are you Pape Henderson?" McGonagall asked anew. "Yes, I am." Now his voice, which could not help but contain the tinge of sobs, was finally audible to all. But by this time the wagon students were also showing their doubts, and they were all a little confused as to why a muggle student, an object of envement and oppression, was actually the one who appeared for the ongoing trial. And having established Henderson''s identity, McGonagall stopped looking at him and turned her head to the corner of the audience below, where the rescued muggle students from the original castle were located. "Ren Riley." She spoke a name, and then as everyone in the room watched, a boy who looked like he was about Jon''s age shuddered and rose from his seat. "I''m, I''m here, mf, ma''am." He was so nervous that he didn''t know what to shout, but McGonagall clearly didn''t care about that, nor did any of the other wizards in the audience, instead they all stared at him for a moment wondering why he was being called upon. "Come up here, Mr Riley." Her voice was still as serious as ever, but noticeably less aloof than it had been a moment ago. And as if sensing this, the boy named Riley winced and left his seat, then walked up to the raised tform in front of everyone present. "Do you know this Mr Henderson?" McGonagall''s voice carried throughout the square, and everyone else in the square was watching the scene. Riley just looked up at Henderson for a second before he lowered his head again in fear. And Henderson had turned into what looked like a lost soul at this point, his entire eyes were dazed. "Recognize, know." "Now then turn around, Mr Riley, and face everyone here and tell everyone what this Mr Henderson once did to you when you first entered Hogwarts Castle." Riley looked like a timid hamster with a spotlight on him, his face was full of cowardice, he hid his left hand behind his back and even though he had turned to look at everyone on the ground as McGonagall had said, his head was still down. "No, no, he didn''t do anything." "To be honest, Mr Riley, every word thates out of everyone''s mouth on this high tform is recorded." McGonagall said solemnly, "A momentary lie can''t remain unpunctured forever." Riley looked like he was about to burst into tears, he was afraid to speak up but also afraid to disobey McGonagall''s words, so under the gaze of countless eyes, he finally spoke again. "I-I as- asked why don''t we resist to- together and Hen- Henderson went and told Caretaker righ- right away, the-" He burst into tears, the sobs interrupting his narrative, but there was no one to urge him on. It was only after a minute or so had passed that McGonagall spoke in a hushed voice. "And then what?" "Then, then Caretaker Dolohov hung me in his office, stripped me naked and whipped me on the back." "Your hand was broken at that time?" "Yes, it was." "And after enduring Dolohov''s punishment." "Hender- Henderson... he was verbally abused too, so he got angry. Then he started beating me, he kicked me in the head, cursed me, stomped on my broken arm, and he said it was all because of me that the pureblood lord chastised him" "Is the back of your arm healed?" McGonagall took a deep breath before proceeding to ask. "Arm. It''s never going to get better" he was in tears, but it was obvious that he was holding back, holding back his sobbing voice from bursting out. The crowd below the stage was silent, and the muggle-borns who had been rescued from the castle had their heads bowed. They, too, had heard Riley''s ount, and many of them were even aware of these things, and no one knew exactly what kind of expression was now on their faces. For a while, the only sound in the square was Riley''s suppressed sobs. "Is there more?" McGonagall continued to ask. Riley sniffled, it was like he was a bit broken, the words had been said before and the oue would be the sameter whether he said them or not. "There was also the case the year beforest after all the underssmen had been rescued from the castle. All the mudbloods that remained, the mud- muggle-borns were chastised, and Henderson was angry, furious, because Administrator Dolohov was gone, and he was the one who backed him up, he was the one who promoted him. He started hitting me, also hitting Kerouk, Dodger, and Heath, but hitting me the hardest, then then then he kicked me in the lower part of my body! I passed out from the pain and when I woke up, there was no round thing down there! Henderson didn''t have the guts to take me to the hospital wing and report it to the others and was also afraid I would bleed to death like that, so he used a spell and stopped the bleeding, but, but I am no longer a whole man! Oooooooooo." As if he finally couldn''t repress it, his whole being fell downpletely and cried out! Riley sat down limply and the only sounds in the square were his sobs and a few unintroduced whimpers from the corner. The tragic situation of the people around them was more evocative of their own experiences than what had happened to Assia, or to the adult muggle-borns who had been murdered, as read out from the parchment. Riley was a prime example of this, but not the only victim! At this point the vast majority of the muggle-borns had their heads down, even though they felt the sadness and the pain welling up in their hearts, they did not dare to show it openly. McGonagall, as the presiding judge, looked at Riley, who was crying and hugging his head, and at the muggle-born children below, who had to hide their grief even now, and she could not read the words on the parchment. So Flitwick took over the rest of the proceedings, and McGonagall pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped the tears from her eyes, even though she had read all of this many times. "Wasn''t there another girl named Mayawati Andersson who started the same year as you?" Riley''s nose and eyes were streaming with snot and tears as he gasped for breath while his voice muffled in reply. "Yes." "And then why she isn''t here now?" Riley''s eyes suddenly showed extreme fear as his body trembled, and he sat down on the ground, covering his face and crying anew, looking like he wouldn''t be able to answer Flitwick''s question for sure no matter what. Flitwick knew the end of the girl, and with that death grip on the hand that held the parchment, he gritted his teeth and shouted out the name of one of the muggle students with a renewed vigour. "mmy Shepherd, you answer! No need to go up on stage, just be in your seat and say out loud what happened to that Miss Andersson right now!" The girl whose name was called was incredibly pale, and her body trembled as she rose from her seat. "She, she was ill, very ill." "Did she die of illness?" "That''s what the professor up there, they said." "But what about the real story?" "The truth." Her lips quivered as if she was afraid and unsure how to speak anyway. "Tell everyone, tell everyone, about that ssmate of yours, what happened to her?" Flitwick asked, incredibly serious, with a raised voice. "She was, she was very ill! But when the new caretaker, who had taken over Mr Dolohov, was about to take her to the hospital wing! A-At that time, but Henderson he, he was the one who said that the lives of mudbloods were worthless and that over at Professor Carrow''s side. They-re''s a shortage of teaching material up there!" It was almost as if she had gathered all her courage to shout the words out as she closed her eyes! Tears were flowing out of her eyes! "Andersson was sent to Professor Carrow! She never came back! Never again! Henderson was appreciated by the new caretaker for this and was kept on to be the head boy who managed us all!" When this was told, it seemed to stir up the pain of all the muggle-born present who had been suppressing their numbness! They did not suppress their sobs, they did not keep their heads down, everyone was crying, everyone was muttering about the pain they had suffered, everyone was confessing what they had seen, what they had experienced, what they had been unable to prevent all these years! And it was in the midst of this weeping that the wagon students, and the half-bloods who had been brought over from Britain, who were then in a somewhat depressing mood, were able to realize. This public trial (show trial) never had been just about purebloods. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 443: Prince (2 in 1) Chapter 443: Prince (2 in 1) As to how exactly this public trial (show trial) should be conducted, Jon had actually discussed it clearly with Dumbledore before he had followed Lily to Britain. Aside from the intervening executions and how the trial would be conducted, the most certain thing he and Dumbledore agreed on was that this public trial must not leave everyone with the impression that it was just a bloodline confrontation, that muggle wizards were judging purebloods, that all purebloods were guilty as long as they existed, and that all oppressed muggle wizards were good as long as they were oppressed. This is clearly wrong, for there is actually no shortage of pureblood wizards in the ranks of either the Order of the Phoenix or the Witching Horizon; and although they are only a minority, their sentiments still have to be taken into ount. If the trial solely focused on purebloods, or if the trial only focused on bloodline issues, then perhaps the purebloods in the Order of the Phoenix wouldn''t say anything while watching the trial, but if something like "all purebloodline people are viins" was circted afterwards, it would certainly chill their hearts. And through this public trial, Dumbledore and the others were going to make sure of one thing for all the students and even the wizards in the Witching Horizon out there. It was the bloodline theory that they were prepared to overthrow and destroy, not the pureblood wizards exclusively! This was important because if the goal was wrong, then even if they won the final victoryter on, there was a high risk of setting off another confrontation. At that time, the purebloods would be the bottom of society, and the muggle-borns would be the top, and history would repeat itself in an upside-down way until maybe one day it would be the other way around in turn. And the muggle-borns like Henderson, who were clearly aiding and abetting the bloodline theory from the bottom of their hearts for their benefit are also guilty; because, for the most part, the muggle-borns living in the basement of Hogwarts Castle don''t have much contact with the pureblood students, and these high lords are ashamed to even breathe the same air as them, and a lot of their oppression and management is achieved through grooming second-raters, like Henderson. So some of the things judged against purebloods are not as mind-blowing as pulling someone like Henderson out of the closet. Naturally, Slughorn, sitting in the audience, was able to think all these things through, and after all the charges had been established, Henderson naturally did not escape death. In a wave of fury, he became the second subject of this gallows to be executed. As Slughorn looked at Henderson''s still swaying body, it suddenly urred to him for some reason that he had been wrong in all his previous thoughts. He had thought that if Voldemort was really defeated in the future, then the magical world would return to the same state it had been in before he had started to rule over a decade or so ago, but now he felt that if the situation did continue in this way, then the magical world would be moving in apletely new direction. A direction that no one had ever seen, no one could have predicted, a whole new direction! This public trial certainly didn''t end after just two people had been judged, there were many more lined up behind them, being pulled up onto the raised tform one by one. There were purebloods, half-bloods and muggle-borns, most of whom were guilty of heinous crimes, and the gallows, erected on the high tform, served its purpose to the fullest, hanging eight former students of the castle one by one! The oldest of these individuals, were like Henderson and Flint, already 18 years old, while the youngest was only 15. That was a youngdy of a pureblood family and one of the worst-natured of the group of 8 who were hanged, with the lives of two muggle ves already on her hands! It wasn''t even at the behest of her parents, just out of jealous hatred towards the two muggle girls who were prettier than her, they had their faces burned with a spell and their families killed in front of them, on the grounds that she wanted to experiment on how to drive a normal person crazy. Although 17 is not considered an adult among wizards, there has never been a So-and-So Protection Act in the magical world, let alone the fact that this was in wartime, and such actions are extremely offensive to human morality. Those that have been brought to the high tform since then have not been as anti-human as the first eight. The two pureblood witches who had been witnesses to Flint''s crimes, who had tried to harm Assia, and who had been Floyd''s aplices, were at least spared of death because they were not the masterminds and were willing to testifyter to make up for their mistakes. But it was clear that after the first eight public trials, all the students below the stage were emotionally stirred up, and they looked at everyone brought up on stage as if they were the worst of the worst, like those two pureblood witches, and there was a chorus of "hang them" before McGonagall had even finished telling them what they were guilty of. They both nearly fainted on the spot and were paralysed on the high tform, unable to stand up straight. It was a good thing that McGonagall, Flitwick and Lupin, the three of them on the stage, were there to avoid such a situation, and in the end, the two witches were not sentenced to death by hanging, on the contrary, they were sentenced to 15 years in prison. That is because they had just been following Floyd as her followers, and although they had brutalised the muggle-borns, they really hadn''t killed anyone, and Assia hadn''t really died in the end, otherwise, it wouldn''t have been only 15 years. Draco also watched all the public trials throughout. He wasn''t chosen for the public trial, after all in the end he just had a poor stinking personality, but didn''t have or had the guts to do as much evil as the others. Lucius'' own hands were dirty, but out of protection for his family he didn''t let his son be exposed to those things this early on before he graduated, and then because of the presence of Dobby the house elf, the Malfoys didn''t take in muggle-born to be their ves, which left him little room for wrongdoing either. So when he was brought to France, he exined everything he had done in Hogwarts Castle without any need to intimidate him, which was really just the asional taunt and insult to some half-bloods, but nothing more serious. In his case, of course, there was no need for a public trial; he could simply report in private and be assigned to a period of reformation. But after watching the trial today, it had a huge impact on Draco, especially when he saw the faces of those who were not unfamiliar to him, hanging from the gallows, stirring their legs helplessly and finally losing their breath, which made him feel his legs go weak and his body tremble as he sat in his chair. Unlike the original story, Draco had been exposed to a much more refined education in bloodline theory from an early age, when Britain waspletely ruled by Voldemort. Just as the muggle-borns who had been brought to Hogwarts had been taught from a young age that they were inferior and ves, the new generation of noble purebloods was also taught from a young age that they were superior, that they were inherently stronger and more honourable than others. Before he met Jon, Draco had believed in this theory, and even after he met Jon, he had always reassured himself in his mind that Jon was just an outlier among the muggle-borns. But today, when there were five familiar pureblood corpses among the eight who had been hanged looming right in front of his eyes, the notion he had built up for the previous fifteen years was truly shattered! What innate nobility? On that gallows, bloodline, status, position, everything was nothing, it was all the same with or without bloodline, all would be hanged in the fury and outcry of the masses! Draco certainly didn''t remember anything about Voldemort taking over his body that day in the castle, the only memory that remained in his mind was ament Jon had made to him before he fell unconscious, saying that ifter on should the Witching Horizon win, then his father would surely die while there was still a possibility of him being alive. At that time he had felt angry, furious to the core, but after hearing today the guilt by association of those who had been hanged, he knew that Jon had not been wrong then. With the fact that Lucius had the blood of the members of the Order of the Phoenix on his hands, there was no way he would still be alive no matter what. Unless he had done a great feat of assassinating Voldemort and liberating the whole of Britain right now, otherwise even Dumbledore couldn''t keep him if he wanted to, not to mention the fact that Dumbledore had no reason to keep him at all. And Draco himself knew full well that with his father''s fence-sitting nature, he would never be able to do anything that might risk his status before the situation became clear, which would mean that he would almost certainly die if Dumbledore''s side won! Draco thought of this and at the same time saw the muggle students who were sitting in their chairs covering their faces and hugging their heads and crying after one of the public trials. He looked at the students, who were about his age, with a different kind of mixed emotion. He had never thought of the so-called "mudbloods" as normal human beings before, because that was how he had been brought up. Only today did he realise that these people, who were the lowest of the low in the bloodline theory, could cry andugh too, and were not inherently inferior to him in any way, except for their birth. *** Jon and Lily were once again back in that Spinner''s End. Snape was making some kind of potion for Voldemort, and they had no way of finding out more about it for the moment through the list of herbs and ingredients even if they had one. There were times when the miracle of potions far surpassed even magic, not to mention vague ingredients, even if it had been a specific list of ingredients, no Potion Master would dare to rely on that list to be certain about a specific potion. This is because, apart from the recipes that have been explored and developed over the centuries, new potions appear in the magical world almost every now and then. Not to mention the fact that the potion Voldemort needed must not be ordinary, otherwise it would not have been so secretive, even hiding it from the other Voldemort in his body. So it would be unwise to try to find out what the potion was in this situation; they would just need to recapture Snape, and then they would be able to ask all the questions. Besides, with or without the potion as a clue, Lily would surely only go after Snape as a person. "After Snape was brought to France, weren''t we supposed to feed him the Truth Potion for interrogation? Why didn''t we ask about this potion?" Jon asked suspiciously as he walked along the river near Spinner''s End. He didn''t think Dumbledore could foresee it then even if he wanted to do something fishy. "He''s very skilled in lumency, which was verified by our people after we brought him back from Britain, with that ability not only the Legilimency could be circumvented if he wanted to, but so could the Truth Potion, by answering some false information." Jon nodded thoughtfully. He himself had a high level of attainment in lumency, but only knew that magic was resistant to Legilimency, and had never yet made any experiments with the Truth Potion, so he wasn''t sure about that. "So Professor what makes you so sure that Snape is still in this city and hasn''t gone anywhere else?" Jon asked. Lily didn''t answer Jon''s question directly, but instead asked rhetorically. "Do you know why Snape took the pseudonym, Prince?" Jon shook his head, he obviously didn''t know much about Snape''s past, except that Snape had once given himself the title of "Half-Blood Prince" when he was younger, and the word Prince meant Prince as a first orst name. When he first heard the pseudonym, Prince, he had thought that the old bat was still in his middle school phase and still wanted people to call him Prince. "His mother''s name is Eileen Prince, and that name is his mother''s family name." It was at Lily''s words that a look of realization came over Jon''s face. Lily, on the other hand, showed little to no avoidance of what had once been her childhood past and continued. "I''ve known him since we were kids, he even told me about magic, wizards and the existence of Hogwarts at the time, right near this Spinner''s End, where once there was awn." "His mother was a pureblood witch and a very gentle woman, but his father didn''t have a good upbringing, his father loathed everything about wizards and was violent, so at that time he actually carried a hatred for his father and didn''t like hisst name being Snape, secretly calling himself Prince in private." Jon blinked. "So?" "So he actually still has feelings for his mother, and that didn''t dissipate just because he joined the Death Eaters, or he wouldn''t still be using the name Prince even to this day while choosing a pseudonym." Lily said softly as she looked at therge chimney in the distance that was still spewing ck mist into the sky. "So, I concluded that if he did stay in Britain and didn''t go back to his lord, Snape would still be in this city. The most dangerous ces are rather the safest, and besides this is still his and his mother''s home." Her analysis was sound and Jon thought it made sense. "But this isn''t a small city, so where do we start looking?" "No need to be in such a hurry because you''re concerned about me, I''ve waited all these years, and I''m not going to be impatient for a few days, it''s toote, let''s just find a ce to stay." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 444: The past (2 in 1) Chapter 444: The past (2 in 1) Jon and Lily had found an inn together to stay at near Spinner''s End. Lily did act less impatient than Jon had expected and looked ready for a protracted bout with Snape here. They didn''t use the Apparition to move back and forth between Britain and France as often, that would have been too obvious of a target to be sure, and there was no way anyone could guarantee that the Department of Magical Transportation within the British Ministry of Magic wouldn''t resume its normal work. After a night''s rest, Lily went out early in the morning after breakfast and started wandering down Spinner''s End as if taking a walk. Instead of using her original identity again, she and Jon both drank a polyjuice potion together and turned into two middle-aged Muggle men, acting as if they hade here on a trip. Jon had actually just treated this trip as a trip, his duty that Dumbledore had given him was to just look after Lily and not worry about anything else, that previous trip to bring the Dursleys back to France had been considered overtime. And Lily didn''t look like she was looking for Snape, she looked more like she was reacquainting herself with a city that already seemed a little strange to her. She hadn''t been back here since she had started a family with James, let alone the near decade or so of exile in Britain that had left her with no chance or time to revisit her old hometown. Jon''s recollection from earlier was somewhat faulty; the Snape family had lived in Spinner''s End, but Lily''s family had not lived in this narrowne before, but in a house not far off it. Now that house had changed owners, and Lily took Jon to just look at the house from a distance for a few moments and then left from there, it didn''t look like she was going to bother the current owners of the house and go in for a visit. It was close to 11 am when they arrived at an emerald green area that seemed out of ce in a city that was almost entirely grey. Some small children were ying on the field, and there seemed to be a peaceful calmness around the area. Lily didn''t walk any further but sat down with Jon on a nearby bench to rest, and she looked at the children ying on the field and whispered to Jon. "Interested in hearing my story? Jon." Jon raised an eyebrow, he could actually sense a significant difference in Lily''s mood from before they had arrived in Britain. It wasn''t just a hatred towards Snape and to hunt him down, it was mixed with a sense of remembrance and sadness. He snapped his fingers. "Sure, but it''ll have to wait, Professor." He got up and walked over to a nearby cart that sold desserts and asked for two cones, then rejoined the bench and handed one of them to Lily. Lily looked at the dessert he handed her with some obvious hesitation as to whether to reach out and take it, only for Jon to shove it into her hand without a word. "Well! Professor, don''t be so formal, you''re going to tell me a story, so we don''t have to limit our status to that of teacher and student now do we? Besides, before you know you''re going to taste something bitter, of course, you have to neutralise it with something sweet." Watching Jon wink at her as he spoke, Lily didn''t hesitate any longer and took hold of the cone Jon had shoved into her hand, taking just a shallow taste before continuing. "Actually, when I brought you out of that orphanage, Jon, I had a feeling you didn''t look like a normal boy." Jon mumbled vaguely as he took half of what he was holding in one bite. "That proves that you are still capable of taking divination sses on part-time bases, Professor." "Well, perhaps I may have been thinking at the time that if Harry were to survive that year he would actually be able to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry the same year that you were picked up." Her voice sounded what she would call calm as she chatted about this. But if anyone met her gaze, they could see the pain that passed through the already lost and unfocused gaze. He knew that Lily''s depression could not be soothed by a few yful words from him and that all he had to do was to be a good listener. "I was actually grateful to Snape until I waspletely disappointed in him." Lily''s voice was low and calm. "My parents were both muggles, and I was actually quite overwhelmed when I showed my talent for magic at home at a young age when I was nine years old and thought I was suffering from some strange illness. It was around that time that I met Snape, who was my age, right here, on this grassy field that didn''t fit in with the city." "He was the one who told me everything there was to know about magic and helped me learn that I am in fact a wizard and not some freak that Petunia was talking about. You should have found out when you picked up the Dursleys that Petunia didn''t like me at all, in fact, we were very close as children, and it was only from the time I found out that I was different from everyone else that our rtionship grew cold." "The whole thing had something to do with Snape too, after all, we were more of a different kind of human being, and it made her feel as if she was bing redundant. Snape took it personally at the time and told me that Petunia was jealous, jealous that we could wield magic and go to Hogwarts. That was the first time I ever lectured him about something, and he didn''t seem to care much about it, but instead spent the rest of the day afterwards talking to me with gusto about the marvels of magic and the wonders of Hogwarts." "I learned a lot from him, and we became the closest of friends, even at Hogwarts, even though I was in Gryffindor, and he was in Slytherin, two houses that were like arch enemies, we remained as close friends as we ever were. Even when I was surrounded by friends who were advising me to keep my distance from the Slytherins and his friends who were advising him to ignore the Gryffindors, it never got in our way." "And then what circumstances made such a change?" She looked over to the green field of grass as if remembering what had happened in the castle in the first ce. "He was introduced to Hexes and Jinxes when he first entered Hogwarts at the age of eleven and knew more of those dark magics than even some of the seventh years. But at that time I didn''t think it was a big deal, the Unforgivable Curse is dark magic, but then again dark magic isn''t just limited to the Unforgivable Curse, even in Gryffindor at that time there were many students using hexes to pull pranks on people. But Snape was really talented in dark magic, and by the fourth year he was able to create his own new dark spell, the Langlock spell that you used before. But at the time I still thought it was nothing until he started getting involved with people I really didn''t like, Avery, Mulciber, andter on even Evan Rosier, Wilkes and Betrix Lestrange who you killed; all of them were firm supporters of the bloodline theory long before Voldemort had gained poprity." "And at the same time, he was delving deeper and deeper into dark magic, not just limiting himself to Hexes and Jinxes, but starting to move on to more dangerous curses, and I warned him that he should better stay away from his so-called friends, people who had actually been in contact with Voldemort on the outside world while he was at school, some like Lucius Malfoy, who joined the Death Eaters straight after graduation; and Snape, who was on campus at that time, still kept good correspondence with him." "Snape agreed to my words perfunctorily, paying lip service and saying that all those friends of his were really no big deal and that they would be reformed by people like meter on, yet integrating into their circle while getting more obsessed with the study of dark magic. It annoyed me to no end during that time, I didn''t know if Snape knew what he was really doing or not, and I didn''t know if I would still consider him a friend if he did join the ranks of Voldemort as well as those of Lucius Malfoy." Jon had finished the cone in his hand, and he didn''t open his mouth to remind Lily that if she didn''t care for the cone in her hand soon those whipped creams were going topletely fizzle out, because he knew the story hade to its turning point. "Finally, in the middle of a bullying session where he was humiliated, he called me by a moniker." Lily''s voice was t, sounding like she didn''t actually have much spite for that moniker, "Just as I was spitefully cursing James and helping him defend his name to the people around me, he called me a mudblood." "At that point I was angry, so Ished back at him and called him Snivellus as well. It was from that point on that I started to realise that there was really no way for us to get along like we used to. He had chosen a different path, one that I couldn''t ept and there was no way he could be with me like before, and that''s when I cut ties with him, but he didn''t seem to realise it and apologised to me after that day, saying he didn''t mean to call me that. To which I didn''t ept, because it wasn''t even supposed to be that he had to make an apology, but he had to change his mind." "Thenter on I got together with his nemesis James and to be honest I never thought I would ept James until the sixth year, as he seemed so stuck up, uncaring and violent at school. Snape was never going to turn back, he resented the half of his father''s blood that made him different, that''s why he recognized the Prince name as a symbol of his pureblood, that''s why he was obsessed with dark magic and Voldemort''s theories, he was so close to the real pureblood wizards, even in Hogwarts he was always in contact with the Death Eaters. He was nice, but he was only nice to me, and I had no right to use or resent him for anything, and all I could think of at that time was that since there was no way we could be friends anymore, we would just go our separate ways and not be involved with each other in the future." Lily lowered her head, she didn''t look anywhere else as the next part of the story was about to involve the biggest scar in her heart. "After graduating from Hogwarts, James and I got married, and although we didn''t join the Order of the Phoenix straight away at that time, we had a deep rtionship with Dumbledore and the Order. By that time Voldemort had be very influential in Britain, abusing muggle wizards and wreaking havoc everywhere, and I was considered to be one of his targets along with James, but we were lucky enough to escape. And that''s when, as I expected, Snape didn''t change a thing, he joined the Death Eaters straight after graduating from Hogwarts and became ackey under Voldemort. Being able to be under that man can be more than simply expressing one''s support and allegiance to the Bloodline theory." "They''re a bunch of terrorists, and if you want to be one, you have to have blood on your hands." Lily''s voice began to grow noticeably colder as she said this, "I heard a lot about him over the years, such as which Muggle abuses he was involved in, which Muggle areas he attacked, or what more glorious deeds he did for his lord. James never regretted the things he did to Snape when he was a student, Long before he started targeting Snape, he was already leaning towards those people, but James knew I was in no position to use Snape of anything and so never asked me to join him in saying anything nasty." "And then that night happened." A slight tremor was evident in her ever-so-calm voice that she couldn''t control as she uttered the words. Jon was silent as well. "Voldemort came to my house, James got in front of me and Harry, and then he died." Lily''s hand was clenched tightly, the knuckles visibly white from overexertion. "I knew there was nothing I could do to resist, I begged and pleaded humbly, begging the man to spare Harry, to kill me, but to let Harry live. At first, he acted extremely impatient, and I was so agitated and nervous that I could feel some strange change in the magic in my body as a result of the emotions, a change as it connected to Harry, and maybe it would save Harry''s life!" "But it was at that moment that things suddenly went wrong." Lily said with a sudden shudder and incredulity. Jon also held his breath at this point, as the only living party that night, Lily must have known exactly what had happened to cause the turn of events. "It was like he was suddenly a different person, not with a look of impatience, but calm, surprised and thrilled. Then, instead of using magic, he grabbed a broken table leg off the floor and just knocked me out." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 445: Picnic (2 in 1) Chapter 445: Pic (2 in 1) Jon froze on the spot. In a normal timeline, what was supposed to have happened that night was something he clearly remembered never forgetting. Lily had died at the hands of Voldemort, who had actually intended toplete his promise to Snape and leave Lily alive, but Lily had refused to move out of the way to protect Harry no matter what. So this caused the original Voldemort to lose his patience and kill Lily, and then prepare to kill Harry next only to have the protection spell filled with Lily''s unconditional self-sacrificial love for her child to bounce back the killing curse and cause his own death. But it wasn''t until today that Jon had really learned from the only surviving party from that night exactly what had changed in between. Voldemort had actually been patient enough not to use magic, not to break his promise to Snape about sparing Lily by knocking her out first? And what was with Lily''s description of his expression at the time? Why did Voldemort suddenly have such an expression on his face at that moment? Or did Voldemort II already appear at that moment? And not after the killing of Harry Potter? Just as Jon was thinking more and more, Lily''s voice didn''t stop there. "By the time I woke up again, it was well into the second half of the night." Her voice was visibly shaking, "Albus came to my house, he woke me from mya, and then, then at the first sight I rushed to Harry''s cot. He wasn''t breathing,pletely. Completely and utterly a cold corpse." "I screamed like a lunatic, I wanted to go after Voldemort, I wanted to go after him to avenge my husband and my son. But Albus held me back for dear life, he didn''t let me die like that, and in fact, I didn''t know where to look for him at all. But I simply couldn''t listen to anyone else''s advice or words, and eventually, they had to find a way to get me to safety by continuing to knock me out with a stunning spell first." Listening to her ount, Jon could imagine how desperate Lily was when she woke up from hera that night. The loss of a perfectly happy family in one night was a shock that no one could ever bear, especially when the man who had caused it had done it in front of her in such a tant manner. Lily''s voice became normal after a short silence, although the memory of the past made her unable to contain her hatred, it was also the hatred that helped her to control her emotions. "It was the same month when Voldemort disappeared from the magical world that Albus told me everything he knew. The whole magicalmunity knew about that prophecy. It was because James knew what we would be facing that he cast the Fidelius Charm in our house, but he chose the wrong person to be the secret keeper. Originally that person was Sirius who was worthy of everyone''s trust. Still, just because it would have been too natural to choose him, James yed it smart and chose Wormtail who had in fact already secretly defected to Voldemort. " "I learned who my two biggest enemies were, Voldemort, who did it all with his own hands, and Wormtail, who betrayed James'' trust! But Albus stared into my eyes then, his voice deep and serious, and gave me another piece of information. That was who had actually leaked and informed Voldemort of this ridiculous Saviour Prophecy, and that was when I learned that Snape had gone to find Albus the night Voldemort came to my house. He actually begged Albus to help keep me alive!" An icy, sarcastic and resentful smile spread across Lily''s face. "The only thing he failed to consider when he leaked the prophecy to his lord and tried to use it to im credit from Voldemort was that the family that gave birth to the child in the prophecy was my family! He had no qualms about sacrificing a family''s life as a stepping stone to his own rise to authority, to gain Voldemort''s trust and appreciation for him! It wasn''t until he found out that the mother who had given birth to that child was actually me that he began to feel scared, and James was right, Snape only ever showed the slightest bit of humanity when it came to me, the rest of the time he didn''t hesitate to do anything just like that lord of his. He pleaded to his lord to spare my life, killing both James and Harry seemed fine to him, and my life was worthless to Voldemort." "He also knew full well that Voldemort was not much of a man of his word at all, and even when his lord, who was extremely harsh and stingy with his subordinates, gave him a promise, he was still in fear, and then expressed the only little thing he would show when it involves me. He found Albus, betrayed his lord, and told him that Voldemort had learned the secret of the prophecy that the boy would be born in my house. Albus took me through that memory, he didn''t hide it from me, Snape wept bitterly, he wished Albus could save me, and said he had once offered Harry in exchange for sparing me! He can hate James all he wants, I wouldn''t wish him to let go of the hatred he once felt, but why not show Harry half or even a littlepassion he shows for me!" Lily clenched her teeth. "He thinks this is being kind to me? He thinks that I should thank him for that? He''s the one who made me live through what feels like hell every single day! Every night, I could hear Harry''s cries in my ears! I wake up many times with nightmares of Harry crying, crying about why I couldn''t save him then! Why did I let my own child die in front of me!" Jon listened in silence as Lily finished telling all of this. To be honest, Snape was definitely an incredibly sad character in the original story, he had beenpletely mistreated for the first half of his life, and suffered all wrong, so he doesn''t know how to treat Lily and express himself, doesn''t know how to express his heart, so many mistakes made because of that and his desire to gain acknowledgement. But in the original story, he used the rest of his life to pay for all of that and did everything he could to make up for the mistakes that caused Lily''s death. But now it''s different, Lily is not dead, and he has no chance of making amends, following Voldemort all the way to the dark side, leaving him with no semnce ofpassion but rather an emotionless appearance. Anyone who heard of Lily''s tragedy would not be able to feel any sympathy for Snape, even Jon, who knew what choices Snape had made in the other world. So far, Jon hadn''t seen a single glimmer of humanity in him, just a selfish, self-absorbed coward. The so-called good for Lily was just his own selfish wishful thinking so that he could have some peace of mind for himself, not caring how Lily was actually living. "So, Professor." Jon helpfully tossed the already inedible cone Lily was holding into the rubbish bin, "Now that we know Snape will definitely be staying in Spinner''s End, how are we going to find him?" Lily looked over to the patch of a grassy field. "He cares about me." Her voice wasn''t remotely warm as she said this, "So he''ll also care about the memories of his time here with me, and as long as he chooses to stay here, then he''s sure toe back here one day." Jon looked at the grassy field and shrugged, he could only be med for being a simple straightforward person, he couldn''t really understand Snape''s kind of thinking. But at least with thatment from Lily, it gave him an idea of what they would be doing if they continued to stay here. While the school public trial (show trial) was in full swing in Lyon, Jon and Lily had taken up residence near Spinner''s End. More than half a month had passed since the end of the Triwizard Tournament, and as it entered May, the weather had gradually started to move warmer and early summer had begun. Even in this industrial city, there was no way to shade the impending summer. The trees along the roadside were getting thicker and greener, and Jon and Lily had been here for a whole week, during which they could clearly notice the frequent appearance of strangely dressed people around Spinner''s End. Those were clearly Aurors from the British Ministry of Magic, their imitation of Muggle outfits was not professional and carried an aura unique to wizards that were almost immediately recognisable. Not to mention the portion of the Death Eaters that had made the city less and less safetely, who even if they were carrying out Voldemort''s orders and willing to put aside their pride for a moment to capture Snape, weren''t inclined to lower their heads in the face of Muggles. There had been several brawls around Spinner''s End, such as the one in front of Jon''s eyes. A man who was wearing a long, thick trench coat in early summer and a tall hat on top of his head was cursing recklessly and then about to go and throw a swing at someone just because a passer-by had given a few extra nces at his oddly matching outfit. Jon, who had juste from a bakery with a paper bag filled with various desserts, pretended to be a spectator and watched as the Death Eater secretly used his magic to restrain the muggle and started punching and kicking the muggle. Some people were trying to stop the fight, others running to the nearest phone booth to call the police, and others standing around watching as Jon did. But Jon didn''t stick around that long, he "tsked" twice and left the scene. With the way these Death Eaters were behaving, it would be a wonder if Snape didn''t find out about them, and the local Muggle government would have their hands full with this sort of public disorder for a while. Jon made his way to the grassy field. He and Lily had changed their appearance and unlike the Death Eaters, both Jon and Lily were very good at concealing themselves. Always maintaining a different appearance every day on a grassy field which had not attracted the attention of the Aurors and the Death Eaters for the time being, it was difficult for Snape to be suspicious. So even though they came every day, they never drew the attention of the people around them. Today, the two were dressed as a mother and son out for a pic, abination not umon in this grassy field, where the weather had been good recently, showing a rare patch of clear sky even in this polluted industrial city. So, many families chose to go out today and chose the only green area they could find. Jonid out all the desserts he had bought on the cloth, then picked up a bottle of juice and emptied it straight away in one gulp. "I saw some more Death Eaters causing trouble on the way here, those Aurors are probably going to have a headache, not only will these people fail to help them one bit, but they will also mess up theiryout and tasks." Lily was taking the washed and cut-up assorted fruits out of her food basket one by one, dressed in a red knitted jacket and long floral skirt, not half as different from a muggle woman out on a pic with her children, except that her face basically didn''t show any smiles. "Voldemort doesn''t have a clue how to get things done these days." Lily whispered, and from an outsider''s perspective, it would only look like they were making casual small talk. "These normally privileged purebloods are bing less and less willing to give, they just think about taking, and when Voldemort and they have the same interests at stake, like in hunting us down, they''ll put in about sixty percent of the effort. But when Voldemort''s ideas are contrary to their demands, as in the case of capturing Snape now, which is not remotely beneficial to the purebloods, then they will act fairly negatively. Because if Snape is captured back, there''s no guarantee that he won''t return to his former high position, and if that''s the case it''s bound to be a case of spitting back out some of the things that have now been eaten by the purebloods." Jon could undoubtedly see this too, but Voldemort was the only one who couldn''t see it at all these days. He thought that those under his thumb would still sumb to his violence and might as before, but in fact his other self had long ago re-established a clear rule for these purebloods. What Voldemort was doing now was breaking that rule and reverting his forces back to the disorderly state they had been in over a decade ago, which would no doubt be resisted by many who had already enjoyed the benefits of smooth order. And just as Jon was enjoying this pleasant time and was lying on the ground watching the sky as he brought the fruit Lily had just brought out to his mouth, he suddenly noticed out of the corner of his eye that Lily had stood up from the ground. Puzzled, Jon tilted his head, and then he saw Lily staring dead in one direction. There was a group of children out on a pic ying there, in fact at first there were some little red-faced girls who also tried to drag Jon over with them, but they were all ruthlessly rejected by him. And just beside the group of children on a bench sat, at some point, an old man. He was dressed in a neat suit, his silver-grey hair was immactely groomed, and he held an old walking stick in his hand, looking like an elderly gentleman. But Jon caught a distinctive emotion in the old man''s eyes. And this emptiness, like indifference, was almost unique to another person. Lily obviously noticed this anomaly too. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 446: Not enough people (2 in 1) Chapter 446: Not enough people (2 in 1) Jon''s first thought was that this old man with a clean appearance and especially with such neatly groomed hair could never be Snape. But then again, a transfiguration potion like Polyjuice Potion didn''t require Snape to groom his hair at all before transfiguring, he just had to drink the potion himself that''s all. So Jon didn''t let that put his suspicions out of his mind but turned his head to look at Lily. Lily didn''t meet Jon''s eyes, after taking a quick nce at the old man she looked down as if nothing had happened and patted the grass clippings from Jon''s shirt. "Don''t bother looking, it''s him, I''d recognise him instantly even if he had turned to dust." Jon thought silently to himself, if Snape had heard this, he doesn''t know whether he would be happy or sad. "So what are we going to do now?" Lily sat back down on the cloth, she looked like she was restraining her inner emotions. "Wait, there are too many people here, and it''s easy to get them involved in a fight by mistake." Jon couldn''t help but look at Lily a few more times, no matter how much hatred was weighing on her heart, Lily''s heart certainly hadn''t changed, she was still a kind person after all. However, just as Jon had rummaged through the food basket for a small piece of cake and smacked his lips ready to enjoy a pre-dinner snack, Lily suddenly continued to speak again. "We''re too far away from him, and it would be easy to alert him by just venturing closer, didn''t those little girls just call you over to y? You go and join them now." Jon, who was holding up a spoon and had just taken the cream dotted with half a strawberry into his mouth, was frozen still as if he had been petrified. What happened to the promised holiday? He had to go y with a silly wee girl, now? Sensing Jon''s instantly sulky gaze, Lily smoothed a few strands of hair behind her ear. "Tough job, Jon." Jon just had to reluctantly get up from the cloth and put the cake with a piece of cream already missing in his hand back in its ce. "Well, well, then let me meet those little girls!" He gathered his expression on his face and in the next second gave a sunny, cheerful boy-next-door smile before heading in the direction of the bench where Snape was sitting and where a group of little kids were bunching up. Only when Jon got closer did he realise that it was actually a sandy area where seven or eight kids were all piling up sand. "Hey! Do you guys still need a reliable helper to join you? I don''t have any tools at hand, but I''m pretty sure I''m a pro." Jon was decaying on the inside, but on the outside he was acting like a social cow, greeting those little kids with a sunny face. The three little girls who had originally invited Jon were delighted after seeing his willingness to volunteer to join. "Haynes is building a castle! We can give you the naming rights to the castle if you would like to join in! What''s your name?" "Alpa ke, just call me Alpa." Jon naturally stepped into the sand. "Wait, didn''t we decide it would be called Haynes Castle?" A boy whined as he chimed in. "Alpa!" A little girl enthusiastically took Jon''s hand, "Alpa Castle is a great name!" "Let''s call it Haynes, I like that better." As Jon dealt with the socialising of the children, he nced out of the corner of his eye at the old man, whom Lily had identified as ''Snape'', sitting just five metres away from him. He took the toy shovel handed to him by the boy who considered him his best mate because Jon had acknowledged the name Haynes and decided that if he didn''t do anything unusual, the old man wouldn''t be able to spot anything abnormal from a close distance. But just as Jon was about to turn his attention to the sand beneath him, and stare with an aching heart at what the children called a castle, but which was more like a mud hut, a clear and obviously sarcastic voice suddenly rang in his ears. "The captain of the Hogwarts, Dumbledore''s prized pupil and winner of the Triwizard Tournament would be ying in the sand here with a bunch of Muggle children." Jon''s face didn''t waver, he acted as if he hadn''t heard the words, ncing first in the direction of where Lily was, who was discreet enough to only asionally turn her head and look over towards the pile of sand as if she were a concerned mother, the rest of the time she was busy preparing their meals on a tablecloth. And the children around him looked as if they hadn''t even heard anyone talking, still excitedly charting their castle. Jon didn''t bother to look at the old man sitting on the bench who was absolutely 100% sure to be Snape, as he used his toy shovel to bring together the floating sand on the surface of the sand. "You''re doomed to never find a wife in your life with that kind of talking habit." He couldn''t see the expression on Snape''s face at the moment because he didn''t look up, but the brief silence was enough to show that the words killed Snape in more ways than one, even if Jon didn''t mention his name. "I mean, what the hell are you trying to do here like you''re ying hide and seek? Do something about it, will you, I was thinking of going to the beach while summer is still young." Jon turned sideways and kept his head down so that Lily in the distance couldn''t see his mouth moving and avoided being caught by her as the two exchanged words. Snape finally managed to speak honestly, his voice was still as dull as ever. "There aren''t enough people." Jon transported all the sand from his output to the group of children, pawing around and having a little fun passing his time. "What people aren''t enough, can''t you see how many Aurors and Death Eaters are looking for you in that alleyway in your old house? How many more of them do you expect toe?" "There are only two groups present now." Jon was taken aback. "How many more groups do you want toe looking for you, when there''s no one in the British wizarding world needs you but the two groups that are looking for you right now?" "Shallow-sighted." Being taunted by this old bachelor like this, Jon was a little offended. "Shallow if it''s shallow, don''t give me that mumbo jumbo, what''s the point of deliberately showing your presence here again today? Want Professor Potter to know that you are still alive?" "Where you live has been discovered by some people, don''t treat them like fools, they are the British Ministry of Magic now." Snape stood up calmly from the bench after those words, looking like he had appeared for the sole purpose of giving Jon and Lily such a reminder. "Honestly, can you tell me why you''re willing to help us now? Don''t tell me you were actually on our side all along and were working as a spy before." Snape didn''t answer Jon''s question first, he stood up from the bench and locked eyes with Lily who had noticed him over here from afar, then left a promise for Jon before disappearing. "Wait for the time when you catch me, I can answer that question for you then." After those words, he disappeared. Disappearing without anyone around even noticing him in this space except Lily and Jon, not even the children on the sand who were so excited to create a castle, noticing that the old grandfather who had been sitting on the bench was gone. Lily, however, couldn''t stay, and she dropped the packed meal, which hadn''t been prepared yet, and walked quickly over to Jon. "He found something?" Jon shook his head. "No, I felt like his time to go out and rx for the day was up, so he just left." Lily''s face was hard, today it was tantamount to Snape showing up in front of them and leaving in front of them. Jon reassured her a few times before the two of them rejoined the camping tablecloth, no matter what happened the meal had to be eaten after all. But it was clear that Lily''s mood wasn''t going to improve overnight; they still didn''t even know if Snape had found them yet, and who could guarantee that he would be here next time? While Jon could secretly guarantee it, he obviously couldn''t say that out in the open. The pic was a happy one for Jon and a distracted one for Lily. After finishing the meal, there was no point in staying on, and they packed up their things and headed back to the Inn, something they changed every three days. But instead of going in with Lily, Jon took a walk around the inn in the name of taking a breather after the meal. His walk was clearly targeted around some of the buildings that overlooked the main entrance to the inn they were staying in, and it didn''t take long for Jon to make a discovery. It was an outdated-looking house with a grey facade that matched the style of the city, but the mailbox outside the house was so full of postcards and letters that even the delivery port was blocked, but the gate was left open and the shutters on the inside of the windows were half open, and a figure could be seen moving around inside. It was very much a wizard''s habit to not have a letterbox in a normal wizard''s home, as they used owls to deliver their letters, and it could always find the recipient, so if a wizard had taken up residence in a muggle house, the chances of them ignoring the letterbox is pretty high. But that was just a suspicion and didn''t prove anything, but Jon didn''t need any more proof, just suspicion was enough. He slipped into a deserted alleyway, then pulled the cloak of invisibility from his robe pocket and draped it over his body, and entered the suspicious house, and after sneaking into the yard, Jon pulled an ear-shaped object from his pocket and pressed it against the wall. cing one of the ends against his ear, the other end extended itself under the magic to reach through the doorway. Some of George and Fred''s inventions were already finished products, like the Extendable Ears that Jon was using now that would give him a great deal of help. And with the other end of the Extendable Ears poking through the door, the voice from inside the room reached Jon''s ears loud and clear. "I''ve really had enough of this! Your cooking is awful, Kevin! At least get something packed back from one of those muggle restaurants! Why do we have to put up with this?" "If you don''t want to eat it, don''t eat it! There are two carrots in the kitchen and you can go and nibble on them! Don''t forget what we''re doing, those two are very alert and if they find out that we threw out the rubbish with lots of takeaway boxes it will certainly alert them!" "A carrot is a carrot! It''s better than eating this te of crap! Rufus? What are you doing in the kitchen? Bring me those two carrots!" "Sorry, they''ve already been bitten by me, I think there are some onions in the basket if you still want to eat something." "You stupid bastard! Want me to eat onions raw? Give me one of those carrots you''re holding!" "You''re making too much noise, don''t wake up the family upstairs." This time there was a "crunch, crunch, crunch" of what sounded like a carrot being nibbled was heard from inside. "Then cast another stunning spell on them, I really don''t get it, are they mad? This is Britain, if they got found out in the first ce shouldn''t those Aurors be the ones to go to catch them?" "Don''t question the decision from above, we just do what we are told, and don''t you know what kind of level the Aurors and those newly recruited colleagues of ours are? They''re about to turn this city upside down in thest two days." "I just want to know how much longer we''re going to suffer here! Next time you don''t cook, I think it might be a little healthier if we just ate the ingredients raw!" "Stay until Snape shows up, and if you want to snuggle up and gnaw on raw beef, you can do that now." Upon hearing all these, Jon cautiously withdrew the Extendable Ear. There would be nothing more than endless chatter from the people in the back of the house, no more valuable information. Jon didn''t need any other information either, he could tell a lot just from that, and he deftly made his way back over the gate and returned to the alleyway to take off the cloak of invisibility. This group was clearly connected to Voldemort but not Voldemort''s people, they had just said that Aurors and their colleagues, the only other wizards brazenly seen in the city now were the Death Eaters, apart from Aurors of Britain. This means that these guys are actually Death Eaters too! Yet they are obviously not following Voldemort''s orders, so whose orders are they following? Jon pondered the obvious question, which was of course a good guess. The Death Eaters would only be loyal to one person, and since it wasn''t the current Voldemort it could only be the other one! The most unexpected thing about such a discovery for Jon was that the other Voldemort II had so quickly reconnected with a group of people who had chosen to continue serving him. He had thought that in the state he had been in at Hogwarts Castle when his soul had been scorched by the fires of Nirvana, he would have had to be honest for at least a year and a half, but it had only been less than a month. So was this one of the groups Snape was talking about? If not, would there be someone else in the city today looking for Snape besides Voldemort One, Voldemort Two, and him and Lily? As Jon thought about this, as if fate was deliberately trying to fulfil his suspicions, a familiar figure suddenly walked past him in a hurry and at a fast pace. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 447: Meeting (2 in 1) Chapter 447: Meeting (2 in 1) Jon looked at the American wizard who, half a month ago, had officiated the entire Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts Castle as a judge - Matthew Graves. He was dressed in a simple thin jacket and a normal muggle outfit and was walking briskly along the street, unaware that a gaze from Jon was already on him. Jon didn''t venture to follow him, in fact, the moment he saw Matthew, something could be ascertained. As far as he knew, Matthew had already returned to the International Confederation of Wizards after the end of the Triwizard Tournament, but Jon had received some information from Dumbledore as well, that the judge''s Graves family and Grindelwald were at odds with each other, and these odds were even extended to the Congress, so within the Magical Congress of the United States of America, the danger rating of Grindelwald is higher than that of Voldemort. Therefore, Matthew''s presence here could not be a coincidence. Either he was representing the Magical Congress of the United States of America and was equally interested in Snape, or he was actually investigating and tracking another group of people and had followed them here. Either of those two possibilities was enough to make Jon''s heart sink slightly, could Snape alone really have attracted so many people? What exactly had Dumbledore discussed with him? And what deal had been made that made him willing to set him free? Jon had always felt that Dumbledore had a bad habit of not telling the whole story, but he wasn''t in the mood to go back to France and ask for rification. Dumbledore hadn''t asked him to interfere too much, nor had he said that he had to help Lily get Snape back, so Jon returned to the inn with nothing more than a few curses in the back of his mind. By the next day, they had already spent three full days in this Inn and were ready to move into a new one, using their other two new identities. Jon was careful this time, so he asked Lily to switch to her new identity in the Inn''s bathroom after checking out and to leave without showing their faces any further, to escape the surveince of the other group of Death Eaters. Then he apanied Lily to that grassy field during the day for a few more days before Jon snuck a feather of his own into Lily''s possession and left the industrial city for one night. He didn''t go too far, still within Britain, but just switched his identity and appearance and arrived at the Leaky Cauldron pub. As the most well-known wizard bar in the whole of Britain, even in the dead of night, some noisy and lonely wizards woulde here to drink away their sorrows, so Jon wasn''t really conspicuous after arriving here. Declining Mr Borgin''s hospitality, he swept a nce around the bar and soon spotted a wizard in a grey robe with a wide hood sitting in the corner near the back door. Jon walked over and sat down across from the wizard with a swoop, then picked up the apparently untouched ss of cider in front of him and downed most of it with a "gulp". "Thew has been changed within the Witching Horizon to allow underage wizards to drink?" The male wizard, whose entire face was hidden under his hood, asked in a low voice that could not be heard by a third person. Jon, however, smacked his lips without a care in the world, the fruity wine wasn''t really as good as in juice. "Do you care about us? Go to France now and report me for drinking if you can, I''ll raise my hands in support." Lucius gave Jon a deep look, every time he had a conversation with Jon he didn''t feel like this fifteen-year-old teenager was half a minor, instead he was more than an old greaser. "How''s my son doing over in France?" "He should have just seen a big public trial (show trial), news shouldn''t being through yet, but I reckon you''ll know about it in a few days, so it''s okay if I give it to you now in advance." Jon raised an eyebrow. "It''s a good thing while you didn''t teach him to do anything good, you didn''t make him vicious either, he wasn''t dragged up on stage for a public trial, he just had to be given some proper education, but he must be scared to death that day, watching eight whole ssmates he spent time with hanged." Lucius looked like he was stunned by Jon''s words, he was so shocked he didn''t speak for a long while, and it was in that space that Jon finished the ss of cider straight away. "You guys! How dare you kill those students!" He shuddered, and it took immense fortitude to restrain himself from eximing, those eyes under the hood staring deadly at Jon. Jon shrugged. "What do you expect otherwise? You mean all of your colleagues think that their children are in no danger at all being taken to France, that Dumbledore will feed them well and provide them with good hospitality, just because of the phrase ''they''re all just children'' and then forgive them for the wrongs they''ve done? I had no idea purebloods could be so naive in their thinking." Lucius ignored Jon''s taunts, he hadn''t recovered from the staggering amount of information. The purebloods hadn''t really thought that Dumbledore would kill students! It waspletely at odds with how he had behaved before; even the former Voldemort, when he had attended Hogwarts, Dumbledore hadn''t really been harsh on him, at most he had heard about his bad behaviour when he had first been epted into the school and had intimidated him a little with his presence. Even during the time when Voldemort was first gaining momentum in the wizarding world, and there were already many hardcore supporters for Pureblood Supremacy in Slytherin House, who are now a mainstay of the Death Eaters, Dumbledore likewise never made any big moves against Slytherin House. So when Dumbledore was about to take those pureblood students away, they didn''t show much fear. But now Jon was actually telling him that eight students had already been hanged! This made Lucius feel like his whole being was in shock for a moment as if he had heard that Dumbledore had defected to his enemy and joined the Death Eaters! Jon sneered at such a reaction from Lucius and went on to say. "And your thoughts are ridiculous, why would you think that Professor Dumbledore would even hold back after all the time we''ve been fighting and killing each other? That the wrongsmitted by those pureblood brutes should be forgiven or ignored just like that?" Lucius looked up and locked eyes with Jon. "So you n to kill all the purebloods?" Jon looked at him quizzically. "You think all purebloods are bad and all non-purebloods are good? That self-aware?" Lucius'' eyelids twitched wildly, yet he wondered how to respond to Jon''s words, which he didn''t know whether it was mocking or genuinely puzzling. But Jon hadn''t meant to get any answers out of him either, and he leaned back in his chair with his whole body and said casually. "We''re not trying to create some new bloodline rivalry, and the philosophy that Witching Horizon holds is not about Muggle Supremacy, it''s not like there were only purebloods in those eight students that were hanged, there were also Muggle students that aided the evil as well as those of half-bloods. Or have you all be entrenched in a hierarchical view of bloodline; this is a world where you should be judged by what is right and what is wrong, isn''t it? Not that ridiculous bloodline." Lucius fell silent, he simply couldn''tmunicate with Jon on this point, being a hardcore fence-sitter, it didn''t matter to him what concepts he was made to adhere to as long as it benefited him and the Malfoys. And right now his only concern was the state of Draco. "So what''s going to happen to himter, to my son?" "As I told you earlier, he hasn''t done anything terribly wrong, so he won''t die or go to prison, at most he''ll just be educated on the right concepts and experience the life of the muggle-born wizard he once treated as a ve in the process of reforming his mind." Lucius gritted his teeth and continued to ask. "Will you use the Memory Charm on him?" Jon pped the table in displeasure all of a sudden. "Don''t assume us to be as low as you guys, how can you possibly get long-term stability with that shitty tactic of using a memory charm to change a person''s mind? Only that lord of yours would do that because, in fact, you yourselves know very well that the so-called bloodline theory ispletely against the human rights and axiom of wizards, while what we are trying to do could be considered the right thing to do." Hearing this reply from Jon, Lucius'' hanging heart dropped a little, as shocked as he was by the death of other people''s children, he was not quite sopassionate as to care, and for now, he was content to know that Draco was safe and that nothing would go wrong for the time being. The conversation about that came to a close for now, and Jon was in no hurry to just get to the point, he suddenly looked at Lucius with a yful expression. "I hear you''ve had a lot of time offtely, mate, having retired to experience life at home? Any thoughts on taking this opportunity to have a second child? Give Draco a younger sibling or something." Lucius'' face was dark, and for some reason, from such a tone from Jon, he had the feeling that he wasmunicating with Snape, the bastard who couldn''t be bothered to talk to him. "What are you trying to say." "It''s been a rough time within the British Ministry of Magic as ofte, no?" Jon said with a smack of his lips. "That great lord of yours is like a different person after the loss of the Triwizard Tournament and has started cleaning up internally, isn''t he? I guess you purebloods aren''t having as good a time as you used to, are you? So have you heard any other whispers, like the idea that some of your peers are nning to go elsewhere?" Lucius'' mind visibly jumped after hearing the question, and he thought of someone who had just recently approached him for certain things, so he asked probingly. "Why should I tell you that?" Jon spread his hands. "You can keep it to yourself, of course, but get a grip on the situation yourself, Mr Malfoy, and don''t end up plunging into trouble yourself before we can judge you in the future." Jon''s words sounded meaningful, causing a wave of annoyance to rise in Lucius'' mind as he didn''t want to deal with it, and he cleared his throat. "If you still want to talk about trading intelligence then we can continue that too, even though I''m no longer in Auror Offic-" Before he could finish those words, Jon interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "My answer is still the same, to you, we have no consideration in that regard. If there is nothing more you wish to ask, then I think we can go about our business now, Mr. Malfoy." Lucius looked ufortable, Jon had always had the upper hand in their exchanges with him, and he had been held back at every turn. But it was true that they had to get down to business now before the end of the day. At such a sensitive time when the British Ministry of Magic and the Witching Horizon were at a stand-off, Jon and Lucius were certainly not meeting undercover just to taunt each other with a few words; there was a deal that needed to bepleted between them. The promise to keep Draco alive in the Triwizard Tournament had been kept, and Jon had fulfilled it after all. If he hadn''t finally driven Voldemort''s soul away, then when Voldemort did seed in his n, Draco''s life would definitely be in jeopardy, and ording to his level of caution, he certainly wouldn''t have left any of them alive. So, in return for Draco''s survival in this tournament, Lucius had to fulfil his promise. To take Jon to where Adrien, the wizard who had created the ring, lived in Britain. They left through Diagon Alley, then in a deserted corner, Jon was taken to the middle of nowhere by Lucius, who used Apparition to take him there. Jon was not afraid that this was a trap set by Lucius unless they had researched magic to counter the Phoenix Apparition, even Voldemort would not be able to keep him if he wanted to leave. After theynded, Jon didn''t notice any buildings in front of him, but after Lucius took out his wand and tapped it against the grass, a magic spell was removed and an old, dpidated courtyard appeared in front of them. Jon scrutinized the courtyard for a moment, then turned his head to look at Lucius. "Are you sure this is the ce?" Lucius grimaced. "We made a pact before, and unless that Adrien I speak of is not the same person as the one you know, there is no chance of me lying." "Then why are you staying here?" Jon asked as he looked at him. Lucius took a deep breath as he gave Jon onest look and spoke hesitantly. "As long as you can take care of Draco, anything can be done in the future." Jon waved a hand. "Then we''ll talk about everything elseter." After receiving such a reply, Lucius looked like he was a little reluctant, but in the end, he didn''t dwell on it any further and simply used Apparition to leave the ce. Jon waited for him to leave before turning his head and pushing open the gate to enter a small, deserted courtyard, which he could see had been well cared for by its owner, but had now been abandoned for over ten years. Without stopping in the yard, he came to the door of the house, which was unlocked, and easily pushed it open and entered a dusty living room that had been rummaged through. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 448: Notice (will be deleted today) Chapter 448: Notice (will be deleted today) ording to the Author, due to the change of plot of the Finale volume, he is writing this volume without an outline, so, there have been irregr updates most of this month. With a few chapters, in P@treon I can catch up with the currenttest chapter of this novel, so I am going to update 1 chapter a day until the author starts a stable update, or the end of this Finale volume; when I will once again update 2 chapters a day. Thanks for all your support :D Chapter 449: Loud Bang Chapter 449: Loud Bang It was still dark when Jon got back to the inn, he had made a quick trip and got back to get a good night sleep. By the time the next day dawned, Lily hadn''t even noticed that Jon had gone out once in between, and they finished breakfast together, discussing their next strategy targeting Snape. The ground side still had to be watched, as they (actually only Lily) had no idea whether Snape had noticed something that time he left or whether it was just a coincidence. But of course, they couldn''t just watch the ground all the time either, and just after Jon''s tentative suggestion of what they should do if Snape had in fact spotted them and left the city afterwards, Lily fell into a moment of contemtion. It was indeed a question that Lily was somewhat less inclined to ponder. As all their preparations for staying in the city were based on the fact that Snape would not leave easily, and if he did, then who could find Snape if he really wanted to hide, given the size of the whole of the United Kingdom and the fact that he is a powerful wizard? Maybe Voldemort could still find him, after all, Snape must have the Dark Mark on his body, that''s the symbol of Voldemort, and if he wanted to locate it, Voldemort would have a way. But for Jon and Lily, who were already in the enemy''s camp, it was a much harder task. Just as Lily was at her wits'' end about this problem, a loud bang suddenly rang out underground near Spinner''s End at around midday! Even staying inside the Inn, Jon felt the whole building tremble, while at the same time, Lily and Jon looked at each other for a moment. An explosion like this, excluding the possibility of some kind of Muggle war in the city, it could only have been made by an extensive explosive kind of magic spell! Everyone around the Inn began to be rmed, and they poked their heads out of the windows, trying to look in the direction of the explosion to find out what was going on. Together, Jon and Lily ran straight out the front door of the Inn, they were close to Spinner''s End and the source of the explosion was underneath a residence where smoke was billowing out as if the whole building was about to copse. The streets were littered with screaming Muggles fleeing out, with many thinking it was an explosion in a gas line and scrambling to get away from the area where the explosion had urred. But it was obvious to Jon and Lily that a Muggle-Repelling Charm had been ced on that area, which would cause any Muggle that came into contact with the area to subconsciously give themselves a reason to leave immediately. Just after Jon and Lily had avoided the flow of people running away and reached the street where the explosion had urred, a body wrapped in ck mist suddenly shot up into the sky! There were only two people in the entire magical world who did not need to use a flying broom to fly and who could make such a spectacle. One was Voldemort himself, and the other was Snape! This was a reflection of Voldemort''s preference for Snape, who was the only one who had been taught this magic when there were so many Death Eaters who served him and were loyal to him. But Jon could also see with his sharp eyes that the ck mist that continued to dissipate into the air was clearly dripping with blood and that Snape was badly injured. Behind Snape, four or five other figures on flying brooms followed him out of the smoke, all wearing the ck robes that belonged to the Death Eaters. Jon wasn''t really much surprised that Snape had been found first by the Death Eaters. From what had happened to Karkaroff in the original story, it was actually clear that as long as Voldemort himself wanted to find them, there was no way that someone with the Dark Mark on their body would be able to escape. Not to mention the fact that today''s Snape hasn''t left Britain and is hiding right under the nose of the British Ministry of Magic. Lily had obviously caught sight of this too. But she had no way of catching up with the Death Eaters and Snape, who had already taken to the skies without a flying broom, as she certainly hadn''t brought anything as conspicuous as a flying broom on their trip to Britain. To this, she could only look to Jon. "You follow them up, keep yourself safe, and then contact me when you find out where theynded!" Jon of course had no problem with this decision, he just looked at Lily with a little concern. "Are you okay with being alone, Professor?" Lily said with a wave of her hand. "Don''t worry about me, I''m not going to let myself die so easily until I''ve finished my revenge." With those words from her, Jon didn''t hesitate any longer as he used the levitation charm and rose into the air in ce, flying in the direction Snape and the Death Eaters had disappeared. He certainly didn''t believe Lily''s words, which were more like a red g, but the feather he had left on Lily earlier had not been retrieved yet, and even if something happened, Jon would still be able toe back at the first chance, as a backup. Snape and the Death Eaters flew fast, using broomsticks which were the newest Quidditch-level items toe out of the magical world in thest few years - Firebolt that could elerate up to 150 miles per hour in ten seconds. But as Jon''s magic had grown and his skills had improved, he had be much more adept than before with the levitation charm; although it was certainly not possible to catch up with them immediately, it was not difficult to keep up with them from a distance. And as he rose into the air, Jon cloaked himself in the cloak of invisibility so that the Death Eaters wouldn''t be able to detect that others were trailing behind them. Snape certainly wouldn''t use Apparition to make a long-distance teleport. It had been a month since the end of the Triwizard Tournament, and the British Ministry of Magic must have reactivated the Apparition surveince across the entire British Isles, so unless he could just Apparate across the continent, he would only reveal his position. If he really wanted to escape tracking, the best thing he could do was to shake off the Death Eaters chasing behind him, then find a safe Floowork or Portkey and make a long-distance teleportation. But trying to shake off these Death Eaters trailing behind him on their Firebolt brooms was not an easy task. And Jon had a feeling that Snape had actually foreseen that he could not hide for much longer and that the whole point of his escape from France, and what he had been doing all along in anticipation, was about to begin. It was during this stealthy stalking, that Jon caught sight of a couple of seemingly hidden flying brooms between him and the gang of Death Eaters close to the ground, with his sharp eye. There were others in pursuit too, and they were just as stealthy, except that the Disillusionment Charm came out badly in daylight, allowing Jon whose eyes had be sharp to spot the w! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 450: Backstab (2 in 1) Chapter 450: Backstab (2 in 1) Snape covered his stomach, where his robes had beenpletely blown up and turned into a bloody mess as well. Blood continued to drip from his body, but he had no intention of stopping, still flying in one direction with a clear goal. And, behind him, the five Death Eaters were also pursuing him relentlessly, not looking like they were going to let him slip in the slightest. Even though the orders they had received from Voldemort were to bring Snape back alive, the purebloods still wanted to use this opportunity to make Snape suffer. There are many different kinds of captures, and Snape''s apparently strong resistance gives them even more reason to "take care" of this out-of-favour half-blood wizard. This was just a little appetizer, not a real meal yet. Although they couldn''t quite understand why Snape would return to Britain when he had escaped and was unwilling to return to Voldemort, the Death Eaters knew that Snape''s actions were tantamount to throwing himself into a trap. The British Ministry of Magic had been in control of the whole of Britain for many years, and not only had a stable order been established in the magicalmunity, but it had also inherited the contacts and resources of the previous Ministry of Magic on the side of the Muggle government, leading the Muggle top politicians to believe that the British Ministry of Magic was still the same group of peace-seeking wizards as before. This left Snape in a state of being unable to escape from the moment he was discovered, and even if he could use Apparition, the Death Eaters could immediately continue to find him based on the trail he left behind. The distance between them and Snape was slowly closing, and the speed of flight of the magic created by Voldemort was not slow, but Snape had been badly injured before he took off, so it slowed him down considerably. Just as they left the industrial city and began to enter the countryside, Snape began to fall from the sky, like a kite with a broken string, straight down towards a shack in a field on the ground. The five Death Eaters who were chasing him didn''t seem to understand the situation, not knowing whether Snape was in a state where he was too weak to control his flight or whether he had started tond of his own ord. It was also because of thisck of understanding that they all began to panic. Their lord had be much crazier than before, and since Voldemort had demanded to capture Snape alive, they would never dare to return with his dead body. If that were to happen, they would only end up buried together with Snape! So, these Death Eaters began to desperately lower the flying brooms beneath them and started to elerate their descent! One by one, they showed the pro qualities of professional Quidditch yers, staring down at Snape as if he is a golden snitch while diving towards him! But just as the fastest three of them were about to get within ten metres of Snape, Snape''s figure abruptly disappeared in mid-air. The five of them froze for a second, but then someone quickly reacted! "He''s used the Apparition! Check it out!" This group had a high-ranking member of the current Department of Magical Transportation with the highest level of ess to Apparition reconnaissance, and almost as soon as the third second after Snape disappeared, he had already determined where the Apparition manifestation hadnded. "Just three kilometres further down on the left!" Confusingly, this time Snape''s Apparition did not instantaneously move too far away, or to a location that was less travelled, but right underneath them. "After him!" But no one stopped; this is Britain, their home base, and they certainly had nothing to fear. Soon the five Death Eaters rushed to Snape''s Apparitionnding site, a shack that from the outside looked like it had only been built a short time ago. The Death Eaters rushed inside and Snape sat gasping for breath on a sofa chair inside the shack, as if his body was stretched to the limit and the injuries to his stomach would not allow him to escape any further. Looking at the Death Eaters who had stormed in, Snape didn''t beg for mercy, not even having a half-hearted expression on his face, he just looked at the man leading the group. "Mulciber, we sure are a pair of long-time friends." He calmly let out an exmation, and the Death Eater known as Mulciber is clearly one of Snape''s fellow schoolmates that he had befriended in Slytherin House when he was a student, only now he was looking at Snape with a cold look on his face. "Friendship is friendship. You should know what kind of mistake you have made, Severus, since you managed to escape from Dumbledore''s men. Why did you not return to our lord''s side immediately?" Snapeughed, and there was certainly no pleasant smile on his face, with what looked like a permanent disy of nothing but sarcasm, it was clearly a sneer. "And I wonder if that lord of ours, did he ever figure out exactly why he needed to get me back with such urgency?" Mulciber and hispanions around him looked at each other, none of them had a clue what Snape was saying here, though they all clearly heard the disrespect for Voldemort in Snape''s tone. Their faces turned dark and each of them raised the wands in their hands and pointed them at Snape. It wasn''t that they were all so loyal to the current Voldemort, but there was no way for anyone to guarantee whether or not the teammates around them were truly die-hard, and if any of them told Voldemort something terrible behind the scenes, they would certainly shed their skin, if not die afterwards. "The Lord naturally has his own ideas as to what he wants you to do, so it''s better to wait until you see him and then talk to him." He only wanted to get Snape back to Voldemort, whether he would be rewarded or not seemed to be secondary, as long as he was not punished. However, just as the words were leaving his mouth and he was about to direct the men around him to do something, somehow a group of men blocked the sunlighting in from outside the entrance to the shack. Mulciber and the others turned back in horror, but when they saw who wasing, each breathed a sigh of relief. "So it''s Rufus, you''ve found your way here based on the Apparition surveince? Rest assured Snape is under our control." There were three visitors, they were wearing the same ck robes as Mulciber and the others and were obviously also members of the Death Eaters, so after seeing them, Mulciber and the others were not much wary. Rufus, who had been gnawing on carrots and onions for days, had a smile on his face as if he was equally happy to have managed to capture Snape and now finally return to his lord. "That''s wonderful, let''s bring him back right now!" In response, Mulciber and the others did not suspect anything, and they turned around unprepared, about to use the stunning spell on Snape and take him back to Voldemort to resume their duties. Three neat, coordinated spells burst forth! "Avada Kedavra!" 3 The five of them were not prepared for the sudden green light, and in the next instant three of them had apleteck of life in their eyes, and even in thest moment before they died, their faces were still facing Snape with a relieved smile. As the two remaining Death Eaters watched theirpanions fall to the ground, it was clear that neither of them had reacted to what was happening, and by the time they were about to turn their heads in bewilderment to look at Rufus and the others, two more killing curses rang out at the same time without a moment''s pause! The five Death Eaters didn''t have time to react to the friendly backstabbing, none of them expected that their colleagues, who had been in the same ss and shared the same interests, would just strike them without saying a word. Snape''s gaze was cold as he watched the vile backstabbing and spoke indifferently. "Just straight to the death like that? There aren''t many Death Eaters, and there are even fewer elites. If we really have to kill all of them, how many of the purebloods in the British magic world will be usable in the future?" A look of disbelief appeared on Rufus'' face when he heard these words from Snape. "You also know that there aren''t really many elites among us at all, so do you think that Mulciber and the others deserve to be called elites? These fence-sitters have no loyalty to our lord at all to speak of, what difference does it make if they are dead or alive, it would be a good thing to have a major reshuffle within us this time on the contrary, there are too many losers left to die." Snape''s voice was still t. "No loyalty to our lord? And which lord are they supposed to be loyal to, exactly who you are calling a lord now?" At the question, Rufus'' trio''s faces turned cold as they stared intently at Snape. "Don''t y dumb, Severus, I have thought you''d have recognised the situation and were just waiting for us toe to you." "I don''t think I''m ying dumb." Snape said calmly, "Which lord are you representing, at least show some proof, I had expected that if I am truly valued by him like before, he would be here in person." "You are too insolent!" Rufus'' face didn''t look like he was putting on a deliberate show; he looked like he was genuinely angry at Snape for this great disrespectful remark. But he wasn''t about to strike down Snape to capture him either because he could tell that Snape was actually waiting for them, otherwise, he wouldn''t have even gone to the trouble of escaping from Dumbledore and not wanting to make contact with the current Voldemort when he returned to Britain. Otherwise, then who was he waiting for? Surely he must be waiting for their true lord! As one of the first Death Eaters to make contact with Voldemort II, Rufus scoffed at the "great sir" of today. His true allegiance was to the man who could lead the Purebloods to glory, not to the madman who was preparing to impose his own tyranny on the entire British magicalmunity. The change in Voldemort around the time of the Triwizard Tournament was so obvious that anyone with a little brain could see that the contrast was simply a change of person. As a subordinate, a servant, Rufus was not in a position to know what was wrong with his lord, but he could choose whom he wanted to be loyal to. And, as a discerning pureblood, Rufus naturally offered hisplete loyalty only to the one who had truly ruled them for over a decade. They had in the meantime contacted a number of their fellow Death Eaters who were also suffering from the torment of the current Voldemort One, with the intention of re-screening a selection of servants who possessed loyalty to their true lord. Snape is obviously one of the most important people, and after learning of his escape back to Britain, Voldemort Two contacted Rufus and the others, asking them to find an opportunity to make contact with Snape and bring him back safely. It was for this reason that Rufus and the others had actually been following Jon and Lily at first, as the channel for this part of the Death Eaters was their own, and if they found anything at all they could not hide it from the others. And now as long as they had Jon in their sights, they would be able to lock down any possible destination to find Snape. It''s just, early morning yesterday, it was as if they had been exposed, they had lost track of Jon and Lily somehow, and just as Rufus was all over the city trying to find Jon and the others again. The Death Eaters had made a discovery first. This of course is good for Rufus and the group and represents an easier way to get Snape in their pocket. As for Snape''s request for verification of identity now, this was something that Voldemort Two had considered as if it was something that had been discussed long before he had sent them to find Snape. Rufus, despite his reluctance, pulled out a small ss vial from the pocket of his robes, that contained a small half vial of pale golden sand and gravel. He tossed the vial of sand and gravel to Snape. "Our lord told me to bring it to you, and he told me to tell you that no one can take your ce." Snape took the vial of sand and gravel that looked bright with a faint golden glow as if the small golden particles were all reflected in those formerly vacant eyes. "He always thought I had put it down." Inexplicably, he suddenly spoke the words. "All these years of me acting more and more rude to Lily, abusive, even willing to use a killing curse on her, had made him think that I had truly stopped caring about such a low-bred woman, that, as he had once told me, there is more in this world than her. But actually, I would have liked to tell him in his face that he had actually guessed wrong." An awful feeling suddenly rose in Rufus'' mind as they stared at Snape, gripping their wands tightly in their hands, and just as they were considering whether to just make a move, Snape''s faint voice rang out again. "You''ve got the stuff, how long are you going to watch the show from the sidelines for." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 451: A Pure Person (2 in 1) Chapter 451: A Pure Person (2 in 1) At the same time as Snape''s words sounded, there was a rope that swam around the ground like a snake, which the three of them had never noticed, and it suddenly tightened! Such an attack simply didn''t trigger the shield charms'' defence, and as Rufus and the others were all focused on Snape at the moment, they didn''t even notice that there was someone else hiding somewhere in the vicinity. Without surprise, the twine, which was as thick as a baby''s arm, caught the three of them by the legs and dragged them towards the door, causing them to lose their weight and even though they had reacted, they were unable to wield their wands and use their magic, so they all fell to the ground! At the same time as they fell, a small hand came out of a corner and snapped the fingers lightly. The next second, all the wands instantly flew out of Rufus'' and the men''s grasp, and floated in mid-air! It was only at this time that they finally saw the person who had waited until they had preyed on the cicada and had been guarding in the shadows as a sparrow. Jon took off the cloak of invisibility, revealing his original face. "Jon Green!" For that face of his, which could not have been any more unfamiliar to every Death Eater now, Rufus'' face was unbearably grim as he gritted his teeth and spoke out. Jon was also looking at them with interest while asking Snape without looking up. "Is this the elite of the Death Eaters? Why are they so off guard? It feels so much easier to deal with them than Be and the others." Faced with such undisguised contempt from Jon, Rufus and the others, not knowing whether it was from anger or humiliation, all turned red, while Snape''s voice remained as calm as ever. "They can be considered elite alreadypared to the rest of those losers. Do you think it really matters how strong or weak we are from each other in this war? No matter which side it is, we are actually leaning on one person all the time." Jon shrugged, not expressing anything of his own in response. "So you actually knew I was following behind all along?" "With all thatmotion, there''s no way you couldn''t have heard it, and you certainly would have been sure to follow if you did hear it." Snape threw the vial of golden sands in his hand at Jon as he spoke, and Rufus, of course, saw the sight and red as if he wanted to tear them apart with his eyes now! "How dare you! Snape! Do you know what you''re doing? You''ve defected to Dumbledore!" He roared, his body struggling to get up off the ground, and after Jon saw this, he simply flicked the wand in his hand and the twine that had taken control of the lower half of their bodies began to continue to lengthen, wrapping their bodies tightly from the neck down. Snape acted calmly in the face of his usations, sitting in that high-backed chair, the indifference on his face unchanged from the start, like he had it all under control. "I''ve nevermitted myself to anyone, since that night. Do you know why the lord has always treated me with such high regard? It is because our rtionship is different from what you have with him, he and I are in a cooperative rtionship, we get what we want, and now I just want to end that cooperation." "Betrayal! You disgraceful betrayer! You think you will seed because you have defected to Dumbledore! You know what our lord does to betrayers! He will make you beg for your life and die a violent death!" Snape didn''t bother to look at him, just lightly waved the wand in his hand. "Avada Kedavra." The two Death Eaters who were trapped were not deterred by the death of theirpanion, they cursed at Snape just as furiously, until two green lights came on in quick session and the shack finally became quiet. Jon held the ss vial with the golden sands in his hand and looked at Snape with an odd expression, not that he had any problem with Snape casually disposing his captives, but Snape really did look like he hadpletely defected to Dumbledore with this look on his face now. The Death Eater from Voldemort One had been cunningly eliminated by him, and the Death Eater from Voldemort Two had been killed by his own hand, and what the hell was he thinking? "Are you waiting for this thing to get to your hands all the time now?" Jon shook the vial of sand, "Didn''t you say there weren''t enough people? So the third party you''ve been waiting for is them?" Snape finally gave a dismissive sneer at Jon''s words. "Do you really know how many people I''vepleted deals with? What I just said to Rufus is equally valid to you, I have never defected to anyone, and the same goes for Dumbledore, there is only cooperation between us." Jon stared at Snape, it was actually all evident from the way he had acted in the original story. He had been protective of Harry because he felt a sense of responsibility for Lily''s death, and had never treated Harry well at all when he had been safe because he was full of hatred for James. But now, all his actions made it a little hard to see through. "Well, I suddenly realise that we haven''t had a proper conversation, and just out of my personal curiosity, can you tell me exactly what you''re trying to do with all this? Mr. Snape." Instead of using the same cryptic tone that he had previously used when he hadmunicated with Snape, Jon used a rare respectful tone. At this Snape did not immediately utter a word, he looked in silence towards the always open door directly in front of him. The sun was shining through the doorway, and he was at the very edge of where all the light touched, where if he moved a step forward he could leave the shadows. He stayed there, just as he had when Lily had tried to help him get out of the shadows when he was a student, and stood there unmoved. "If Harry Potter is still alive, then you should have been in the same ss as him." Snape''s voice was not loud, nor any emotions could be discerned in it as if he was just saying something that had nothing to do with him. "So I can understand Lily''s attitude towards you, you were brought to that wagon by her own hand or in the year when her own children should have been enrolled in school normally, she actually ced some of her feelings towards Harry Potter on you, otherwise this cloak of invisibility wouldn''t have fallen into your hands so easily." Jon nced down at the cloak of invisibility in his hand. How could he not understand what Snape was saying, but, Jon didn''t actually mind, and if Lily did make it clear that she wanted him toe and acknowledge her as godmother to heal the scar in her heart that had never healed, Jon had no problem with that at all. She was willing to risk her life to take him away from Barty Jr. It wouldn''t even be wrong to say that she had given Jon a second lease on life like a parent. "And then what?" "And then, in fact, there is something I could and do tell you, Jon Green." Snape looked over to him and met Jon''s eyes, "I''ve closed three deals with two people in thest few days, and it''s okay to proceed with another one with you now. I''ll give you an answer, if you promise to protect Lily''s life from now on, no matter what happens!" Jon''s answer to this was apleteck of consideration. "It doesn''t require a deal with you at all, and I''ll always do that." "That would certainly be best." Snape raised the wand in his hand and he snapped it with his own hand, right in front of Jon''s face! The birchwood exterior snapped, revealing the faintly glowing snake nerves within! Snape then reattached the broken part of his wand, pulled a vial of what looked like glue from his pocket and gently ced a drop on it, after which the surface of the wand became as good as new again. Having done this, he struggled to stand up by holding onto the arm of his chair, he held his wand in one hand and made his way to the firece in the shed with the other hand, withdrawing a handful of green powder from his pocket. "My purpose is really, really, really simple. I can be on board with whoever can keep Lily alive after that night, and I can sell my life to whoever guarantees Lily''s safety and be a dog, so can you say that this is an allegiance? Of course not, it''s just a deal." Jon watched in silence as he sprinkled the powder in his hand on the firece and the firece, which hadn''t burned in years for a long time, suddenly lit up with a green me. Snape walked over towards the zing fire. "Onest word of advice Jon, I don''t know if Dumbledore knows anything about this or not, but the man that has been cooped up in Northern Europe, he is crazier than all of you could ever guess, what is bloodline theory in the face of his ns, and if he does seed, then the whole world will have to change because of it." Finally, his body disappeared into the mes, and at the same time, he stated his own final destination of travel. "Spinner''s End." Jon watched him leave, not meaning to stop in any way. Dumbledore had given him the task of just protecting Lily, never saying that he should actually take Snape back, so Jon had actually always known exactly what he was supposed to do. Besides, Snape had clearly made sure to let him know that they would see each other again after this departure. He had understood what he had said about his purpose and was finally able to understand what Dumbledore had been saying about Snape being an extremely pure man. Over a decade ago, he had approached Dumbledore and begged him to save Lily, and was willing to give everything he had to do so. Dumbledore agreed to the deal but didn''t actually do anything after that. Voldemort still found the Potters and took the lives of the Potters'' father and son, but actually did keep his promise to Snape and let Lily live. What kind of mental journey Snape went through after that Jon did not know, but after meeting Voldemort who had disappeared for a month to mend his divided soul and return to Britain, Snape should have decided that the only one who could really control Lily''s life and death would be the man in front of him. Even with Dumbledore''s protection, Lily, whose entire family had been killed, would inevitably want revenge against all odds, and she would always put herself in danger, always put her life on the line. If he had wanted her to live, Snape couldn''t afford to keep the deal he had previously pleaded with Dumbledore, but instead, he would have to serve Voldemort, the returned king, with all his heart and soul, and let him keep the promise he had made to himself at the beginning of not harming Lily so that he could truly keep her safe. It was for this reason that Voldemort agreed to his almost insolent request, giving orders to all his men not to endanger Lily''s life under any circumstances, and at the same time using Snape to his full potential, making him a leader and role model for the half-bloods, as well as a thorn in the side of the purebloods, and attracting the hatred of the vast majority of Dumbledore''s men, and let him keep Hogwarts Castle in check for him. Snape also had to help him make some kind of unknown potion secretly. Completely squeezing Snape as a person to the point of not even letting a bit of value go to waste. So it really was a quid pro quo between him and Voldemort before. After the Triwizard Tournament, the reason why after he had fallen to Witching Horizon''s hand, he was willing to return to Britain and help Dumbledore get what had now fallen into Jon''s hands, Jon guessed that it would be Snape who had guessed the inside story of Voldemort Two''s defeat by himself. After the day he was given up by Voldemort One and had been handed away, Snape had probably begun to think that the general trend of the bloodline theory was no longer in y. There was no point in him continuing to work for Voldemort any longer because it was the lunatic Voldemort One who now controlled Britain, and after abandoning Snape, there was an obvious answer to the question of whether he would still order his men to let them keep their hands off Lily in theter war against the Witching Horizon. Even if that rational Voldemort Two could still make aeback; since Jon had been able to defeat him once, it was surely possible to defeat him a second time. So, it was at this point that Snape struck the deal with Dumbledore; Dumbledore had actually always seen Snape more clearly than anyone else, so he knew exactly what was going through Snape''s mind and didn''t question his intentions. The result of this deal between the two men was now the vial of golden sand in Jon''s hand. Jon held the ss vial up in mid-air, the sunlight shone into it and the tiny golden particles reflected a faint light. What was in the vial, Jon didn''t know, but what was clear to him was that Snape''s willingness toplete this deal with Dumbledore meant that he wanted more than anyone else for the Witching Horizon to defeat Voldemort in the end, which meant that what was in the vial was what he thought would pose a real threat to Voldemort himself once it fell into Dumbledore''s hands. As for Snape''sst paragraph of advice about Grindelwald. In fact, it is something that Jon had discovered a lot earlier than anyone else. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 452: The Duel of Revenge Chapter 452: The Duel of Revenge Lily didn''t leave. She just stayed in Spinner''s End, not that she didn''t want to follow Jon and chase after them, but without a flying broom, she would have been adding trouble to Jon by running around blindly like that. So she chose to trust Jon and stayed behind in Spinner''s End where an explosion had just urred and sirens were constantly ring around her. Rescue was soon underway in this street and the exact circumstances of the explosion had been determined to be the result of a gas pipe leakage, but of course, that was just a ruse by the Muggle government and Lily could certainly see what a mayhem had just taken ce here. Snape had never left the city, not even Spinner''s End, always hiding in the underground of this alley until the Death Eaters had found him. She had wandered around the scene of the explosion long enough to save a little girl trapped under the rubble, and after watching the little girl, who had been crying all along, being taken away by her family with a thousand thanks, some psychologicalpulsion had led Lily unknowingly to the door of Snape''s house. It was not within the vicinity of where the explosion had urred and had not been affected by the explosion. There had been three or more Aurors or Death Eaters guarding this ce almost every day before, and basically, no one would be able to hide from them. Whenever Snape showed any sign of going home, he would be spotted at the first opportunity. And now, of course, all those guards had been withdrawn, and with a big explosion like that happening, of course, the men under Voldemort knew what had happened. Only to maintain the Statute of Secrecy, they had restrained themselves, there couldn''t be a situation where dozens of people on broomsticks flew into the sky for the whole city to see, creating a situation like that could never be salvaged except by erasing everyone''s memories. Lily pushed open the door to Snape''s house, which hadn''t been re-locked since thest time it had been opened by the unlocking spell. The interior and furnishings were just as messy and untidy as before, and even the dust on the floor was a little heavier than before. And just as Lily raised her gaze, she caught sight of the man standing in front of the firece. Snape was still bleeding profusely, but he was still standing straight, wand in hand, and just aiming it straight at Lily. The scene went quiet. So quiet, it was like one could hear the chandelier above their heads scraping as it swayed slightly in response to the wind blowing in from the window. Lily didn''t move, still lightly gripping the wand hidden in her sleeve as she saw the tip of Snape''s wand aimed at her, not even a subconscious reaction to grip it harder. "Where''s Jon?" She asked in an icy voice. "He''s still a little young after all." A sneer crossed Snape''s lips, "We''re the only ones here now, Lily Evans." Lily loosened her fingers slightly and the end of her wand just slipped into her palm, then she held it tightly in her hand. "So? You created this perfect opportunity for what, to deliver this opportunity for revenge into my hands by yourself, did you? Snape." "I actually pondered the question in private when I was alone in a quiet moment. What exactly would I ever have to do to really pull you back and stop you from going in that wrong direction? But every time there was actually only one final answer, and that was that there was nothing I could do at all because as far as you were concerned, you always thought that path was the right one." "Right or wrong, who are you to judge? In this world, it is always the winner who decides what is right and wrong. It was only when Dumbledore was in power that you thought your way of thinking was right, but in the current British wizarding world, if you pull a random wizard and ask him, will he agree with what you call right? And as for revenge? Haven''t you always been clear about your enemy? Stop trying to find psychologicalfort for yourself. The reason why you didn''t go after your real enemy is clear to us both. You saw me as an easy target and simply wanted someone to vent your hatred on." Snape''s voice was still as calm as ever, except that the eyes he was looking at Lily with were not half as empty as they had been before, but there was no way to make out what kind of emotion was in them. "I''ve actually finally figured out something over thest few days. As far as revenge is concerned, it is actually me who is really qualified to make use of this reason! It was your husband who ruined my school life when I was a student, and after that, I almost gave up the first half of my life for you!" He suddenly raised the tone of his voice, and the questioning tone of his voice seemed to beced with real and unparalleled hatred. "Why did I end up in this situation? I clearly have an overwhelming talent, and now that I have finallye to my senses, Evans, it is not toote. I''m still useful to my lord, he needs me back to help him, and as long as I can kill you myself again and prove that I''ve let go of all I have and have nothing left but absolute loyalty; then wealth and position, whatever it is, will be within my reach if I want it!" The expression on Lily''s face was cold, even after hearing such an usation from Snape, nothing had changed. "You can''t go back. Even now, it''s the same as how it''s always been, it''s never been for anyone, it''s always actually been for yourself." She didn''t go along with Snape''s words but said this without knowing why, for no reason at all. "Whatever, who do you think I''m doing it for!" Snape''s face showed a grimace that he had never had before. "I spent the first thirty years of my life making a mistake so foolish that I certainly can''t let it continue now, do you think you have any chance of fighting back! Damn you." Suddenly he raised his wand, the swing of which had never been so swift and definite! "Mud! Blood!" As the word that had been his demon in Snape''s mind for twenty years shouted out of his mouth once more, a green glow exploded from his wand! "Avada Kedavra!" Lily reacted as soon as the wand began to swing up from his hand, her entire body unbelievably quickly sidling to her left while also raising the wand in her hand. Without wavering, without trembling her hand, her voice, which was as cold as an iceberg, recited the spell that she could recite in the shortest amount of time and with the fastest wand-swinging speed at the moment! "Sectumsempra!" The next moment, a green aura shone throughout the room, but within this, there was a single invisible sharp de that seemed to cut through all! "Poof!" The sound of blood and flesh splitting open rang out as a heavy body copsed with a crash. ---- #Drowz, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 453: Role Playing Chapter 453: Role ying Instead of returning to France immediately to find Dumbledore with the vial of golden sand, Jon returned to Spinner''s End. He had guessed where Snape would have gone and had a good idea of where Lily would be based on the feather he had left on her, but Jon wasn''t about to get involved in this melodrama. Heading out along Spinner''s End, he soon found the referee amongst the muggles who were still in a state of confusion around him. Matthew Graves. He didn''t look to be in the best of shape, anxiously wandering through the crowd as if looking for someone, until he met Jon''s gaze. Jon had no intention of hiding his whereabouts, he didn''t even hide his identity, the appearance he disyed was his own body. Matthew, as the man who had personally witnessed Jonpleting the Triwizard Tournament and had awarded the title to him, was certainly not unfamiliar with Jon''s current appearance. "Jon Green." He called out Jon''s name. Jon watched as both their eyes met across the empty expanse of the air. "Ha, what a coincidence, Mr Graves. Good morning." Jon acted like a good boy, waving and smiling in greeting. Anyone would only think of him as a well-educated, obedient and well-behaved 10-year-old boy, yet Matthew knew better than anyone else what kind of person actually hid under this young exterior. Matthew took a quick step closer to Jon, closing the distance between the two of them, while lowering his voice and speaking sternly in a voice that only the two of them could hear. "Don''t give me that pretence, what exactly do you want? I came here following the Witching Horizon men, but it''s a mess here, Death Eaters, that Northern Witching Horizon and you Witching Horizon, there are all kinds of people here!" Jon acted innocent as he spread his hands. "I can''t answer that for you sir, as you know, I''m just a perfectly ordinary fourth-year student at Hogwarts, if you have any questions about that you can go to our Professor Dumbledore, he should be able to give you a satisfactory answer." Jon''s sincere statement was filled with nothing but sarcasm in Matthew''s ears. "Then why are you here!" "Hey, I have just finished a tense and exciting tournament, so isn''t it only natural that Professor Dumbledore has given me some time off toe out and rx?" "Come to Britain, your enemy''s home base, to rx?" Jon cleared his throat twice. "It''s normal. My way of rxing is different from other people, just like what was rumoured in Hogwarts castle before; when I have nothing to do, I like to use the Killing Curse to kill two people to entertain myself, and if I have to kill someone, I definitely can''t kill my own people, so there''s nothing wrong about being here." "Don''t y me for a fool!" Matthew suddenly raised his voice, like he was already in a bad mood, and had no patience at all for wanting to keep yanking Jon''s strings. "You are Dumbledore''s most trusted student, so these words can also be conveyed to him by you for me! What exactly Grindelwald is doing in Northern Europe, Dumbledore must know better than anyone else! Regarding his departure from that prison, the Congress had already been very tolerant, sort of selling Dumbledore a favour, but he didn''t have the slightest intention of stopping! I don''t know if there''s any of your own stance in this, but the opinion of the Congress is clear." He stared Jon in the eye, incredibly sternly. "Grindelwald will always be the enemy of the Magical Congress of the United States of America! Those who stand with Grindelwald will also forever be the enemies of the Magical Congress! Now that Europe''s own problems have not even been resolved, I hope that you will think clearly for yourselves about whether you want to set off new troubles!" The smile on Jon''s face also narrowed, he calmly listened to Matthew''s statement that was both advice and a threat and didn''t bother to interrupt anything, but only asked tly after he finished. "Then I would like to know one thing, Mr Graves. If there is really a situation where Professor Dumbledore and Headmaster Grindelwald join forces, and we exclude anyone else but the two of them, do you really have the ability to take care of them?" Matthew reddened at Jon''s question. The answer was of course obvious, when just Grindelwald alone had brought the entire Magical Congress of the United States of America to its knees, it was ultimately Dumbledore who had stepped in and won that duel that had resolved the threat. And if Dumbledore had really joined forces with Grindelwald, and then when they waited until after they had really defeated Voldemort, the power they at that time wielded would represent the entire European magicalmunity, so how else could the Congress deal with them? Matthew gritted his teeth and said in an almost exasperated manner. "Then why can''t we..." "Unite with Voldemort, right?" Jon picked up on his words without blinking. Matthew was silent at this moment, he might have been able to speak decisively before about his attitude towards Grindelwald, but on the matter of Voldemort, there was no unified opinion within the Congress, so naturally he couldn''t really say something like that. "It''s best to think before you speak. I don''t know much about the situation in the United States, but as far as I know, you guys are the ones who have the highest level of Muggle-born and Half-blood wizards isn''t that right? Even Ilvermorny had a Muggle presence as one of the founders in the first ce, and the families that can be called purebloods can be counted on the palm of one''s hand. If you really wanted to unite with Voldemort, you would be having a falling out within yourselves first, wouldn''t you?" Jon shook his head, he hadn''t actually intended to put pressure on Matthew, but rather to get him to think clearly about the situation at hand, after all, the wizarding world was not the same as the muggle world, the Magical Congress of the United States of America didn''t have that kind of power (nuke) that made it unique in the world. "Regarding the matter of the Northern Witching Horizon, I haven''t had too many exchanges with Professor Dumbledore about this, but what I can be sure of is that within the Witching Horizon; the Order of the Phoenix, the French wizards, and the Northern European Witching Horizon. The connection between the three of us isn''t that strong, especially the Northern Witching Horizon. They are only providing us with material assistance from Northern Europe, and they didn''t send any personnel to participate in the war. That means that I''m not sure if the professor knows anything about what Mr Grindelwald is nning to do, but he certainly has no intention of getting involved." Jon then straightened the robes he was wearing, while coughing twice to make his voice seem a little more mature. "Those words above were spoken by me as a fourth-year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to you, so the next piece of advice is what I''m going to say as a Professor of Transfiguration at Durmstrang School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Matthew''s face went from pensive at first to a little confused as he watched Jonplete the switch between roles like this. "It''s none of your business what our Headmaster wants! Separated by the Antic Ocean, the North Sea, and the Norwegian Sea. You guys from the United States still want to control Northern Europe, do you! Are you the ones who have defeated him? Did you lock him up? Do you really think you''re the world''sw enforcer; then what about the time when Voldemort was killing innocent people? You weren''t even able to make a single fart that time." ---- #Drowz, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 454: Summer (2 in 1) Chapter 454: Summer (2 in 1) The final result of the meeting between Jon and Matthew was naturally a sour one. They couldn''t reach any consensus, Matthew himself couldn''t represent the opinion of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, and Jon couldn''t represent Dumbledore and Grindelwald either. Jon''s spraying his words in such a way wouldn''t have any serious consequences just because of that, and even if the Magical Congress of the United States of America really lost their minds and decided to join forces with Voldemort, it wouldn''t bring about any changes. Just like Snape said, the key to deciding the victory of the wizarding war was always within the confines of just a few people. It was only after some friendly exchanges with Matthew that Jon headed in the direction where Snape''s house was located on Spinner''s End. Lily with his feather on her had been at that location for a long time and should have had an end in sight by now. Though that end result would actually be pretty much what he had guessed when Snape left. Arriving at Snape''s house, the door wasn''t locked and Jon easily pushed his way into the messy living room. Only one other person was standing in the room. Lily stood right in front of the curtains that had been drawn, the midday sun was blocked by the brown curtains, revealing only an orange colour that was as hazy as it was in the evening. Against such a background, the scene in the living room was like a silent theatre that had reached its conclusion. The middle-aged man with long greasy hair and wearing dark-coloured robes just flopped to the ground, and underneath him, a shocking puddle of blood-red was spreading in all directions. Lily stood in front of Snape''s body holding her wand like a stone statue, she didn''t move a muscle, so much so that one couldn''t even feel her breathing, she just quietly lowered her head and looked at the ground that had gradually be ice-cold with her back bent. Jon didn''t say anything either. After he came in, he silently turned around and closed the door, keeping this drama from being revealed to the public outside, just keeping such an eventual oue under the radar of the two people. Such silencested for a long time, and the air, because it remained still for so long, could even allow one to perceive the dust that flew in the air with one''s heart. Until Lily''s slightly hoarse voice rang out in this enclosed space. "The hardest thing to change in this world is actually a person." "Words will always be powerless, only the facts that have already happened can allow one to sum up the lesson, but what''s the use at that time?" "Can the forgiveness of others really overshadow the mistake itself? Never, a mistake is a mistake, no matter how much one apologises, makes amends or covers up the mistake with another mistake, there is no way to amend the reality that the mistake has already been made." "Wizards are emotional because magic requires us to be emotional, but everything I was exposed to before I became an emotional wizard told me that objectivity has no way of being altered by one''s subjectivity. Magic turns the matter upside down, but it''s ultimately not omnipotent." She looked up at Jon, there was no thrill or excitement much less hatred or anger on that face, she was still as calm, as calm as if today was as normal as every other day, she and Jon were continuing to search for Snape and were now nning what kind of lunch they should have for noon. "A lot of people think I''m only alive for revenge now, Jon." She ended the sentence that she wasn''t sure if she was talking to herself or not. "But actually there are times when I wonder whether what I''m trying to do isn''t so much about revenge as it is about continuing to live for the sake of the people who are dead. All that talk about how James and Harry must want me to live happily, safely and joyfully is really just self-deception, how can it be about continuing to live for the sake of the dead? The only thing to do is to make sure that there are still people in the world who can remember them. So I have to find Wormtail, I have to find Snape, I have to find Voldemort, so that they will always know that there is still a living woman who will be constantly thinking of them, and the reason for doing so is because they were once involved in the deaths of a father and son, a father and son who will be the names that they will never forget because there is someone who will never forget them. They can''t afford to forget their names, because someone else is living in their ce." "The progress is nowplete by two." Lily knelt down in front of Snape''s body. "Can you do me one more favour?" Jon saw what she was trying to do and nodded while walking over to Snape''s body. The two of them lifted him one by one, and then Lily used Apparition. In the next moment, their figures disappeared from the room, and they reappeared at the sea cliff where countless tombstones stood. The weather here was perfect, the wet and salty sea breeze with warm sunshine sprinkled on this graveyard, with the sound of the wavespping on the reef forpany. Lily had obviously memorised the location of the tworge and small tombstones in her mind, and she led Jon to the front of the tombstones after the Apparition manifested without half a hitch. And right beside them was a small patch of scattered white bones, a skull was erected at the very top of this white bone, the sea breeze had blown this bone apart, but it was still vaguely evident that the owner of the bone was in a kneeling position to those two tombstones as he had maintained his posture before his flesh and blood had beenpletely decayed. Instead of having Snape''s body kneeling against the headstones of the Potter father and son, as she had done with Wormtail before, Lily justid him t in front of the headstones. The sea breeze ruffled her long red hair, and the white seagulls made a chorus of what sounded like sad birdsong over the sea not far away. "I didn''t kill him." Lily sat down in front of the headstone, hugging her knees and hiding the lower half of her face in her legs. "He broke his own wand before he came to me, from start to finish he never meant to hurt me, the only reason he found me was to ask for death." One by one Jon was cleaning the bird droppings and stains off the tombstones around him while repairing some of the ones that had been weathered. He didn''t bother to listen to what Lily went on about, families always had to have some privacy and Jon knew when he should have to keep the necessary distance. "He never wronged me, and he never did anything wrong to you either, the only person he wronged was Harry." "So I killed him for Harry, James. I hope that''s something you won''t hold against me, just like I said to him, when something is done wrong it''s wrong, and that goes for you as well. But thest things he said, calling me a mudblood for the second time, I know what he was after." "He didn''t want to make me feel bad about something like his equivalent of suicide after begging for death like that, so he did what he could toy the groundwork for his own death. It was very thoughtful of him, and I appreciate the sentiment, but really, even if he hadn''t put on such a show, I wouldn''t have felt any guilt or sadness." Lily spoke quietly as if they were still sitting together as a family, with James just finishing a ss of brandy and whining, Harry happily sitting in his baby chair shaking the magical toddler toy that Sirius had given him, and Lily counting off all the wrongs her husband had done, and the people she herself had encountered today. "I''m divided on the fact that one can''t treat other people as things they''ve visualised and filled out, that would subconsciously glorify or worsen them as much as possible. I miss and remember everything Snape helped me with as a child, but that can only be a fond memory. The Severus of that time was not the Snape who made it to Hogwarts afterwards, and just as I have often told you, people are the mostplex creatures, good and bad are never absolute, but bad should never be masked over by good." "What I once promised in front of you is now one person short. It was he who killed you all with his own hands, and I have no way of guaranteeing that I will surely bring back his body as I did today, that man has done more unforgivable things, and our family is just a small reflection of what he has done in his life, and the current Order of the Phoenix has be what it is today because of the many people like me, and like you all. But even with all these people together, it still wouldn''t be safe to say that we could sessfully kill him one hundred percent at this stage of the war, it''s hard, but a lot of people are trying to do it, just like this graveyard is expanding every year, and the headstones keep getting taller and taller as if they can grow on their own." Lily spoke calmly, but at some point, two tear stains appeared on her face. "The tragedies we''ve already been through can''t continue, James, Harry, the people who died for this shouldn''t continue to show up, there are so many children waiting behind us, waiting to see magic, to be exposed to a peaceful wizardingmunity. Every corpse in thisnd carries more than just the vengeance that they spoke of, more than just that kind of hatred." "There is also the future, all the hope each of us has for the future." "I hope you know that I feel the same way, always have." Just as Lily was talking, Jon was standing on the edge of the cliff. He looked out over the sea in the distance, his mind unbelievably empty at this moment in time, thinking of nothing as the sea breeze blew the fine strands of hair from his forehead and the hem of his robes. The midday sun was slowly shifting to the west, just as everything in the world goes on, in a cycle that never changes. *** "The sun is really nice today, isn''t it?" The body belonging to the original "Coulibaly" witch was leaning back on a bench, squinting at the sun that was nting westward a little bit from the highest altitude. Three metres in front of her, a male wizard was trembling on the ground, not daring to raise his head, not to mention not knowing how to open his mouth to answer such a question. "But even if the sun is nice, it''s just as unfair." The witch''s voice did not seem soft, but rather somewhat neutral and cold, "Not everything on the ground can experience its warmth,rge trees can, mountains can, oceans can, but this grass-covered dirt we are stepping on underneath our feet, they can''t." The male wizard buried his head even lower as if he could not wait to be immersed in thisnd that had never been warmed by the sun. "So why is it that some people just don''t want to go to the sky, the cloud is always under the shine of the sun, but everything in the world can perceive its thunderstorms and storms, so why does he want to get close to the dirt on the ground?" "I gave him the chance to go and be a cloud, all the time, a reward for the best decision he had made once, but he never knew how to appreciate it, and was even willing to die for such dirt?" "Coulibaly"ughed softly, smiling, as if she was angered, yet there was no way that the word anger could be used to call the expression on her face and the words that came out of her mouth. The male wizard knew he couldn''t remain mute. No matter what, he had to say something. "There are some people who cannot appreciate your kindness, my lord! You have been kind to him! He is the one to me for all this!" The witch picked up a cup of ck tea, it was like she loved this vour since ''he'' had switched to this identity, the warm liquid soothing certain physiological sensations that had no way of being changed. "I have no problem with him taking responsibility for his past, but he gave that item to Dumbledore." "My lord I will do my best to get it back!" The male wizard gritted his teeth, "They certainly haven''t left Britain by now. We''ve traced their Apparition trail, and although their drop point is strongly shielded, I''m sure someone within the Ministry of Magic will figure it out soon!" To this, he was met with a cold reply. "I hate empty words, you''ve been with me long enough to know that. If you really could do something like this, then you wouldn''t have me as your lord." The male wizard''s body trembled, unsure of how to give a new promise. The witch shook her head in disappointment as she put down the teacup she had held and put on her wide-brimmed pointy hat as she rose from her chair. "It''s given to Dumbledore as far as things go, now I don''t care what you tell the other me, but take control of the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic as fast as you can, all the Unspeakable who can be bribed should be bribed, and those who can''t, let them have idents of their own, and then rece all of them with people who belong to us. The work of the Department of Mysteries will continue as usual, and you will do whatever the Ministry of Magic tells you to do, but those things that have already ceased to be functional will be guarded, and if there are any special circumstances, they will be thrown behind the curtains of the Hall of the Dead. That''s a small thing, you will be able to do it, won''t you?" The male wizard replied loudly and firmly. "There are countless purebloods who miss your arrival! You alone are our lord! Yourmands are the direction in which each and every one of us is headed." He patted himself on the back of his head, and as he said this, he suddenly seemed to think of something else and carefully paused for a moment before he opened his mouth to ask hesitantly. "But about Barty Crouch''s end. We''ve tried to contact him, but he has never made his intentions clear, and since he is so trusted by the other you, I wonder if it is necessary for you to approach him to let him know to whom he should really give his loyalty?" "Coulibaly" was all that was left of ''him'', with her back turned towards the sun. "Don''t bother with him at all with anything, just pretend that there never has been such a person." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 455: Severus and Riddles Secret (2 in 1) Chapter 455: Severus and Riddle''s Secret (2 in 1) In the barren mountains of the Northernmost part of Norway, even though it was already the month of June, the temperature here basically always remained below ten degrees, and the only living creatures that could be seen over the woods seemed to be the white-tailed eagles that were gliding on the wings in the sky. In the dpidated Ramo Hans'' Abbey where Jon had once apanied Grindelwald toe, Grindelwald, dressed in a ck trench coat, was watching Eric retrieve the potion he had obtained from Snape. "You have verified it?" Hearing Grindelwald''s question, Eric''s eyes sparkled with excitement. "Yes sir, I have verified it on some of the experimental subjects and the ''dry wood'' within their bodies is indeed ignited, Severus Snape is without a doubt a genius in the field of potion research, I''m now a little curious as to what kind of potions he has been brewing for Voldemort all this time. " Grindelwald said coldly. "We don''t need to worry about the situation in Britain, we need the conflict there to help us draw the attention away from our group. The only thing I care about right now is this potion. The ''dry wood'' can be kindled, but I want to know if it can then be kept burning as life is kept active or if it is a consumable, if it is thetter then even if this potion helps us, it will be limited." Emil said with a bow of his head. "That is something I am still observing. The research samples are at the North Pole right now, and so far there is no sign of it abating for the time being." "Then let''s continue to watch and wait for a year''s time; if it hasn''t weakened halfway after a year, then we can carry out experiments that are a bit harsher, and that would mean that we''ve taken a big step towards sess, and there''s only the final kick in the door left to be taken." Grindelwald said and tossed the vial of potion to Hans who had never said anything at the side. "Follow and see if there''s anything that can be improved in the potion itself ording to this finished product, then increase the scope of the experiment and try to increase the rate of the finished product with the fastest speed." Hans steadily took the potion in his hands, he looked a lot drier and thinner than when Jon had seen him before, but those cloudy eyes were surprisingly bright, looking at the potion in his hands as if he was looking at some rare treasure. "And, sir." Eric continued, "That American wizard named Matthew Graves followed me to Britain, but he shouldn''t have known that I had already left there." Hearing this name uttered by Eric, a cold smile appeared at the corner of Grindelwald''s mouth. "Don''t bother with him. The entire Magical Congress of the United States of America doesn''t need to be bothered with, they are just a bunch ofters who don''t know how to change, and if they really enjoy jumping up and down, then we will help them to remember again what they have actually experienced once." With that said, he stood up from his chair and raised the wand in his hand. "There''s bound to be more violent unrest breaking out over in Britain next, Dumbledore wouldn''t pass up a good opportunity like this, especially after he got what he wanted to get his hands on, so take this time to prepare all that we''ll need." At this time Hans finally averted his mesmerised gaze from the vial of potion, he looked at Grindelwald and asked hesitantly. "My lord, there is something I don''t know if I should ask, what if Dumbledore-" "Then don''t ask." Grindelwald interrupted, and in the next moment, the entire group disappeared from the abbey. *** Jon and Lily returned to France that same day. Snape''s death meant that their little trip to Britain hade to aplete end. After returning to Lyon, Lily had left the matter of finding Dumbledore to Jon, and by now she certainly knew some things very clearly in her heart. Snape was able to escape from France at the beginning, that matter must have something to do with Dumbledore. She hadn''t bothered to ask what other untold dealings there were between Jon and Snape though, she had never been interested in how it all went down. Jon had naturally seen the gallows, which hadn''t yet been dismantled when he returned to Lyon''s temporary Hogwarts school. It didn''t even look like it would be torn down in the future, but would clearly be used as a symbol of sorts instead. Even when Dumbledore returned to Britain with the Hogwarts students, the French Ministry of Magic would keep the gallows, where the first public trial (show trial) in the wizarding world had been held, as one of the symbols of the war for the future generations to see. Jon, of course, felt little pity about this; he had actually wanted to attend what seemed to him to be a very meaningful public trial, and it was only this incident with Snape halfway through that had forced him to travel to Britain in the meantime. But this public trial within Hogwarts about the students certainly wouldn''t be thest one, it was just forey for therge public trial that would follow throughout the entire French wizardingmunity, and after this Jon would naturally still have the chance to be able to see a trial that would be followed with a muchrger audience. After arriving at Dumbledore''s office, Jon directly sat opposite Dumbledore with a big smile on his face, picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup of ck tea, and then drank it all in one go. Those portraits of sessive headmasters on the wall looked like they were all acquaintances with him, greeting him warmly one by one. Fawkes, who had been perched on a golden branch, also spread his wings and glided to Jon''s shoulder at the sight of him, affectionately rubbing his face with his pointed beak. The Headmaster''s office was noticeably enriched with a few more things than before, such as the tattered hat that had been ced on a separate wooden stand, and a ck gemstone ring that had been kept in a cupboard, and also alongside the ring there was an Elderwood wand that had belonged to Dumbledore, but which he had never used very much. Dumbledore still wore that same gentle smile and watched as Jon sat down so skilfully as if he were back in his own office. "You are always so reassuring, Jon." At hispliment, Jon simply shrugged. "Is that the same reason you keep me as a gyroscope spinning non-stop all the time? Professor, this trip wasn''t exactly an outing, and none of the people I met were nice to deal with." "Because you''re the one who''s always trying to do too much, when in fact from the start you could have just done as I said and not bothered with anything, and it would have ended the same way." Jon didn''t say anything to that, he pulled out a vial of golden sand from his pocket that Snape had given him before he went to find Lily and kill himself, and put it in front of Dumbledore. "Perhaps you are indeed right, this is what Snape asked me to give you, he got it from his former lord. Not the one that is going berserk in Britain right now, it looks more like the one I chased away from the castle earlier." Dumbledore didn''t reach for the vial of golden sand right away, he just said softly. "From the very beginning in fact Severus has chosen his own end, as I told you before, I despised him when he came begging me to save Lily over a decade ago and stated that he had also begged Voldemort for this in exchange for Harry Potter''s life. I thought he was a heartless man who had no love for newborns, and that even if he did it for Lily, it was only to satisfy his own selfish desires, and that he wanted to get her in a domineering way. But it was on that day when I asked him what he was willing to give up for Lily, and he answered me everything, that I truly learnt what kind of man he was." Dumbledore looked at Jon and said with a lot of emotion in his voice. "He was selfish, and wasn''t a good person, but there''s no denying that few people can love to the extent that he did, right?" "You knew that he would die?" The question wasn''t answered directly by Dumbledore, he just looked at Jon and asked rhetorically. "Do you think, after he was abandoned by Voldemort the night the Triwizard Tournament ended, that there was any possibility of him continuing to live?" The answer to that was, of course, obvious. With the crimes Snape hadmitted, the only thing he would end up with, even if he attended a public trial, would be hanging from the gallows. "Of course, he knows this himself." Dumbledore said, "That''s why he made onest deal with me, a deal that we could both trust each other enough to think we could bothplete even without any binding." Jon turned his gaze to the vial of golden sand. "So, he wanted Professor Potter''s safety, and he paid for it by getting this vial for you?" Seeing that Jon was curious about the vial of sand, Dumbledore interlocked his fingers on his desk and assumed a posture of being ready to have a serious chat with Jon. "Actually, have you ever been curious about something, Jon. When you were a first year, I talked to you about how once upon a time, Tom Riddle craved only two things above all else, one being supreme authority and the other being true immortality. With his strength as a base, great authority was certainly easy to obtain, but for immortality, he chose to make use of the Horcruxes. Onlyter on he apparently discovered the drawbacks of such an approach, and thus began to reim his split-off soul one by one, and it is possible that the sane Voldemort, as we have always suspected, was created in the process." "But then, a question came to the surface, since he gave up using the Horcruxes method of gaining immortality and instead chose to keep his sanity to better wield his authority, so, what is he relying on, right now, to freeze his own time and be immortal?" The question visibly froze Jon for a moment. If Dumbledore hadn''t asked it, he really wouldn''t have thought about it in detail. Voldemort was undoubtedly afraid of death, or else he wouldn''t have made seven Horcruxes in a row in the original story, as if he wanted to add absolute security to the matter of being able to live all the time. The matter of choosing to live forever was not something he decided on a whim in a moment of madness, but something he was determined to aplish when he was already sane and still young. And now, since he had retrieved the soul from his Horcrux, the immortality attribute that the Horcrux had brought him naturally ceased to exist. So how was he able to keep himself young all the time now? Jon had seen Voldemort many times with his own eyes, and he could be sure that Voldemort''s appearance was obviously fixed in his youthful state, but he is now in his 70s. It was true that it wasn''t all that difficult for wizards in the magical world to live past two hundred years or more without resorting to any means, but the appearance wouldn''t have remained unchanged because of it. He definitely didn''t use the Philosopher''s Stone, because that stone only fell into his hands three years ago, and his means of freezing his age is obviously not a recent development. This also meant that Voldemort actually had another means of maintaining his eternal youth while he got his Horcruxes back. Jon now redirected his gaze to the vial of golden sand. "I''ve always actually wondered if it''s possible that after Riddle retrieved all the Horcruxes, he made himself into a Horcrux, which is why there are two of him vying for one body at the same time." Dumbledore said calmly. "But that spection was dismissed by Severus after he was brought back. He told me in no uncertain terms that the way Riddle still maintains immortality all the time now is well hidden, like the Horcruxes once were, and he didn''t reveal it to anyone, but there was something that needed to be done by an outsider for him to do it, and Severus Snape, the man he had high hopes for, and the man who had brought him the prophecy regarding the Saviour to his attention, became the one he trusted." "Except that we also all know that Riddle''s trust is never absolute, and the only person he really dares to bepletely at ease around is only himself, not even his other self. So the trust he had for Severus which he maintained was limited to only that part which he was willing to reveal. Severus told me that once, not long after he had killed Potter and his father and disappeared for a month and then returned to dominate the Ministry of Magic in Britain, there was a time when Riddle frequented the Department of Mysteries." "The Department of Mysteries?" Jon repeated the department. "Yes, there is a lot of magic in this world that is not still under the control of wizards, and the Department of Mysteries is a ce that deals exclusively with certain mysterious and powerful magic that is not under the control of wizards." Dumbledore picked up the vial of golden sand. "Severus said that no one knew what Riddle was working on in there during that time and that he drove out all the Unspeakables working in the Department of Mysteries, leaving only himself there. Then it was only after a couple of weeks had passed that he had someone call Severus over and proceeded to pull out this golden sand that looked like it had been extracted from an hourss and told Severus to use it as the core of a potion to create a potion that would be able to catalyse its effects." "Riddle''s limited trust is reflected in the fact that he didn''t tell Severus what the sand in the vial actually did but simply said that he needed to create a vial of potion that catalysed its effect. It wasn''t an easy thing to do, especially when there was ack of ess to the exact effects, which required finding out the catalytic substance needed, but Severus brought his talent to y eventually, and actually ended up fulfilling Riddle''s request." "That''s why he''s always been held in such high regard; these golden sands and the catalyst he developed have always been a secret that was kept between Severus and Riddle. And it''s a secret that even Voldemort, who is now in control of Britain, doesn''t know about." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 456: A New War Will Begin Soon (2 in 1) Chapter 456: A New War Will Begin Soon (2 in 1) Jon looked at the vial of golden sand in Dumbledore''s hand and pondered as well. "So in the beginning when we asked the current Voldemort to choose between the Crouch and Snape, it was actually a blind cat running into a dead rat? He didn''t realise Snape''s true significance and just gave him to us as an object to be discarded at will. It wasn''t untilter that he began to realise something had gone wrong." Dumbledore nodded. "The secret as to what exactly the previous Riddle relied on to gain immortality lies within this golden sand, and that''s what Severus promised to help me to get, by fleeing back to Britain, using himself to lure out Riddle, and then helping us to get our hands on this vial." "His request was to have you guarantee Professor Potter''s safety?" "He didn''t make that request." Dumbledore said calmly, "Because he knew that this was something I would have done even if he hadn''t said anything. The reason he was willing to help us in this way was really just that he thought that the situation was no longer as it had been before, that we were no longer only a bunch of bereaved dogs in the face of Riddle as we had been before, but that there is a real possibility that we can reim Britain. Snape, after he learnt that there was no way for him to gain Riddle''s favour anymore and that there was no way for the agreement about getting the Death Eaters to stop hurting Lily to be sustainable. He chose to sell Riddle outpletely because the only way for Lily to have true safety is if we win." Jon had spected this, but now he was just making sure of it from Dumbledore''s mouth. "And what are his demands?" Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, the smile gone from his face, leaving only a heaviness. "Just the things he got on this trip." Jon fell silent. What did Snape get on this trip? It was death. Being able to die at Lily''s hands was thest thing he asked for. After finishing this conversation with Dumbledore, Jon left the Headmaster''s office. The vial of golden sand was naturally left with Dumbledore to have someone to study it without him having to bother with it so much. And by now, Jon was truly free. In the period after the Triwizard Tournament, there had been a brief peace between Witching Horizon and the British Ministry of Magic. Both sides respectively upied France and Britain, the tworgest magical societies in Europe. Simrly, the situation in the whole of Europe had undergone an unspoken change. Originally, before the tournament, there were still many magical governments that were actually very much in favour of Voldemort''s side. After all, his strength is proven, coupled with the theory of bloodline that truly impressed the hearts of the old moths of this continent, making those rulers, although they did not say so explicitly; They all intend to move closer to the "great gentleman". This is still the case when Grindelwald has already integrated the whole of Northern Europe in advance, if he is still locked up in that high tower, then before the Triwizard Tournament, Dumbledore and their situation will only be more difficult, and even cut off 80 percent of their logistical support, as well as theck of a path of retreat. And after the end of this Triwizard Tournament, especially in the case of Voldemort actually agreeing to Dumbledore''s unequal agreement that night, the Ministries of Magic, which were originally still leaning towards the theory of bloodline, gradually began to see the situation clearly. They did not immediately show goodwill towards the Witching Horizon, because it was obvious that Dumbledore was not a threat to the other magical regimes, and they were now the maintainers of the existing order, while Voldemort was the builder of the new order. Except that this new order that Voldemort is constructingcks any semnce of sophistication. So when Voldemort was dominant, they needed toe closer to Voldemort, because only in this way could these people be vested interests after the theory of bloodline becamepletely poprised. And now that it has be a situation where Dumbledore is dominant, they naturally don''t need to express anything, as long as they temporarily cut off the connection between them and the British Ministry of Magic, then when Dumbledore really gets the victory, they will just join in the celebrations. Therefore, from the end of the Triwizard Tournament, the whole of Europe was in a kind of peaceful illusion. As if the war or something has never happened, everyone on their own territories; you and I are at peace, but in fact, privately there has always been a dark current. It wasn''t just Snape who fled back to Britain and was eventually killed by Lily that happened during this time. Voldemort One, who regained control of his identity, also took advantage of this interval to carry out a major cleansing throughout the British Ministry of Magic up and down. From Cornelius Fudge, who had been Minister of Magic for eight years, down to Percy Weasley, a regr assistant in the office, all of them were removed from their posts. After fifteen years, Voldemort, who had regained control of his body, became extremely temperamental. He was so distrustful of everyone around him that he didn''t even bother to put on a bit of a disguise, killing two of his henchmen with his own hands who had been mildly concerned about his change in policy even before the Snape thing happened. After Snape''s incident, because of the Death Eaters'' unfavourable performance, he even personally executed Nott, who was mainly responsible for this matter. Now the entire British Ministry of Magic, almost everyone is in danger, they would rather not do things than make the slightest mistake, for fear of dying in the hands of their own lord for no reason. As time goes by, Voldemort seemed like he was also getting more and more reluctant to show his face, in the two months just after the Triwizard Tournament ended, he showed his brutal methods and authority to his own men at a high frequency, but after Snape''s matter, he rarely appears in front of the public. In the background, there were few even among the Death Eaters who could see him in person, and it was always Barty Crouch Jr., who was and still is always deeply trusted by him, who was assisting him to remotely direct the operation of the Ministry of Magic in Britain. Regarding this matter, Dumbledore and his side of course also got part of the news. At the most core meeting within the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore stated in front of everyone that Voldemort was currently somewhat unable to take care of himself. Dumbledore said in front of everyone that Voldemort is currently a little concerned with his own body. Voldemort, who now upies ownership of the body, doesn''t know the secret of his other self, who has been maintaining a vigorous vitality, and the reason why Voldemort is reluctant to see his subordinates, is because he has no way to continue to maintain his original youthful appearance. Voldemort doesn''t care about his appearance, what he really cares about is that his subordinates seeing him now actually start to be old, and that would unconsciously rise a sense of alienation within their hearts. Voldemort number one is crazy, not stupid. He could naturally sense that the purebloods of Britain, at this point in time, had developed some not-so-loyal attitudes towards him. He is now purely relying on his absolute strength to impose fear on them, once even this thing is gone, then there is no need for Dumbledore to fight his way in, the British Ministry of Magic will start to mess up internally on its own. This point is not only seen by this lunatic dark lord but also seen by Dumbledore, who is far away in France. So from the very beginning, Witching Horizon had no intention of letting this peace at the momentst long. Dumbledore had clearly stated that before the end of this year, they must take the initiative to start a war, a war to counterattack their way into Britain. Outsiders didn''t understand why he was in such a hurry, but only those who knew the inside story knew that the reason for such a rush was because no one could guarantee whether or not the current Voldemort would continue to make Horcruxes to maintain his desire for immortality. This is something that would most likely to happen. After seeing Voldemort Two take back all the Horcruxes he once had and be incredibly intelligent and powerful, the present-day Voldemort One would surely still be a little wary of Horcruxes. After all, it was fine when he didn''t know at the beginning, but now that he already knew how much of an impact splitting the soul would have on a person''s consciousness, no one would be able to carry on without a little psychological burden. Even the half-mad Voldemort was the same, butter on, if the situation in Britain continued to deteriorate further, no one could guarantee it, no, he would definitely make this kind of move to quench his thirst, re-splitting his own soul to maintain the state of immortality and stabilise the situation. If such a situation urs, then Voldemort, who has another resurrection to rely on, will undoubtedly protect the newly made Horcrux even more thoroughly, and at that time, even if Dumbledore can defeat him, he will drag on hard in Britain like an undying strong man, a sticky ster. Then the situation will be what it was originally during the 1970s in the British magical world, which is obviously what Dumbledore and the others don''t want to see, becausepared to 20 years ago, there is not only just the madman Voldemort, but there is also a Voldemort II who is now rooting and hibernating in an unknown ce quietly recovering his power. Not only would this not make the situation better, it would turn this war into a protracted war, which is certainly a situation that no one can afford to ept. Therefore, this war had to be fought before Voldemort began to recreate the Horcrux, making sure to eliminate any future problems once and for all. After bringing this matter to light, of course, no one within the Order of the Phoenix or Witching Horizon objected. After knowing that the peace at the moment would notst long, the entire French magicalmunity was secretly preparing within, just as Iniesta had promised to Dumbledore at the beginning. Dumbledore had helped them to recover France, and they would also help the Order of the Phoenix to counterattack back to Britain as well. This is the core of unity that Witching Horizon has been maintaining now. But thistter war certainly didn''t matter that much to the students of Hogwarts. Now they are in a much better situationpared to the previous period of being in exile, not only do they have a stable ce to learn, but they also don''t need to live that kind of disced life. Naturally, they were all looking forward to the day when they could return to Britain, for only on that day would they be reunited with their families, and the older students, who had forgotten what their parents looked like, would be able to see their families again. It wasn''t long after Jon had returned to school that the summer holidays began. It was only at this time that he was able to rx and be as free as a normal student. Within the school, the original rtionship between the students on the wagon and him getting along hadn''t changed much, and Jon had never put up any kind of attitude just because of how much credit he had earned, but it was those pureblood students who had been brought back from the castle who, as soon as they saw him, would lower their heads and walk around as if they were trying to avoid some kind of gue. These students who were still alive to live normally at Hogwarts were of course those who had been screened and really hadn''tmitted many evil deeds. Even if some of them had some bad behaviour, at most, they were just like Draco, who usually spoke ill of the half-blood students, but rarely went too far, after all, the half-bloods knew how to be tolerant. And even if they stayed in Hogwarts, they all had to do some reformative work, as well as a daily lesson on character and moral education that was added to the list at Jon''s suggestion. Lectures were useless in most cases, but if they were fused with the environment in which they were ced, as well as supplemented with some other means of education, then maybe they would be of some use. Just as the other students in the Hogwarts castle were avoiding Jon, Draco, who had remained in the school forbour after the summer holidays had begun, actually approached Jon privately one afternoon. This young lord of the Malfoy family hadpletely lost his previous high and mighty attitude at this time, and what he was wearing was no longer exquisite robes, but just ordinary school robes like any other ordinary student. When he approached Jon, Jon was chatting with Cedric concerning the questions on Transfiguration. "Gre, Mr Green, can I talk to you alone?" Draco used honorifics, words that clearly never used toe out of his mouth before. Upon seeing this, Cedric had the good sense to give Jon a quick nce, make an excuse and turn away. This time, Jon also turned his head to meet Draco''s eyes which were subconsciously engaged in avoidance. "Say, we are the only ones here now." "Have you, have you already travelled to Britain to make contact with my father?" Taking a deep breath, Draco asked the question. He had been right next to Lucius when he was making the deal with Jon about keeping Draco safe, so of course he was well aware of the contents of the deal. Jon didn''t deny this. "Your father also asked me about your situation here." Jon raised an eyebrow and said, "He''s thankful that you weren''t sent to the gallows, and even more thankful that he didn''t take you down that crooked path with him in the first ce." As if Jon''s words had stirred up a memory of an extremely unpleasant episode from that day, Draco''s face became noticeably paler, but he persisted and gritted his teeth as he turned to Jon and asked. "Do I have a chance? A chance to save my mum and dad?" Jon wasn''t much surprised by his question, he just looked at Draco calmly. "It''s not about whether you have a chance or not, it''s about your parents, and whether they themselves are still willing to take such a chance. But from the contact I had with your father earlier, he looked like he wasn''t too concerned about it." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 457: Denmark (2 in 1) Chapter 457: Denmark (2 in 1) Draco''s already pale face visibly went a few shades whiter when he heard Jon''s words. "My father is, he doesn''t know it yet, and if he understands that you guys are definitely going to win, then he would absolutely..." "If everyone knew we are bound to win, then everyone would be able to make the right choice, Mr Malfoy." Jon said as he gazed into his eyes. "No one could have possibly predicted this in the very beginning, but there is a scale in some people''s minds, and in your father''s mind, he''s still wobbling from side to side on that scale, and he feels that there''s still plenty of time and opportunity, and he wants to weigh the situation thoroughly before he makes his choices." Draco pursed his lips as he fell silent. Jon was telling the truth, and it was precisely because he was telling the truth, that it frightened Draco. No one knew his father''s temperament better than he did, and Lucius would never put down what he had already grasped in his hands without seeing the benefits that would surely be avable to him, especially since leaning on Dumbledore''s side wouldn''t get him any benefits at all. If this goes on, Lucius will only be left with a dead end. The time he spent at Hogwarts wasn''t long, but Draco had clearly seen the gap between the two sides, excluding Dumbledore and Voldemort at the top of the hierarchy, among the rest of the wizards, a person from the Order of the Phoenix could at least fight three Death Eaters! It is by no means that from the beginning the Death Eaters are this unfit, but the long life of being drunk with gold and wine has worn down their fighting spirit, these people have long since lost the stage of being able to fight to the death to get tangible benefits like in the beginning. Now they are all defenders of interests, and staying alive is the biggest prerequisite for continuing to enjoy what they have. The people of the Order of the Phoenix, however, had all been left with nothing for a long time, and many of them had friends and family members who had died under the bloodline policy, so they would have no choice but to go and take their own lives to fight for a future no matter what the circumstances might be. With one cherishing his life and the other fighting for his life, it was certainly clear in which direction the scales of victory would tip. Even at the highest level of battle, it is now clear that there is no longer a situation between Voldemort and Dumbledore where one can stably overwhelm the other. Thepromises after the Triwizard Tournament were enough to show that Voldemort was very unsure about being able to defeat Dumbledore. Draco couldn''t remember what had happened at the castle, but he could vaguely sense that Jon had done something extraordinary that day in the castle. On the Witching Horizon side, Dumbledore clearly had a sessor, while Voldemort''s men hadn''t yet produced a character who could match Jon. The Death Eaters who had died under Jon''s hand alone could not be counted on the fingers of one hand, let alone those of his own age. So reason and reality told Draco that Voldemort''s chances of winning were really slim, given the current circumstances. Taking a step back, if somehow Voldemort and Dumbledore were to end up in a lose-lose situation in the duel and died together, it would mean that the Witching Horizon side had won the battle, as the British Ministry of Magic had no chance whatsoever. It was precisely because he had figured this out that Draco was feeling so anxious about his parents'' situation. He was now being taken to France, and after being screened for a public trial, there certainly wouldn''t be any more security concerns further down the line. But both Lucius and Narcissa were still serving Voldemort in Britain, and in the future, if the public trial came up in Britain as well, Narcissa, who was basically just being a housewife, would be fine, but Lucius would definitely have to be hanged three times for the crimes he hadmitted, even if someone took the me and split his crimes into three parts! Draco loved his family, and he might have realised by now that his father was rotten to the core, but he didn''t want Lucius to be hanged at all. After a long silence, Draco raised his head back up, and he said in apletely pleading tone. "Can you give me a chance tomunicate with my father? I''ll help you guys, he''ll listen to me, and if he''s really willing to do you guys a favour, surely he can make amends for his crimes, right?" Jon didn''t immediately shoot down this idea of Draco''s. Draco, regardless of his behaviour in the original story or his previous behaviour in Hogwarts Castle, could be called a bad kid, but it wasn''t a heinous crime, with a spoilt personality and ack of certain education, he still had some conscience in his nature. It was also because of this that he was not found guilty of any felony in that public trial. So Jon wasn''t too much interested in making him feel the despair of being hopeless and refrained from saying the words out loud. "I can''t give you any guarantees for now, but who can say what will happen in the future, all I can say is that if there is such an opportunity in the future, I will try my best to help you." Draco would have to be content with such a promise. He had already been tantamount to a captive, and Jon had no obligation to do anything for him at all. After that, Draco didn''t continue to take up much of Jon''s time and left after a heartfelt outpouring of gratitude. He had only had fear in his heart when he had seen Jon before, but now there was a real sense of gratitude. Maybe he didn''t remember much of the exact scene, but the fact that Jon had actually saved his life was something that Draco still remembered all too well. What happened to Draco was nothing more than a small incident for Jon. Time was still passing little by little, and a month after returning from Britain, his appearance had finally grown to be more or less the same as it was when he participated in the Triwizard Tournament. Jon, of course, was pleased with this, and all his friends around him said that he finally looked better now, and Hermione''s gaze towards him no longer became twisted and odd. The only person who expressed dissatisfaction with this was Gabrielle. Her situation was different from Jon''s, in fact, with her real age now she should have been ten years old, and next year she would have reached the age to attend the wizarding school. But because of the Draught of Living Ghost, her body did not show any sign of growth during the two years she turned into a ghost, and she still had the appearance of a seven or eight-year-old girl, looking very young. If a normal girl encountered such a thing, she would probably wish to be a few years more younger, but Gabrielle was clearly not happy at all. This made the age gap between her and Jon look wider and wider. While it was fine before when Jon''s appearance had also be younger, now after two months he had changed back to his normal age, making Gabrielle more and more sullen. Luckily, after the month of August, a piece of news that was enough to cheer her up was brought back. A clue had finally surfaced about her parents and sister, who had been separated from her for over two years. Mr and Mrs Dcour had fled overnight as soon as France had begun to show signs of introducing the theory of bloodline, and the time had been so short that they had not even been able to pick up their youngest daughter, who had been ced in the care of Madame Maxime''s house. Because Mrs Dcour had half the blood of a Ve in her, under the theory that even the half-blood wizards could not be tolerated, the fact that witches had the blood of such magical creatures mixed in with their blood was even more uneptable to the wizards who believed in the theory of bloodline supremacy. Knowing that if they stayed in France, their family would meet with a terrible end, it was a wise decision to flee immediately. As for where they fled to after that, there had been very little information, when Jon first followed Dumbledore to France for the first time, he had only heard from Madame Maxime, who was also preparing to leave France because of her giant origin, that she was nning to look for the Dcour family''s whereabouts. And now, someone from Witching Horizon in Northern Europe had discovered Madame Maxime''s whereabouts in Denmark, and it was from her that they learned of the Dcour family''s traces. As to why they had note to France of their own ord for so long, that was easy to guess. The Witching Horizon hadn''t been established before, and during the period when Voldemort had ruled the two magical governments of Britain and France by himself, the attitude of the entire European magicalmunity had been ambiguous and unclear towards him. If one didn''t want to escape to another continent, then the best way to avoid persecution from the wizarding world was topletely cut off any dealings with wizards and try to integrate into Muggle society. This way they were of course guaranteed to be safe, and there was no way for anyone to find them, but equally, there was no way for them to find out what was going on in the wizarding world anymore. Madame Maxime, who had been found, for example, had been hiding in a valley far from human habitation in Denmark. It wasn''t that she didn''t want to integrate into Muggle society, but her size was simply too remarkable to attract the most attention wherever she went, and she couldn''t live her life drinking polyjuice potion every day. From her, the Witching Horizon had also learnt something about the Dcour family, as she had followed the couple''s trail to Denmark originally. After the news was brought back to France, Gabrielle, who was otherwise idle at school, of course, couldn''t sit still. She asked Professor McGonagall to let her go and meet up with Madame Maxime, who was still in Denmark, to search for her family together. At first, McGonagall didn''t really want to agree, after all, Gabrielle is a little girl who doesn''t even have a wand, even if the situation in Northern Europe isn''t as turbulent as the situation in France and Britain, it''s still not guaranteed to be absolutely safe. It was only after Jon took the initiative to say that he could go with Gabrielle that McGonagall agreed. Originally, when she heard that Jon was willing to help her and go with her to Denmark to find her parents and sister, Gabrielle was almost moved to tears. But when it really came to the day of departure, Gabrielle''s delicate and lovely face, which was still excited, slumped on the spot. "Why are you still here?" She questioned as she looked at Hermione, who was wearing white short sleeves on top and a pleated skirt underneath, her long curly chestnut-coloured hair was neatlybed into a single ponytail, and she had a duck tongue hat on her head as if she was using it for shade. Hermione, looking like she hadn''t dressed like this in a long time, straightened her duck tongue hat. "What, am I not wee? Gabrielle." Their private rtionship is actually quite good, it''s just that originally, ording to Gabrielle''s imagination, this trip should have been just her and Jon, and now that an unexpected person has appeared, she of course bes sulky. Especially, Jon also did not wear robes like before, it was just a T-shirt and jeans dress. It looked like he and Hermione discussed it in advance. This made Gabrielle look even more out of ce as if this was supposed to be a trip that Jon and Hermione had both agreed on together, and she was the one who was tagging along for the ride. "Of course, you are wee~" She drew up a long trail, the reluctance in her voice was obvious to anyone who could hear it. Jon pulled her to him instead, then spun her around in a ce like a gyroscope, teasing her. "We''re basically moving around Muggle society on this trip, and with you dressed like this, everyone''s just going to think it''s some little girl who misremembered the day of Halloween and picked the wrong time to run out and ask for candy." "I''m not little!" Gabrielle emphasised the matter with unmistakable deliberation. "I''ll be in school next year! I''ve asked Professor Dumbledore about this, and he assured me!" Jon shrugged and rubbed Gabrielle''s silver-white hair like it was a dog''s head. "Well, well, Gabrielle isn''t a child anymore." Gabrielle was obviously very unhappy with this kind of words from Jon without any semnce of sincerity, and she wrenched her head away from Jon''s grasp, puffing out her breath. "Then what am I going to wear now?" Jon spread his hands helplessly, he certainly hadn''t prepared any more than he had, but it was Hermione who handed over to Gabrielle one of the kraft bags she had been carrying in her hand. "I prepared it for you, go change into it." Now Gabrielle was finally too embarrassed to show any more dissatisfaction towards Hermione, she squirmed and took the bag from Hermione''s hands, thanked her politely and seriously, then red at Jon and turned around to go to the girls'' washroom next by to change her clothes. What Hermione had prepared for her was very thoughtful indeed, a white one-piece dress that fitted her perfectly. Aftering to Lyon and having a stable teaching environment, Hogwarts certainly did not restrict the students from going out during the holidays, and would also give them an allowance so that they could asionally buy something for themselves. This dress was obviously what Hermione had bought with the money she had saved. Because of this, Gabrielle had sort of grudgingly epted the fact that a third person was travelling to Denmark with her on this trip. She did not really think much, the little girl in the end has never been separated from her parents and family for so long, misses her loved ones eagerly, and has been eager to go and embark on the trip. So just like this, Jon, Hermione, and Gabrielle, a group of three arrived in Denmark through the Hogwarts school''s Floo Network. Theirnding point was the Witching Horizon''s station in Northern Europe, usually mainly responsible for receiving material assistance from the Northern European Witching Horizon group, and it was here that they met up with the former Headmistress of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Madame Maxime. Compared to when Jon had met her earlier, the current Madame Maxime had obviously lost a lot of weight, but her broad-boned frame still made her stand out from the crowd ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 458: Promise (2 in 1) Chapter 458: Promise (2 in 1) The secondrgest city in Denmark, Aarhus, is on the eastern coast of the Jund Penins. ording to the information Madame Maxime had received, the Dcour family had been living in hiding here. As an old friend of the Dcour family, after escaping from France, Madame Maxime had indeed been investigating the whereabouts of Gabrielle''s parents, just as she had told Dumbledore before. It was just that the whole of Europe was so big, especially if she wanted to look for a family of wizards who knew magic and could use potions to change their appearance, so it was not that easy to look for them. She managed to learn through some of her contacts in Northern Europe that there was once a young girl named Fleur who looked a lot like Gabrielle''s sister, who bumped into someone in Copenhagen the capital city of Denmark. After all, she has a quarter-Ve blood, as long as she shows her natural face to others, she will always leave an extremely deep impression on people. Following this information Madame Maxime traced all the way back and found that the Dcour family hadter moved once more, from Copenhagen to Aarhus. It was also following this lead that Jon and Hermione brought Gabrielle to this coastal city as well. Madame Maxime did not follow them here, because the temporary Ministry of Magic in France had reconnected with her, and now the whole of Beauxbatons was still in the stage of control that it had been in when it was first taken over. She, an experienced witch who had been the Headmistress for many years, was needed to go back immediately to preside over the situation and prepare for the work of receiving this year''s new students, which would soon begin. And aftering to Aarhus, Jon and the others did not hide their identities. Although Jon in the magical world had now almost reached the point where he was known by everyone, in the eyes of the muggles, he was less eye-catching. And keeping Gabrielle as she would also help her family spot her better. "Where do we start looking?" Gabrielle, who was wearing a one-piece dress looked as if she had rarely been able to see so many people, and she hid behind Jon, looking at the crowds of peopleing and going on the street, and asked in a low voice. Jon, on the other hand, was studying a letter in his hand that Madame Maxime had left for him, which stated that in a neighbourhood on the western outskirts of the city of Aarhus, there is a house of squib who give information to Madame Maxime. The only person who could live in a big Muggle city like this and fit in would be a squib who had broken away from the wizarding world and was disliked by most wizards. Especially in the past few years, the conflicts in the magical world had be more and more intense, and the squibs'' lives had be even more difficult. Many of them hadpletely cut off their ties with the magical world and had given up their pride and illusions that they were still "wizards", and had fully integrated themselves into the muggle life and society. "Dennis Cass, this is the person we need to find first. ording to the information given to us by Madame Maxime, he is the one who sent the message that he saw someone suspected to be your mum, dad and sister in Aarhus two months ago." Hermione looked at a map of the city located in front of one of the bus stops beside them, and soon she found the street they needed to travel to on it. "It''s not very far from us, maybe we can just take a taxi." They certainly have money for a taxi, the Witching Horizon wizard stationed here had given them some local currency when they first arrived. The money was certainly not a lot, but it was enough tost them three or four days without having to be too frugal. The offer was of course gratefully epted, and Jon waved a taxi to a halt, showing the driver the name of the ce on the letter straight away as hecked any knowledge of Danish. Gabrielle looked like she was travelling in a car for the first time and was very curious about this big Muggle metal box of transportation, and sat in the back with Hermione, looking around like a vige girl who had juste into town from the countryside. The driver, who seemed chatty, started off with a long speech in Danish, but Jon could only respond in English that he couldn''t understand. The two were at once at a loss for ways ofmunicating, for the driver''s English sounded broken, and when he said a passage, Jon had to think for quite a while before he could understand what it meant. Soon they reached the location on the letter. It was a courtyard that didn''t look very big, with a small red-roofed two-storey building surrounded by lush greenwns and a small garden. Jon pushed through the gates of the courtyard with Hermione and Gabrielle and went to the door of the house, and knocked on it. It didn''t take long for the sound of footsteps toe from inside, and then a boy who looked to be only six or seven years old pushed the door open and blinked at them. Jon waved at him, with a smile on his face. "May I ask if Dennis Cass lives here?" The boy, who obviously understood English, looked at Jon, then at Hermione, and finally at Gabrielle, who was standing next to Jon. For some reason, his face suddenly reddened, and then he turned and shouted into the house. "Mum! Someone''s looking for Daddy." Following the boy''s shout, soon a woman with an apron on as if she had just put down the hoover in her hand came out of the room and looked at Jon and the others suspiciously. "You guys..." "Well, Madame Maxime." Jon showed her the letter he was holding, "A friend of your husband''s, ma''am. We''re her rtives, and she''s the one who asked us to visit." It was obvious that this Mrs Cass knew the name Maxime, and after confirming the letter that Jon held in his hand, she invited the three of them into the house and told them to sit down in the living room and rx for the time being, saying that Dennis Cass was working in a nearby supermarket, and would be back for lunch at midday. She then gave them tea and pastries, and the boy named Henry Cass kept sneaking nces at Gabrielle as he brought the biscuits to the table. Of course, Gabrielle noticed his gaze and pulled her mouth and made a face at him, causing the boy to run and hide behind his mother shyly. Mrs Cass acted like she didn''t know exactly what kind of status her husband had, and really only treated Jon''s arrival with others as a polite visit from the younger children of a friend''s family. She put down her chores and sat down in front of the sofa to chat with Jon. They were all normal enquiries, asking Jon who Madame Maxime was for them, what school he was currently attending, and what he was doing in Denmark this time. All these questions were of course avoided by Jon with vague statements. Since that Mr Cass had hidden the matter of the magical world from his family, he naturally had his own ideas, and Jon had no intention of destroying the couple''s love life just after he had met them. And some words even if it is just made up, are also a good fabrication. Well, besides there is Hermione to help to patch some errors, all the while Gabrielle obediently did not say anything from the beginning, and finally, Mrs Cass managed to finish her conversation. At about eleven thirty noon, a middle-aged man with a slightly balding head returned home. He was none other than Dennis Cass, whom Jon and the others were looking for on this trip. After seeing Jon and the others, this squib who had been disconnected from the magical world for a long time obviously froze for a moment, and when he heard his wife introduce them as the younger children from Madame Maxime''s family, the expression on his face obviously became a bit dignified. Finding an excuse to sidetrack his wife and son, Dennis brought Jon and the others to the study to prepare a closed environment for conversation. Jon didn''t make much of a courtesy of anything, he directly handed over Madame Maxime''s letter. "We havee from France, Mr Cass, students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main reason for this visit is that you contacted Madame Maxime earlier to say that you had heard something about the Dcour Family?" Taking the letter in hand, Dennis then turned his gaze to Gabrielle, who was looking at him with a tense expression on her face, clearly able to recognise that she was none other than the youngest daughter of the Dcour Family. "You haven''t said anything to my family, have you?" The first thing he asked when he opened his mouth was whether or not anything had been leaked about the wizard, Jon and Hermione looked at each other, their previous concealment was obviously well-thought-out. "No sir, I told yourdy that we were all nieces and nephews of Madame Maxime and didn''t reveal a thing about what goes on in the wizarding world." It was a long relief for Dennis to hear them say that, and he exined. "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to question you guys about anything, you are all students at Hogwarts and should know how unsafe it has been in the wizarding world over the years. I''ve kept things about that world from my family, I just didn''t want them to be targeted by anyone and be scared all day." Jon certainly understood this. "The information about the Dcour family actually surfaced about two months ago, when the local newspaper reported that the police had caught two sexual predators who had been harassing a mother and daughter who lived at 9 Cromwell Street all day long. There was a record in that story that the daughter''s name was Fleur Virk and that she was very good-looking like her mum. Since I had previously learnt about the looks and traits of the Dcour family from Madame Maxime, I felt that the mother and daughter in this case should be them." Jon, after listening to Dennis'' statement, also felt that it was very simr to the description of Gabrielle''s mother and sister. As a mother and daughter who possessed the bloodline of a Ve, it was only normal that they encountered something like sexual harassment, they simply couldn''t control that kind of passive charm magic, if they were pureblood Ve, it would be difficult for normal wizards to resist it, not to mention muggles. It just wasn''t quite possible to identify them based on their hair. Silver-white-haired people weren''t exactly rare in Denmark as well as in the Nordic region, but it was a piece of supporting evidence. Getting the definitive word from Dennis, Jon and the group didn''t stay for lunch any longer. Dennis could also see that Gabrielle was itching to jump into her parents'' arms, so he didn''t necessarily mean to keep them but sent them off with his wife and son. Cromwell Street was just a little bit further away from where they were now, but for Jon and the others anything that could be solved with money wasn''t a problem. That was all the money they had, and even if they wanted to save it, they would have no ce to spend it when they left Denmarkter on. Straight away they hailed another taxi and went to the Cromwell street that Dennis had mentioned. Things went extraordinarily smoothly, and it didn''t take them long to find out the location of the number 9 house. It was a courtyard just like the one before. It was basically no different to the one Cass''s family lived in, except that it was obvious that Gabrielle had be nervous since arriving here. She had been holding onto Jon''s coat like she was afraid that she was dreaming this, and that if she let go of Jon''s coat the dream would be over. Hermione took Gabrielle''s other hand next to her and smiled down at her with a cheering smile that eased some of the little girl''s nerves as well. Then, more like a family in their current form, they walked inside courtyard No. 9 on Cromwell Street and knocked on the door of the house. Within seconds, the door was opened from the inside. The door was opened by a young girl who looked like a magnified Gabrielle with long silvery white hair, and as she opened the door she also saw Gabrielle standing right in the middle of Jon and Hermione. The young girl visibly froze, and Gabrielle didn''t make a sound at the moment, but her eyes began to turn red quickly, tears already welling up in the corners of her eyes! "Gabrielle!" The young girl screamed. She looked thrilled and excited, picking Gabrielle up on the spot, and the tears in her eyes were uncontroble. "Oooooooh, sis." Gabrielle choked in her arms, unable to say the next half of her sentence. The people in the house also heard this cry from the young girl, a rush of footsteps sounded, and a woman with silver-white hair just like the sisters and a middle-aged man who looked extraordinarily ordinarypared to the mother-daughter trio came running out. They looked like they thought their daughter was in some kind of danger, but after seeing those two figures embracing together, onerge and one small, both the couple also eximed in surprise. "My goodness!" "Honey! Are you all right?" Jon and Hermione didn''t interrupt this moment of Gabrielle''s reunion with her family, neither of them made a sound from outside the door. It was just that Jon could see the unconcealed envy in Hermione''s eyes as she saw the Dcour family embracing together. He couldn''t help but wave his hand in front of Hermione''s face, and when the young girl with the ponytail and the duck-tail hat turned her head to look at him, Jon gave a smile. "How about I apany you to meet your mum and dad too when we get back to Britain?" Jon didn''t think anything more when he said this, but Hermione was slightly stunned. Then with a slight blush, she reached up and pulled a strand of her hair behind her ear. "That doesn''t sound like something you would say." "Hey, what do you think I am, some rock in atrine?" Hermione blinked, obviously not quite understanding Jon''s ng. "That''s not exactly true, you''re definitely much better than a rock." "Tsk, tsk, tsk, sounds a bit wrong, but I''ll take that as apliment." "I''ll remember your promise, you can''t find any other excuse to back out when the timees?" Jon rubbed his chin in mock doubt. "What did I promise?" Hermione didn''t say anything, just lifted her leg up behind him and gave him a swift and light kick in the arse! ---- #Mrsel Kenan and #Farhaan Tti, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 459: Durmstrangs Graduate Nun (2 in 1) Chapter 459: Durmstrang''s Graduate Nun (2 in 1) Jon and Hermione received extremely warm hospitality from the Dcour family. Their trip had gone very smoothly, and they had found Gabrielle''s mum, dad, and sister without encountering any twists or turns in the middle. By the time they got to the midday meal, they also had the chance to exchange information with each other. After the Dcour family had urgently escaped from France in the very beginning, they had initially settled down in Germany, and then the first thing they thought about was picking up Gabrielle. But at that time Voldemort had alreadypletely taken over the whole of France, re-correctional camps had already been set up, and France was in chaos, so the Dcour family had no chance of contacting any of the connections they had left behind in France before. At that time Madame Maxime had also fled from Beauxbatons, and even if they had been able to contact someone, there would have been no way to find their youngest daughter, who had been turned into a ghost and entrusted to Hogwarts. Thenter on, Germany became unsafe because of the confrontation between Witching Horizon and Voldemort, and fierce bloodthirsty individuals began to create chaos everywhere, so the Dcour family had no choice but to travel further north, to Copenhagen, Denmark. They lived there for about half a year, and it was during that time that the entire Dcour family became exposed to Muggle habits. The worsening situation in the magical world had made them prepared for the fact that if it really came to that inevitable pointter on, then their family would rather abandon their identity as wizards and everything rted to magic, and just be muggles than be pureblood ves. Simrly, even at that time, this family did not give up on the idea of trying to bring back Gabrielle, and Mr Dcour tried countless ways to reconnect with his previous connections who were still in France, to try and get some information. However, at that time, just before the Witching Horizon broke through the re-correctional camp, the war was at its most intense point, Mr Dcour''s attempts not only failed to yield any results but also exposed the family''s hiding ce in Copenhagen. They were forced to make a second move, and after this time Mr Dcour, as head of the family, finally made up his mind to keep his wife and eldest daughter safe first, choosing to believe in Madame Maxime''s ability to provide good care for Gabrielle. They then travelled to Aarhus, where they changed their family name and settled down for good, Mr. Dcour for thest time used his magic to give the family a false identity that would be legal in Muggle society, and then sealed the wands of all the members of the family. They had begun to understand and be ustomed to Muggle''s daily life, and even when they had been harassed in the first few months, they had called the police to solve the problem. And it was under these circumstances that Jon and Hermione came to the door with Gabrielle in tow. Jon also provided an ount to the Dcour family regarding what had happened in thest two years in the wizarding world. From the battle of capturing the re-correctional centre that took ce not long after their family had just decided topletely cut ties with the wizarding world, to the three power struggles that beganter on when only Paris and Beauxbatons were left in France that hadn''t been reimed, andstly, to the fact that Witching Horizon had nowpletely reimed the entirety of France. It was only now that the Dcour family realised what had happened in the magical world when they had been left with no hope at all. Gabrielle''s father was ashamed of this. He confessed to Jon about his ipetence and how he had no choice but to run away from the situation instead of joining forces with those around him to fight back. Jon, on the other hand, consoled him that at that time, when the Witching Horizon had not yet been formed, fleeing was the most correct choice. If he really chose to resist at that time, then the Dcour family would not be able to make a single wave, and the whole family would directly disappear from the face of the earth. The key to the French wizard''s ability to fight Voldemort is Dumbledore. Only with the topbatant who can fight hard with Voldemort himself, the Witching Horizon qualifies to call the shots with the two magical governments of Britain and France at that time. Jon certainly didn''t add himself to the list of these big events he was recounting. But even if he didn''t, Gabrielle, who had already wiped away her tears, couldn''t hold back at all, telling her parents and sister all the experiences she had with Jon when she turned into a ghost, as if she were throwing beans at them. To be frank, Gabrielle''s experience was much more wonderful than most of the Hogwarts students. When she was still in ghost form, she followed Jon to the North Pole, and that trip could be said to have been deep into the tiger''s den. It was also from her that the Dcours'' learnt that the young man in front of them, who seemed harmless on the outside, didn''t seem to be as serene as he appeared to be on the outside. After chatting everything out and having a nice lunch at Dcour, the family of course had decided to move back to France with them. It just didn''t have to be such a rushed move, they had been living here for a year now, and there were still things to pack. People couldn''t just disappear, their rtionships in Muggle society had to be sorted out, so they weren''t in a hurry to leave the same day. Jon and Hermione weren''t in a hurry to go back after they had taken Gabrielle to find her family either. It was supposed to be summer holidays, they had never been to Denmark before, and with the Dcour family''s gracious invitation, it really wasn''t a problem to stay and y for a few days. So after determining to stay and y for a couple of days, Jon first wrote a letter to Dumbledore, informing him that the trip had gone well, and asked him to also help convey this matter to Madame Maxime so that she could rest assured. Aarhus, as the secondrgest city in Denmark, and also a harbour city, does have quite a few ces worth visiting. The old buildings here are basically in the Gothic style, the most famous of which is St. Clement''s church in the centre of the city, which retains part of the old sections from 1197, and which underwent a major revision in the fifteenth century into the Gothic style, with a repair in the sixties and seventies when a spire was added. It was mainly Gabrielle''s sister Fleur who acted as a guide for the afternoon outing, and she looked like she couldn''t wait to talk to her sister after not seeing her for a long time and had a million things waiting to be said, so she led Gabrielle ahead of them, while Jon and Hermione followed them. "My mum''s religious, and at first I followed her through the pre-dinner prayers when I was in primary school. But then after being taken to Hogwarts Castle, I stopped believing." Hermione looked up at the church, which was full of the scars of age. "Maybe there really is a god in this world, but the odds are that it isn''t some omnipotent God are high, instead it might be an immensely powerful wizard found by the muggles in the world." Jon chimed in. "In fact, I used to be surprised as to why arge portion of wizards still have the habit of being religious, after all, if one understands the magic in-depth, one would know that in fact, the essence of the magic we master is the ability to do what the mind wants, and magic is the source of this ability. Wizards already possessed such an ability, so why bother to believe that there would be a God in this world? At the time, I issued this question to my teacher, Professor Slughorn, and he told me that magic also has boundaries, just as no one can vite the Gamp''s Law of Elemental Transfiguration till now, even the most powerful wizards have no way to conjure food out of thin air, or even turn another inedible thing into something that can be eaten. Precisely because wizards couldn''t do it, they would fantasise that an omnipotent God would be able to do it, and so the teachings could be spread throughout the magicalmunity." "And the point of believing or not believing in the religion is not based on whether or not a wizard has extraordinary abilities that a muggle doesn''t have, but rather on whether or not the individual has a materialistic world-view that believes that matter determines consciousness, and the magic we use obviously breaks thatw; magic allows the ''will'' to change matter, which leads to the fact that wizards will be much more prone to believing that the world might possess an omniscient and omnipotent God who can rely on consciousness to control the world." Hermione saw the cross directly in front of the church. "Perhaps it''s because thews of magic haven''t been found for real yet? Magic is consciousnessless, which makes it also a substance, could it be possible that wizards'' so-called reliance on their ''will'' to influence the world could just be a case of artificially altering one substance with another substance like muggles mastering the use of tools?" "I think I remember reading somewhere that someone had studied that question." Jon mused. Before he coulde up with an answer, Hermione had already named the source of this conjecture. "It was in Durmstrang''s library, and there was a section of notebooks that were making all sorts of hypotheses like this one, which clearly doesn''t seem like something that a pure wizard coulde up with." It was only after hearing her speak of Durmstrang''s library that a dawning realisation appeared on Jon''s face. This was not surprising at all then. It wasn''t surprising that some odd bit of knowledge could be found in Durmstrang, especially given that Jon had some inside knowledge of what Grindelwald was doing. "It''s just enough for us to talk about it amongst ourselves, but don''t let anyone else hear about it, if some paranoid wizard hears about it, there could be trouble." Their conversation wasn''t loud, but since Fleur and Gabrielle had been walking right in front of them, they could vaguely hear some of the contents. But obviously, even if they had been getting into Muggle society for a while, there was no way that Fleur would have been able to understand all of this, and she just looked down at Gabrielle with a weird look on her face and asked in a small voice. "Are they in love? That''s a strange way for a couple tomunicate with each other." "No!" Gabrielle answered loudly and surely, but it was more like a gesture of anger. Fleur was still wondering why she was reacting so violently when an unexpected voice suddenly inserted itself into their chat. "Professor Green?" All four of them froze at the sudden address, and Jon froze for a few seconds before reacting to the fact that this address was calling out to him. He turned his head to the source of the voice, a girl who had just walked out of the church, dressed as a nun, waved at him with wide eyes. "And you are?" The nun turned her head and whispered something to an older nun beside her, and then the old woman, who looked like she must have been in her seventies or eighties by some estimation, gave Jon a deep look and then turned to leave. The nun who had been given permission, on the other hand, trotted cheerfully to Jon''s side. "Helene Rosier, Professor, you probably don''t remember much about me, but you do remember my cousin Diane, don''t you? I''m just two months younger than her." Hearing her introduce herself like that, coupled with the title of professor, would make Jon certain that this was a student of Durmstrang. Or it should be said ex-student. The fact that she was only two months younger than Diane meant that they were in the same ss, and now that Diane was supposed to be a graduate by the end of the semester in which the Triwizard Tournament was taking ce, this girl named Helene should be the same. The only wrong thing was that Durmstrang student came to Denmark to be a nun in the church after she graduated? Although Jon was nominally a professor of Durmstrang, he really didn''t know much about the employment options after graduation in this magical school. Were the options this wide? "I had a feeling that it might be you from a big distance away, but didn''t quite have the nerve to recognise you, thest time I saw you properly was on the night when the Triwizard Tournament finally ended, and I remembered that you got younger in age due to some kind of magic ident at that time, and I didn''t expect you to actually change back so quickly." Helene was obviously a very enthusiastic girl, she had no problem grabbing Jon''s hand and started talking to herself. Jon, on the contrary, had the presence of mind to pull his hand out of the arms of the young girl, who looked like a novice nun, by lightly jerking his hand out of her arms. It was only at this point that Helene seemed to notice the presence of others around her. The little girl who was ring at her in exasperation didn''t look like a stranger to her, Gabrielle had been running around with her Ghost identity back in Durmstrang, and many of the Durmstrang students knew her. As for Hermione, who looked like her facial expression hadn''t changed much and was still full of smiles, but her eyes were slightly narrowed, she was even less of a stranger. As a part of the students who had followed Vinda Rosier to Hogwarts Castle this year, she of course knew that the girl with the long chestnut-coloured hair and the duck-tongue hat on her head was Jon''s date atst year''s ball. It was only Fleur that she hadn''t met, but just by her face, which was an erged edition of Gabrielle''s, she could guess what their rtionship was with a little bit of brainstorming. "Are you out travelling, Professor?" Helene asked with an ambiguous smile as she waved her hand at Gabrielle, Hermione, and Fleur, the rest of the group as well. Being able to tell that this Rosier was clearly not as serious as her sister Diane, and was definitely thinking of something rude in her head, Jon nonchntly tapped her on the head in return to make her take a few steps back. "We are here to take Gabrielle to her family, I don''t know what kind of matters you''re dallying about, don''t be careless and fail to maintain the boundaries just because you think you''re already out of Durmstrang, alright?" It was rare for Jon to use his position as a professor to lecture someone about something like this, mainly because the students of Durmstrang were pretty much obeying Grindelwald, and they had basically all identified Jon as a professor, only after the Triwizard Tournament. ---- #Mrsel Kenan and #Farhaan Tti, Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 460: Pre-war Arrangements Chapter 460: Pre-war Arrangements "Why would a Durmstrang student be a nun here?" Hermione asked the question Jon himself had wanted to ask. To which Helene didn''t hesitate and blurted it out with a big grin. "This isn''t just any nun I''m working as, it''s an external posting job from The Alliance, a mission, which is the same as an internship. Did you see Sister Lengert just now? She''s my internship mentor, and she''s also the one who brought me into this church." Not only was Hermione curious, but Fleur on the side also asked suspiciously. "So why did youe to the church for an internship?" At this, Helene just smiled and didn''t answer directly, but turned her head to look at Jon. "Does Professor Green want to know? This matter is something that only our own people can know, only Professor Green is the person trusted by Mr Headmaster, everyone else is not allowed to know about it, except-" "Not interested." Jon tly refused, he really had no interest at all in Grindelwald''s n for the time being, inparison to his concern about whether or not this old man, who had stirred up the entire magical world before Voldemort, had any intention of returning to his old ways, Dumbledore was more thoughtful than he was sure to be. And since both of them had maintained close cooperation up to now, without the slightest intention of tearing the veil apart, it meant that what Grindelwald was doing hadn''t broken through some kind of lower limit yet. Dumbledore''s bottom line was one of the most trustworthy things, so from the beginning to the end, even if Jon had guessed what Grindelwald was trying to do, he had maintained an attitude of not caring, not probing and not interfering. The most important thing for them right now was of course still defeating Voldemort. Helene clearly showed her disappointment in the face of such a blunt answer from Jon. Jon also had no intention of continuing to stay here for a long time, there was nothing wrong with him having a rtionship with these people from the Alliance, with Dumbledore and Grindelwald both looking after him, Jon didn''t have to worry about himself getting into trouble at all. But Hermione and the girls are not the same, unlike Voldemort''s Death Eaters, the Alliance has gone through the baptism of two formations and one failure, and their current theories can be said to be much more perfect than the vast majority of other wizard organisations. So Hermione, Gabrielle or Fleur might be tricked into switching over to their organisations, which was not a good thing for a situation that was still unclear. Briefly saying goodbye to Helene, they left the church and headed towards the other more famous building in Aarhus, The Concert Hall Aarhus. It wasn''t so much an old one as it in fact a newly built concert hall just a decade or so ago, perfect for those who wanted to rx for a night out these days when entertainment options weren''t as plentiful as they should be. It was just that Jon didn''t really know how to enjoy an opera, and he had only apanied a group of girls over on this trip to have some fun. But after what happened with Helene, Fleur became even more curious about Jon. She had been amazed earlier when she heard from Gabrielle who was bragging about Jon being the captain of the Hogwarts ship and the champion as well as the final winner of the Triwizard Tournament. As one of the best students of Beauxbatons at one time, Fleur naturally knew the gold content of the Triwizard Tournament and was well aware of how difficult it was to win a tournament that Voldemort had taken the initiative to organise, with the venue still being in the enemy''s territory. But even when she thought she had already put Jon in high enough regard, it turned out that he actually still had connections with Durmstrang, and became a professor straight away. It was a pity that Jon, even at the opera house, had been chatting with Hermione about something she couldn''t understand at all, so she couldn''t intervene much from start to finish. And Jon and the others didn''t stay in Aarhus for long. After going to the church and the concert hall on the first day, and experiencing boating on the beach on the second day, Jon and Hermione returned to France with the Dcour family. It was mainly because the Dcour family was eager to return to their homnd, and on the afternoon of the same day that Jon and the four of them came back from the beach, they returned to France through the Floowork that Witching Horizon had set up in Denmark, with their already packed luggage. It was just that right after his return, Jon already felt that even though he hadn''t been away for only a few days, the atmosphere of the French magicalmunity had all clearly begun to be solemn. Until today, France has not lifted its wartime status, and all the supplies have been focused on the Witching Horizon''s preparation for war. Mr and Mrs Dcour, who had just returned, could also feel this atmosphere. Just based on him being Gabrielle''s father, he is not really a person who is afraid of death, after returning to France, he immediately joined the Witching Horizon, for everyone in thisnd knows about the impending war, and doing preparatory work. Not only Dumbledore, ording to his own reasoning, he also thinks that the situation can not be dragged on, and it is necessary to take advantage of this current situation to expand the advantage of winning the Triwizard Tournament. The entire Witching Horizon high-level leaders, in fact, also believe that dragging it on is not beneficial to them. Because there is a simple truth that everyone understands, Dumbledore is already more than one hundred years old this year. Even if it is not a problem for wizards to live up to two or three hundred years of life in some cases, the centenarian is not enjoying his old age infort during these years. He has to worry about things within the Witching Horizon and also engages in a high-intensity duel with Voldemort, thus exhausting himself, which Voldemort is certainly not afraid of. From the very beginning when the Hogwarts wagon was in exile in Britain, Voldemort II had been ying with the idea that Dumbledore''s life is finite, and as long as it dragged on, then sooner orter he would be able to simmer down this biggest obstacle without any effort. Now of course everyone else could see this, so it was necessary to end this war while Dumbledore could still fight. Even though there has been talk amongst the Order of the Phoenix today that Jon will likely be able to take Dumbledore''s ce in the future, no one can guarantee that this is an absolute thing. It was also in this atmosphere of preparation for the war that a bit of change was carried out within Hogwarts. Much like before when the wagon was turned into a ship and forced to leave Britain and go to sea when the fifth years and above were dered graduated to gather their strengths and at the same time reduce the number of professors in charge of teaching. Before in Britain, they had no choice but to join the Order of the Phoenix whether they wanted to or not, but now they all had a choice. Any student who graduated from Hogwarts could choose to join the Witching Horizon in preparation for the war they would have to face next in Britain, or they could choose to avoid the war and live in France for a while, or if they were willing to leave, they could decide for themselves whether they wanted to stay or go. But although there were choices, none of the students who graduated from Hogwarts chose to leave. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 461: Voldemorts Manor Chapter 461: Voldemort''s Manor They had joined the Witching Horizon en masse, and many of these students who had gone through the wagon era at Hogwarts, the sea-ship era as well as the current Lyon''s temporary school period, had reached the age of seventeen, the age of legal adulthood in the wizarding world. These people had long been deeply bound to Hogwarts, and many of them also had family still in Britain, so no one had made a move to leave, and everyone had decisively joined the battle order. After the change from the seven-year system to the five-year system, Jon, who will be promoted to the fifth year at the beginning of this semester, would have had nothing to do with this next war, but of course, the others wouldn''t treat him as an ordinary student. It was just that apart from Dumbledore, no one else would arrange any work for him at all. Jon was self-conscious enough to know that he certainly wouldn''t be able to still have this kind of free timeter on after the new term had started. He began his delving into what kind of spell he could apply to the fourth gemstone. The spells currently upying the first three gems on his ring were all mainly on the more practical side of things. The first one, the levitation charm, was chosen as Jon''s first gemstone choice when he first arrived at the wagon when he was still a first year, as he had few spells that he was already familiar with at that time and even fewer that could be put to good use on his ring. What happenedter was proof enough that Jon had made the right choice, and the means of being able to float without relying on a flying broom or any other tool helped him immensely. The second gem, on the other hand, was already bound with some additional characteristics at the beginning by the gem maker, Adrian, making the general counter-spell a good match for that gem. The enchantment on this gem was not something that Jon had thought beforehand, yet it had saved him plenty of times nheless, and if it had not been for the ability to store magic on this gem, then Jon or Hermione might have died at Hogwarts Castle in his second year. There is nothing more to say about the Animagus on the third gem. At least since the records of magical history existed, Jon was considered to be the first wizard who could turn into a magical creature and could also use its abilities. The characteristics of the phoenix made Jon have absolute security in terms of life preservation. And the fourth gem that he got his hands on now is still in a pure and wless state. Adrien hadn''t given it a clear formtion of any magic that absolutely had to be attached to it, and Jon didn''t have a pressing need for a magical effect at the moment, plus the fact that over the years of exposure to magic, he had learnt enough spells to make his choices wider. So Jon, after much deliberation, decided that he needed to attach a spell of an offensive nature to the gem. It was just that so far, he had never even attempted anything simr to this, nor did he know what kind of changes would happen if he attempted to attach offensive magic mainly meant to be used against the enemy to the gemstone. It couldn''t be that by the time the so-called spell was unleashed on himself, and when he used a spell from the ring like the Killing curse, it would just kill him, could it? Such a ridiculous phenomenon, Jon thought it was unlikely to happen, but just in case, he had ruled out the killing curse from the start. The other spells are fine, once something goes wrong with the spell, he will have to suffer just a little bit because, with the Phoenix''s Animagus, death is definitely not possible, but even if he could use Nirvana once again, Jon doesn''t want to turn into a child''s appearance again, he always feels that every death doesn''te without a price. Plus he listened to Lily''s words in Britain before. The killing curse can be used sparingly, then attaching it to the ring is not so appropriate. In addition, even if the killing curse is overbearing, it is only a single damage spell, Jon is not capable of turning it into AOE damage, not quite in line with the situation of the nextrge-scale wizard war that will begin. So in the end, Jon chose to focus on two spells, two of his mostmonly used dark magic spells. sting Curse and Invisible Sword Curse These two spells could of course kill people as well, and the sight that shows up when you kill someone is even bloodier. It was just that they are nowhere near as strong as the side effects of a killing curse in terms of the impact of dark magic on a wizard''s consciousness, coupled with the fact that both can be expanded to a near-infinite range if used well, Jon''s choice, of course, came down to these two spells. And at the end of the day, he settled on Invisible Sword Curse with very little hesitation. Compared to the sting Curse, it was much quieter and more stealthy to cast, and the key thing was that Jon had the original notes on how the spell Invisible Sword Curse had been created, written by its inventor, Snape himself, which would make it much easier for Jon to get the hang of it. After determining what spell he would be studying next, Jon didn''t sit idle. He also knew that high-profile dark magic like Invisible Sword Curse was not suitable to be practised in libraries or study rooms, so he directly approached McGonagall to apply for an abandoned ssroom. And just as the whole of France was undergoing pre-war preparations. Britain, in a magnificent Manor. Voldemort, who had turned into a middle-aged man and was far from the young man he was before, stared grimly at Slughorn, who was looking down next to him. "Why didn''t that vial of potion have no effect after I drank it?" Before the defeat in the Triwizard Tournament, Voldemort Two had maintained the courtesy of being a former student on the surface to Slughorn, but now, for today''s Voldemort One, he simply didn''t care that Slughorn had once been the Head of House who had taken good care of him and treated him exactly like any other servant. Slughorn also had the good sense to change his stance and had no intention of continuing to put on the airs of being a mentor, even changing his address to lord like all the other Death Eaters. This made him suffer a lot of shame in the pureblood circle recently, many people said that he was just sticking a spring onion in a pig''s nose and pretending to be an elephant, and now he is going to show his true colours. It didn''t seem like Slughorn cared though, he was still as loyal to his student as ever. "I can only replicate the effects of that potion, my lord." Slughorn said with a bow of his head, the sound of the word "lord" seeming to exit his mouth didn''t cause a half-assed change of expression to appear on his face. "In terms of effect, the vial of potion is really just a vial of specialised catalyst, it doesn''t have any potency of its own, it mostly depends on the object it''s meant to catalyse." Voldemort was silent for a few seconds, then he resumed speaking. "How is the investigation over at the Department of Mysteries going?" Slughorn continued indifferently. "Karkaroff is still in the middle of a deeper investigation, he only just brought word yesterday that it would take a while to get evidence and research between the various halls." "Give him a week!" Voldemort said icily. "If there are no results after a week, have him take his men to Azkaban to be in charge ofmunication with the Dementors!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 462: The War Is About to Begin (2 in 1) Chapter 462: The War Is About to Begin (2 in 1) Slughorn left the room just in time to brush shoulders with Barty Jr. who was walking by. They usually did not have much social interaction, not that Slughorn did not want to have contact with this always favoured person besides Voldemort. Rather, Barty Jr. had always stayed in Hogwarts castle before, rarely had the time to meet andmunicate with Slughorn who was working in the Ministry of Magic, and now after Hogwarts was gone, even if he had returned to the Ministry of Magic, he basically stayed on his own, although Slughorn had sent him invitations for a few private gatherings, he didn''t respond to any of the invitations. Waiting until the location of the corner of the stairs, Slughorn only slightly paused in his footsteps, watching Barty Jr.''s figure disappear behind the door of the room. And after Slughorn left, Voldemort went into a contemtive state. His wand was ced in a tray on the side of his armchair, and while he was thinking, his hand was subconsciously rubbing the surface of the skin on the back of his other hand, which had be noticeably rougher than it had been in the past. It wasn''t until a knock sounded on the door that he snapped out of that bout of contemtion. "Come in." As soon as Barty Jr. entered through the door, he dropped to his knees, then respectfully raised a small square box high above his head and handed it to Voldemort. Seeing Barty Jr, a rare smile appeared on Voldemort''s face. No matter what time of year it might be, all of his most loyal servant''s demeanour when dealing with him would be faultless. Voldemort took the square box from him, and insidey a blood-red stone! "This Philosopher''s Stone will temporarily slow my ageing. It is not a permanent solution, but it can be used as a temporary means. You have thought of everything, Barty." "It is my greatest wish to help you, my lord." Barty Jr. was ever so humble before Voldemort, and even though his lord had never asked him to do so, he was expressing the reverence in his heart in such a spontaneous manner. "How are the others faring against the tide?" The smile on Voldemort''s face narrowed. Barty Jr. still had his head bowed. "There''s still some dissent circting in the Avery and Carrow houses, but they seem to be just whining a bit and don''t dare to really hold it against you." "Hmph, they''ve forgotten their former ambitions now for the sake of this little gain in front of them." Voldemort sneered, "And only dare to do so much about this, but who knows if one day there will be someone who will give them the guts to do something about the situation." Barty Jr. didn''t utter another word in response to thisment, it was like he had a good sense of what to say and what not to say. "What about Dumbledore''s side? What''s the news." Voldemort leaned on the back of the armchair, his channel to learn about the outside world is basically relying on Barty Jr. He is ready to support Barty Crouch Jr. to the position of Acting Minister, to take control of the Ministry of Magic for him. "The French side looks like they''re actively preparing for the war. They haven''t stopped since the end of the Triwizard Tournament, they''ve been preparing for it all along." Hearing this news, Voldemort''s face visibly darkened. "He really underestimates me ." The voice of this sentence was so low that it was not clear to whom Voldemort was speaking it, still the next moment he asked a different question. "So have you heard anything new about the other side of things I''ve been asking you to keep an eye on before?" *** It hadn''t been exactly an easy enrolment year for Hogwarts, which had only begun to roll out over the summer holidays. After all, all of the eligible Muggle students were still within Britain, and Dumbledore had no desire for Hogwarts to steal the Beauxbatons student poption, so McGonagall, Lily and the girls still had to reach out to the new students, as they had done before in the days of the wagon exile when they had been wanted by the Ministry of Magic in Britain. In the present admission, however, they wouldn''t have to rush to catch the people before Barty Jr. and the others arrived, as they had to do before. With the loss of the Book of Admittance and the Quill of eptance on Voldemort''s side, they had lost ess to the most basic information about those children in Muggle families who had the gift of wizardry and were no longerpetitive with Hogwarts at all now. This meant that McGonagall and Lily didn''t have to erase the memories of the new parents, they just had to exin to them what was at stake and let them make their choices voluntarily. And because they knew that there would be a war against the enemy this year, Hogwarts itself was not particrly eager to enrol students this term. Every one of them was full of hope for the ensuing good future after the war, and when Hogwarts returned to Britain, the order of everything would continue, and even if they weren''t enrolled in time this year, it would be the same if they enrolled a yearter next year. It was in this atmosphere that the new term of Hogwarts began. Sincest year, the opening banquet has been fixed in the great hall of this temporary school, and the old days of travelling around Britain in a horse-drawn wagon with Hagrid taking the students, and holding banquets in all sorts of open-air wildernesses, have be the topic of bragging for the old students and the gossip of the new students. But whenever a new student showed a look of envy and said that the old students had had a really good life before. They would be taught that all of this was actually just the bitter-sweetness of living in exile and that no one would like that kind of life where they lived in precariousness all day long and faced the prospect of being hunted down and killed. It was best to settle down now and have a stable teaching ground at Hogwarts. After moving up to the fifth year, Jon and his ssmates began to be judged and elected as Prefects afterwards. Neville was sessfully elected as this year''s Head Boy, Jon did not participate in the election, for him now, participating in student management is aplete waste of time, as after he was promoted to the fifth year, he did not even need to go to the normal ssroom. There was nothing the normal curriculum could teach him anymore. With a lot of high-level magical knowledge, Jon could already match the results of a normal upperssman in one semester during the time he studied under Grindelwald. But apart from the spell of the ring, at the beginning of the fifth year, that is, after September, Jon started to follow George, Fred and the other new graduates of this year and began to train in professional Apparition magic. Even though Jon could perform special Apparition even while in a human body, using only the form of changing the magic power in his body into the phoenix''s unique magic power, it didn''t mean that he didn''t need to learn ordinary Apparition magic. Because although the phoenix''s special Apparition was basically without any limitations, and could go in and out freely even where there is an Anti-Apparition Charm, its manifestation was still too eye-catching after all. Every time he used an Apparition, a golden-red light would be lit up, and the same light would be lit up after the Apparition hadnded, which undoubtedly gave Jon an extra degree of recognition, as long as the golden light appeared that was when he was going to leave ore. This kind of recognition was obviously something he didn''t really want to get, should he really be needed on any battlefield in the United Kingdom, the result would be a sh of golden light and a crowd of Death Eaters shouting "Jon Green is here! Let''s round him up!" Or "Jon Green''s here, let''s run!" Either way, imagining what could happen tells you that normal Apparition is something that needs to be learnt as well. And for Jon who already managed to naturally have experience in Apparition after turning into a phoenix, it wasn''t that difficult to start learning normal Apparition now, he was the fastest learner amongst the bunch of graduated students, and by the third day of his professional training, he could basically perform Apparition and Manifestation steadily, without a single splinch slip-up in between. After graduating and joining Witching Horizon, the Weasley twins didn''t join the front line of battle but were absorbed into the logistics research department. The Weasley Orb they had previously developed had already be a mass-produced weapon within the Witching Horizon, along with some of the magical props that hadn''t yet been considered aplete sess that they had chatted about with Jon had also begun to undergo actual improvement and exploration. Dumbledore obviously took the twins very seriously, not only giving them an expanded team but also transferring their dad Arthur Weasley to work with them as well. Since Arthur himself had an unusual interest in improving various magical props, presumably these talents that George and Fred possessed were inherited from him. From the start of the school year at Hogwarts, after September, the situation in the entire European magical world became more and more calm. It was as if the war hadpletely ended, and the various magical newspapers didn''t publish daily news about the predictions of when the Ministry of Magic of Britain and France would go to war as they did before but instead reported on some gossip that was basically ced in the most remote part of the newspaper''s pages before. Even the Spanish wizarding dailies were beginning to think about the possibility of starting the Quidditch World Cup this autumn, which had been haltedst year because of the war. Just when the vast majority of wizards in Europe thought that they could spend the rest of the year in a rare peaceful time during these years. On thest day of October, the night that was supposed to be Halloween, inside Dumbledore''s Headmaster''s office in Lyon, France. The Halloween dinner on campus hadn''t ended yet, and even in the Headmaster''s office, where the door to the room was closed, the sound ofughter could be faintly hearding from the great hall side of the building. Dumbledore was not celebrating Halloween like the other students at this time, nor was he reviewing any documents, nor was he having any more meetings with people. He was just holding a letter in his hand, and the letter only had a short sentence on it. "The preparations areplete." Dumbledore slowly put down the letter in his hand, his gaze was as deep as a sea of stars in the candlelight. The Headmaster''s office was silent, even those portraits of sessive Headmasters on the walls didn''t make any sound, it was like they all knew what Dumbledore meant when he received this letter. "What if our suspicions really are right?" There was a rare note of frustration in his tone. And the question was clearly being asked to the portraits on the walls. "It''s against the magical order, and I still think it''s highly unlikely." The one who spoke was the headmistress, Dilys, who was frowning tightly in the portrait. "But even this magical order is something we''ve surmised based on history that has never had a precedent, whether it''s a piece of truth or not, none of us know." The Slytherin said in a deep voice. "And now the only person who can help us corroborate this is right in front of us." "Then everyone is screwed." Phineas barked, "But still, all of this is just spection after all, and it has to be put into practice to make spection into truth." After hearing his words, it was as if he had offended some kind of public anger, the surrounding portraits all stared at him with ring eyes. "Shut up! No one will take you as mute if you don''t open your mouth!" "Why can''t you say less at a time like this!" "Those before don''t matter, do you know what you''re talking about now?" "Get him off the wall! I''m afraid if I stay with him any longer I''ll have my brain infected with idiocy as well!" Phineas scowled as he listened to the reprimands and curses around him, and it was Dumbledore who eventually pped his hands to stop the brawl. "What Phineas said wasn''t wrong, I had the same thoughts as him, you shouldn''t me him like that." Dumbledore''s words took the breath away from every portrait on the wall, every headmaster at Hogwarts for thest thousand years was looking at him in shock, even Phineas, who had spoken the words. "I think that you should perhaps reconsider. Even if you go ahead and make the attempt, perhaps we still have more..." The Slytherin didn''t finish his words, to the point where he wasn''t interrupted by anything, but when he got to the end of his sentence, he couldn''t bring himself to offer anything better, and could only fall silent like that. "You guys actually don''t need to be like this, from the very beginning when I walked in front of you and announced to you that I am the new Headmaster of Hogwarts this session, haven''t you already had unreserved trust in me?" Dumbledore calmly lifted the vial of golden sand. "Jon always said that I have a very bad habit of never giving my words straight away, that I just like to keep people guessing." "But it''s not that I like to leave people guessing, it''s that some things are already predestined, and telling that predestined oue ahead of time is just adding nothing but trouble to people. It''s better to let them understand the causes and consequences on their own, and when ites to the final step, they''ll find more pleasure in looking back to the past than if I had just said it outright." Most of the portraits on the walls bristled when they heard this, no matter what Dumbledore said, they all still felt that it was a bad taste on Dumbledore''s part. Not really hearing anyone give himself the benefit of the doubt, Dumbledore didn''t really care as he stood up from his chair in his office with a wink. "We can talk about validationter, and right now, no matter what, there''s one thing that can''t be changed. The war is about to begin." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 463: The Great Judgment (2 in 1) Chapter 463: The Great Judgment (2 in 1) The next day, on the first day of November. Fawkes suddenly appeared in Iniesta''s office early in the morning, he didn''t bring anything with him, he just stared straight at the interim minister of the newly established French Ministry of Magic after hended on the ground using Apparition. And after receiving Fawkes'' stare, it was like Iniesta knew exactly what he was trying to tell him to do with a clear picture in mind. He took a deep breath and stood up from his chair. "Go back, I know what I have to do." And so, on the very day of the 1st of November, both the English wizards of the Order of the Phoenix and the French wizards of the French Ministry of Magic were all organised in the Witching Horizon! The Starlight Newspaper, which was a dedicated means of propaganda within the Witching Horizon, also dyed the release of this morning''s daily newspaper while receiving Dumbledore''s instructions, and instead rushed to print out a new batch of newspapers before noon, and proceeded to put them on sale to all of the wizards who were supposed to have received it this morning. In time for lunch, almost all of the wizards who stayed in France saw the big bold headline on the front page of the Starlight Newspaper. [A Trial from the Public!...] The content of this article wasn''t long, it just told in the most concise words about an event that was about to take ce starting tomorrow. After the end of the Triwizard Tournament and theplete restoration of all the cities in France, only a small portion of the various mobs and viins who supported the Bloodline Theory and practised it to that end has been dealt with until now, with the vast majority of them being temporarily confined in the Wizard''s Prison, it is finally time for them to receive their final judgement. This trial, which would be open to the public, would begin tomorrow in the very same conference hall within the French Ministry of Magic that Voldemort had once proimed to be the Minister of Magic of France, apletely transparent conference room that would allow anyone who came to the Ministry of Magic of France to spectate whatever would take ce within. Even the wizarding public who were not able to physicallye inside the Ministry of Magic was able to tune into the exclusive broadcasting frequency avable to wizards at home and witness the trial via the radio. Many wizards felt nothing but excitement upon hearing the news. The scum who wanted to create inequality and were bent on using their illusory bloodlines for oppression would finally pay the price they deserved for doing this! And there was also a small group of people who clearly smelled that this public trial, which had already been held on a pilot basis within Hogwarts before, but had dragged on for so long in the French magicalmunity, hinted at something else. The public trial did not need to be prepared in advance, as long as the public could participate in the trial, it would be a sess. However, Dumbledore and the others had never shown any signs of conducting a public trial, instead, it had already reached November, and this public trial was suddenly about to begin without a word. This contains an unusual touch. But whether or not there is any hint of the significance attached to this trial, on the next morning, the trial came as promised. On the morning of the 2nd of November, except for the employees of the Ministry of Magic who had to ensure the basic functioning of the French magicalmunity, all the other wizards of the Ministry had gathered in the transparent conference room that had once been used to hold a meeting of the parliamentarians. All of Witching Horizon''s top brass had long been gathered here, and right in the front, on the raised tform that everyone could see, a brand-new gallows had been erected! In addition to those who sit at the front, as this public trial presiding judge Dumbledore, Iniesta and so on Witching Horizon''s senior management, all the other positions at the back are avable to whoeveres first, even if there is no position around them, they can also stand directly on both sides, and if there is no position on both sides, they can also gather outside of the ss conference room, and if they cannot be squeezed in outside of the conference room, there is no longer any way for the wizards to see the live public trial and could only hear the sound of the public trial through the Witching Horizon''s public broadcasting service. In short, as long as people havee here on time, there are always various ways for them to witness the trial. Jon also came to the scene of the public trial, as the biggest contributor to the victory of the Triwizard Tournament, he was of course qualified to sit at the forefront, the seat beside Dumbledore. And the host of this public trial within the French magicalmunity was none other than Iniesta himself, who is a Minister. "There is no way for anyone in this world to guarantee that they won''t make mistakes, but there are some mistakes that we as humans should never make!" The Amplifying Charm carried his voice throughout the venue of the public trial assembly, while this opening statement was heard in various parts of France, and even in some other parts of Europe that had followed the internal situation in France. "Some people, for their own selfish interests, havee up with the theory of the so-called supremacy of purebloodline of wizards! They artificially divided us into three, six or nine sses and made themselves superior as a way to gain absolute authority and power! The root cause of this war arose from this. But even if ck and white can be turned upside down, even if justice can be trampled on, there are still some truths they will never be able to twist! And let us unmask the hypocrisy of these whitewashed oppressors, let them face everything that has befallen us in thest two years, and let the evil deeds of the criminals who caused this war that should never have happened to be made public, and then put them on trial by all of you, and that is the point of our gathering here today!" His voice was resonating, not only for all those present in the crowd to hear him but also enough to mobilise the already suppressed hearts of all who had yet to be repaired of the damage done by this short-lived arrival of chaos. There were cheers and apuse all around, and Iniesta had no more long speeches to make. At this point in time, no amount of words could hit the heart as hard as the bloody reality! Although the time that France fell into Voldemort''s hands was not long, only less than two years, the damage that the theory of bloodline did to this originally stable magical society was still extremely serious, so there were not only a few criminals in the wizard''s prison who were locked up and waiting to be judged. With the experience of the previous public trial held at Hogwarts, this trial for the public was not difficult to carry out, because this kind of the most straightforward and most simple act of disying the evils in the eyes of the general public does not require any skills, only need to put the evil deeds these people have done, the public persecution against the people brought to the stage would all be announced to the audience, and that''s the thing that this trial is supposed to do. Although Jon missed the public trial at Hogwarts, he didn''t miss this one for the French magicalmunity. The first people to be brought to the high stage were the parliamentarians who had willingly be Voldemort''sckeys for the sake of profit and had colluded with Be, who had pretended to be the Chief Wizarding Chancellor, at the beginning of Voldemort''s rise to the position of Minister of Magic in France. These people have all been screened, and many of them at the beginning were saying that they were wrongly used and that they chose to support Voldemort not willingly, but were under Be''s Imperius Curse. But in this kind of event, of course, the Witching Horizon will not still have humanitarian thoughts and not use the Legilimency or Truth Potion on them. As long as these two means are used, then the words they would say or think are not lies, and whether or not their behaviour is sincere, all the cover-ups will be a futile effort. These people are divided into many different cases. Some of them had actively chosen to side with Voldemort from the very beginning, plunging the whole of France into the bloodline oppression, and some of them had indeed been controlled by the Imperius Curse and had done things they didn''t want to do at all. Among them, there is also thergest part of the people who were controlled by the Imperius Curse at the beginning and made actions in support of Voldemort, and at theter stage, when the Imperius Curse targeting them was removed, they were forced by the actions they had already made, coupled with the benefits and power that Voldemort brought to them in the early stage of his ascension to power, which made them change their thoughts from being forced to do so to be voluntary. These people, except those who really were under the Imperius Curse from the beginning to the end, were brought up to the high stage of judgment for both scenarios! The first person on the stage was the official who used to follow Be around and had been collecting wizard talents among the muggle-borns and half-bloods for her. He can be said to be the earliest person in the entire French Ministry of Magic to know Be''s true identity, and also the earliest French wizard to willingly defect to Voldemort. This person privately followed Be''s request, relying on the usual scam of Be pretending to be "Rnd" the Chief Wizard Chancellor in support of the muggle-borns, to continuously recruit outstanding muggle-born wizards, and then either kill them directly, or send them to Britain as ves, or tortured to death by all kinds of means! This man knew from the beginning that he would surely die for his crimes, and from the moment he was caught by the Witching Horizon, he tried tomit suicide many times, fearing that he would be retributed and tortured even more, and would not be able to die, but he was prevented from doing so. And this public trial, open to all wizards in France, was much more radical than the one piloted at Hogwarts. Instead of having someone else pronounce the crimes of the convicts on trial, they were fed truth potion from the start, so that they would answer questions on the high stage! And when the official who had acted as an aplice to Be and had aided and abetted in the abuse of the people personally told the names of all the people he had killed, sentence by sentence, and stated their tragic endings, the whole scenepletely boiled over! Just confined to the text or a summary handed down by others, after all, can not really let people feel much sense of emotion, only when the people who have done these evil deeds themselves recount all the facts, bloody expression of their own countrymen who were betrayed by them back then, killing the rich ideals and vitality of the young people for the sake of their own to be able to get better enjoyment, higher status, people can feel a sense of trembling rising from the bottom of their hearts. It turns out that there is really no limit to how evil people can be, and it turns out that some people do not have the slightest psychological burden or pressure whenmitting these evil acts that can make people feel numb just by the sound of them recounting. Just like the public trial at Hogwarts, the first subject to be brought to this trial targeting the whole of France was also Iniesta''s and their choice after much deliberation. The mour rose and fell in session in all parts of the assembly, and on the high stage, there were not only the statements of the convict himself but the grief-stricken and impotentints and cries of the families whose children he had cheated away. There are few scenes in the world more moving than this, and before Iniesta could even finally begin to put everyone present to a vote in judgment, all sorts of don''t-let-him-die-so-easily voices were ringing out from all parts of the venue! Through the truth potion, everyone in the audience heard that this former official of the French Ministry of Magic wasn''t actually afraid of death, that he himself had already tried to take his life many times in prison and that what he was really afraid of was that he would go through the kind of torture that would be worse than death! Since he was afraid of something, the public judgment was going to give him that something. After everyone in the audience had raised their wands and voted with the tips of their wands shing different colours, it was finally decided that this official would have to endure 27 shots of the Cruciatus Curse! Each one of these curses was a life that he had persecuted to death, and even if he had surpassed all others in willpower and survived these 27 curses, he would still be hanged on the gallows. After being sentenced, all executions began on the spot! The 27 rounds of the Cruciatus Curse would be used on him by 9 members of the Witching Horizon in turn, and this kind of torture that struck at the soul of a human being had previously been spurned by normal wizards who were unwilling to watch it being used openly in the magicalmunity. But this time, not a single one of them frowned or objected, and instead, after the first shot of the Cruciatus Cursended on the official, and the shrill howl of agony he resounded with, the cheers became even more violent, to the point where it seemed like they were all about to topple the ceiling! No one could withstand so many Cruciatus Curse. Just after the 5th Cruciatus Curse, the official''s eyes turned white, and he was lying on the ground as if he had lost his soul, only his heavy breathing was still indicating that he was still alive. But since it was agreed that it would be 27 shots, not a single shot could be missing. It wasn''t until the 13th round that he hadpletely stopped breathing, having been tortured to death by such a punishment, dying under the weight of his greatest fear. But the remaining fourteen shots of the Cruciatus Curse still fell upon his corpse, as the trial had concluded, and as the sentence had been determined upon, it was bound to be carried out in ce, whether or not there still existed life in the person to whom it was to be carried out. This was the one thing that Dumbledore and Iniesta wanted to make clear to everyone in the first public trial, and it was the main tone they set. Jon was sitting in the front row, so he could clearly see the change in the fat-looking official from the beginning when he was on the floor, his body shaking violently with each shot of the Cruciatus Curse, to the end when he waspletely lifeless. Perhaps in the future, after they had gained all the victories, some people would flip up this book andin about the inhumanity of this kind of punishment. But in the face of some people who had already lost their humanity and had no way to be called human, inhumane means were the most humane response to the victims. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 464: Let the Night Disappear Completely (2 in 1) Chapter 464: Let the Night Disappear Completely (2 in 1) "-Malcolm Daniels, Frederick Yunus, Semir Gomes, all of them were once brilliant young people who graduated from Beauxbatons, but they died before their big careers had begun. He took advantage of the spirit of defiance of these young people, aroused by indignation against injustice, provoked by oppression, he led them to the abyss of death by using this." "No one can forgive such an evil deed, and no one has the right to forgive in the ce of those who have been harmed, and his name will be nailed to the Pir of Shame along with Betrix Lestrange, to be scorned by future generations." The voice from the old radio had long since ceased to be clear, but the old woman in the wheelchair with the heavy nket draped over her legs listened with unparalleled attentiveness to the speeching out of this special radio channel known to only a very small portion of the world''s poption. In the early morning of early November, there was already a lot more chill in the air. But early in the morning, she still insisted on wheeling her wheelchair to the courtyard outside the house, staring at the not-so-strong apple tree in the garden. It was just past the apple fruiting season, and the fruits on it had long since been picked and given to the neighbours, leaving only the branches, which were almost bare of leaves. A neighbour''s child passed by the fence, basket in hand, and looked at the usually amiable and strange granny in the yard. "Granny Gomes, this is the bread my mother just made and asked me to bring it to you to try. She was actually going to ask me to bring some biscuits along for you, but my dad said you have bad teeth and bringing you biscuits would only bother you." The old woman flicked the knob on the radio beside her so that the shrill howl that came from it from a man who looked like he was being tortured in some deadly way was reduced to a level that only she could hear. Then she turned her wheelchair to the fence and took the basket of bread from the boy''s hand. "Want toe in and sit down?" "Hasn''t Uncle Semire back? Papa says he''s been out for three years." The boy didn''t say yes right away, but just stood on his tiptoes and looked around the house. The old woman shook her head gently. Receiving such an answer, the boy instantly looked like he was acting disappointed. "Forget it then, Granny Gomes. You need to eat the bread early, or it won''t be good enough for your teeth if it gets cold and hardens." He waved and ran back in the direction of his house, leaving the old woman alone in the yard looking up at the bare apple tree with the basket full of bread in her arms. "I''m the only one who knows that you''ve actually been here all along, Semir." She murmured as she looked at the fruit tree that she had nted with her own hands with her five-year-old grandson, while Iniesta''s icy voice from that old radio travelled all over France at the same time. "Hang his body on the gallows and bring up the second convict." "When you left you told me that thisnd was in danger. You didn''t want your parents'' devotion to being an Auror to be destroyed by these people, so you''re going to go and join the right people to stop them." The old woman''s voice had be choked at some point. "They lied to you, and I don''t know if you thought before you died that Grandma was still waiting for you under this apple tree. But it''s all right child, they have avenged us, and someone has protected thisnd for us." She reached out her pale hand and stroked the rough trunk of the fruit tree. "Rest well, Semir, and let me see what kind of future those people can really bring." All over France, most of the families of the victims were crying out in pain as they listened to the voices on the radio. Many of them couldn''t control their emotions the way the old woman could, but those emotions weremon to all of them at the moment, whether they cried out or not. And Jon couldn''t see how the people who had heard the public trial over the wizard radio would feel. What he could see was the emotions that had been ignited in the hearts of the people at the site of this convention. Even though Voldemort hadn''t upied thisnd for very long, the effects he had brought with him had rippled through every part of the French magicalmunity even before he had openly dered himself Minister of Magic. Reiming a fair foothold did not erase what had once already happened here, and this was both a public trial and a liquidation. The official who had co-operated with Be to persecute the young Muggle wizard was a simple opening, and behind him, one criminal after another who had been apprehended in this Bloodline War was brought to the high stand. Evil in the world could never be overrated, and with so many old scores being rehashed in just one small Hogwarts castle, it would only get worse in thisnd of France. Jon hadn''t uttered a word from the beginning to the end, he had simply watched in silence no matter what offence had beenmitted by those people brought to the high stand. He could feel that Voldemort had brought something very special to the magical world that originally seemed calm and peaceful, but was like stagnant water. This war of bloodlines and oppression had had a deep enough impact on everyone who had experienced it. Such an effect was certainly both good and bad, but again, it was a change from the idle and rxed atmosphere that had previously been the norm for wizards. The current muggle-borns were not willing to submit to pureblood rule, so they chose to rebel. After stirring up that sense of entitlement, would more people begin to wonder. Are they now equal to the Muggles again? And if they were equal, who was the Statute of Secrecy protecting? Jon wasn''t sure if any of the people behind him would make that connection, but what he was sure of was that someone must have thought of it by now. After another loud and intense cheer sounded, and a pair of struggling legs stopped movingpletely and hung down helplessly, Jon looked in the direction of the north. There is a man who can see into the future, is it because of what he saw that he is nning what he is doing now? Jon''s thoughts drifted off, but soon drifted back again. Still, whatever Grindelwald was doing now, as long as Dumbledore didn''t make it clear that he was going to re-flip the script with him, that meant that for the time being he was safe. The enemy they clearly had to face now is still Voldemort, who is still close by in Britain. This public trialsted for an entire day, not even leaving a gap for lunch, but not a single person left the room during the process from start to finish, and everyone witnessed the gallows go from being empty at the beginning to being filled with corpses. One gallows was certainly not enough, but the most convenient part of magic showed itself, and soon a new one was transformed by Transfiguration and stood right next to the rack full of bodies. But in truth, even if it had taken all day, it wouldn''t have been enough to finish the public trial of all the convicts in the prison who had been arrested andmitted crimes. Iniesta and the others could only pick the most serious ones as the main characters of today''s public trial. The purpose of this public trial, of course, was not just to hold a trial for these convicts. At dusk, just as the third row of gallows was being filled, the trial finally came to an end. But while the public trial was over and Iniesta walked off, Dumbledore made his way to the high stand in full view of everyone. Most of the people on the scene had a stunned look on their faces, clearly not expecting anything else at this point in the day that would cause Dumbledore, the de facto supreme leader of the Witching Horizon, to take the stage. There was also a part of people who looked like they had already guessed something, and after seeing Dumbledore on the stage, their faces showed an unsurprising expression, and at the same time, they held their breath. Even though they had already vaguely guessed it, they still couldn''t believe it. Right now, did Dumbledore really dare to make that speech? "To thisnd and this country, I am actually just a guest." When Dumbledore''s not-so-loud voice rang out, the entire venue became quiet, but after he spoke those words, the noises resounded once again. These French wizards hadn''t looked at Dumbledore as an outsider since he had led the Witching Horizon into the re-correction camp. Perhaps amander from a foreign country would still cause some people to reject him, but for a leader like Dumbledore, who waspletely using his reputation and strength to hold up the entire army, he would only be regarded as one of their own by the locals no matter where he went. To exclude him would be to exclude all possibility of sess. "Of course, we will always be the same people when ites to the ideal and position. I don''t really like to make long speeches. One of the things the students at my school liked most about me when they first met me was that I never talked any nonsense at any time everyone seemed happy or sad, and it''s certainly the same today." He stood right in front of those three rows of gallows, facing the hundreds of people crowding the venue. There was also what looked like a microphone device at his side, transmitting every word Dumbledore was saying right now to all parts of Europe, and even in Britain, there were people from the Ministry of Magic listening in on the public meeting hall. "Since the fall of Hogwarts Castle, we have been in exile in Britain for nine years, we have been in France for two years until now, and the Wizard Equality Front has only been in existence for two years. But it was during those two years that we shattered Voldemort''s delusional intentions to rule France and shattered his ambitions to spread out from Britain. From what began as a group of bereaved dogs, we have now formed a confrontation with him, and it has cost untold numbers of lives and blood." "Parents lost their children, wives lost their husbands, and young children lost their mothers and fathers. Countless families have been shattered over this, and for 10 consecutive years students have been forced to be separated from their families and have had all memories associated with them hidden, beginning this discement and escape." There was a cry that rang through the venue, it wasn''t a strong voice, more like the sound of some people suppressing sobs. And instead of being muffled by such a cry, Dumbledore''s voice became more vigorous. "Perhaps many have not yet had the time to be able toe to terms with the current situation, but the truth is before us. Whether to maintain this false peace at the moment or to invade Britain and hang those scum who cannot be called human beings on the gallows, I don''t think any of us will have a second answer!" Around the meeting hall, those original ss walls suddenly disappeared. This made the originally bloated scene of the public trial assembly looser, but such looseness didn''tst more than a few seconds before countless wizards dressed in white Witching Horizon''s standard robes swarmed in from all directions! This ce had once been stormed by seven men in the same clean white robes, who had once blown up the French Ministry of Magic with their lives, which had just been imed by Voldemort to rule. And on this day, there were no longer just seven men in white robes, the white torrent spread throughout the entire venue, each of their faces excited and determined, their bright eyes lit up with a twinkling light! Along with Dumbledore''s words, the emotions of everyone present that had been released during the day''s public trial were all mobilised. Looking at the bodies hanging on the gallows, the French wizards who were sitting on their seats and those who were already standing stood upright. They were dressed differently from the members of the Witching Horizon who wore white robes around them, but the same look flowed from their eyes! "End this! Hang them!" The shouts rang out like waves, such that they grew louder and more unified, and eventually it was as if they were about to lift the ceiling of the Ministry of Magic. And directly above the French Ministry of Magic, on the ce de Furstemberg that had once suffered an explosion, some pedestrians who were strolling around also felt the ground trembling slightly, and the shouts that were like waves prated through the soil, making the sunset that had already nted in the west met with the intensity of it as well! All of this happening at the convention was not just limited to the eyes, through the wizard radio, almost the entire magical government of Europe heard this speech of Dumbledore, as well as the shouts of those French wizards under the stand. Expressions of many people who were guarding in front of the radio changed on the spot, all came to this point, so no matter who, they could guess what Dumbledore really wanted to do! Inside the British Ministry of Magic, the Auror Office has long been in chaos. The Aurors have been listening in on the proceedings from the very beginning of the public trial, and by now, they finally know exactly who the final spearhead of this public trial is going to be pointed at! Some people rushed out of the Ministry of Magic, wanting to report the news at the first opportunity, and it was at this time that Dumbledore''s voice resounded. "This time, the war will be started by us! No longer will we have to passively suffer the oppression and injustice brought to us by our enemies, but we will use violence to eliminate it all! Gallows should not be erected only on French soil, as the British Isles need them more! It is more necessary that the source of all these evils, the man who calls himself Voldemort, be put on trial, that a noose be put around his neck, and that the darkness of the night that hangs over us be eliminated once and for all!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 465: Ridiculous but Correct Prophecy (2 in 1) Chapter 465: Ridiculous but Correct Prophecy (2 in 1) "Quickly, report this news to Head Karkaroff!" The entire British Ministry of Magic''s Auror Office had been in chaos. Originally, at the beginning of the public trial, those Aurors were still discussing that such a move by Witching Horizon was purely self-deception and self-congrattion, using the lives of these already captured purebloods to solidify the rule of the newborn French Ministry of Magic. While the public trial was in progress, those purebloods or half-bloods who had been hanged on the gallows cried out miserable wails, which made the hearts of the Aurors who were listening to the public trial inevitably feel a sense of empathy. But all the sins described to bemitted by those convicts, which could be said to be evil acts that no human being could listen to, the Aurors couldn''t help but feel a strange feeling of intolerance in their hearts but also felt that they were not qualified to raise such emotions. So when this public trial went on until noon, there were already many Aurors who were originally still very interested in squatting in front of the radio just found their own excuses to leave, leaving only the two people who were appointed and asked to record the content of the public trial still standing in front. But when Dumbledore began to speak, the two Aurors in charge of recording gathered everyone in the entire office together. And after they finished listening to Dumbledore''s speech, each of them was dry-eyed, not knowing what to say. By this time there were already people who had reacted and rushed out of Auror''s headquarters to find Karkaroff, who was supposed to be in a meeting in the Minister''s office right now. "They''re dering war on us! This is a deration of war!" Some of the chiefs in Auror office who were just below Karkaroff''s rank had a hard look on their faces, whether it was Witching Horizon or France, many of them had not yet turned their mentality upside down, and it was the same on the British side as well. None of them thought that Dumbledore and his entourage, who had previously been in exile in Britain for nine whole years, would be able to organise such a force only after arriving in France for two years, not onlypletely destroying Voldemort''s n to rule over Britain and France, but now they had even dered war first, wanting to attack directly into Britain''s soil. The first Aurors who heard the whole news, the first thought that rose in their mind was that Dumbledore was out of his mind. But soon they recalled thepromise Voldemort made to Dumbledore this year after the failure of the Triwizard Tournament. Some of the English wizards had already learnt that before the results of the Triwizard Tournament were known, there was a duel between their lord and Dumbledore inside the French Ministry of Magic, but no news of the results of that duel hade out. But even if there was no news, Voldemort''spromiseter on was actually the most straightforward certification. It was only when the Aurors thought about this that they suddenly became somewhat aware of the situation. The wind direction in the magical world seems to have changed. Three years ago when the Hogwarts wagon remained in exile on British soil, the Order of the Phoenix was like a bunch of rats in their eyes and could only carry out some small-scale operations around, and they belonged to the stage of the overall victorious strategic attack. Then, after Dumbledore came to France and conducted that battle to attack the re-correctional centre, the situation between the two sides shifted to a strategic equilibrium. And now, Dumbledore''s speech in front of nearly all the wizards in Europe after the public trial proimed the strategic attack belonging to the Witching Horizon, and the beginning of the defence of the British Ministry of Magic! Two huge turning points are clearly visible in all three phases. The first turning point was the loss of the re-correctional centre, and the second turning point was the defeat in the Triwizard Tournament. So who exactly was at fault for both of these failures? Did Voldemort take too much of a chance, or did something happen on Dumbledore''s end? Few people know the inside story of this, and it''smon knowledge that it was Jon who fought for victory in the Triwizard Tournament. But the key role he yed during the Battle of the re-correctional centre is still unknown. So very few people would think of Jon as the key to the whole situation in Britain and France, and to this day, many people still think that even if Jon is talented, he is only the heir who is being trained by Dumbledore to be the next generation sessor. Although his current performance is very dazzling, is amazing, it is still far from being able to be so vital to influence the magical world in such a significant situation. And now, Dumbledore had dered war on the British Ministry of Magic on behalf of the entire Witching Horizon, which of course made the entire Aurors of the Auror Office be disturbed beyond measure. Soon Karkaroff, who was still in a meeting in the Minister''s office, returned back to the Auror headquarters. The speech on the radio concerning Dumbledore had already ended, but that part had also long since been recorded by the Auror in charge of recording the entire speech, so Karkaroff heard the entirety of it as soon as he returned. "Give me the recording." He practically squeezed these words out of his mouth, and then Auror hurriedly handed this recording over to him, and Karkaroff didn''t stop for half a second as he turned around and used Apparition to leave the Auror''s headquarters. Everyone present knew what he was about to go and do, such a big matter must be the first to be reported back to the lord of Britain. This news also spread throughout the entire British Ministry of Magic in a very short period of time. Most of the half-bloods were on edge about this, while the pure-bloods could all be described as extremely pale. They do not hate the war, if they really hated it, they would not have worked so hard in the war to conquer France, What they hate is that the mes of the war about to burn on British soil. External war is to cut the cake more or less, have stable ess to the interests of the pureblood family and a stable position to bring greater wealth. But the nature of the internal war ispletely different, no one knows how big the fire will burn, which also means that any pureblood family that depends on Britain to survive will be in danger of being physically annihted. And in the end, even if the war would be won, their losses would surely be very heavy. So after hearing that Dumbledore had dered war on the British Ministry of Magic, none of the purebloods would be happy about it, which meant that not to mention getting a bigger share of the cake; soon the cake table that originally belonged to them was going to be lifted right off the ground. Among them, there is a part of the people even if they do not dare to express the words straight out, in their hearts they have already attributed all this to their present lord, and at the same time also more clearly know, following this lord of their right now to y have no future at all, and they even may have to pay for this with their own bodies and lives. Just when Britain heard the news, and was already in disarray. The other magical governments in Europe of course also paid attention to this public trial today, and they all heard Dumbledore''s final deration. Even though some people had already predicted that this day woulde sooner orter, no one could have imagined that this day would actuallye so soon. Even this year''s Christmas hadn''t arrived yet, and Dumbledore was about to start a new round of war. This time the situation ispletely reversed. Before the Witching Horizon was like standing on the edge of a cliff, whenever they were knocked back a step, chances of total copse were high. Now this situation has turned to Voldemort''s side. As long as this war is fought on British soil, once Voldemort loses, all of his previous operations over the past ten years or so will all be wiped out, and he will once again return to a situation where he has nothing to lose. Grindelwald, who was far away in the northernmost part of Europe, of course also heard today''s broadcast. Only he rarely stayed in Durmstrang recently, but always stayed in the broken down Abbey of Hans. After hearing that final deration of war from Dumbledore, Grindelwald silently switched off the radio and turned to Hans, who stood behind him with his head bowed, as well as to Eric. "The war we expected is about to begin, so the second phase of our n can be prepared." Hans and Erik dropped to one knee together. "We are willing to follow all your instructions!" "Make a portion of the Arctic experiments and ns public to the very core of the Alliance. Meanwhile, in Find, you pick out the first suitable site for the start of phase two. and seal the site off and iste itpletely. Remember, make sure to handle rtions with the Muggle government in between. Our greatest advantage is that they don''t know much about our existence, that''s the only benefit the Statute of Secrecy gives us." How much unseen turmoil and change had taken ce in the outside world as a result of Dumbledore''s deration of war today, none of which the Witching Horizons headquarter in France had been informed of for the time being. Their own focus, however, was not on that either, for a deration of war was never the beginning of a war, but the lifting of the curtain on a dispute that had long been hidden in the shadows. "Activate all the safe houses we left behind in Britain earlier, excluding some of them that are no longer usable, and use the parts that are still usable to act as temporary strongholds." "Contact all of our connections within Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley, and Hogsmeade and have them centralise all of the supplies they could possibly gather in Britain, soon all of these channels are going to be cut off." "Inform all the higher-ups to finalise the locations we will be pulling out and upying as quickly as possible after the mass entry into Britain, the operation is set at sunrise tomorrow." "Have the vanguard wizard squads determine where their Apparition willnd, and after theynd use the fastest time possible to disrupt the Department of Magical Transportation''s Apparition supervision of the entire Britain." "Regarding the cracking of Britain''s local Floowork, we also need to keep that task on track. Even if we can''t make it avable to our people, we still need to destroy their Floowork and cut off their transport of people and supplies." "..." The entire Witching Horizon headquarters was busy, and Jon followed Dumbledore through office after office where people were constantlying in and out, and finally entered the room that belonged to Dumbledore alone. After returning to this room, Dumbledore closed the door, isting all the noises from the outside world, and at the same time, with a solemn expression, asked Jon to sit down opposite him. "Although the current Hogwarts has been turned into a five-year system by me, you are still just a student when the school year begins. You have not yet graduated from the school, but everyone, including me, knows clearly that we can''t treat you as an ordinary fifth-year student, and in this next war, you also have a task which no one can rece you. " Dumbledore''s voice was heavy, and he didn''t blink his eyes while he spoke, always holding Jon''s gaze. Jon didn''t avoid his eyes, as he knew very well that Dumbledore would surely have something else in mind for him. "Don''t worry Professor, I''m more prepared than anyone else." Dumbledore nodded, and he was certainly always at ease with Jon. "Horace, at my instruction, has secured a job in the Department of Mysteries from Voldemort. After stepping down from his position as Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation, Voldemort had always restricted him as an advisor in the Minister''s office, but then because of Snape, who as you know had previously been working on a potion for another Voldemort, Horace re-entered the picture of this present day Voldemort, as he did not forget that this mentor of his was one of the best professors of Potions in Hogwarts. And so the task of deciphering Snape''s potion was ced in his hands." "And this potion is extremely deeply connected to something in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic, the vial of golden sand that Snape sent to you back when he was on his deathbed. It is something very important, Jon, so important that Voldemort had to hide it from even his other self, at first I thought it was just something he discoveredter on, a means to use for immortality, but after delving deeper into that vial of sand, I learnt there was more to it than that." "So I signalled for Horace to be transferred into the Department of Mysteries as a Deputy Head, the highest position he could get, on the grounds that he had been researching the vial of potion left behind by Snape for Voldemort. The war that is going to begin next will also provide cover in disguise. You are going to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic in Britain and take up your post in the Department of Mysteries along with Horace, and find out all the details about the halls and the information about the hall that used to hold this vial of sand." Dumbledore held the vial of golden sand in his hand, his gaze was more serious than it had ever been before. Jon also felt Dumbledore''s attitude, even back when he was infiltrating Hogwarts Castle in disguise, Dumbledore had never been as serious as he is today. He didn''t reject the mission, and it was unlikely that he could with the current situation, Jon just gazed at Dumbledore''s treasure-blue eyes. "Professor, did you discover something?" Dumbledore was silent for a moment, he didn''t look like he was trying to hide anything from Jon. "I have a conjecture, Jon, a conjecture that is somewhat less than good for us, for everyone else, for the world. And what I''m asking you to do now is to confirm whether that conjecture is true or not." "If it''s wrong, then we''ll be heading all the way to victory in this war, no surprise about that. But if I am right." He paused, then continued. "Maybe that Saviour prophecy that was once known as a ridiculous joke after the death of Lily''s child was actually true all along." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 466: Spike Ollivander (2 in 1) Chapter 466: Spike Ollivander (2 in 1) Jon wasn''t surprised by Dumbledore''s behaviour of making people guess his riddle-like sentence. He would only be surprised if the day came when Dumbledore would tell his original ns and discoveries, all intelligibly and understandably, without any riddle. "You''ve arranged all of it anyway, haven''t you, Professor?" Jon asked, hugging his arms. Dumbledore didn''t nod, he just said with an emotional smile. "I wish I had it all arranged, but even now, I still don''t know if I made the right or wrong choice." "Couldn''t you give me a heads-up ahead of time? Let me give you a few thoughts on it?" "I''m sorry, Jon, I have to keep some things to myself." Jon was not amused by this. "So how do I connect with my teacher?" "You can go to Kingsley now, he''s the only one who knows anything about this besides me, you, and Horace, except he doesn''t know anything about Horace''s true identity yet, but even so, he''ll tell you what to do." Jon left the office after getting all the information about the mission from Dumbledore. And after he was gone, it becamepletely quiet in this office until a portrait of an unknown person lying on the table spoke up and asked. "Why didn''t you tell him? Was it because he wasn''t trustworthy enough yet?" Dumbledore folded his arms, blocking the lower half of his face, his eyes not half as gentle as they usually were, instead, they were calm, so calm that it was a little unnerving. "If there is anyone I trust the most in this world right now, it is this child Jon." "Then why didn''t you say anything? If he knew, he could work with you better couldn''t he?" "That''s why it''s me who trusts him, not you. Because you don''t know him well enough to trust him, youck trust in him, and I am the only one who knows for sure that if I told Jon all of my ideas and ns, the first thing he would do is certainly not cooperate with me." Dumbledore''s blue eyes, hidden behind crescent-shaped sses, reflected the obscure candlelight. "He would have stopped me from doing that, even if it is just an attempt." *** Kingsley was busy when Jon found him. He really should be busy. As the upper-echelon leader within the Witching Horizon after Dumbledore and Iniesta, he always had to be in charge of a lot of things. But when Jon approached him and exined why he was here, he put aside all the work at hand for the moment, obviously the task concerning Jon was going toe before all the others. "Regarding your next identity in Britain, we have already made arrangements in advance on our side. Some time ago, I don''t know for what reason, the British Ministry of Magic''s Department of Mysteries was subjected to some purging, and there were many veteran Unspeakables within were transferred elsewhere, which was a very rare thing in the past because the magic studied in the Department of Mysteries is not something that ordinary wizards can simply choose to learn about, even if neers are brought in, they still need to have an experienced person to let them familiarise themselves with it for a period of five years or even ten years, before they can sort out their research direction." "And now, they are transferring all the seniors in there from their positions, and the inclusion of neers is also unorganised, including Horace Slughorn as well, someone like him who has never had any experience in all kinds of mystical matters or ancient magics has also been transferred in to serve as the Deputy Head of the Department. This has resulted in the entire management of the Department of Mysteries being in such disarray these days that unless they are willing to bring back the previously transferred people for a permanent job transition, they will have to keep recruiting." The secret about Slughorn''s undercover status was still a secret known only to Dumbledore, Jon and Lily, and Kingsley had no knowledge of it. "They would rather choose to ept new people than the experienced ones. It seems they are more focused on the re-instated Unspeakables being purebloods than whether or not they have the ability to do their work in that area though, so that allows us to make some small moves there." Kingsley said as he handed Jon a well-prepared profile and a vial of potion. "Spike Ollivander, a distant but nevertheless pureblood member of that well-known wand-making family has previously been working as a scribe in the Department for the Regtion and Control of Magical Creatures, and two days ago he submitted his application for transfer into the Department of Mysteries, which just got approved today. Your trip to Britain is to assume his identity and enter the Ministry of Magic, while the real Spike will remain in a secluded location at all times, and someone will supply you with a polyjuice potion made from his hair." Jon took the information and raised an eyebrow after reading the description of the identity of this pureblood he would be pretending to be. "Ollivander." As if hearing what Jon was trying to ask, Kingsley lowered his voice and whispered in his ear. "It''s still a secret. We''ve already been contacted by a couple of families over in Britain who are already wavering, who don''t think much of the bloodline theory and who weren''t involved in much persecution of non-purebloods, and the Ollivanders are one of them. But don''t worry about the identity of this person, even the Ollivanders themselves don''t have a few people who know that it was you who switched instead. We just found an excuse to get Spike to cooperate with us in some way, and then we put him under house arrest." Hearing that Kingsley had made all the preparations, Jon nodded and had no further questions. "That''s why I need to take up my posting at the Ministry of Magic in Britain as soon as possible, and I see that the transfer instructions on here tell me to report to the Department of Mysteries by the 3rd, and it''s already the evening of the 2nd." Kingsley patted him on the shoulder. "So that''s why Dumbledore told me to remind you more than anything else before your departure, that the person you''re going to be about to y is a pureblood of noble status in a British sort of milieu, and that you should try to be a little bit more arrogant and less qualified and more morally corrupt in your attitudes towards people. Go and join the service in the same way, you can press the time to thest minute to go there, judge the people by bloodline first, and have a normal attitude towards purebloods but if they are new school purebloods, then you should be more contemptuous, and if you meet a half-blood, then you should be more arrogant and condescending, and as for the muggle-born, you shouldn''t be able to meet any muggle wizards in the Ministry of Magic in Britain." Jon nodded thoughtfully as he looked at Spike''s biography and the description of his character on the profile. It was fine in a school of wizardry, but in a workce like the Ministry of Magic, one really couldn''t behave the same way as one normally would when there was a clear hierarchy of status already in ce. He then changed his tactics, choosing to wait until tomorrow before travelling to Britain, reading all of this information once again tonight to get an in-depth understanding of the role he would soon be ying and the surrounding rtionships he would have before leaving. As for how to travel to Britain, now in the situation where Dumbledore had already started dering war, there must have already been the highest level of surveince on all means of transport over there. The good thing was that Jon didn''t just know ordinary Apparition, he also mastered a kind of Apparition that no one else could spy on, so infiltrating into Britain was a piece of cake for him. The wars between wizards were never very loud. Because in the magical world, it was rarely a building that needed to be necessary to hold on to, the only thing that really mattered was the people. This time the Witching Horizon''s deration of war against the British Ministry of Magic was also the same, in the case that the ownership of Hogwarts Castle had already been determined, apart from the two ces, the British Ministry of Magic and Diagon Alley, there was basically no need to upy the other locations, and there was no significance in upying them. The most important thing in a wizard war was still the assassination and elimination targeting the enemy''s top brass. As long as the people died, especially the senior management with high-levelbat power, it is much more meaningful than upying some ce. It is also because of this, that the wizard war will rarely appear with a group of people arranged in a grand array against each other on the field situation, it is more like special operations, divided into several small-scalebat teams, targeting the enemy with high status for point-to-point pulling out. This is not only to maintain the uracy of the information, to understand the specific strengths and weaknesses of each person at the enemy''s high level, where and when they will show up, but also to ensure the peer-to-peer nature of the strength. Like Voldemort, nowadays only Dumbledore can deal with him, any other wizard of the Witching Horizon at the first moment of encountering Voldemort must focus on saving his/her life, and any other tasks can be abandoned. Only when all the top-level wizards are plucked out of this part of the world, and Dumbledore wins the duel with Voldemort, then the Witching Horizon side be equal to winning the war. The middle and high level of the war power is not a problem, the elite of the Order of the Phoenix from Britain plus the native French wizards will not be afraid of those pureblood wizards who have been mostly pampered andcking in determination for the war. The most crucial point still lies in the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort. But on the whole, the wizards of Witching Horizon didn''t feel worried about this big battle which was counting down since the beginning of the war. Because in the previous duel in the French Ministry of Magic, although Voldemort''s side did not spread the word, within Witching Horizon, the result had already been known for a long time. And also the day after the deration of war, everything in the whole world was still the same as usual, like the speech that Dumbledore had finished was an empty dream. But in fact, all the changes had already begun quietly. Jon made all the preparations early in the morning of the next day. He hadn''t brought anything extra with him, all the information about Spike''s identity had been burned after he had memorised it all in his headst night, leaving him with only the vial of polyjuice potion. Before the first rays of the morning sun had even shone through the windows, Jon had disappeared from Lyon without disturbing anyone else in the school, using Phoenix''s Apparition. His chosennding spot was within Diagon Alley, only it was in a very remote location, in the alleyway close to Knockturn Alley. Not only was it still early in the morning, but the fact that Dumbledore had only just dered war yesterday had resulted in the entire poption of Britain still being in the most panicked state today, with basically very few shops open, and very few customers wandering blindly through Diagon Alley. Jon drank the vial of polyjuice potion immediately after hended on the ground. The vour was generic, with a feeling of cucumber juice. After the transformation waspleted, and he had also drunk the Voice Changing Magic Potion, Jon put on the invisibility cloak and groped his way towards the entrance of Diagon Alley, in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron Bar. In the early morning, Diagon Alley was shrouded in a mist, and Jon didn''t see more than a handful of people along the way until he reached the backyard of the Leaky Cauldron Bar, where he saw Mr Borgin walking back into the bar with a broken serving tray in his hand. He looked like he had just finished pouring the leftovers from the breakfast into a slop bucket, and hadn''t noticed that there was already one more person in the yard who didn''t really belong here in the first ce. Jon watched his back disappear from his view before he began his next move. He counted along the row of rooms on the first floor of the Leaky Cauldron Bar, starting from the westernmost position, and when he reached the seventh, he identified his target, then used the levitation charm to fly into mid-air, he gently flew into the room with an unlocked window and an empty interior. It was obvious that someone had lived there before, the quilt was thrown casually by the bed, there was a ck briefcase on the bedside table, and the slippers were scattered and discarded by the bedside. Jon was sure that this was the room, and he didn''t linger. Removing the invisibility cloak from his body, he carefully folded it and ced it in his underwear lining pocket, then he changed out of the jacket he was wearing and put on a set of pyjamas from the cupboard in his room, taking onest look at the time on his timepiece. 6:43. Jon rubbed and messed up his hair again, which had be less smooth after drinking the polyjuice potion, and then used magic to make his face a little drier, his eyes staying squinted and with a hard expression, acting as if he had just woken up and hadn''t had a good night''s sleep. After all this, he took a deep breath, pushed open the door, walked out of the room, shuffled his slippers and headed towards the ground floor of the bar. He had just turned the corner of the stairs and hadn''t taken two more steps down when Jon started yelling. "Bork! Bork! You old thing can''t possibly not be up yet! If I knew at this hour you were still cking off and sleeping and not up and ready for a new day''s work, I''d have to shove that rag you''ve been wiping the bar with all day in your mouth!" His voice was loud like he didn''t even care if it would disturb the other guests on the first floor who were still resting as well. And at the sound of his voice, Borgin Bork hurriedly jogged all the way out from behind the bar and stood in front of the stairway. "Ah, it''s master Ollivander. You actually got up so early this morning? Did you not rest well enoughst night? This is my fault, What do you need me to do?" His fawning attitude like this did not make Jon''s face even half as good. "Do something? Use your brain, which is on the verge of degenerating into a giant troll''s brain, to think of what I can get you to do downstairs at this hour! Breakfast! I want breakfast! Oats in milk and a sandwich, double bacon no tomato slices, I want to see these at my room door in fifteen minutes!" "Yes, yes, master, you can go ahead and rest, I''ll knock on the door to remind you when I''ve got the stuff ready to put on the doorstep." Bork appeased and sent Jon, the great god, back to the first floor, and Jon didn''t look the least bit favourably to him, and with a grunt, he closed the door to his room heavily behind him. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 467: British Ministry of Magic (2 in 1) Chapter 467: British Ministry of Magic (2 in 1) Breakfast was delivered to the door of his room ording to the time Jon had set for Bork. The food was prepared exactly as he had requested, allowing Jon to experience for once the absolute privilege of purebloods in this magical society. After filling his stomach, he nced at the time on his watch, it would be a while before the Ministry of Magic would begin its workday. So he finally checked all of his belongings and the induction papers for his new job, and from the ck briefcase that he kept at the foot of his bed, he retrieved a wand that was roughly 9 inches long. ording to the information Jon had already memorised in his head, he could easily recognise it as the original Spike Ollivander''s wand, with its applewood frame and dragon heartstring core. He tucked his own wand away, keeping this applewood wand with him, and walked out of the room after making sure it was about time. By this time there were already some wizards sitting in the bar downstairs, all of them enjoying their breakfast and listening to the whispers that talked most about the public trial that had been held by the Witching Horizon, as well as Dumbledore''s deration of war on the British Ministry of Magic, after doing the deed. Jon didn''t listen closely to what they were all saying but swaggered over to Bork, who was busy at the bar with his briefcase. "Go to Diagon Alley and ask my grand-uncle for the expenses for these days." The wizards who met Jon face to face consciously averted their eyes to the side, Spike had been living in the Leaky Cauldron Bar for quite some time, and those who frequented the ce were aware of his background. Even amongst the pureblood families, the Ollivander family was already the one with the best reputation out of the many scums of the earth, but purebloods are ultimately purebloods, and even if their reputation was good enough, no one amongst the half-bloods would want to mess with them. Bork even bowed his head for a while, and sent Jon, the great god, out of his bar, and after watching his back really leave, this old wizard, who had once been Voldemort''s boss, let out a long sigh of relief. After leaving the Leaky Cauldron Bar, Jon followed the information in the file to find the public toilet located in London. It seemed extraordinarily busy inparison to other public toilets, yet there was a strange force protecting the surrounding building, making those muggles whose needs weren''t that urgent subconsciously find themselves all sorts of reasons to avoid it before searching for other toilets. But there were always some strangely attired individuals who kept walking in, and rarely would any of them be seen walking out of it again. Jon was puzzled as to why the Ministry of Magic had chosen a public toilet as an entrance for its employees to go to work, and could only attribute it to the bad taste of a certain Minister of Magic. From the information he had learnt, that in fact, very few normal employees would normally enter the Ministry of Magic through this entrance to go to work, most of them simply used Apparition to teleport directly to their jobs. That''s right, in most cases, there is no Anti-Apparition Charm restriction within the British Ministry of Magic, but because of the incident that happened yesterday, the entire Ministry of Magic, of course, turned on the Anti-Apparition Charm today, except for those high-ranking officials, such as the heads of the various departments, the Secretaries who have a specialwork of Floo paths to arrive directly, everyone else needs to go through the regr passageway in the public toilets to return to work in the Ministry of Magic. This happened to be a favour to Jon. He had never been to the British Ministry of Magic, and of course, he could not use Apparition to directly teleport into it, if in normal times, if he didn''t use Apparition, a young man from a pureblood family like him actually had to go through the regr passageway like the public toilet, it would definitely cause other people to pay attention to him. And the situation that happened today made it reasonable for him to take the regr passage. There were a lot of people in the public toilets, the employees of the entire Ministry of Magic had to queue up for work, and there was a long queue outside every toilet cubicle. After seeing Jon walk in with his briefcase, and especially after seeing that he was wearing robes embroidered with an Ollivander''s family crest, one of the queues closest to him instantly reacted. The employees who were queuing behind him took a step back together and lowered their heads to face Jon, obviously making way for him. Jon acted very naturally to this, tilting his head, not even looking at the half-blood employees, as if everything was as it should be, and pushed the door directly into the cubicle. After closing the door behind him, he didn''t stop and pressed the flush button on the toilet, and in the next moment the water in the toilet was flushed down, and Jon''s whole body instantly twisted and disappeared into thin air along with the water that was being pumped out of the toilet. In the next second, his feetnded on another firm surface. People were still appearing all around the area, all of them dressed formally and carrying either a briefcase in their hands just like Jon, or clutching stacks of thick information. Jon saw that he was currently in a huge, foyer-like area, and he straightened the tie around his neck and proceeded to walk towards the inner part of the Ministry of Magic. Anyone around him who noticed the badge on his chest consciously kept their heads down and made room for him to go first. Of course, there were also some wizards who, like him, didn''t pay attention to the people around them at all and just walked towards the Ministry of Magic with their heads held high, and they all had the family crests of their different families in their bodies as well. This is where the Ministry of Magic is most different from the previous Hogwarts Castle. Inside the castle, students of different bloodlines were divided into different houses, usually Even if there was some socialising, it all belonged to a rare situation, so even if there was a straightforward difference between high and low status, the half-blood students weren''t able to feel it more intuitively, it was just that in their usual education, they were constantly reminded that they were a bunch of second-ss citizens. But when they leave the protection of the school ande to the workce, this difference in status is incredibly obvious. Purebloods had an absolute status advantage over any other bloodline, especially in the Ministry of Magic, thergest workce in the entire magical world, it was even more straightforward. Jon didn''t have time to feel so much, he wasn''t here to do any social practice this time but to carry out more important matters. After arriving at the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic, he saw the stone statue of "Magic is Might", which was erected only after Voldemort tookplete control of the Ministry. In front of the Atrium, Aurors were guarding it, checking the wands of every employee who entered the Ministry and verifying their identity. But the privileges of the purebloods are clearly evident here, as wizards with the family crest on their chests are allowed to pass this check and enter the Ministry without restriction. The Aurors wouldn''t try to stop them, and everyone else took it for granted. Jon, like the other purebloods, carried his briefcase in his hand and just walked straight inside the Ministry of Magic. The only way to put any restrictions on purebloods would be by order of Voldemort himself, and if he did order it, it wouldn''t just be Aurors that would be guarding the ce for inspection, there would also be Death Eaters around. Half-blood Aurors with impure bloodlines were certainly in no position to perform such insolent checks on purebloods. Jon once again experienced the convenience of pureblood privilege, which was the pr opposite of what he had experienced when he had infiltrated Hogwarts Castle under the guise of being a muggle-born. After entering the main hall, he walked directly into the lift in the centre. Because the half-bloods were basically still stuck outside being examined one by one, the ones entering the lift at this time were basically pureblood wizards with badges on their chests. "-Did you hear the rumours and arrive this early?" "Everyone was talking about the incident at thest gathering, and the Department of Mysteries was the focus of it." "So that means anyone who gets in this time is one of our own?" "At the top, we''re not sure about Slughorn''s attitude for now. Of the new entrants, Ollivander is the one we want to rope in. Their family has very few people serving in the Ministry of Magic, so I guess none of them knows about this yet." "Wait, here hees." The people inside stopped talking after Jon stepped into the lift. The entire Ministry of Magic was huge, and there were many employees inside. Among them, there were quite a few pureblood young adults who were used to being second-rate people at home and wanted toe to the Ministry of Magic to experience life. Coupled with the fact that this identity that Jon was currently assuming - Spike Ollivander was a student who had only graduated from Hogwarts Castle two years ago, and after graduation, he partied all day long at home for more than a year before joining the Ministry and had only been working in the Ministry of Magic for less than a year, his interpersonal rtionships weren''t thatplicated. Jon only had to remember the faces and names of the few people he would usually strike up a conversation with, and it was clear that all of those people standing in the lift right now were at best nodding acquaintances. He was thest to step into the lift, and while half a dozen people were standing inside, the atmosphere seemed silent, and the only floor button that had been pressed was the one for the ninth level. That was exactly where the Department of Mysteries was located in the Ministry of Magic, and exactly where Jon was heading on this visit. This also meant that the ultimate destination of all the people in this lift today was also the Department of Mysteries, and it was very likely that they would be Jon''s future colleagues. In this regard, Jon did not bother to look at them much, he only noticed with the corner of his eye the badges embroidered on the chests of the two standing in front of him. They were from two new-school pureblood families respectively, and were not members of the old-school Sacred Twenty-Eight Families. The main hall was on the eighth level, and the lift only descended for a few seconds before they reached the location of the Department of Mysteries on the ninth level. When the lift doors opened, Jon was wrapped up in the middle of the people around him and fishtailed out. After exiting the grill of the lift, before them was a humble corridor, with nothing more than a few candlesticks on the surrounding walls, not even a single portrait or a single tapestry. The group of purebloods walked along the corridor together in silence, and soon they came to the end of the corridor and reached the only door in the ce. The ck door was very in, with no pattern on it, and not even a single handle to be seen. A pureblood witch at the front ced her hand on the ck door and pushed it open. Behind the door was the same pure ck space, except that the whole ce was in a kind of round shape, Jon and the other purebloods walked in together, and after entering they realised that even the ceiling floor was ck. And all around them including the door they came in through, there are twelve identical ck doors that didn''t even have door handles. When they stepped inside the room, the door they came in through was closed by itself, and then the circr room began to rotate, and the twelve doors went from fast to slow as if they were being rattled with some kind of bearings, before finallying to a slow standstill. But at this time, Jon and the others could no longer tell which door they had walked through. The good thing, though, the room wasn''t without someone waiting for them. In the middle of the ck room, a middle-aged witch wearing sses was sitting at a table, and her delicate scarlet robes were also embroidered with a crest that Jon could recognise as the crest of House Parkinson, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. "I knew you all would definitely pick thest day toe over. It''s a good thing I didn''t wait here on the previous days." This Parkinson family witchined and took out a form. "Hurry up, don''t waste my time. Check your name and tick it on the sign-in sheet, that''s all you need to do, wait in the lounge, when everyone arrives at noon today you can wait for the various halls to receive you." Someone in this group was obviously familiar with this witch. "Mrs Parkinson, is there any leeway for us to choose our jobs after induction?" "Do you think this is your backyard? The people above us have spent so much toplete the recement of the entire Department of Mysteries, and you want some leeway to choose!" This was clearly not a rebuke on her part, but more of a joke. It was also because of this that after her words fell,ughter resounded all around. Jonughed along with them, but in reality, he was watching the scene with cold eyes. From the time he got the information about the Ministry of Magic''s recent strange movements in the Department of Mysteries, to the time he entered the lift just now and eventually heard a few of them talking, and finally to the time when these purebloods were now speaking amongst themselves without a care in the world, Jon could clearly sense that these people had already formed their own faction. In the upper power structure of the magical world, which was originally controlled by purebloods, it had split into its own circles. And just as Jon was observing, a ck door directly opposite him was suddenly opened from the inside. A chubby old man with what looked like a constant smile on his face, sporting a walrus-like moustache, stepped out of it. "Ha, this is great, the neer has arrived Elena." Hearing his voice, at once the face of the witch known as Mrs Parkinson bloomed into a smile like a daisy. "Yes, it''s like I was talking to you before Horace, They''re allzy as hell, and the ones who can report at this time on thest day are hard workers." "I''m just short of staff at the moment, you know, there''s just too much information left behind by the former Head. They''ve already signed in, right? Then let me pick someone first, so I can give my old arms and legs a rest. Well, just him, that Ollivander''s boy." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 468: Department of Mysteries (2 in 1) Chapter 468: Department of Mysteries (2 in 1) Jon followed Slughorn through the ck door he had opened. As soon as he entered, he noticed that inside was arge and cluttered office, with a dozen or so wizards sorting through the various parchments and scrolls that were piled up all over the ce. The robes they were wearing varied, but what was uniform was that in the chest position of the robes, each of them had a coat of arms embroidered on them. This represented that all the people currently sitting on this level of the Department of Mysteries were of pureblood family origin. And Jon had likewise keenly noticed that only a very small portion of these people''s family crests belonged to the Sacred Twenty-Eight, the old-school Purebloods, and almost all of them were new-school Purebloods who had been promoted by Voldemort II after the war. Slughorn led Jon through therge office without exchanging a single word during the time. The ever-smiling fat walrus simply greeted the purebloods that they passed by as they walked by nodding. Then they came to a door by the wall of therge office with a metal namete on it - [Deputy Head''s Office] "Before I came here, there was never a Deputy Head position in the Department of Mysteries, it was created separately for me by the great gentleman." The words finally seemed like they were addressed to Jon. Jon gave a sneaky shrug, then said in a serious voice. "That is a testament to our lord''s love for you, Mr Slughorn." The fat walrusughed, and to an outsider, it looked like he was feelingfortable with this ttery from Jon, and only Jon could see the cheerfulness in it. They pushed the door open and stepped inside the office, Slughorn sidestepped as he entered, gesturing for Jon to walk in first, and it was only after Jon had entered that he carefully closed the door to the room, and then finally, by pressing something, a sound of a spring springing on the lock rang out. Only after he had done this did he turn his head contentedly and raise an eyebrow at Jon. Then, with a wave of his hand the cupboard by the wall opened automatically and a box of Crystallised Pineapple flew out of it and finallynded on the desk. At the same time, the teapot itself jumped up and poured two cups of ck tea into the teacups that had just stood in line like soldiers. "Rx, Jon. On the first day I got here, this ce becamepletely my turf and no one will hear what we are going to talk about in here." After hearing his words, Jon''s entire body slumped into one of the sofa chairs without any sort of sitting position and then threw a crystallised pineapple into his mouth. He chewed it twice before he was forced to drink an entire cup of tea; the stuff was just too sweet. Slughorn sat down across from Jon with a smile on his face, he looked at Jon who was looking across the desk with an emotional look on his face as he stared at his face. This was the first time they had seen each other since they were separated that night in the wagon. "Your name is circting throughout Europe now Jon. You''re more famous than even I am your teacher." "If only they knew what kind of things you''ve been doing all these years, teacher, then they would definitely feel that Jon Green is not everything." Jon''s words were said seriously and were clearly not apliment. He had gone through a lot of dangers over the years, but Slughorn had always circled around the wolves and had continued to find opportunities to pass important information to Dumbledore, and quite a lot of the information concerning the battle situation had been passed out through his hands. Slughorn''s old face was on the verge of squinting together after hearing Jon''s words. "It''s better not to say these unnecessary words. Did Dumbledore even tell you what he sent you over for?" Jon nodded. Slughorn pressed his back against the back of the chair. "Actually, at first, I disagreed with him asking you to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic and work with me on this secret mission. Because I felt that no matter how much you had done before, at the end of the day, you hadn''t graduated from Hogwarts as a student. But after hearing Dumbledore say that you had learnt Animagus and that your shape-shifting form is a phoenix, I had no reason to refuse." He looked at Jon. "Did you master it with the ring?" Facing Slughorn, Jon certainly had nothing to hide, and he removed the ring pendant that he had been wearing around his neck all this time, the four blue diamond-shaped gems on it shimmering in the light. "That''s right, teacher. On the third gem, I embedded the Animagus transfiguration magic. The first one, you know, it has the levitation charm on it, and the other two gems" Before Jon could finish, Slughorn waved his hand to stop him from continuing. "Don''t tell me things like this, as I told you when I was teaching you the lumency magic. One should always deserve to keep some secrets of their own, I have them, Dumbledore has them, and of course, you need to have them as well." Jon didn''t refuse his kind offer. "So, teacher, have you learnt anything from your time here these days?" After getting down to business, Slughorn''s expression sank into silence. "I''ve been in the Department of Mysteries half a month before you, and in fact, Voldemort was already interested in having me stationed here before Dumbledore asked me to find a way to transfer into this department." "The Snape thing had a big impact in the follow-up, and that concerned Voldemort now, whether or not he was going to choose to use the Horcrux, a highly wed means of maintaining his immortality or not. But it''s also like Dumbledore guessed, even if he''s not as clear-headed as his other self, he still has a lot of consideration at the end of the day, and instead of just splitting his soul again, he asked me to try to decipher the kind of potion of longevity that Snape had made for the other Voldemort before." "But the inner workings of that potion were apparently an extremely closely guarded secret of the other Voldemort. I replicated the kind of catalytic potion Snape made for him, but the potion itself doesn''t actually have any semnce of being able to prolong one''s life or immortality, it only speeds up the reactivity elements of that golden sand." "That sand you brought back from Snape and handed it over to Dumbledore, we don''t even know exactly where the other Voldemort got this stuff, neither the current Voldemort nor Dumbledore can figure out what it does. The only clue is that Snape along with the other Voldemort himself spent a long time in the Department of Mysteries back in the day." The expression on Slughorn''s face became serious as he spoke. "Before, Voldemort also let Karkaroffe to the Department of Mysteries to investigate this matter, but after that, he found nothing, so after I took the initiative to apply for a transfer and expressed my desire to share his worries, he sent me here, and at the same time agreed with the others in the ministry who submitted a proposal to reorganise the entire Department of Mysteries in the meantime. Because he felt that the previous Unspeakables in the Department of Mysteries were all old men who had followed the other Voldemort around and weren''t worthy of his trust, he wanted to rece all the Unspeakables here with his own, and that''s why it''s happening now." "But I''m sure you would have noticed that all the new recruits here had some sort of problem when you came over." Jon nodded thoughtfully. "I sensed it when I came up in the lift, that all these people reporting to the Department of Mysteries look like they''ve all been briefed in advance, and that they all know each other well, and that most of them are new-school purebloods, with only a very small percentage of them being old-school purebloods." Slughorn said with immense seriousness. "Because all of these people have all in fact turned their backs on the current Voldemort and have instead sought out the other Voldemort who has previously gone missing!" His words caused Jon to blink slightly, but not feel as shocked. For on the way to Britain with Lily to look for Snape, they had already established that a portion of the Death Eaters had found their other lord, or else Snape wouldn''t have been able to get his hands on the vial of golden sand afterwards. "So they''re holding together like this and Voldemort can''t even sense it now?" "That''s one of the problems." Slughorn said gruffly, "From the exchanges I''ve had with Voldemort''s contacts, it does seem like he doesn''t feel the change of hearts within the pureblood. But such a situation can be exined and also somewhat inexplicable. It can be exined because, ever since he realised that he was starting to age, he has been hidden behind the scenes and very few purebloods can see him, which naturally means that hecks a channel of information about what''s going on in the outside world." "But from what I''ve learnt, the actions of these group of people who have been nning to turn their backs on this current lord of theirs have been bold, and they''ve enlisted a number of people within the Death Eaters, especially the new faction of purebloods who have been favoured the most by the other Voldemort. Logically speaking, with such a big action, even if Voldemort was not interested in dealing with the internal affairs of the purebloods, it was unlikely that he knew nothing about it. But the way he''s acting nowadays, it''s like he doesn''t know anything about all of it." Jon was lost in thought at this, he didn''t know nearly as much about what was going on around Voldemort as Slughorn did, so, of course, he couldn''t even begin to think of what the problem was. Then Slughorn said seriously. "The current level of the Department of Mysteries does not have a head. My position is nominally arranged as a deputy head, but in reality, I exercise the authority of the head, and other than me, basically, all the other people are in the same group. The person you''re pretending to be, this pureblood from the Ollivander family, is also someone they intend to fight for and draw to their side. After all, among purebloods, there are also big and small, like the old-school purebloods, especially a family like Ollivander''s that has monopolised the entire wand industry in the United Kingdom. It''s certainly worthwhile to draw them in." Jon said in a deep voice. "Doesn''t that mean then that our next move in the Department of Mysteries is going to be more difficult? Now that this ce is full of the other Voldemort''s people, who must havee here at the behest of their lord as well, whatever their intentions, they will be doubly concerned about the actions of those who have not yet joined them on top of their other tasks." Slughorn said with a nod. "That is why Dumbledore asked you toe. Next, I will give you the position of my assistant, mainly responsible for co-ordinating matters and information within the various halls of the Department of Mysteries to me, so that you will have ess to all the various rooms here, and be less conspicuous inparison to my position as Deputy Head of the Department. In the meantime, I''ll be pulling some strings with the people they''vee in contact with. Ever since I epted my appointment in the Department of Mysteries I''ve been contacted by people trying to get me to choose between the two Voldemort to pledge my allegiance to. Your task is to go between the various halls and try to find the identical thing to the golden sand." "In the meantime, if you also get approached by someone who expresses the issue of having to choose between the two Voldemort, you can drag it out as long as you can, and if you can''t, then you can paralyse their wariness of you by agreeing to them first." Jon had no problem with Slughorn''s arrangement, he just frowned and asked. "And what if I found the same thingter? Professor Dumbledore told me that I am expected to figure out what the hell this thing is for." Slughorn said as he ced his hands on his belly, his index fingers tapping lightly. "It''s not going to be easy. If this thing is really important to the other Voldemort, then it must be a lot easier for him to get these Death Eaters, who are already fully on his side, toe here and do things than it is for us." "I have an idea, teacher." Jon said with a blink, the corner of his mouth suddenly curving up. "Don''t they want to pull you and me in very badly? So why can''t we just say yes to them first, and then aspanions, it''s only natural that we learn something about their mission here at the Department of Mysteries, isn''t it?" Slughorn mused. "It''s not that I haven''t thought about it, Jon, but my concern is what if joining them requires me to pay something? I don''t think the other Voldemort is quite as crazy as the one here right now, and he certainly wouldn''t trust verbal promises lightly." Jon waved a hand. "Leave the matter to me, teacher, it''s only my first day here. Let me feel out the situation here first, and after that, we''ll decide what to do next." Afterwards, just as Slughorn had said, after all of the purebloods who had reported new arrivals for the day had all signed in, Jon was appointed to the job of Assistant to the Deputy Head and stayed in the Deputy Head''s office, while everyone else was assigned to various halls. It was obvious that many people had a different spection about Jon''s good fortune. Because nowadays, there are only a few people in the Department of Mysteries who have not yet decided whom they should "pay homage to", and the Spike that Jon is pretending to be, and the Slughorn are the two most important ones among them. The reason why Slughorn chose him as the assistant to the Deputy Head of the Department, in the eyes of the others, is a signal that he doesn''t want to get involved with another Voldemort faction in the Department for the time being. This brainstorming also in disguise gave a good reason for Jon and Slughorn, two people who had been unrted in in sight, to now be in contact. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 469: Party! (2 in 1) Chapter 469: Party! (2 in 1) On the same day that Jon had just joined the Department of Mysteries. Witching Horizon''s first battle in Britain broke out, the vige of Hogsmeade located next to Hogwarts Castle was captured by Witching Horizon, and the British Aurors who were originally stationed here and always kept an eye on Hogwarts Castle were either captured or killed, and none of them were spared. This was also the first battle result achieved by Witching Horizon after it dered war on the British Ministry of Magic, but of course, the Daily Prophet didn''t report on this matter, and this news didn''t even make it to the next day''s page, just that even if the newspaper didn''t say so, wizards didn''tck means to transmit information, and after upying Hogsmeade, the wizards of Witching Horizon didn''t restrict the original inhabitants of this wizarding vige from going out of Hogsmeade or staying in the vige. Thus, even if this matter hadn''t been reported yet, almost more than half of the entire British magicalmunity knew about it. Even if the Ministry of Magic wanted to try its best to minimise the impact of the matter, it was simply useless. It was also during this interlude, the sixth month since the end of the Triwizard Tournament and Cornelius Fudge stepped down from his position as the British Minister of Magic, that Barty Crouch Jr. was formally elected to the position of the current Minister of Magic of the United Kingdom. Voldemort had handed him a great deal of power to allow him to deal with the Witching Horizon''s attack on Britain. While Voldemort himself finally met with all the purebloods again, after disappearing from the public eye for a long time. On that asion, Jon was, of course, present. Right in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic, Voldemort made a speech that was clearly in response to Dumbledore''s deration of war. His appearance was as young and handsome as before, and regardless of what was really going on within the purebloods, the practical effect was undoubtedly a blow to the original message that had been circting that Voldemort was war-shy and no longer dared to face Dumbledore head on. However, Jon, who is working in the Department of Mysteries, can clearly see that even if Voldemortes forward, there is no way to change the fact that the Death Eaters, that is, the purebloods, have long since been divided. In the meantime, after familiarising himself with the work of the Department of Mysteries for a few days, Jon also had a general understanding of this most mysterious and unknown department of the British Ministry of Magic. This world doesn''t only have wizards as well as other magical creatures or races, such existences with vivid lives and independent self-awareness that can use magic. Many other magics have always existed, that no one controls, but that can be sustained on their own. Like time, like death, likes, like prophecy. That''s right, prophecies are actually autonomous magical presences in their own right, and a wizard''s divination is just another magical ability to ess, or glimpse into them. These are marvellous matters, and countless wizards have indulged in them since time immemorial. For example, when Jon led the Hogwarts ship on the sea, he met "Sir Stoker", who has a fascination forary astronomical magic. There are also masters of divination who travel around the world, and these people are all prophecy-snooping fanatics. Then there''s the now-lost alchemy of making time-turners, a testament to the ancient wizards'' mastery and use of time magic. Including the Horcrux as well, the one who created the Horcrux must have surpassed normal attainment in the study of death and soul magic. The Department of Mysteries, on the other hand, is an aggregated department that gathers all of Britain and even all of Europe epassing the existence of this type of magic. When the Ministry of Magic was not called the Ministry of Magic but was called the Wizards'' Council, the Department of Mysteries already existed, and from that time onwards, the name of the person working there has also been passed down, and the wizards working here are not called employees, but "Unspeakable". The Department of Mysteries has a great deal of autonomy and is the only department in the Ministry of Magic that does not need to follow the orders of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and the Unspeakable can be described as the "scientists" of the magical world, and they can even ignore the actions of the Minister of Magic. Of course, that was in the regr period, since Voldemort is in power, all the special traits are no match for absolute power. Even if the Unspeakable didn''t have to follow the orders of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, they still didn''t have the means to disobey Voldemort''s will, which was why there was this pureblood''s great cleansing of the entire Department of Mysteries. After understanding the nature of this department clearly, Jon then viewed this pureblood takeover of the Department of Mysteries, which gave him the absurd feeling of a group of second-generation children expelling the academicians in the Academy of Sciences, and thening over to have a party by themselves. Let''s just say that reality was far more outrageous than the story. These newly inducted purebloods hadn''t even studied the magic attributed to wizards, let alone these innate magics. That''s why in the initial period when they got transferred into the Department of Mysteries, they couldn''t even understand the most basic information left behind by the previous Unspeakables and thought that it was because of theck of manpower, and that as long as they recruited enough people, they would be able to bring the affairs of the Department back on track. But the reality is, a straw man is a straw man, even if 10,000 straw men are together, they can''t be turned into elites who can do something. After Jon''s batch of purebloods who had been hired to expand the manpower, those purebloods who originally thought that recruiting people would solve the problem found that even if they recruited more people, there was no way to figure out what they didn''t understand before, and these people started topletely lose their shit. Only a very small number of purebloods who had stayed in the Department of Mysteries as Unspeakable before were still able to do their jobs, but with only the number of people you could count on one of your hands, it didn''t help the big picture at all. So all these people just stopped caring, and just stuck their heads into their previous fields of study, while the rest of the people did as they pleased. As for pulling back the Unspeakable who knew what to do before? That is definitely impossible, those who have been sidelined from the Unspeakable are either half-bloods or purebloods who have already made it clear that they are loyal to whichever Voldemort ruling Britain, which are irreconcble issues that are impossible to bring back again. Since they can''t do anything, and they can''t bring back the people who can do something, everyone will just have to lie down and rx together! Anyway, the Ministry of Magic pay them their wages as usual, the work in the Department of Mysteries also has nothing to do with the day-to-day operation of the magical world, and the newly-appointed deputy head of the department, Slughorn will not go to check on their work progress and condition, so even if everyone is here all day partying and not doing anything, there is no problem. After Jon had seen this group of purebloods swarming all over the ce, he could only say that he had truly seen the diversity of the human race. But this could be called a totally good thing for his and Slughorn''s actions here. Judging by the way these purebloods were acting right now, they hadn''t been given any further instructions since they were ordered to be stationed in the Department of Mysteries, and it looked like the only thing these people would be doing was keeping a watchful eye on the ce and not letting anyone else have a chance to get their hands on anything here. These purebloods who had fallen in favour of Voldemort II weren''t all that distant when it came to their attitude towards Spike, who Jon was currently pretending to be, as well as Slughorn and a few others whose attitudes hadn''t yet made it clear as to whom they stood with. After all, they only have an ambiguous stance, not a clear statement that they will not stand with them, so as long as there are more get-togethers (partying); after the feelings have been enhanced, everything else will be fine. Jon also took this opportunity, using the age difference between him and the newly recruited purebloods that are not that big to make a good surface rtionship, at least they will not have a nodding acquaintance when they meetter on. At the same time, by using the identity of assistant of the deputy head of the Department provided to him by Slughorn, these days he strolled through several halls of the Department of Mysteries that he could enter at the moment. The purebloods in charge of the various halls were basically having a party, and some of them even brought their house elves over to have a barbecue at the site of the Space Chamber, which they beautifully coined as "flirting". Jon was quite speechless, but he didn''t make anyments and even rubbed a few skewers from the barbecue party. The Space Chamber which was not essible to the public, was so polluted that it smelled of kebabs as soon as the door was opened, and there was obviously nothing in the chamber that had anything to do with what Jon was looking for. There was a locked door next to the Space Chamber, and the purebloods were initially interested in this inessible room, but after failing to open the door no matter what they did, they got the name of the room behind the door from various sources - "The Love Room". As the name suggests, it was a room dedicated to the study of love. After learning about this, the group of purebloods immediately felt bored and stopped looking for a way to enter this door. As for the Death Chamber, which was used for the study of death, no purebloods went in lightly after being warned by one of the remaining proper Unspeakables. They are wastrels, but not fools, and know that anything that has to do with death is never a good thing. On top of that, they used the Time Room as an exhibition hall. Fortunately, none of the time-turners could be used now for whatever reason, or else it was expected that quite a few Purebloods would have slipped in a few of them to take home, even if they couldn''t use them, they could still be used as heirloom collectables. The brain room is also not a ce where people would go in, which left with few genuine Unspeakables specialised in the research of human thinking aspects, they buried their heads and hid in the brain room, shut the door, and did not care about how those other uneducated purebloods are going to toss and turn, while others won''t go to look for their trouble. And there weren''t many purebloods interested in this room, which contained brains that fluttered around like jellyfish and made people feel sick to their stomachs. The Hall of Prophecies is also basically not visited by more than a few people, most of the time this room is used as a storage room for all kinds of prophecies from the past to the present, the most famous of which, without any surprise, is the prophecy about the Saviour who can defeat Voldemort, but that prophecy is said to have been put in a special storage room, with only Voldemort himself knows exactly where it is hidden. Purebloods also knew the importance of discretion, and no one came to such a ce to test their guts. And it wasn''t more than a few dayster that a portion of the purebloods grew weary of life in the Department of Mysteries, and that was partly because the Witching Horizon''s war within the United Kingdom was apparently getting smoother and smoother. After upying Hogsmeade at the very beginning, Witching Horizon had relied on Hogwarts Castle and Hogsmeade, as well as a ce that had been a goblinmand post for a while during the goblin rebellion thing, as a bridgehead. Previously, therge and small safe houses that had been covertly constructed in various ces during the Hogwarts wagon''s period of exile served as small strongholds, from which they began tounch an attack on the high-level personnel of the Ministry of Magic in Britain, that is to say, those purebloods of honourable status. These days there were already quite a few purebloods who had been attacked in their own manors or castles and had already suffered losses, but the Witching Horizon wizards, who were the active attackers, had hardly paid any kind of price. So the purebloods began to spontaneously choose to hug each other, they temporarily abandoned their family residences and instead gathered together to prevent being broken one by one. However, these families all have industries in Britain, they almost monopolise 100% of the upper-ss business in Britain, otherwise, how could they possibly provide for their luxurious life with only the "meagre" sry from the Ministry of Magic? After they embraced each other as a group, the Witching Horizon began to target these pureblood families'' various shops andmercial traffic activity, causing them to be anxious and exhausted, and constantly pressuring the current head of Auror''s office, Karkaroff, to find a way to start counterattacking against the Witching Horizon''s action as soon as possible. The iteration of these messy things together made these purebloods who hade to serve in the Department of Mysteries no longer have the heart to stay in the Department and throw parties. They began to show regr absenteeism, and the most exaggerated urrence was when Jon came to the Department and counted the number of people who showed up for work on ten fingers! Slughorn, a good old man, never said anything and did not have the slightest intention of calling the absentees over to reprimand them. Jon was even more at ease during this period of time to boldly go more deeply to find the source of the golden sand. However, although these purebloods were scattered and unreliable, there were still a few amongst them who had clearly been here with a mission in mind. Jon then found that a few of them were very different from those reckless purebloods, even if they didn''t know anything about the work in the Department of Mysteries, they wouldn''t mess around with things, but rather, they were just like patrols, with a clear division ofbour who roamed the various halls every day and clocked in and out of work every day, and even stayed behind after work at night, just like specialised security guards. If they were asked what they were doing, they would say they were bored and just walking around. Jon stopped bothering these people after determining their walking trajectory. He is now a pureblood with a regr identity, and this Spike''s identity handed to him by Kingsley wasn''t supposed to be a pureblood young master who was too much of a waste and still had a certain amount of intellectual literacy. Plus there was no way the Ollivander''s wand business would be affected in normal circumstances, so it wasn''t really noticeable that he wasn''t absent from work. Therefore, Jon''s investigation,ter on, went very smoothly, and he quickly ruled out the other rooms and locked his final target within the confines of the Hall of Time. Because, inside the main chamber of the Time Room, there were manyrge and small hoursses ced, and the sand that kept flowing from those hoursses was very simr to the vial of golden sand that he had obtained from Snape''s hands. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 470: Whose fault? (2 in 1) Chapter 470: Whose fault? (2 in 1) What was being preserved in the Time Room was, of course, all time-rted magic. It is considered to be one of the magic that was once mastered by ancient wizards and could be utilised but has been lost in the modern magical world. For example, the Time-Turner, an alchemical item that was once created around the fifteenth century, had lost its production method in modern times, and the existing Time-Turners that had survived had been damaged for no apparent reason. It wasn''t a false statementing from within the Ministry of Magic, no one remained in the Time Room now, and even if the few purebloods who remained and looked like they were on patrol duty were around, Jon could y with the time-turner that had been casually discarded in the stands with impunity. But no matter how much he tried to toggle the pointers on top of the time-turner, there was no reaction whatsoever in the surrounding area. This leftover time-turner had indeed malfunctioned, no one knew the reason for the malfunctioning, and now even the technique of making this kind of alchemy item had been lost, not to mention repairing it. In this regard, Jon only studied it for a while before he lost much interest in the time-turner and instead focused on those hoursses in the room. Unlike time-turners, which were pocket watch-type timekeeping devices, hoursses were undoubtedly much more ancient. Jon did not know what these hoursses in the Time Room were used for, and he had no way of finding out since the various information within the Department of Mysteries had not been categorised and organised. But at the very beginning when he saw those quicksands that kept sliding down in these hoursses, Jon felt that they were very simr to the vial of golden sand that he got from Snape. He had carefully observed these hoursses for some time and found that even though they were constantly flowing, there was no sign of any decrease or increase in either the piles of sand that were drooping downwards from above or the piles of sand that were gathering below as if they were never drying up or regenerating. But when Jon spent two days inside the Time Room, in which he also found a small hourss, and made a carefulparison between the sand inside and the sand in the vial, he realised that there was an essential difference between the two. The sand in the hourss, although very delicate, when zoomed in, you can still clearly see the corners of the small sand grains, an obvious product of nature. The sand in the vial was different, when Jon used a magnifying ss to observe the contents, he could clearly find that these fine sand-like grains were in fact not sand at all! The surface of every small golden-coloured particle inside was smooth, it had no trace of natural product at all, and there was no trace of the texture of stone, rather than sand, it was more like artificially polished gold particles. After thoroughly distinguishing the difference between the two, Jon also lost interest in those hoursses. In addition to the various clocks and hoursses in the Time Room, Jon gazed at a hummingbird ornament for a long time. The hummingbird went back and forth from hatching from an egg into a bird, and backwards from a bird into an egg, as if it is a biological hourss, but specifying two representations of time, forward and backwards. The advancement of time is well understood, every second of the moment that passes now represents the consumption and advancement of time, but regression is not a natural phenomenon. The ornament, though marvellous, clearly had nothing to do with what Jon was looking for. But other than that there was nothing else useful to be found in the Time Room, and the only thing still worth noting was that there was a sealed door on the side of the wall directly opposite to the door of the room. The door was so hidden and had no handle on it that it would not have been noticed under normal circumstances if he had not been particrly observant. It was just that although Jon had spotted it, there was nothing that could be done to open it, and if it hadn''t been for the fact that he could clearly see the door''s closure hinges through the cracks, then he might have had to suspect that it wasn''t actually a door at all. And after studying the door for some time, and even attracting the attention of some patrolling purebloods, Jon chose to temporarily abandon it. At this time, he definitely could not do any destruction in the Department of Mysteries, and if he did not use violent means, he would not be able to understand the secret of this door for a while, just like the "love room" that no one was able to open. Moreover, even if it was opened, there was no guarantee that what Jon was looking for was inside. So Jon met with Slughorn and going to try another angle. "You want to start reaching out to those people?" The expression on Slughorn''s face solidified. Jon nodded and said. "The Department of Mysteries isn''t small, and there are a lot of forbidden areas here that can''t be opened up through conventional methods, so it''s going to be hard to find what we''re really looking for if we just keep looking blindly like this. Since this thing is rted to the other Voldemort, and the people who remain in the Department of Mysteries now have allpletely fallen to him and came here under his orders, it would be most convenient and effective to start with them." On this point, Jon, who had already actually had a practical look at the various halls throughout the Department of Mysteries, indeed had more say than Slughorn. After contemting for a long time, Slughorn finally agreed. "Well then, I''ll find a chance to invite these purebloods working in this ce to have a gathering at my house, and then agree to the invitation they extended to me." However, he was only halfway through his sentence when Jon interrupted him. "It''s not you who epts invitations, Teacher, it''s me, and I''m much more suited to the task than you are. I know what you''re worried about, you''re afraid that if after agreeing to join their camp, they''ll make us carve something like the Dark Mark on our bodies as proof of our servitude to Voldemort, then at that time, even if we turn back on our words on the spot, we''ll still be riding a tiger." Slughorn said seriously. "That''s why I''m more suitable, I''m already so old in the first ce, Jon, even if at that time he makes me make a blood oath of never betraying, I can still agree to it calmly, the big thing is that after it''s all over, I''ll just head to somewhere in Europe to hide, and there''s nothing this kind of constraint can do to me." "But have you forgotten that I am not afraid of death, teacher." Jon looked him in the eyes, "You still need to find a ce to hide when you''re in this situation, I only need to die once. Even if it''s a blood oath, it''s supposed to be broken when a person dies and thenes back to life once more, right? And after I die, I''ll at most be younger for a while, so why do I need you to risk your life now?" Jon had a point, and Slughorn''s mind hadn''t really been spinning much. For Jon who could already turn into a phoenix, all contracts are false, the nirvana of a phoenix is not only about the body but also the cleansing of the soul, no matter what kind of magic it is, it will be washed clean, no worries at all. At this Slughorn could only smile helplessly. "There are times when you''re so excellent that I don''t have the means to think with conventional thoughts." It wasn''t really Slughorn''s fault, after all, Phoenix Animagus or whatever, it didn''t seem like any kind ofmon sense in the magical world in any way, and he was trying to protect Jon from taking such risks as he could have blocked them off by himself. After finalising who would go and make contact with those purebloods, Slughorn''s n from the start remained unchanged. It was still up to him to invite those purebloods in the Department of Mysteries to a gathering at his home, where Jon would begin to express his displeasure with the current Voldemort to those purebloods that he had already mingled with, and then work his way down the line one step at a time. Once the general n was established, Slughorn didn''t wait any longer. It was during Jon''s third week in his official position at the Department of Mysteries that Slughorn sent out invitations to every single one of the Department of Mysteries'' mid-employees (there was really no way to call these straw men Unspeakable). Although Slughorn joined Voldemort''s sideter, because of his Slytherin House''s head identity, he has always been quite prestigious in the pureblood circle, plus he is good at socialising with people, all day long, he looks like a good old man, so when he holds a banquet, everyone will give him some respect even though now Britain has already been plunged into the quagmire of the war. Besides, these purebloods in the Department of Mysteries had wanted to bring him to their side for a long time, not to mention the fact that no one would say no. It was a dinner banquet, held in one of the manor houses that Voldemort had rewarded Slughorn with when he had thrown in the towel at the beginning. Jon arrived before it was dark, Slughorn didn''t have any house elves to prepare for the feast, but with his connections amongst the purebloods, it was easy to borrow a few random elves from a few of the old families to help out. Byte afternoon, thewn of the manor had been set up with long tables filled with food, candles had begun to float in the air, and a half-blood band was ying soothing ssical music on stage. Jon took advantage of the fact that there were not many people arrived, he first casually pinched up a few pieces of fried prawns on the long table to pad his stomach, when the banquet began, he certainly could not be so casual. As he was eating, someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind, and when Jon was about to hide the leftover prawn heads in his pocket seriously before turning back. Slughorn''s voice rang out from behind. "Have you been reading the Daily Prophettely?" Jon had little consideration left at once as he repulsively re-pulled the shrimp head out of his pocket and tossed it on thewn, then answered Slughorn''s question in a whisper. "No, I haven''t subscribed to a newspaper yet, I was reading the others in the Department before." "Albus and the others have been held at bay in their advance, Crouch himself led an ambush on a group preparing to attack the Carrows'' manor and made some gains, the Daily Prophet is making a big deal out of it in thest couple of days, and they''re already starting to say that it''s the turning point for our defeat." Jon''s face became calmer. "Something happened to any of us?" "Two of our Frenchpanions are dead, and Lupin has been blinded in one eye, but fortunately there is a cure." Hearing what Slughorn had said, Jon didn''t bother to rejoice in the fact that thankfully no one from the Order of the Phoenix had died, it wasn''t the Order of the Phoenix that was now fighting in Britain, it was the Witching Horizon as a whole. There was no such thing as English wizards or French wizards, everyone was arade in arms who had been fighting for a single goal. Jon narrowed his eyes, watching the growing number of purebloods arriving by Apparition on thewn, he said softly. "Then we''ll have to move faster on our side as well." Slughorn didn''t reply to his remark anymore, a smile had returned to his face as he walked over towards the purebloods that had just arrived, followed by a chorus ofughter and pleasantries. By this time, Jon had seen a couple of people he knew well from his time in the Department of Mysteries with a ss of wine in their hands, and he walked over to them as well. "Hey Bartolo, Hunter, Eyna, how are you guys doing at home these days?" It was a duo of two men and a woman, all from new school pureblood families, and didn''t have the family names of the old sacred twenty-eight. They looked at Jon, who was walking over, and both greeted him, the witch named Eyna with the burgundy curls whined. "It''s just like that, the liquor business in the family has been greatly affected, and now that our shipping channels have been cut off, there''s simply no way to maintain it anymore unless we wait for the war to end." Jon smiled as he clinked sses with Eyna. "I thought Mr Crouch had won a major victory?" At his words, Hunter let out a dismissive snort. "That''s just what the Daily Prophet uses to fool ordinary people, do you really believe that just killing two enemies is a major victory? I see it more as Crouch running out of steam after all the preparations he made and gaining very little." Bartolo looked at Jon and said with a teasing smile. "Why are you so concerned about the situation? No matter how much the magical world changes, will your Ollivander family still be afraid of running out of wand business? That is unless all the wizards in the world die out." Jon pretended to make a gesture a bitter smile. "Business is business, as long as the war is still going on, our safety can''t be guaranteed, can it? Who knows if there will ever be a day when the situation will be so pressing that they will send us into battle as well." Eyna bristled. "With the way the Ministry of Magic is posturing right now, it may not be out of the question." Jon said ruefully. "It''s just since the beginning of this year, it seems like everything has changed, howe we''re suddenly having such a hard time?" Hisment brightened the eyes of Hunter, the sharpest-minded of the three, and he asked tentatively. "So Spike, have you ever wondered why that is?" Both Bartolo and Eyna also reacted to the situation, and both of their attitudes suddenly became eager. "That''s right, there has to be a reason why things have evolved to this situation today, it''s not like any of us have done anything, we''ve all been doing what we''re told to do, so who on earth has caused such a situation to be corrupted step by step?" Jon heard what they said and first froze, then suddenly became nervous and appalled. "You guys aren''t ming that gentleman, are you!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 471: Allegiance to the True Lord (2 in 1) Chapter 471: Allegiance to the True Lord (2 in 1) Just as Witching Horizon''s battlefield in the United Kingdom was in full swing against the British Ministry of Magic. Dumbledore, who was their backbone, was not present in Britain, and at the same time did not stay in France. In Durmstrang''s headmaster''s office, the me in the firece was burning brightly, making the ce not a bit cold in winter. Grindelwald was looking at the school''s Christmas pre-buy list for this year and did not pay any attention to the old man who sat, uninvited, in the sofa chair opposite. "Why is it that I haven''t heard about it all this time, that your side is going to get into some kind of mess with the Magical Congress of the United States of America? Didn''t that young man from the Graves familye in this direction towards Northern Europe after the Triwizard Tournament?" Dumbledore said as he tapped his wand against the bookcase on the wall, the door underneath it opened and two boxes of biscuits flew out of it, thennded on the coffee table in front of him. Grindelwald nced up and looked at him who acted as if he were sitting in his own office, without any semnce of politeness. In response to his gaze, Dumbledore simply ate a biscuit, making a crisp ''click'' sound in response. "Of course, he''s here." Grindelwald returned his gaze to the pre-order list and signed his name on it, "Not only did hee, but he also followed my people, but then he met Jon, and I don''t know what Jon said to him, he returned directly to the Magical Congress of the United States of America, and ording to my information, he hasn''t appeared in Europe since then." Hearing his words, Dumbledore blinked and suddenly said coldly. "It was following your people to Britain, wasn''t it, you made a pretty good deal with Severus." Grindelwald set the quill down in his hand. "Did Jon tell you that?" "He never mentioned much of anything to do with you to me, except that the cooperation between Severus and I go a little deeper than you might think." "That is indeed your strength." Grindelwald said undeniably, it just doesn''t make it possible to hear if he was agreeing or mocking with that statement, "Haven''t you always had some knowledge of my affairs?" Dumbledore munched on his biscuit as if he had thought of something. "Remember when I went to Nurmengard and had thatst talk before you came out?" "You mean the words I used when I saw that you were thrown out of your school andughed so hard at your wretched appearance?" Dumbledore spread his hands. "If that''s what you think it is, then I certainly have no problem with that. It''s just that what I''m trying to say is that as long as all the things you said to me in the first ce were true, and the promises made weren''t forgotten, then you''re perfectly free to do what you want, and I won''t stand in the way, but of course, it''s unlikely that I''ll be able to help you much in that regard either." Grindelwald leaned back in his chair and said calmly. "There were once blood oaths that could be broken in some way, and you''re willing to believe a few unguaranteed, empty promises?" "We''re both so old, and there are times when the words of a man of that age can be far more assured than a blood oath." Dumbledore smiled as he took a sip of his ck tea. "So what, you''ve been thinking about it for so long, have you thought about what you said to me when I first arrived." Grindelwald paused his hand movements, and instead of the tone that always seemed like he was sneering at someone, he just looked deeply at Dumbledore. "There are times when I truly cannot understand how you really think, Albus." "The biggest difference in people is reflected in their thoughts, it''s normal to not be able to figure out what other people think, it''s not like you''re a Born Legilimens, and it''s not like I''m going to let go of my lumency defence for you." Dumbledore responded to his gaze seriously. "I''ve arranged all of it, so in fact, in the beginning, I had it in my conception that you would agree to the offer." "And if I had refused?" "Don''t forget there''s Jon, will you still refuse when you face him then?" "Do you really think I have that kind of high hopes for him? What if I turn him down too?" Silence fell in the Headmaster''s office and Dumbledore wiped the biscuit crumbs from the corner of his mouth with his handkerchief. "Then I would have to choose to believe Jon." Grindelwald shook his head. "Jon Green has always trusted you, he felt sure you would make the right decisions no matter what, but you''ve put too much on him, and this is the kind of trust you''ve given back to him? You people are always like this, you like to force a lot of things on yourself that you obviously don''t need to go and carry up on your own. Even if you do seed this time as you want, what''s the point? Can you live forever and save the magical world for the rest of your life? In the future, there might be someone like Voldemort would appear again. There are no guarantees for any of you, and yet you still give too much of yourselves to trying to save the people and things that are briefly in front of you. That''s one of the things I dislike most about Jon, he''s a lot like you in some ways, though not quite as stubborn." Dumbledore said softly. "It''s just something you don''t like, when you do be a winner, then you can decide what kind of future young Jon is supposed to have." "Is that really the only thing you can think of?" Grindelwald frowned like he was still a little unable to ept some of Dumbledore''s words. "It''s not that I can only think of this way, but it''s the only possibility right now." "But even after you testify that possibility? Who''s going to finish him off? The current Jon? He has potential, but whether or not that potential will turn into strength will have to be seenter, and right now it''s not enough." Dumbledore''s countenance fellpletely silent. "That''s the situation before us now, it''s like trying to eat a chocte frog, no one is going to put it straight into their mouth without removing the outer wrapping from it. Some things just need to be taken one step at a time, and this step right now is all about peeling off the outer wrapping on him, and if I''m lucky maybe I''ll even get a bite. But if I keep waiting, it could be an eternity of not knowing when." Grindelwald fell silent, he wasn''t sure if he had been convinced by Dumbledore or if he had run out of ideas to respond. After a long time of this silence, he spoke. "This is thest time I will do you a favour." *** Eyna and the others were not surprised in the face of Jon now showing trepidation. The prestige that Voldemort had spent more than twenty years building up amongst the purebloods was not something that could be broken in three or two words or in a short period of time. It was also fortunate that they had another lord to choose from. If Voldemort had only been one from the beginning and with his current personality change, it was doubtful that many of them would have dared to engage in such activities in private that would have amounted to nothing less than treason. "I think your family would be able to discern whether or not that gentleman now in Britain is the same great man who has led us through this glorious decade." Hunter said as he stared into Jon''s eyes as if he wanted to take in all of Jon''s inner struggles. "Of course, we have to be loyal, but loyalty can''t be blind, the man who rules the whole of Britain now has obviously changed, he just bears the same look and the same name as the original one, but they are in fact two people altogether." Jon''s face went white as he looked around nervously like talking about such a topic in a ce like this made his whole being very uneasy. "And then what? That''s actually what you guys have been hiding from me all this time? Even if you guys found out about lord''s transformation, what can you do about it? Do you guys know why he became like this, and can you find that real lord?" Upon hearing Jon''s barrage of questioning, the Hunter trio looked at each other instead, and then they all revealed a smirk. "How do you know we haven''t found the true lord?" Hearing them like that, Jon''s face looked like it had frozen, and suddenly his eyes widened as if he had thought of something, as he looked at the three people standing in front of him. "That''s why all of you are grouping together? That''s why you all avoided our lord''s sight and gathered together!" "We didn''t avoid our lord''s sight, that madman now is not our lord, there has always been only one lord, the one we now obey and serve." Bartolo lowered his voice as he stared solemnly at Jon. "Now we''ve told you all this, Spike, which means we want to bring you along for this endeavour. How many other purebloods do you think there are out there who don''t know about this? Those who are wavering, and peddling diehards will only end up being left behind in the new age, and only the truly determined will gain more power." Jon gulped as if he hadn''t reeled from the news. "But we''re in the middle of a war now, and topping it off with internal conflict, that''s... Is it really appropriate?" "Only the shallow-eyed stare at the battlefield of ordinary wizards, Spike." Eyna said, "Why were we able to win so much before? Because the nobility of the purebloods could truly be established? Was it because those of us who could fight were capable enough to win? Of course not, it''s just because we united around our lord, and as long as our lord can keep winning, then, of course, we can follow and keep winning. Likewise, if our lord loses, then what we have now will all be in vain." Henry then tried to break through Jon''s psychological defences. "You''ve heard what the Witching Horizons do to purebloods, haven''t you? They used the gallows that only Muggles use for death row inmates! If you think about it more carefully, the reason why the situation of the war has be what it is now is because our lord had two consecutive losses in his duel with Dumbledore! And were these defeats really caused by the same lord who led us? They are the fault of the madman who is in power now! If we continue to follow his lead, it won''t end well for any of us, so the more ites down to it, the more we have to make the right choice!" Jon fell silent as if he waspletely moved by his words. Bartolo certainly had to strike while the iron was hot at a time like this. "Haven''t you noticed that there are no other old-school pureblood families amongst us other than the Parkinsons''? We all know that the Ollivanders are different from the others, you''re not a bunch of old-timers who don''t know how to change, that''s why Spike, we''re trying to bring you on board with us, this is a rare opportunity, especially since it''s a scenario where the Lestrange''s are already deposed, and what they have vacated is always going to require dividing up, so who should it be divided amongst? We who are truly loyal to our lord, of course!" It was as if this part of his speech had thoroughly impressed Jon. Jon raised his head and met the three of them with what he thought was a sincere gaze, but instead of immediately agreeing, he took a deep breath and said. "Can you give me some time to think about it?" As he said such words, Eyna and the others actually already knew that this matter was about 80% or 90%plete. No matter how much they talked, as a pureblood with a brain there was no way they could agree to things on the spot because Jon represented not only him personally, but also an entire Ollivander family who stood behind him. And now that he had been persuaded, the so-called time left to consider was just to go andmunicate with the people within the family. In response, of course, the Eyna trio wouldn''t stop him, they just gave him a warning that wasn''t considered a threat. "It''s certainly true that such a big matter needs to be considered, but there are some things we have to say just as much upfront if you want to snitch and bring this matter to the top, believe me, none of us will be punished in any way, but the person who speaks out about it will be in danger instead!" Jon nodded, seriously stating that he would not snitch to the top. In fact, what they said was indeed right, even if this crazy Voldemort now knew about so many purebloods under hismand quietly uniting to contact his other self, there was no way for him to really kill all of them. If this is really the case, the whole of Britain will not even have the foundation for bloodline rule, unless he brought up a group of half-bloods as purebloods, which would be tantamount to treating his own ten years of previous doctrine as a joke. So the only one who would be dealt with in the end would probably be the one who snitched. Afterpleting all the exchanges with them, they spent the dinner leisurely at the back, with no one chatting about anything rted to work. And it was only when the dinner was over and the guests had pretty much left, and only he and Jon were left in Slughorn''s manor, that Jon''s entire body slumped in the chair. "Acting is exhausting, more so than fighting someone directly." Slughorn brought him a ss of orange juice. "So how are the results?" "Basically nothing more, just have to wait another three or five days to give them a definite reply." Jon said seriously. "But surely people like them won''t know exactly what Voldemort is keeping the Department of Mysteries for, we still have to reach out to those who are actually trusted by Voldemort and know something about the inner workings." "You mean those who stay in the Department of Mysteries no matter what time of day it is?" "That''s right because they''re the only ones who are actually doing something, not just trying to carve up the benefits like this bunch of straw men." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 472: Moth Chapter 472: Moth Just three days after Slughorn hosted the banquet, Jon found Hunter as promised. "I was sure you would make the right choice, and sure enough you didn''t let us down, Spike." Hunter didn''t show any surprise at Jon''s arrival like he was sure that Jon would definitely agree to join them. He then pulled out a long-prepared pact for Jon andid it out in front of him. "As you should be well aware, the current situation is far from weing the return of our true lord, so there are some things we must do to ensure the loyalty of those involved, so you need to sign this." Jon carefully went to look at the content of that pact, andpared to what he and Slughorn had guessed earlier like a magical pact at the level of a Dark Mark or Blood Pact, the limitations and power of this pact were actually not that strong. Even if he signed it and reneged on it in the future, he could just use the general counter-spell in the second gem to destroy the elements of this pact he held in his hands, without even needing to be reborn once by the means of a Phoenix. So Jon signed his name on the pact while asking in an excited voice. "So can I meet the real lord? Where is he exactly now?" This was what Jon wanted to know the most. Ever since Voldemort II escaped from the mes of Nirvana in Hogwarts Castle half a year ago, there had been no more news about him, no matter who it was, except for the time in the middle when Snape had used himself as bait to lure out a vial of golden sand, but even that time he had not appeared in person. Jon was curious as to where the most maniptive Voldemort of all time had been hiding. However, Hunter gave Jon a negative answer. "The Lord is recovering his power and waiting to return again, in the meantime there is no need for us to disturb him, all we need to do is toplete the task he has given us." Jon could be sure that Hunter was definitely not a core member of this bunch of Death Eaters, to be able to gather so many Death Eaters together was basically the same as hollowing out Purebloods in Britain, so Voldemort II must have definitely personally stepped in and spoken to the ones who reached out to him in the very first group of them. Hunter, in his current state, had obviously never met Voldemort Two, who was nowhere to be found, either. Jon could only proceed to ask another question. "And what is the task that our lord has given us?" Hunter said with a serious look on his face. "To watch over the Department of Mysteries." "Watch over the Department of Mysteries for what?" "Just to simply watch over the Department of Mysteries and not let anyone else in, what else could there be?" Hunter looked at Jon with a strange look on his face, like he thought this was already such a dangerous and troublesome task, why would Jon think there could be anything more to do? Jon took a deep breath. He was restraining a churning wave of emotions within him, admonishing himself to maintain his acting skills. Let''s just say he thought he had looked down on Hunter and the others enough, but hadn''t realised that they were even more wasted and ipetent than he had thought! Taking up so many resources, being educated from a young age and standing in this high position, yet, how could these people be so wasteful to such an extent? No wonder Voldemort had simply never counted on relying on these losers to be able to achieve anything, and when he was in the castle, he wanted to borrow a body and go and be a righteous leader himself! How did the Ministry of Magic in Britain get to be like this, and how can you build a magicalmunity that belongs to purebloods by keeping these worms along with them? Well, pureblood losers should not make Jon worry, on the contrary, the more enemies are like this, he should be more joyful. Jon simply shifted the question to those who stayed in the Department of Mysteries all day. "What about Dandy and the others? I see them practically living there and patrolling it every day." He had only just joined the circle, and certainly had the qualifications to want to know everything, and wouldn''t be afraid of being suspected of something by Hunter. As expected, Hunter didn''t say anything in response to Jon''s question but answered directly. "Dandy and the others are different from us, they are the ones who were the first to find the lord, and the lord of course has more important tasks for them, it doesn''t need you and I to ask more, just don''t forget toe to the next get-together." At this point in the conversation, Jon really didn''t want to talk to him at all. There were elites among the purebloods all right, but over eighty percent of them were moths and losers. This whole thing was his fault, he shouldn''t have expected to get any valuable information from these arseholes who just party all day in the first ce. But the good thing was that after signing the pact, he and those purebloods who were actually working in the Department of Mysteries had finally be part of the same faction, and this would also help him to better pull the strings with these people. Jon then decisively refused Hunter''s request to keep him and introduce him to his sister, and directly returned to the Department of Mysteries. And as soon as he returned, he saw those purebloods who stayed behind in the Department talking about today''s Daily Prophet. Jon then tried to take the opportunity to draw closer to these people and came along to read today''s coverage, and then he realised that Witching Horizon''s progress in the UK had actually reached Diagon Alley. The Daily Prophet had sort ofpletely lost its independence during the era of Voldemort''s rule, and what it wanted to publish had to be under the control of the Ministry of Magic, including the fact that the UK was now in a state of wartime. And today the Daily Prophet actually reported extremely unfavourable news to the Ministry of Magic on the front page which is extremely unusual. Just this morning, Diagon Alley was attacked by the Witching Horizon wizards, and the Leaky Cauldron Bar, as the gateway to thismercial street, was almost directly captured, but fortunately, this ce is very close to the British Ministry of Magic, and the support Aurors arrived in time to defend this magicalmercial street that is basically second in importance only to the Ministry of Magic. But even so, Diagon Alley was also damaged to a great extent, at least, for a short period of time there was no way to entertain visitors again. Moreover, at this point in time, there wouldn''t be many wizards choosing toe out to spend money, those who could bribe the purebloods in charge of exit management to escape had gone abroad, and those who couldn''t do so were hiding in the middle of nowhere, waiting for the war to end. Next to Jon, the purebloods who saw this news had a disdainful look on their faces, as if they had expected the current British Ministry of Magic to copse so quickly. Jon could tell that they really thought that it was all Voldemort One''s fault that Britain had fallen to this situation today, and that if their true lord hade back, he would have been able to turn the tide of the war around and counterattack back to France. Looking at the article, Jon also pondered. Wasn''t the progress of the Witching Horizon on the British side a little too smooth? Why did Voldemort One still look like he didn''t care even though the situation was already in such a rotten state? ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 473: If, Soft doesn’t work, use hard Chapter 473: If, Soft doesn¡¯t work, use hard It''s not that an easy victory is bad, and Jon himself knows very well that in fact there is nothing wrong with what these straw men like Hunter think about certain things. The war between wizards, the small fights between such people at the bottom alone can not establish the situation, whether it is the Alliance led by Grindelwald more than fifty years ago, or Voldemort eventually ruled the United Kingdom more than ten years ago, the key to the victory is in thest single duel. Like that incident in the past of Grindelwald, when the Alliance was unprecedentedly powerful, after losing the duel with Dumbledore, even the biggest organisation faced disintegration. The current situation is the same, the Witching Horizon has an absolute advantage and has even fought to Diagon Alley, but as long as Voldemort is still present, he has not stepped forward, which means the current victory is not enough to the extent of certainty. But at this time it was obvious that the British Ministry of Magic had no way to resist the advances of the Witching Horizon, so what is Voldemort doing? Just by reading the news in the newspaper, Jon of course couldn''t figure out this matter, but Voldemort''s matters didn''t need him to worry about, all he needed to do nowadays was toplete the task Dumbledore had entrusted to him. So in the following two days, he intentionally or unintentionally remained in the Department of Mysteries, to get close to the pureblood named "Dandy". This middle-aged male wizard, who also came from the New School pureblood family, didn''t seem like an easy person to get in touch with, even if he knew that Jon was already considered to be a member of their side, he still had a lukewarm rtionship, as if treating him the same as those straw men like Hunter and warned him not to make trouble casually. As it was, things were getting tricky for Jon. Getting close seemed to be not working out a bit, and Jon, feeling that he couldn''t hang himself on one tree, found a moment to start talking to Slughorn about it. "I have a message from Dumbledore." Before Jon could say a word, Slughorn was the first to speak. "He got a piece of information that he doesn''t know if it''s urate or not, Voldemort will most likely be leading the Death Eaters himself for a counter-attack starting a week after Christmas, and he''s already pressured to do so." Jon frowned at this point as well. "Dumbledore gave us an appointment around this time as well, he said that we had to find the item before he and Voldemort duelled, and if Voldemort has personally stepped up to the challenge by then, then he is sure that he will be able to face him straight on as well; but, if we got that item he is sure to deal with Voldemort fully." "How''s it going on your end?" Jon said shaking his head. "Getting on their internal track is fine, but Hunter and his bunch of straw men don''t know anything at all, and the ones who know a little bit about what''s going on in the Department of Mysteries are supposed to be Dandy and his group. But I''ve been trying to get in touch with Dandy for three days now, and he doesn''t have the slightest intention of talking to me about anything more, he''s very tight-lipped, so I''m thinking that if the soft approach doesn''t work, we''ll just have to resort to hard one." Slughorn caught Jon''s point. "You mean just give him a dose of truth potion?" Jon nodded. "Gonna have to find an opportunity to trick him into showing up alone, if any of those people really do know anything about what''s in the Department of Mysteries, the odds are that it''s going to be in the hands of Dandy are high, we need to start with him, it''s just that we''re going to need to take a few risks as well." To this, Slughorn reacted decisively as well. "Then you keep trying now, we still have a week until Christmas, I''ll do some setups here, and if you don''t get anything useful out of him after two days, I''ll find an excuse to get him toe to my office alone, and you and I will control him together!" After checking in with Slughorn and talking things over, Jon went on to try andmunicate with Dandy, and then he realised that there are some differences between purebloods who are straw men and those who can do things, and Dandy was fundamentally different from those of Hunter. He may not be a person who is capable of researching advanced magic, but he behaves like a professionally trained person, and through side conversations, Jon has also found out that when Voldemort had not yet ruled over the United Kingdom, he was a trained Auror of the British Ministry of Magic, and over the years, even if he had be a Death Eater, he hadn''t been corrupted by the extravagance of his life. It wasn''t really an easy thing to get something from a person like him, and after two days, Jon hadpletely given up on being able to get anything out of his mouth; the current situation on the battlefield couldn''t wait that long anymore. He made an appointment with Slughorn and with four days to go until Christmas, Dandy was called into the head of the Department''s office alone. "I heard you had something urgent to ask me, Sir." Dandy still had the most basic of politeness for Slughorn, who was also much more weing, as he asked the male wizard, who was arguably the head of all purebloods in the Department of Mysteries at the moment, to sit down, and then poured him a cup of tea as well asying out some desserts. "Dandy Crimson, I''ve been wanting to have a nice chat with someone as excellent as you for a while now." After a few tasteless pleasantries, Slughorn said meaningfully. "Well, Coles and the others were talking to me earlier, you guys seem to have some kind of different circle going on together, he also kindly invited me to join in, saying that it would give me unexpected surprises, I''ve been thinking about all those things these days, can you give me a detailed talk about it?" Dandy frowned slightly, he certainly knew about the matter of Coles and others inviting him to join the circle. But there was also a reasonable division ofbour amongst the purebloods, work like this kind of socialising was basically left to those who only ate, drank and had fun, Dandy had never been involved in such things. But a figure like Slughorn, his identity is really special, and now that he has shown his intention to join, Dandy feels that he shouldn''t reject it. Just before he opened his mouth to chat formally, he still nced around the entire head office, and his eyes finally stopped on the door to the private bedroom. Slughorn saw his wariness and smiled. "Is it because you''re afraid there''s a third person in there? You can open it if you''re unsure, I don''t mind." However, the more Slughorn spoke like this, the less Dandy would suspect anything more, as Voldemort''s former Head, Slughorn''s position was always a little more lofty. "Did you notice the character and nature of our lord, who we currently serve, is different from the one we have pledged our allegiance to in the past?" Dandy asked, staring closely into Slughorn''s eyes. No one would be light-hearted when it came to chatting about something so close to amounting to treason. Slughorn''s face showed a timely bit of doubt and gravity. And just then, the bedroom door quietly opened a crack, and a finger and a wand stuck out of it in unison! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 474: Trouble (2 in 1) Chapter 474: Trouble (2 in 1) Slughorn and Dandy were now sitting in just the right position, apparently deliberately arranged by Slughorn. The bedroom door was located just to his side and back, and only Slughorn himself could see the finger sticking out of the crack in the door gesturing at him, followed by an invisible, shadowless sharpness appearing at the tip of that finger! Slughorn did not look at the door again, but stared at Dandy, trying to open his mouth to draw his attention further. Yet the former Auror showedplete resourcefulness, Slughorn''s words just now made it bad for him to continue to be affronted to check that bedroom, but he still turned back every so often to look at the only dead end he couldn''t observe, the only one that could possibly be a problem. Maybe a lot of people in Pureblood had forgotten, but Dandy had always remembered that not only Slughorn was Voldemort''s former Head of House, but he was also a professor under Dumbledore for two or three years before he joined them in Britain. And Dandy was one of the very few of the purebloods who retained a wary eye on Slughorn, if not suspicion, to say the least! It was also the moment he turned his head that Slughorn''s pupils clenched, and his entire body began to fall backwards! "Buzz!" A subtle vibrating sound rang out in this office, after seeing that wand sticking out openly from the doorway, Dandy reacted extremely quickly slipping his body down from the chair like a loach, and almost in the next second, he hid behind the back of the chair! But just when his mind was tense, and he had almost concluded that this was a sneak attack against him by Slughorn together with the outsiders who were most likely from Witching Horizon, and drew out his wand, ready to start counterattacking, a bright green light suddenly shot past him! The aura of death sent chills down Dandy''s spine! Then there was a muffled thud, apanied by the sound of a chair falling to the ground and a human body rolling to the floor! Then Dandy, who was sprawled on the floor, saw Slughorn falling on his side, with his eyes wide open to death! This attack wasn''t aimed at him? It was trying to finish off Slughorn! In an instant, Dandy had made a split-second decision in his mind. Without stopping, he turned directly to use the sting Curse in the direction of the bedroom room door where the wand was sticking out, it was clear that his wand waving, and silent casting was not half-hearted, however, there was not a single explosion urring, as if some force had wiped out his magic spell! Dandy quickly retrieved all the information avable on the Witching Horizon, and there was only one person among those led by Dumbledore who could directly erase magic! "Jon Green!" He snapped. And Jon, who was hiding behind the door, no longer hid himself; his face was calm as he kicked the door open while swinging his wand! No incantation sounded, but the green glow full of death caused Dandy''s entire body to make a donkey''s roll on the floor while raising his wand to strike back at Jon! Jon dodged his return killing curse by merely inclining his head in response to it, and without reciting a spell or swinging his wand, an invisible, shadowless de erupted from his fingertips immediately after he saw Dandy roll out of the cover of his chair! He deliberately restrained the power of this invisible sword curse, and Dandy was simply unable to avoid it, originally Snape invented this kind of spell to cast spells extremely fast, there is not much space for people to dodge, Jon is now casting without a wand and without a word, which makes it even more difficult for people to react! "Bang!" A solid, as if ss breaking sound rang out, the shield charm that had been maintained on Dandy''s body even within the Department of Mysteries shattered! Jon cursed in his mind for him being a sicko, he had guessed that this person would most likely have the habit of maintaining the Shield Charm to protect his body at all times, and now he was indeed not wrong. By this time Dandy had no thought of surviving, just a few rounds of spells exchanged was enough for him to see the gap between himself and Jon. Slughorn had already been killed, and it was probably hard for him to escape death as well, how on earth Jon managed to sneak into the Department of Mysteries without a sound he didn''t know, but what Dandy did know was that he had to make a bigmotion, big enough for the rest of the Department of Mysteries to be able to hear it so that Jon couldn''t continue to stay hiding here or else he would be a great danger to the entire Ministry of Magic! And so, after the shield charm had shattered, Dandy raised his wand, the tip of which was not aimed at Jon himself, but turned towards the door to the Head of Department''s office! With the distance between Jon and him now, there was no time to stop him from casting the spell! "Confri-." But just as he was halfway through the incantation, a red light struck his body! Dandy stared in disbelief, and before his body wentpletely stiff and petrified, he saw Slughorn, who had fallen to the ground where he clearly should have been dead, grunting and panting as he rose from the ground with his wand raised. "As I told you, when you deal with a Humanoid like him, you''ve got to keep eight hundred eyes open." Slughorn grumbled as he patted the dust from his robes. Jon came over as well, and as soon as he did, he snatched the wand out of Dandy''s hand, then added two rounds of a full body-bind curse and a binding spell for insurance. "It''s a good thing you had n number two, teacher, or I don''t think we''d be able to hide here anymore after someone notices themotion here. These Death Eaters are really disgusting, the straw ones are dying, and these shrewd ones are all like monkeys one after another." Dandy had no way to reply to Jon''s words, which he didn''t know whether it was apliment or an insult anymore, all he could do was give a death re as if he was going to kill the two bastards, Slughorn and Jon, with his eyes. "Did my silent killing curse hit you by any chance?" Jon didn''t bother with Dandy at first but was concerned about Slughorn. Slughorn shook his head while pulling out a board with charred ck pits from under his robes. "I did a precautionary measure, besides, haven''t we all tried it with rats before, the power of the killing curse that you cast silently isn''t powerful enough to kill people outright." "That''s still a killing curse, it''s better to try not to be hit by it if we can." Hearing this dialogue between them, if Dandy still didn''t know that he was being tricked, then he had grown this brain for nothing. But he couldn''t do anything about it now, not even kill himself. Moreover, even if he could bite his tongue, hit the wall or whatever, with Slughorn, the top potion master, and this Jon, the bug that could turn into a phoenix, as long as there is still a breath left in his body, he can''t even die if he wants to! "Alright,e on, let''s not waste time, if he stays in my office for too long, those people outside can''t help but be suspicious." As Slughorn said that, he also took out a small crystal vial from the drawer that he had prepared long ago, which contained the truth potion that he had personally refined. Jon had dragged Dandy into a corner by this time and then cupped open his mouth. Teacher and student made a quick flurry of cooperation and poured three drops of the truth potion into his mouth, this was the amount for a normal interrogation, if it was any more than that, it would be easy for Dandy''s mental state to go wrong, and he still needed to be kept behind, so they tried their best to not let him be traumatised in any way that would be too obvious. After pouring the Truth Potion into his mouth, Jon and Slughorn kept an eye on the clock and waited a full three minutes for the potion to takeplete effect before undoing all the spells on Dandy. Jon nodded to Slughorn and opened his mouth to ask Dandy. "What was the task Voldemort gave you?" Soon, Dandy, whose entire being had be dull, gave a response. "To guard the Department of Mysteries from anyone else, and then..." One could tell that his own will was resisting desperately like there was something he didn''t want or dare to say! Jon, however, had no problem stopping the swaying of his body by holding him down by the scruff of the neck. "And then what!" "And then . . then watch the Time Room. There''s an unobtrusive door there, and watch that door so no one opens it." Jon and Slughorn both held their breath, knowing that the point had been asked. "Why can''t it be opened? What''s behind the door? And what is the way to open that door?" This series of three questions was more than enough to make Dandy''s body resist endlessly, but in the end, he was unable to resist the effects of the truth potion. "Because, because, there is a secret of my lord''s eternal life behind there. How to open that door, lord, lord didn''t tell anyone" Hearing this, Jon couldn''t help but frown, it was useless to know what secrets were hidden behind the door, what was needed was to find a way in and see what was there with his own eyes! But now it was also obvious that Dandy didn''t know about what was involved in the opening of that door, and with Voldemort Two''s personality of being cautious to the extreme, he wouldn''t tell anyone else such a secret that concerned his biggest secret. Just as Jon and Slughorn were frowning together, Dandy then proceeded to open his mouth as he spoke. "I was, when I first came to the Department of Mysteries and took over here . . heard from the Unspeakable who stayed here before. That, he had been working in the Time Room, studying the door that he didn''t know how to open and that the way to open the door was something inside the Time Room" Jon looked up sharply as he stared intently into Dandy''s eyes. "Where is that Unspeakable now!" "I I was afraid that my lord''s secret would leak out, so I took a private mission . . to kill him." Slughorn couldn''t help but clench his fists, this man was too loyal and too cautious when it came to Voldemort. Jon, however, took a deep breath and didn''t give up yet. "And what did you learn from him?" "I... that''s all I know... my lord''s secrets I shouldn''t learn too much as a servant..." Silence fell over the office. Neither Jon nor Slughorn knew what to say anymore, but soon Jon reacted anew, tugging Dandy''s body up and pulling him back to his feet. "Anyway, teacher, this is better than nothing, at least we know that the problem is behind that door and the way to open it is in the Time Room. Now examine this guy, make sure there''s nothing left of him, and then help him put the Shield charm on again, and modify his memory." Slughorn also knew that every second they dragged their feet a little further back, the danger of being found out was greater, and who knew if this wizard called Dandy had made any arrangements with the other purebloods who were out there and if anyone would want toe in and check on the situation once they realised that he had been in the Head of Department''s office for a long period of time withouting out. So Slughorn used the Imperius Curse directly on Dandy, controlling him and allowing him to use a shot of the Shield Charm on himself, then cancelled the Imperius Curse on him, and used the Memory Charm to reweave the memories of today''s conversation in his mind. Jon then went back into hiding in his bedroom while Slughorn continued to sit in the back of his office, and by this time Dandy was slowly regaining his senses. He looked across at Slughorn, who was looking at him with a strange expression on his face, blinked and asked. "What did you just say, Sir?" "I said, Crimson, did you not rest wellst night? I''ve only just spoken, and I can see that you look like you''re thinking about something and yourplexion is drifting off somewhere?" Hearing him say that, Dandy''s heart first tightened, and then he quickly made a quick inspection of his body, but found no problems, even the Shield Charm had been maintained, and the method of release was clearly his own work. Afterpleting such an examination, his heart rxed slightly, but he still felt that he was a bit off today, so he stared into Slughorn''s eyes, wanting to end this conversation with him quickly. "So what exactly do you think? Sir." "You''re making me feel a sense of disrespect." Slughorn waved him off coldly, "I had been somewhat inclined to do so, but I''d rathermunicate with Parkinson and the others on these matters." Dandy thought that it was his performance just now that had upset Slughorn, and although he was not amused in his mind, he still apologised. "I''m really sorry, Sir, I''ll make amends to you when I have the chanceter." Slughorn said with a wave of his hand as if he had lost the idea ofmunicating with him. "Come on, let''s go, shouldn''t you have something else to do." Dandy didn''t linger any longer, he got up and apologised again before pushing his way out of the Head of Department''s office. Only after he had left and Slughorn had made sure that the door was unlocked from the inside did Jon step back out. Slughorn''s face wasn''t faking it, it was still hard to look at, even after Dandy had left. "We only have two days at the most, and while I don''t know exactly what Dumbledore wanted to do that day if we don''t find out..." Jon interrupted with a shake of his head. "It won''t Professor, at least now we know the way to open the door is within the Time Room, and if it doesn''t work out in the end, the big thing is that we can use a little rougher method." At that, Jon paused. "Let me try something inside the Time Room first, but it''s too conspicuous to be in there bright and early, and you''ll need to hold their attention for me, teacher." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 475: Carrow Manor Chapter 475: Carrow Manor Regarding finding out how to open the door in the Time Room, Jon actually had a solution that wasn''t a solution. What could keep that door from being opened must be a piece of magical artefact. And for Jon, as long as it is a magical artefact, he can use the second gem on his ring to destroy the magical effects it has by absorbing the magic power from it. If it really came to the point where there was really no way out, Jon could only try to absorb all the magic power from all the magical artefacts in the entire Time Room, destroying all of their effects, and thus opening that inconspicuous door. Of course, this could only be adopted as a solution when there was no other option, until thest resort, no matter whether it was Jon or Slughorn, they did not want topletely destroy the Time Room, which carried the British magicalmunity''s research on time magic for thousands of years. So after Jon got the news about the Time Room from Dandy, the first thing he did was toe to the room full of all kinds of clocks and hoursses. If one were to find one of the most suspicious things in this room, it would undoubtedly be those time-turners that had been damaged for no reason. Jon didn''t stop aftering to the Time Room for the second time and went straight to the front of the shelf where all the damaged time-turners were kept. Those golden-coloured pocket timepieces were all ced in a transparent ss enclosure, unguarded and unlocked, so whoever could open it, could reach it, like nothing would happen even if someone took it straight home. Jon took out a time-turner from it, he had already tried to turn the dials on these pocket timepieces during hisst visit, but they were indeed damaged, and there was no way for them to disy any semnce of time magic. And this time, instead of making any kind of attempt, Jon just picked one of them and used the general counter-spell on his ring to try and see if he could absorb the magic attached to the timepieces. The result was he seeded. The magic on the time-turner wasn''t that powerful, and Jon didn''t feel any noticeable enhancement in the strength of the magic in the second gem after absorbing it. But being able to absorb it was a sign that the reason why these time-turners didn''t work wasn''t because the magic hosted on it had failed, but that there was some other, more elusive problem. At the same time, Jon had been keeping an eye on the inconspicuous door, after he had absorbed the magic from the time-turner, the door didn''t respond even a little bit, Jon tried once and the door was still blocked off and couldn''t be opened as a result. After verifying that the problem was not with that time-turner, Jon changed his target again and continued to start trying. Meanwhile, while he and Slughorn were getting things together in the Department of Mysteries, Devon, Ennd. In the wilderness, far away from the Muggle towns, there was a Manor that looked like a beast lying prone on the ground in the night and was bustling with activity as a banquet was being organised for that night. The owner of this Manor was Carrow, one of the most honourable families in the British magicalmunity, and after Witching Horizon had waged war on Britain, the Purebloods, especially the old-school Purebloods whose family names were included in the Sacred Twenty-Eight, had all gathered at this Manor. The pressure that Witching Horizon had given to the pureblood families had forced them to gather together to prevent them from being destroyed one by one. And the Carrow family''s Manor was the chosen gathering ground within this circle of old-school purebloods. In fact, in some cases, these pureblood wizards who originated from the Sacred Twenty-Eight Families performed rather better than those new-school purebloods in this rule of absolute supremacy of purebloods. They were all wizard families with a long history of inheritance and had always had their own industries in the magical world, after Voldemort came to power and ruled, even if they gained more benefits, very few of them would appear to have the mentality of a thug who gained huge wealth. On the other hand, many of the new purebloods would have the phenomenon of "the poor getting rich quickly", and because of this, they have always been disdained by the old purebloods. But even if these old wizard families are a little stronger, they are still limited. In Carrow Manor, they are obviously under the threat of Witching Horizon''s invasion and holding together for safety, yet one by one, they still seem to be on holiday, three days, a small party, five days, arge banquet, and it is difficult for them to tell whether it is a nightly party or a day party. And just tonight, they were doing the same thing. Instead of feeling bad that these foreign purebloods were eating and drinking in their own home, the Carrow family, to show off their own grandeur, had even invited the Weird Sisters Band, which was famous in the magical world, to y music for the dinner banquet today. It was also at the time when the Carrow family''s Manor was lit up, thousands of candles fluttering in the night like stars, and the melodious violin and piano ensemble spreading through the fields. Looking down from a high altitude, around this huge Manor, there were countless silhouettes in all directions that were bit by bit hiding in the wheat fields, quietly approaching! Moody''s breathing became slightly short. That was certainly not due to fear, but rather an expression of anticipation called exhration! His magical false eye kept on darting around while giving instructions to Tonks beside him, who had temporarilye to act as his assistant due to Lupin''s injuries. "Tell Fidel''s squad that there are seven people in the northwest direction, tell him to round up with Arthur''s group, the two of them together will have a chance to consume all of these people." Tonks quickly wrote Moody''s instructions on a piece of parchment-like paper, then threw it casually towards thend and the piece of parchment turned into a grey mouse, scurrying across the wheat field at great speed to deliver the message to whoever it was supposed to be delivered to. "I''m already thinking about what food I should bring back to Remus after this mission tonight," Tonks muttered, saying something that made Moody frown. "In the old days, if you, if you were an Auror under mymand, said something like that before the mission started, I would have kicked you out of the team and had the phrase ''I swear I''ll never just mouth off again'' copied three hundred times." Moody whispered a lecture to her, but in the following, he was unable to hold back his gossip. "How long have you guys been together? Howe I don''t even know." Tonks, who was pulling her bubblegum pink hair, rolled her eyes. "You''re not my grandfather, do I need to report everything back to you? Remus has learnt all the bad things from you, and although he''s very manly, he''s always been a bit insensitive and bothered about his status." In response, Moody didn''t bother to be stubborn with Tonks, instead, he just remained silent for a while before saying. "It''s good that you guys settled the obstacles between yourselves, I don''t want to sit in a conference room in the future, and have to suffer the awkwardness and embarrassment caused by the two of you flirting around with each other." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 476: Attack! Chapter 476: Attack! The night was getting darker and darker. Moody''s artificial eye was spinning even faster than before, like a gyroscope that had been spun, looking at it made people worry whether that artificial eye would spin sparks out of his eye socket. After midnight, the music in the Manor finally began to stop, and those candles floating in mid-air also dimmed, except for leaving some of the guards specially mobilised from the Auror office, the other pureblood wizards all returned to their own rooms, either to rest or to start another private wild ride of their own. And just as the Aurors, who had been left to their duties, changed into their posts to begin the night''s work, the time agreed upon for the Witching Horizons'' mission at the beginning of the night arrived. Encircling the Carrow family''s Manor in all directions, led by each squad leader, they began to cast a Disillusionment Charm on themselves, the ckness that pervaded the fields was the best cover for such a spell that was slightly less effective than a cloak of invisibility, and even though the nearest squad, a squad of Moody''s, had approached less than ten metres from the outskirts of the Manor, the Aurors still weren''t half as wary as they should have been. Taking onest look at the time on his pocket watch, Moody waited no longer, he signalled to Tonks beside him and thenshed out his wand at the Auror that was already within his aim, standing on guard by the fence. "Avada Kedavra!" A dark green beam of death shot out from the tip of his wand! This sudden attack simply made it impossible for Auror to dodge, even the Shield Charm was like ayer of meaningless foam in front of the Killing Curse, and could not defend against it in the slightest! As a meritorious veteran of the Order of the Phoenix, coupled with his experience as a battlefield-tested Auror veteran, Moody''s use of the Unforgivable Curse could be said to be exceptional. Moody, an old man with an entric and vignt character, was the one who opposed the Ministry of Magic''s temporary rxation in its restrictions on the use of the Unforgivable Curses to resist the dark wizards and had persuaded countless Aurors who wanted to use the Unforgivable Curses to fight against the dark wizards to give up such a tactic. But at the present time, facing this kind of blood feud and absolute ss conflict, any benevolence was just empty talk. If the Witching Horizon had remained unchanged, with the enemy using the Killing Curse with no scruples while they remained restrained using the Stunning Spell and Disarming Charm, there would have been no way to hold out until now, let aloneunching a counterattack against Britain. Of course, because they know the negative impact of the unforgivable curses on the wizard''s consciousness, Dumbledore and a group of other top management still control their subordinates on the use of unforgivable curses. Even if they had to kill their opponent, they would not choose a killing curse if they could use a sting curse, which seemed to be more brutal in terms of its effect. For people like Sirius, who were naturally more easily affected by emotions, the use of the Unforgivable Curses had been even more strictly restricted. However, in tonight''s case, which could be said to be Witching Horizon''s biggest operation since its inception, excluding the one against the re-correctional centre, the use of the Unforgivable Curses had been fully unrestricted for all those who participated in this operation! Anything and everything could be done as long as it resulted in the expected sess! Thus, inside the Carrow Manor, the first Auror being hit by a Killing Curse and copsed appeared. Because of the special nature of this Manor, coupled with the Aurors'' tight deployment of guards around the area, Moody had never thought that he could sneak in silently or intending to do so from the very beginning. They wanted to make a big noise and make this battle a turning point like the Battle of the re-correctional centre, scaring all the purebloods in the UK! "Enemy!!!" Right after Auror, who had been hit by Moody''s first killing curse, fell down, an ear-piercing yell that was enchanted by a sound amplifying charm spread throughout the entire Manor! And in the next second, countless Witching Horizon Wizards who had been crouching on the ground rose up! Their division ofbour was clear, there were four squads upying the four directions of south, east, west and north suddenly thrust the wands in their hands into the ground, an invisible magical power was connected and shrouded, and the Anti-Apparition Charm, which was not considered to be too potent but could be activated temporarily, was instantly established! At the same time, countless green lights lit up! The curse representing death apanied by the cold night breeze swept through the entire Carrow Manor, and all the rooms in the Manor that were originally darkened lit up, the pureblood wizards who are Death Eaters were able to maintain the most basicposure except for the tension of being suddenly attacked. But those purebloods who had long since never had a wizard fight and were used to being pampered had no way of suppressing their inner trepidation! Witching Horizon had conducted a public trial in France, and the purebloods had been informed of the trial and gallows through a variety of channels long ago. A great future was still waiting for them to enjoy, no one was willing to just die here like this, much less have a rope put around their necks and be hanged on a high tform in front of arge crowd! However, just as these panicked purebloods wanted to use Apparition to escape at the first opportunity, their figures flickered for a moment, and in the next second, they didn''t appear at the expected location of Apparition Manifestation, but instead, they remained stuck at the original ce. Now, the fear within them had beenpletely stirred up. The purebloods who were still sharp-witted turned their heads and rushed towards the room that was connected to the Floo Network and housed the Floo Powder, while those who hadn''t reacted yet attempted to find the Flying Broom and make a breakout from the sky. But before those purebloods who had found their flying brooms were ready to mount their brooms and rush out of the window, a dozen or so things that resembled Muggle TV antennas were erected around the manor. And the flying broom that had already risen into the sky lost all of its flying capabilities under the magic interference of these antennae, turning into an ordinary broom that was disliked for being difficult to use when sweeping up the ground! At the same time, after the flurry of a bunch of killing curses was over, countless small baseball-sized orbs were thrown into the Manor by the Witching Horizon''s wizards using the levitation charm! "Boom!!!" A huge rumble rang out, and just under this round of explosions, almost all the walls of the entire Manor were blown down, and those Aurors who were barely able to dodge and survive the barrage of killing curses were forced to retract within the Manor''s buildings! The inventions of the Weasley twins, for the first time, yed a great role in the wizard war zone! With such an opening, Moody took the lead and led all the wizards of the Witching Horizon tounch a charge against the Carrow Manor! The purebloods in the Manor were plunged into a state of chaos, there was no absolutemand here, everyone was in a high position, and even if someone wanted to set up a chain ofmand, no one would obey anyone. The vast majority of the purebloods had crowded into the only room from which they could escape together, the Floo Network firece! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 477: Lucius Leads the Charge Chapter 477: Lucius Leads the Charge The scene was too chaotic. There weren''t many purebloods who chose to hide in this ce that was fully positioned for battle by their enemies, and at the first sign of danger, of course, the only thing they could think of was to run away. With Apparition magic restricted and no way to fly, the only way out now was this firece, and it was impossible for all of them to leave at once, the amount of Floo Powder was even more limited, and the Carrow family never considered that they would end up reduced to the point where they would have to rely on the firece to escape. And so the scramble began. Before Moody and the others couldpletely break through the Auror''s defences and fight their way into the manor, these purebloods had already begun to run amok all by themselves. Whether they were male wizards or witches or children who hadn''t gone to magic school yet, all of them were scrambling to be the first to squeeze over to the direction of the firece, theypletely lost the so-called pureblood''s dignity and etiquette of the past, and only thought of escaping from here at the first opportunity. After two or three purebloods scrambled for the Floo Powder fast enough, and ignoring the amount of powder they were using, grabbing a handful of it and sprinkling it into the firece, the atmosphere became even more pressing among the rest of the purebloods. With the amount of Floo Powder remaining, everyone knew that at least two-thirds of the purebloods on the scene would not be able to escape, and would inevitably be left behind, and whoever could get their hands on the Floo Powder first would be able to sessfully escape! After understanding this situation, there was immediately a portion of purebloods who were inherently evil and vicious raised their wands in their hands! When dealing with half-bloods and muggle-borns, they were able to act recklessly, and if necessary, when they confronted purebloods of the same ss, they could of course also raise their wands without any psychological pressure! This is also the reason why Witching Horizon nned to keep the Floo Network as the only channel to escape, as long as there is a hope to escape, then these people will hold on to the faintest hope that the one who can escapes should be themselves, and no longer think of resisting, and even kill each other for the sake of this faintest hope! The situation is now developing towards what Moody had envisaged at the beginning, and just when the scene is about to unfold into a big chaos that will decide who are the people with the chance of escape in the end, a sharp and loud incantation sound suddenly rang out amid all the chaos! "Confringo!" "Boom!" Under the shrieks of the countless purebloods in the vicinity, the firece, which was their only hope of escape, was blown apart by a sting curse! A few purebloods who were closest were hit by the bricks that shattered apart, and some were even unlucky enough to be hit in the head, suffering a bloody head injury on the spot. And most of the purebloods were looking at the originator with a shocked face, whose face was flushed red and panting heavily! "Lucius! What are you doing!" The owner of this Manor, the younger of the Carrow siblings - Alecto Carrow - screamed and cried out. Meanwhile, in the very next second, there were countless wands aimed at Lucius, while his wife, Draco''s mother, Narcissa, nervously grabbed her husband''s arm. Lucius'' mind was also now almost nk! But he calmed down incredibly quickly in the face of the wands of his fellow pureblood peers around him! He knew full well that he was making the best decision, and only this decision could possibly result in the maximum survival of those present! "It''s a trap!" He bellowed, and that voice, which was loud enough to silence all the cacophony in the room even without the use of a sound amplifying charm, silenced the scene in an instant. "This must be a trap set by Dumbledore''s group! I don''t know how the news that we''re all here leaked out! But besieging us here and leaving only one firece to get out must be what they want to see! If we kill each other for this only way to escape, it''s all over for everyone! There wouldn''t be more than five of us who could get out!" "So you blew it up! And let us all die here!" Amycus Carrow screamed in a near-emotional breakdown as well, but Lucius didn''t flinch as he red angrily at the Carrow siblings! "The Witching Horizon hasn''t breached in yet! Those Aurors are all still holding out in the surrounding area! There are still so many of us here, who say everyone is bound to die! Each of us is holding a wand in our hands! Not holding a useless stick!" Amidst Lucius'' roar, the people who had regained their senses gradually increased, and they soon realised that he was absolutely right. If they really put all their hopes on the firece, then the people present would only die or be mostly wounded before the Witching Horizon''s wizards could even attack. And if they dared to return to fight back at this time, whether they really wanted to repel the enemy or take advantage of the chaos to escape, then there was still a chance to live! If the firece hadn''t been blown up, of course, no one would have listened to such a sensible statement from Lucius, but now that their only safe escape route was gone, there was no room for choice. Lucius watched as the scene finally calmed down gradually from the madness and chaos, and his heart, which had been racing, sighed with relief. It wasn''t out of any desire to preserve the purebloods present that he had made such a risky move, it was just that he and Narcissa simply couldn''t rush anywhere near the firece, and if they continued to let things go on like this, the couple would surely die! Lucius didn''t want to die, and he didn''t want Narcissa to die with him. So he had to think of a way to stay alive, and the only way to stay alive right now was this! He didn''t know how many people from Witching Horizon hade this time, and he wasn''t sure how long those Aurors could hold out, but at least it wasn''t an absolute dead end like the firece dilemma! Subsequently, as the initiator of the proposal of turning around and resisting, coupled with themand experience of having once served as the head of the Auror''s office for many years, Lucius rightfully gained the temporarymand of everyone present. He immediately divided all the purebloods present into a group that could be used asbatants and a group of old, infants, weak women and children. Thetter group were all left behind in the Manor. Of course, Lucius knew that letting these people stay behind would leave them all to be trapped to death here unless the Death Eaters and Aurors could turn the tables on them. So Lucius left a few young purebloods that he could trust and left the old, infants, weak women and children to them, which also included his wife Narcissa, so that they could keep an eye on the situation of the battlefield outside, and once there was an opportunity they would immediately take all of them to escape from here. Lucius gave Narcissa onest deep look, and then led the others out of the Manor without any hesitation! He wasn''t doing it for any pureblood honour, much less for his allegiance to his lord, he just wanted to save his family as much as possible. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 478: The split that occurred before it even started Chapter 478: The split that urred before it even started Lucius led the group of purebloods and walked down the Manor. In fact, he did not expect to be able to win with this group of rabble. As long as these people can listen to hismand, and salvage a little bit of the situation that has obviously be extremely poor, then everyone still has the hope of escaping. But there were some among the purebloods who didn''t see it that way, even though Lucius had already confirmed hismand. "We can''t just charge out blindly." Amycus, the highest-ranking person of the Carrow family in the Death Eaters and a former professor at Hogwarts Castle said grimly. "Don''t forget how we concealed this ce, with the protection of the Fidelius Charm, as long as the Secret-Keeper doesn''t divulge the secret, no one can find this ce at all! But now the Witching Horizon people are here unexpectedly! I wonder if we should get things straightened out on our internal affairs first!" Lucius was annoyed, of course, it wasn''t as if he hadn''t thought about it. The reason why the purebloods were all gathered at Carrow Manor, not afraid of being wiped out, was because they had absolute confidence that they could hide in this base, and even back when everyone had just moved in, the Carrow family had once said boldly that even if the British Ministry of Magic was attacked someday, this Manor would definitely be safe and sound. However, the Ministry of Magic hadn''t been breached, nor had Diagon Alley, but the Carrow family''s Manor had been knocked on their doorstep by the people of Witching Horizon without them realising it! And it certainly wasn''t that Lucius hadn''t thought about it, he was simply unwilling to delve into it, didn''t even want to mention it. At this point in time, they should not engage in internal conflicts while fighting against the enemy, right? We should all run out first, and live to tell the tale! But after Amycus said this out loud, there was definitely no way to take it back, and right here in the narrow stairway, dozens of purebloods were holding their wands in their hands and looking at each other. Outside the Manor, there were constant explosions and screams that were clearly getting closer and closer, and those Aurors were no match for Witching Horizon''s men! And regarding who exactly the Secret-Keeper of the Fidelius Charm was, only the Carrow family knew for sure, and now that Amycus had brought this issue up without immediately naming the one who had leaked the secret, it was even more so that everyone present had started to be wary of the people around them. "So who was the Secret-Keeper who leaked the secret?" Lucius did his best to suppress his anger, "You point him out right now!" "It was Theodore from the Macmin family! But he is missing! I''ve been trying to find him since the beginning, but I can''t find him anywhere!" Lucius felt himself going mad. "The man is gone then what''s the point of talking about it now!" Amycus however turned his attention to the two young wizards with nervous faces. "But his two nephews are still around! The fact that he can leak the secret means that the Macmin''s can''t be trusted anymore! We have to get rid of this hidden danger first!" With everyone''s eyes fixed on them, the two young men from the Macmin family loudly argued in their own defence. "We didn''t know about this matter at all! The matter of Uncle being a Secret-Keeper is unknown to everyone else except you! You can''t just implicate us in the offence by association!" "But none of us can take any chances at this time!" Amycus''s sister, the fat as a pig Alecto had somehow turned her wand on them and the people they stood by. The two Macmin brothers seemed to be well-liked among the purebloods, and there were quite a few people around their age who were constantly defending them. Such defences soon turned into arguments, which made the situation more and more noisy and confusing! "Enough!!!" Lucius'' loud roar silenced all the voices. He stared at the two Carrow siblings with crimson eyes and said with ragged breathing. "This is simply not the time to deal with internal problems! Either we go down now and fight for all of our lives! Or we all die here!" This time however Amycus showed no more faith in Lucius as he snorted coldly. "Of course, we''ll go and fight, but we''ll never give our backs to a few people who can''t be trusted! Let''s go!" After he finished speaking, he turned around and led the way from here, and instantly a group of the Carrow family followed right behind him, as well as a few of their family inws, who also followed along after hesitating. Before they even started to join the battlefield, the purebloods were now split into two different groups, Lucius knew that he couldn''t wait any longer, if they let Auror be dealt with cleanly bit by bit, then it would be totally ridiculous for them to try to figure out a way out of the battlefield just by relying on this many people! "Those who want to live, follow me!" This remaining majority of purebloods certainly had no other choice, they could only follow Lucius to the end of this path. And on the side of the group of people led by the Carrow siblings. With a nervous and uneasy face, Alecto came over to her brother''s side. "There are too few of us." Amycus red at her, lowering his voice to a volume only the two could hear. "It was all for you, I don''t know how you leaked it! You couldn''t exin it even if I asked you, we could only kill one person first and make him take the me in the name of his disappearance!" Alecto knew she was in the wrong and couldn''t say anything more on the subject, but she continued with the question she had just asked. "But why must we separate from Lucius and the others?" "What do you think the chances of us surviving by gathering together are?" Amycus, after asking this question to his sister, suddenly increased the volume of his voice so that the other purebloods who had followed him to break away from Lucius''s group could hear what he was saying. "Only if a small number of us separate from them and let them draw the vast majority of the attention, then we can all survive!" It was only now that these people finally understood the intent of why Amycus had made sure to split with Lucius and not intervene when Lucius had secured the leadership in the first ce. There were a lot of brainless fools among the pureblood wizards, but they almost all used their small intelligence to the extreme when it came to how to protect themselves. In this situation, Lucius pulling everyone out of the abyss and uniting them together was for self-preservation, and Amycus causing a split and wanting to form a small group to act alone was also for self-preservation. Defending their own interests is the main thing, as for the death or life of other purebloods and Voldemort''s ambitions? It''s none of their business. Their lord himself didn''t care, so how could any of these people possibly care? And so, Amycus led the men in the opposite direction of Lucius and the others, towards the outside of the Manor in an attempt to break out and flee for their lives! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 479: Big Fish (2 in 1) Chapter 479: Big Fish (2 in 1) Jon, who was still in the Department of Mysteries, had no idea about what was happening in Carrow Manor. He was still inside the Time Room conducting a detailed inspection of all the magical artefacts here, one by one, while those Purebloods who had stayed behind were all brought together by Slughorn who had found a reason to have a banquet, so no one would interfere with Jon at this point in time. As the time entered the second half of the night, Jon had already checked all the hoursses in the Time Room, and even absorbed some of the more suspicious magical powers, trying to see if it was possible to open the door. But without exception, they all failed. In the end, Jon could only ce his eyes on the bird ornament, which was the most conspicuous thing in the entire Time Room, becausepared to the hoursses that were constantly dripping with sand, it was a bit more obvious. At first, Jon didn''t bother to look into it in detail because it was too conspicuous, so conspicuous that if someone just came to the Time Room, the first thing they would notice would definitely be it. ording tomon sense, if one really wanted to make use of something in this room to make a key to open the door, then one would not normally choose such a conspicuous item. But Jon couldn''t really think of anything else suspicious in the room either, and it wasn''t beyond the realm of possibility that Voldemort was using the most dangerous ce as the safest. So Jon set his sights on the bird-shaped ornament and began his own research. To be honest it was an ancient type of magical timepiece, except that instead of showing the passage of time in the way that an hourss does, it showed the progression and regression of time through the hatching of the bird from an egg and its transformation from a bird to an egg. At first nce, one may or may not feel the magic in it, but after a closer look, Jon realised that there was no deep magical mystery in this bird ornament. The bird that hatched from the egg was just an ordinary specimen of a magical bird, and those liquids that contained it within, although it is a special kind of magical potion, it only worked as a kind of potion to help the object undergo metamorphosis, and there was nothing much more profound about it. The only thing to note was that the egg from which the bird hatched was a real and living egg. The potion in the ornament was constantly helping it to change, and that change took the form of this process of having a bird break out of its shell, and then the change effect ended, and so the bird devolved back into the egg''s manifestation once more. From start to finish the egg was unaffected, it was still a living egg, it was just that the morphing potions that enveloped it, while allowing it to undergo magical changes, also prevented it from actually hatching. Jon stared at this ornament in front of him for a long while, he didn''t readily absorb the magic power contained in it, partly because the strength of the magic power that could be absorbed in his ring''s gemstone had already reached a limit, and partly because he always felt that he couldn''t just violently destroy this thing like this, that would have a very bad consequence. Just as Jon was doing various experiments with the ornament, he suddenly realised that this thing wasn''tpletely embedded in the top of the desk and that there was a movable sp underneath the desk, which made itpletely possible to remove it from the desk in a smooth manner. "Click!" The crisp sound echoed in the quiet Time Room as Jon easily removed the ornament from the desk, and at the same time was able to see a single p underneath the base of this ornament that would allow it to be opened up! This was a very important discovery, generally, after this kind of item was made, there should be no need to open it again, just like those other hoursses in this Time Room, all of them were not designed in a way that the sand in them could be taken out normally. But this bird-shaped ornament was the only exception. Without much hesitation, Jon turned the ornament upside down and opened it from the bottom. It was also the moment he opened it that the egg-to-bird change in the potion suddenly came to an abrupt end, and then those morphing potions evaporated rapidly like drops of water sprinkled on a hot pan, disappearing almost in the blink of an eye! Only the lone egg remained inside. Jon tilted the cylindrical transparent tube and took out the egg, it was only the size of a normal bird''s egg, it didn''t look like anything special from the outside, but it could clearly make people feel that there was a weak life still alive inside. After weighing the egg and observing it for a few moments, Jon tried to bring it to the door that could not be easily spotted. At first, there was no special phenomenon manifested, but soon Jon noticed that whenever he brought the egg nearer to the door, there was a sign of depression in a spot just below the centre of the door! Instantly such a discovery perked him up, and he held the egg up and carefully brought it closer to the depressed spot, and once he had the egg fully pressed against the door, a round hole just appeared in that spot that would perfectly fit the egg in. Jon stuck the egg into the hole with precision, and in the next second, the door that had been closed tightly seemed to have a different kind of magic added to it by the egg, and then gently opened up towards the inside with an entrance that could be used for people to enter and exit! *** "Get up! Get up!" Amid a booming sound around him, Lucius pulled up an Auror who had already had one of his arms and legs blown off. He knew this Auror, in the Auror office, when Lucius was still the Auror head of office he praised a half-bloodmander, at that time he was encouraging this youngd to do his best, there was still a bright future waiting for him, but now he was already dying, breathing in and out be abour for him. Lucius didn''t care if he died or not, he needed to know about all those people out there, wanted to know just how many people Witching Horizon had sent and who the leader was! "Tell me! How many men did you see? How many of them in total took down this squad of yours!" The Auror squad establishment was usually three to a squad, and right now this Auror with a broken arm and leg had the corpses of his other two teammates lying beside him! "Sis-x... there are six of them." Blood foams kept gushing out from the corner of his mouth, and his voice was weak and dying as he finished giving Lucius his reply. And such news made Lucius'' already ugly face be even more gloomy, he angrily threw the Auror, who was already teetering on the edge of death, back onto the cold ground. Six people surrounding three meant that the people sent over by Witching Horizon this time definitely outnumbered the Aurors guarding this ce, and after the surprise attack at the beginning, coupled with the Weasley Orb''s swift and quick means of killing, many Aurors died in killing curses and explosions before they could even see the enemy''s face! Originally, Lucius thought that the Aurors might have just been scattered, and in fact, there were still quite a lot of living forces preserved, so that he could take over themand, coupled with these purebloods rushed out from the back, there might still be a chance for the situation to be deadlocked, and then he could wait for the detectionwork of the magicalmunity to find out about the situation and provide support. But now they simply couldn''t hold on! When Lucius ran down from the Manor with the purebloods, the Aurors that had retreated into the courtyard from around the wall had already been heavily killed and wounded, and now the situation had already fallen into apletely copsing alleyway warfare, and Witching Horizon''s people didn''t rush directly to the ce where the purebloods were gathered to wipe them out in one fell swoop, but instead bit by bit cleared out the remaining Aurors that were still lingering, and pulled out the living forces of the Ministry of Magic. Obviously, for Moody and the others, this is the best solution. Almost all the means of going out of the Manor have been blocked, leaving only a Floo Network that can only be essed by a few individuals, even if a few more purebloods are allowed to escape, it doesn''t matter, the more of these wastes that only dare to run away but don''t dare to respond to the battle, the more advantageous to Witching Horizon''ster invasion would be, and those that dare to stay behind and resist will be cleared out, including the remaining Auror''s in the Manor. Witching Horizon did not want to drive thempletely to extinction, the situation has reached such a point, that even a fool can see that if they continue to resist, it is basically only a dead end, it is not exactly easy for these adult half-bloods to be loyal to the Ministry of Magic, because in the end, Voldemort''s rule over the United Kingdom is still less than two decades, two decades are not enough to let those old people who have been through the previous system of magicalmunity to die, nor is it enough for the new people who have been brainwashed and educated topletely rece all the positions. Therefore, after hearing the people of Witching Horizon advancing forward while shouting "Throw away your wand, and you won''t be killed", there were quite a number of half-bloods who did not have to struggle much with their thoughts before they threw their wands on the ground, and then crouched down with their heads in their hands. These Aurors who gave up their resistance had their wands broken and were then temporarily positioned at the back, leaving two teams of people to guard them, while Moody continued to advance into the depths of the Manor with the rest of the people. The purebloods that Lucius had brought with him were hidden less than twenty metres away from Moody! They were separated by a wide ten-metre open pavilion, in whichy the Fountain of Magical Brethren that had previously been ced in the Ministry of Magic, a valuable antique that the Carrow family had privately intercepted and ced in their own home. Lucius brought the people to hide in a corner before thisrge open expanse, his previous experience as the head of Auror''s office was not for nothing, based on his rich experience he judged that the progress of Moody''s group advancement was not very far away from their group, as for other purebloods who were behind him, whether or not other people were encircling them, and if there were, where they were, he was no longer so much cared about it. It wasn''t like he couldn''t guess the little thoughts of Amycus, if there were others behind them, then they would surely collide with those who had left following the Carrows, and that would be none of his business. "We only have this one chance!" Lucius stared at all the purebloods present as he said with a fierce gaze. "Whether we live or die depends on whether we dare to fight! They are going to encircle the entire Manor, then for them to form such an encircling, their personnel will inevitably be spread out! ording to normal habits, there will be two squads in front of us, that is, a squad of six people, each squad being no more than 30 metres apart, and then the space will be continuouslypressed inwards!" "To this position, the distance between the two squads should already be less than 20 metres, even if they are fast, they can only gather all the people within 50 metres within a short period of time, that is to say, three different squads with a total of 18 people, and our current number of people is far more than theirs, as long as things go well, there is a good chance that we can still rush out! " Lucius''s words made the purebloods around him perk up a lot, if it was really like what he said, then there was indeed a good chance. But in fact, there are still some possibilities Lucius did not speak out bluntly, generally, this kind of encirclementwork will not be only oneyer, the innermostyer is now a squad for 20 metres, and if there is an experienced person to lead the troop, the periphery will surely be arranged two moreyers of the "big" along the 20-metre gap, so once they really attracted the attention of the Witching Horizon Wizards, they will not be able to escape from the. So once they really attract the attention of these Witching Horizon Wizards, there will definitely be more than just three squads of 18 wizards targeting them in the siege. But now is the time when the purebloods need morale and confidence, so of course Lucius won''t say such a truth, he can only hope that everyone''s desire to survive here is firm enough, and then maybe a miracle will happen. Just a little further away, there is also the voice that keeps shouting through the amplifying charm for Aurors to put down their wands and surrender is getting closer and closer, and through that Fountain of Magical Brethren, Lucius can already vaguely see the silhouettes of that group of two Witching Horizons squads when he gave the order to charge! "Charge!!!" The purebloods around him were on full alert, and just the moment they heard Lucius'' voice ring out, the desire to stay alive took over all of their brains, so they raised their wands in their hands without hesitation! "Avada Kedavra!" "Stupefy!" Those who could use the killing curse naturally used it without hesitation, while the purebloods who hadn''t learnt the killing curse ultimately knew that they wouldn''t be able to kill anyone even if they used it, so they used the stunning spell. Almost instantly, green and red lights intertwined in the middle of the open expanse! At the same time as they had fired the spells, led by Lucius, the purebloods rushed out of this corner where they were hiding, and using that Fountain of Magical Brethren as a cover, they began to startunching an attack on this Witching Horizon squad! The target they chose was very coincidental, this team of six happened to be the squad led by Moody and Tonks! The moment he heard the killing curse''s incantation sound, Moody''s professional Auror experience came into y, he yelled "Lie down", at the same time waved his wand and immediately used transfiguration to turn a handrail of the staircase that was shattered in the explosion in front of him into an iron shield across the ground! The killing curses and stunning spells struck the shield like rain, and Moody had already roughly judged the number of people in Lucius''s group from the denseness of the spells. Now that the Aurors had all beenpletely cleared out, there would only be one type of person who could still organise such a group of resistance within the Manor! Moody knew that they had encountered a big fish! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 480: The Secret Room in the Hall of Time Chapter 480: The Secret Room in the Hall of Time It was a small secret room, and when Jon walked in, four or five candles were suddenly lit up on the surrounding walls, illuminating the space. Not only was it a small space, but all the furnishings within the room were also simple; there was a bed, a desk, a row of bookshelves, and a mirror stand that was supposed to be a mirror, but at the moment it was missing the mirror on it. Jon quickly shifted his gaze to the small wooden box on the desk, which was the only thing that could store items within this room. But when Jon picked it up and opened it very easily, he didn''t find a single item in it. The wooden box was as empty as this secret room like there was nothing in it, and Jon sped up his search through the entire room and still found nothing. This made him frown. The time was nearing the point he had agreed with Slughorn, the purebloods here were alert, and even a banquet wouldn''t slow them down for long. Jon didn''t continue to linger in the secret room, he walked out quickly and then removed the egg from the door, after which the entire door began to close. He shoved the egg back into the clear ss cylinder while adding water to it, and finally changing the colour of the water with a spell. It was just that this effect of the egg turning into a bird required a specialised metamorphosis catalyst liquid, and with Jon''s current condition he certainly couldn''t produce it, but he could just use a transfiguration spell to make such a metamorphosis effectst for a period of time, and this kind of effectiveness certainly wasn''t as smooth as the transfiguration as it had been before, and it wouldn''tst as long, but at least it could barely manage for some time. And just as Jon had finished all of this just now, the door to the Time Room was steeply opened from outside. Dandy looked at Jon with a serious face, as if Auror was staring at a criminal. "What are you doing!" Jon''s face was as usual. "What''s all the fuss about, I just want to have a quick look here and try to see if I can get these time-turners fixed." He said as he pointed to the time-turners that were ced on the ss counter that was in a messy state as Jon hadn''t had a chance to put them back in ce yet. Dandy didn''t just listen to what Jon had to say, he took a quick nce around the entire time room, then walked in and checked around the ce, ncing at Jon as he did so. Jon acted innocently. "Hey, what are you on about? Suspecting that I would steal something from here? Would any of these broken old things look as good as the wand my uncle made?" After making sure that nothing, in particr, had changed throughout the Time Room, Dandy gave Jon a vicious re. "Get out! Don''te wandering in here when there''s nothing else to do!" Instead of leaving in disgrace at his words, Jon''s face showed a great deal of displeasure, and without hesitation, he pulled out his own wand and aimed it at Dandy. "Bloody bastard, think being included in the purebloods by the bloodw gives you authority to be reckless towards me do you! Try saying what you just said to me all over again?" Dandy''s face was also gloomy, he had almost forgotten that "Spike" is a young master from an old-school pureblood family, the reprimand he had just given was nothing special when ites to young people of the same new school, but for the Sacred Twenty-Eight Families, who had always regarded themselves as some high-level purebloods, this was a great humiliation. "You have also joined us, I don''t want to make a big deal out of it, this room is important, you can''t juste in privately." No matter how unpleasant it was on his face, Dandy''s tone finally softened a little, and Jon grunted coldly, putting his wand down as well. "That''s more like it when you talk like this. I know you have a task here, and I don''t really care about what you want to do, but the most basic order of honour and respect should not be forgotten." After saying that, Jon turned around and left the Time Room, leaving only Dandy, who was red-faced and had anger but couldn''t vent it, to stay where he was. Staring at Jon''s disappearing back, Dandy closed the door of the Time Room as fast as he could, then he quickly walked to the door hidden in the wall and carefully observed it for a while, making sure that there was nothing unusual before he withdrew his gaze. He took another look at all the ornaments inside the Time Room, that bird-shaped ornament was still repeating the process of changing from an egg to a bird and back to an egg again and again, and the sands inside the hoursses,rge and small, were all still passing by without showing any changes. Eventually Dandy left the Time Room, and not long after the room was plunged intoplete darkness, the transformation of the bird ornament from egg to bird suddenly stopped, and then the egg could no longer be transformed in such a way but just remained suspended in the liquid that was gradually turning back into a transparent liquid. Late at night, Jon found Slughorn. "I went in the room, but I didn''t find anything inside." Hearing Jon''s words, Slughorn frowned as well. "What did you see in there?" "Bed, desk, bookshelf, chair, a mirror stand with no mirror on it, and an empty box." "Are you sure that box doesn''t have any hiddenpartments or anything like that?" "I tried to absorb the magic in it with my ring, but there was nothing in it, it wasn''t a magical artefact at all." "What about the other stuff?" Jon shook his head. "I didn''t have time to check the other stuff, it was too tight, and by the time I got out I happened to run into that Dandy, and I have a feeling he already has some suspicions about me." Slughorn paced back and forth in his office. "Whether he suspects or not isn''t much of a problem, we''ll be here for two days at most regardless of whether we end up gaining something or not, but that secret room will have to be checked again, just because the box is fine doesn''t mean that the rest of the furniture is fine, I don''t think that Voldemort would go to all the trouble of hiding a ce like this and having a team of Aurors specifically to keep an eye on the inside and yet there''s nothing in there. " Jon nodded back. "Christmas is in two days, which means that after tonight, we''ll really only have one day left." Silence fell in the office as both Jon and Slughorn pondered how on earth they were going to find that thing that Voldemort had hidden. *** "Malfoy and the others have had an encounter with the Witching Horizons'' men!" Hearing the explosions and shoutsing from the distance, Amycus acted unusually excited. The people he had brought with him were hiding in one of the Manor''s abandoned utility rooms, and during this time a number of Witching Horizon''s squads had been seen passing by, heading in the direction of Moody to support them. This was the situation he had envisaged when he had decided to separate from Lucius in the first ce, and it was the only way to give them a better chance of escaping. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 481: Mirror Chapter 481: Mirror Amycus led the way cautiously out of the utility room. It had just been less than ten minutes, and they had already seen four Witching Horizon squads pass in front of them, so this was a perfect opportunity! "Whether we die or live depends on this chance! I know some of you have family still in the house, but as long as we run out and bring more chaos here they would have a chance of surviving!" Amycus made a final pre-battle speech, but in fact, in front of the choice between life and death, these Purebloods following him were incredibly aware of how to make a choice. Thus, this group of purebloods initiated a charge, they found the weakest point in the Witching Horizon encirclement, as long as they could rush out of the range of the Anti-Apparition Charm, then they would live! At first, their actions went smoothly. The Witching Horizon''s encircling at the innermost level really didn''t stop them, Amycus and the others only encountered one Witching Horizon squad on their way, and that squad didn''t have the slightest intention to obstruct them, they just let them out easily. This phenomenon further boosted their spirits, thinking that as long as the innermost encirclement could be broken through, then even if there were still enemies on the periphery, they would be unable to deal a blow to them. After that, it was exactly the same as what they thought until theypletely ran out of the Manor''s buildings and came to thewn, they didn''t encounter any effective obstruction or attack. It was like all of the Witching Horizon Wizards were attracted by Lucius and their movement. However, just as they excitedly climbed over the already copsed wall and nned to rush right through the field just like that. In the darkness of the night, countless figures in white robes surrounded the entire Manor from the wheat fields! Amycus froze in ce on the spot, and everyone around him held their wands in their hands with panicked looks on their faces. Lily, who was themander of this subsequent second wave of supporting to this troop, just looked coldly at these dozen purebloods who had just run out from the Manor, she didn''t say anything, she just waved her hand. In the next moment, red and green intertwined rays of light illuminated the entire night sky! Lucius didn''t know exactly how far they had sprinted forward. It might have been ten metres, or twenty, or maybe thirty, but it definitely wasn''t any farther than fifty metres or more, because they hadn''t even crossed this small open-air square before more than eight squads had already surrounded them. A single squad consisting of two teams, with three members a team, which meant that around fifty people had already gathered here, which was not the same scenario they had envisioned at the beginning at all! The number of people in Witching Horizon''s operation this time was far beyond all of their expectations, and the density of the sweep within the Manor was definitely not just 20 metres apart, otherwise, it would be impossible to gather such arge number of people in such a short period of time. And the increase in the number of people of Witching Horizon was nowhere near stopping just yet, it was still constantly increasing, but the number of people around Lucius was constantly decreasing! Not only in terms of numbers, but even the strength of pureblood was also far inferior to these Witching Horizon''s wizards, which made Lucius fall into apletely desperate situation. In the face of such an attack, they simply couldn''t escape, and if they died here, then the others who were within the Manor right now wouldn''t be able to survive at all! Just as some of the purebloods had already thrown down the wands in their hands, intending to kneel down and beg for mercy, even Lucius himself was already considering surrendering. A ck mist suddenly leapt down from the sky in one fell swoop! In the next second, the ck fog enveloped the entire Manor, and any Witching Horizon Wizard who came into contact with this fog, instantly felt as if his/her body had been emptied of all his/her strength, and they couldn''t even hold their wands in their hands steadily, and just copsed straight to the ground! The second the ck mist appeared, Moody reacted. "Back off! It''s the Dark Lord! Back off!" As if to confirm what he had said, the ck mist that had spread out suddenly contracted, and then Voldemort with an icy face appeared above Lucius and the others! Regarding his arrival, every one of the Witching Horizon''s wizards couldn''t help but reveal a tense expression, but even so, there wasn''t a single person who immediately turned around to run away. And the purebloods, those who hadn''t had time to throw down their wands and fall to their knees in surrender were suddenly ecstatic! Chanting Voldemort''s name. Those who had already fallen to their knees moved incredibly quickly to pick up their wands from the ground and get back up as if the person who had just begged for mercy on the ground wasn''t even themselves. Lucius was even more thankful, his body was so weak that he almost fell to the ground. He knew very well that as long as Voldemort himself came, then their lives were definitely saved. Voldemort didn''t nce downwards at all after appearing in person, which kind of relieved the embarrassment of those purebloods who had surrendered early so that they could still pull a shroud over their hearts and delude themselves that maybe that kind of behaviour which had already been a form of betrayal in the previous seconds hadn''t yet been noticed by their lord. "Do you really think you''re going to win already?" Voldemort''s voice wasced with coldness, he didn''t bother to look at Moody or anyone in the Witching Horizon as he spoke, just gazed at the old man who had stepped in, one step at a time, from outside the Manor. "We certainly don''t count it as a sure win if we did not defeat you." After seeing Dumbledore who walked over, the tenseness on Moody''s and others'' faces disappeared. Dumbledore is their absolute backbone, as long as he is present, then even if they face Voldemort himself, no one will feel afraid. "So you think you''ve got me?" Voldemort cracked his mouth, he looked like he was smiling, but he couldn''t make anyone feel the slightest hint of a smile, those icy eyes just stared at Dumbledore. Dumbledore shook his head. "It''s not that I think I can get the better of you, Riddle, it should be that the loss of the British Ministry of Magic is now too much for you to bear, and if you don''t step in, then the whole of Britain will already have changed back to what it originally was before the battle between us happened." Voldemort held the wand in his hand, and everyone in Witching Horizon was staring at the wand in his hand as well, but even though the atmosphere of the scene was already so tense, and even with the bodies of Pureblood and Auror lying on the ground, Voldemort still looked as if he didn''t have any intention of making a move. "There''s a first time and then there''s a second time, Dumbledore." "I''ve never denied my past failures, but was it really you who defeated me the first time?" "Then why are you so sure that I won''t be the one to do it next?" The atmosphere suddenly froze. The voices of the two men speaking were both clearly calm, yet one could still feel the lingering smell of gunpowder in them. And just as either Moody and the others or Lucius and the others thought that a showdown that would be enough to be included in the history of magic was about to begin tonight, Voldemort''s voice suddenly resounded once again. "On Christmas night, right in the British Ministry of Magic, we shall end this war." Dumbledore looked at him calmly and nodded lightly. "A very good offer." After determining the time and ce, Dumbledore waved at Moody and the Wizards of Witching Horizon and began to slowly retreat and withdraw from Carrow Manor. The moment Voldemort appeared, their strategic purpose for the night had been achieved. It appeared that Voldemort himself had determined the time and ce for the duel that would determine the ultimate victory of this war, but in reality, this was actually the result of Dumbledore''s coercion. As for why the time was not set for tonight, it was because no matter whether it was Dumbledore or Voldemort, both of them still had some things that were not fully prepared. *** Early the next morning, Jon could sense that Dandy was paying extra attention to him. Yesterday''s events hadn''t cancelled out his suspicions, as Jon had indeed spent far too much time within the Time Room, it just wasn''t something that could really be exined away with a reason such as an interest in the Time-Turner. However, this time, Jon didn''t intend to use the normal method to enter the Time Room, he left the Department of Mysteries at noon that day, and before he left, he even whined a lot, saying that life here was boring and that he had to face hostility from some inexplicable people, saying that if he had known that he wouldn''t havee in the first ce. And this scene was of course seen by Dandy. After watching Jon leave the Department of Mysteries with his own eyes, his inner guard was slightly rxed. But in fact, Jon was just pretending, not long after he left the Department of Mysteries, he immediately put on a cloak of invisibility and followed Slughorn back to his office, and then quietly waited for darkness in his office. Because only after darkness, the purebloods patrolling here would mention the interval time of more than 20 minutes, so that the gap would be enough for them to have the opportunity to enter that secret room in the Time Room again and re-check all the things insidepletely. Darkness quickly descended. Counting on the time when Dandy''s round of their patrol was over, this time Slughorn and Jon came inside the Time Room together, cloaked in the invisibility cloak. The bird-shaped ornament had already been repaired by Slughornst night, and the potion that catalysed the transformation was notplicated, and it was certainly a breeze for a potion master of his calibre. Re-removing the egg, he opened the door that was hidden in the wall. The ce was unchanged from Jon''s first visit, and Slughorn''s eyes were on the wooden box at the very first moment, just as Jon did when he first entered. After rechecking that the wooden box was indeed empty, Slughorn turned his gaze to the frame of the mirror that looked like it was missing a mirror. "Make sure for once whether this thing has a magical presence or not." Jon''s hand touched the mirror frame, and then his eyes lit up. "It has! And the magic in it is strong, stronger than any of those alchemical items I came into contact with in the Time Room!" When Slughorn heard Jon''s words, he took a deep breath as if he was sure of something, and aimed the wand in his hand at the mirror frame. "Revelio." Under the influence of the spell, the originally simple-looking mirror frame slowly revealed its original and true form! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 482: A Proof Chapter 482: A Proof Under Slughorn''s spell, the mirror waspletely transformed. It reached the ceiling, had a golden frame, was supported by 2 w-shaped legs underneath, and was engraved with "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi" on the top. Jon looked at the mirror in shock while his face was reflected in it. It wasn''t his current disguise as Spike, but the original Jon. The background he was in inside the mirror was also not an empty secret room such as this, it was a wide great hall, four long tables that were neatly ced were seated with students wearing Hogwarts school robes, with the ceiling reflecting the starry sky outside, ghosts belonging to various houses were gathered together with the students at the four long tables and at the very end on the high tform there was also a row of older wizards, and beside them, there was a well-worn Hat, in front of which there was a long queue of younger freshmen. Jon looked at the sight in the mirror in a bit of a daze, while a knowing smile appeared on the face of Slughorn. "You see what you long for?" Jon blinked as he touched his face and his other self in the mirror did the same. "This mirror is the Mirror of Erised?" "That''s right, you''ve either read about it in some ancient book somewhere or someone might have told you about it. This mirror allows a person to see what he desires most within himself, and the image in the mirror right now is what you desire most." Jon was certainly well aware of the mirror''s function and tentatively touched his pockets, but they remained empty and nothing suddenly appeared there. "So why did Voldemort hide this mirror and keep it here?" Jon asked as he turned his head to look at Slughorn, to which Slughorn pondered for a moment, then he took the empty wooden box from a side desk. "The mirror had been stored at Hogwarts before, I once saw it with Dumbledore when I was still Head of Slytherin. So Voldemort would have moved it here after he took over Hogwarts castle, and the Mirror of Erised doesn''t just allow a person to see what he desires, but the most important thing about it is that it can be used as a bridge between the world in the mirror and reality." He said as he handed Jon the empty wooden box. After Jon, who was facing the mirror, received the box, the image of the box naturally appeared in the Mirror of Erised, and it was at this moment that Jon suddenly felt that some weight had been added to the wooden box! Such a perception was not obvious, but it could still be felt clearly and unquestionably! Jon turned his head and Slughorn exchanged a nce, and both of them couldn''t help but hold their breath. The box was opened once more, and this time it no longer looked empty, but was filled with golden sand! This sand was obviously exactly the same as the ones that Snape had given him, although it was clearly piled up throughout the wooden box it didn''t really add much weight to the box. Sensing that there was more to the box than just the sand, Jon reached in and pushed the sand away, easily pulling something out of it. It is a time-turner! From the outside, this time-turner didn''t look any different from the broken ones in the Time Room, but as Jon pulled it out of the sand, the top interior of the time-turner seemed to disintegrate into small golden particles that kept sliding down, with no sign of depletion or defect at all, other than the dial hand spinning around. "Is this the thing we''re looking for?" Slughorn looked at the time-turner as well, puzzlement and disbelief evident in his voice. Jon obviously didn''t understand what was so different about this time-turner either, but what he did know was that they didn''t have much time to dawdle here, and once the item was in their possession, they needed to leave as soon as possible, it wouldn''t be long before Dandy and his patrols would be here. With decisive resolve, Jon closed the box, and together with Slughorn, they donned the cloak of invisibility and left the Time Room with the wooden box, which had been filled with gold sand. They returned to Slughorn''s office, and after locking the door to the room, Jon ced the wooden box on the desk. "We have to get in touch with the Professor, tomorrow is Christmas, we got the stuff in time, so what''s next, what''s the purpose of this time-turner?" Once Jon had taken the time-turner out of the box, it had ceased the process of seemingly breaking apart and sliding downwards into the gold sand, and if it wasn''t for the fact that the hands on the dial were still spinning at various speeds, it wouldn''t have been half as different from any other time-turner. Slughorn was ready before Jon even opened his mouth, he pulled a box of Floo powder out of a drawer and took Jon with him to the bedroom inside his office, where there was a firece that he had privately linked to the French Floowork. Without needing to light a me, he pinched some of the Floo powder and sprinkled it directly into the firece. "Albus Dumbledore''s office." After his words, the green mes in the firece began to rise and soon Dumbledore''s aged face was presented by the mes. "We have found the thing that produced the golden sand you spoke of, Albus, it is a time-turner with a pointer that keeps spinning." Slughorn didn''t bother with any unnecessary nonsense and got straight to the point. And after hearing his words, Dumbledore was visibly silent, it was unknown what he was thinking about, and he didn''t speak out until a long timeter. "You have done well, Jon, Horace. But even if you get this item, don''t leave the Department of Mysteries easily for the time being, and at the same time, don''t expose your identities, it''s not the right time to hit the snake." Hearing Dumbledore''s words, Jon couldn''t help but open his mouth to interject. "So Professor, you don''t need me and the teacher to be there for tomorrow''s battle?" Dumbledore shook his head decisively. "You have more pressing matters, remember my words, from tomorrow afternoon you must find a ce where it is absolutely quiet and undisturbed, and keep your eyes on this time-turner at all times, and if it hasn''t changed in any way by 8 p.m., then, as you have done today, use this firece''s Floowork again to get in touch with my office." Listening to Dumbledore say this, a strange premonition inexplicably rose in Jon''s mind for some reason. "What exactly do you want us to do, Professor?" "You need to observe one thing, one most important thing Jon, perhaps the source of it all lies here, and I am going to go and create the chance for you to do so, again this is an attempt." Dumbledore''s voice was calm. "I don''t know if this attempt will work, but tomorrow will surely reveal the answer. As of now, I''m not sure if I want to hope that my suspicions should be validated or not." He didn''t give Jon another chance to speak, just a final emphasis. "Remember what I said, always, always, keep an eye on this time-turner, no matter what happens out there!" The green mes then went out, and the bedroom became quiet again, leaving only Slughorn and Jon as they looked at each other. "Don''t me Albus." Slughorn said in a rxed voice, "I can actually understand him sometimes, it''s not that he doesn''t want to tell us everything, it''s that there are times when other people know certain things, the trajectory to the future would be skewed differently, so to be prepared for anything, he just needs to tell us how to go about it, and that''s enough." Jon shook his head, signalling that he didn''t mean to me Dumbledore, he was actually feeling a little weird, not just that the time-turner was a little strange, but Dumbledore''s reaction was strange too. But as Slughorn said, out of their trust in Dumbledore, they simply had to do what he said and that would be enough. And so, the night before Christmas passed in a seemingly peaceful manner. But in fact, the appointment between Dumbledore and Voldemort in Carrow Manor had already spread all over Europe. Every wizard knew that the war between Dumbledore and Voldemort, which had been going on for nearly twenty years, was about toe to a final showdown! Even though they knew the dangers involved, there were still many interested parties that came to Britain, who didn''t want to miss such a showdown of the century, and even more people who didn''t join the Witching Horizon, but respected Dumbledore, wanted toe over and admire him with their own eyes in a battle that was destined to leave a strong mark on their lives. On the day of Christmas, when the children of the British Muggle Society had already opened their eyes and were excitedly opening their Christmas presents, a special day in the entire history of magic came quietly. On this day, the entire Ministry of Magic was quiet. Except for a small number of important departments, all other employees did note to work, and the Atrium became as quiet as it had never been before as if this was not a Christmas. This silencested for most of the day until three or four o''clock that afternoon, when the lift, which was only for visitors, slowly moved into motion, carrying an old man, who could really only be considered a guest for this ce, into the Atrium. Dumbledore stepped out of the lift, and he narrowed his eyes at the Magic is Might statue, as if nostalgically remembering the time when it was still the Fountain of Magical Brethren. At some point, a young, handsome male wizard with a pale face appeared next to the statue as well. Voldemort''s eyes became like the vertical eyes of a venomous serpent as he stared at Dumbledore, his countenance devoid of sadness or joy. "Albus Dumbledore, I''d actually like to know if you ever regretted not burning me right in the middle of the Wool''s Orphanage instead of bringing me to Hogwarts?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 483: Magic is Might Chapter 483: Magic is Might Dumbledore shook his head calmly. "If I have to say the one thing I regret the most, Riddle, it''s not really about admitting you to Hogwarts, it''s the fact that I was actually wary of you when I realised early on that there was something wrong with your thinking, instead of guiding you properly. Over the years I have also reflected on the fact that Hogwarts has the name School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it is worthy of the title of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but it cannot be called a qualified school. At the age of eleven, children are handed over to us by their parents, but there has never been a single subject within Hogwarts to teach them how to act as decent human beings, and this is where I believe there is ack in the magical education, and you are the greatest manifestation of this problem." In the face of these heartfelt words from Dumbledore, Voldemort just sneered. "Put away that fake-assedness of yours, you know, the thing I hate the most is that you talk about emotions all the time. In the beginning, when I asked you what the most powerful magic in the world might be, you told me it is love, butter on, I demonstrated that something far more powerful than that so-called love exists in this world. A wizard''s spellcasting requires emotional fuelling, is it really love that could erupt into a powerful force? It''s human greed! It''s the desire for power! It''s the never-ending quest for power!" He gripped the wand in his hand, which was crafted from Fawkes'' tail feathers as the core of the wand, and issued a deration that was enough to highlight his life''s philosophy. "The existence of wizards is proof of one thing! Individuals will outshine the group! What does that mean? It means that this world was destined by fate to have a powerful wizard like us emerge as the lord of this world! But all the people recorded in the history of magic are a bunch of unambitious worms! All they wanted to do was to live a life of inactivity, and they even amended the Statute of Secrecy back then, smugly congratting themselves for living like rats. It''sughable, why are we so willing to hide in the shadow of this world when we clearly have to grasp this immense power before the Muggles do?" "Your theory of so-called fairness and equality simply doesn''t hold any weight, if there were no wizards in this world, and there was no difference between all of our bodies from the beginning, that might have been the case, but the existence of magic has made it so that we are inherently differentiated from muggles and doomed to be two species, the strength and weakness of the mastery of magic has made it impossible for the wizarding world to maintain this kind of false peace for very long! " "Why do I have to be equal to those mediocre people when I''m obviously so strong? Why do I have to coexist with them as equals when all I need to do to kill them is to lift a finger, which is easier than killing an ant? It''s the idea of universal love that you''ve been insisting on is a facy! The magical world is supposed to be a world of the strong dominating the weak! If I am stronger than all the others, then they should submit to me! This is thew of all things, the supreme truth that you are constantly trying to hide under the disgusting facade of so-called fairness and love!" "Ancient wizards were fools to the core, even after wielding such power they were forced by Muggles to create the Statute of Secrecy! That foolish and ignorant Gellert Grindelwald with his empty reputation wants to go to war with the Muggles before he has even integrated the wizarding world! I alone am the leader of the new age! I was born with a noble bloodline, with unrivalled magical talent, and I know the world better than anyone else! I understand what the existence of a wizard really means more than anyone else!" Voldemort''s high, excited voice echoed in the deserted Atrium. "You''re just a remnant of the old era, Dumbledore! You are simply unwilling to ept the truth of this world, and those deceptive words have been spoken so often by you have even fooled yourselves! Possessing great power and yet restraining yourself; what keeps you from wielding that power! See this statue? Magic is Might! Not that ridiculous love! Not the politicians who wielded power in the Ministry of Magic when you proimed love! The true master of this age is me!" He flung the wand in his hand, not reciting a spell, just aiming the tip at Dumbledore! Dark mist filled the surrounding air as if swelling and boiling with the mood of their lord at the moment. Listening to Voldemort''s powerful deration, Dumbledore just shook his head calmly. "If magic is truly all about might, you should have submitted to your other self a long time ago; why did you rebel against him and break out of his confines?" The air instantly froze. The dark mist that had been churning was also static as if it had been struck by a full body-bind curse. Voldemort''s face looked awful like Dumbledore had said something taboo that should not have reached his ears at all! "Don''t mention him to me!" He yelled angrily. "He''s nothing! A weakling who has run away! A despicable robber! If it wasn''t for him, I could have aplished all my goals a long time ago! If it wasn''t for him things wouldn''t have be as bad as they are today!" "Even if you don''t want to admit it, Riddle, if it wasn''t for him, you wouldn''t have been able to achieve what you have today at all, and it''s precisely because you realise that clearly, you are both equally yourself, yet you are inferior to him in every way, that you are so angry." Dumbledore raised his wand in his hand as he spoke. Voldemort''s face grew even colder, but he wasn''t so angry that he went berserk, the more it came to it, the better he seemed to be able to restrain his temper. "Whether you admit it or not, this duel will prove that magic is might, and the next step is to see which one of us is stronger, and who will be the only winner at the end of this!" At the same time when his words fell, the surrounding ck mist instantly rose up, like a living beast, surging towards Dumbledore! Dumbledore just lightly shook the wand in his hand, and in the next second, golden-coloured mes lit up from his side, meeting the ck beast head-on! And at the same time, on the lower level from the Atrium, inside the Department of Mysteries. Slughorn had left the Department of Mysteries yesterday evening under the pretext of escaping but had actually returned after leaving just as Jon had done, and had holed up in the head of the department''s office. The door to the office had been closed tightly, and Slughorn had used a special spell on it that even an Unlocking Charm wouldn''t be able to unlock it. And here they had been watching that time-turner right after noon, as Dumbledore had said, but they hadn''t found a single bit of abnormality appearing until they had both heard themotion on the upper levels. The time-turner was still rotating its needles as if it would never stop, and Jon and Co. could only keep staring at it like this. They knew very well that the battle was going on up there, and that Dumbledore was having a duel with Voldemort that would determine the future direction of the entire magical world, but there were countless doubts in Jon''s mind that he had no way of getting answered. "Professor Dumbledore could never forget that there is more than one Voldemort right now, even if he could sessfully defeat the one at hand, what about another one that is even more cunning and more powerful?" "That Voldemort hasn''t made any moves until now, I don''t think it''s because he can''t do anything, just like he sent this many people to the Department of Mysteries to keep watch, it means that he has always made ns for something, and up until now the duel between the professor and the current Voldemort has begun, he hasn''t shown up yet, which means that he would be happy to see this duel happen. So could he be thinking of letting the two people suffer a lose-lose situation and reap the benefits for himself?" There was no way for Slughorn to answer these questions of Jon''s, and he also had no idea why all of this was happening. It was also clear in Jon''s mind that since he could think of these things, it made no sense that Dumbledore would ignore them. But he hadn''t said anything about them from start to finish, so that meant he already had made arrangements. And what had he been preparing so far? Looking at the time-turner, Jon narrowed his eyes. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 484: Two in One (2 in 1) Chapter 484: Two in One (2 in 1) Actually, Voldemort has never won against Dumbledore in a more concrete sense. Didn''t win before the prophecy about the Saviour, won once by two against one after the two Voldemort shared a body, and then at present, when they were separated again, it was once again only barely a tie. And even now, it remains the same. Voldemort in fact is not even prepared enough and ready to have this duel with Dumbledore, it is just due to the progress of the advancement of the Witching Horizon in Britain was really too fast, if he does not step up to face off against Dumbledore, then there is no need for the top tierbatants toe out, the war will already be over. So he actually had no choice, if he was going to lose Britain if he didn''t step up, and would lose Britain if he stepped up and lost, then initiating a duel might still give him a chance to seed and possibly win. Yes, Voldemort knows that his own strength is notparable to that of Dumbledore, but notparable to that of Dumbledore doesn''t mean anything. There are a lot of factors that contribute to the victory or defeat in a duel between wizards, and it''s not as if you''ll lose if you''re not as strong as you want to be. Voldemort intends to try his best, even if he loses, he has specially prepared a backhand. ck mist and golden mes collided and intertwined in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic! Dumbledore did not recite an incantation, and after the golden mes held Voldemort in a definite position, he flung the wand in his hand! A bright red beam of light shot out sharply! And Voldemort didn''t show any weakness, he roared and swung his wand without dodging! The red beam and the green beam suddenly met, the intense light made the surrounding lights lose their colours! Under such a frontal confrontation of magic, Voldemort was obviously showing a bit more strain, a semi-circr stream of magic had appeared in front of him, and the tremendous impact it brought caused the soles of his feet to friction with the ground and begin to slide backwards continuously. Dumbledore, however, kept moving forward, his voice echoing through the vast hall. "You are squeezing too many resentments, too many desires. There are some things that you are actually only half right about, Riddle, human greed is indeed a very powerful emotion, it can explode into something extremely powerful in a very short period of time. But this kind of emotion will make you indulge yourself, the wizard is using the emotion to control the magic, but the magicunched based on this kind of negative emotion, which is not a power that is truly controlled by the wizard, rather, it is a wizard that is controlled by the power!" "A load of rubbish!" Voldemort roared out as his entire body rose up! Dumbledore''s spell also passed through the ck mist beneath him! After avoiding Dumbledore''s spell, the ck mist filled the area around him, and suddenly his entire being, fuelled by the mist, charged head-on towards Dumbledore himself! But Dumbledore wasn''t slow, he just gently waved his wand, and the debris on the ground grew quickly like seeds, turning into one soldier after another d in armour carrying a knight''s sword! They blocked in front of Voldemort, and at the same time raised their knight swords high in their hands together! "Rumble!" Voldemort didn''t hesitate for a moment, he silently and instantly cast a sting curse, and all of these stone soldiers transformed by Transfiguration exploded on the spot. Debris spread all over the Atrium, and just as Voldemort was about to start his next attack, Dumbledore suddenly raised his arms high. The wand he was holding was raised above his head! The entire wall around the Atrium, as well as the ceiling above, began to shake! It was as if an earthquake had been detected and the entire Ministry of Magic was shaking in response, even Jon and Slughorn, who had been in the Department of Mysteries, could feel it! Voldemort looked around in some rm, and right above him, the first cracks began to appear in the ceiling! Immediately after that, the entire floor above the Atrium began to cave in! Smoke rose in all directions as Voldemort reappeared as a ck mist, trying to dodge the falling bs of broken stone, but before he could even get to the point where he was about to dodge out of the way, Dumbledore swung his wand violently forward! The shattered stone b directly above him evolved into a huge knight''snce under the effect of Transfiguration! It then shot towards Voldemort''s direction in an unmistakable position! All the space above and below Voldemort was blocked, there was no way to avoid it, he could only raise his wand, wanting to destroy thisnce just like he did with those soldiers that had been transfigured earlier, but before the tip of his wand could light up, the copsing ceiling and the chargingnce mmed into the shield charm on his body together! "Bang!" The sound of the shield breaking made a loud noise as Dumbledore''s Transfiguration broke right through his defences, allowing all of this attack to sessfullynd on him! In the next moment, the ck mist was pressed to the ground, and countless pieces of debris buried Voldemort as if they had been pulled toward him! Dumbledore''s hand movements, however, still hadn''t stopped yet! In a cloud of smoke and dust, he continued to wave his wand in his hand, and the rubble that buried Voldemort in the ground continued to be tighter and firmer under his spell, and eventually solidified into a huge orb! "Bombarda Maxima." He recited his first incantation since the beginning of the battle, and a loud boom ensued! The Atrium of the Ministry of Magic had beenpletely smashed through, the Department of Magical Games and Sports located above the Atrium had copsed directly along with the ceiling, and most of the surrounding walls had copsed, revealing the dirt underneath. The explosion that had just urred had caused the entire Ministry of Magic to shake violently, smoke and dust rose from the already chaotic Atrium, but only a pale figure was still standing on the ground. That piece of boulder that trapped Voldemort in it has been fragmented, and the debris that fell on the ground could not be observed to have any intact human form, on the broken and unsightly floor, there was only a big spread of shocking blood-red liquid left behind, and flowed along the cracks like cobwebs, in all directions. Voldemort was dead. He didn''t even leave behind aplete body. But even after seeing that blood, the heaviness on Dumbledore''s face still didn''t half reduce, because although Voldemort was dead, those rising ck fogs around him not only didn''t disappear but instead became even more dense! "Dumbledore! You deserve to die!!!" A hissing voice came out of the blood as something inhuman and ghostly moved through those ck mists. Dumbledore stared at the thing, it was the Horcrux protecting Voldemort''s soul! The most fundamental reason why he dared to challenge Dumbledore was because of that, after the Witching Horizon attacked Britain, even at the risk that his soul would be split again and his sanity would keep on losing, he still made a new Horcrux! The illusory figure wandered through the smoke and dust, its spiteful voice constantly screaming curses and swears at Dumbledore, while it began to flee towards the outside of the Ministry of Magic. It was just that Dumbledore had no intention of stopping him from start to finish, he just stared at the broken main spirit of the dead Voldemort and watched him move away little by little and just as he was about to disappear from viewpletely! A new ck mist appeared abruptly! White, slender hands with pitch-ck nails reached out and violently grabbed the Voldemort soul that was trying to escape! "Aha!" It was a voice of celebration and excitement! Voldemort''s deformed face showed an expression that had never appeared on his face before, it was extreme fear! It was boundless fear! "Why are you here!!!" The piercing scream shook all the dust that had filled the air! At this time, Dumbledore saw the figure that had newly appeared. It was a witch with a ck robe on her body, a curvy figure and a beautiful appearance. The witch''s face was full of smiles, and she just held Voldemort''s broken soul, as if it was more rxed than even pinching a small chicken. "Finally I''ve got you." "It was Barty Crouch? Did he betray me? It must be him! Only he knows! Only he knows!!!" Voldemort screamed, but soon such screaming turned to pleading. No one had ever been able to push him this far, but all he could do was beg humbly as if his fear of the witch in front of him was ten times stronger than it had been for Dumbledore! However, that witch had no intention ofmunicating with him at all, as she directly opened her tiny cherry-like mouth and ate Voldemort''s soul in one gulp! As if enjoying some rare delicacy, after taking it into her mouth, she even licked her scarlet lips, and the evilness in those eyes and the smile at the corner of her mouth grew even more. The ck mist rose up! As if some kind of expanding substance had been added to them, they became iparably joyful and unprecedentedly powerful! The spiritual will of the two iterations of their own souls had even be so thick that it overflowed! The surrounding air distorted, and the debris on the ground began to levitate abnormally! After more than a decade of two Voldemort souls co-existing, two Voldemort now finally united as one and with the main consciousness fully upied by the number two; Voldemort pulled out his/her wand and looked towards Dumbledore, who had been silently watching all of this. "Albus, it''s been a long time!" Dumbledore gave a calm response like he wasn''t half surprised by the witch''s appearance. "Yes, it''s been about a year since I''ve seen you." And seeing his reaction, the witch in turn beamed a little, her smile narrowing. "You seem to have a very t reaction." "If you think I''m going to be surprised by your presence, then you''re really underestimating me, Riddle." "But if you really had guessed all this, why did you even start this duel? And helped me clear all the obstacles and kill that stupid me?" Voldemort''s long hair fluttered as both ''he/she'' and Dumbledore stared at each other as if the battle that had just taken ce was just a little pre-meal snack and the real duel was only now about to begin. Dumbledore, however, slowly withdrew the wand in his hand back into his pocket and instead pulled another straight, knotted elder wood wand from the inner pocket of his robes! "The one you ate himself didn''t even realise that no matter what ns he made, he was actually in your calction the whole time. You nned all this when you wanted to be Jon in the castle didn''t you?" "If everything goes well and actually allows you to be Jon after the Triwizard Tournament, then of course there''s nothing to say, it''s exactly the result you want most, and even if you fail, you''re absolutely sure that you won''t die, thus starting another n." "Over the years, your two souls coexisted in one body, although most of the time it was your will that was dominant, in the end, no one could do anything to anyone, you wanted topletely merge with his soul and eliminate his will, to be an absolutely strong existence, and of course, he held the same idea." "But even if this situation continues, sooner orter you will fulfil your objective. It''s just that Jon''s finding and tearing up the pact from that tower at sea waspletely out of your expectation, and his resistance has be even stronger, to the point where he can even regain control of the power that belongs to him and separate it from you in his body. So if you still want to devour him whole, you can only leave from your own body and find a new way to do it." "So there you have your two ns in front of you, pull Jon to you step by step through the Triwizard Tournament and then be him which is of course the best, and even if that fails then you can continue to move on to devour your other self." "But even then, it''s always a matter of finding the right time, or at least finding him at his most vulnerable state. And what in this world could be more vulnerable than a soul that was protected by a Horcrux, killed but not dead? He cried out that Barty Crouch had betrayed him before he was devoured by you, and it was by using the servant who had been most loyal to you that you managed to induce him to make the Horcrux again." Dumbledore spoke tly as if he were stating a no-big-deal, child-like shallow trick. "The hardest thing you actually had to do was how to get him to make a new Horcrux again, that was already done through Crouch, and then all that was left was how to kill him, well naturally you had countless means to do that, and using me as a knife to do the job for you was of course one of those means. You see, it''s all just what you wanted isn''t it?" Voldemort''s delicate face grew colder and colder as Dumbledore narrated. Clearly, Dumbledore had been right from start to finish, and all of this was exactly what ''he/she'' had nned! "And then? Since you guessed and knew it all, you still dared to let me seed inpleting it all like this, bing stronger than the self that defeated you on the Astronomy Tower?" As ''she'' said that, ''she'' suddenly smiled, and that smile was so bewitching. "It''s because you simply can''t stop it even if you know it all, isn''t it? The only way to stop me is to find me ahead of time, but you don''t even know where I am, so you''ll just have to be resigned to being the knife, waiting for me to appear. So what is the basis for your confidence in facing such an unparalleledly powerful me?" ''Her'' eyes nced at the Elder Wand. "Is it this Elder Wand that has re-recognised you as its lord again gave you the confidence?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 485: Death Chapter 485: Death "That wand that is imed to have been passed down from Death, after you lost to me in that Battle of the Astronomy Tower, its ownership fell into my hands, and you haven''t taken it out in public since then, fearing that I would snatch it away from you." Voldemort narrowed ''her'' eyes at the Elder wand in Dumbledore''s hand, which is incredibly remarkablepared to the other wands, and there was a distinct sneer in ''her'' voice. "But I don''t even fancy the type of longevity that the Philosopher''s Stone provides, so how would I care for such a power that has to rely on an external object? The control of the Elder Wand stayed in my hands like that until I was defeated for the first time in that battle of the Re-correctional Centre two years ago, after that it would have gone to the winner''s hand. The person who faced me then was you, and it was Jon Green who tore up the pact, but the one who really meddled directly and caused my defeat was in fact the incredibly stupid me. So control of the Elder Wand shifted to him as well, until this time you killed and defeated him again with your own hands, you finally regained control of it again." Dumbledore listened to Voldemort sorting out bit by bit about the current ownership of the Elder Wand, and without denying it, he simply waved the Elder Wand, sending silver streams of light along with brilliant after-images left behind from the path passed from the tip of the wand. Those silver-coloured after-images stayed for a long time, enough to show that the Elder Wand was fully exerting the power it was supposed to have at this moment! "It is indeed a very good wand, but then again, it''s more than just a good wand." Voldemort''s face grew cloudy. "Put away those riddles of yours, you have something to fall back on, so let''s see how it looks when wey our hands low!" After the ''her'' voice fell, the ck mist that originally seemed harmless as it spread around suddenly burst forth! The next moment it rushed towards Dumbledore''s direction. At the same time, Voldemort held out the wand in ''her'' hand, ''she'' didn''t recite any incantation, didn''t even make any wand-waving movements, but an aura of death spread into the surrounding air along with the ck mist! In an instant, a dark green beam of light pierced through the dark mist and shot straight towards Dumbledore''s direction. Dumbledore did not move, he just flicked the Elder wand in his hand, silver streams of light blossomed in an instant, and countless parchments, quills, pieces of tables and chairs, folders and so on that were flying around under the shroud of the ck mist changed their appearance in the next second. Countless golden flying birds emerged! They fluttered their wings and took up all the space in front of Dumbledore, even the ck mist could not envelop them! That Killing Curse didn''t stop there when it came into contact with the first flying bird, but rather, like an unstoppable arrow, it suddenly pierced through it, and only blew offpletely after breaking through dozens of birds in a row, shattering them and knocking them back to their original form! Dumbledore had never seen such a Killing Curse that was so powerful to the extreme. His originally deep eyes finally gained a little more intensity this time, and then he swung his wand at the items that had been knocked down and deformed by the killing curse, and the birds rose up again, their wings spread wide, and golden mes linked together to create a great golden-red explosion around Voldemort! Dumbledore took a light step back as he quietly put a ring on his hand under the cover of this golden-red me. And just as the mes erupted to their peak, the sound of clear and unusually smooth footsteps sounded slowly, and Voldemort walked out of it as if no one else was there! The golden-red mes kept trying to cling to ''her'' body, but there was no way to leave even the slightest mark, and those ck mists suspended around ''her'' were like an absolute defence, not letting Voldemort suffer half a bit of damage at all. ''She'' then snapped ''her'' fingers, and ''her'' scarlet lips revealed a bizarre arc. The ck mist exploded like a raging sea wave, creating a huge wave towards Dumbledore! At this time, Dumbledore did not make any evasive movements, he just abruptly removed the snow-white robe he was wearing. The ck wave swooped in, only spreading on the ground, leaving a trail that seemed to be corroded by strong acid. Dumbledore disappeared! It was as if he had directly turned into a gaseous state, and his figure could not be found anywhere, as if he had directly fled. But Voldemort''s face did not show half a bit of rxed expression, on the contrary, the smile at the corner of ''her'' mouth instead narrowed, and ''her'' brow was tightly wrinkled. The surrounding area was empty, apart from the ck mist filling the air, it was ridiculously quiet. Just as Voldemort gripped the wand in ''her'' hand tighter and tighter, a white equteral triangle suddenly appeared! And right in the middle of this triangle along the edges of the three lines, a ck circle emerged in it, and thest thing that appeared was a grey straight line, which drew a middle line in the triangle while making the diameter of the circle! "Deathly Hallows!" Voldemort''s voice became a little out of control. "You studied its mysteries thoroughly? That is what lies beneath the surface!" Dumbledore didn''t make a sound, and at some point he appeared directly behind the Deathly Hallows mark, wearing a cloak that would conceal his movements, a ring with a dark gemstone on his finger, and the Elder Wand passing right through the mark! An aura far more terrifying than a killing curse rose! A figure with a scythe in his hand and a grey cloak loomed behind Dumbledore! The expression on Voldemort''s face became hideous, ''her'' eyes nearly turning into vertical lines while ''her'' entire being all melted into that ck mist! "You want to use Death''s power! Do you really think that the ''Death'' is actually a god!" Just as the voice rang out, greyish-white lightpletely exploded from the tip of the Elder Wand, and Voldemort howled shrilly through the ck mist, while the ck mist turned from ck to green at some point, enveloping the motionless Dumbledore in it! In a sh, the entire Atrium went quiet, and all the objects touched by the grey light lost all their lustre and vitality as if they had been directly deprived of their meaning of existence! And Dumbledore shrouded in that dark green mist, in just a few seconds ageing at a speed visible to the naked eye. The mist affected Dumbledore, but Voldemort''s figure had be invisible as if he had been swept by that grey light and vaporised on the spot. "Plop." Dumbledore fell to the ground, his eyes, ears, nose and mouth were bleeding out, but the gaze in his eyes didn''t change a bit, it was still as grave and deep. "Jon. You must observe it carefully. What the hell is he." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 486: A world that bears the consequences Chapter 486: A world that bears the consequences The whole time Jon and Slughorn had been keeping a constant eye on that Time-turner in Slughorn''s office at the Department of Mysteries. From the beginning of the duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort, there had been constant sounds of greatmotioning from above them. They were well aware of the intensity of the duel above them, and neither Jon nor Slughorn was actually quite able to sit still here, but Dumbledore''s words were not lost on them, and they always kept their eyes on the time-turner, knowing that themotion from the upper floors was fading away and that the time was graduallying to eight o''clock in the evening. At seven-fifty-eight, Jon was ready with the small handful of Floo powder. It was obvious that once again the firece had been used to connect to the Floowork in Dumbledore''s office, it was unlikely that Dumbledore himself would be able to receive it, and it was far more likely that he had left some extra arrangement behind so that Jon and the rest of them could obtain the information they needed to be aware of. As the minute hand on the pocket watch finally pointed to 12 and the hour hand aligned with eight, Slughorn gave Jon a solemn nod. Jon didn''t linger as he sprinkled the tiny pinch of Floo powder into the firece, and soon a green me red up in it. "Albus Dumbledore''s office." The mes in the firece began to jump after he named the location where the Floowork would eventually need to be connected, and it wasn''t long before the mes formed into the ageing face that Jon knew all too well. Dumbledore''s face appeared in the firece, and he looked ahead, his voice still as gentle as ever. "To be able to see this retaining shadow, then I guess I really have initiated the final n, Jon." Hearing him sound like that, Jon didn''t know why, but his heart sank slightly as he felt that something wasn''t quite right with Dumbledore''s tone. "As we first had a long talk in my office after Horace had left from the wagon, the truth is that Voldemort himself wasn''t scary, what was really scary was that we never did figure out what exactly happened to him or what he discovered that ended up making such a huge change." "At first I guessed that one of his divided souls that had been made into a Horcrux gained a more primary consciousness, which made it possible for ''it/him'' toplete himself, absorbing all the remnants of his soul and separating himself from the main one. But apparently, every trace proves that this idea of mine was wrong, and the changes that urred in Voldemort were clearly much moreplex than that." "It was also right after you brought back that diary from Azkaban that I got to thinking on a deeper level. I reviewed the entirety of Voldemort''s initial appearance and fight with me, as well as his behaviour at the time and his bragging about this power he had gained, and it was easy to see that the source of this great power stemmed from the strength of his soul." "ording to what I thought before, the reason why his soul has been strengthened in such a way would be rightfully attributed to the reiming of the fragments in those Horcruxes, thus giving him such magical power. But again, after you brought the Slytherin portrait back from the North Pole, it was only from talking to him that I learnt that the magic to retrieve the remnants of the souls in the Horcruxes was given to Voldemort by him and that the magic itself didn''t have the effect of empowering the soul, as it was originally something that was his." "From that time I also understood that Voldemort''s real purpose of retrieving those remnant souls was really just to find his emotions and sanity that he had once lost. And what really made him stronger was actually something else, but if things were really like that, there are two selves in Voldemort right now, the one that didn''t regain his sanity is obviously the original him, and the scheming, cunning and treacherous one is obviously the one that managed to retrieve the Horcruxes, the one that cameter. The reason they became so strongter on was purely because a new soul superimposed an old one to produce such an effect." "This brings us to a more perplexing question; ording to Slytherin, one can only retrieve their own soul. It is only possible to fuse back together a soul that has been split originally, again, only if it is one''s own. And yet that newly emerged Voldemort can do the same, which means that the two Voldemort are exactly the same, yet not a split of an entity, but how in the world, can two people be exactly the same in every possible way?" In the firece, Dumbledore''s face paused as he uttered the question, the office was quiet as both Jon and Slughorn pondered the question, even Jon had always thought before that it was Voldemort''s soul that had caused the problem, but in reality, the soul can represent an individual in and of itself. Two identical souls represented the appearance of two identical individuals, and this world had seen the appearance of two identical Voldemort at the start, and it was onlyter on because one of them had fused with the split Horcruxes, and the other had not, that such a difference had been created between them. After figuring this out, Jon suddenly saw the time-turner that was continuously losing sand downwards, and a chilling thought suddenly rose in his heart! "At first, I couldn''t figure this out no matter how I thought about it, until after the end of the Triwizard Tournament, I learnt about the British Department of Mysteries, where all those time-turners suddenly and inexplicably lost their functions more than ten years ago, which made mee up with very bold spection, and so to prove this idea I began to look for all sorts of evidence that could support it. This included determining when this time-turnerpletely lost its effect, finding out about a secret that once upon a time Voldemort stayed in the Department of Mysteries for a long period of time, as well as those golden sands brought to us by Severuster on, and now that strange time-turner you found in the secret room in the Time Room." "Time, a thing that couldn''t be more marvellous, and which could truly allow two identical exact replicas to exist in a world at the same time. There was even a time when the Ministry of Magic imposed extensive restrictions on the time-turners to prevent such a situation from urring, as there has always been a rumour that has been widely circted since the time-turners were first made, and that is that the person who goes back to the past mustn''t meet up with their past selves or do anything to change the past, or else extremely horrific consequences will ur. " "And are we, by any chance, suffering such consequences on behalf of Voldemort?" Jon froze, and Slughorn''s mouth dropped open! Yes, there could only be one possibility for twopletely identical people to exist in this world, he had reversed time, used a time-turner to send himself back to a past where he had already had a version of himself, and then altered that history so that the future version of himself wouldn''t be in the same situation that he had been in when he had used the time-turner, and then two identical people came into existence in this world which could no longer be considered to be the same world as the original version! This was even more of a shock to Jon because Jon knew exactly what the original version of this world would have been like! Dumbledore would have never been defeated, Voldemort would never have been some great gentleman, and the string of stories that happened after that was created around a boy named Harry Potter. And just as Jon was digesting this striking information, Dumbledore''s voice continued. "The thought of it terrified and excited me, terrified because time was being yed around with in a way that had never been documented before, and excited because I finally might have figured out the real reason for the existence of two Voldemort living side by side. But then there was a nearly unsolvable dilemma before me, one that I have also talked to you about privately, Jon, if the Voldemort who came to this world by using a time-turner patched up his soul using the Horcruxes of the original Voldemort of this timeline, then, by what means he maintained his youth and immortality all this time?" As the question came out of Dumbledore''s mouth, Jon instantly felt like a bolt of lightning had exploded in his mind. Having already guessed that this new Voldemort had appeared using a time-turner, the answer to that question couldn''t have been any more easier to guess. And so, Jon''s murmur was almost right up alongside Dumbledore''s voice. "The Voldemort who used the time-turner, he''s still using the Horcruxes to maintain his immortality, only that Horcruxes that maintains his immortality is in another world where he no longer exists!" Slughorn pulled his hair together, his eyes widening like two eggs as he turned his head to look at Jon and then back to Dumbledore like he too had guessed the consequences if this was indeed how things were going to turn out. Not to mention that the time-turner was broken, even if it was intact it couldn''t possibly take someone to another parallel world where there was already a deviation point in time, and if the root cause of Voldemort''s immortality now originated from the same world that he had once been in, then that would mean that they could never find those Horcruxes that belonged to him, and that would mean that they would never be able to kill him! Chills ran through Jon''s body, and he had already thought of this terrible consequence as well. A Voldemort who had sanity and ambition, who was cunning and insidious, who was unprecedentedly powerful and could never be killed? "That''s almost a future we can''t even think about or face." There was disappointment and sadness in Dumbledore''s calm voice. "I don''t want this spection to be true, and neither do Gellert, or Slytherin, or Dilys, or any of them. But it''s already here, and we can''t be afraid to face it just because we don''t want it to be true, so we need to prove first if this is just as true as I think it is." "Thus, I began today''s attempt. That time-turner you guys found is most likely the ticket that brought Voldemort who doesn''t belong in this world here, and the link between him and the other world''s Horcruxes is relying on it. As long as I can kill him once and verify that he can be resurrected and the source of that resurrection is from this time-turner or not, I will be able to prove all the things in the spection." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 487: My soul is also far beyond ordinary people Chapter 487: My soul is also far beyond ordinary people "But you couldn''t defeat him at all! It was only with Fawkes'' help that you managed to save yourself at the Hogwarts Castle Astronomy Tower a decade or so ago! And what confidence do you have now that you can absolutely kill him once!" Slughorn, after hearing Dumbledore''s narration from the firece, had a kind of indignant and iprehensible feeling inside him, besides being shocked and creeped out by Voldemort''s origins. It was like he had guessed why Dumbledore had been reluctant to tell the others about his n from start to finish, because there was so little hope that it would work, and in the end, the greatest possibility that Dumbledore would face would be death! "Don''t worry, I know what you''re all worried about." As he left the footage behind, Dumbledore, who had guessed early on what Jon and the others would be thinking at this point in time, winked and smiled. "There''s no way I would have started this n so recklessly if I knew I am bound to lose, because that wouldn''t serve any purpose at all, and not only would it prove nothing, but it would also put you all in danger. So as Voldemort is getting stronger, I''ve also found myself something to fall back on." "The Cloak of Invisibility, the Resurrection Stone, the Elder Wand. The legendary Three Deathly Hallows left behind by the Death, I don''t think you''ve forgotten about them Jon, the Resurrection Stone, thest item, was brought back from the castle by you after the Triwizard Tournament, it was once crafted into a Horcrux by Voldemort. All three of these items have different and amazing utility separately, and whenbined, they do have some power that is enough to trump the entire magical world." "The world of the dead has always existed, and the Three Deathly Hallows are the things that the master of that world left behind in the world of the living, and I will use them to kill Voldemort. If my suspicions are wrong, then of course it would be best, and all woulde to an end, and our cause would finallye to an end. But if all of these things do turn out to be what I guessed." Dumbledore''s voice paused slightly at this point for a moment before he continued speaking. "Look on the bright side, at least wepletely understand where this Voldemort truly came from don''t we?" Jon listened to Dumbledore''s words, knowing full well that this was the only good that coulde of it. A Voldemort who would never die, a Voldemort who was unprecedentedly powerful and needed Dumbledore to kill him with the help of the Three Deathly Hallows, what would they do about him in the future? "There is onest thing, Jon." Dumbledore''s voice made Jon withdraw his thoughts and look up at the old man in the mes. Instead of seriousness and gravity on his aged face, he looked as if he was actually looking at Jon opposite him, with a smile. "Don''t forget what I once told you, keep moving forward, it''s enough." And just after his words trailed off, the green mes in the firece dissipatedpletely, leaving only a quiet office. The time-turner was still lying quietly in the wooden box, and the hands on the dial were constantly turning as if they showed no signs of stopping at all. Jon took a deep breath, he instinctively felt that there was something wrong with thest words Dumbledore left behind because when he said this to himself, it was exactly how he asked him to escape from the British maind to the ocean with the Hogwarts wagon. Just as he turned his head to ask Slughorn about the Deathly Hallows, a clear ''click'' sounded in the quiet office! Jon turned his head to look at the source of the sound, and it was the Time-Turner! At this moment, the time-turner that was originally lying in the wooden box floated up suddenly, and the hand on the dial also stopped rotating and pointed smoothly to the time of 11:38 marks. Then, an all-too-familiar ck fog surged out from it! Slughorn and Jon both reacted extremely quickly and raised their wands, but the thick fog, as if it hadn''t noticed them at all, directly rushed up to the ceiling of the Department of Mysteries and disappeared! Slughorn''s face was pale at this time, and he pursed his lips. "Just now, was that Voldemort who was revived by the Horcrux?" Jon took a deep breath, he forced down the tremor and uneasiness in his heart, he could be said to be more familiar with that ck fog than the vast majority of people, because just this year, he had personally faced it in Hogwarts castle! Dumbledore had simply told them to watch over this time-turner; but hadn''t said anything about it to begin with, and he hadn''t really needed to say anything at all, because the moment this ck mist poured out from within the time-turner, Jon would have understood everything. Dumbledore''s guess was right! That Voldemort who had retrieved the remnants of the souls from all the Horcruxes, rewritten history, used the theory of bloodline to rule the whole of Britain, and forced the Order of the Phoenix led by Dumbledore to be a bereaved dog was the one who had made use of the Time-Turner to rewrite the entire future! At the same time, he also intended to eat the soul of his other self in this original timeline, turning himself into the most powerful wizard in this world! Completely bing the ruler of this world! Jon''s heartbeat elerated, as all the truth was revealed, he was nervous and at the same time, he quickly made his brain calm down. "Teacher! You must take this time-turner and get out of here first!" Without the slightest hesitation, Jon''s mind was already set. Without hesitation, he directly re-closed the wooden box, then shoved it into Slughorn''s arms. "Take it away, bring it back to France, and make sure to hide it well! Tell no one the secret about this time-turner!" Slughorn took the time-turner, of course, he knew the importance of this item, if they really had any hope of defeating Voldemort at all, what was in that wooden box was the only hope! "Aren''t you going to leave with me?" "If it is only these things that the Professor had to say, then he didn''t really have to hide it from us in the first ce!" Jon breathed heavily and stared at Slughorn as he said word by word, "He''s already got his heart set on certain death! It''s impossible to use the magic of the world of the dead without paying a little bit of a price! The very existence of the Three Deathly Hallows is a great jest of Death!" "You want to bring Albus back?" Slughorn easily guessed Jon''s intentions. "I don''t know exactly what the Professor thinks he''s doing and how he''s doing it." Jon had his wand in his hand, turned around and was already walking to the door of the office, "But I mustn''t let him die here like this, I must save him!" "But he doesn''t even have the means to face this Voldemort right now, what can you do?" Slughorn was actually torn and hesitant, reason told him to persuade Jon, but he cared just as much about Dumbledore''s well-being. "Voldemort firmly believes that it is the strength of the soul that makes magic strong." Jon had stepped out of the door, but his voice still managed to reach Slughorn''s ears. "Don''t forget what you said about my magic potential in the first ce, teacher, my soul is far beyond normal as well!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 488: The Consequences would be Death Chapter 488: The Consequences would be Death Dumbledore was leaning his back against a fallen ceiling stone wall, breathing heavily while squinting to see the ck mist that was gathering. The Invisibility Cloak had fallen off his body and lost its invisibility effect, the Resurrection Stone had be dull, and even the Elder Wand looked as old and worn as a withered twig that had been dried out by the sun. For this phenomenon, Dumbledore did not show much surprise, after researching the true power of the Three Deathly Hallowsbining together, he knew that such a situation would arise. Of course, this is not to say that in the future these three things will bepletely scrapped, but Death has temporarily withdrawn his power, and it will take some time to recover. But Dumbledore''s attention right now was certainly not on the Elder Wand in his hand, he watched as the ck mist coalesced from illusory and soon re-coalesced into a solid body, and eventually changed back into a handsome man whose face appeared to be extraordinarily pale, but who had a smile on his expression at the end of all this. "Haha!" He wasughing a rampant, showyugh. "Death, very good indeed, the Three Deathly Hallows, very powerful indeed, and then what?" With his hands behind his back, he began to pace around Dumbledore, with the gesture of a tamer in a circus who holds up a whip and circles around their dying lion. "You think Death can kill me? I''m more powerful than you can even imagine! Nor can you even experience it!" His voice was high as if he were delivering some impassioned speech. "But you''re about to die, Albus Dumbledore." Voldemort''s voice suddenly lowered, the pupils of his snake-like eyes just staring at the old man. "Death has no way of taking my life! But it looks like it likes you a lot." "So even if you were able to kill me once, the power you used was again what you call that, the magic from love?" With renewed excitement, he snapped his fingers in his hand, and countless damaged constructs around him began to slowly float up and then reassemble themselves into their original form. "None of it! Dumbledore! No matter from what aspect, you have not defeated me! The one who loses in the end is still you! And it will only be you!" In the face of his sarcasm and mockery, Dumbledore just calmly leaned his back against the stone wall, he didn''t seem to have any emotional turmoil, he just looked at Voldemort in such a manner. "A wonderful performance indeed, Riddle, but before dying, can I know how you altered the Horcruxes'' resurrection method so that you could quicklyplete a physical resurrection in the same ce of death while sacrificing some of your strength?" The expression on Voldemort''s face suddenly darkened as he violently grabbed Dumbledore by the cor of his robes and pulled him to his face! "Old thing! You''re all but a dead man already, so there''s no need to find out so much anymore! How did you see that I was relying on Horcruxes to resurrect myself!" Dumbledoreughed, he didn''tugh as merrily as Voldemort, but it was full of amusement. "There are times when you''re always like this, Tom, I guess I could call you this, like when you used to go to school in Hogwarts Castle. You''re good at acting, but even the most mboyant acting is just trying to hide something, isn''t that what you''re trying to hide? That immortality with Horcruxes is an unspoken secret?" Voldemort stared at Dumbledore''s blue pupils as if he wanted to see something in them, to understand how much Dumbledore knew about him. But it could only get this far, his Legilimency were not able to break through the walls of Dumbledore''s mind, to see through the biggest secret hidden in the depths of his brain! Voldemort couldn''t hold back any longer, he raised his wand in his hand and grabbed Dumbledore by the cor with one hand, just when he wanted to kill this old man on the spot and then dig out his brain to see what was hidden inside, a dark green spell steeply attacked towards him from behind him! Almost as soon as Jon''s killing curse lit up, Voldemort''s entire body dissipated from solid to an illusory state of ck mist, and Dumbledore, who had been held in his hand, fell to the ground in response. Instead of materialising directly, Voldemort''s form rushed towards Jon like a stormy tsunami. But Jon, who had appeared in front of the Atrium door, did not make any movement, his body just suddenly flickered, a golden-red light illuminated, and in the next moment, he appeared beside the fallen Dumbledore. However, just as Jon was about to grab Dumbledore by the arm and use Apparition to get away from this ce, the golden-red light that wrapped around them flickered for a split second, but still stayed in ce! "He used that phoenix to escapest time, and now that there''s one more phoenix, do you think I''m going to make that mistake again?" Voldemort transformed back into his human form and looked at Jon, the sneer at the corner of his mouth not half fading. "Good, not only did I manage to get rid of the old one today, I actually got a free bonus. I''m curious if the immortal phoenix keeps experiencing death, can it die or not!" Jon did not reply to Voldemort''s words, he just calmly felt the Anti-Apparition Charm that was arranged here. This type of magic had obviously been specially strengthened to prevent even a special kind of Apparition of the phoenix, except that what it restricted was this Atrium linking to the outside world, and the Apparition Transfer within the Atrium, was not restricted. This limited Jon''s ability to escape directly from here with Dumbledore, but it gave him some leverage to face Voldemort here. Dumbledore looked tired,boured to the point of exhaustion, except that he still turned his head to Jon. "Are you sure about getting out?" Obviously, he wasn''t going to ask Jon the question of why he hade here to save him here, it would be sheer nonsense to ask that once Jon was here. Jon simply faced Voldemort with his hands slowly gripping the wand in his hands together, a golden-red me red up around him, exploding with an iparably hot glow after adding the magic power stored in the ring. "Whether or not I''m sure of getting out is another story, I may first verify whether or not I could survive a few moves from him when I have full magic power." Dumbledore revealed a somewhat helpless smile as he leaned his back against the stone wall and said softly. "From now on, everything is going to be up to you, just think about the consequences and I will support you in whatever you do, Jon." The smile on Voldemort''s face didn''t fade as he waved the wand in his hand, and in the next moment, ck mist surged up around him. "The consequences would be death then, I wonder if he has considered the consequences!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 489: The Apex of the Wizard Chapter 489: The Apex of the Wizard Jon stared at Voldemort, he had never underestimated this man. From the start, he had shown beyond-average resourcefulness and strength, and arge part of being able to push him to that extent before was actually luck, apart from the fact that Jon had a bit of real skill. And now he has be stronger. Jon, who understood the way Voldemort became stronger, understood that afterpletely devouring the soul of Voldemort in this normal timeline, the increase in his strength became more than just 1+1=2. And having once been able to defeat Dumbledore in his heyday even before he hadpletely concluded the fusion, he would of course only be stronger now than before. However, the point in Jon''s favour was that he had justpleted his resurrection, and his strength was definitely diminished, not the state he was in when he fully possessed a body. Furthermore, in the Atrium, the Apparition was notpletely blocked, allowing Jon to have a wider range of movement, and at the same time, the magic power in the ring''s second gemstone was in a state of overflowing,stly, there was also the Phoenix Resurrection ability. All these factors added up, making Jon feel that he couldpletely take this opportunity to try to sh and find out the difference between them. By utilising the magic power stored in the ring to enhance his power, he made those golden-red Nirvana mes reach a level that was enough to be able topete against Voldemort''s ck mist. Jon stood in front of Dumbledore; before it had been this old man protecting Hogwarts and Witching Horizon as the biggest pir, and now he could have someone to keep Voldemort at bay for him atst! And just as the red light intertwined and collided with the ck mist, Jon raised his wand high in his hand! "CONFRINGO!" He didn''t use a killing curse because he knew that Voldemort''s current level of nimbleness was enough to dodge all magic that used light rays as its manifestation toward the target person''s position, so he chose the sting curse that had arger target effect, was less likely to be dodged, and at the same time, had a notable amount of power! The added power of holding the wand in both hands, coupled with the fact that Jon had enchanted it with a little more magic power, made the power of this sting curse extremely significant! Obviously, Voldemort thought that the battle was over and started to repair the Ministry of Magic too early, under Jon''s sting curse, the entire floor of the Ministry of Magic shook as if it was going to copse. The ceilings that had been partially repaired began to copse and fall again, and a huge cloud of smoke rose in the Atrium. But even if he couldn''t see Voldemort''s movements, Jon could feel that the sting curse hadn''t caused him much damage. At the same time that the smoke and dust filled the room, a silent spell suddenly shot out from it! The bright green pir of light was as thick as a baby''s arm, and was as fast as lightning, even if Jon could fly, there was no way he could react enough to dodge it! Fortunately, at the same time when the green light lit up, his body also began to sh with red light, the whole person instantly disappeared from the spot and then reappeared again in the next moment, that is, in the time between his such a sh, the green light column hit the wall directly behind Jon, leaving a charred ck hole the size of a basketball! Jon became slightly short of breath, Voldemort''s dark magic did give him great pressure, that killing curse, not to mention being directly hit, even if it was only slightly tainted, perhaps it is also the case of death on the spot. "The way you''ve been performing has really surprised me, I''ve never seen such a brilliant young man like you before, I admit that even I couldn''t do what you did when I was younger, Jon Green." Voldemort''s nd voice came out from the ck mist, making it simply hard to tell exactly where he was at this point in time. "But even the most powerful talent would be nothing until it is converted into true strength. Your soul is surprisingly powerful, far beyond that of a normal wizard, which is why I chose you as a recement target before, but even such a powerful soul without enough time to hone its magic would only reach this far." Again, he didn''t recite an incantation, and there wasn''t even a sign of waving his wand in sight. Just in the next second after the words fell, countless pieces of debris around Jon levitated up and wrapped around him, and then each piece of debris changed into a chain that looked like a tentacle,pletely blocking off all positions on all sides of Jon! Then these countless chains were going to tighten instantly, trying to make Jon use an Apparition before he could react, and then lock him in! However, Jon''s reaction was much faster than Voldemort had expected, he didn''t use Apparition, instead he directly snapped his fingers with the hand with the ring! The next moment countless invisible and shadowless sharp des appeared around him, instantly cutting off all the chains that had been transfigured, and the momentum did not diminish! There was still energy left to fly over in the direction of the ck mist! However, these des did not cause Voldemort any damage other than creating some air currents in the ck mist! Soon, Voldemort''s next round of counterattacks also arrived, as if he knew that Jon, who had the advantage of the Phoenix Apparition, was like a slippery loach that was difficult to be caught, he didn''t hesitate to scatter all the ck mist! The entire Atrium waspletely filled with ck mist, no matter where Jon would be flickered to, he would be enveloped in it. Voldemort''s t voice also sounded again. "Want to learn just what a true wizard is?" As soon as his words fell, a green killing curse beam lit up at Jon''s side for no apparent reason amidst the shroud of ck mist! Because of the extremely close proximity, Jon almost didn''t react, only dodging away from his original position and avoiding the sudden killing curse in front of him! However, Voldemort''s attack was not limited to this, after this killing curse ended, the surrounding area likewise shed with the light of countless spells again! Voldemort hadpletely abandoned the wand and spell-casting method as if just by moving his thoughts, the spells would have the effect that he wanted them to have. This was where the magical gap becamepletely apparent, in terms of pure spellcasting, Voldemort had far surpassed almost everyone else in the magical world. Not only Jon, but even Dumbledore in his prime form had no way topete with him in this aspect! Jon could only keep flickering in the ck mist, dodging those spells, and countless thoughts shed through his mind in a sh of lightning, and soon, one thought let him be sure. If it would just be a duel on spells, sooner orter Jon would be exhausted by Voldemort like this. At present, Voldemort had already stood at the pinnacle of wizardry, whether it was the end of magic or not was unknown, but it had certainly be the end of wizardry to date. He had to find another way to escape from here if he wanted to take Dumbledore with him! And right now, an idea rose in Jon''s mind. He stared in the direction of the thickest part of the ck mist, Voldemort could not always be positioned as an illusory being, his physical body was in that location! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 490: Are you fucking dead! Chapter 490: Are you fucking dead! Just as the next green light lit up, Jon''s body began to flicker once again! This time, instead of avoiding Voldemort''s attack as his intention, he directly instantaneously moved to the side of the densest ck mist, and then extended his hand without hesitation! Voldemort did not anticipate Jon''s action at first, but after he got close to him, he reacted incredibly quickly and was immediately about to turn back into ck mist and disperse. He hadn''t forgotten how the Lestrange couple died in Jon''s hands, it was because the two of them gave up the means of using magic together and chose to fight Jon in closebat instead. Moreover, he had witnessed with his own eyes that Jon hadpleted the Phoenix Animagus transformation in his presence, a magical creature advanced transfiguration magic would make Jon''s physical qualities even stronger than before. Although this is not so much to make Voldemort feel fearful of it, but with his character of seeking stability no matter what he is facing now, he simply will not use his own shorings to match Jon''s strengths. But at the moment when he turned into ck mist and was about to disperse, Jon did not hesitate to add almost half of the magic power stock in his ring into the general counter-spell! Even so, the effect was somewhat forced, but in the end, it was able to freeze the dissipating ck mist, allowing Voldemort to retain the upper half of his body! Jon didn''t have any hesitation at all, he closed the distance not only for the sake of meleebat, Voldemort might be standing at the apex of wizards, but it doesn''t mean that he is invincible. "Sectumsempra!" He didn''t swing his wand, he just recited the incantation in a voice that was almost a roar. It was the masterpiece of someone who had passed away and someone whom Voldemort considered he could trust enough due to that person''s emotions and character! In an instant, countless invisible sharp des raged around Jon! They tore through the air, even tore through the ck mist, and collided with the Shield charm on Voldemort''s body! A tooth-achingly harsh and shrill sound rang out in the Atrium! Voldemort''s face was grim as if it had frozen to the bone, and he gripped his wand tightly in his hand. "Avada Kedavra!" It was the first incantation he had recited since he and Jon had started their battle, and just as he did so, Jon raised his wand in both hands. "Avada Kedavra!" Two columns of dark green light collided together! The entire world looked like it had turned a deadly, tragic green, and the intersection of that spell was constantly tilting towards where Jon was! Jon was confident that there was no difference between him and Voldemort in terms of their souls, they were both human beings, Voldemort was two iterations of himself, and he was a soul that had travelled across and merged with the original soul of this world! The only thing missing from the gap between them was their magic power, well Jon also had a hidden energy source at his back, he called on the magic power in his ring and turned up the output, keeping the beam of killing curse against the Voldemort''s beam and barely maintained it at an even state! Both men had put up a good fight, Voldemort knew that Dumbledore was done for; so if he could still get rid of this scourge Jon here, or even if he couldn''t kill him, he would have to be imprisoned for eternity! Then he could fulfil his ambition and no one in the world would ever be able to stop him again! Jon knew that the matter of Voldemort''s Horcruxes had not been resolved in another dimension, and there was no way to kill him today! But no matter if he could kill him or not, Jon wanted to kill him once! He had been suppressing it in his mind for far too long, a Voldemort with no nose who was just a delusional vige bully, now even if he stitched up his own self, what right did he have to be so cocky! Dumbledore, who was leaning his back against the stone wall, was still bleeding from the corner of his mouth, and the crimson liquid hadpletely dyed his white beard the colour of blood. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the two colliding pirs of green light in mid-air, trying to stand up with one hand leaning on the stone wall and one hand holding the Elder Wand. At this point in time, if he could just still help Jon out a little bit, that bnce would be broken. But he was really at the end of his rope, and it wasn''t that Voldemort had traumatised him, as Voldemort''s words had said, Death hadn''t been able to take his life but had preferred Dumbledore a little more. This use of the power of the world of the dead did note without a price, Dumbledore could clearly feel his life draining away, he no longer tried to hold on to the Elder Wand, he just looked quietly at Jon whose face had be ghastly under the green light and murmured softly. "Be sure to move forward, Jon." Jon was indeed moving forward! He pressed nearly his entire body strength upon that wand in his hand, and the magic power stored in his ring kept filling up on top of the killing curse as if he didn''t need any magic power! Voldemort''s face looked like it was close at hand, and that grim to the core face began to gnash the teeth! Both of them are immortal, but Voldemort clearly knows that he is already invincible amongst wizards, while Jon is like an undying cockroach, making him sick to his stomach but unable to do anything about it. One of Jon''s hands let go of his wand, and he began to reach ever forward, passing through the Shield Charm that had been torn to shreds around Voldemort by the invisible sword curse, and eventually grabbing hold of the thick ck hair! "Also! Thanks to you! Now! There''s hair for me to grab!!!" At the same time, Jon yelled out, the wands in both his and Voldemort''s hands finally couldn''t resist such a powerful torrent of magic! They exploded with a loud bang! Jon by this time had a death grip on Voldemort''s hair, while Voldemort also grimaced and grabbed his cor with one hand! The two men tore and rolled from mid-air to the ground, smashing a huge crater in the marble floor of the Atrium! With both hands free, Jon gave Voldemort''s straight nose a punch with nearly all the force of his body! "I''ll knock your nose out again!!!" He screamed, Voldemort''s nose was obviously broken, and blood and tears couldn''t be stopped, but he just grunted, the madness and fury in his eyes were almost ready to explode! The ck robes that were about to be shredded into rags turned into countless vipers under his control, slithering and hissing to tear Jon''s body! Jon, however, acted as if he hadpletely given up on defence, not caring at all, as he let those vipers bite him all over his body, piece by piece of flesh constantly falling off, but he still insisted on tightly grasping Voldemort''s head to stick close to his body! "Sectumsempra!!!" "Pfft!" The sound of a sharp de entering flesh rang out! Blood blossomed like a flower! Voldemort, whose body waspletely torn apart by these invisible sharp des, revealing the white bones of his body, finally couldn''t help but let out a low roar like that of a wild beast! He also pressed his hand against Jon''s face, and the nails of all five fingers had pierced into Jon''s flesh and blood as if he wanted to tear off his face skin! But a burst of golden-red mes suddenly erupted from Jon''s body at this time! His tears traced past the corners of his eyes, and where the tears passed through, no matter what kind of wounds were sustained, they wouldn''t remain, nor would they be half as painful! The phoenix had not only granted him the nirvana of immortality, but it had also given him the most precious holy medicine in this world! Voldemort finally felt panic at this time! He realised that he had no way to fight against Jon no matter what means he used, and now Jon had the means to threaten him! But in fact, if he could think a little bit more, he could feel that the intensity of the invisible sword curse that Jon had unleashed now was simply inferior to the one he had used before, not even close to half a potent. The magic power in the ring had beenpletely squandered by Jon, and if he continued to fight magic now, then Jon would surely die! Voldemort originally thought that he was already invincible, but now he was forced by Jon to this point, which produced a sense of disorientation so that he had no way to go back to normal thinking! Jon, however, remained calm! He stared at Voldemort''s face, and a bright red tail feather appeared in his hand at an unknown time! The tail feather was held high in his one hand, the root of the feather didn''t look sharp, but at the moment it was more soul-crushing than any sharp knife in the world! Then the feather was mmed down heavily by Jon! Hard into Voldemort''s eye socket! "Are you fucking dead or not!!!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 491: Death and Resurrection Chapter 491: Death and Resurrection It was like the whole world had stood still. Jon''s mangled body was covered in blood, like a rag doll stained red. But Voldemort''s condition was undoubtedly even more miserable. There wasn''t a single piece of his entire body that was intact, and that handsome face was now also being cut by invisible sharp des, and some parts of it had even been exposed to the bone! And at this moment, the tail feather plume root held in Jon''s hand had already deeply entered Voldemort''s left eye socket! "Ahhhhhh!!!" The extreme silence was followed by a howl of pain as if it could tear the space apart! Voldemort''s entire body shook as his eye, which had beenpletely poked and blinded, spurted out columns of scarlet blood! His body struggled, the pain, which was a hundred times more intense than the Cruciatus Curse, made it seem as if his entire consciousness was about to be lost! His mouth was slurred as he tried to recite an incantation, but he couldn''t recite any incantation at all, and he could only keep making a "whimpering" sound, causing the surrounding ck mist to gather and form a huge repulsive force, wanting to shake Jon away! However, Jon was still gripping Voldemort''s hair tightly, as if he was trying to pull his scalp off! Instead of letting go of the feather in his hand, Jon mmed it even harder into Voldemort''s skull and then struggled to stir it! "Are you dead or not!!!" Blood interspersed with some white stuff sttered onto his face, but Jon, still had his eyes set on Voldemort on the ground, continued to smash down the feather until the tail feather had snapped in half! And the corpse on the ground had long since ceased to move, leaving only one utterly disorientated eye, hideously ghastly, still staring at Jon. Jon gasped raggedly as he looked at Voldemort''s bloodied face and suddenlyughed silently. "You''re human too, and you''ll die if you''re killed." Then he staggered to his feet, blood still dripping from his body, those wounds from the poisonous snake bites had begun to cken, and Jon''s vision had begun to blur. But he remained steadfast to keep his consciousness from passing out, knowing that now was not the time to rx. Jon staggered over to Dumbledore, who had fainted at some point, the closed eyes tightening his brow like he hadn''t been sure who the final winner would be before he passed out. The blood-stained hand grasped Dumbledore''s pale hand, and Jon fell helplessly to his knees. He didn''t have half the strength to stand again, but the levitation charm on his ring still worked. Carrying him and Dumbledore with him as they moved slowly towards the area outside the Atrium, finally, Jon sensed the range of the Anti-Apparition Charm out of range while his breathing grew fainter and fainter and the light in front of him grew dimmer and dimmer, and just as his heartbeat was about to stop beating, a faint, golden-red light began to spread from his body. After wrapping Dumbledore and himself, the two figurespletely disappeared from the Ministry of Magic. This battlefield finally returned to silence. Only the blood stains on the ground, the copsed walls, the densely packed gravel craters, and the corpse lying on the ground with half a feather stuck in its eye socket could still prove what had actually happened here. An unknown amount of time passed, it could have been ten minutes after Jon left with Dumbledore, or it could have been half an hourter. Dandy and the other Death Eaters, who had been guarding the floor below the Atrium, finally came to the Atrium with fear and trembling after they had never heard any follow-up sounds. Then they saw a scene in front of them that looked like it had been ravaged by a hurricane. Just as Dandy and the other two people he brought with him looked around with shocked faces, one of them suddenly couldn''t help but lose his breath and scream. "You guys look!" Dandy turned his head to look in the direction that the Death Eater''s gaze was facing, followed by his pupils instantly clenching to the size of pinholes as well! "My lord and master." He muttered, simply unable to believe that the corpse lying on the ground was the one he had once sworn allegiance to for the rest of his life! "It really is Lord!" The Death Eater who had been the first to spot Voldemort''s corpse finally reacted, his teeth chattering as he couldn''t help but cry out in shock! "The lord is dead-d dead dead! Dumbledore has won!" As this sentence came out of his mouth, the same message rose in the minds of Dandy and the other Death Eater! They couldn''t help but hold their breath as they gathered around the side of Voldemort''s corpse, and they couldn''t deny it any longer! As loyal followers of Voldemort, none of them had ever thought that such a powerful person would have the possibility of dying. Especially dying in the middle of such a duel, the death was even more miserable! "What to do. What should we do now?" One of the Death Eaters raised his head and shivered as he looked at the other two. But even Dandy, who was usually always clear-headed, was at a loss at this time. Voldemort was their spiritual belief, and now that such a belief had copsed, what were they supposed to do? Wait and ept the liquidation of Witching Horizon? Or stay here to apany their lord and die a martyr''s death? Dandy and the others were at a loss for words, and they didn''t even know if they should spread the news immediately. And just as they were looking at the corpse in a daze, a ck mist that appeared from nowhere suddenly enveloped the ce! All three Death Eaters were knocked to the ground by an inexplicable force. The ck mist was injected into Voldemort''s broken body, and then a pale hand was raised. He braced himself on the ground and slowly stood up, and that originally tattered body began to continuously heal, and even the tattered fabrics began to return to their original state as if time had reverted. Right after he stood uppletely straight, a pale hand took hold of the broken tail feather and slowly pulled it out of its own eye socket! The scenepletely froze the Dandy trio in their tracks. And right after Voldemort resurrected, he just coldly nced at the three Death Eaters who were frozen in ce and then waved his hand. In the next moment, a miserable green light re-covered this space. There was no sound of the dead wailing until the bodies fell to the ground, they did not realise their own deaths, leaving only a muffled sound of "thumping". Voldemort''s face was even paler than before. There was not much fluctuation in his gaze, but the corner of his icy mouth curled up slightly as he gazed at the puddle of blood in the distance. "Very well. Jon Green, you really are far beyond my expectations every time. But do you really think you can change anything?" *** [This volume now ends here, the next volume will be the final volume which will end in a month or 2.] -- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 492: Sleep for a while Chapter 492: Sleep for a while Jon felt his body getting hot. But not the scalding kind of hot, more like being soaked in an overheated hot spring, which wasfortable at first, but as time went on, the water got hotter and hotter with each passing second. So high that it seemed to want to scald his skin off. Then he sat up violently from the floor. After waking up Jon felt great, originally every part of his body was hurting, but now except for his mind which was still a little groggy from over-exertion, he didn''t have a single bad feeling left in his body. The first thing he did was look at his hands, and after noticing the pale, white fingers, he was sure that he had in fact died once before. This was a bit of a headache, but it was no big deal. It was just a younger physical body, and that was a small price to paypared to actually dying. And it was then that Jon surveyed his surroundings. Thest Apparition he had used before his death had apparently taken Dumbledore with him on his run from the British Ministry of Magic, and he remembered that the location he had chosen at that time had been in that temporary Hogwarts establishment in Lyon. And now they did arrive at the ce, except that there was no one around and it was empty. Dumbledore was lying on the floor, his eyes still shut tightly and showing no sign of waking up, and Jon had re-established that he still had weak breathing and a heartbeat one more time before he tried to see if he could find someone from the already empty school. "It looks like you''ve arranged ahead of time, Professor, to decide that your suspicions were right and that you''d die there as well, and to let everyone at Witching Horizon leave." Jon whispered as he crouched down next to Dumbledore after searching all over the school and finding no one. After figuring out all the causes and consequences, it was easy to guess Dumbledore''s arrangement. Even if he hadn''t got the proof yet, he had already suspected that the truth was really as he imagined, and was ready to meet his own death. So he withdrew all of Witching Horizon''s manpower in Britain, and the French side is expected to have made all the arrangements; like at this time, the Hogwarts premises have be empty. Because, once it is proved that Voldemort really never can be killed, and he dies in this duel, then Voldemort who ispletely free from the restrictions will be unbeatable, and everything in Witching Horizon will also be an empty shell. So Dumbledore, to protect the safety of other people. Definitely prepared for everything. Jon sat down beside Dumbledore, his spirit was still tired, physically the state could be changed back to the best with the Nirvana rebirth, but there was no way for his already exhausted mentality to recover so quickly. He grabbed the grassroots on the ground and looked at the formerly cheerful campus which had be a bit depressed at this time, only the two of them were left alone, even Fawkes, who had always been inseparable from Dumbledore in the past, was nowhere to be seen. "What other ce in the world do you feel at ease and still make a stand against Voldemort?" Jon, whose outward age had changed back to six, cocked his head at Dumbledore, who had no way of answering his question, but he didn''t actually need Dumbledore to say anything, he had already given the answer himself. He took Dumbledore''s hand in his, and a golden-red glow wrapped around them once more, and then this temporary Hogwartspound waspletely devoid of human presence. The students of Hogwarts were enjoying Christmas dinner. But even if the environment here wasn''t actually that unfamiliar to them, and the owner of this castle showed great warmth to them for travelling all the way here, the students were still a bit fidgety. "Why are we leaving Lyon so suddenly?" Justin looked at therge roasted turkey on the long table with a distinctly nervous expression. Ron had two pieces of bacon on the te in front of him, but it didn''t look like he was about to pick up his knife and fork with an appetite for it, instead his brow was furrowed. "It wasn''t just us, although George and Fred and the others did their best to keep it under wraps, I found out that they had alle back from Britain, including Moody and the others. Then they left France with us as well, Professor McGonagall and the others said nothing to us, just told us to do as we were told." Neville''s face was actually much harder than Ron''s and theirs, as he could think of much more and dared to make those extremely bold guesses. Only he still managed to smile reassuringly. "It''s probably just a bonding of the three schools, and isn''t it a good thing that the students of Beauxbatons and we have alle to Durmstrang for this Christmas dinner?" "It would mean that there''s no one left in France," Hermione said suddenly and coldly. Neville turned his head sharply at her at once. "Hermione!" Hermione''s face didn''t show much expression, it was a little frighteningly calm. She and Neville locked eyes. "What does it mean that we''re gone, that the Beauxbatons students are gone, and that the original members of Witching Horizon who were fighting in Britain have withdrawn?" Her words caused the atmosphere at this long table to freezepletely. And by this time Gabrielle was catching and jumping around with Nick, bouncing over from Beauxbatons''s side of the long table wearing Christmas hats together, and was just about to open her mouth happily when she was caught off guard by the atmosphere in the ce. The forced smile on Nick''s face was even less able to continue when he heard Hermione''s words, he was still trying to be funny, but there was no way to hide the sadness that was showing in his eyes. The entire long table of Hogwarts was infected, even the freshmen who had just enrolled this year and those who hadn''t really understood the situation yet also fell silent. "Today Professor Dumbledore is going to have the final life-and-death duel with Voldemort, but at this time we have moved to Durmstrang ahead of time, if it were just us it wouldn''t be a problem, even the frontlinebatants of the Witching Horizon have been withdrawn, isn''t it obvious that the situation is like this?" Hermione''s voice was like a hand ripping away the veil that hid the truth from the surface,pletely bringing that possibility to everyone else''s mind. "Professor Dumbledore." Lavender''s voice had taken on a sobbing tone, "Does he know he can''t beat the Dark Lord?" There was silence at the long table, no one could answer that question of hers, it was as if no one had even dared to voice that possibility as Hermione had before. And the subdued atmosphere in the area where Hogwarts was seated made the other Durmstrang as well as the Beauxbatons students, who were celebrating the dinner, notice something strange. Not to mention the high dais, where the professors sat overlooking all the student seats. Grindelwald, who was sitting in the middle of the tform, of course, saw this scene, only he didn''t show anything, while at his side, McGonagall, who hadn''t said a word since she sat down, suddenly left the table and came to the long table of Hogwarts. The only other person who had led these students to Durmstrang this night, besides her, was a French professor from Beauxbatons. And everyone else was waiting for the final word. But before Dumbledore had left France, McGonagall had finally learnt something about the inner workings of the situation, and although she didn''t yet know exactly what the arrangements were, Dumbledore had already informed her of the worst possible consequences. When she arrived at the long table of Hogwarts, all the students looked up at her, some nervously, others expectantly, as if hoping that she would refute what Hermione had said and give some other exnation. But after she opened her mouth, she just whispered. "Eat well and get through tonight, anything else will wait until tomorrow." The low mood spread across the long table, and instead of exining, McGonagall just seemed to adopt a stance. Hermione''s words weren''t denied, Lavender''s question was avoided even more, and only some things were actually answered. While the others didn''t bother to question McGonagall''s words, Neville looked at McGonagall dumbfounded at this time as he asked his question. "What about Jon?" Upon hearing this question from him, everyone at the long table looked up at McGonagall once again, except Hermione who lowered her head and clenched her hands. McGonagall took a deep breath, her eyes reddening a little, just as she was about to say that she didn''t know where Jon was or what he was doing either. A brilliant golden-red light suddenly lit up in the middle of the great hall! The light drew everyone''s attention, even the students at the long table of Hogwarts couldn''t help but turn their heads to look. And after the light flickered and then faded, the younger Jon appeared in the middle of the great hall, clutching Dumbledore''s hand! Grindelwald had risen from his position at the first sign of the light, and Jon had gasped and locked eyes with him after his appearance. "Quickly, look at the Professor." Grindelwald didn''t linger, he walked quickly to Dumbledore''s side before anyone else could react, took hold of Dumbledore''s arm, and in the next second, the two of them simply disappeared from the middle of the great hall. It was only at this time that the entire Hogwarts long tablepletely reacted! Some of them shouted excitedly, while others screamed out, all of them jumped up from both sides of the long table, swarming towards Jon''s position, surrounding him in the middle, even McGonagall couldn''t calm down any more, she cried out in joy and didn''t follow the students and rushed over together, but just stayed in ce and covered her face. Jon just sat paralysed on the ground, a smile appeared on his face as he looked at the familiar faces, all looking at him excitedly. But the smile could not hide the mental exhaustion he felt at the moment. "Merry Christmas guys, well I know you must have a lot of questions, but before youe venting your thirst for information can you let me sleep for a while? Just a little while. Just a little while." He said as he closed his eyes and curled up next to Hermione''s leg. Everyone in the surrounding area fell silent, not only the Hogwarts students, but even the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students did their best to hold their breath for fear of disturbing the sleeping boy. Hermione wiped her own eyes as she knelt down and carefully cradled Jon''s young body in her arms so that he could be in a better position to rest. At the moment this great hall, where ribbons were flying, and the festivities were supposed to be celebrated, was as quiet as if it were empty. Everyone here didn''t know what was happening, but what they knew for sure was that after tonight, the entirendscape of the magical world would once again undergo an earth-shattering change! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 493: Jons Wand Chapter 493: Jon''s Wand It was the evening of the second day of Christmas when Jon woke up. He had slept through the entire day and night, during which time Hermione had been watching. By the time he woke up, it happened to be dinner time, and there was fruit by his bedside from an unknown student or professor, so Jon sat on his bed and hungrily ate the dinner that Hermione had brought him, while at the same time looking at the newspaper of that day. The headline of the newspaper was of course rted to the situation in Britain. Almost all the wizards in Europe knew exactly what kind of battle took ce in the Ministry of Magic in Britainst night, and knew the result of this battle would affect the future trend of the magical world. And today the result was obvious. At midnight on the very same day that Jon had left with Dumbledore, a resurrected Voldemort announced his victory to everyone, and at the same time proimed Dumbledore to be dead. This was verified early this morning after the Witching Horizon that had remained throughout France were silently evacuated, and all of the Witching Horizons'' men were moved north to Grindelwald''smand. And so the news, shocking enough to shock everyone, spread to every corner of the wizarding world. The man had won again, and Dumbledore had lost another duel with him, but this time it was at the cost of his own life! Everyone knew exactly what Voldemort''s victory meant. He had once again gained the right to im the entire wizardingmunity! Witching Horizon''s move to retreat represents that the southern European continent of Britain and France will fall into Voldemort''s hands. This is a fact. He has been operating for so many years to gain a deep background, and in the war between Dumbledore, he can lose many times, but as long as he wins once, he can regain all the lost or even gain more. The Witching Horizon led by Dumbledore can win many times, but as long as they lose once, then it is equivalent to spitting out all that they have eaten before. The good thing is that nowadays there is still Grindelwald in Northern Europe, plus Voldemort is estimated to have spent a lot of losses in two consecutive resurrections, the next period of time he will at most reupy France, and if he wants to continue tounch an invasion on Northern Europe, he still needs to take a period of time to recuperate. Jon looked at the newspaper''s phrase "The great gentleman won a great victory, the magical world will be enveloped in a bright future again", and a cold smile appeared on his face. "He will never tell, he was killed twicest night." Hermione, who was sitting next to Jon eating dinner with him, asked with some astonishment. "You killed him twice working together with Professor Dumbledore?" "To be exact, the Professor killed him once, then I killed him once, but he came back to life both times. Both times weren''t exactly useless, I guess, at least it was a way to figure out why he couldn''t be killed, and a way for me to let off some steam." Jon muttered a couple of words before putting the newspaper down in his hand. What had really happened yesterday would certainly not just be talked about internally, right now Witching Horizon was in a state of disarray and in need of some news to stimte confidence, it was expected that in a couple of days when Moody, Kingsley and the others could react, they would be going to proim the fact that Voldemort had been killed twice to bolster the public opinion on their side. However, these are all things that Jon does not need to worry about, right now his main concern is, exactly the current condition of Dumbledore. After simply filling his stomach, Jon did not stay, he went straight to Grindelwald''s office. And when he arrived, Grindelwald was leaning his back on his chair like he was contemting something. "Mr Headmaster, so what is the condition of Professor Dumbledore now?" Nothing could be seen from Grindelwald''s face as he opened his mouth and said slowly after hearing Jon''s question. "He wasn''t made like this by some spell, but by using a power that shouldn''t be used. It''spletely out of the realm of what can be healed by normal means, and he''s in bad shape." Jon frowned as he thought of the words that Voldemort had uttered rampantlyst night. ''Death didn''t take my life, but he seems to like you a little better.'' So Dumbledore would really have to leave them for good soon? Jon took a deep breath as he looked at Grindelwald. "Where is the Professor, now? I''d like to go and see him." Grindelwald, of course, did not refuse this request, and he took Jon with him out of Durmstrang and arrived at one of the best magical mdies hospitals in Northern Europe. The ward that Dumbledore was in was guarded by two people, in addition to McGonagall, there was also Flitwick here. While Dumbledore was lying quietly on the bed, it could be seen that he was still obviously breathing, and the frequency of his chest floating was much smoother than when Jon had just brought him out. But while there were no injuries on the surface of his body, he just didn''t seem to be waking up. "Do you know the Dementor''s Kiss?" Grindelwald looked at Dumbledore and said softly. "It was once one of the harshest penalws of the British Ministry of Magic, where the dementors would kiss the condemned subject and suck their souls out of their mouths, leaving only an empty shell of flesh. Although this empty shell still breathes, has a heartbeat, and has all the vital characteristics of a normal human being, that person is actually a dead human being." Jon, who was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed watching Dumbledore in silence, looked back at him in shock, and both McGonagall and Flitwick had unbelieving looks on their faces as well. "You mean the Professor.. he''s now..." "I was just making an analogy." Grindelwald''s voice wavered a little as he looked down at Dumbledore on the hospital bed, "He''s in a state that resembles that condition, yet it''s only just that, for example, right now he''s still able to even greet you all." At his words, Jon and the rest of the group all froze. When they turned back to look at the hospital bed again, at some point Dumbledore had actually opened his eyes. He looked exhausted and breathless like he might be about to fall asleep at any moment, but he still had a smile on his face, that gentle smile he usually sported in general. "Albus!" McGonagall eximed, a rare sob creeping into her voice, tears already streaming down her face. Flitwick was also expressing his tion, as long as Dumbledore is still alive, that would be the best possible oue for them. Jon''s face also showed excitement at first, but after he carefully watched Dumbledore''s face, he couldn''t show half a smile. Becausepared to Dumbledore who was not in any serious condition, his current situation was more like a reflection of the past. Dumbledore obviously noticed the change of expression on Jon''s face, he was lying quietly on the bed, and the look on his face was as peaceful as an old man who was enjoying the afternoon sunshine. "There''s no need to show such an expression, Jon, everyone has their own path to follow, no matter which path I''m going to follow, it''s my own choice, you should be happy for me instead of being sad." Jon''s voice had a hint of hoarseness to it. "So, you''re still going to die?" "Die?" Dumbledore''s smile grew even wider, "No, it''s just that someone wanted to invite me to another part of thendscape to have a look around, it''s a situation I had anticipated before I nned to go and face Voldemort, and it''s also a deal that I made with him, a deal that is fair, and one that he and I agree is good for both of us." His voice grew quiet. "It''s just that in the future, more things are going to depend on you to carry the load, Jon. Horace was always critical to me on some asions for burdening you with too much that you shouldn''t have to carry, but even if he curses me out now, there''s no way to change this; there''s more for you to shoulder." Jon looked at him. "So you''lle back?" "Ha, a very good question! Even though you guys always say I like to keep some things to myself, anything I say is guaranteed to have truth in it right?" Dumbledore winked at him. "It''s the same this time. Since I said that I was just going for an appointment, that means that it''s a journey that involves going anding back, it''s just that I don''t really have much control over the timing, and when exactly I''ll be back, up to anyone to guess. It could be just a day, it could be a year, it could be a hundred years or even ten thousand." When he said this Dumbledore raised his head and looked at Grindelwald. Grindelwald didn''t make a sound like he only needed eye contact to know exactly what Dumbledore was trying to say, he pulled out a wand he had and proceeded to hand it over to Jon. By this time, Dumbledore hadboured to raise the Elder Wand, which had been covered in wooden knots, from his side. "I know you''re a person who is nostalgic for the past, and it must have hurt you to have that wand, which has been with you since you first entered the wagon, blown up, but what''s that saying, out with the old and in with the new. Well, it''s just that I''m afraid I won''t be able to find you a new wand anymore Jon, so I guess you won''t mind if I leave this ancient wand in my hands for you to use for a while, right?" Jon looked at Dumbledore, who had raised his wand, with some shock, and looked at the Elder Wand, and quickly reacted to what Dumbledore meant. After he had defeated that normal timeline Voldemortst night, the ownership of the Elder Wand had reverted back to him, and after that, Voldemort, who hadpleted the fusion, hadn''t actually defeated Dumbledore in any sense of the term, and the one who had really made Dumbledore what he had be now was in fact himself. That is to say that the ownership of the Elder Wand did not change during this period, and its owner is still Dumbledore. And now Dumbledore was looking right at Jon, he was holding that wand up like he was initiating a duel, all the while meeting Jon''s eyes with a look of affirmation and encouragement. Jon took a deep breath, and without pausing, he too raised the wand that Grindelwald had handed him and touched it against the Elder Wand in Dumbledore''s hand. Then Elder Wand fell to the ground, and at that moment, Jon Green became its owner instead. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 494: How to resolve this Hegemony war Chapter 494: How to resolve this Hegemony war Jon picked up the Elder Wand that was on the ground. He could feel the great power contained in the wand, and itpletely subjugated itself to him and was at his disposal. Dumbledore smiled as he watched Jon pick up the Elder Wand. "Don''t forget what I told you before, there are times when one must be faced with a difficult choice when in fact the answer is quite simple." Jon gripped the wand tightly in his hand, he knew what Dumbledore was talking about and nodded heavily. And as if Dumbledore hadpletely finished exining everything to Jon, he turned his head and looked at McGonagall and Flitwick as well. "Going to say goodbye to a lot of old friends, a school with a Headmaster like me is a failure, and probably having professors like you is the luckiest thing these kids have ever encountered amid all the misfortunes that have befallen them." McGonagall was sobbing uncontrobly by this time, and Flitwick turned his back to wipe away tears. Finally, he turned his attention to Grindelwald who had been staring silently at him from right beside the hospital bed. "As we talked before, you should have a long talk with Jon." Dumbledore said softly. Grindelwald''s voice sounded like it was indifferent, but it took only closer attention to realise the tremor that was hidden behind the indifference. "I have my own measure." "You simply have too much measure sometimes." Dumbledore''s voice had be prolonged, "It''s hard to say if it''s a w or a strength, but in any case, it''s better than me, because, in a sense, I''m just a rotten old-fashioned person. You all want to innovate, and I''m afraid that changes would be too much of a shock to the world. But in reality, no history is set in stone, so I''ve never been one to point a finger at what you''re doing after you came out of that High Tower." Dumbledore nced around at Jon and McGonagall left and right. "Can you give the two old guys some privacy? I have some things I want to say to him at the end." Jon and the others, though they were all saddened, heeded Dumbledore''s words and walked away from this ward together, leaving him and Grindelwald alone in a private space. Only after they had allpletely left did Dumbledore slowly close his eyes, he already looked exhausted, like he was going to fall asleep at any moment. "The promise I made you agree with me before, I will not force you to do it for sure, if it reallyes to that time, just follow your own heart." "I don''t need you to say this, I know what to do." "Ah~ yes, you''re an assertive person." A knowing smile appeared on his face, and the voice that seemed to be murmuring in a dream finally rang out. "Say sorry to Aberforth for me, I''m going to go meet Ariana before him. If you don''t want to see him again. Tell Jon to pass on the word." This clearly sounded like an agreeable promise, but it left Grindelwald silent for a long time. It was only when the stars lit up outside the window and the bright moonlight shone brightly on Dumbledore from high above, who he wondered if he had already fallen asleep, that he replied softly. "I know." Dumbledore fell into aplete and endless slumber. As he had told Jon, this wasn''t a death, but a well-traded journey, he had worked hard all his life, and now he really needed to have a little time for himself, to rest and rx. McGonagall was discussing with Flitwick about whether or not to proim the news, to those within the Order of the Phoenix as well as the students of Hogwarts, everyone was concerned about Dumbledore''s condition at this time, ever since Jon had returned with Dumbledore yesterday and his death had been announced on Voldemort''s side. Grindelwald didn''t get involved in the discussion between them, he just took a serious look at Jon. "What did Albus want me to say to you, do you know?" Jon had calmed himself, and he tucked the Elder Wand into the cuff of his robes, meeting Grindelwald''s gaze head-on. "I can probably guess some of it, it''s something to do with that abbey you used to take me to?" Grindelwald was nonmittal about this answer of his, he simply signalled for Jon to follow him and together the two of them made their way back into the Headmaster''s office in Durmstrang. The two men sat down opposite to each other just across the desk, there was no tea or dessert, and unlike Dumbledore, Grindelwald didn''t look like he was prepared when it came to serious business. "You already know what I once did." Jon nodded, Grindelwald''s previous exploits were actually a little better known to him than the vast majority of people. "Albus in his younger days, he had shared my ambitions, but after that something caused us to go our separate ways, he became a Professor who teaches little children, while I continued on with that greater aspiration." Grindelwald pointed to his eyes. "I am a seer, it was a gift the world gave me as soon as I was born. And because of that I have always possessed a vision far beyond that of others, and it was at the beginning of this century that I saw the future of mankind." "The Muggles were going to take a giant leap forward, their technology growing to the point where it was enough to destroy a city in an instant. It panicked me at the time; previously, when they hadn''t mastered such powerful abilities, wizards were forced to shrink into a corner of the world and live like cockroaches; so now if they took control of such power, I concluded that there would be no more magic left to survive in this world." "So I decided that the magicalmunity itself had to be the one to strike first, to tear down the Statute of Secrecy, and toplete world domination over the Muggles before they could develop their technology to that point." "The results were obvious, I failed, Dumbledore defeated me,pletely crushed my ns and imprisoned me in a high tower. And the Muggles, as I saw them, worked on something extremely horrific, only because the Statute of Secrecy was maintained well enough by the current Ministry of Magic that a conflict between wizards and Muggles has yet to ur, and instead, a war has begun within the wizardingmunity." Grindelwald''s gaze held an unreadable depth. "I actually thought about a lot of things in that tower, and I never doubted that I was wrong in my beliefs, that the conflict between wizards and muggles has always existed, it''s just that the Statute of Secrecy hides this conflict like a fragile istion barrier. But once that barrier is broken one day, then all the life in this world will face a test of life and death." "Like what Voldemort is doing right now, the more frequent the wars between wizards be, the easier it is for magic to be exposed to the muggles, and even if this barrier remains maintained, there is no end to his desires, and the magical world is not equal to the whole of this world. At that point, the war I envisioned will inevitably break out as well." "Then what exactly can be done to defuse such a war between two different breeds vying for world hegemony?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 495: Equal Positions Chapter 495: Equal Positions The problem of equality is actually very difficult to solve. The rtionship between Muggles and Wizards has been kept in istion until now, because after the witch hunts of the Middle Ages, Wizards knew that they were in fact a different being altogether. A very different species from the other creatures in this world who are also called humans. The power of magic is enough to allow the individual to ovee the group. This is an extremely frightening thing that can easily cause panic among Muggle leaders. After all, most of the weapons created by technology are not really selective. The same gun in the hands of a six-year-old child and a thirty-year-old strong man has exactly the same function and power. But wizards have broken this concept. The supernatural power of magic allows them to master the mighty force that most people can''t. This is the crux of the contradiction. It is precisely because of the presence or absence of magical power that they arepletely divided into two different beings under the same umbre. This is the most difficult issue. The conflicts between people because of their different ways of thinking can lead to all kinds of wars, not to mention the differences between species. So when Grindelwald asked that question, Jon really knew there was only one answer, and it was very likely to be the one Grindelwald had been making all along. "Let Muggles and wizards be the same kind of people so that at least they have no difference in their starting point." Grindelwald''s fingers lightly tapped the back of his other hand, and the corner of his mouth rose up in a slight curve. "Yes, that is the only way. If the whole world is bizarre, then the bizarre will not exist." Jon stared into Grindelwald''s eyes. He had actually noticed what the Alliance was doing when he was at the North Pole. They seemed to be dormant in Northern Europe, though they had joined the Witching Horizon in name, but they provided no support other than logistical supplies as if he had always had his own things to do and those things had never been known. The Abbey on the mountainside which uses Death Eaters as living experimental material, Eric''s ice castle full of magical creatures, pr bears, and Durmstrang students working in various churches in Germany and Northern Europe. All the signs seem unconnected, but if you know a little about Grindelwald''s motives, they are not difficult to guess. In that high tower, he thought long and hard about his ideals and goals, and whether the actions he took to achieve them were right. By the time Dumbledore released him from that tower, he hade to realise one thing. An oppressive rule cannot prevent the outbreak of war when the greatest differences between people arise. From the point of view of all wizards, it''s not necessarily a good thing to rule the world, unless you can reduce the Muggle poption on Earth by about two-thirds, in which case it can be foolproof, but that''s obviously not feasible, not to mention that the Muggles of the modern age have mastered enoughrge-scale lethal weapons. They may not be able to drive out all wizards, but they are certainly qualified to kill them. So the only way to solve this particr problem is to find a solution that no one in history has ever really needed to find. Why do wizards be wizards? Are they born that way, or do they start out as ordinary people, and it is only when they encounter certain opportunities that things like magic appear? In the Tower, Grindelwald never stopped thinking about that. After he was released, he didn''t stop researching this aspect at all, and the regrouped Alliance no longer provided him with the support he needed to overturn the Statute of Secrecy. Now he has no interest in the Statute of Secrecy at all, and the worries of those in the Magical Congress of the United States of America arepletely unnecessary. Grindelwald simply wanted to study how wizards came to be, and then see if that process could be replicated on Muggles so that they too could experience the magic of wizards! That''s right, he was always carrying out projects to change the world! He has never paid any attention to the little troubles that Voldemort causes in the wizarding world, and he has no interest in so-called absolute power and supreme status. Although Jon had already suspected that Grindelwald was doing this, hearing him admit it himself still made his heart beat very hard. At the same time, he couldn''t help frowning and asking doubtfully. "Assuming that such a thing can really be done, can it really make the contradiction between wizards and Muggles disappear? The current situation is that wizards have magic, muggles have technology and if magic is shared by all, wouldn''t the wizard be on the disadvantaged side of the coin?" Grindelwald just narrowed his eyes and asked why Jon would have such a thought. "When did I say that everyone in the world could use magic? Having the qualifications to learn magic, and mastering magic are twopletely different concepts." Jon''s face was nk. It was then that his mind suddenly became clear as if he fully understood Grindelwald''s intentions. And Grindelwald didn''t want to be secretive. Having promised Dumbledore that he would have a long talk with Jon, he wasn''t going to hide anything. Besides, he was never one to let others guess mysteries. "The fundamental contradiction between wizards and muggles is that wizards have magic, but muggles don''t; muggles can''t use it, but wizards can master it by learning. This is a natural inequality. Now, because of the Statute of Secrecy, this inequality is hidden, and the Muggle higher-ups are unaware of it." "And once this information gap is broken, and they know it, it is the beginning of a crisis. No one with a brain and a vision will be willing to ept such a situation. This means that Muggles will always be inferior to wizards. For now, Voldemort''s bloodline system cannot be realised in the wizarding world, but if the Statute of Secrecy is broken, then this system will once again be the most logical one for the wizarding world because wizards have what Muggles do not have by nature. A natural talent." "But if they can be like wizards and have the qualifications to learn magic, that''s different." "Muggles have magical powers and can learn magic, but various spells, various systematic magical teaching programmes, information about magical creatures, alchemy, potions, divination, transfiguration, all this knowledge is in the hands of wizards. And those technological resources held in their hands. Both sides have things that the other side doesn''t have but can learn, it''s like I have a spell in my hand, and you have a spell in your hand, we can make an equal exchange so that both of us can learn each other''s spells, so why fight and kill for it?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 496: The Entry Point to Solve the Problem Chapter 496: The Entry Point to Solve the Problem Durmstrang''s Headmaster''s office went very quiet. Grindelwald''s words left Jon in shock and contemtion. He seriously considered whether things would go as Grindelwald thought they would after hearing what he had said. If everyone in the world bes a wizard, then there will be no more Muggles, and if there are no more Muggles then the so-called blood is even more nonsense. Even if there are some conflicts at the beginning due to the exchange of knowledge between the two parties, as long as there are no terrorists like Voldemort, such conflicts will be limited to a small part. Taking a step back, even if the conflict spreads, the muggles might want to use violence to control all the wizards, or there might be another extremist among the wizards who want to seize world hegemony again. But unless what has been changed can be reversed, no one on either side can change the general trend. When enough time has passed, the concept of Muggles will disappear altogether, for all people will no longer fundamentally be different, and magic will be found in every family in the world. Jon looked up at Grindelwald and finally knew what kind of vision and grand ideals this old man had. No wonder he had never taken Voldemort seriously. "So, did your n seed?" Jon couldn''t help but ask. The prerequisite for achieving all these goals requires Grindelwald to have found a way to turn Muggles into wizards, and then it should not be too difficult to implement this method. Otherwise, if only a small number of people can be changed, the failure to affect the entire world will only aggravate this contradiction. Grindelwald said lightly. "It still needs some improvement, but thanks to the former Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts Castle, the most difficult part of the problem has been solved, and it is now being tested in a Muggle town. If there are no problems in this trial, then the n can be implemented in a year at the most". Hearing this, Jon''s eyes widened even more; he hadn''t expected Grindelwald''s progress to have reached this level. He had originally thought that this might be something that would take ten or twenty years toplete, at least not something that could be done in a year or two. But if you think about it, if Grindelwald started preparing for this n as soon as he left the Tower, then he has been preparing for it for more than ten years. "But now there is a terrorist in the wizarding world." Jon wasn''t just focusing on Grindelwald''s imaginary future. "If you really do it your way, there is a good chance that you will end up making a wedding dress for Voldemort. He has never been content with just ruling the wizarding world. When he really bes the supreme ruler of all wizards, he will definitely set his sights on Muggles. When Muggles also be wizards with magical powers at that time, he will also judge their "inferiority" and pass on the bloodline system to the whole world." Jon said to him. Grindelwald did not deny this im. "In fact, at first I never doubted that Albus could solve Voldemort''s problem, but after he told me his suspicions, I knew that this ambitious man would be more difficult to deal with than I had imagined." He looked at Jon, and his eyes met Jon''s. "At that time, I agreed to Albus''st request, that if anything happened to him, I would protect you. As for defeating Voldemort, you must find your own way, there is a different division ofbour between us." Jon took a deep breath and said nothing more. The issue of wizards and Muggles is actually a ticking time bomb buried under the Statute of Secrecy, and the Bloodline Theory, triggered by Voldemort, is now the fuse of this bomb that is already lit. All the farsighted people throughout history had always known that this bomb would explode sooner orter. Grindelwald wanted to detonate this bomb in advance in the early twentieth century to protect the dominant position of wizards, but Dumbledore opposed him. And now, at the end of the twentieth century, Voldemort also wants to use this bomb to fulfil his almost infinite greed. But Grindelwald, who hase out after a period of enlightenment, has a new understanding of how to solve this bomb. This is where he and Voldemort have always differed. Regardless of whether he has previously followed the credo of ''for the greater good'', what he is doing now is for the greater good of all mankind. That is why Dumbledore never intervened to stop him, knowing what he was thinking and doing from the very beginning. Perhaps the two old men have already tacitly begun their respective divisions ofbour, one preparing for future changes, the other struggling to solve present problems. Only now the old man who has fought all his life has entered his eternal sleep, and Jon is responsible for continuing the journey that he has not yetpleted. After this conversation with Grindelwald, Jon did not remain there any longer. He returned to Durmstrang, found a room for himself, and spent the night in silence. When the next day dawned, before Jon went out, McGonagall suddenly found Jon. She was not alone, and in her hand, she held a golden branch with a red bird perched on it. "ording to the legacy Albus left behind, in the future Fawkes will be taken care of by you, and among the rest of us, he is only willing to follow you." Of course, Jon did not refuse the job. He took the golden branch from McGonagall. Fawkes seemed very sad. He rubbed Jon''s face. The touch of Fawkes''s feathers gave him somefort and Jon asked McGonagall. "Has Professor Slughorne back?" "Yes. The night you brought Albus back, he came here to find us, and he''s staying at a Witching Horizon''s makeshift base in Find. If you want to find him, I''ll take you there via Floo Network." McGonagall also looked very haggard, she and Flitwick have not yet discussed whether to tell the students and faculty about Dumbledore''s status. Some of them will make it public. But Jon knew that there was no point in hiding this matter at all, because unless Dumbledore could appear in public for an extended period of time, the more they concealed this, the more negative the effect would be. Instead, it was better to say it outright from the start. He believed that both McGonagall and Flitwick could actually see this, but they were just not ready to ept it yet and needed some buffer time. Under the guidance of McGonagall, Jon quickly made his way through Durmstrang''s Floowork to the Witching Horizon station in Find. It is a small two-storey building and only three people live there. Apart from Slughorn, who has just arrived, only Sirius and Bill live here temporarily. Sirius and Bill had gone out when Jon arrived, only Slughorn was sitting in the lounge. He looked very pale and there was no Crystallised Pineapple or any other dessert on the coffee table. He was just sitting quietly, thinking about something. And when he saw Joning, he suddenly stood up and looked at Jon with a visibly nervous expression on his face. Jon knew there would be some news Slughorn didn''t know yet, and he only knew about the information provided by Voldemort through the newspapers outside. So Jon took a deep breath and first told Slughorn about Dumbledore''s situation. "Professor, he is not dead, but his condition is not very good. ording to Headmaster Grindelwald, he is now like a person whose soul has been taken by a Dementor." Slughorn was stunned. Then he slumped back onto the sofa. As if he had already made some mental preparations, but still couldn''t ept the fact outright, he stared dazedly at the coffee table in front of him. Jon didn''t disturb him, just joined him on the only armchair next to him. It was only a long timeter that Slughorn took the wooden box from his pocket and ced it on the coffee table. "So what good does this thing Albus was so desperate for us to find would do now?" Jon took the wooden box and opened it, and the Time-Turner, which kept spinning,y quietly in a pile of golden sand inside the box. This is the root of all trouble. The source of all chaos. "The professor killed him once, and I killed him onceter." Jon said to Slughorn very seriously, and the news obviously made Slughorn look surprised. "That means he is not invincible. Professor Dumbledore''s sacrifice this time shows us a direction. If we haven''t found this out by now, after killing Voldemort time and time again, we would never know the reason for his sessful resurrection each time, and the price paid would be even greater". His words made Slughorn regain hisposure. "So what should we do? Find a way to destroy Voldemort''s Horcrux in another world. It''s not the past or the future, it''s apletely different timeline. Voldemort cane here because he caused all this. There''s no way we can go over there." "Calm down, teacher, think about it, we don''t need to go to all that trouble." Jon took the time-turner out of the wooden box, and the golden quicksand kept sliding out of the turner. "This Time-Turner is the real key. It ensures that Voldemort can use the Horcrux Resurrection, a Bridge to another timeline. It is so important to Voldemort that enough people must be dispatched to retrieve it. So we can also put the point of entry to solve the problem at hand!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 497: Barty, come with me Chapter 497: Barty,e with me "If we had a way to just destroy this time-turner itself, that would make things easier." Jon stared at the time-turner, and as he spoke, he had begun to try to use the second gem on his ring, wanting to try to see if he could suck all the magic out of it. However, after that, he did not feel any sign of magic power in it! The time-turner was like a perfectly ordinary Muggle item, not using magic as a support for its operation at all, but some kind of other energy. After Jon had sorted out exactly how they were going to resolve this matter, Slughorn also began to think about what to do with this time-turner. After learning that Jon hadn''t found any magic power in it, he immediately took out his cauldron, then asked Jon to help him find some magic potion materials from the Witching Horizon warehouse, and spent almost half a day making a cauldron of potion that looked just like clear water. "This is an extremely strong corrosive potion, normally, there is nothing in this world that it can''t destroy." Slughorn said as hemanded Jon to carefully ce the time-turner into the potion. But then they just watched the time-turner sink to the bottom of the hot cauldron, and the needle on the dial was still spinning as if it had been submerged in an all-toomon liquid. Jon looked at Slughorn with a sceptical face, although it was a bit impolite, he couldn''t help but have the thought in his heart that the brewing of this potion had gone wrong in the middle of the process. As if he could see Jon''s scepticism, Slughorn didn''t say anything more, he just gently threw a small teacup into the cauldron, and just at the moment when the cup waspletely submerged by the potion, itpletely disappeared, leaving only some tiny ggy bits to settle at the bottom of the cauldron. "It''s normal when you think about it, If this thing could really be destroyed that easily, it wouldn''t have been able to help Voldemort maintain the link between the two worlds all this time." Slughorn said while tapping his wand on the cauldron, then the time-turner flew out of the potion andnded on the ground at the side. Next, they still did not give up, and tried to use the venomous fangs of the Basilisk, found an open ce to use the Fiendfyre Curse, and used the most simple and direct physical violence to try to destroy the time-turner, but without exception, all of them had no effect at all. After tossing and turning until evening, Jon and Slughorn stared at the time-turner, which remained unharmed on the surface, and nced at each other. "Looks like we need to seek some professional help." *** In an empty hall, Dandy, who had long since lost all signs of life, justy there between a crowd of people. "I thought I had sufficiently underestimated your abilities,dies and gentlemen." From above the high seat, Voldemort''s seemingly casual and rambling voice echoed in everyone''s ears, his words sending an involuntary shiver down everyone''s spine. "Every once in a while, you all surprise me with something new, which can''t help but make me wonder to myself, am I serving you, or are you serving me?" His wordspletely brought everyone to their knees, the Death Eaters all copsed to their knees, they were so silent that they only dared to put their heads heavily against the ground and throw themselves to the ground, not even daring to look directly at the man in the high position. Voldemort''s fingers gently tapped the snake-like armrests on his chair, and he felt a pang of inexplicable disgust as he looked down at the crowded group of people below him. His words were not a wake-up call to anyone or any kind of intimidation, but that was what he was really thinking at this point. The things or tasks arranged for them have never been trulypleted to his liking, in the face of the Witching Horizon''s attack, these people simply have no room for resistance, although he has not seen the scene with his own eyes, but Voldemort has no doubt that the British Ministry of Magic was at a disadvantage when the vast majority of this group of people are bound to have been ready to surrender or escape. But ultimately, such thoughts were just a thought in Voldemort''s mind. The rtionship between him and this group of purebloods in the end is just a mutual exploitation, Voldemort''s strength even if it turns stronger again, he has no way to aplish the governance of the entire magical world by himself, the bloodline system was in fact established to allow him to enjoy a more solid control over his authority. It''s just that the consequences of this time really made Voldemort too angry. Much angrier even than when Jon had killed him once in the Atrium! When he had been stabbed alive with a feather by Jon, he knew full well that he couldn''t die while Jon and Dumbledore had paid a great price, and he had in fact won aplete victory. But upon learning that the stuff in the Time Room had been stolen by Slughorn, he couldn''t calm down any longer. He knew what it implied, and easily guessed why Dumbledore was willing to pay such a high price to kill him once. His true secret had been discovered! In fact, Voldemort is not so concerned about his secret being revealed, there is nothing that can be hidden forever, besides, two Voldemort exist in one world at the same time, and such a big loophole will be discovered sooner orter. What really enraged Voldemort was that the key to his immortality in this world had been taken away from him! And it was still clearly Slughorn''s handiwork. It wasn''t as if Voldemort hadn''t been on his guard when the fat walrus had defected, but it had been his other self who had sent him to be Deputy Head of the Department of Mysteries. That fool thought he understood checks and bnces, but he was simply blind. Did he really think that Slughorn''s disy of cowardice, fear of death and love for vanity could really be taken at face value? Voldemort hated that he couldn''t able to give ''himself'' a couple of Cruciatus Curses now; if he could, he would even pull that devoured self out of his soul to torture him. However, things had already happened. His greatest secret had fallen into the hands of his enemy, and as per his habits, he wouldn''t put all of his life and possessions on the line in one ce. The hall was quiet, Voldemort rubbed the snake-like armrests, wondering about something quietly, while those Death Eaters below didn''t dare to raise their heads, waiting for Voldemort''s sentence with uneasy spections. After a long time, it was only when the Death Eaters'' legs felt unconscious that Voldemort''s voice resounded. "Restore everyone to the positions they held before the battle, those who have died, make a tally of the vacancies and I''ll select someone. Then, Barty,e with me." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 498: Method Chapter 498: Method The so-called to seek professional help, of course, was to find someone who had achieved great heights in alchemy to help research this time-turner. And in the entire magical world, the one who was at the pinnacle of alchemy would certainly be Nics mel, who had once created the Philosopher''s Stone, but he had long since passed away many years ago, however, his once most honoured pupil could be found right within the Witching Horizon. Slughorn and Jon didn''t pause, they soon found Iniesta, the best master alchemist they knew after Nics mel. Iniesta looked haggard when Jon and the others found him. As the nominal supreme leader of the Witching Horizon after Dumbledore''s departure, Dumbledore''s current true situation certainly had not been concealed from him, so his pressure and burden were extremely heavy, how to arrange the personnel who had already been evacuated to Northern Europe, and how to carry out the defences and personnel movements if Voldemort continued to invade the north in the future, all of these needed to be decided by him. However, after knowing Jon and Slughorn''s intention, he stopped the work on his hands and picked up the time-turner in the wooden box with iparable gravity and seriousness. Since they wanted him to help them with the research, Jon, of course, did not hide anything, and recounted the origins of this time-turner clearly, and there was really no need for them to hide it, but instead, if they just made a big deal out of it, it might even have a small impact on Voldemort''s reputation. Iniesta soon made some discoveries as well. "There''s really nothing special about this time-turner from an alchemical point of view." He looked up at Jon and Slughorn. "The materials it uses are actually quite normal, not to mention attacks like Fiendfyre Curse and Basilisk''s Fang, even a normal sting curse would have a high probability of destroying it." Listening to him, Jon couldn''t help but frown. "And what is it that makes it so sturdy now?" Iniesta rubbed his chin as he voiced his guess. "I don''t know if I''m right, but if it really has been given the property of being indestructible, then the only possible reason is out of the fact that it''s not something that belongs to this world." "When travelling through time, the change between two different timelines, from one world to the other, gave it this unusual change." Jon and Slughorn looked at each other. "So is there any other solution?" The question sent Iniesta into a moment of contemtion, and he paced back and forth in the same spot in silence for a long time, during which time Jon and Slughorn did not disturb him. "Perhaps there is a way to do that." He looked up suddenly as if something had urred to him. "I need to go somewhere first, to see if I can find that thing my teacher left behind, it won''t take long, two days at the most I''ll be back and give you an answer!" Iniesta then left behind all his work within the Witching Horizon, and the whole man disappeared into Northern Europe as if he had evaporated, and no one knew where he had gone. However, he did not take away that time-turner, and it still remained in Jon''s hands. At this point in time, Jon and Slughorn could only choose to put their trust in Iniesta, but of course, they didn''t just put their faith in one basket, and after leaving Iniesta''s ce, Jon returned to Durmstrang with the Time-Turner in his hand. And just as he was about to knock on the door and enter the Headmaster''s office, the door to the Headmaster''s office was suddenly pushed open from the inside. Aberforth came out from inside with a somewhat grim face, as if he had endured a very unpleasant conversation. But when he saw Jon, the expression on his face eased a little, and he greeted Jon, it''s just that afterwards he didn''t have the intention of chatting further, and soon left with hurried steps. Jon was a bit puzzled, holding a wooden box in his hand, he walked into the Headmaster''s office, Grindelwald didn''t seem to have any changes in his expression, he was still calmly looking at a piece of parchment in his hand, and when he saw Jon walking in, he only slightly raised his head and nced at him. "Mr Headmaster, I hope I can trouble you to look at this." Jon didn''t say anything else other than that, he just got straight to the point and ced the wooden box containing the time-turner on his desk, then opened it up. Grindelwald''s eyes also shifted to the time-turner, he had already learnt what it was from Jon''s mouth before. "Want me to see something?" Jon said seriously. "A way to destroy it." Just after his words, Grindelwald shook his head. "It''s obvious that even the Seer doesn''t have the means to see the future of the other world, and it''s obviously a mistake for you toe to me and try to get me to do you this favour." After hearing his words, Jon couldn''t help but feel a little disappointed, although he hadn''t originally held much hope in Grindelwald, he always felt that it was a possibility. However, Grindelwald obviously still had something left to say, as he looked at Jon with a very puzzled expression, and to be exact, heid his eyes on the ring that Jon wore on his finger. "Whilst I can''t see much of anything about this time-turner at the moment, I may be able to give you some information about this thing you''re wearing on your hand." Jon froze at first, not reacting to what Grindelwald was talking about, but after he saw thest remaining notch for a gemstone on the ring he wore on his hand, his whole body reacted instantly! He still had the veryst of the gem that Adrien had crafted that he hadn''t got yet. Grindelwald pulled out a piece of parchment, he held a quill and wrote out a ce name on it, and then handed that piece of parchment to Jon, while a deep light spread in his eyes, and he said faintly. "If you are free, you can make a trip to this address to have a look, there might be some surprising discoveries." Jon took the parchment and saw an address on there that was located in the southernmost part of France, then seriously thanked Grindelwald. Grindelwald looked like he just considered the fact that he had helped Jon, as a mere lift of his finger, and he waved his hand. "If there''s nothing else, then don''t bother me here, I still have a lot of work to do, I''m not as free as you think." Jon also had the sense not to stay any longer, he quickly left Grindelwald''s office, and after finding Slughorn again to ce that Time-Turner in his custody for the time being for now, he took Fawkes, one person and one phoenix together secretly re-returned to France. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 499: Nicolass Legacy Chapter 499: Nics''s Legacy Bordeaux, France. On the third day after Christmas this year, it remained the same as usual for Muggles, without half a change, while for the wizards in the magical world, the sky had changed again. The news of Dumbledore''s defeat at the hands of Voldemort and his death had long been rumoured, and those wizards who had already experienced a reign of blood and knew what kind of future the muggle wizards would have, fled in all directions before the Death Eaters and Aurors from Britain even set foot on the soil of France. But even if they are fleeing their homnd, there are not many destinations that they can choose to go to, the entire southern part of Europe basically became a no-go option, the discerning people are clear, the current Voldemort justcks time, and when the British Ministry of Magic begins to digest the fruits of the victory that will be produced in the wake of this top-level duel, the entirend in the south of France will fall into the scope of the domination of the Voldemort. There were even rumours that the smaller ministries of magic had already prepared ministerial orders, always ready for the British Ministry of Magic officials to lead the purebloods to take over the reins of power once and for all. And if they fled north, to Germany or north of Germany, it would be like returning to the Witching Horizon''s territory again. But now Dumbledore is dead, and it may seem that the Witching Horizon does not have anyrge-scale loss of personnel, and there is still the power to fight, but in reality, they are equivalent to a person with the head cut off, even if the limbs are still there, they are already a dead man. No one still thinks that with the loss of Dumbledore, the Witching Horizon can still have any effective means to resist when facing Voldemort, even if it is Jon, who has gained notoriety over the years. Almost all wizards felt that Jon would be a great man in the future, but that would be in the future. And now there is no longer any room for him to develop, it won''t be long, as long as Voldemort personally makes a move, the whole of Northern Europe will fall as a result, and Europe willpletely turn into a pureblood paradise. All the muggle wizards who intend to flee almost only have the option to leave the European continent this time, but even if they leave Europe, go to the Americas or Asia and other ces that have not been affected by the war, will Voldemort''s ambitions really stop after upying the whole of Europe? Every wizard was deeply sceptical. It was also during such a time when people were on edge and the British Auror had returned to France under Voldemort''s instructions to start rebuilding the French Ministry of Magic that belonged to him, that Jon quietly appeared on the outskirts of Bordeaux. It was a public cemetery with a specialised graveyard keeper to clean and manage it. Jon found this ce during a night, there had apparently been a heavy snowfall here during the days of Christmas, covering the entire cemetery, and the graveyard keeper had been doing his best to clean it these days, but there was still a small portion covered in snow. And Jon''s final destination was in front of a graveyard that was nketed in snow. He saw the name engraved on that graveyard - [Adrien Fawkes] This was exactly where the creator of the ring and gemstones that Jon wore in his hand, Slughorn''s old friend, a master alchemist who hadn''t left much ink in the history of magic, had returned to after his death. After arriving at his grave, Jon did not do anything else. He first bowed deeply to the tombstone and then used Transfiguration to create a broom, and instead of directly using a cleaning spell, he personally cleaned the grave of this old man, whom he had never met before, but who had provided Jon with more help than any other person. By the time he had finished doing the work, it was alreadyte into the night, and it was only then that Jon went behind the tombstone and fumbled around with a hand that had a ring on it, and it was at the same time that his hand went over, a door knob suddenly appeared on the otherwise in and unremarkable tombstone just in time for Jon to take hold of it. Jon held the doorknob and opened it, a small hiddenpartment appeared at the back of the tombstone, and through the bright white moonlight, he could clearly see a blue diamond-shaped gemstone and a note with a scarlet seal lying quietly in it. Without stopping, Jon took the note and thest gemstone from the secretpartment and finally bowed deeply to the tombstone once again, then disappeared back into the night as silently as he hade. To be honest, regarding this ring, the first three gems had the greatest impact on Jon, the levitation charm was what allowed Jon to transit the period when his understanding of magic was the weakest and his own strength was also the weakest, while the general counter-spell was what provided Jon with the capital to ovee the strong with the weak, so that he could have the opportunity to counterattack even when he was caught in a lot of situations where he was bound to die, and the Animagus was even more of a blessing, without learning it, it was unknown how many times Jon would have died in the past. But subsequently, although the spell he used the gem to acquire increased, it wasn''t as obvious to Jon as it used to be. For example, the invisible sword curse on the fourth gem, in the duel with Voldemort, also it yed a big role, but it was far from the point of being essential. Now that he had thest gem, Jon hadn''t considered which spell he needed to use it for. But he wasn''t given time to think about it, and the day after he returned from France, Iniesta returned with his results as well. And this time, for the sake of what he had brought, the entire top management of the Order of the Phoenix, including Grindelwald, who was now a sort of recement for the power support after Dumbledore in Witching Horizon, attended this meeting together. They had all also been informed of what was going on in the wizarding world today, as well as Voldemort''s true identity. In front of them, Iniesta pulled out a strange time-turner. The surface of that time-turner was not golden but had an ethereal blue colour, and the dial did not have hands, but only a separate disc, like a half-finished product that had not yet beenpleted. "You are all well aware of my teacher, Nics mel; he was an alchemist who lived from the Middle Ages to this century. And in his long life, he experienced countless innovations regarding alchemy, among which he was involved in the improvement and research work on the time-turner at the very beginning." Iniesta''s voice became serious. "Once I heard him talk about this in hisboratory, the task he was assigned within a group of alchemy masters about the study of time was how to deal with the space disturbed by time. At that time, there were already people who raised questions about the dangers of a time-turner, making conjectures like if a person went back in time and killed his past self, would there be two different worlds or would it directly change the future that had already happened." ---- #Postmand, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 500: Candidates Chapter 500: Candidates "This kind of research has actually kind of broken the scope of research regarding time magic, instead incorporating space as well, and it''s actually mostly space-centred." Iniesta showed all of them the blue dial he was holding. "This was the eventual sess of what he had worked out. There was no way to be sure of those two conjectures at that time without either time travelling or encountering someone who had already had a time-altering experience toe forward and confirm them, it was just that a bunch of alchemy masters at that time were more inclined towards the theory of parallel space, otherwise, there would have been too many details to spot the signs of such a change if it was a change in the past and thus triggering a change in the present. " "And so this particr space-turner was born, but from the very beginning, this thing was a half-finished product or a defective product. Because, if the theory of parallel space really exists, that would mean that there are countless branches of this world on the side of our world, and while breaking down this spatial divider may be easy for wizards, but, if it''s a matter of essing other dimensions, then an established anchor point is needed." Every single person sitting here was intelligent, and Iniesta was not exining something overly specialised for them to understand. "So this thing was initially made as a basis for justifying a conjecture, but it was never actually used, it''s like a paradox, because of the desire to justify the existence of a parallel dimension a space-turner was made, but if one wanted to use a space-turner one would need another thing from a parallel dimension as an anchor point to travel through to confirm it. It was also because of that eventual discovery that the research was ultimately shelved, and the exploration of time-turner went into stagnation from that point onwards until recent decades, when even the technology to make time-turner waspletely lost." Jon easily associated this space-turner with the ring he got in his hand. They were both created in the same situation at the beginning, and the creators of both relied only on a conjecture to invent them but alwayscked the key demonstration to realise such a conjecture. Fortunately, the ring met Jonter, and the space-turner finally had an "anchor point" to fulfil its function! While Iniesta was talking about this, Jon also took out the time-turner that kept spinning its hands, the other world item, he just happened to have in his hand! Just as he spoke, and almost everyone held their breath, Grindelwald calmly pointed out the crux of a problem. "The problem of being able to travel to another world is solved, but what exactly our purpose in going to that world is? Is it to destroy all the Voldemort Horcruxes that exist in that world, or do we need to go to that world to destroy this time-turner?" "Be prepared for both." Iniesta said gruffly, "On this point, because no one in history has ever experienced it before, we simply have no precedent to follow. No one can say for sure whether or not this time-turner can be destroyed when it returns to its original world, but finding all of Voldemort''s Horcruxes and destroying them is certainly the most effective option." Naturally, his words were recognised by everyone at this long table, and with all the talk now, naturally, the next question wasid out in in sight. "I''ll go." Lily''s voice rang out calmly but with a tremor in it. The eyes of everyone in the room went to her, and everyone could understand why she was in that mood at the moment. Because, Voldemort''s change had begun the very night that he had killed Harry Potter and James Potter, which meant that there was a good chance that there were still loved ones of Lily alive in the other world! She had been living for revenge all this time, but the turn of events that had happened now had allowed her to hope for the best again. After Dumbledore fell into a deep sleep, the highestmand of the entire Witching Horizon naturally fell into the hands of Iniesta and Grindelwald, of which the one with the highest say is of course the force that has reced Dumbledore, and at the same time has direct control over the entire Northern Europe, Grindelwald. It''s just that normally Grindelwald would rarely inquire about the affairs within the Witching Horizon, his mind is all focused on his own career, but now it''s naturally his turn to make the decision. "Is there a limit to the number of people who can use this space-turner?" He didn''t respond to Lily''s words at first, but instead turned his head to Iniesta. This Alchemy Master, who after Nics mel could be said to be ranked amongst the top ones in the world, held the sses on the bridge of his nose and said in aposed manner. "It doesn''t mainly depend on the number of people, but the imprint on this world, meaning that the more traces left on the world we are living in now, the longer the time, the harder it will be to break through the boundaries of space. ording to the notes left behind by the teacher, this limit of leaving traces should be within 70 years." With this statement, he was jamming all those who were over 70 years old, and the topmostbatants in the room were of course all over that age. But Grindelwald clearly didn''t care about that, his voice still held the same slight coldness. "Voldemort from the other human world has already made his way to us, which means that there isn''t really much danger in that world. The one who needs to go over there naturally has to be someone who knows enough about Voldemort himself and has faced him head-on, after all, having to fight against his Horcruxes isn''t necessarily any easier than facing him in person. And the only person who fits that bill is, of course, Jon." "But just asking Jon to go over there by himself, that''s still obviously not sufficient. The Hogwarts of the other world can be a help to him, but since we don''t know the development of that world, and we don''t really know what kind of position Jon there has, what kind of reputation he has, and whether or not he will gain the trust of the Hogwarts, this requires someone who is familiar enough with the people of the Hogwarts before the world changes and can gain absolute trust to go there. You guys can just decide it internally yourselves." After saying this, Grindelwald got up and left the meeting room, he had already made the final decision for Witching Horizon, so the rest was naturally left to the people within the Order of the Phoenix to choose. He hadn''t specified that it would be Lily who would be allowed to go over there, but there weren''t really many people who fit the bill here right now. There is a 70-year limit in ce, and Jon must go, he is 16 years old, which means that the person travelling with him can''t be older than 54, and of the members of the Order of the Phoenix present who can be absolutely trusted by the people of Hogwarts, there are only four, Sirius, Lupin, Kingsley, and Lily, who meet this requirement. And in the face of such a situation, although Sirius, Lupin, and Kingsley also wanted to go, on the premise that there was Lily present, it was again absolutely impossible for them to go and grab it with her. ---- #Postmand, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 501: Before departure Chapter 501: Before departure Now that the candidates have been decided, the next step is to decide on the exact time and the specific things to be taken into ount when going to another world. Naturally, the sooner, the better, and Voldemort, who had already rested, obviously did not want to give Witching Horizon too much time to prepare. In the two days following the New Year, he reupied the entire territory of France at lightning speed and then began to make his way into Germany. The German Ministry of Magic was originally only slightly biased towards the Witching Horizon side, and its rtionship with Grindelwald was somewhat ambiguous, and there was no full affiliation. And now that the German Ministry of Magic is under tremendous pressure. ording to the information Witching Horizon has acquired, some of the purebloods within it have begun to surrender to Voldemort. As for the things to be aware of when travelling to another world, this point is mainly exined to them by Iniesta. "This is different from time travel. When Voldemort travels over and changes the established history, the two worlds arepletely separated and be unconnected independent realities". "So you might be able to use this world''s experience andmon sense as references, but they can only be references". Jon has some experience on this point. The Hogwarts in the original book he read in his previous life is the normal line, and the world he is in now is the deviation line with two Voldemort, and Harry Potter murdered. As for the other world, he is going to, Voldemort should have disappeared from that one, there should have been no main viin, and only the deviation point left would have been the saviour Harry Potter without a major viin. The three worlds seem to have the same root and origin, but due to a huge deviation, the whole world is said to have undergone major changes. For example, if the wizarding world that Jon had travelled through was a normal Harry Potter world, even if he had broken his head, he probably would not have imagined how big a problem it would be for this world to have two Voldemort appearing together. The same goes for another world that no longer has a Dark Lord. "Then we must avoid meeting ourselves in another world?" Jon asked thoughtfully. It is still unclear when Voldemort first made the transition. If it was the night he killed Harry Potter, Lily may not have died in the other world. Of course, he doesn''t have to think about it himself too much. There can''t be a Jon Green in another Harry Potter world, because if Jon hadn''t transmigrated, the original Jon Green would have died long ago in the orphanage. Iniesta leafed through Nics mel''s notebook and answered Jon''s question at the same time. "There should be no restriction on meeting yourself in another world because the reason why this time-travelling rule of preventing two selves from meeting each other adapted is to avoid a deviation that cannot be corrected in history, and in the end, it will lead to incalcble consequences. Now such consequences have already urred, so there is nothing to worry about." "What you have to pay attention to is, the question of time, the exact time and date of your arrival to that world is the biggest concern." Iniesta said solemnly, and at the same time, both Jon and Lily listened to him seriously. "Regardless of what time period Voldemort has travelled back to, the only thing we can be sure of is that the time period Voldemort has travelled back must be longer because he used a time-turner toe here, which means that our current time is January 3, 1996, and the world Voldemort hase from must be beyond that date, which means that although the way you''re travelling to that world isrgely space-based, in terms of time, what you''re going to is actually the future of an alternate world." "How much faster than we are now is something only Voldemort himself can tell, it could be only 10 minutes or 1 hour, or it could be 10 or 20 yearster." Hearing this, Jon fell into deep thought. He carefully recalled the timeline in the original book, from the beginning of the story, the day Harry Potter became an orphan, to the end of the story, when Voldemort was killed, the whole time spanning about 17 years, and during this current timeframe, Voldemortpleted his physical resurrection after the end of the Triwizard Tournament held a year ago. Jon believes that the point Voldemort traverses should be before he is resurrected; when he was rebounded by his own killing curse, his body disappeared and his soul had no fixed destination. If he haspleted the resurrection n, then everything has been restored, and it doesn''t make sense for him to make a new journey. As for how the soul is supposed to use the Time-Turner, it is actually not difficult for Voldemort. In the original book, he can control Quirrell to cause trouble at Hogwarts Castle. In the forest of Albania, he can also use his remaining power to possess animals. Perhaps it was something he encountered during that period of wandering that caused him to use the Time-Turner to change the past. Of course, Lily and Iniesta didn''t know what Jon was thinking. "So the first thing you have to do is find out which year you are in. Then you have to be very careful in another world. We can ignore Jon with his ability to be a Phoenix. But Lily, you need to pay more attention." Iniesta warned seriously and took out the time-turner Jon had given him. "Finally, what you have to do in another world; I suggest you do both the goals we talked about previously. Find and destroy as many Horcruxes as you can, and at the same time find a way to destroy this Time-Turner, or leave it in the other world. Leave it there before you return." "And that''s all you need to remember." When he said this, he looked up at Lily in particr, for this colleague who had been working with him for more than three years, Iniesta naturally understood what she intended to do. But he didn''t say anything else that he had wanted to say to Lily, instead he turned to look at Jon. "When you cane back, try toe back as soon as possible, don''t stay there. And it is not just me, the Headmaster of Durmstrang thinks the same, if there is a disagreement between the two of you, Jon''s decision will be the most important." Lily nodded with a calm face. "I know the seriousness of this matter, and I can also distinguish between my goals and responsibilities, so I won''t lose my mind and be a loony." Seeing her speak directly to him, Iniesta was a little embarrassed but also relieved. "Okay, I only have onest reminder. The most important thing is to judge the time difference between the other world and ours. I think you should know how to judge it, and then don''t stay there too long. Try your best. Be back in a month." ---- #Postmand, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 502: In this Harry Potter without the Dark Lord Chapter 502: In this Harry Potter without the Dark Lord After all the points had been emphasised, the time for Jon and Lily to leave by travelling through space was chosen to be 6.17 pm that evening. This was the time that Iniesta had deliberately chosen; ording to him, it was the weakest node in space when the sun was just setting and the night had begun to creep in around such a time. At five o''clock, McGonagall, Flitwick, Sirius, Kingsley, Lupin, and others, a group of them gathered to start the day''s dinner early. Other than that, there were no further calls for more other people, as they were worried about this matter getting leaked out... "If you see another world me, have a good talk with him, and tell him to cherish his arm." Flitwick raised his butterbeer in one hand and clinked sses with Jon. "Well, if that world''s me is still alive from an ident where I choked to death on a buttered cupcake, of course." Jon smiled at Flitwick''s optimism. "Don''t worry Professor, I''m sure I''ll see every one of them." "And Dumbledore, the Dumbledore of the other world must still be awake and sober, with him finally being able to be Headmaster in peace of mind atst, without having to worry about how on earth his students are going to be able to live healthy lives. Tell him he''s great, really great." As Flitwick spoke, his eyes couldn''t help but redden, and then he turned his head and wiped his eyes with his robe before saying sorry. The atmosphere that had been fairly cheerful at dinner gradually became sombre. McGonagall pursed her lips, her hand trembling a little as she patted Lily''s shoulder. "If you see Pomona, tell her for me that we all miss her." Lily said as she patted McGonagall''s back gently. "I will, I''ll tell her everything." Kingsley handed Jon a piece of parchment. "I''ve written a list of people who have been Voldemort''s sleeper agents at one time or another in the Ministry, maybe they''ll be different in the other world, but I''m sure that after you bring this to Dumbledore, it should make him a little more vignt and careful." Jon took the list and made a promise to Kingsley that he would deliver it to Dumbledore. Sirius broke the sad mood. "Why should we be sad? We should be proud, shouldn''t we? The rest of us in the other world should be proud of us if they hear about what we''ve been through!" Lupin smiled back. "Yeah, it''s a good thing, even in the worst possible scenario, even if we do end up beingpletely defeated and killed by Voldemort, at least we''ll have someone to remember us won''t we?" Kingsley slurred. "That''s not nearly asforting as you make it out to be." Everyone around himughed heartily. This dinner ended with a promise Moody gruffly made to Jon and Lily on behalf of everyone else. "We''ll hold the ce until you guys get back from the journey. If what you end up bringing back isn''t good news, then don''te back and stay on the other side and live your lives!" Lily met his one eye with immense seriousness. "We''ll be back, no matter what the end result is." Dinner ended, and McGonagall and the others sent Jon and Lily together to the makeshiftboratory prepared by Iniesta, where Iniesta, who had already put everything in ce long ago, handed the blue space-turner into Jon''s hands. "Be sure to protect it, there is only one of this thing, and I''m not sure where there is a limit to its carrying capacity. If it is damaged it is estimated that you will really never be able toe back. If everything goes well, and you want toe back from that world, just take a random thing that you guys are carrying with you to use as a medium." Jon gripped the space-turner while holding the time-turner of that other world, with its ever-turning hands, in his hand. Lily stood right beside him and grabbed his arm, and Fawkes eventually rubbed the side of Jon''s face affectionately before pping away from him. Finally, Jon looked at everyone in front of him as he took a deep breath and spoke in a deep voice. "You guys must, must be safe when we return!" After he had said this, he touched the time-turner and space-turner together as Iniesta had taught him! The blue dial plunged inwards as if it had been steeply hit by something, followed by an invisible vortex that twisted both Jon and Lily''s figures together! In the next second, theypletely disappeared from their original spot. It was also at the same time. In Britain, London, Voldemort who was sitting on a high seat looked coldly at those purebloods who were kneeling on the ground in a great number, he raised his head, and those ice-cold eyes looked as if they had travelled through endless distances, and ced his gaze in the north. "Originally I wanted to say that this is yourst chance. But when I think about it, such words have actually been said by me quite a few times." His voice was t, no joy or anger could be heard in it. "But what I think should be clear to all of you here, the ones who will actually be the ones to enjoy the greatest fruits following the victory of this war. If you all still want to maintain your positions and defend your rights and interests, then don''t give me any more stupidity and slyness, or else, I think a half-blood can be noble." At that moment, the bodies of everyone present couldn''t help but tremble as they raised their heads in horror and looked towards their lord. "My lord! We will do our best!" "We won''t let you down again!" "You will be satisfied! We will satisfy you this time!" Voldemort rose from his seat as he passed through the mass of people, leaving only one sentence behind. "Then we''ll see how you all fare in the war in the North." *** "I can''t for the life of me figure out why he just keeps targeting you like that, just because your dad used to bully him? Harry." In Hogwarts Castle, in the Gryffindormon room, a bright firece warmed the entiremon room. Ron was ying wizard''s chess with Seamus, rambling to Harry as he ordered his own pieces on the board to strangle the enemy across the board. Harry was sitting on the couch, he was carefully tending to his wand, a wand maintenance routine he had learnt from Cedric, they had been friends sincest year''s Triwizard Tournament. "I don''t. But Professor Dumbledore trusts him, although we can hate him, but we also have to trust the Professor." "Those Death Eaters are at it again, there have been rumours going around the wizarding worldtely that they have found their lord and are preparing some big, earth-shattering n." Harry nced at the Daily Prophet of that day''s edition again and found the one article that wasn''t reported by Rita Skeeter and had significantly more credibility. ---- #Postmand, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 503: Then lets go! Chapter 503: Then let''s go! Upon hearing Harry read out the Daily Prophet''s headline, Ron, who had already managed to destroy Seamus''s pieces on the chessboard, couldn''t help but look up in surprise. "They haven''t given up yet? Everyone is convinced that the Dark Lord is already dead, he hasn''t been seen again for a whole sixteen years after that night." Harry put the newspaper away as he continued to stroke his shining wand in his hand with a satisfied and appreciative gaze while he replied. "But doesn''t something like this happen a few times a year? Every now and then, those devotees of the former Dark Lord would im that their lord had returned, only for us to realise each time that it was nothing more than a farce." Ron recalled carefully. "Let me think about it. Professor Quirrell, who came back from travelling in the first year, was discovered by the Ministry of Magic to have once sneaked into the Ministry of Magic and used an Imperius Curse on an employee of a certain mysterious department. After we helped Auror to arrest him, he actually said that he was under the instructions of the Dark Lord. But in reality, it was detected by the Ministry of Magic that he was just lying and that he got greedy and wanted to make a fortune on his own." "In the second year, we caught the Malfoys with a forbidden Dark magic item, and that diary turned out to be something hepelled me to take before we were even nning on handing it back in, and luckily you ended up defeating the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets so that we managed to destroy it. Well, that diary also imed to be the Dark Lord himself, or him when he was younger." "Then in the third year, it was Sirius, we were shocked at the time, but eventually we learnt the truth, unfortunately, it allowed Wormtail to escape, and when he fled he was iming that the Dark Lord wasn''t dead at all and that he would surely be back again." "And finally there wasst year, during the fourth year, Barty Jr. pretended to be the new Defence ss professor, he tried to capture you using the Triwizard Tournament and came here to learn the truth about the Dark Lord''s disappearance, only to end up being defeated by you and Cedric teaming up. He was screaming until he was captured by the Ministry of Magic that he knew his lord wasn''t dead at all and would be back again sooner orter." At this point in the story, Ron spread his hand. "Every time it''s someone saying that the Dark Lord isn''t dead yet and that he''ll be back sooner orter, but if the Dark Lord really isn''t dead yet why hasn''t he shown up until now, so, that''s really all just rmist talk, all of these people are still so wrapped up in the past that even they''re being lied to by themselves." Harry mused. "But it seems like a lot of other people are believing what they''re saying, that the Dark Lord really isn''t dead." "Those people just want to deny your credits!" Ron said with conviction, "Think about that idiot Malfoy, that''s what he tries to do, and I''m guessing that all that talk in the magical world about how the Dark Lord isn''t dead is spread by their family. But there''s nothing they can do to change the truth no matter what they say, you''re the hero, Harry, it was you who saved the wizarding world back then, you still have your medal!" Harry brushed his hair on his forehead in displeasure, he knew what Ron meant by medal when he spoke on his breath. "Don''t put such a tall hat on my head, I know I was never the hero." With that, he got up and walked off in the direction of his dormitory. While watching his back as he left, both Ron and Seamus looked at each other and shrugged together wondering exactly why Harry was angry about it; if they had been called as a hero by someone they would have jumped up and down with joy a few hundred times already. The peaceful Hogwarts Castle went into curfew with the rough driving sounds of caretaker Filch. The quiet night sky made this castle full ofughter during the day gradually quieted down, and at this time in a certain room on the seventh floor of the castle, an old man with crescent-shaped sses and a head full of white hair and a white beard looked out the window in serenity. In the blue eyes that contained wisdom and the passage of time, it was unknown what kind of things were being reflected upon again. When the night wind blew at its strongest, it made the grass of the ranch in Scond all fall to the ground. It was still cold at midnight in the height of summer, and not a single half-bulge of shadow could be seen across the vast expanse of the pasture until an ethereal blue halo of light shed across the sky above the meadow. Jon and Lily stepped firmly onto the soft ground together. The first thing they did when theynded was to make sure their surroundings were safe first, it was almost a habit and caution that was deep in their bones. Only after discovering that the surrounding area was so empty that there couldn''t possibly be any ambushes, did they begin to check the things they were carrying, to see if there was anything that had been left out during the space shuttle. Ensuring that nothing was out of ce, Lily took a deep breath of the grassy odour of the air, and her eyes, which had always been as calm as stagnant water, couldn''t help but finally burst into a state of overwhelming excitement at this time. No one could make any guarantees, but Lily still had great hope that the Harry of this world was not actually dead. Of course at this point in time, Jon would still maintain hisposure at all times, which was why Grindelwald and everyone else had to emphasise again and again that themand was in his hands. "We need to try and see if Apparition still works properly in this world first." Jon decided on the first thing they needed to do. Lily pressed back her inner excitement as she nodded while grabbing Jon''s arm and waving her wand to try to Apparate to a familiar ce in her memory. But after the spell was invoked, the two of them just flickered in ce for a bit. Jon didn''t show too much surprise at this, he just tried again on his own, Apparated to a ce ten metres away from his eyes, and this time it worked very smoothly. "Sure enough, because of the change in space, and even the probability of the time being different, it caused all the spatial drop points we remembered to not work, and we could only Apparate to ces we''ve seen in this world." "But that''s a minor problem, Diagon Alley is in London, we can get there first via Muggle transport and then use Floo Powder to get to Hogsmeade via the firece in the Leaky Cauldron Bar. And right now, all we need to do is get some Muggle money first, and preferably also determine when and where we are now." Jon looked up and gave Lily a questioning look. Lily addressed him seriously. "As I said before I came here, it''s all up to you as soon as we get here, you make the arrangements, and I''ll just do what I''m told straight away. Trust me, Jon, I''m not the type to be swayed by my own inner emotions." Jon naturally didn''t question Lily''s words. He looked towards the distance, towards the dark silhouette that vaguely resembled a barn. "Then let''s get going!" ---- #Shonenzero, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 504: Hogwarts Chapter 504: Hogwarts Jon knocked on the door of the house of the owner of this farm, which seemed so abrupt in the silence of the dark night. However, there was no movement inside for a couple of seconds, so he continued to knock on the door with great patience, only stopping when several vulgar curses came from inside, as well as a series of footsteps. The door was opened from the inside, and a burly man with a bushy beard held a double-barrelled shotgun in his hands, staring at Jon and Lily with an unfriendly look on his face. The wariness in his eyes visibly subsided a little when he saw that the people standing outside the door were children and women. "If you guys are lost, you can go to the cabin next to the house to make do for the night first, and wait for tomorrow for other things, if you have other purposes, you better weigh this guy in my hand first!" He didn''t think of Jon and Lily as some kind of beggars, because the two of them really didn''t look like tramps, even though their clothing and attire looked strange. Somewhat to his surprise, the person who interacted with him was actually not the indifferent-looking pretty woman, but the boy who looked like he might only be 7 or 8 years old at most. "We just wanted to ask for directions sir, sorry to disturb your rest, but we do have some difficulties." Jon could tell that the man just looked gruff, but should be a fairly nice person to talk to, otherwise, he wouldn''t have been willing to offer them help right after he had just opened his mouth. "Where are we now, and what year and month is it today?" The man looked at Jon and Lily with an increasingly strange gaze, and his sleepiness looked like it had mostly worn off as well, then after a few moments of silence, he managed to answer. "This is Paisley, today is the 2nd of June 1996." After hearing his answer, Jon couldn''t help but look at Lily, both pieces of news were good news for them. Paisley is an area located in the southwest of Scond, which meant that while they were still in Northern Europe before travelling through space, they are now back in Britain. And in terms of time, it was five months faster than when they were in their original world. Although it wasn''t exactly the same, the difference in-between wasn''t that big, and they were more than capable of roughly being able to deduce from this that the time Voldemort had used the time-turner to reverse in this world in the very beginning should have been the same 5 months! After obtaining these two crucial pieces of information, Jon finally had a smile on his face for the first time since Dumbledore had fallen into a deep sleep. He turned his head and continued to stare at the man, digging one hand into the pocket of his robes while saying. "There is one more thing I would like to trouble you with, sir, and it may not be called trouble, after all, this is something that is in your favour, can we exchange some money with you?" Just as the man listened to Jon''s words, subconsciously rm reupied his eyes, and his hand began to raise the muzzle of his shotgun. Then he saw what Jon pulled out of his pocket. It was two gold beans. Having made this mutually satisfactory transaction, the man was not sleepy, and he enthusiastically offered to help Jon and Lily get to a nearby ce with a station. And thus, just as the sun was rising, Jon and Lily arrived together in front of a small railway tform located in Scond. At the tform, they bought their tickets to London, and it took the two of them the rest of the day to reach London from Scond that afternoon. But it was from that point that they returned to the most familiar of ces. The entrance to Diagon Alley, the location of the Leaky Cauldron Bar had not changed due to some deviation; it was still situated grimly in the middle of one of London''s busier streets. As soon as Jon and Lily both came into the bar together, the vibrant and rxed atmosphere of this world''s magicalmunity was evident. The bar was bustling with wizards and witches of all bloodlines sitting at the same table, and there was no hint of tension or dullness in the ce, from time to time they could overhear these people talking aboutst year''s Quidditch World Cup, and how the Irish team had beaten the Bulgarian team and won, or about the Triwizard Tournament that the three wizarding schools in Europe had organised togetherst year, and how the two Hogwarts champions had won the title together! Lily listened intently to the second one, trying to find out if there was any information about Harry in it, but didn''t hear the names of the two champions representing Hogwarts from those talking about it. Jon could see the unease within Lily''s mind, so he turned his head in mock confusion to the elderly barkeep, Tom, who was cleaning up at the bar. "Sir, was the person who represented Hogwarts in the tournamentst year was Harry Potter?" Because of Jon''s age, there was no surprise for him to ask this question, so Old Tom answered naturally. "It''s all alreadymon knowledge boy, Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory, the two of them lifted the Triwizard Cup together and ended up in a trapid by the remnants of the Dark Lord, but together they worked to defeat them and ultimately brought back the truth. The Daily Prophet has been picking up on this story for almost a year now." Lily''s entire body felt as if it had stood frozen in ce as the old tom opened his mouth to answer Jon''s question. She had desperately warned herself before she arrived not to get her hopes up, and there were times when disappointment was more difficult to ept precisely because of the higher hopes. But now, like a sting curse that had suddenly exploded, the news that Harry Potter was alive and well and had won the Triwizard Tournament on behalf of this world''s Hogwarts had bombarded her brain before she had a chance to return to Hogwarts. After a long moment of standing still, Lily couldn''t stop a slight tremor from running through her body. It took Jon grabbing her arm from the side to make her finallye back to her senses from her trance and turn her head to look at Jon. It was like she wanted to say something, but didn''t know exactly what to say. But before she could say anything, Jon had turned to Old Tom first. "Can you prepare some Floo powder for us, we''re going to make a trip to Hogsmeade." It only took four Silver-Sickle for Jon and Lily to use the firece in the Leaky Cauldron Bar to get to the Three Broomsticks Inn in Hogsmeade via the Floo Network. After arriving in Hogsmeade, neither of them lingered, first they wrote a letter at the Owl Post Office and delivered it to the Hogwarts school grounds, and then instantly made their way to the gates of the school. They watched with their own eyes as the owl with the letter flew into the castle, and McGonagall of another world didn''t let them wait long, with a simrly straight back and a simrly serious look, she walked out of the castle. When she saw Lily standing outside the school gates, the one who imed to be a student from long ago visiting in the letter, somewhat familiar but mixed with too much strangeness, she stared nkly at the castle gate. The whole person froze in ce. ---- #Shonenzero, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 505: Are Really Two Distinguished Guests Chapter 505: Are Really Two Distinguished Guests Before receiving that letter, McGonagall was going through her usual routine. She had finished her afternoon third-year Transfiguration ss, listened to Filch whine about what school rules the two Weasley twins had broken most again, and finally just as she was about to head to the great hall for dinner, near the entrance hall on the ground floor, she had received the letter that had arrived right from the Hogsmeade Owl Post Office. The letter was brief, it simply stated that a student who had graduated from Hogwarts a long time ago wanted to visit her alma mater as well as meet her former professors and that she was now in front of the gates of the campus. At this, McGonagall didn''t think much of it. Countless wizards had graduated from Hogwarts in Britain, and every year, there would inevitably be some people who wanted to return to this castle to reminisce about the time when they had studied and lived here in the past, so after receiving the letter, as a matter of course, McGonagall turned around from the entrance hall and walked towards the outside of the castle. Then, through the school gate, she saw that familiar yet unfamiliar face! The first thing that came to her mind was the person who had been dead for more than ten years, but the entire wizarding world knew that no one in that family had survived at all except for Harry, not to mention the fact that McGonagall had even seen Lily''s body with her own eyes in the first ce. So, she regained her senses the next second she froze and continued to stare at that face of Lily''s, wondering if she was mistaken and if it was just two people who looked alike. "You are?" Lily replied softly as she looked at McGonagall, who looked youngerpared to her other world self, her face had fewer wrinkles and was no longer haggard. "Professor, don''t you recognise me?" Being asked this rhetorical question by her, McGonagall rpsed into a frowning silence, and she looked back at Lily, her eyes had taken on a stern and distant look. "Thisdy, please don''t make fun of the dead, especially since she was also a great witch, and her son is even still living in this castle!" Lily looked like she had already guessed that there might be a situation like this, and she had already prepared for it, taking a deep breath and looking into McGonagall''s eyes, she said sincerely. "Remember the sixth year? Professor, I was in a daze at that time, and it was you who found me in the girls''vatory that evening, cheered me up and told me some truths, and it was onlyter that I was able toe out of that time." This was obviously the secret that was only known between the two of them, Lily and McGonagall, and after hearing this, McGonagall''s eyes instantly became shocked and incredulous! No memories could ever be hidden forever in the magical world, no matter if it was a Legilimency or a Truth Potion, the memories could be snatched out without the person''s knowledge, but everyone knew that Lily Potter had been dead for fifteen years already! The world had never heard of magic that could extract memories from a dead person''s mind. But on the same note, McGonagall had never heard of any magic in this world that could actually bring a dead person back to life! What''s more, it''s a person who has been dead for so long, and now this "Lily" looks as if she didn''t die in the first ce, and has been alive until now. By the way, there was also a boy who followed her, who hadn''t said a word from the very beginning, and was just staring at the Hogwarts castle with a kind of emotion that didn''t fit his age, no matter how you looked at it, the rtionship between him and "Lily" was like a pair of mother and child. And even if Lily had survived because of some secret, would she have wanted another child? Or maybe James wasn''t dead either, and the boy was Harry''s brother? McGonagall''s mind was like a jumble of thoughts shing through her mind, but she was more inclined to guess that this "Lily" was someone else, who had just stumbled upon something that had happened before. But... What if it turned out to be true? McGonagall couldn''t help but think about that tiny hope, and it was actually quite simple to prove it. She looked at Lily intently. "Since it''s a former studenting back, you shouldn''t mind meeting the Headmaster of this school again, right?" Whether it be true or false, there is certainly no way to hide it from Dumbledore''s eyes, and even if it is false, no matter what kind of plot this "fake Lily" has, as long as Dumbledore is present, he will not let her seed. Meeting Dumbledore was something Lily and Jon couldn''t wait to do. Instead of convincing anyone else, in fact, all they had to do was convince Dumbledore, and then there wouldn''t be any other trust issues. The reason they had written to McGonagall first at the beginning was that peace or no peace, Dumbledore would be busy, and there was no way for them to guarantee that he would be in Hogwarts Castle every minute of the day, which was not the case with McGonagall who served as the Deputy Headmistress. Having McGonagall take them to Dumbledore would certainly be the better choice. Watching Lily ept her offer, McGonagall didn''t linger as she opened the gate. If Dumbledore hadn''t been in the castle at the moment, she would never have done so, but now that the old man was in the Headmaster''s office, she certainly didn''t have to take anything into ount. "Follow me and don''t go anywhere else alone." McGonagall warned solemnly, and then led the way, while deliberately avoiding the direction of the great hall, where Harry was having his dinner at the moment. Soon they arrived at the door of the Headmaster''s office, something that was somewhat unexpected for McGonagall; both Lily and Jon were acting perfectly normal from start to finish, not looking like they were going to run away halfway through the process or take the opportunity to do something to the castle. This made her heart shake a little more. No one in this world would dare to pretend to be Lily in such a tant manner and provoke Dumbledore, even Voldemort wouldn''t necessarily dare toe directly to Hogwarts and confront Dumbledore face-to-face, so. This Lily could really be real? Finally, McGonagall gave Lily anotherplicated look, while Lily just met her gaze calmly. There was a knock on the door to the Headmaster''s office, and the next second, the calm voice that was all too familiar to all three people present came from inside. "Come in." McGonagall pushed the door open and Lily and Jon followed her in. After they entered, they saw the old man who was sitting in front of his desk, wiping his crescent-shaped sses with a handkerchief. Seeing a living, breathing Dumbledore once again, Lily finally couldn''t resist her eyes reddening a little, and Jon couldn''t help but feel his nose turn a little sour. "Dumbledore, I brought over a student who ims to have graduated from the school a long time ago." Listening to McGonagall''s words, Dumbledore put on his own sses as well, and then his blue eyes gazed upon Lily and Jon. He looked a little surprised, and thoughtful and puzzled. "And truly two distinguished guests." ---- #Shonenzero, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 506: After Chapter 506: After The surprise Dumbledore showed when facing both Jon and Lily was clearly not at the same level of shock as that of McGonagall. He looked as if he was dealing with magic he didn''t understand at the moment, but was confident that he could master with ease, and with his hands sped together, he gestured for both Jon and Lily, as well as McGonagall, to sit down. "So, why don''t you two guests introduce yourself?" McGonagall sat down, but she still looked like she wanted to say something like she was wondering if Dumbledore had forgotten what Lily looked like and wanted to remind him that the witch in front of him could be considered ny-nine percent alike, not to mention a mould of Lily when she was younger. Jon and Lily, on the other hand, sat quite openly opposite Dumbledore. The first step they needed to do when they came to this world had actually been aplished after meeting Dumbledore. In this world where Voldemort had disappeared, Dumbledore would be the benchmark amongst wizards in the entire wizarding world, and with his help, Jon felt that it was basically unlikely that anything would go wrong on their trip. "Lily Evans, Professor Dumbledore, that was my name when I was a student in this castle, then when I got married, of course, I became Lily Potter." After hearing Lily''s words, McGonagall''s brow furrowed even tighter, she thought that hardly anyone could lie in front of Dumbledore, but then again she couldn''t see anything of the sort on Dumbledore''s calm face, he just turned his gaze towards Jon in turn. Meeting his gaze, Jon spoke. "Jon Green, Professor, Hogwarts. Um, fifth year, yes, I''m a fifth-year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." This made McGonagall, whose attention had been focused on Lily and who had always thought Jon was just a kid in passing, show even more astonishment. It was like she was shocked that Jon, at such a young age, actually had such a knack for talking nonsense with his eyes wide open, every year the eptance notices were written by her hand, and how could a child like him, who obviously wasn''t even older than 10 years old yet, who could not even possibly be able to receive an admission letter from Hogwarts, let alone still be in his fifth year. Dumbledore''s face, however, remained calm, except that his attention was clearly more focused on Jon. "It sounds very much like a fantasy, but I don''t think there will ever be a day when a witch with a boy wille here and tell me a joke like that, so one of you will be able to give me a rational exnation for this right?" Lily didn''t say another word, instead turning her head to Jon, the implication of which was clearly to hand over the speaking rights to him. This couldn''t help but make McGonagall feel even more absurd, even Dumbledore, who had always been calm, couldn''t help but have more curiosity on his face at this moment. Jon did not hold back, he directly pulled out the two most fundamental things that could prove their identity. The time-turner that had been brought over by Voldemort, with its pointer constantly spinning, and the space-turner that had brought them to this world with its blue dial. "What Professor Potter and I said is true, she really is Lily Potter, and I am indeed a student at Hogwarts, except we are both from another world." Dumbledore narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the two turners that Jon held out in his hand, not bothering to question their words at first, but inquiring. "Can I have a look at these two?" Jon, of course, did not refuse and naturally handed them over to Dumbledore, confident in taking them back even if something went wrong. After carefully observing the two items, he looked back at Jon. "So youe from another world that is roughly the same as this one, with the same Hogwarts, the same Ministry of Magic, and the same us, but with some big differences?" As he spoke, Dumbledore''s gaze turned to Lily. "For example, the Lily of your world is not dead?" Lily was a little silent as he looked at her like that, thinking of a response. "But Harry died." Jon added the words for her. "It was the time-turner that Professor Dumbledore held in his hand that created the deviation of two worlds that were supposed to be the same, and created vastly different worlds." "Tom changed the past," Dumbledore said softly as he looked at the item in his hand. It was Jon and Lily''s turn to be surprised, but soon they had a sense of taking it for granted. In the other world, Dumbledore himself was able to guess where that extra Voldemort came from, and in this world, Voldemort had been missing for so long, so it might not be impossible for Dumbledore here not to make some simr guesses. And by this time McGonagall''s entire body was almost out of her chair! She looked at Jon, Lily and Dumbledore in horrified bewilderment, it was clear that every word of the conversation between them was understandable on its own, butbined, it contained information that was chilling. "What time was it in that world you were in when you arrived?" Jon was finally able to understand the benefits of talking to intelligent people. Before he and Dumbledore had to rely on riddles a lot of the time tomunicate with each other, and now it was true that the people who came up with the riddles were also masters at guessing, before anything could be said by Jon, Dumbledore himself was already trying to get to the truth. "The 3rd of January 1996." Dumbledore nodded. "Five months back in time, that''s not a long gap, it must be the most important node for him that he''s trying to reverse." He nced up at Lily as he said this. "Which means that just five months after that night, he somehow managed to use a time-turner to modify the past, which then deviated your original world." Dumbledore had almost guessed the whole thing, but even with all his intelligence, he could only figure it all out with the limited information he had, but there was no way to understand what he didn''t even know. Finally, he redirected his gaze to Jon''s. "Can you tell me a little bit about what''s going on in that world you''re in?" Jon took a deep breath as he spoke in a deep voice. "That''s exactly what I was going to do." So, all evening Jon and Lily stayed in the Headmaster''s office. Lily recounted the first half of the story of the changes that had taken ce since that night, including Voldemort''splete rise to power, the fall of the Ministry of Magic in Britain and Hogwarts Castle, and the exile that the Dumbledore of the other world had begun with the only remaining students and professors on the wagon. Jon, meanwhile, took over and recounted the second half of the story after he had enrolled in the school, all the way up to when they finally discovered the identity of the second Voldemort, paid the price of Dumbledore falling into a permanenta to get the answers, and finally came to this world. ---- #Shonenzero, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 507: The location of the Horcrux Chapter 507: The location of the Horcrux The Headmaster''s office had be silent as a result of Jon and Lily''s narration. McGonagall''s entire expression had gone from shock at first, to disbelief afterwards, to incredulity, and finally had be somewhat numb. It wasn''t until she listened to Lily speak about the fall of Hogwarts in the other world, where Sprout had died in battle, Flitwick was missing an arm, and several other professors familiar to her were either dead or injured, that her entire being became sad. Dumbledore acted emotional after hearing it all, especially after he found out from Jon how he ended up, but didn''t seem to show much regret or sadness. "On the subject of where exactly Riddle went, I have done some investigating over the years on that question as well. I was convinced that he didn''t really die on the night that everyone was celebrating, but it was as if he had vanished from the world. Later on, when I was checking some files and information from the Ministry of Magic, I learnt that there had been a case of a missing time-turner more than ten years ago, and it was from that time that I added Riddle finding a way to go back to the past as a possible entry, but I didn''t realise that this was actually the final answer." After saying this, Dumbledore looked at Jon and Lily very seriously. "I need to apologise for everything that has happened to you. Dealing with this world''s Riddle should have been the responsibility of those who belong to our world, but because of our negligence he endangered more people." In response, Jon and Lily were both blunt in their behaviour. "It certainly has nothing to do with you Professor, just because you failed to neutralise the bad guy doesn''t mean you have to transfer all his faults to innocent people, we are all well aware of that, and there is only one person who has no way of being forgiven, and that is Voldemort." Dumbledore apologised for this, is him, making his own attitude clear, he then asked in the meantime. "So the purpose of your visit is to weed out the Horcruxes left behind by him in this world?" Jon said with a nod. "That''s right, and on top of that the time-turner that allowed him to bridge the two worlds needs to be destroyed, but both of those are actually quite simple." Everyone''s eyes went to Jon, including Lily, who only knew what they needed to do when they came to this world, but didn''t have the slightest clue as to what they actually had to do. All she had learnt was that Voldemort had more than one or two Horcruxes, and where they were hidden was unknown. Jon, on the other hand, had a good idea of what to do about it and said. "Mr Iniesta and I explored the biggest possibility of how to destroy the time-turner before we came here. We need to first find the ce where Voldemort used it from this world back then, that''s where it all began originally, and that''s the only ce where the individuality that became a bridge to both worlds could bepletely obliterated, and any violent means of destroying it could be used." "As for Voldemort''s Horcruxes..." It couldn''t have been simpler for Jon, who had already read the original story and the fact that this world''s Voldemort was outright absent meant that those Horcruxes he had hidden were most likely not altered at all, but to make sense of why he knew where they might be located, he would need a proper justification. "Before Professor Dumbledore of our world fell into a deep sleep, he recounted to me some of the information he had once investigated about Voldemort''s Horcruxes. This included the specific number of Horcruxes that Voldemort had made, and where they had once been located. All of these locations were of course useless before, as Voldemort had retrieved all of his Horcruxes, but in this world, he certainly hadn''t done so yet. So, I think we can verify tonight whether or not that information about the locations of the Horcruxes still has any validity." Jon looked to Dumbledore. "Because there is a Horcrux hidden right here in this very castle." McGonagall had a look of shock on her face which she had already disyed untold times today, and Dumbledore was also a little surprised. They were both looking at Jon, wanting to get an answer from him. Jon had no intention of hiding it either. "Right here on this floor, the wall opposite the tapestry of the Troll Beating Barnabas is hiding the entrance to the Room of Requirement, and inside one of the rooms dedicated to storing things there is a Diadem that Ravenw left behind, and that''s one of the Horcruxes." He told the location and what the Horcrux was so clearly and bluntly that one could not feel that there would be any falsehood. They didn''t linger afterwards, and instantly Dumbledore, along with McGonagall, followed Jon out of the Headmaster''s office to the opposite side of that tapestry on the same floor, and in front of them, Jon opened the door to the Room of Requirement with a silent chant in his mind, and stepped into the misceneous room where all sorts of things were stashed away. Without any surprise, the Ravenw''s Diadem was there for them to find. It was also enough to confirm that Jon''s information about the Horcruxes didn''t have any problems. It was just that after getting the Diadem, neither Jon nor Dumbledore had the intention of destroying and disposing of it immediately, and both of them shared the idea of finding all the Horcruxes first and then destroying them in a unified manner so that they could prevent some possible eventualities that were very unlikely but not impossible to happen. After confirming the existence of the Diadem, they did not rush to find all the other Horcruxes overnight, it was now past 8 pm, after a day''s journey, Jon and Lily had not eaten dinner yet, and they both needed a good night''s rest as well. Just before McGonagall went off to help them prepare their rooms, as well as get the house elf in the kitchen to prepare two dinners, Lily looked at Dumbledore with a slight tremor in her voice and said. "I have a request, Professor Dumbledore." Dumbledore was looking at her as well as if Lily didn''t even have to say anything for him to know what the request would be. "I don''t think it''s a request, Lily, it''s supposed to be a mother''s rightful authority, no matter what world it is or what time of year it is." After saying that, Dumbledore nced at the portraits that lined in the walls of the Headmaster''s office. "If it''s not too much trouble, Phineas, go and find Sir Nichs for me and ask him to bring Harry to the Headmaster''s office, and tell him that I have some things to find him alone." Sirius'' great-great-grandfather didn''t show any displeasure as he usually did, and with extreme gusto, he dashed away from the portrait frame. Dumbledore, on the other hand, turned to Lily. "I''m not going to stop you from having a mother and son reunion, but as for where you came from, I think the fewer people who know about it before the dust really settles, the better it will be." ---- #chandru selvakumar, #Muhamad Rafiq Bin Jamil and #Magi, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 508: Harry and Lily Chapter 508: Harry and Lily Harry had thought at first that he would enjoy the rare peace and tranquillity in his life. At least that''s what he had believed during the first half of this academic year. That was until the whole of this fifth year was about to end in such a dull and uneventful manner without any ups and downs; not a single Death Eater plot, not a single professor in the castle plotting against him, and not even a single student being under thepulsion of something odd anymore. "Why is there a Potions ss tomorrow?" "I have a feeling it''s not that there are too many potions sses, it''s just your attention is only focused on them, and even if it was just one ss a school year, you would still think it''s too much." Ron said straight to the point. Harry knew he was telling the truth, but it was also a fact that taking Snape''s sses was torture and misery for him. Just as Harry had put down the ss schedule in his hands and was about to head back to his dormitory with Ron, depressed and waiting for tomorrow, Nick suddenly found him. "Hey, Harry! I don''t think you''re going to be able to go to bed just yet, Dumbledore is looking for you." Instead of feeling a bit nervous at Nick''s words, Harry perked up. "What does Professor Dumbledore want from me? Is it Quirrell who managed to escape from prison! Or did Barty Crouch Jr. actually fake his deathst year, and he''s making a fuss again!" Nick shook his head as if perplexed that he had such an imagination. "You''ll have to go to the Headmaster''s office yourself to find out, and I have also been informed by the portrait in the Headmaster''s office that the password for tonight is lemonade." Harry couldn''t stay half a moment longer, he sprang up from themon room couch like a spring and ran out of the Gryffindormon room. All sorts of spections shed through his mind on the way, thinking about what the odds were that he would be able to skip Snape''s Potions ss tomorrow. With that, he recited the password to enter the Headmaster''s office, made his way to the door on the seventh floor and knocked on the door. Only when he heard Dumbledore''s voice ringing from inside did he push his way in. Then he realised that there were a lot of people in the Headmaster''s office tonight. Not only Dumbledore, but Professor McGonagall was here as well, and on top of that, there was a boy who looked to be at most seven or eight years old and a witch who looked incredibly familiar to him. At first, Harry only felt familiar when he saw the face of the witch, but soon he felt that the atmosphere in the headmaster''s office was not right. After he entered the office, Dumbledore and McGonagall didn''t say anything, the seven or eight-year-old boy was sitting in a chair with a ss of lemonade in his hand, leisurely looking like he was looking forward to seeing something, and only the witch, who looked familiar to him, had her eyes firmly fixed on him. Lily''s body couldn''t help but shiver, her eyes had be moist at some point. She had wondered countless times what Harry would look like now if he had been alive back then, and after seeing that face, which was almost a mould of James'', with green eyes identical to her own, she couldn''t control her emotions any longer. "Harry!" The sudden hug left Harrypletely bewildered. That inexplicable sense of familiarity and throbbing instantly swept through his entire body, causing his entire body to shake as if he had just returned to a warm room from an icy ce. A figure that often appeared in his dreams surfaced in his mind, and a scent that could only ever resonate in that long-ago memory lingered on the tip of his nose. "Mum?" Harry froze, whispering in a voice that held nine parts doubt and one part incredulity. Lily finally stifled a cry of bitter relief as she hugged Harry''s body tightly, nodding her head in affirmation over and over again in a quivering voice. "It''s me! It''s me, Harry! I''m sorry I''m sorry!" McGonagall who was watching this scene from the side couldn''t help but feel her eyes turning red, and sniffled with a face of relief, Dumbledore was also looking at this scene of mother and son recognising each other with a smile on his face, and Jon was observing the Harry Potter of this world from the sidelines, which appeared to be exactly the same as the one he had seen in the film in his previous life, without any slightest difference. Harry was visibly shocked and incredulous to the point of disbelief by such a sudden appearance of Lily. After the huge emotional shock, he of course wonders why Lily has suddenlye back from the dead again. It was of course up to Lily herself to exin it to him. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Jon had left space in the Headmaster''s office for the mother and son while taking the time to show Jon where he would be staying in Hogwarts. "No, there is no student named Jon Green, whether or not he is in the same year as Harry or any other year." When arranging the room, Jon was not surprised to hear this answer from McGonagall, in this world ording to the normal trajectory of development, the original Jon Green is indeed already no longer exists to be right. Jon then asked about the others, trying to find out what else had changed here inparison to the original after Voldemort had left. "Potter''s best friend is Ron Weasley, they''re practically inseparable. Hm? Hermione Granger?" Hearing Jon ask Hermione''s name, McGonagall visibly frowned in thought for a moment. "No, never heard of that student in the castle either, why? Was she a student at Hogwarts in the other world as well?" After hearing this answer, Jon froze instantly. The Hermione of this world is gone? Jon pursued the question further. "Have you heard that name anywhere else in the wizarding world? Her full name is Hermione Jane Granger." McGonagall recalled it carefully for a moment, then she said in a daze as if she had remembered something. "I remember,st year when the Triwizard Tournament was held at Hogwarts, among the students that Beauxbatons brought, there was that one little girl with chestnut-coloured hair who appeared to have that name, but she didn''t make it into the tournament, so she didn''t make that deep of an impression." Jon couldn''t help but have his doubts rise at this point. Hermione went to Beauxbatons? Was the Hermione of Beauxbatons the Hermione he knew? And what was the problem in the middle that got her epted into Beauxbatons instead of the original Hogwarts? But whether it was Hogwarts or being epted by Beauxbatons, at least it was a proper wizarding school, although Hermione''s life trajectory had changed, it didn''t seem to have changed for the worse, or at least it was much better than the opening she had at the beginning of thest world. After figuring out these things, Jon did not immediately rest, but found Dumbledore alone, intending to discuss with him how to go about finding Horcruxes. *** [Author: Difficult to write guys, it''s too hard to write what''s not in the plot] [TL: ording to the original plot, this volume plot was different, but it was changed at thest second, which made the update schedule irregr; that''s why the author wrote thatment] --- #chandru selvakumar, #Muhamad Rafiq Bin Jamil and #Magi, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 509: Golden Cup Chapter 509: Golden Cup North Sea, Azkaban. A dense nket of ever-present fog constantly encircles this ind. This fog, which contained magical powers, prevented the Muggles, who had already explored the entire world, from discovering this ind full of sins, and at the same time, it could also suppress the hope of all the prisoners on the prison ind who wished to escape. It was just that today, an uninvited guest, whose body waspletely shrouded in grey robes, passed through the fog and went up to this prison that made every wizard in the magical world fearful to the core. The surrounding area was filled with bare stone walls, and only in the middle of the ind stood an ancient and dpidated castle. The grey-robed wizard avoided the Ministry of Magic''s Aurors stationed on this prison ind and easily made his way to the interior of the prison. Dementors were floating around, but just as he entered the castle, his entire body instantly twisted itself physically and turned into a grey rat with one finger missing! Dementors only suck the emotions out of humans, and are certainly not half as interested in animals, so the rat wandered around the prison like it was nothing, and soon he found the person he was trying to find. It was in the deepest part of Azkaban, and usually only held those wizard criminals who were sentenced to permanent imprisonment. And at this moment, inside the prison that the rat was snuck in, a cloaked woman was sitting. The woman''s clothes were ragged, and her face looked very haggard, but her mental state was not as withered and depressed as the other prisoners, instead, she always maintained a state of extraordinary exuberance and fervour! The rat transformed into human form in front of the woman, and at the same time pulled down the hood of his grey robe, revealing a face with all his features squeezed together, living like a big fat rat. Be looked up and saw the face, and she couldn''t help but show a burst of indignant insanity. "Wormtail! How dare youe to see me!" Peter couldn''t help but physically shiver at the sight of Be looking as crazy as she did before, he had spent the first ten years or so of his life hiding in the Weasley''s house out of fear of these hardcore diehards of Voldemort. Voldemort''s disappearance and theplete defeat of the entire pureblood forces were directly rted to the information he provided back then. People like Be wanted to skin him and tear him apart. However, Peter hade here with a mission this time, and although he was scared, he still maintained hisposure. "It was our lord who told me toe." Be, who originally looked like every cell in her body was radiating rage, suddenly went still. Her spirit was more on the side of insanity, but she was not a fool, Peter''s so-called loyalty to Voldemort was more actually a kind of cowardice, of course, he had the possibility of being found by other people who would also make him feel cowardly and make him re-identify them as his lord, but he definitely would not have the guts toe to Azkaban to provoke her with this matter now. Therefore, the only possibility that the one he spoke of as his lord was the one they had inmon! Be violently grabbed the prison bars, frightening Peter who subconsciously took a few steps back. "Every year, several newly imprisoned prisoners here are saying that the lord has returned! But in the end, all of them are eventually certified under the tortures of the Dementors that they are just spouting nonsense! How can you prove what you say, Wormtail!" Peter didn''t dare meet Be''s ring, bloodshot eyes. He faltered. "Lord once asked you to keep one thing for him." "My lord has trusted me with more than just one thing he feltfortable handing over to me back in the past!" "The gold, the Golden Cup." The atmosphere suddenly went silent. It was as if Be had recalled something, and her gaze began to grow erratic. It was a kind of excitement born out of near-desperate madness, a manifestation of a near-death heart gradually beginning toe alive again. "How did you get into the Lestrange''s family treasury!" "I didn''t get in, my lord found me through a goblin." Be let go of the prison bars, and smiled, her smile still as unnerving as ever, her voice bing unmistakably subdued. "What does our lord need us for?" *** "This is Jon, Harry." Early the next morning, Dumbledore had prepared a room for them to have breakfast alone, and Harry was naturally with Lily, who of course introduced them to each other when they met this time. Harry had already learnt a little about Jon''s exploits in the other worldst night, so he didn''t think of him as some ordinary boy anymore, if he were to go by normal age, Jon would actually be a few months older than Harry. "Hello, can I just call you Jon?" Jon looked at the quiet-looking Harry with his ck sses and for some reason, an image of him as an adult wearing smoky make-up andp dancing in ck leather trousers suddenly came to mind. Hastily shaking his head to banish this segment of the horrific vision from his brain, Jon extended one of his own hands to shake Harry''s in return. "Sure thing, Harry." Harry, of course, had no idea what Jon was thinking, he just said with a look of admiration. "They all say I''m the hero who defeated the "You-Know-Who", but in fact, I''ve never even seen what the "You-Know-Who" really looks like, and you''re the real hero!" "In our ce, everyone is a hero, just like the stars in the night sky, no stargazer focuses only on the brightest ones, right? Sometimes it''s the stars that have faded out that are more memorable." Jon said gently as he munched on his Hot dog. Harry looked at him with even more passion. Truth be told, the upbringing Harry had grown up in could be described as nothing short of exceptionally bad, right? However, his character was not half as bad as he was brought up to be, nor did he inherit that part of his father''s youthful wickedness; at best, he could be considered a bit naughty, and his personal outlook could not be more positive. In fact, he had always been ashamed that he had such a reputation and was held in such high esteem, feeling that he had stolen his mother''s effort without any qualification. So when he learnt that in another world, someone his own age had actually managed to defeat Voldemort, and in such a difficult environment, it was only natural that a kind of admiration rose. Lily, of course, could see this, but she didn''t see anything wrong with it, not to mention Harry, if there was a need to choose an absolute leader to rece Dumbledore in the Order of the Phoenix, nine times out of ten the adult wizards would choose Jon. After breakfast was over, Jon and the others didn''t dy any longer, and in front of Dumbledore, Jon began to allot ns. He and Lily would split up into two groups, one would be responsible for destroying the time-turner, and the other would be searching for the rest of the Horcruxes. ---- #chandru selvakumar, #Muhamad Rafiq Bin Jamil and #Magi, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 510: 12 Grimmauld Place Chapter 510: 12 Grimmauld ce Although Jon''s memories about the Horcruxes had already started to get quite fuzzy, he still hadn''t forgotten some of the specific information. The Nagini snake, for example, had been made into a Horcrux after Voldemort had been found by Wormtail, and as things stood now, that Horcrux shouldn''t even exist anymore. The diary had been destroyed in Harry''s second year, the diadem hidden in the Room of Requirement had been found, and what still remained was the Hufflepuff''s Golden Cup hidden in Gringotts, the Resurrection Stone ring hidden in the old Gunther house, and the Slytherin locket hidden in the ck family''s ancestral manor. These locations and things are not difficult to find and deal with, the only thing that is a bit difficult is the golden cup in the Gringotts. The vault it is located in belongs exclusively to the Lestrange family, and under normal circumstances, the goblins won''t allow anyone else to enter except for the Lestrange family, even now that the Lestrange family has basically all moved to Azkaban for a reunion. But even Harry and the gang in the original story had a way of sneaking into the Gringotts to steal the golden cup out of there, so naturally this wasn''t a difficult task for Jon either. It was just that he always felt as if he had forgotten something, and it seemed that it was still something very important. Jon thought hard for a long time and kept recalling, but never remembered what exactly he had forgotten. It wasn''t until just before he was about to set off from Hogwarts and leave when he saw Harry, who was asking eagerly if he could go out with Lily, that a bolt of lightning suddenly passed through his mind and he finally remembered exactly what he had forgotten! He jolted his head. Only now did Jon recall that Voldemort had made more than just six Horcruxes in the original story. The night he killed the Potters, he had unknowingly turned Harry into one of his Horcruxes as well! That''s what''s most problematic at this point. Harry is a living, breathing human being, and the methods of destroying Horcruxes that are now known are all directly destroying the Horcruxes themselves, which means that if he really wanted to destroy all of them, it would be tantamount to killing Harry as well. As for how it was done in the original, it consisted of a final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort, in which Voldemort personally killed the soul of the Horcrux that belonged to him in Harry''s body by using the killing curse with his own hands. The reason why this could happen wasplicated and required a lot of pre-conditions, but obviously, now that none of these pre-conditions existed or could ever arise again, so, Harry''s current state would be a big problem. Jon frowned with a thoughtful look on his face as he watched Lily, who despite being tempted, insisted on turning Harry down. No one else noticed a thing, but Dumbledore looked as if he could see the change of expression on Jon''s face and after Jon noticed his gaze the two exchanged a nce. There was no desire to keep this from Dumbledore, but even if he told Dumbledore about it now, he surely wouldn''t have any good solution, or it wouldn''t have ended up like the original story. No longer bothered to think more about this matter, he nned to think about what to do with Harry after retrieving all the Horcruxes on the outside first. In the end, if it wasn''t possible, he would take Harry with him before thinking of something else. Jon collected his thoughts as he took the things Dumbledore had prepared for him and left Hogwarts, starting to head to the first Horcrux hiding spot he had to go to. He first travelled to Diagon Alley in London via the Floowork and then followed the address Dumbledore had given him to a location in the northwest of London that was roughly twenty minutes or so away on foot from King''s Cross Station. It didn''t look any different from any other Muggle neighbourhood anywhere else, and there weren''t even any overly strange buildings to be seen until Jon waved his wand in his hand, then without anyone noticing, the two houses in front of him suddenly jumped apart, and proceeded to reveal a quaint and very historic house. 12 Grimmauld ce. This was none other than the ancestral house of Sirius''s family, and in today''s world, where Wormtail had escaped as he had in the original story, Sirius had still not been absolved of his crimes and was now hiding in his old home. Jon came to therge ck-painted door covered in scratches, the silver doorknob was in the shape of arge, coiled snake, and there was no keyhole or letterbox on the door. As per the incantation Dumbledore had taught him, Jon waved the wand in his hand and the next second the door opened in the middle. After he stepped inside, the door slowly re-closed on its own, and only a pair of glowing and cold eyes met Jon''s as the sunlight from outside waspletely cut off and the whole of 12 Grimmauld ce was plunged back into darkness and silence. The faint candlelight lit up and Jon saw therge dog with dark shiny fur standing right in the middle of the room. On the wall next to it was a mural of a woman who looked as if she had awakened from a doze, and she was hurling loud curses, her voice shrill and fierce, her words all over the ce. There was also a vague glimpse of an extremely pale house elf hiding behind a stair rail not far away, peeking out at what looked like the big ck dog and Jon who were confronting each other. Sirius had no intention ofunching an immediate attack on Jon; he was a little reckless, but not stupid. The number of people who knew the way to enter 12 Grimmauld ce could be counted on one hand, and they were all people he could trust enough, Jon''s young appearance came into y at this time, making Sirius'' guard not as strong as it should have been. Jon didn''t leave time for misunderstandings to arise, he simply pulled out the letter from Dumbledore and handed it towards Sirius. "Professor Dumbledore arranged for me toe here to get one thing." The vignce in Sirius'' eyes did not dissipate, but after hearing Jon''s words, he still took human form, and the letter flew out of Jon''s hand and finallynded in his hand. After reading the short content of the letter and seeing Dumbledore''s unique seal at the end, Sirius refocused his gaze on Jon. The wariness in his eyes had disappeared, but there wasn''t much intimacy in them either, he simply said. "You need to find something, I''ll take you to get it." Jon didn''t care about his attitude, in the original world Sirius had been the same at first. "That item should be in the ss case next to the firece in the ground floor living room, a locket box with a snake relief on its surface." Hearing him report such an urate location, Sirius had more than a little doubt in his eyes, but he didn''t ask anything more right away and turned to lead the way in front. "Follow me." Jon followed him, keenly seeing the panicked and shocked expression on the face of the elderly house elf hiding behind the stair railing. ---- #chandru selvakumar, #Muhamad Rafiq Bin Jamil and #Magi, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 511: Regulus Chapter 511: Regulus Arriving at the ss case on the ground floor that Jon had mentioned, Sirius easily found the locket. The item had been lying there for a long time, and next to it, there was an Order of Merlin medal - one that one of Sirius'' ancestors had bought through a donation. But at the first moment he got his hands on the locket, he didn''t just hand it over to Jon, instead frowning as he scrutinised the item, before turning his head and asking. "I certainly don''t have any doubts about Dumbledore, but what I can be sure of is that you are not a member of the ck family, so how did you know about this locket?" Jon had certainly expected this. Even if Sirius disliked this home of his, now that he was the sole owner of the ce, questions were bound to arise as to why Jon knew about it. "My origins are as per the agreement with Professor Dumbledore, need to be hidden for the time being, and as far as what this locket is. I think you should ask the one who brought it back instead." Sirius'' face turned a little unpleasant, he felt that Jon, the entric little boy, was ying himself for a fool. "Do you think I would be asking you this if I knew who brought it back?" "If you couldn''t find the person who brought it back here right now, do you think I would ask you to do so?" There was a sudden silence in the atmosphere, and Sirius abruptly shifted his gaze to the house elf who was still hiding behind the stair railing, looking as old as a rotten orange. The moment the house elf met his gaze, he disappeared in the next second, actually escaping straight away! However, Sirius just let out a loud shout. "Kreacher!" A ''snap'' sound rang out, and Kreacher came back, although he was still full of reluctance and resistance, he still could not disobey Sirius'' order. Sirius paid no attention to his emotions, ever since he had left the house, he hadn''t felt anything for anyone in his family. And since the death of James Potter, his best friend, it was even more so with the entire ck family as if they were enemies. "Why did you never tell me about this locket!" He questioned harshly. Kreacher''s eyes averted and he stammered a reply. "Sirius, Lord Sirius never asked Kreacher either." Sirius grabbed a handful of the rags he was wearing, his eyes staring him dead in the face. "Then I''m going to ask now! Who told you to bring this box back!" "Yes, yes it was Young Lord Regulus!" Kreacher, who couldn''t refuse Sirius, also screamed loudly. After hearing this name, Sirius'' hand movements paused, a cold smile unconsciously appeared on his face, and at the same time, he also loosened his grip on Kreacher''s ''dress'' and looked at the snake-shaped relief on the locket box. "So he asked you to bring it back, then it''s only natural, of course, his lord would trust him to keep something precious." The released Kreacher listened to Sirius'' taunts with only a vague and scornful distaste on his face, only for such an expression to be masked by his still respectful posture as if he simply didn''t care to say anything at all about what had transpired. The locket was tossed into Jon''s hands by Sirius, and he didn''t look the least bit interested in it once he had learnt where it came from. Jon had been watching the interaction between the pair of master and servant in silence, only after receiving the locket he spoke up. "Perhaps things aren''t what you think they are, Mr ck." In the previous world, Jon had called him by his first name, but here they hadn''t been that close to each other. "Maybe it was something that was important to Voldemort and your brother found out exactly that and stole it from Voldemort?" Siriusughed as if he had heard some funny joke. "Just do what Dumbledore assigned you, how much more do you know about the ck family than I do?" Jon didn''t argue with him much, and it wasn''t Sirius'' fault, because the inherent impression his family had once left on him wasn''t something that could be changed so easily. Even in the original world, regarding Regulus and the locket, Jon knows, it still had taken a long time for Kreacher to get to Sirius and make him truly believe in the fact by saying a lot of things to him. Later that day, he found the cave where Voldemort had once hidden the locket and sat there alone all night. "Why don''t you ask that house elf about it? You''re now his master, so surely he can''t lie to you if you ask him, right?" After saying all that, Jon left 12 Grimmauld ce without looking back. He wasn''t in the mood to get involved in the ck family''s household affairs, but he also didn''t want Regulus, a confused young man, to be consistently misunderstood and scorned all the time, especially by his own family, so he didn''t mind telling all these hidden secrets that Kreacher would probably never voluntarily talk about if Sirius didn''t take the initiative to ask about them. And after Jon had left, Sirius was still thinking about the words he had left behind, and eventually he looked back at Kreacher, who was still keeping his big head down and not even looking at him. "You were involved in getting that case, weren''t you!" Facing Sirius'' question, Kreacher had no way of not answering even if he internally refused to answer. "Yes, yes." "Then tell me right now, as it is, how that woman''s perfect son, who worked for his lord back in the day, was really a perfect and good son!" There was no way for Kreacher to refuse; no house elf ever had the right to refuse in front of their master, even if he was beyond disgusted with this master of his. So he told the story as it was, all the way back to the beginning, from when Voldemort had taken him to hide the locket, to when Regulus had made his way to that cave with him. And after listening to all of this, Sirius fell silent where he was. He knew that Kreacher couldn''t possibly deceive him, that all of these things had to be true. The younger brother, who had always been a supporter of the egoistic purebloods in his eyes, had actually turned the tables and sacrificed himself to bring out the locket, which was obviously extremely important to Voldemort. Sirius didn''t know what kind of emotion he was feeling right now, he only felt like something was blocking his chest, and the memories in his mind about his brother were so blurry when he recalled them at this time. It was only after a long time that he managed to say with a renewed hoarse voice. "Take me to that cave that you went with him." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 512: Gaunts Old House Chapter 512: Gaunt''s Old House Jon didn''t leave the locket in his hands unattended. He directly used the Phoenix''s Apparition to return to Hogwarts, then found Dumbledore and ced the locket in front of his desk. Dumbledore was not surprised that Jon''s trip had gone well, he just stared oddly at Jon who had appeared directly in his office just like that. "Even though I''ve already witnessed such a fact, I still remain a little disbelieving that someone''s Animagus can actually turn out to be a magical creature, especially a Phoenix." Jon had already experienced this kind of surprise, it was indeed an extremely abnormal thing in the magical world, almost as if some kingdom in the middle-age society had suddenly mastered the technology of controlled nuclear fusion. However, Jon did not say much about the root of this kind of magic, and Dumbledore naturally did not have the intention to ask about it. Soon after that, their attention shifted to the locket, and it was obvious that before the journey to look for Sirius, Jon had already spoken to Dumbledore beforehand, letting him know about Regulus as well. "In fact, many people have always misunderstood the true spirit of what the Slytherin house stands for," Dumbledore said softly. "Arge part of that stems from the rise of Riddle in recent years, who has led some of the opportunistic purebloods to extremes, and along with it, the entire atmosphere within Slytherin has changed. But those who possess the true qualities of the Slytherin House have never disappeared, like Regulus." Jon nodded in recognition, in fact, it wasn''t just Regulus, it was the same even in the original story, even from Slytherin, there were still quite a number of students who participated in the Final Battle. After keeping the locket and diadem in a safe ce, Dumbledore gathered up the materials on his desk and stood up from his chair. "Come on, I have nothing more to do for the rest of the day, let''s go find the next Horcrux together." And just as they had stepped out of the Headmaster''s office, they saw a torn and hesitant Harry standing in the doorway of the Headmaster''s office, as if he wanted to find Dumbledore but had been stopped by the stone gargoyle because he didn''t know the password. Upon seeing Dumbledore and Joning out of the headmaster''s office, a look of delight instantly appeared on his face. "My mum, is she back? Professor Dumbledore!" Dumbledore said shaking his head. "She had to find the correct location in the middle of a forest, it''s not an easy task Harry, I suppose she won''t be back to the castle untilte evening for a well-deserved rest, she won''t be able to finish this task in a day." Harry had a disappointed look on his face, but then he could tell that Jon and Dumbledore were in a posture of readiness to go out of school right now and couldn''t help but blink his eyes and ask. "Can I join you guys? I want to learn more about my mum from Jon." To this, Jon was certainly up for anything, and instead of making a decision, he turned his gaze to Dumbledore. It was unknown what Dumbledore was thinking, he pondered looking at Harry''s expectant apprehensive gaze and eventually nodded. "If you don''t have any other sses scheduledter on." "Today it''s just one Herbology and Potions ss in the morning, both of which I''m already done with!" At the mention of Potions ss, Harry''s face was clearly filled with pain, but after receiving such an answer from him, Dumbledore naturally had no other reason to refuse and added Harry to the group for the uing trip. They left the confines of Hogwarts Castle together and then waited for Dumbledore to lead the way, using Apparition to bring Jon and Harry together to a remote hillside. Harry didn''t ask what they were nning to do bying here, as he had said at the beginning, wanting to join Jon and Dumbledore was just a way to learn more about Lily from Jon. "When I first got the admission notice to magical school it was your mum who snatched me from a professor of another Hogwarts controlled by Voldemort, you should know that Hogwarts professor as well, his name is Barty Crouch Jr." Jon didn''t put on any kind of airs in front of Harry, recounting all that had happened to him since he had met Lily, and Dumbledore stepped forward to lead them towards a wooden shed four or five miles away from Little Hangleton. Harry was certainly no stranger to Barty Jr. It was also around this timest year that he, along with Cedric, had sabotaged Barty Crouch Jr.''s ns, captured him and brought him to the Ministry of Magic. To be shocked at the fact that he was actually a Hogwarts professor in another world at the same time was somewhat marvellous. Because, in this world, Barty Jr. also pretended to be Moody for a year as a professor in Hogwarts, during which time he was unexpectedly nice to Harry to fulfil his n. Jon also talked afterwards about how during the second school year, Lily, Lupin and Sirius hade together to capture Peter Pettigrew to avenge both James and him from the other world personally, and so on. Harry had been listening, but he obviously didn''t show much excitement on his face, he could hear that in the other world, Lily hadn''t been happy at all, she had be a loner and her whole being waspletely just taken over by the emotions of vengeance, even more lonely than he himself had been in this world. And in the background, Jon didn''t say much more about Snape. There was a separate meeting between him and Dumbledorest night, during which he gave Dumbledore the list of names that Kingsley had asked him to bring with him as a favour, and also chatted about Snape''s choices and eventual end in the other world. Dumbledore listened and was silent for a long time, surprised but not surprised by such a part of the story. He knew Snape better than anyone else and certainly wasn''t overly shocked that he ended up in such a situation. It was also while Jon and Harry were chatting that Dumbledore had led them to such a dpidated wooden shed. Calling it a house was a stretch; the walls were covered in moss and many of the tiles on the roof had fallen off, revealing the inner rafters here or there. Thicktles were growing around the house, talltles all the way up to the windows, which were very small and umted a thickyer of old dirt, and there was a dead snake nailed to the door. It was obvious that no one had been here for a long time, and as soon as Dumbledore pushed open the door staring at the dead snake, the pervasive dust was swept out from within by the wind. Jon and Harry both frowned and covered their noses, and it was at this point that Harry finally asked. "What are we doing here?" Dumbledore had stepped inside. "To find a gem that has the same root as your Invisibility Cloak." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 513: Street Rat Chapter 513: Street Rat The Gaunt family''s old house really couldn''t even be called a house, it could only be considered a wooden shed. It had obviously been uninhabited for a long time, the furniture was dusty and tattered everywhere, and it didn''t even look like a pureblood family house with a long history and heritage. It didn''t take them all that long to find the Gaunt''s ring, which was hidden in a cupboard in the wooden shed. It was Jon who found it first, he carefully picked up the ring from the cupboard, and at the same time felt a familiar magic power in it. It clearly belonged to Voldemort. The gemstone on the ring was the resurrection stone left behind by the legendary "Death", possessing the magic that could bring people back to life, but in fact, Jon knew that the so-called resurrection was fake, the only thing it could do was to condense the soul of the dead, and resurrection was just an empty word. Jon couldn''t absorb the magic power unique to the Death, as for the Horcrux, it was made from Voldemort''s soul fragments, and there was no way for him to deal with it, but there was obviously another magic power used to maintain a certain kind of curse on this ring. After feeling this, Jon''s mind was clear. This must be the curse that indirectly led to Dumbledore''s death in the original story, Voldemort obviously also left this ring with almost no safeguards, if not for Dumbledore being strong enough, he probably wouldn''t havested long enough to order Snape to kill him. So after thinking about what exactly thisyer of magic attached to it might be, Jon didn''t hesitate to absorb it. He had already eaten too much of Voldemort''s magic, it was nutritious, healthy and tasty, and the quantity was still filling. Erasing the curse on it, Jon turned around and handed the ring to Dumbledore, this ring would of course have to be safe until the Horcrux''s properties werepletely erased. It was also considered that he had helped Dumbledore to erase the risk, the Deathly Hallows could not be easily destroyed, and even if the Horcrux was eliminated, Dumbledore could still use it to satisfy a part of the regret he had been feeling. The trip seemed to have gone smoothly, from start to finish they hadn''t encountered any trouble, just as Jon and the others were in the process of retrieving the item and were ready to leave straight away, two voices suddenly sounded vaguely from outside the door of the wooden shed. "-It was supposed to be your mission alone, yet you still insisted on dragging me with you!" "Didn''t you live around here before, stop whining, this wasn''t supposed to be a big deal, after we find the stuff, I''ll treat you to a drink at the Hog''s Head Inn." "Hogsmeade? Forget it, it''s too close to Hogwarts, it used to be fine, but now it always makes me ufortable to be anywhere near where Dumbledore is any longer." Evidently, the voices of these two conversations were getting closer and closer to the door. Both Dumbledore and Jon reacted quickly. Jon immediately pulled Harry to hide in the corner of the wooden shed, then pulled out the invisibility cloak he was carrying and directly covered himself and Harry, who was still in a daze, while Dumbledore waved the wand in his hand at this time, and the next second, all the traces they left behind in the room disappeared with them and reverted back to their original appearance. After doing this, Dumbledore''s Disillusionment Charm took effect on himself, and just as his formpletely disappeared, the door to the wooden shed was pushed open from the outside. "Wait, why isn''t this door locked?" The short, middle-aged male wizard who was the first to push the door open said with a wary expression. His reaction caused hispanion following behind him to be nervous as well, and the two of them coincidentally pulled out their wands together, changing from the casual manner they had used in the previous conversation, and cautiously stepped into the Gaunt family''s old house. But after entering the door, they noticed the heavy dust that only long uninhabited houses would leave everywhere around them, there were no footprints on the ground, and the floating dust on the tables, chairs, and cabs were all very evenly distributed, just looking at it like that, they couldn''t feel half abnormal. "You are too startled, when we first met the lord, he did not tell us that the door here would be locked. If a rat can usuallye to this shitty ce, it''s considered a miracle, how can someone still hide here?" Thisment from hispanion made even the short wizard who had started the conversation rx his guard as he put away his wand and red. "Time has passed, and it has made you all forget how we got here over a decade ago! Don''t forget what we''re doing now! It''s always good to be careful!" His words were certainly justified, and hispanion didn''t follow with any arguments but simply began to start rummaging around the house. And it was under the watchful eyes of Jon trio that their every move was being made at this point! Feeling tense and thrilled, Harry gulped as he watched the two wizards, who by the looks of them seemed to be up to no good, as they turned the entire room upside down, only to find nothing, when he sensed Jon beside him, who at some point had silently raised the wand in his hand, which was exactly identical to the one Dumbledore had been holding. Harry wondered if Dumbledore and Jon were privatelymunicating with each other or if it was a mutual understanding between the two. Without the sound of a spell being recited, the tip of Jon''s wand lit up with a dim red glow! And on the other side, the same red spell simrly surfaced, leaving the two wizards in the room, who had already lowered their guard, with no room to react at all! In the next moment, the two male wizards who were still rummaging through the cabs were sent flying by the tremendous power of the spell, and then fell to the ground, never able to get up again. Afterpleting this, Jon pulled off the invisibility cloak, and Dumbledore also removed the Disillusionment Charm from his body, Harry''s whole body was still in a state of shock, before he could even react, the battle was already over. Jon walked over to the short male wizard closest to him and pulled back the sleeves of his robe, and sure enough, he found a tattoo of a snake going through a skull on his arm! "Death Eaters!" Harry eximed out loud, and of course, he recognised the mark. At the end of the Triwizard Tournamentst year, Barty Jr. had proudly disyed this mark on his body and exined about it to him and Cedric. Jon and Dumbledore weren''t much surprised by this; the only people in the wizarding world who could think ofing to this ce looking for something other than them would be people with ties to Voldemort. The only thing that made Jon frown was that the Death Eaters in this world, even if they still existed, should be like street rats barely getting by. So how could theye to a ce like Gaunt''s old house, on this day? ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 514: Gringotts Chapter 514: Gringotts It would have never been any easier to get the answer. Not to mention that Jon had taken quite a few potions packed with him before he made the trip to this world, including a vial of Truth Potion given to him by Slughorn, and he himself had mastered the Legilimency Spell. Such two Death Eaters who had not left him with the slightest impression in his original world were obviously nameless goons, and the likelihood of the two being able to master the very advanced lumency was also very low. And so just as Harry had barely reacted, Jon had lifted the Stunning Spell on the Death Eater in his hand with the Reviving Spell, while staring into his eyes as he opened them! In the next moment, all the memories of the Death Eater''sst month were in Jon''s eyes, and soon he found what he needed in a series of jumbled images. It was a ck mist that Jon was all too familiar with, and it was floating in mid-air, epting the kneeling of those ves below. "-Go get me those things, the ring, diary, diadem, and the locket. Not a single one should be missing!" The harsh voice echoed as Jon stared at the image of the scene, and then he aimed the wand in his hand at the Death Eater''s temple, then twirled it. A strand of memory silver wire was thus extracted, and Jon then conjured a ss vial and ced the wire in it, finally handing it to Dumbledore. "Voldemort, Professor." Dumbledore took the ss vial, he didn''t say anything to Jon''s carefree use of the Legilimency Spell, he had never been that much of a pedantic person, and knew very well that if that world Jon was in really fell into that kind of dire situation, the resistance couldn''t afford to just use the Disarming Charm against the Killing Curse, could they? And after hearing Jon utter the name, his face revealed a grave expression. Although he had already had some expectations when he saw these Death Eaters and heard the title of lording out of their mouths, when he actually heard Jon confirming this matter, it still could not help but take him a little by surprise. After all, the real Voldemort has been missing for more than ten years, and just yesterday, Jon''s arrival only exined that Voldemort actually went to another world, but this is still a fact that has not been determined for one day, and Voldemort reappeared again! This thing was unexpected for Dumbledore, and for Harry, it was just horrifying! As Ron had talked to him earlier, almost every year since attending Hogwarts there had been an ident with a diehard Death Eater spouting derations that sooner orter Voldemort was going toe back. He had thought that this year was going to pass without a hitch this way and that no idents would ever happen again, but then he hadn''t expected to be given a big one directly this January, near the end of term! But after hearing Jon''s words, Harry didn''t believe itpletely for a while, after all, he didn''t know how many times he had heard the news about Voldemort''s return in the past years, and then again, yesterday, Jon and Lily said that the real Voldemort had already gone to another world, so what is this Voldemort who ising back now? Jon of course knew that they probably had a lot of questions right now, but he also knew that there was no time to answer those right now. He did not hesitate to use the Legilimency Spell on the other Death Eater, after not finding much information about Voldemort who hade back, without saying anything, he directly re-restricted the two of them, and then Dumbledore sent a message to the Order of the Phoenix, and after someone had taken the two Death Eaters away, Jon and the others also left the old Gaunt''s house. "We''ll talk about any problems when we get back to Hogwarts, right now we have to hurry up and get to Gringotts!" Now both Harry and Dumbledore, of course, listened to Jon. Without stopping, they were led by Dumbledore and used Apparition to get to the front door of the Gringotts in Diagon Alley. Regarding how to enter the Lestrange family''s vault,st night, they already had a full set of ns. They didn''t hide their identities at all, and Dumbledore led Harry and Jon right in, bright and early. They were soon greeted by a goblin, who looked like a supervisor, who ran all the way to them. Goblins have always been ufortable with wizards, but that depends on what kind of wizard you are, in today''s magical world without the threat of Voldemort, basically, no one can bepared to Dumbledore. Dumbledore seemed to be quite skilled in dealing with these goblins as well, and after a few simple pleasantries, he simply stated the purpose of his visit. "We would like to have a look at my Vault 713, is it convenient now?" He didn''t show any proof material such as a key, at this point, his personal arrival here was the greatest proof. The goblin certainly had no objections to that. "Pleasee this way with me, gentlemen." He led the way, and then the group rode on a trolley, which then began to speed through thebyrinth-like underground. The journey was not a short one, and during it, Jon appeared to be in his usual state of mind, but his spirits were kept taut and not half rxed. For the time being, he didn''t know what exactly that ''Voldemort'' actually was, but having already fought with him so many times, Jon knew very well that that ck mist was definitely Voldemort himself, and he couldn''t be mistaken. And now what exactly is this Voldemort who has appeared in this world, the most worrying thing is that the real Voldemort has actually been holding the means to travel between the two worlds, and he has now learnt about what Jon and Lily are doing and chased after them. This wasn''t very likely though, because if that was the case, it didn''t make sense that this world had been quiet all these years, and even if some trouble had arisen, it had all been Death Eaters making petty troubles. So Jon was actually more inclined towards the second spection. That was that there was some kind of change in the Horcruxes in this world, allowing one of the remnants of the soul to have the ability to act on its own! And from the images extracted from the memories of those two Death Eaters, Voldemort had mentioned all the Horcruxes, but only the Hufflepuff golden cup hidden in the Gringotts was not mentioned. This could not help but make Jon suspicious of that one. Could this ''Voldemort'' who suddenly appeared possibly be the remnant soul on the golden cup? So without stopping, he rushed to the Gringotts with Dumbledore and Harry, actually wanting a kind of verification. Soon, they came to the batch of vaults with the highest security standards in the Gringotts, and the 713 vault was once the ce that Dumbledore used to store the Philosopher''s Stone. Nowadays, there was certainly nothing valuable in this vault, and they only casually nced at it after entering the vault before directly letting the goblin who was leading the way bring them out again. After this seemingly time-wasting trip was over, they got a room in the Leaky Cauldron Bar. In the room, Jon looked at Dumbledore and nodded, and used Phoenix''s, unrestricted Apparition. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 515: The Missing Golden Cup Chapter 515: The Missing Golden Cup At the deepest level of the Gringotts, near and inside the most sophisticated vaults. There is of course an extremely powerful Anti-Apparition Charm used as a barrier here, and apart from the Apparition Charm of a wizard, even the special magic of a house elf can be defended against by it. However, the phoenix''s special Apparition was not simrly included as well. In addition to wanting to crack the phoenix''s Apparition being more difficult, it was still primarily the fact that in the entire magical world, there was only one phoenix that could follow the orders of a wizard throughout the entire magical world, and that was only the Phoenix of Dumbledore''s family. And if Dumbledore wants to sneak into the Gringotts, then whether or not he has the help of the phoenix is all the same to him. Therefore, the Gringotts did not have any defence against this, which led Jon to enter inside very easily. He followed the information that Dumbledore had helped him to determine, and soon found the door of the vault belonging to the Lestrange family, which was protected by special protective magic, and couldn''t be opened through conventional means without the corresponding treasury key, but this wasn''t a difficult task for Jon at all. He directly touched the vault''s door itself with his ring-wearing hand, and in the next second, all the magic power attached to the door was absorbed as much as possible, and then the whole of this vault''s door directly disappeared as well. Because the door itself was made of magic. What was revealed in front of Jon was a cave, which was stuffed from floor to ceiling with gold coins and golden wine cups, silver armour, the furs of various exotic creatures with ridged spines or dangling wings, magical potions in precious vials, and a skull that was still wearing a crown. In the face of these exotic treasures, Jon didn''t even blink his eyes, he just stretched out his hand and gently waved his fingers, and without even needing to touch them, all the things in the entire vault floated up! Like soldiers on parade, they floated past Jon''s eyes in formation and then regrouped in the centre of the treasury. In less than 10 minutes, he had already examined every single item here, and none of them bore the slightest resemnce to the golden cup he had once seen in the Headmaster''s office of Hogwarts Castle. After spending some time all over again, Jon searched a second time, but the results were still the same. With these, hisplexion became totally grim. Sure enough, just as he had guessed at the beginning, that new ''Voldemort'' who had just appeared is one of the Horcruxes that had gone awry, and the Horcrux that could be confirmed to have gone wrong right now is Hufflepuff''s golden cup. The bad news is that thisst Horcrux, which could have been solved straight away, is now missing, and the good news is that at least the probability of this world''s Voldemort having nothing to do with the original Voldemort is very high. This was starting toplicate the task of destroying the Horcruxes, which Jon had thought would be simple enough to aplish. From the Death Eaters, they encountered today, it was clear that the Voldemort from that golden cup had already begun to make his move, and trying to gather his own men was never something that could be done in a day or two, and no one knew exactly how long they had been missing from public sight. Thinking about all this, Jon pondered, then he briefly dealt with the protection magic on these treasures in the vault, and then directly emptied the Lestrange family''s treasure trove and put it into the pouch that was cast with the Undetectable Extension Charm. Even if it might be valuable, Jon actually didn''tck these things, it was just that he was somewhat at odds with people with the family name Lestrange, no matter which world''s Lestrange they were from. After doing so, he used Apparition, but instead of immediately going back to Dumbledore and Harry, he went back to one of the hidden streets of Diagon Alley, where he changed his identity and re-entered the Gringotts. Soon, with the help of the Lestrange family treasures that have not yet cooled down, he said to those goblins that he wanted to rent a vault with a very high level of security, and those goblins who saw the money in their eyes would, of course, serve him well as a big customer, and immediately that goblin supervisor who had only just received Dumbledore and went to the 713th vault met with Jon again in a private room, wanting to determine whether to insure his vault and at the same time, also mention the question of rent and the term of the lease and so on. Jon casually dealt with a couple of sentences, and after determining that there were no other means of monitoring and listening in this room, he made an immediate decision to directly use the Imperius Curse on this goblin. Obviously, Jon did not have any kind of dark magic cleanliness, although now that he listened to Lily''s words and rarely used Unforgivable Curses anymore, he would not be stingy when he needed to use those curses. The goblin then became Jon''s puppet, at his mercy. "Has anyone been to the Lestrange family vault recently." The goblin was silent for a moment, then under the control of the Imperius Curse, his body naturally answered Jon''s question. "Beh, sir, he was thest person to have gone and checked out all the protective magic within the Lestrange Vault." "Where is he in person now?" "He''s missing." Jon''s brow furrowed. "When did this happen?" "After thest Christmas." The goblin said like a puppet. And after hearing the time, it caused Jon to freeze slightly, and soon he went on to ask. "Was that the same time when he checked the vault?" "It was on the day after Christmas, and that was the day the vault inventory was done every year." After receiving this answer, Jon pondered for a long time, and after taking a deep breath he had no intention of staying any longer, the Imperius Curse on the goblin would be cancelled on its own before too long, while he directly used Apparition to return to Dumbledore''s and Harry''s side. Meeting the gazes of the two, Jon said bluntly. "The golden cup has not been found, and I have learnt something from the goblin, that the person who instructed those two Death Eaters to go to Gaunt''s old house today to look for the ring is most likely Voldemort from the missing golden cup." His words made Harry freeze and mutter. "So. Voldemort really is back?" Dumbledore, for his part, was lost in thought, his blue eyes meeting Jon''s gaze. "If there was a problem with the Horcruxes, then why did it happen to be at this time of year, when you and Lily appeared in the world?" Jon shook his head. "It wasn''t at this time of year, the real problem with that golden cup would have urred six months ago, a few days after Christmasst year. And during that couple of days, a lot of big things happened in the world that Professor Potter and I were in, and I suspect it had something to do with those things." Dumbledore asked. "What big things." Jon said calmly. "The night of Christmas, Voldemort from two different worlds fused together." Harry sucked in a cold breath and Dumbledore''s face became more grave. "Then I killed the fused Voldemort who was just resurrected after being killed by Professor Dumbledore''s final blow, and he supposedly came back to life for the first time since his time-travel with this world''s Horcruxes that day." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 516: Mutation Chapter 516: Mutation Harry''s mouth hung open. He had always known that Jon would be impressive, something that Lily had told him more than once in private. But nowadays, Jon''s young appearance wasn''t quite convincing enough in the end to give much credence to someone he had met for the first time not too long ago, although Harry had never doubted that Lily was lying to him, only that he had visualised Jon''s feat of defeating Voldemort, probably as something thanks to thebined efforts of a whole bunch of people from the Order of the Phoenix, which had ended up allowing Jon tond the final blow. But what was he just talking about? A Voldemort who became an even more powerful being after the fusion of both Voldemort, and he was able to kill such a being all on his own? That''s not defeating, but killing. Defeating a person who wields a high level of magical power may not be difficult to do, but trying to kill such a person, especially if that person is still Voldemort, would be very shocking, especially if the person who aplished this feat would normally still be in his fifth year at Hogwarts. While Harry was still shocked by this, Dumbledore, who was on the sidelines, had started to think about the two major events that had happened during the time that Jon had said that something had gone wrong with the Golden Cup. It wasn''t that he wasn''t surprised that Jon had been able to kill Voldemort, but as a wizard who had researched extremely deeply in magic, once he had learnt that Jon''s Animagus could turn him into a Phoenix, after that, whatever further feats this young man had performed had already be something that he could ept with a mindset of taking it for granted. "The fusion of two Voldemort''s souls, and his resurrection after death relying on the Horcruxes of this world. Judging by the rtionship between these two events and the Horcruxes, the more likely one would be the second." Dumbledore removed his crescent-shaped sses and cleaned them with his wand as he went on. "But ording to the magical principles of Horcruxes, how the person who made the Horcrux is resurrected should have nothing to do with the Horcrux itself." Jon was actually thinking about this as well. However, for them, rather than understanding the principle clearly, the easiest and quickest way was actually to find and destroy the golden cup immediately. That way, no matter what exactly was the reason for such an ident, it didn''t matter, it was enough for them to fulfil their most fundamental purpose. Finally, Jon shook his head and said. "Let''s put these things aside for the time being, we can investigate the matter of the golden cupter, at least we are not without clues, and we may be able to dig out more from those two captured Death Eaters." Dumbledore naturally did not disagree with his idea. After getting a clear picture of the current situation, they didn''t continue to linger there and were led by Dumbledore back to the Headmaster''s office at Hogwarts, while Lily''s side would be back by the evening whether she had any luck or not. Now ideally the best situation is that the problem of the time-turner can be solved as well, then even if the whereabouts of the golden cup might still be a problem, it will still allow them to have a specialised target. And just as Dumbledore, Jon and Harry had just returned to the Headmaster''s office, and they hadn''t even poured the tea in the kettle yet, there was a sudden knock at the door. Dumbledore had no intention of letting Jon and Harry evade and said softly. "Come in." A middle-aged male wizard with greasy hair like seaweed and a pale, sombre face pushed his way through the door. Harry''s entire body instantly became fidgety and his face became very unnatural at the first sight of him. Jon, on the other hand, looked interested, but he knew better than anyone else that the changes in this worldpared to the world with one more Voldemort were actually not that great, which meant that the Potion ss Professor in front of him had a very different stance from his own in the other world. Well, although both of their hearts were actually still the same. Snape''s countenance looked anxious and ugly, after entering the headmaster''s office, he first saw Harry, and his already gloomy countenance couldn''t help but be even more gloomy, and then he turned his head to see the young Jon who was sitting in a high-backed chair, with his legs dangling in the air without his feet touching the ground, sipping a cup of ck tea, and his eyes showed a little doubt. But he was clearly not concernedrgely with either Harry or Jon at the moment and instead arrived at Dumbledore''s desk with the newspaper in his hand and his feet in a hurry. "I hope you''ve seen this." Seeing the gravity in Snape''s attitude, Dumbledore also looked at the front page news of that newspaper with a serious expression. [Unprecedented! Major Attack on Azkaban, Numerous Prisoners Escape!] After seeing this headline, Dumbledore''s face also became more solemn as he carefully read the entire report, however, before he could put down the newspaper in his hand, outside the window, a hooting and hollering sound rang out. Dozens of owls flew in, hovering on the ceiling of the headmaster''s office for a moment, and those letters floated down like rain. After those owls left, Dumbledore just waved the wand in his hand and gathered those messy letters together, he slightly frowned and opened the letters signed by the Minister of Magic and the Head of the Auror Office, all of them were asking if he knew what was going on in Azkaban, as almost all the escaped prisoners were Death Eaters who had been captured and brought to justice. After Dumbledore saw these letters, he just shook his head somewhat helplessly and put these letters together and put them aside. And obviously, at this time Snape still had some words left to say, he turned his head to look at Harry, and then at Jon, and said in a cold voice. "I have something else I want to say to you in private." Dumbledore nodded and spoke softly to Harry. "It''s almost dinner time, go ahead and eat in the great hall Harry, you should be tired enough for the day as it is." As much as Harry wanted to stay and hear exactly what Snape wanted to say, he ended up doing what Dumbledore said and left the Headmaster''s office. Once Harry had left, Snape looked at Jon again, only to find that neither Jon himself nor Dumbledore had any intention of letting him go. "His identity will be exined to youter, for now, don''t worry about him being around, there are no secrets between us." Snape''s face didn''t look much better, but he didn''t bother questioning Dumbledore''s words, he just treated Jon as if he was air and didn''t exist. He then pulled back the sleeve of his robes on his arm, revealing the Dark Mark. "He''s summoning me." Snape''s voice was trembling slightly. "I can feel it, he is summoning his former servants and that is something no one else can do but that man himself!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 517: An Unexpected Meeting Chapter 517: An Unexpected Meeting It was quiet in the Headmaster''s office and the calmness Dumbledore disyed made Snape fidget even more. He didn''t know that Dumbledore had known in advance about Voldemort''s appearance and had even captured two Death Eaters and figured out exactly where this Voldemort had originated. Snape was genuinely terrified of the situation. The fact that there had been no news of Voldemort for fifteen years had led the majority of the magicalmunity to believe that he was truly gone from the world, and even Snape himself was half believing it. At some point in time, he actually had already made many preparations in his mind, if Voldemort really would never appear again, that would not be a bad thing, at least Harry''s safety would be guaranteed, as for himself, in the future he will just honestly be in this castle as the Head of Slytherin, spending the rest of his life like that is not bad either. But now the Dark Mark was reacting again, which meant that he was going to have to go and fulfil what had been agreed upon between him and Dumbledore earlier. Snape''s trepidation was not because of fear, he had long ago not cared about the matter of life and death, what he was really worried about was the unpredictable future, Voldemort''s return would mean that the magical world would restart a round of bloodshed, with Harry, as the very centre of the vortex, whether or not he would be able to save his own life in the end, it was something that no one could guarantee. Dumbledore could obviously see where Snape''s worriesy, but he did not exin the details, because this matter also involved Lily, the entanglement between the two was tooplicated, and Dumbledore would not venture to open his mouth without informing Lily in advance and getting her permission. "I am aware of this matter, Severus, wait for me to think about it and look into it, and I wille to youter if I gain anything and need your help." Snape also didn''t think that he could get any solution from Dumbledore right away, he came over in a hurry just to inform Dumbledore about this matter in advance, he believed that Dumbledore would eventually have a way out as long as he got some time. From beginning to end, Jon silently spectated this scene, he can see that this world Snape and the other world have a significant difference, he does not have that kind of dead air in his eyes, after all, here he still has a goal ahead of him, although this goal makes him both love and hate, but, protecting Harry is his biggest hope that makes him live. After hearing Dumbledore''s answer, Snape nodded, and then, with no intention of staying long, he turned around and was about to leave the Headmaster''s office. However, just as he had opened the door and was about to walk out, a witch happened to have just arrived at the door as well, removed her hood from her head, and was about to knock on the door. At first Snape absent-mindedly didn''t care until he looked up and saw the witch''s face! And his whole being wentpletely still. It was as if a cold storm had blown through and frozen one''s entire body into ice, and his mouth was slightly open as he stared in disbelief at the person in front of him. Lily, however, didn''t react much, she just frowned, as if she was upset that the way was blocked, and then her right hand, which was hidden in her wide sleeve, already gripping her wand ahead of time as if she had expected something. "You, you you." Snape''s voice was as hoarse as if it had been squeezed hard from his throat, with an incredulous shudder. His empty, cold eyes revealed an emotion that almost no one had ever seen before, one that was extraordinarilyplex, indescribable, and moving. "Who are you!" Finally, he asked this question. At the same time, his excitement at that moment was obvious to anyone, and both Jon and Dumbledore in the Headmaster''s office stood up from their chairs, except that the two stood up for very different purposes. Jon was standing on his chair, on his tiptoes, trying to get a clearer view of the drama, while Dumbledore was focusing on the unexpected situation that had befallen the two of them, always ready to deal with any bad situations that might ur. Snape''s body had subconsciously begun to move a little out of sheer excitement. Of course, he wouldn''t forget Lily''s face, even though the person in front of him was quite different from the witch he remembered from more than ten years ago, both in terms of temperament and appearance, Snape''s brain still told him with unparalleled conviction that he hadn''t recognised the wrong person! But reason was also reminding him that the real Lily had died long ago, and even that funeral he had secretly attended, seeing the corpse that had never been able to open her eyes. That''s why he asked the question "Who are you?" At the same time, he asked this question, he also reached out his trembling hand and subconsciously tried to hold Lily''s shoulder, but before he could carry out his action, a straight wand was already pressed against his head. "Stupefy." The tip of the wand was already poking into Snape''s greasy hair, so naturally, there was no reason why such a spell would be misaligned. Snape still had that look of disbelief mixed with hidden ecstasy and to a lesser extent suspicious anger on his face before he passed out. "Plop!" His body fell to the floor, and Lily, who had done this, simply stepped over him with an expressionless face and walked into the Headmaster''s office. Jon, who had watched this for some time, smacked his lips; he didn''t know whether toment the fact that the dog licker (simp) was not going to die, or whether to feel sorry for Snape''s tragedy. The expression on Dumbledore''s face was more one of helplessness, but he didn''t preach anything to Lily about this action, she had the right to do so even if she had just killed Snape. Lily herself, on the other hand, acted as if she was treating the incident as if it hadn''t happened, and went to Dumbledore''s desk, cing down a box filled with a pile of golden shards. After seeing the pile of familiar-looking shards, Jon and Dumbledore''s attention was instantly diverted to it. "You have seeded?" Jon pulled something like half a hand of a pocket watch out of the pile of shards. Lily nodded and said. "As you said, I went to that forest in Albania, and I did find some signs of dark magic left behind in it, and I tried to destroy this time-turner in those locations separately, and I finally seeded this afternoon when the sun was close to setting." After listening to her narration, Jon couldn''t help but rx quite a bit in his heart. Although the whereabouts of the golden cup were still unknown, at least this time-turner that helped Voldemort to bridge the two worlds was destroyed, and the rest of destroying all the Horcruxes thing is just for the sake of insurance to prevent Voldemort from having any more hidden means. Afterwards, Jon also gave Lily an ount of their journey today, and now their goal couldn''t be clearer. That was to find the Hufflepuff golden cup that had been resurfacing in the magical world under the name of Voldemort himself! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 518: Draco in Action Chapter 518: Draco in Action Neither Jon nor Dumbledore is really worried about how to find the golden cup. The situation is already clear. Since Voldemort has organised arge-scale escape from Azkaban and gathered his own men, it means that he will never lie low anymore, and he must have bigger ns for the future. In other words, he was already making his moves, otherwise, the two Death Eaters would not have turned up at the Gaunt''s old house. At that moment, another owl flew into the Headmaster''s office and dropped a letter in front of Dumbledore. Dumbledore''s expression became visibly serious when he saw the unique wax used in this envelope. He opened the envelope and took out the short letter. "Sirius also met two Death Eaters and a house-elf at the entrance to the cave where Voldemort once hid the locket." "He fought them, but just as he was entangled, there were more Death Eaters." "The Dead Eaters charged at him, forcing him to flee first." Now some things can be confirmed. Jon said. "He wants all his Horcruxes back now!" Lily said suddenly. "Since he sent people to Gaunt''s old house and to the cave where the locket is hidden, will he also send people to get the diadem that was supposed to be hidden in the castle?" Her words reminded Jon and Dumbledore, or at the same time, the three of them wanted to go there together! *** "That idiot Potter hasn''t shown his face for two days, he must be up to something again, should we follow him secretly?" Goyle proposed a bad idea in a muffled voice. It''s partly because of how boring it is at this time of year. The peaceful campus life may befortable, but it also makes people panic and always want to do something. In the past, Draco would never have refused Goyle''s proposal, but for some reason, he has been absent-minded and full of thoughts for the past two days. "Forget it, let Potter do what he wants, it has nothing to do with us. Go and have your dinner, I feel a bit queasy, so I will go back alone." After he finished speaking, he did not continue to be with Goyle and Crabbe. After a moment, he turned his head and walked towards the Slytherinmon room, leaving Goyle and Crabbe behind. As soon as Draco was out of Goyle and Crabbe''s sight, he changed direction and headed up the stairs to the seventh floor instead of heading for the underground Slytherinmon room. He seemed to have been here more than once and went straight to the tapestry where the Trolls were beating up Barnabas with a club. It was dinner time, and this ce on the seventh floor was also far from the tower where the Gryffindor and Ravenwmon rooms were situated, so there was no one around. But Draco was still very nervous, he looked left and right like a cowardly thief, came to the open space opposite the tapestry, faced the nk wall and began to walk back and forth. Soon, a door appeared in front of Draco, and he hurriedly opened it, entering the room that was responding to his wishes. And this scene was watched by a house elf hiding in the dark. After Draco entered the Room of Requirement, the house-elf, who had just been assigned to the task, suddenly appeared in the Headmaster''s office. Jon and the others hadn''t left yet. Dobby was very excited. "Mr Dumbledore! As soon as I received your order, I went to the other side of the tapestry and saw a bad boy, just as you said, he had opened the door!" Dumbledore, Jon and Lily were debating how to deal with the Horcruxes they had found before at that moment. It had been less than half a day since they thought that Voldemort might also send someone to Hogwarts to find the Diadem, and after taking a quick look there, they called Dobby, who was already working at Hogwarts Castle, to guard the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Now, an hourter, a discovery has been made! "Do you know who it is?" Dumbledore asked, sping his hands. Dobby certainly didn''t hesitate to say the name of his former young lord. "It''s Draco Malfoy!" After hearing this name, Jon and the others didn''t have many unexpected emotions. There were only a few people at Hogwarts who could be influenced indirectly by Voldemort. However, neither Dumbledore nor Jon had any intention of catching Draco, who was currently in the Room of Requirement. Anyway, the diadem was no longer there, and now it was time for Draco to hand it over. Providing them with more help. "It is enough to know who is helping Voldemort in the castle. As for these Horcruxes, we should all be on the same page." Dumbledore said in a deep voice. Jon nodded too. "There is only the Golden Cup left, and we already know that Voldemort''s spirit in the Golden Cup is causing trouble, so there is no point in leaving these Horcruxes around any longer, and no one can be sure if something will happen in between, so destroying them now is the safest thing to do." All the Horcruxes found in the end were handed over to Jon, and of course, he had a way of destroying them all, whether it was Fiendfyre Curse or the Basilisk''s fangs which he still carried in his pocket. There was a moment of silence at the end of the topic, but Dumbledore coughed twice and continued to speak. "I know there are some things I shouldn''t bring up, but Severus has been Professor and Head of a House here for more than ten years, and there are still some things he has to help me with, so how do you want to deal with him?" Of course, he asked Lily that question, and after hearing that, Jon''s expression immediately became like that of water in a well, and he picked up the ck tea as if there were no waves in the ancient well, but the corner of his eyes kept looking at Snape, who was still lying on the ground. After hearing Dumbledore''s words, Lily did not show any abnormal expression, she just said calmly. "I have put an end to the hatred between me and him. Now, in this world, we are just two ordinary people who have nothing to do with each other. The person who really hates him is Harry. How to deal with him depends on when Harry grows up. A choice that can be made after knowing the truth of everything." "So what should we do about this situation?" Lily gave a solution. "Professor, please erase and edit his memory of seeing me today. Only the memory of Lily being dead is the best possible result for him." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 519: The Lost Gem Chapter 519: The Lost Gem Regarding Draco''s matter, of course, there was no need for Jon to worry about it, Dumbledore would naturally have his arrangements. The entanglement between Snape and Lily was also between the two of them, and Jon could not be so overly intrusive even if he wanted to enjoy some drama. So in the period of time after that, he was idle. In fact, it couldn''t be said that he was idle because he still had some personal matters of his own that needed to be done. ording to the memory of Lucius taking him there once in the original world, Jon found the address where Adrien had once lived in Ennd. The world had taken a turn for the worse after the night Voldemort had killed Harry''s parents, and Adrian had be seriously ill before that, so the fact that he was no longer alive should have generated little change. The purpose of Jon''s trip was to see if Adrian in this world had worked on things like gems and ring as he had in the original world. If that hadn''t changed, then that meant that the ring was still in Slughorn''s hands, and the location of all the other gems hadn''t changed either. But when he first arrived at Hogwarts Castle, Jon had been to the forbidden books section of the library once, but he hadn''t been able to find the notes that Adrien had once left behind or the gemstone that was characterised as a spell-breaking gem in its original location. What had gone wrong in the middle, Jon wanted to find out, and this house might just give him the answer. When he found the ce, the address wasn''t veiled by the Ministry of Magic as it had been, with a seal of Auror. The Lucius Malfoy of this world hadn''t been the head of the Auror''s office and didn''t have that much power to be able to do such a thing, so Adrian hadn''t suffered much of a wanted manhunt when he had once stayed in Ennd. It was because of this that Jon judged that there might be something more valuable left in this house. The door to the house was locked, but not protected with magic, Jon just used a simple unlocking charm to enter the house. Although the furniture in the house was covered with a thickyer of dust, and it could be seen that it hadn''t been taken care of for at least a decade, the furnishings and arrangement of the furniture were enough to see that the house had been properly tended to before its owner left. Jon didn''t mess around with anything else, he went straight to the spot where he had once got the gem, and as he did, he tried to use the ring as a key to try and see if he could make any discoveries, but in the end that ce was empty. Just like the missing notebook in Hogwarts Castle, the gem here was gone! Instead of much disappointment and frustration rising in Jon''s mind, he was lost in thought. He vaguely remembered the time when that note was written, it was when Adrien, who had been a professor of the Defence Against the Dark Arts ss at Hogwarts Castle, lost a bet to Slughorn and left the note and the gemstone in the library''s forbidden book section. And that time frame was obviously before Voldemort travelled through time and changed the history of the magical world. What urred in this current house was rather after Voldemort travelled through time, so it was normal for there to be a deviation here, but why would there be a problem with that note in the forbidden book section as well? There were only two possibilities he could think of. Either during the time after Voldemort had already travelled through time when Adrian was seriously ill and not yet dead, there was some kind of behavioural deviation between him and his original self from that world, and the gem in Hogwarts Castle had been taken away again and put somewhere else or put to some other use. Either that or someone who was affected by Voldemort''s disappearance showed up, and he took both that notebook and the gem from the library. If it was the second possibility, then the person who took the notes and the gem could only have been the person who owned the ring, and who that person was that would surely be self-evident. Horace Slughorn, Jon''s teacher and the one who passed the ring on to him. And if it was the first possibility, then the person who knew the inner workings of this must also include Slughorn! After figuring this out, Jon did not hesitate and left the house to return to Hogwarts, he found Dumbledore, if there was anyone who knew where Slughorn was hiding right now, it was only him. While talk of Voldemort beingpletely dead was dominant in this world as of today, Slughorn, who had personally informed Voldemort of the existence of such magic as the Horcrux, surely knew better than anyone else that Voldemort could not be dead in any way until the Horcrux had been discovered and destroyed. In the absence of more information, he would not have guessed that Voldemort had travelled through time to another parallel world, so to this day he has been hiding in some unknown ce, fearing that his once most favoured pupil would kill him, the only person with knowledge of the Horcrux. Dumbledore naturally did not refuse Jon''s request and gave him a letter stating that it could help Jon to exin his identity. So on the next day, Jon took the letter and followed Dumbledore''s hints to find this small Muggle vige where Slughorn was hiding, the vige of Budleigh Babberton. Slughorn was obviously hiding and didn''t want to be found, even though Jon had entered the house, where he was staying hidden from people just as he had been when Dumbledore had found him with Harry in the original story, apart from the fact that the ce was clean and tidy, it looked as if the owner of the house was out of the house on a temporary trip. Jon wasn''t fooled by such an illusion at all, he plunged his wand straight into the armchair beside him and the next moment the chair let out a scream. "Ouch!" There was no way for Slughorn''s magic to be maintained any longer, and he transformed back into his human form while looking at Jon with a mischievous face. "Breaking and entering is a great offence you know, little one! I will-" However, before he could voice any of his harsh words, his eyes lowered slightly, and he saw the Elder Wand in Jon''s hand. Having been the Slytherin Head at Hogwarts for decades, he could certainly recognise what this wand actually was, and without being able to resist, his pupils jolted, and the tone of his voice began to shift. "Did Dumbledore send you?" Jon pulled out the letter that Dumbledore had handed him. "Good morning, Teacher, perhaps it would be better if you read this, and then we canmunicate." Slughorn took the letter, and just as he opened the envelope''s seal, a cloud of green powder floated out of it, and then as if they were somehow guided, they flew into a firece that had been extinguished for who knows how long ago in the summer. A green me then red up in the firece, and Dumbledore''s head appeared in it. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 520: I Cant Imagine Chapter 520: I Can''t Imagine "Horace, it''s truly been a long time." In the firece, Dumbledore greeted Slughorn in a mild tone. Seeing Dumbledore''s face, Slughorn showed a somewhat resigned expression as he sat down on his bum on the sofa. "Honestly, I thought that if you wanted to see me you would havee in person, but I didn''t expect to have a child who isn''t old enough to go to wizarding schoole over here carrying your wand?" Slughorn looked like he wasn''t happy with Jon''s age andck of reputation, an old habit of his. "What about sending Harry Potter at the very least, then I might even be a little interested." Jon was unfazed by this, he was certainly more familiar with the temperament of Slughorn than anyone else, while Dumbledore said softly. "I''m only showing up to tell you that whatever Jon says next is true, of course, you won''t believe him after meeting him for the first time, but I should still have a few Knuts of trust with you." Slughorn bristled and poured himself, and likewise Jon, a cup of ck tea. "Only a few Knuts indeed, you have some self-awareness." Dumbledore didn''t say anything more, he stepped in as a guarantee and certification for Jon, and after hearing Slughorn''s words, he simply smiled slightly before disappearing into the firece. Now, only Jon and Slughorn were left in the room. The fat walrus didn''t look much differentpared to the other world, at most, his face was rosier and his stomach a bit rounder than his other self. He looked at Jon without speaking, obviously wanting Jon to speak first himself. Jon didn''t have any extra what-so-ever courtesy, he just pulled out the pendant with the ring hanging from his neck, and his eyes followed his movements, and Slughorn also of course saw the ring with five blue diamond-shaped gems set on it! This moment gave a greater shock to his heart than Jon holding the Elder Wand in his hand! Because of Dumbledore''s unpredictable character, it was quite possible for him to give the Elder Wand to someone for the time being, but when ites to that ring and the gems on it, the only person in the world who knew about the existence of this thing was probably Slughorn! And after the shock had passed, Slughorn''s eyes flushed red with pain, and he looked furious to the core for some reason, and then pressed Jon''s shoulders together as he questioned. "You dug up Adrien''s grave!" Jon froze for just a moment before guessing which direction Slughorn had taken things, and he patiently exined. "Can you sit down and listen to me first? Teacher, is there any chance that I would have found you and sat down in front of you if I had actually done something like that?" "Who is your teacher! I retired from Hogwarts a long time ago, and even if I hadn''t, you couldn''t be my student at your age." Slughorn had obviously seen what his old friend had taken with him to the grave, his anger got the better of him, but his sanity didn''t go away as a result. Upon hearing Jon''s words, he slowly loosened his grip and sat back down on the couch, but his gaze was still fixed unfavourably on the ring Jon wore around his neck. Jon didn''t pause and told the story of where he came from and how he had acquired the ring, as well as his own rtionship with him in the other world. Slughorn had been listening the whole time without interrupting, but one could tell that his expression was always shifting as if he were listening to some fairy tale, and if it hadn''t been for Dumbledore''s endorsement ahead of time, he probably would have thrown Jon out by now. Jon knew that he wouldn''t be able to ept it so easily, so before he came he actually borrowed one more thing from Dumbledore. cing the Pensieve on the table, Jon smiled. "You even told me once, that you had a Pensieve yourself, but forgot where you hid it, and that memory was backed up in the Pensieve, and you had to pretend it was lost, and it couldn''t be foundter on." When Jon spoke of this, Slughorn actually believed him about ny percent, because it was something he had hardly ever mentioned to anyone else, and after so many years of being hidden away in this ce, he hadn''t had the chance to talk to anyone about it. Jon drew out several memories from his mind with his wand, then ced them in the Pensieve, and finally extended a gesture of invitation to Slughorn. Slughorn''s face looked quite bewildered; after all, even if he had basically believed what Jon had said, the whole parallel world thing was just too bizarre when all was said and done. It was magical enough, and theoretically, it did exist in terms of time-turners, but there had never been such a precedent in the magical world in the past. Jon''s memories had been drawn out in front of him, and since Slughorn himself was a master of memory maniption, he was confident that he would be able to spot the problem even if Jon had done something to tamper with it. The two of them immersed themselves into the Pensieve together. From the first time, Jon saw Slughorn at the Freshman dinner, to the time when the ring got stuck to him in the wagon, and when Slughorn began to think about whether he should give him the full knowledge of the ring''s usage, to the time when the two of them had established the rtionship of teacher and student, and how he told Jon about the time he had been tricked by Dumbledore intoing to the wagon, and finally, to the time when he had cooperated with Dumbledore''s n to steal the Philosopher''s Stone from the wagon, and when he had confronted Jon in the wagon. Slughorn watched the footage of himself in the other world in silence, and now that he wasn''t experiencing that kind of exile state of mind, he couldn''t even believe a little bit that he had actually made that kind of decision. Whether it was to promise Dumbledore to enter the wagon as a professor or to end up going undercover at the Ministry of Magic. If this current Slughorn was allowed to make a choice, he would have hesitated, he would have been afraid. But obviously, none of these memories could be fabricated, not that no one in this world can produce memories in front of him that can be falsified as genuine, but this is about some of his own small habits of life, behavioural action logic, no one will understand himself better than Slughorn. He had thoroughly believed what Jon had said, and after exiting the Pensieve, he couldn''t help but be in a bit of a trance, and only after a long time of such silent fuming did he turn his head to Jon with a renewed expression of iparableplexity. "I have little reason to disbelieve what you have said anymore, and with apologies for my earlier rudeness, we can now get reacquainted." Jon shrugged and held out one of his hands. "Jon Green, you''ve always said I am the best student you''ve ever had." Slughorn shook his hand. "That ''I'' he is justified in that assessment. I can''t really describe it, but he''s changed into something less like me, a ''me'' I couldn''t even dare to think of in my imagination." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 521: Go to Sea Chapter 521: Go to Sea Jon quickly exined his true intention for visiting. In fact, when Slughorn had finished reading that section of the memories in its entirety, he had already made a good guess as to why he hade to see him. "It''s a pity that the Adrien of this world could never have imagined that this ring and these gems that he created could actually be used by someone." Slughorn said with a look of regret. He looked over at Jon with a very serious expression. "I don''t know what happened to Adrien in theter stages in that world of yours to give me that ring, but in this world, he all of a sudden found me three months before he died." "By that time he was no longer able to walk out of his sick bed, and could only lie in the Magical Mdies Hospital waiting to die, and even the best healing magic potions in this world couldn''t wrest his life back from the hands of Death. He was all alone in his life, with only a few close friends, one of which was me, and when I went to visit him, he asked me to help him with one thing - to retrieve all those gems he had left everywhere." Jon held his breath as he listened quietly to Slughorn, knowing that the node that made the difference from the original world should be right here. "I was very surprised to know that those things were his life''s worth of research, and even though he never found the right people to use them or experiment with them, he always held out hope that his research would shine in the magical world in the future." Slughorn couldn''t help but revert to looking at the pendant Jon was wearing around his neck as he spoke. "It does seem that the other world''s him made the right call, but the Adrien I knew spent thest hours of his life all in overturning all of his own past ideas." "He used to simply follow the old path of the wand himself, thebination of ring and gemstone was simr to a wand staff and core, only it had more options, but it shared the same drawbacks that all wizards face, once they lose their wands, the wizards who have be dependent on that have their strengths cut down considerably, and in some cases there is no way to even defeat a muggle." "Lying in his sick bed all those times, he had some new ideas, but knowing that he was nearing the end of his life and that he couldn''t even find anyone who could sessfully use the ring and gems themselves that had already been created, he requested me, asking for help to put all of those ring and gems into his grave after he had died of his illness, along with some other things that he had left behind." As Slughorn spoke, he turned and walked over to a cupboard, he opened the bottom shelf and quickly rummaged through it to find a chest, and from it, he pulled out a notebook. He handed the note to Jon without hesitation. "This is about all of his ideas after the ring and gemstone spellcasting system, and I have read the contents of it, although I think most of these are nothing but fantasy; at the end of it all, I''m not an expert in the field of researching spellcasting, so there''s no way I can offer you much help on this." When he reached this point, Slughorn paused slightly, as if he was wrestling with something, but finally made up his mind. "If you still want the ring and gems that Adrien brought to his grave in this world, I can help you find a way to get those out without disturbing his pea-" However, before he could finish his sentence, Jon interrupted with a shake of his head. "I''m not that insatiable, teacher. I have never met Mr Adrian Fawkes, but he has indirectly saved my life more than once since I acquired this ring that he created. I''m not that bad that I would go and dig up the grave of my saviour to gain power, not to mention that even if I were to acquire another set of ring and gemstones, it wouldn''t do much to enhance or improve my strength." His words brought a sigh of relief to Slughorn, the more he talked to Jon, the more he could imagine how pleased his other self in the other world would have been to have received a student like Jon. Briefly looking at the notebook in his hand, the expression on Jon''s face didn''t change much, but he said to Slughorn seriously. "I think there''s more in here than a new set of ring and gems. I''ve always received favours from Mr Fawkes, never knowing what I could do for him, and now I suppose if I can perfect some of his ideas in this note into reality, I''ll be able to grant him some of his wishes, won''t I?" Slughorn patted the arm of the sofa happily. "If you really can do that, I''m sure that would be the most exciting thing Adrien would ever want to see! It''s just. I have read some of the contents in that, are these ideas really possible?" Jon didn''t give him a guarantee, he just said calmly. "Before I got my hands on this ring, the idea of the magic embedded in each of the gems on it was also out of the realm of possibility, teacher. Perhaps no one can say more about what''s on this note than I. Mr Fawkes is an absolute genius, a genius that has been hidden and buried by history!" It was impossible to tell just how much confidence Slughorn could have in the assurances Jon had given, but he was obviously very relieved that at least the friend''s unfinished business had been given a new continuation. Jon then chatted with Slughorn for a while about the other world, and then he had to get up and take his leave. Before he left, he heartily urged Slughorn to go out and walk around a bit more, because the real Voldemort had long since left this world, and the one that was now in full swing was just one of his Horcruxes. Slughorn didn''t say yes or no, just stated that he would wait until after this summer to see if there would be any new vacancies in Hogwarts. Eventually, under the watchful eye of the fat walrus, Jon waved and left the small Muggle vige with the note. Upon returning to Hogwarts, Jon did not immediately begin to study the contents of the note, not that he had lied to Slughorn. The note did seem to him to be much more useful than obtaining a new set of ring and gemstones. Rather, there was one more thing he had to do before he could begin his formal research. In the castle, he said hello to Lily and Dumbledore, and then used the Floo Network to get to Edinburgh, Scond, with the help of the firece in Dumbledore''s office, and boarded a passenger ship to Norway through the harbour there. He was going to head to the North Sea and find out what it would be like to be in a high tower connecting the sky and the sea, to meet a deceased person, to whom he always wanted to express his gratitude, but never had the chance to do so in his original world. ---- #It''s Just Bob and #Kneazle112, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 522: Why cant just use the power of Muggles? Chapter 522: Why can''t just use the power of Muggles? In the North Sea, in an area rarely travelled by muggles due to the presence of certain magic. A simple sailboat was travelling forward through the rough waves, and Jon stood firmly on the boat, his body stood firm and motionless. In fact, it would undoubtedly be more convenient for him to directly turn into a Phoenix, or simply use the levitation charm to fly over, but the area blocked off by Sir Stoker, where the Muggles could not set foot in, was actually not that big, and flying directly over the unobstructed sea would be easily discovered by the Muggles sailing on the sea. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Jon simply used Transfiguration to create a sailboat, which even if it is seen by people and might cause a bit of a shock, but it''s not really a supernatural phenomenon. Soon, Jon could detect more creatures around the ocean that no ordinary person would be allowed to see. Some curious merpeople had poked their heads halfway out from under the surface of the ocean, quietly observing the boy who clearly didn''t look like a normal human being. It wasn''t long before, from a distance, Jon could see the destination of his journey, the lofty, high tower that connected the sea and the sky. He manoeuvred the small ship and came straight to the steps in front of the tower, the doormp in front of the closed door was constantly shaken by the sea breeze, Jon stood on tiptoe and knocked on thempshade to wake up the doormp that was guarding the door. "Ha! How long have I been sleeping? I can''t believe we have a visitor!" Just by listening to the sound, one could feel the excitement of the doormp as it shook itself while sizing up Jon, and when it got a good look at his face, its tone couldn''t help but be disappointed. "Why a small child? Did you fall into the water and drift here? Need some help? Surprised to see a talkingmp, aren''t you?" Jon pulled out his wand, revealing his identity as a wizard. "Please inform that I am a Hogwarts Professor of Astronomy who happens to be passing through this area, Jon Green, and would like to pay a visit to the owner of this tower." Although it saw the wand in Jon''s hand, the doormp still looked suspiciously at his boyish face, but in the end, it didn''t say anything more and disappeared from the door with a ''whoosh''. Jon stood in front of the door and waited while keeping his eyes on his feet. In this world, there should be no rocket in this part of the tower below. He wasn''t made to wait long, and soon the door was opened from the inside, and the pale house elf Rabier looked over at Jon. He had obviously already received a description of Jon from the doormp but was still a little surprised after seeing his face, which was young to the extreme. "You are the Professor of Astronomy ss at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" Jon smiled slightly. "A normal eight-year-old boy wouldn''t be able toe to a ce like this on his own, even in the wizarding world, right? There is no need to be surprised by my appearance, I have something that proves my identity, right now I just want to visit the owner of this tower." Rabier looked Jon up and down once more, it was true that he sensed something unusual about him from his talk and his ability toe to this ce alone. So he bowed his head and made an inviting gesture, inviting Jon into the tower. The ce didn''t look even a little bit changed from when Jon had been here in the other world. They went on the stairs, letting those steps act on their own all the way up, with some ck cats popping up around every now and then, and just like that, they reached the entrance to Sir Stoker''s study. Jon saw the old gentleman sitting on the sofa with a book in his hand, from the looks of it he looked exactly the same as he did when Jonst saw him. Wizards generally lived much longer than Muggles, and on the outside Sir Stoker looked to be in his sixties or seventies at most, but he was actually a hundred years old. Hearing the movement of Rabier bringing people in and as Jon looked at him, Sir Stoker''s gaze turned to him as well. He was visibly surprised to see Jon''s appearance. "I''ve never been to Hogwarts, but I don''t think even that school would hire a child to be a professor, would they?" Jon shrugged, having taken a seat opposite Sir Stoker, and proceeded to pull a letter of appointment out of his pocket, one that he had asked Dumbledore to sign specifically to establish himself as an Astronomy Professor on his way out of Hogwarts this time. "There''s always this and that in the wizarding world that makes us less of what we were originally, isn''t there?" Jon purposely kept his words vague for a moment, "It''s just the lingering effect of a failed experiment, and I''m sure anyone who can live in a tower like this shouldn''t be some kind of person who judges people by their appearance, right?" That was a reasonable exnation, and Sir Stoker didn''t care much about his appearance but was interested in his im to be a Professor of Astronomy. Soon they switched the subject on and began to talk. Jon had only given himself the excuse of passing by unexpectedly, but neither Sir Stoker nor he himself was actually focused on that. The old man, who had lived here alone for decades, was only interested in astronomy, and it was for that reason that Jon had travelled here. It wasn''t long before Jon began to actively steer the conversation. "Regarding this sky above us, it''s actually not only wizards, but Muggles have studied it much more deeply than we have too." Hearing his words, Sir Stoker''s gaze became surprised as he asked tentatively. "Muggles? Do you know something about Muggles as well, or do you assume that since they invented a means of transport that can fly in the sky, as well as a clearer astronomical telescope, they understood the sky relying on these two things?" Jon shook his head. "More than that, there have been Muggles who have flown off this we live on and reached space as early as forty years ago, and there have even been Muggles who have been to the moon." Sir Stoker''s gaze became even more surprised, and the look he gave Jon had changed from admiration to eagerness. "There are actually wizards in the magical world who have really learned about this!" He eximed. "I''ve been paying some attention to these things as well, I''ve always felt that wizards are too stuck in their old habits and thinking, the Statute of Secrecy can block muggles from knowing about us, but it shouldn''t blind us to the existence and advancement of muggles who have long since managed to reach that starry sky, reaching far beyond the wizards'' knowledge of the skies." He couldn''t help but sound a little bleak again as he said this. "That''s what I''ve been working towards all these years here, astronomy shouldn''t stop astronomers atnd, we can never truly understand the starry sky by just looking up." Jon listened quietly to his sentiments and suddenly interjected. "Then why can''t you just go and use the power of the Muggles? Since they''re already ahead of us now." ---- #It''s Just Bob and #Kneazle112, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 523: Walk out of the Tower Chapter 523: Walk out of the Tower Sir Stoker froze for a moment at Jon''s question, then he shook his head. "It would be a breach of the Statute of Secrecy for a wizard to have any kind of casual contact with a Muggle, and any magical government would not let me off the hook if they knew about it. Besides, muggles aren''t necessarily willing to share that part of their knowledge with our kind." Too proper. Jon smacked his lips as he feltpelled to step in and enlighten the Sir by himself. "Let''s not talk about the fact that magic can actually solve most of the problems, after all, it''s kind of a vition of wizardingw, but Sir, who knighted your family?" Sir Stoker still didn''t quite understand what Jon meant, but he answered anyway. "My ancestor worked as a healer for the royal family of the Capetian dynasty in France for a long time, and was knighted as a bar, and although the knighthood was not passed down hereditarilyter on, that''s how other people have still referred to our family in the wizarding world." "Does your family still have property in France? I mean property on the Muggle side?" Sir Stoker said with a nod. "My family still has somend, arge portion of which was acquired after the French crown was hanged, and there are also some antiques that are worth some money." "Is there still any proof that once your ancestor was ennobled as a bar?" "Of course, that''s always been kept in my study." Jon pped his hands together. "You see, for Muggles, you have money, an ancestor with status, and have always still had proof of identity in France, so why can''t you use your Muggle identity to gain ess to the Muggle aerospace sector?" Sir Stoker frowned. "Is this kind of sector something that an average rich Muggle can just ess?" "If you''re rich enough, you could even buy a rocketunching base, that thing you know? It''s what Muggles use tounch a vehicle that can fly into space." With the news Jon had seen in his previous life, he wasn''t too sure about the European side, but in America, it is possible to actually buy a rocketunching base as long as you have the money! Once again, his words had Sir Stoker in deep thought. Jon continued. "I admire your ideals and perseverance and persistence to stick to them Sir, but relying on one''s own strength is ultimately limited, and since the Muggles are already ahead of us, why can''t we just let go of all those rules and regtions and take the initiative to get in touch with them to learn about what we are not good at." After saying this, he finished thest sip from his teacup and proceeded to get up from the couch. "It''s gettingte Sir, it''s been an honour to meet someone like you here today, I have other things to attend to and must head off." Sir Stoker snapped out of his thoughts, he got up in a hurry, wanting to retain Jon for a bit longer, but Jon obviously did have no intention of staying here for a long time, and after he was sent to the door of the tower, he used Apparition to leave directly. The purpose of Jon''s visit was actually very simple, that is, he wanted to help this old Sir, who had his heart set on the sea of stars, to free his heart, so that he would not be confined to the tower that had bound him, but would go out and see more, especially on the Muggle side. Not only would this help Sir to fulfil his dreams, but it might also have unexpected harvests for the rtionship between wizards and muggles in the future. And after Jon left, Sir Stoker re-entered the living room, where he sat alone on the sofa, still thinking. He pondered for a long time, and it was only when the sun had gone down, and the house elf Rabier had made dinner and came to call him for the third time, that he suddenly smiled helplessly and stood up from the sofa. "Do you need me to heat up dinner again, master?" "No need to heat it up, go and pack up everything we have in this tower, and be quick about it, the old mansion side needs to be cleaned up before it can be inhabited as well." Rabier looked up with a surprised face at the old man who had originally sworn not toe out of this tower for the rest of his life if he didn''t uncover the secrets of the stars. When Jon returned to Hogwarts, the afternoon sses in the school hadn''t finished yet, and he greeted Dumbledore, then came to the Room of Requirement, where he requested an undisturbed room, and began to study the notebook that he had got from Slughorn. He hadn''t lied to the fat walrus, this note is indeed important, far more important than obtaining another set of gems and ring. Because in the notes Adrien had stripped out the entire process of how he made the gems and ring, the materials and the process of making them, while not simple, were not difficult to replicate, and as long as Jon wanted to make them with all his heart and soul, he could just recreate a few sets of rings and gems. But as he said, the further increase in spell spots really didn''t do much to increase his strength. Except for Animagus, all the other spells on the ring could give him a raise in the form of finesse while he was still underpowered, now if he wanted to go head-to-head with Voldemort that kind of finesse obviously wouldn''t work. But the method of making gemstones and ring pointed out to Jon a way to improve his skills. Actually, it wasn''t exactly pointing it out, because Adrian hadn''t even finished writing this notebook yet, and at that time, he was already sick in bed and didn''t have any more energy to experiment and try again. Or rather, even if he had been healthy, he wouldn''t have been able to carry on with this idea of his because he hadn''t been able to find someone with a soul strong enough to the point of being able to use the ring. This meant that Jon got an iplete notebook, and ording to Slughorn after he read it, some of the ideas in it were a bit like a pie in the sky. The wizard named Adrien, wanted to replicate the process of making the gem and ring on the wizard''s human body! The body is the ring, and the soul is the gem. Magic was transformed through the soul, which in turn cast spells on the body, allowing the wizard to break through the shackles of magic even further, thus truly achieving what was thought of and realised as the ultimate extreme of magic! Magic concerning the human body itself was never safe, as in the case of traditional Animagus, there had been countless semi-humanoid magical creatures that had already given corroboration to the dangers of this kind of human transfiguration, and it was the same with Jon''s desire to utilise the contents of this notebook to experiment on himself with the human body. However, he already had a unique and huge advantage that no one else in the magical world had been able to match. That being that his Animagus is a Phoenix, and even if the experiment goes awry, the big deal is that he can reverse all the mistakes by resurrecting himself once more by Nirvana! ---- #It''s Just Bob and #Kneazle112, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 524: What do you want Chapter 524: What do you want Jon didn''t have the luxury of researching this all by himself. He was confident in himself, but not to the point of arrogance, and before he left, Iniesta had reminded him that he must pay good attention to the flow of time between the two worlds. Now that it had been established that this world had moved forward half a year more than the time they hade from, and the time Voldemort had spent using the time-turner to change the situation was also half a year, now that more than ten years had passed and this half a year time difference still existed, it meant that the flow of time between the two worlds had be the same. It also meant that no matter how long he and Lily stayed in this world, the same amount of time would have passed in their original world. There is no way for anyone to guarantee for how long the remaining Witching Horizon members will be able to resist Voldemort with Grindelwald in the picture, and the bottom line that Jon had decided on in private with Lily is two weeks. They had to solve all the problems of this world and head back within two weeks, they couldn''t keep dragging it out any longer than that. That being said, Jon would also have to try to finish what was on this note within two weeks, once he returned to his original world, he wouldn''t necessarily have that kind of time or opportunity again. So after sharing that note with Dumbledore, Dumbledore also put down his other work at hand, and together with Jon began to delve deeper into the possibilities of the ideas in it. He originally thought, like Slughorn, that the contents of the notes were a bit pie-in-the-sky, but after seeing that Jon is now capable of transforming into the Phoenix Animagus, the Levitation Charm, the General Counter-Spell and the Invisible Sword Curse all seeded by virtue of the ring, he no longer had any doubts, and instead came to the Room of Requirement with Jon, to help him in his further attempts. The beginning of their experiment was dangerous, Jon needed to transform his body towards the kind of bearing that the ring carried first, which not only required an extremely high level of skill in Transfiguration, but also he had to be familiar enough with the nature of the ring itself. The good thing is that Dumbledore himself is the world''s top wizard in the attainment of Transfiguration, and the ring has been with Jon for five years, and no one knows it better than he does. Although these would cause some problems for them, they were not difficult to solve. Just as they were delving into the notes Adrian had left behind, Lily had also made some inquiries about the Golden Cup. Inside a rather luxurious manor, Lily, who had changed her appearance, was sitting on the main seat. In front of her, the owners of the manor, the entire Selwyn family, a noble Pureblood family in the British magical world, were all sitting paralysed on the ground with deathly greyplexions. There was no trace of half a fight in the surroundings, and it was obvious that no forceful conflict had erupted between them, but they had been presented with such a bizarre rtionship. "Not only was it because of your betrayal back in 1975 that Aurors arrested Lodar and his party; but there was also the day two years after that you dared to make an unknown deal with the then head of Auror Office behind your lord''s back. A small portion of the Death Eaters'' actions you had leaked to him to help him change the angry usations of his ipetence by the public when he was at his wits'' end over the destruction the Death Eaters were causing at the time. In turn, you can also work with the Aurors to help those Death Eaters you betrayed escape from harm''s way in some emergencies, and not only you made some personal connections of your own, but you also gained the credibility of your lord and master as a result of it." Lily said slowly. "You performed such a double act together three times, which resulted in four Death Eaters being captured in Azkaban and three Aurors losing their lives. You were also aware that doing more of this kind of thing would definitely arouse other people''s suspicion, so you promptly closed your hands on this, one-sidedly severed contact with the head of the Auror Office, and then looked for the right opportunity,ter on, to lure him out from the Ministry of Magic and kill him, and through this, you again imed the credit in front of your lord..." Apanied by Lily''s words, the sweat on the face of the current Selwyn family''s head, a middle-aged male wizard, was also increasing. This witch that no one had ever seen before had suddenly appeared in his home, she didn''t say a word at first, she just threw a piece of parchment that recorded the things he had done over the years in front of himself, followed by saying all the things that he had ever done. Selwyn didn''t dare do anything rash,ying his hands on a witch he had never met wouldn''t have even a little bit of psychological burden for him. But now he had no idea how many people knew about what he had done! If these things get disclosed, not to mention how he could exin on Voldemort''s side, just within the Death Eaters, his reputation wouldpletely stink, and at the same time, there is no way for him to continue to stay in the British magical world, this is something thatpletely offends both sides. "Where''s the evidence! Who will believe your words if you speak without proof?" "Do you think your lord is someone who needs evidence to prove it?" Lily said tly. "As long as he''s suspicious of you, isn''t your mind akin to hisvatory, going in and out whenever he wants?" "What about the Ministry of Magic! And what proof do you have to prove any of this!" "I even have a way to know about all the crap you used to do, if there really wasn''t any proof, do you think I woulde to your door?" Lily said carelessly like she didn''t care at all about how Selwyn would ultimately decide, and precisely it was this attitude that gave Selwyn iparably huge pressure. It was certainly not because of anything else that she could know about all the nastiness that this pureblood family had once done, but in the original world, Lily had personally caught the male wizard in front of her and had used the Truth Potion to dig out a lot of secrets about the Death Eaters from his mouth. Most of that information is no longer useful in this world, after all, Voldemort disappeared from here from the beginning, these Death Eaters do not have the backing, and can only honestly be a submissive ''noble'' in the magical world, but before Voldemort went to the Potter''s house, there was no change in the history of that period. And naturally, this became a leverage in Lily''s hands, and she could easily control those among the Death Eaters whose loyalty to Voldemort had been wavering, and whose loyalty to Voldemort could be said to be almostpletely non-existent. Just like Selwyn at this moment, he didn''t dare to bet at all, as Lily said, since she could know those things back then in such detail, who would know if she had any crucial evidence in her hands? After a moment of silence, Selwyn swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said in a struggling voice. ---- #It''s Just Bob and #Kneazle112, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 525: Assembly Chapter 525: Assembly "Where is your lord?" Lily didn''t bother to make any half-assed pleasantries; she stared Selwyn in the eye and asked bluntly. Selwyn avoided her gaze. "No one knows where the lord is! I haven''t even been informed of the Lord''s return! Did he, did he reallye back?" "Crucio." The Unforgivable Curse hit Selwyn''s obese wife, and her entire body was left rolling on the floor in pain, like a fat pig to the ughter. Lily rarely resorted to the Unforgivable Curses anymore, she had been restraining herself ever since she had killed Snape, but she was equally aware of the importance of this visit to this world, and the gentle thoughts that she had after meeting Harry didn''t sink her into it. She was well aware that in the other world, her fellowrades were all still struggling to hold on to their lives, and that they had to put an end to the affairs of this world as soon as possible, and then go back. There was fear in Selwyn''s eyes, a pampered fence-sitter like him would do anything for his own enjoyment and the good of his family, and now under Lily''s coercion, he couldn''t hold out much longer. "I''m not lying! The Lord has never been in direct contact with us! He never really trusted me! All the orders he gave were ryed to us through Peter! I don''t know where he is now!" He screamed, telling all he knew. Lily still looked at him coldly. "What did he want you to do?" "He just sent Peter to ask me if I had forgotten my loyalty to him, and when I said that I had never forgotten my lord, he told me to first prepare a sum of money and then wait for the lord''s orders." "And if you wished to contact him?" "It was all Peter''s one-sided approach to me! He didn''t give me a channel to contact him." "Did you know about the Azkaban prison break?" "No! I didn''t know they all escaped until I read the newspaper!" Having asked all she wanted to ask, Lily got up from her chair and handed out a vial to Selwyn. "Give me that memory of Wormtail finding you." Selwyn, of course, didn''t have half a thought to refuse, and he tremblingly pulled a silver thread out of his own mind and proceeded to put it in the vial right in front of Lily''s eyes. Lily put the vial away, and she turned towards where the firece is while leaving behind onest sentence. "If Wormtail finds you next time, you should know what to do." Selwyn answered meekly, but in his mind, he didn''t consider it at all, he thought that Lily definitely wouldn''t easily let go of the handle she had in her hands and that he himself was perfectly capable of obliging both sides for a while, waiting to see if Voldemort is really the king of the world, if it''s just a case of thundering without lightning, listening to it alone, then he can just as well be a good pureblood who turns back to his own country by turning back to the light. And just as he was thinking that, Lily who was just about to sprinkle Floo powder into the firece saw the firece, which had been long since extinguished in the summer, and whose ashes had all been cleaned up, suddenly burst into green mes! Lily reacted instantly, and she made a split-second decision to aim her wand at Selwyn, who was still staring nkly before the green fire hadpletely formed a human form. "Imperio!" In the next second, Selwyn''s entire body was reduced to a puppet on Lily''s strings, his tortured and sweaty wife beside himpletely stunned, and Lily, having taken control of Selwyn, aimed her wand at her, signalling for her to get out of the living room immediately. At that moment, the green fire in the firece hadpletely taken shape and a man who looked like a fat rat appeared in it. He scanned the area with his mung bean-like eyes, making sure that there was no one else around before looking at Selwyn, who was acting as usual. "I''m sure you''ve seen the news, An." Selwyn said with his usual expression. "It''s hard to not know even if I don''t want to know about something this big, you guys actually managed to rescue all the people from Azkaban." "There''s nothing we can''t do under our lord''s leadership." Wormtail''s voice sounded smug, "Now that all of our people have been brought out, the lord ordered to summon you all to start his great cause all over again!" "Really! That''s great! When can I meet our lord?" "Tomorrow night, at the Lydford Gorge in Devon where the Dark Mark is illuminated, our lord will summon you all there." "I will keep that in mind, will everyone else be there as well?" "Hmph, there are some who have forgotten their loyalty, so, of course, they won''te, and at that time our lord will realise who his true loyal followers are." The mes in the firece dissipatedpletely after Wormtail finished his speech, apparently, he hadpleted his mission and ended the meeting. Lily had never thought that she would be able to get such a great harvest today, she hadn''t lifted the Imperius Curse from Selwyn right away, and now that she knew such a thing, of course, she couldn''t let him off the hook so easily anymore, at least someone must keep an eye on him until tomorrow night. Making an immediate decision, Lily then ordered Selwyn to Apparate to the Hog''s Head Inn in Hogsmeade. Aberforth''s identity was certainly no secret to Lily and Jon, and everyone else in Selwyn''s family would be under her control until after tomorrow night when she would release them from their bindings. Once everything was taken care of, Lily immediately returned to Hogwarts and found Dumbledore, who was still in the Room of Requirement researching with Jon, and told him exactly what had happened before. "That''s a good opportunity." Dumbledore''s tone carried some cheer in it, "Riddle who is a Horcrux won''t have the same strength as his past self, instead he has no way to break through the limitations of the Horcruxes, even if he disys a great strength, as long as we destroy the Golden Cup, then there is no way for him to survive." "And by taking this opportunity it''s just perfect to also wipe out those hidden Death Eaters in the magical world." Jon chimed in, looking smaller again, having grown back to eleven or twelve over time, but now back to eight again. "Will you be able to enlist support from the Ministry of Magic, Professor Dumbledore?" "If the Minister of Magic is still Fudge I don''t have that confidence, but with Rufus Scrimgeouring into power this year, although some of his ways are more radical, his determination to confront Riddle is something that has never waned, so I can reach out to the Aurors." Somehow as a result of Voldemort-driven deviations in this world, Fudge had stepped down from his position as Minister prematurely this year, and this event of course couldn''t havee at a better time for Jon and the others. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 526: Harry’s Issue Chapter 526: Harry¡¯s Issue The Order of the Phoenix has not been reassembled in this world. In the original story, it was only after Harry had witnessed the resurrection of Voldemort that the Order of the Phoenix, which had been disbanded more than ten years prior, was assembled again, and now that there was no such danger at hand, of course, Dumbledore would not do something that challenged the very nerves of the Ministry of Magic in such a way. But in the present situation, of course, they could not just rely on Aurors alone. The Order of the Phoenix also had to be assembled, and it was natural that Dumbledore himself should be the one to carry out that. Lily, of course, kept this matter from Harry, and she behaved no differently than usual, not letting Harry see anything wrong with her, but during dinner, she became fully curious about Jon''s current state of health. "What danger have you been in now?" Jon replied with vague words. "Nothing, just some little experiment with Professor Dumbledore." Lily looked at Jon with a sceptical look on her face, if she hadn''t known how he got smaller, she might have believed him. "What little experiment would put your life in danger?" "Just a small experiment to study my body, it''s almostplete, Professor Dumbledore has been a great help, otherwise it''s not certain if I could finish it now if I were to get it done on my own." Seeing that Jon didn''t want to say much about it, Lily didn''t ask any more questions as she looked over at Jon. "When you said you had something to tell me in private, what did you want to talk about?" There was a moment of silence from Jon regarding this; before he spoke once again. "It''s about Harry, have you noticed anything different in him when you''ve been in contact with him?" Hearing that it would be a talk involving Harry, Lily instantly tensed up a bit, she had already spoken to Harry about the situation after this matter was resolved and both of them made a promise to each other, the two were destined to be separated, and each of them had to live well in their respective worlds, and they couldn''t let the loss of their families cause them to fell into self depravity. So, after hearing Jon talking about something rted to Harry, she couldn''t help but feel a little nervous. "No, Harry didn''t disy any peculiarities when he was around me, what did you find out?" "I''ve had a few private conversations with Harry." Jon said with a frown, he hadn''t lied about that and had indeed obtained some confirmation from the current Harry, "He said that he had had several nightmares abouting back to life in his own perspective within a ruined but gold-splendoured hall, and then killing Professor Dumbledore." "I questioned him about the time he had this dream and was basically able to deduce that it was the night of the battle in the Ministry of Magic''s Atrium, where Harry entered Voldemort''s perspective and came back to life with him." Lily''s face paled a little, she wasn''t sure where this was going yet, but anything to do with Voldemort was bound to be a bad thing, especially if it involved Harry. "And then what?" "I informed Professor Dumbledore of this matter as well, and then together we had a closer look at Harry''s condition and found a highly probable possibility. That Harry, he too, had turned into one of Voldemort''s Horcruxes." Lily''s face turnedpletely white. There was no need for Jon to say more words after this, and she knew better than anyone else what it meant if Harry was also a piece of Horcruxes. To kill Voldemort, all Horcruxes need to be destroyed, and to destroy the Horcruxes, the artefacts that hosted Voldemort''s soul need to bepletely destroyed, that is to say, if they really wanted to destroy all the Horcruxes, then Harry should be a part of this process. Lily froze for a long moment before looking back up at Jon. "So, what are you guys going to do?" Jon shrugged, not acting as nervous as she was. "The studies on Horcruxes, whether it''s me or Professor Dumbledore, it''s actually quite basic, but if there''s anyone in the world who knows what to do about it, it would have to be Mr Slytherin." Lily was guided by Jon at this point and thought about it as well. "Right! This world''s Slytherin portrait is still at the North Pole, we can go and get it!" However, Jon shook his head. "But we don''t have enough time, Professor, don''t forget that we set a bottom line at the beginning, that we would only stay in this world for two weeks at the most, and now eleven days have already passed. And that undergroundbyrinth at the North Pole, the exact method of entry and location to it, is not something that can be found in a short period of time." "So how are we going to proceed with this?" Lily knew that since Jon made this statement, it meant that he already had a solution. "Take Harry with us first." Jon said seriously, "Let hime with us, in our world, Mr Slytherin studied Horcruxes much more in-depth, he was the one who helped Voldemort who travelled back in time, to perfect a way to retrieve them, so he will definitely have some solution for Harry''s current situation too. But we both know that our world is highly dangerous, and even if we go back now we can''t even be sure what exactly it has been reduced to; whether Headmaster Grindelwald has defended Northern Europe or not, or if Voldemort has started a new war or not." Lily, however, was very decisive about this. "I agree to take Harry with us." It was clear to her that even if the other world was more dangerous, it would still solve Harry''s dilemma of being a Horcrux, but if she had to stay in this world all the time, would she turn a blind eye to their world''s plight? Hearing her answer like that, Jon wasn''t much surprised, but nevertheless, he let go of one of his concerns. Giving Lily a head start on Harry would save him the trouble afterwards. As for tomorrow''s operation, this naturally doesn''t require Jon to think too much, Dumbledore will arrange everything, he just needs to act ording to the situation and follow along as a fighter. Regarding the Death Eater force organised by this world''s golden cup Voldemort, Jon didn''t have much to worry about. Not to mention the number of people he could gather, the Horcrux of Voldemort and Voldemort himself were twopletely different concepts, besides, even if Voldemort himself came, now that there is both Dumbledore and Jon present, he would not be able to set off any kind of wind and waves. So by the scheduled time on the second day, Jon followed Dumbledore and Lily to join up with the Ministry of Magic''s Aurors who were leading the charge. Naturally, there were quite a few acquaintances he recognised in this team, Kingsley, Moody and Tonks were all present. Most of these people still thought that their operation today was just about capturing escaped Death Eaters, and didn''t realise that it was also rted to Voldemort. It wasn''t that the information hadn''t been passed on to them, but the topic of Voldemort''s return had always been controversial, and the current head of the Auror''s office didn''t believe any of that "nonsense". Therefore, the possibility of encountering Voldemort on this mission was told as a joke to his subordinates. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 527: For the Pureblood Supremacy Chapter 527: For the Pureblood Supremacy Lucius was nervous. But he still acted as calm and collected and above eye level as he usually did. At least in the eyes of the surrounding group of purebloods, there was nothing unusual about him. In this valley, many ck-robed wizards had been gathered by now, and over the sparse woods, the dark green Dark Mark of the Dark Lord shone brightly, guiding the way for the viins. Soon, it was the time Wormtail had agreed upon. The male wizard, who looked like a big fat rat, respectfully ced a golden cup on a high-backed chair and then fell to his knees in front of it with unquestioning obedience. He was surrounded by several other Death Eaters who didn''t look that great and had obviously been tortured quite a bit before, but their eyes were unusually fervent as they looked at the golden cup, and they all followed suit and fell to their knees. Right behind them were Malfoy and the others. Most of the Death Eaters who are usually pampered are still hesitant, but when that dense ck mist that is iparably familiar to everyone surges out from the golden cup, and no one hesitated, they all fall to their knees, no longer having any doubts that their lord, who has disappeared for more than ten years, has truly appeared. In the ck mist, the youthful-looking Voldemort formed a glowing green light. He didn''t appear to be an entity, but even though he was illusory, he still gave off a sense of intimidation, making everyone present not dare to raise their heads to meet his gaze. "How many people didn''te?" That maic and youthful voice rang out, causing those present who had fallen to their knees to lower themselves even further, and Wormtail, who was kneeling beside the chair, answered. "My lord, Selwyn, Doironc... and Sebastian are six people who have not arrived." Voldemort within the ck mist nodded tly, a cold smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. "Don''t worry, it won''t be long before we see them." He then looked towards the Death Eaters who had fallen to their knees. "What a long time it has been, my old friends." *** "I''ll take care of Voldemort, while you find a chance to grab the golden cup, and the rest of the Death Eaters will be taken care of by the Aurors." Dumbledore assigned Jon his task, and the Aurors behind him all approached the valley where their target resided under the leadership of Moody, Kingsley and the others. Jon naturally had no objections to this, but the bunch of Aurors behind them were looking at Dumbledore with an expression of having seen a ghost, they all knew that Dumbledore''s behaviour and mannerisms were different from the norm during ordinary times, but it would never reach the extent of messing around at critical moments. And now the appearance that Jon showed, no matter how you look at it, he did not look like a person who could take on a heavy responsibility. Even the former member of the Order of the Phoenix, Kingsley also expressed his worries about Jon''s identity, and he even suspected that the current Jon was in fact some kind of perverted male wizard who liked to disguise himself as a boy. "And this is?" Dumbledore vouched for Jon on his behalf. "Someone we can trust. I''m kinda reliable when ites to certain key decisions, right?" Hearing him say this, Kingsley, of course, had no more objections. Jon didn''t have any feelings about it in particr; he and Lily were supposed to be passers-by in this world, neither of them had any intention of staying for long, and it certainly wasn''t a big deal what other people thought of them as long as they got the job done. Soon, they reached the vicinity of the entrance to the valley, the ck fog could already be seen in the surrounding area, and the voice of the man who had disappeared from the magicalmunity for a long time was clearly ringing in everyone''s ears. "-I know what some of you have been thinking all these years." The cold voice made the bodies of the group of Death Eaters who were thest to kneel down shudder uncontrobly. "Thinking that I''ve lost my great power and all my men have already gone missing from the outside world, so you got some petty thoughts and lied that you were once under the control of the Imperius Curse and that you never really submitted to me." The gang of fence-sitters, including Lucius, all looked as if they were on the ice, thinking that the liquidation was about to begin, but then Voldemort''s words took another obvious turn. "But you have not betrayed your fellowpanions and friends after all." As he spoke, Be on the side pulled out a row of corpses with a sardonic grin, causing every Death Eater in the area to hold their breath. Of course, they all knew these people, the most notable of them was Karkaroff, who had resorted to selling information about his fellow Death Eaters to gain a lesser punishment, and the others were all also former snitches. If Malfoy and the others were just fence-sitters, then all of these people belonged to the camp of switching sides who didn''t leave the slightest bit of room for error and betrayed Voldemort to the core. Seeing those corpses, Malfoy and the others couldn''t help but let out a sigh of relief while their eyelids fluttered rapidly. Each and every one of them was an old fox, they could see that Voldemort was killing the chicken to make an example to the monkey, and now that the chicken had been killed, the monkey would certainly be safe. "I can tolerate you all having your own selfishness, but what I cannot tolerate is aplete betrayal." Voldemort''s voice grew colder and darker, and the Death Eaters who fell to their knees behaved in a submissive manner. "You should all be aware of what they''ve done, and I want you to understand that no matter what you do, you have to leave some room for yourself, don''t you think so? Lucius." Lucius'' body trembled a little, he lowered his head so that no one could see the expression on his face, and he acted as if he was afraid not to make a reply. "We only have our lord as a fallback!" The people around him couldn''t help but give him a sideways nce, it was unclear if they were impressed with his quick response or if they were disdainful of his actions. And as if Voldemort was satisfied with this answer from Lucius, he said softly. "I hope you meant your answer." He didn''t linger on Lucius for too long like the question was just being asked casually and nothing more. Voldemort''s voice became louder. "I have gathered you here today because I want an urate answer from you. More than a decade has passed and some of you havee to wield more power and influence in today''s magical world than in the past, and now I''m back." He stared at everyone present in the area and asked word by word. "Have you all forgotten the promises you once made?" Be fell to her knees with a frenzied look on her face, and beside her, the Lestrange family all looked thrilled and excited as well. "We have never forgotten!" "For the Pureblood Supremacy!" The surrounding crowd of Death Eaters also prostrated themselves on the ground, and since they chose toe here, it was naturally impossible for them to answer any other way. The flying birds in the forest were startled, and the Death Eaters'' oaths echoed. "For the Pureblood Supremacy!" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 528: The Second Time Chapter 528: The Second Time The very moment these purebloods present made their deration. A loud bellowing sound suddenly resounded! Dazzling mes appeared at the location where the Death Eaters had gathered, instantly engulfing two of the ck-robed viins, while the rest reacted and quickly ducked away. The scene instantly became chaotic, those Death Eaters who were already wavering began to be flustered, they knew very well that the only one who could suddenlyunch an attack at this time would be the Aurors, and it was obvious that Voldemort hadn''t fully managed to rise up and make a ssh at the moment, which meant that none of them was able topletely stake out their positions just yet. Once the Aurors found out about their participation in such a gathering, it would inevitably be a big troubleter on. These Death Eaters who had just finished taking their oaths, before even a few seconds had passed, the thought of escaping had already risen in their hearts, only that Voldemort was still in front of their eyes, so for the time being, no one had put it into action yet. They hade to this ce to show their loyalty to Voldemort, to show their attitude, and likewise, in the current situation, it was time for Voldemort to build up their confidence. After more than ten years, this Voldemort who hade back had no physical body at all, and could only show himself in an illusory form, so whether he still had the ability to be an enemy of the entire British magical world could be demonstrated right now. And the moment the explosion rang out, those Death Eaters closest to Voldemort who had escaped from Azkaban had stood up alertly. Their loyalties were tried and tested, and after enduring more than a decade of torture from the Dementors, that loyalty had turned into an almost perverted obsession. Wormtail hugged the golden cup with all his might, knowing what was more important to Voldemort at this point in time. Of course, it wasn''t that he is more loyal than Be and the others, but among these people, he is the least courageous and knows very well what his only dependence is, only when Voldemort is present, he can live. Floating in the middle of the sky, Voldemort''s gaze became incredibly sharp as he looked towards the shadowy entrance, from which Dumbledore in his blue robe stepped out. "Dumbledore!" ck mist was filling the air as the name squeezed out of his mouth. Dumbledore was looking at him as well, the appearance of Voldemort presented from the golden cup came from a time when he had just recently graduated from Hogwarts and was still working at the Borgin and Burkes shop. Younger, and morepelling. "It''s been a long time, Riddle." Dumbledore responded softly with a greeting while not pausing the movement of his hands, golden-red fire ring from him before the countless Death Eaters around him could subconsciously aim their wands at him! Behind him, the Aurors also came out in a line! Jon didn''t hesitate at all, focusing on the golden cup, and like an arrow, he flew through mid-air! The scene became incredibly chaotic. In the second that Dumbledore and the Aurors appeared, Lucius and a group of most peripheral Death Eaters, their subconscious reaction was not to counterattack, but to quickly put on the hood of their robes and pull the brim of the hat down to cover their faces. The Aurors had already arranged their tactics a long time ago, knowing that these fence-sitters were the lowest threat in such a situation, their first target was not them, and they simply aimed directly at those core Death Eaters surrounding the Golden Cup! "Avada Kedavra!" "Stupefy!" "Expelliarmus!" "Petrificus Totalus!" Countless incantations rang out, casting a colourful glow on the sky that had already dusked with the setting sun. Voldemort''s ck mist rose in mid-air, fighting against Dumbledore''s mes, but even the worst wizard in the area could tell that the ck mist was already at a disadvantage at the beginning of the collision. At this time, Jon had already rushed to a ce less than five metres away from the golden cup! There were five or six Death Eaters in front of him to fend off, and almost all of them were acquaintances of Jon. Be and her husband Rodolphus; Rabastan, Brandon, Dolohov, Wormtail. It was almost too familiar to be true. "Where did this little brate from!" Be screamed, the tip of her wand already glowing with a miserable green light! However, before she could even utter the killing curse incantation, an invisible and shadowless sharp de had already shed across her white, almost sickly pale neck! Scarlet blood gushed out, and even while Be''s face still maintained that hideous expression, her eyes had already lost the gleam of vibrant life in them! Regarding killing Be one more time, Jon didn''t even have the slightest bit of psychological pressure, he could onlyment that his current self was in the end not the same as before, before he had to fight to the point of shing a sharp object, but now he only needed a single spell to finish her off. Blood sshed through the air, and Rodolphus and the others hadn''t even reacted until Be''s body fell. At that time, Jon had already grabbed both Lestrange brothers by their cors with one hand before either could even proceed to start casting the spell, and an invisible sword curse crisscrossed around him, Jon''s control of this curse had clearly reached the point of perfection, each sharp de finding the fatal part of their bodies, and without much of a bloody scene appearing, the two of them snapped out of life together. By this time the empty chamber was wide open, and Jon had only left the Wormtail who was near the Golden Cup alive! The male wizard, who looked like a fat rat, clutched the golden cup in his arms as if it was his only lifesaver, and looked at Jon, who had already arrived in front of him, with a face full of fear. But without Jon to make a move, a spell had already brushed past him, hitting the Wormtail whose body was shivering! Lily walked across the battlefield with a cold face, following Jon''s footsteps to the very core where the Golden Cup was located. Just like Jon killing the Lestranges one more time, Lily wasn''t even remotely concerned about killing Wormtail one more time. By now she had long since gotten past the low-level revenge, killing Wormtail and Snape was nothing, when she could kill Voldemort for real, that would be the real revenge. At the same time when Wormtail''s eyes widened, and he copsed to the ground with a loud thud, Hufflepuff''s golden cup also fell to the ground with him! In mid-air Voldemort, who was still in a stalemate with Dumbledore, had no way of wasting any more time as his eyes saw the situation deteriorating, he hadn''t thought that his own men would be this bad and hadn''t evensted more than a few minutes. "Waste!" The angry curse was abrupt amid a mour, and then the ck mistpletely abandoned Dumbledore and surged towards the direction where Jon and Lily stood. But Jon didn''t even look at him this time, just aimed his wand at the golden cup. The Fiendfyre red up! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 529: To Another World Chapter 529: To Another World People always face all sorts of ups and downs in their lives. The Horcrux Voldemort, who had been split by Voldemort in his youth and fused with Hufflepuff''s Golden Cup, had all of his own memories before he was crafted, but after that, he basically just stayed in the vaults of the Gringotts all the time, and his life experience remained aplete nk. It wasn''t until about half a year ago, for some inexplicable reason, that his abilities weren''t limited to within the golden cup anymore. At that moment, he became apletely independent individual and even regained the vast majority of power he had when he was young. Then, taking the opportunity of a Gringotts goblin going into the vault to make an inventory, he learned about what had happened in the magical world. The Voldemort within the golden cup had thought that it had been so long that his outside self should have seeded in fulfilling his ambitions and had the entire magical world in his pocket. But the fact was far from what he had imagined, his own body had disappeared without a trace more than ten years ago, and the force that he had painstakingly built up for so many years had also rebelled and been captured, and it was aplete and utter failure. This made the rtively youthful Voldemort extremely unwilling, so he controlled the goblin who entered the vault to take inventory, used him to leave the Gringotts, and then in this nearly half a year''s time, he unceasingly looked for his subordinates who were fleeing in the outside world and made contact with them, among them, he found Wormtail first who continued to look for him, and at the same time, he also learnt from the mouths of his subordinates about what exactly had happened in the magical world in the past few years. In the end, he decided to regroup his forces back together. Regarding this gathering of Death Eaters, Voldemort really didn''t have much of an evil n orplex ambitions. He simply wanted to gather the ones who once pledged to serve him again, to see how many people would still be willing to serve him, and how much power could still be used by him, as for the things after that he didn''t have any ns for the time being. After all, in the end, he is not the real Voldemort, just a remnant of the soul in the Horcrux, while Dumbledore''s power is still at its peak, he is not going to be deceived by the old man illusion of the other party, inparison with the normal life expectancy of wizards, more than a hundred years old is just the peak period of life. Therefore, the purpose of Voldemort gathering his forces this time was really pure, at least now he didn''t have the slightest intention to do anything wrong, even the few people he had killed were just a bunch of lowest-quality second-rate people. But now, before anything could begin, it was alling to an end. In the ck mist, that youthful-looking Voldemort was filled with disbelief as he watched Jon, who only had the appearance of a seven or eight-year-old boy, so easily using the Fiendfyre Curse on the golden cup that had fallen to the ground! Sinister mes rose up and wrapped the golden cup with precise aim! "No!!!" The roar of resentment echoed in the valley, and those who were originally in the middle of the battle, whether it was Auror or Death Eaters, all stared nkly in the direction shrouded by the ck mist. Under the burning of the Fiendfyre, the relic left behind by Hufflepuff didn''t evenst for a second before it was reduced to ashes in the mes! It was also at that same time, as if he had been hit by an Exploding Charm, the ck mist created by Voldemort in the sky exploded, and eventually dissipatedpletely. Everyone present saw this scene, whether it was the Death Eaters or Aurors, they all stared nkly at the culprit who had done all of this - Jon, who was still smacking his lips with a look of satisfaction after he had burned the golden cup. The whole ce was quiet for half a second, and then the fence-sitters were the first to react. Those who thought that they could still escape with this opportunity immediately turned around and fled, and those who felt that they couldn''t escape immediately threw their wands on the ground, then held their heads in their hands and shouted "I''ve been under the Imperius Curse!" And there are still some Death Eaters who are absolutely loyal to Voldemort, all of them have a look of grief and resentment. If Voldemort''s disappearance previously had given them a little hope, then now when Jon had destroyed their faith and their only hope in front of them, they werepletely devastated. Some had yelled defiantly and charged at Jon, trying to die with him, but of course, it was all in vain. Some people had fallen to their knees in a daze, like a walking corpse not knowing what to do anymore. Finally, there was also a group of people who had turned their wands against themselves, wanting to leave this world with Voldemort. The Aurors also reacted in time, they began to take control of the situation, first arresting those Death Eaters who no longer chose to resist, and finally focusing on annihting the few who still wanted to fight back,pletely ending that day''s operation. Not only the Death Eaters but even the Aurors had a feeling of unreality, especially those few who had questioned Jon''s identity before the operation began. They had all been prepared for this to be a nasty battle today, but now let alone a nasty battle, Kingsley didn''t even think it was a proper battle. It was like it was over before it even started, and they weren''t even needed, all it would take was Dumbledore and Jon to achieve the same result as it was now. He had just seen with his own eyes how Jon had killed the Lestrange family, there was no trace of a spell being recited or a wand being wielded to cast a spell, they were just dead. Jon didn''t care about the gazes that the surrounding Aurors were casting towards him, he wasn''t surprised by such an ending. It was just Voldemort''s Horcrux, he had even killed Voldemort who had fused with another Voldemort once, not to mention this mutted thing. Looking at the pile of dust on the ground, Jon just pitied the Hufflepuff relic of this world being spoilt like this, then turned his head to Dumbledore whose gaze was also turned to him at this time. "There is only one thing left to do now." Dumbledore nodded as he put his wand away and said softly. "Let''s go back to the castle, and call Harry over, and leave the rest of the work here to Moody and the others." Jon, Lily and Dumbledore did not stay on the battlefield for a long time, the issue of the subsequent handling of these Death Eaters naturally did not need him to ask more questions. When they returned to the castle, the time coincided with the time when the students had just finished their dinner. Harry was quickly called over, and when he just walked into the headmaster''s office and saw the three people all together there, he instinctively guessed in his heart, that there must be big news about to unfold. The one who is most qualified to speak first about issues rted to Harry is, of course, Lily. "Do you want to go on a trip to the other world with Mum?" ---- #terrence L all, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 530: Two Sides Chapter 530: Two Sides At the same time, Jon and the others hadpletely destroyed the golden cup. In the other world, Witching Horizon was at the very edge of the defence line that Northern Europe was defending. "Avada Kedavra!" Green beams of light shot out from Kingsley''s wand, and he gasped for air, watching the Death Eater who had been tussling with him for so long fall helplessly to the ground. The taboo regarding the killing curse had long since been thrown out of his mind, and this was already an unknown number of times he had cast the Unforgivable Curse since the beginning of this war. There were corpses all around. There were those of the Death Eaters and those of Witching Horizon. Moody was lying behind him, his prosthetic eye and limb had been blown out by the Death Eater''s magic, and incidentally, he had lost an arm, and now he didn''t look like he was half intact, with only the same ragged breathing as Kingsley''s to prove that he was still alive. "Where''s Tonks?" "She went to find Remus." After looking around to make sure that the area he was currently in was clear of enemies, Kingsley stumbled over to Moody''s side dragging his heavy feet and pulled out the Dittany essence vial which only had half from his pocket that he had just had time to apply to him, and proceeded to spill it on his blood-soaked wounds. "Don''t waste it. I''ve had plenty of experience in saving this arm, and too much time has passed for it to be considered toote, even for the best healer." Moody looked extraordinarily surly. "Wasn''t Tonks originally nning to propose to Remus in a couple of months?" "She didn''t tell anyone about it, she just asked me to help prepare some things, how did you know?" Kingsley didn''t stop his hand movements. "What could possibly be hidden from my magical eye? What a shame, Remus is such a big man, but he still needs to let a little girl take the initiative when ites to his feelings!" "He''s always had an inferiorityplex over his identity, you know." Moody, whose wound at that broken arm had stopped bleeding, breathing gradually became steadyy between a bunch of corpses. Those corpses that were no longer distinguishable between Death Eaters and Witching Horizon members were like a high tform, arching him above them. He looked at the sky which looked like it waspletely covered in dark clouds, within which blue-white fire raged from it every now and then. "Will that Mr Headmaster hold out?" Kingsley didn''t answer his question, he just sat down in the blood-soaked dirt and muttered. "I do hope that Lily and Jon won''te back." That answer actually gave the answer, but Moody cursed grumpily. "You''re questioning them! Do you think they''re the kind of people who are greedy for life! You think I can''t beat you up just because I''m missing an arm, don''t you!" Kingsley ignored Moody''s scolding, he just quietly looked towards the sky that was separated by ck and blue and muttered to himself in silence and exhaustion. "This damned world!" And above the clouds, the ck mist hadpletely taken over the sky! After half a month of recuperation, Voldemort hadpletely recovered to his peak state, so he didn''t stop at all and immediatelyunched an attack on thest piece of the European continent that he hadn''t yet ruled over! His power had be unprecedentedly strong, and there was absolutely no need to take it in stride for so many years as he had done before against those in France. In addition, Dumbledore could no longer be a hindrance to him, and the boy named Jon Green, although a threat, had not yet had enough time to grow up, so he was extremely calm and knew that he should not have the slightest thought of procrastination and that he had to end the remnants of Europe''s Witching Horizon at once, and quickly. The only thing that made him a little unexpected was that the person who came here to resist himself wasn''t Jon, but the loser who should have dropped dead fifty years ago. Grindelwald''s strength wasn''t weak, but he obviously hadn''t improved much over the years. What''s more, his mind hadn''t been on the study of magic since he walked out of that high tower of the castle, and he certainly didn''t have enough strength to fight against Voldemort, who was now in his absolute peak state. But from the start of the battle, his undisguised contempt for Voldemort had never dissipated. Squashing down the burst of blue mes once more, Voldemort looked at Grindelwald in front of him with mockery on his face. "I know exactly what you''re despising me for. You think you have more ambitious aspirations, and I''m just a viin who''s in it for purely selfish reasons, right?" He didn''t look angry about it, but rather full of yfulness. "But to me, it''s just a useless pride of the ipetent, not talking about whose goal is far-reaching, just looking at the end result, I''m a sessful person, while you''re about to be a failure for the second time." It was as if he intended to provoke Grindelwald, but it didn''t seem to have any effect, Grindelwald still had that same old look on his face as he resumed fending off Voldemort''s attack. Grindelwald exhaled lightly. He didn''t care if he could protect the Witching Horizon or not, he was inherently selfish, what he really cared about was the new ideal that had prompted him toe out of the High Tower. He didn''t want such ideals to be dashed by the kind of absolutely self-serving conquests that Voldemort had been making, so he stood at the cost of perhaps losing his life, just as he had once chosen to do when he had started a duel with Dumbledore when the blood pact had been voided. Blue mes red up from his side, renewing the confrontation with the ck mist. Grindelwald also made it clearer at this point in the battle that anyone with a bit more knowledge could guess, that he was not stepping up to defeat Voldemort, but rather to hold out the time until Jon returned from the other world! *** Harry froze at first when he heard Lily''s words. Then an unspeakable surprise appeared on his face, and then such surprise quickly faded and turned into uncertainty and hesitation. Lily didn''t rush him, just looked at him with encouragement and waited as she gazed at him until Harry opened his mouth to ask. "Is it for me and Mum to depart from herepletely?" Lily said softly. "That can be up to you. If you want to be with mum forever after that then of course you can stay there all the time, but that world is dangerous, much more so than here." "I''m not afraid of danger." Harry exined carefully, as if he was afraid that Lily would misunderstand, "I do not want to leave my friends, and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, although they have not been kind to me, I can''t just leave without saying goodbye." Lily was not a bit upset by this, instead, her face was full of motherly love. "I''m going to take you there, because there''s a matter that needs to be resolved in your case, Harry, and you need to listen carefully to what I''m going to say to you right now." ---- #terrence L all, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 531: Return Chapter 531: Return The things Lily told Harry about of course could only be about Horcruxes. Something about him having be one of Voldemort''s Horcruxes, something that he himself had a right to know and had to be told. Harry''s reaction to this was still emotionally stable, and at first, he thought nothing of destroying the Horcruxes along with him, but then Lily mentioned it and also said why she was taking him back this time, mainly to solve the problems in this regard. And when the Horcrux on Harry''s body is resolved, he will immediately be sent back from the other world. There was no way for Dumbledore to go there with them because his own age had already exceeded the maximum limit of the space-turner, and even if he was just allowed to go back on his own, it would still be an impossible thing to do. Otherwise, in line with his willingness to happily visit another world and take care of Voldemort these days, as long as he could go back with Jon and Lily, then their chances of winning would be a lot higher. However, this kind of thing in itself was not something that could be forced, and after determining all matters, Jon and the others had no further stops to make and used the Space-Turner that very night to return to the world that had originally belonged to them, taking Harry along with them. The location where theynded after travelling through the dimension was exactly where they had been before they left. It was one of Witching Horizon''s main camps in Northern Europe, and Hogwarts, which had been relocated from France, was temporarily set up there. Once Jon and Lily had appeared there, it was obvious that they could notice that the atmosphere had be much more subduedpared to when they had left. But after seeing that they had returned, many people had expressions of surprise on their faces. Especially the Hogwarts students. And it was from them that Jon learnt some of the things that had happened during the time they had been away. Voldemort had only been resting for a week before he began to press on with his invasion into Northern Europe. When the Witching Horizon pulled the battle line into German territory, the European magical regimes south of Britain and France all fell under Voldemort''s rule. It''s just that Voldemort hasn''t had the time to meddle in regting these small magical governments at this time, focusing all of his attention on the Northern Europe raid. And just like all the wars in the past, the final victory or defeat often depends on the two most powerful wizards to have the ultimate duel. Before Jon and Lily returned, the duel between Voldemort and Grindelwald had just ended. The end result was Grindelwald''s defeat. But he didn''t die because of it, Voldemort won but didn''t get much advantage from him, and the conquest of Northern Europe simply stopped at Germany. "This is." As Jon and Lily learnt what had happened in the time they had been away, Neville, Ron and the others were all looking at Harry who was gawking curiously at everything around him. Without waiting for Lily to introduce them, Harry took the initiative to greet them. "Hello, Neville and Ron!" He gave each of them an enthusiastic hug, leaving both Neville and Ron feeling a little confused. "You may not know me here, but in the other world, we are best friends!" Lily watched the scene with some relief; without her having to do anything, Harry looked like he was fitting in easily. Afterwards, Lily and Harry continued to stay here, while Jon went straight back into the Durmstrang. After the battle with Voldemort, Grindelwald had not bothered to head to the Hospital for Magical Injuries and Mdies to recuperate but had simply returned to the ce he knew best. And when Jon met him, he seemed to be in pretty good shape, only that the paleness on his face could not be concealed. "You''vee at a good time." Seeing Jon, Grindelwald didn''t look to be in a very good mood. He was wrapping a bandage around his left hand, and one could see that there was still blood faintly seeping out of it. "It is indeed the right time, why don''t we head straight to the hospital?" Jon said as he walked forward and helped Grindelwald put the bandage on his hand. Grindelwald didn''t stop his movements, but leaned his back against the back of the chair and snorted at Jon''s words. "What can those healers from the Magical Injury and Mdy Hospital do? They can only handle some simple injuries, and at my current level, there is nothing they can do." Jon observed the injury on Grindelwald''s hand, then used the general counter-spell to absorb all the curse magic contained in it, before finally pouring on the dittany essence and re-wrapping the bandage. "Everything taken care of?" Grindelwald asked. Jon nodded. "It''s sort of taken care of, except for the fact that Professor Potter''s son in the other world, Harry, got identally turned into a Horcrux the night he was attacked by Voldemort; Professor Potter and I brought him back, intending to have Mr Slytherin see if he could find a way to remove the Horcrux from Harry''s head without harming his life." At this Grindelwald gave a sneer. "It''s just a foolish kindness, if it can end this war, who cares if it requires the sacrifice of her son''s life." At this Jon did not reply, of course, he knew that with Grindelwald''s character, this statement must be sincere, but there are times when no matter how right it is to exchange a small sacrifice for a big one, the very fact of needing someone to sacrifice is something that Jon does not want to see. So he pulled away and asked the key question. "What''s his state?" Jon didn''t say who specifically, but Grindelwald certainly knew who he was talking about. "His state ispletely fine, very powerful indeed, if he were to fully exert himself without any scruples, it''s unlikely that I would pose a resistance to him, but he had some scruples the entire time he was duelling against me." "Scruples?" "He hadn''t seen you, so he didn''t really try to fight me to the point of death, he certainly could have killed me if he wanted to, but he was afraid that after he paid the price to kill me, you would show up on the scene." Jon rubbed his chin, he could understand this mentality of Voldemort, even though there are Horcruxes that can revive him indefinitely, but, if they found some way to keep him imprisoned, this would be trouble for him as well. The good thing was that this actually proved that Voldemort didn''t seem to know anything about Jon and the others travelling to another world to destroy the Horcruxes, or else he wouldn''t be so concerned. "There is one more thing." Jon''s expression became serious. "I have researched a unique spell-casting system with Professor Dumbledore in the other world, and I would also like you, Mr Headmaster, toe and give a helping hand to figure out the system more thoroughly." ---- #terrence L all, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 532: Compatibility Chapter 532: Compatibility At the same time, Jon was catching up on the situation in Grindelwald''s office. Lily also brought Harry to find Slytherin''s portrait immediately after he got acquainted with Neville, Ron of this world, and they got to know each other well. How to solve the issue of Harry being Horcrux, she had ced the biggest hope on Slytherin. Because he was the one who guided Voldemort who had travelled through time, to reabsorb the soul that had originally been split apart, and those items that had originally hosted the Horcruxes didn''t seem to have been damaged in the slightest, and they were all ced in the Headmaster''s office of the Hogwarts Castle without any problems before. Since there was a way to remove it from those items, there was nothing to worry about Harry''s current situation. Lily led Harry quickly to the ce where Dumbledore had fallen into a deep sleep, which was usually looked after by McGonagall. The structure of everything was unchanged from before, and the portraits of the previous headmasters were all still hanging there. After they came in, Harry felt a wave of inexplicable sadness when he saw the peaceful face of the one who was lying on the bed. Dumbledore, who was obviously breathing steadily and had a very healthy body, would not wake up again in this world. No matter which world Dumbledore he might be, he doesn''t give him a sense of alienation, it''s as if there''s no difference between the two. "We shouldn''t be sad, he''s just resting, he has done enough of everything he could for us, and now he needs some rest too." Lily said softly while pulling Harry out of that sour mood. And just as they entered the room, the portraits on the walls all turned their eyes towards them. Of course, they all recognised Lily, and naturally, it was Harry, whom they had never seen before, that they were focusing on. "This is your son?" Easily, Dilys guessed Harry''s identity; after all, mother and son had such simr eyes. "Yes." There was an audible gasp from the group of headmasters on the wall, and they began toment on Harry as if they were spectating some cherished species. "This is the legendary Child of the Prophecy?" "That prophecy is better left unmentioned, as Sybill had tarnished her family''s reputation." "But isn''t this all already proved that that prophecy of hers was actually right? Our world is only in this situation because Voldemort travelled back in time to change what was originally established." "Well, that proves that Sybill has some real skills after all." "You''re ignoring her bad habit of making a cursed remark every time she meets someone, if she can change that one, then I can admit that she has some real skills." Harry didn''t feel twitchy about their discussion, the portraits of these Headmasters werergely unchanged from the ones in the Headmaster''s office at Hogwarts where he had been, and instead, Harry felt a sense of closeness to them as they talked amongst themselves in such a fragmented manner. Except for the one portrait that he felt vaguely familiar with, the person within it seemed like someone he had seen somewhere else, who had been staring at him ever since he had entered the room, the one with the goatee, an old guy who looked more like a monkey than anything else. And by this time, Lily had respectfully called out the name of the person on that portrait. "Mr Slytherin, I came here today to ask for your help to examine Harry." Upon hearing Lily''s address, it dawned on Harry why he thought the old man looked familiar. It was in his second year that he, along with Ron, had once seen a statue of him in the Chamber of Secrets, and at the moment the portrait looked exactly like that statue. "I noticed as soon as he walked in the door." The Slytherin''s voice wasn''t exactly pleasant to listen to, and he kept his gaze firmly on Harry, giving Harry the feeling that he was being watched by some sort of viper. "A living being, made into a Horcrux." After he said that, the entire room went silent for a split second, and the Headmasters, who were still chattering and bickering, had a dumbfounded look on their faces, and then their eyes began to glow, and they looked at Harry as if he were some sort of living fossil! "People can be made into Horcrux?" "Animals are alive too, so why not?" "So do we have to kill him? Kill him to defeat Voldemort? Well, it makes sense." "Shut your mouth! Phineas, no one will think you''re stupid if you don''t talk!" Lily didn''t bother to listen to all the shock from the Headmasters, but instead looked at the Slytherin in seriousness, and asked with a pleading tone. "Can you help him?" "People and artefacts are different." Slytherin''s expression was serious as he looked at Harry, it was hard to tell what he was thinking with his cloudy gaze. "People are moreplicated, especially wizards with magical powers who possess a normal functioning mind and soul. Now another soul fragment is entangled with him, and it is obvious that it didn''t happen a short time ago, they have long-established an extremely close connection with each other, and this connection is not an easy thing to be severed without causing damage to your son." Lily''s face instantly paled with disappointment, but she could also tell that the Slytherin just didn''t sugarcoat it, and what he meant was that it wasn''t an easy feat, not that it was apletely impossible feat to do. The Slytherin was pondering, and it seemed like he was remembering something. "But there''s one interesting magic that seems to precisely differentiate between two different kinds of magic and then absorb some of it, I think that kind of magic might be able to be used on the Horcrux." Lily held her breath. "What kind of magic?" "I don''t know, the person who used it never said what kind of magic it was, and, it seems, only one person knows it. The only good news, though. That person is on our side." *** "-The general counter-spell is far beyond regr magic, but also because it''s general, the limitations are great, except that if the magic is strong enough and the ''will'' is strong enough, then the range is again infinitely expanded." After listening to Jon''s exnation, Grindelwald had a somewhat strange expression on his face. "What is far beyond the norm is not the general counter-spell, but this kind of spell casting you are talking about, I can understand wandless spell casting, but what do you mean by using your body as a wand? So your attempt with Albus in the other world worked?" Jon rubbed his chin. "It seems to have been partially sessful, the only exception is the general counter-spell. It''s like my body is now immune to a portion of spells, and it''s also able to absorb the magic contained in that portion of the spell." He held up the ring in his hand that had been embedded with gems. "Now this ring bes a storage for all that magic, after all, there is still a difference between the magic of everyone and everything, and there is no way for me to make other people''s magic intermingle and bepatible with my own." ---- #terrence L all, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 533: Situation Chapter 533: Situation Jon did notck natural talent when it came to magic. But the experience of wizards like Dumbledore and Grindelwald in magic was ultimately much superior to his. So even after hearing and seeing that the attempt Jon was currently making was very ridiculous to them, Grindelwald and the others still provided Jon with quite a lot of useful advice. ording to the contents of the notebook left behind by Adrien, Jon even wanted to take it a step further and perfect the General Counter-Spell which is a bit more unique. And it was also right after he finished his discussion with Grindelwald and left Durmstrang''s headmaster''s office when Lily found him once again. "The kind of spell I used to absorb magic power?" After listening to Lily''s ount, Jon showed some surprise; he hadn''t expected the Slytherin to remember the magic spell he had used. "I indeed know a spell like that, but it''s really just a variation of the general counter-spell, and if it really does help Harry in his current situation, then I''m certainly willing to help." Lily looked at Jon with aplicated expression, one that was filled with gratitude within but didn''t know how to express it. She was the one who brought Jon into the Hogwarts wagon in the beginning, but since then, Jon had directly or indirectly helped her an unknown number of times as well. There were times when directly expressing gratitude just like that would be sphemy for the help received. Therefore, Lily didn''t say anything more than that and gave Jon a big hug before heading over to the Slytherin portrait with him. "Although you can only absorb magic power with that spell now, in my opinion, this kind of forced means of separation is practically universal, and with a slight alteration, it can be just as effective for souls." Slytherin had a bit of a discussion with Jon about souls and made a number of suggestions about his research on the improvement of the means of casting spells. The issue of Harry was settled after that, and after ascertaining from Jon and the Slytherin that the remnants of Voldemort''s soul could be uprooted from Harry''s bodyter, Lily let her mind rxpletely. After that she threw herself wholeheartedly into the Witching Horizon''s current endeavours as well, leaving Harry entirely in Jon''s hands. The Witching Horizon situation was now getting increasingly worse. Word had spread about the oue of the showdown between Voldemort and Grindelwald. The impact of this was not only the duel itself, but the fact that Dumbledore never showed up from the beginning to the end despite Voldemort''s fierce aggression had directly proved what the British Ministry of Magic had been propagating, that Dumbledore had died in thest battle, to be true! The fact that this matter was confirmed was the biggest blow to Witching Horizon. All along, even during the most difficult period of exile from Hogwarts in Britain, there was a part of the outside world that believed that as long as Dumbledore led them, they still had the possibility of turning the tide. But now that Dumbledore is really dead, even if the remaining Witching Horizon still seems colossal, it is like a castle in the air, and it is only a matter of time before ites crashing down. And the duel between Grindelwald and Voldemort is seen from the outside world as them still struggling to hold on. As for Jon, the opinion of those on the outside was consistent. His age is still too young. Some people who have seen Jon be smaller because of the Phoenix Nirvana, and don''t know the truth, even thought that Witching Horizon had deliberately exaggerated his age before and that he was actually only as big as he appeared to be. Even though there were rumours that he had done all sorts of great things, including killing Voldemort once, not many people believed them. They preferred to rely on their personal experience to believe that Jon was still too young topete with the truly invincible Voldemort. As for the rumours circting within the Witching Horizon that he had once killed Voldemort, many people thought that only by using Dumbledore''s dying counterattack, that Jon escape from there, and that it was just a lie by the Witching Horizon to deceive themselves and others. It was in this context that Witching Horizon had cowered into Northern Europe, facing a dead end on all sides. Almost no one thinks they can still have a chance to turn the tide, fortunately Grindelwald controlled the Alliance, so the control of the whole of Northern Europe is still quite solid, so there has not been any problem within their internal situation, although some of the small ministries of magic have been privately prepared for the Witching Horizon topletely fall downter, and preparing for a direct surrender, but at least before the real disintegration of the Witching Horizon, they would not make any small moves. At a time like this when Witching Horizon was in the midst of a storm, Voldemort wasn''t going to give them half a chance to catch their breath. It hadn''t even been three days since the showdown with Grindelwald had ended, he was on the verge of making a new attack. This time, it was far more vigorous than the previous one, just as if it was a gesture topletely determine the situation of the whole of Europe and eradicate the whole Witching Horizon in one go. This time was exactly two days after Jon and Lily had returned from the other world. The Horcrux problem on Harry was sorted out, and Slytherin and Jon worked together to pull out the deeply rooted Voldemort soul fragment from him. After that, even though Harry strongly objected, he was sent back to his original world after Lily made the call. Up to this point, all of Voldemort''s Horcruxes in the other world were purged, and the time-turner device that had helped him time-travel over was also destroyed, so ording to the current situation, he no longer had any means of resurrection. "The loss of that time-turner in the Department of Mysteries will definitely cause him to be on guard, and the attack heunched three days ago was most likely a test mission." Grindelwald and Voldemort rarely interacted, though he still seemed to be familiar with the other man''s nature. Jon nodded back and said. "From all the ns he has made over the years, he has hardly missed a single detail, and he must have been well aware of what my teacher and I did in the Department of Mysteries on the day of the final showdown between Professor Dumbledore and him, which means that he knew that we had investigated the matter of his origin. ording to his character of not trusting anyone and being cautious to the extreme, it''s likely that he has prepared something else." "We can''t give him another chance." Grindelwald said in a cold voice, "It''s like this every time. He can fail over and over again, while we can''t fail even once. If it continues, we''ll be finished with this world even if we do win, we must make sure to vanquish him once and for all, no matter what the cost is." Jon didn''t speak first, he just thought for a moment before speaking again. "This matter, perhaps, can be left to me." ---- #shycow,Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 534: A Chance for Redemption Chapter 534: A Chance for Redemption Draco ate the sd on his te in silence. After that great trial, the pureblood students who had survived hadn''t really suffered much harsh treatment. Havingpleted thebour they were sentenced to, Witching Horizon treated them like any other ordinary student. Those whose grades were not yet enough continued to attend sses, and those who had already met the requirements for graduation chose to go to work or stay home in self-imposed istion as they wished. No one in the entire Witching Horizon had any intention of holding them out as a bargaining chip or a threat, and Draco knew it wasn''t because none of these people had thought of it or ever realised what kind of role they could y as an almost-hostage existence. It was simply because this organisation, which had grown out of a school, didn''t consider it a good idea to use a child''s life as a threat. This kind of behaviour was silly in the eyes of some and made some people have very mixed feelings about it. Draco for one had quite a lot of mixed feelings about it. He wasn''t a bad person by nature, and his previous perceptions of the world had been conveyed to him by his family and the magical society he lived in. Purebloods were supposed to be superior, half-bloods were bastards, and mudbloods weren''t even human. These words had been verified countless times in his life. But Lucius had also taught him to love his family as well, and after being brought to the Hogwarts wagon, he really began to seriously reflect on this issue. For wizards, does it really make a difference whether they have a bloodline or not? If wizards with bloodlines were really inherently noble, then how did they all get caught here? How could an incapable muggle-born like Jon Green have stomped on so many purebloods underfoot? Draco began to think about this, and at the same time couldn''t get rid of his own inner worries. He was certainly aware of the current situation of the Witching Horizon, there was no way to hide the situation, and some purebloods were already secretly excited about it in private, they felt like they were about to be rescued from this ce. Others were nervous and terrified that the Witching Horizon would be destroyed and kill all of them on the eve of defeat. Draco, on the other hand, wasn''t thinking about any of this; it was like he wasn''t even thinking about Witching Horizon''s failure. He had no concept about the existence of Dumbledore, but he had a strange feeling about Jon. This feeling was a mixture of fear, repulsion, hatred, and a hint of admiration that could not be wiped away. Everyone on the outside felt that with Dumbledore''s death, the Witching Horizon would be over, but Draco felt that as long as Jon wasn''t dead, the British Ministry of Magic, led by Voldemort, would never be able topletelyy im to the victory and that the news that Jon had killed Voldemort more than once was surely not some unfounded untruth. So Draco was worried about his parents, he was tired of this war and was afraid that his family might not be able to survive. And just as Draco was thinking about all this while eating his meal, he suddenly saw someone out of the corner of his eye. It was none other than Jon who had appeared in the cafeteria at some point. He was sitting with a girl with chestnut-coloured hair, and it seemed like Jon was only a small child from the appearance, with nearly double the age difference between the two of them, yet it was obvious to anyone that Jon was the one who was dominating the conversation. "-I never thought, the ''you'' of the other world, would actually be studying in Beauxbatons, it''s a shame that I didn''t get the chance to meet the other you at the time." Hermione wrinkled her nose as Jonmented. "There''s no reason for you to meet ''her'' either, we havepletely different experiences. We are nominally the same person, but in reality, we are two different individuals, we can''t be treated as the same." Jon blinked and ate his sausage, pretending to be puzzled. "Why is today''s lunch so sour? There''s no way it could be, right? No one else would be jealous of themselves, would they?" Hermione froze for a moment before reacting and trying to grab Jon''s face with her ws and paws open, only to be dodged by Jon with a wide grin and a sidestep. Then he caught Draco''s gaze. As their eyes met in the air, Draco subconsciously avoided it. He nervously continued to look at the vegetable sd in front of him, pretending that he hadn''t noticed Jon from the start. But clearly, Jon had no intention of going along with his wishes. After a few words of exnation to Hermione, Jon, who was so busy he could hardly find time to rx for lunch, then left his seat and sat down next to Draco with his dinner te. Draco was obviously fidgeting after feeling the presence of someone he didn''t want to deal with at all. Jon, however, asked casually as if he hadn''t sensed his mood. "That''s a light lunch? Would you like a pork chop?" "No-no thanks, I-I don''t really feel like it." "Bad appetite? It shouldn''t be, with the way the wind''s been blowingtely. You should have an appetite, or do you feel like you''re about to be put out of your misery and can''t be bothered to look at the food here anymore?" Draco couldn''t quite figure out what Jon meant by his words, and he scrambled to exin. "No I have no such thoughts." Jon looked like he was just saying it casually, not really trying to engage in any kind of questioning, and instead, he even calmed Draco down. "Don''t be so nervous, it''s not like I''m a man-eating demon. The rumours that were circting in that castle before were all rumours spread by your bunch as I recall, weren''t they? It''s not possible that you guys even fooled yourselves, right?" Draco lowered his headpletely and apologised in a pleading tone he had never used before. "I''m sorry." "There''s nothing to be sorry for. You''ve paid for your mistakes so don''t be so scared, I''m not here to hold you ountable for the things you''ve done, but there''s one thing I want to know from you." Jon lowered the knife and fork in his hand as he stared into Draco''s eyes. Draco subconsciously tried to avoid his gaze again, but then Jon opened his mouth with a question that made him turn his head back again. "Do you remember all the things you said to me once?" Draco looked at Jon, and he opened his mouth, his voice shaking a little. "You." Jon''s voice was quiet, and this time there was no longer any hint of a joke in his tone. "There is a chance, a chance to help your parents live. Of course, as I said before, the things your father used to do would be enough for him to die ten times over if the standards of the Judicial Council were applied, so this chance to redeem him for his crimes isn''t as simple as that, so you need to think about whether or not you want to say yes to me." ---- #shycow,Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 535: Good things come in pairs Chapter 535: Good thingse in pairs Just a few days after the conversation between Jon and Draco, thebined forces of the British and French Ministry of Magic gained new gains in their strategy of attacking Northern Europe. A portion of the pureblood descendants who hadn''t yet had time to be relocated and had previously been imprisoned after the Triwizard Tournament were rescued. It was said that because the retreat from the Witching Horizon was too hasty, the pureblood descendants were relocated at the end, and as a result, the "heroic" British and French magical allied forces seized the opportunity and seeded in rescuing them. This allowed a considerable number of purebloods who originally thought that their families had been torn apart to regain the opportunity to reunite. ording to the past practice of the British Ministry of Magic, the rescued captives need to be subjected to the screening process by using Legilimency or Truth Potion, or first confined for a period of time to prevent spying and being controlled by the Imperius Curse. But for these pureblood noble young lords and youngdies who had suffered a lot from "fright" and "torture", no one would be insensitive enough to bring up this matter, and after rescuing the captives, they let their families, who had long been impatient, lead them back to their own homes. And among them, of course, there was Draco. On the night they returned home, Narcissa had prepared a sumptuous meal, and the Malfoy family was finally able to get together and have a good meal. Draco devoured the meal, losing all semnce of his previous pureblood noble manners. Lucius and Narcissa both looked at him in pain, thinking that it was because he had suffered so much in the Witching Horizon that he couldn''t even eat. But in fact, it was just that he had a big appetite once he returned to his familiar surroundings. "Luckily this operation of Selwyn and the others didn''t go wrong, even if there are no more gains, rescuing you guys is still a great achievement." Lucius had that rare doting expression on his face as he looked at Draco. Just as he heard his words, Draco, who was gorging himself, suddenly froze. He looked up a little nervously, ncing from side to side in his all-too-familiar home before meeting Lucius''s gaze, which was already beginning to feel out of ce. "Actually..." "Wait!" Lucius'' face darkenedpletely as he watched Draco''s look of wanting to say something, but it was clear that such gloom was not directed at Draco. Narcissa hadn''t sensed anything unusual yet, and she looked at her husband with a disgruntled look on her face and was just about to tell him to be nicer to his son when she saw that Lucius had pulled out his wand, and proceeded to apply a sound istion ward to the surroundings. "Go on." Silence fell around them, and all that could be heard was Draco swallowing. His eyes were filled with nervousness and unease as he stammered. "Yes. It was Jon Green... he let us all go back on purpose. The purpose was just to get me to give you a message." "What did he want me to know!" Lucius'' face was grim to the core, but he still didn''t stop Draco from speaking. Others might have despised that boy, but Lucius himself knew better than anyone how the Lestrange family had be extinct, and how his own lord had been forced into a corner before. "He... he said, ''Honourable Mr Malfoy, perhaps there is something, in the present time, that allows us to have peer-to-peer co-operation.''" "Bang!" Lucius''s palm mmed down on the table angrily, his face reddening. "Wasn''t he looking down on me before! Now that he has been pushed to the point of death, he starts to beg me toe!" Only Lucius'' ragged breathing echoed in the air, and neither Narcissa, who had already heard what was going on, nor Draco himself, spoke again, simply waiting for Lucius'' own face to change from grim shade. Only after a long time did he ask again. "What else did he say?" Draco whispered an address. "Fifteenth, Purple and Gold Street, Lahti, he said to remember this ce if you still have any ideas about standing on both sides of the fence." Lucius didn''t make a sound, he just clenched his fists without another semnce of expression on his face. *** "What makes you so sure that he won''t just bring his own son to Voldemort?" In Durmstrang''s Headmaster''s office, a candle me danced and reflected an old and a young figure. Jon looked at his arm, which had taken on an unnatural pale blue colour, and said softly. "Because he is himself an opportunist or an opportunist who is not so confident in his lord, and at the same time an opportunist who loves his family, so, no matter whether he agrees or not, he will not reveal this matter, whereas, if, for example, he still has a drop of suspicion about the situation at hand, then it is possible for him to find us at that address." Grindelwald was also watching Jon''s arm, which just ten seconds ago had been surrounded by a blue mass of Fiendfyre curse, and by this time there was no longer any fire, except for the light pale blue halo. "But what you''re asking him to do isn''t asking him to bet on both sides and if he dares to go through with it then no matter what Voldemort won''t spare him." "Would he know the importance of that thing?" Jon said with an expressionless face. "This is something that Voldemort has been hiding from everyone, only the most core people on our side know about the existence of such a thing, Lucius has no idea what the thing we asked him to find is. And in his perception, someone like Voldemort, wouldn''t give a damn about everything other than himself, so it was a simple matter of stealing something and destroying it." Grindelwald gave him a deep look, but a smile spread across his face. "You''re really different from Albus, but it''s because of that difference that you are actually better suited to be a leader than he is." "Don''t change your mind and call me wicked, Mr Headmaster, I won''t show him any mercy. If he wants to atone for his sins then he''ll have to pay the price, and if he wants to go all the way to the dark side, then the same applies." "Do you think he''ll say yes?" "Eight or nine, to put it in a narcissistic way, he''s actually a bit afraid of me, just like his son." Grindelwald''s eyes suddenly lit up with excitement. He watched with his own eyes as thatst bit of blue halo on Jon''s armpletely disappeared, leaving behind only a white and slender arm! "How does it feel!" Jon raised the hand with the ring, at this time, the five gems on the ring had all lost that azure colour of the past, and were instead dull. After closing his eyes and quietly feeling the magic power in his body once more, a hint of a smile appeared on Jon''s face. "Very high quality of magic power, Mr Headmaster!" And just as both of their faces showed joy, the fire of the firece suddenly jumped as well. A Floo Network, designed to connect to the fifteenth house on Purple and Gold Street in Lahti, Find, was activated! Jon and Grindelwald looked at each other, both of them having a somewhat meaningful gaze. "What''s it called?" "Good thingse in pairs." ---- #shycow, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 536: Gift Chapter 536: Gift After the green fire was extinguished from the firece, Jon and Grindelwald''s originally impassive faces simultaneously revealed a smile. "What do you think the probability of his sess is?" Grindelwald asked yfully. Jon, on the other hand, refocused his attention on his hand, he snapped his fingers, and then a sh of blue fire appeared at his fingertips! There was no incantation, no spell-casting action, just a snap of the fingers! The blue me reflected on Jon''s boyish face as he whispered. "If he''s willing to go for it, then there''s a good chance of sess. If this matter had been personally handled by Voldemort, then, of course, it would be imprable, but in this situation, and the kind of state he was in before, surely the dark lord who has died twice in a row wouldn''t have the heart to carry it out on his own yet, and who amongst the Death Eaters would he be able to trust?" "Without Be, without the Lestrange family, without Wormtail, there''s only one other person he can trust around him to aplish his goal, and after we inform Malfoy of the man''s goal, he will seed." It was clear that Grindelwald''s attention was no longer on Jon''s answer at this point. His eyes were also fixed on the glowing blue me at Jon''s fingertips! "An amazing feat." He said in a rare, emotional tone. Jon, however, shook his head. "I''m just standing on the shoulders of those who have moved forward before me, I don''t think I could have aplished this result in my lifetime without that Mr Adrian Fawkes, without my teachers, without Professor Dumbledore, and without you, Mr Headmaster." "Don''t jump to conclusions, everyone''s progress stands on the shoulders of those who have lived before them, and perhaps we have all helped you in notable degrees, but you are the only one who has been able to achieve this feat." Grindelwald tapped the tabletop and paused for a moment before speaking again. "How sure are you now?" With a flick of his hand, Jon extinguished the me that had been imed to be strong enough to incinerate the very being who had unleashed it. "He''s not like he was before now, he must be fully prepared for me. In this case, there''s about a 20% chance if I put my life on the line to fight." Grindelwald already had a relieved expression on his face. "Twenty percent is enough, if Malfoy fulfils his promise to us, then he''ll only have one chance, whereas we have an infinite number of twenties percents." "But we can''t just bet on him." Jon remained calm, not half overwhelmed by his newfound power, "One must be equally prepared for the worst." He looked over to Grindelwald. "Mr Headmaster, this job is yours, and you will be needed to continue to preside over the transformation ns you have envisioned for this world." Grindelwald heard the hidden meaning in Jon''s words. "What do you want to do?" Jon stood up from his chair as he smiled. "Improve, my chances of winning a bit more, I just don''t know how much more time Voldemort has left for us, I''m going to go out for a walk after today." After leaving Grindelwald''s Headmaster''s office, Jon didn''t go back to the amodation that Durmstrangene had arranged for him but went straight to the Witching Horizon''s reserve quarters. Those students who had just graduated from Hogwarts this year were stationed here along with the other members of the Order of the Phoenix, who would be performing some simple tasks, but would also be heading to the battlefield when necessary. And just as Jon arrived, Neville, Ron and Justin, who had just finished their work for the day, were chatting side by side together, preparing to head back to their quarters to rest. Upon seeing Jon, who was standing on the side of the path with a German-style roasted pork knuckle he had brought from the Durmstrang cafeteria and was waving at them, the three of them all shared a look of excitement. "Jon!" "Hi! Have you brought something good! I can smell it from far away!" Jon was nked by them, and together they returned to the ce where they lived. It didn''t look shabby here, each of them had a separate room, at least in terms of material conditions, Witching Horizon isn''t struggling. "How are you all doing these days?" "Much more rxed than before, the time you had left was the hardest time for Witching Horizon, we''ve all been on the battlefield, Neville even killed a Death Eater with his own hands, Ron chopped off a man''s arm with his magic, and I fared poorly, if not for Professor Lupining to support just in time, I would''ve had my head almost blown off by a sting curse." "The moment you walk onto the battlefield, you''re the brightest star." Listening to Jon use the words that Dumbledore had once said to Justin, as an analogy for the man he had be now, it couldn''t help but make the scene sombre. Ron looked up at Jon. "Professor Dumbledore, will he ever wake up?" In response, Jon nodded affirmatively and said. "He''s not dead, it''s just that he was invited to visit another world, which isn''t a bad thing, and he''ll definitely be back, and maybe when he does, it''ll be in Hogwarts Castle, holding a sorting ceremony for the new students." Finally, he made a point of saying it in a joking tone, making the atmosphere a little lighter again. Neville looked decisively at Jon. "There''s nothing we can do about defeating Voldemort, but you don''t have to worry about anything else, Professor Lupin and the others will lead us through everything." "Don''t say that Neville, I''m counting on all of you to defeat Voldemort." Neville and the rest just thought that Jon was making some joke, but once they saw the serious expression on Jon''s face, they all went wide-eyed. "You''re not joking?" "Can each of you give me a gift?" Jon said seriously. "Something that possesses the characteristics of your magic and can be given to me as a gift." Neville, Ron, and Justin looked at each other, and they could tell that Jon wasn''t saying this as a joke. So, after hesitating for just a moment, they each went back to their rooms, and then each of them walked out with an item. The three items wereid out in front of Jon, a ss orb, a broken wand, and a book that was blinking. Neville handed over the ss orb. "This is a Remembrall that my grandmother once gave me, I''ve been using it to store some memories that are very much worth remembering in the future... I don''t think it would help you much, but you would like it." Ron handed over the broken wand. "It was handed to me by Professor Dumbledore himself when I first entered the wagon. I''ve never forgotten that its previous owner was Mundungus Fletcher, a hero I once despised but whotermitted suicide with this wand after being caught. It was damaged in the war a month ago to this state, and Mr Gregorovitch told me there is no point in it being repaired, but I kept it anyway, and I hope you don''t dislike its current state." Justin pushed over the blinking book. "A gift from the professors on the first Christmas at the wagon. The Book of Eyes with Eyes. When I was in the library and had always wanted to try and open this strange book, but never had the courage to do so. It was Professor McGonagall who hand-delivered the book to me on Christmas Day and encouraged me to open it. It is not much different, it just records the image that the eye on the cover sees, but for me, it was actually the first thing that officially made me embrace magic." ---- #shycow, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 537: Gift from the Order of the Phoenix Chapter 537: Gift from the Order of the Phoenix Jon collected the things they sent. Whether it was a Remembrall, a Broken Wand, or a Magic Book it was actually amon enough magical item. But that was all Jon needed. "Thanks guys, I''ll put these things to good use." Jon made a promise, and after chatting with Neville and the others for some more time, he walked out of the dormitory where the three of them were and came into the main office of this quarter. Most of the others had already rested, but that ce was still brightly lit. Under the bright lights, Lupin, Kingsley, Moody, and Sirius were frowning tightly around a map, analysing the currentyout of the Witching Horizon. "The north can''t be left unguarded, there''s no way for any of us to guarantee that Britain won''t let someonee around to our backs through the North Sea. The coastline may be long, but we must divide up our manpower there as well." "Where are the men to be divided out of? The battle line in Germany is already stretched out long enough, our men have been killed and wounded here, and the most we can do in the north is to get the help of those local magical governments in that area to look after the situation, we can''t divide our men out!" "The attitude of those magical governments has probably turned into a two-way struggle now, they don''t dare to fall on their feet because of Durmstrang''s headmaster, but they won''t deliver help to us in the critical situation either, counting on them to help us hold the coastline, you might as well pin your hopes on the slugs to kill Voldemort!" The sound of their heated discussion stopped when Jon walked into the office. The current Order of the Phoenix could be described as a leaderless group, with McGonagall running the usual affairs for the time being, but in reality, Jon was already vaguely on the cusp of recing Dumbledore, not only amongst Neville and the rest of the new generation but also amongst Kingsley and the others here as well. After all, there was no one else within the entire Order of the Phoenix like Jon, who had performed all sorts of normally unimaginable feats as a student, had killed Voldemort, and had now inherited Dumbledore''s Elder Wand. "Regarding the North Sea coastline perhaps I can help to figure out a solution." Jon spoke up once he entered, however, Lupin shook his head. "These are jobs that belong to us, Jon. You''ve taken on enough of a burden, if we even need you to help with these things then we''re a little too ipetent." Kingsley nodded as well. It wasn''t that they doubted Jon''s ability, but they really felt that for a kid like Jon who shouldn''t have even graduated from a wizarding school in a normal period of time, he was already carrying too much on his shoulders. If they, the adults, still couldn''t even handle this, it would be too burdensome. Only Moody frowned, he obviously didn''t care about the facade of being ipetent as an adult, what he really cared about was whether the real problem could be solved or not. Just before he could say something, Jon had answered Lupin and Kingsley''s words first. "I''m just saying that I might be able to help. It''s not even a sure thing yet, and I''m not as all-powerful as you think I am Professor Lupin, and I came to see you guys because I wanted to ask you to do me a little favour as well." His words caused everyone in the room to look at each other for a moment, and then Lupin asked. "What do you need us to do?" Jon asked the same thing from them as he had from Neville and the others. "Can you gift me something? It doesn''t have to be that meaningful, but it should preferably be an alchemical item with magical powers that you guys use closely and often." Although they didn''t really know exactly what Jon wanted to do, Lupin and the rest of them certainly didn''t refuse. Soon, they all prepared something. What Lupin gave Jon was a worn-out suitcase. "When I graduated from Hogwarts, and I was wandering around because I couldn''t find a job due to my werewolf identity, this suitcase was the only thing around me that still had some value left, it was enchanted with a stable Undetectable Extension Charm, and even in the toughest times, I never thought of selling it, even though it''s been a long time since I''ve used it properly, but it should be in line with the conditions that you said you wanted." Kingsley pulled out a gold earring, that was obviously the same one that he usually always wore on his ear. "A gift left to me by my grandmother, a magical earring that can keep one''s mind clear at all times. It''s just that its practical effects are rather limited, but since it''s thest thing given to me by my grandmother, who has always taught me to maintain justice and integrity since I was a child, I treasure it. Without my grandmother and without this earring, I guess there wouldn''t be a Kingsley Shacklebolt standing in front of you." Moody handed over a worn fake eye. "This eye was destroyed on the battlefield five days ago by a bastard''s sting curse, along with one of my arms. Iniesta helped rece it with a new one for me afterwards, along with a new hand. Damn! No matter how well he describes the new eye I''m still in love with this one!" Sirius, on the other hand, pulled an old picture out of his pocket. "Other than my wand, I rarely carry any alchemical items with magical powers on me, and if I did, it would only be this one." It was a magical photograph of two handsome young men standing together in a group photo, one of them was obviously Sirius in his youth, while the other one was wearing sses and looked eight or nine percent simr to Harry, andbining such a resemnce with Sirius''s interpersonal skills, it was easy to guess that the man in the photo was Harry''s biological father, Lily''s husband, James Potter. When this photo was taken out by Sirius, there was no need for him to say anything more, anyone who was in the Order of the Phoenix knew exactly what this old photo represented to him. And now only a single sentence from Jon had made him pull it out so willingly, and what it represented. Jon took a deep breath, and although he had already said before asking that it didn''t have to be much of a significance, he didn''t open his mouth to refuse them in the end but took them all solemnly. "Thank you all, I will make good use of these things you have given me." "What can these be used for? I don''t think throwing my eyeballs out is going to kill anyone." Moody muttered, but the others didn''t ask many questions, and they all adopted the same habit that they had when facing Dumbledore to Jon. That was that whenever Jon went and did something like that, no matter how strange, it would naturally be justified by him in the future, and there was no need for others such as themselves to know anything about it. "About the North Sea coastline, I can go by tomorrow and see if I can find someone to help, and I''ll write then, whether it works or not." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 538: The Ghost in the Storm Chapter 538: The Ghost in the Storm Early the next morning Jon left the North European continent without informing anyone. He arrived at the Norwegian seashore, used Transfiguration to create a sailboat, and then used magic power to drive the sailboat, sailing towards the endless ocean. He seemed incredibly familiar with the destination he was heading to and didn''t have to worry about ocean currents or wind direction at all, so he headed southwest, gradually arriving at a piece of uninhabited sea. The sky gradually darkened, as if a storm wasing soon. After Jon found the spot in his memory, he took a deep breath and then leapt down to the sea that started to ripple. Compared to the turbulence on the surface of the sea, it was much calmer under the sea. After Jon entered the sea, the Bubble-Head Charm naturally wrapped around his head, while at the same time, he could clearly feel quite a number of hidden gazes around him looking at him. He didn''t go to greet the owners of those gazes at the first opportunity, but instead, he vertically faced downwards and kept diving towards the depths of the seabed. Soon, he saw manyrge and small pieces of rubble and metal. These had once belonged to a tall tower and the rocket hidden beneath it. Jon looked at these things and rummaged through the debris, and soon came to a telescope that shimmered with a pale reddish shimmer. He recognised at once that this telescope had once been one of the ones that the old Sir had ced at the very top of the tower, on the observatory. By now the telescope had long been in pieces like everything else, but Jon was still careful enough to pick up one of the lenses at the very core, which still had some of the most basic magical power left in it. Right after Jon had just put that piece of lens into his storage, he saw a silhouette that was originally hidden in the shadows, and at some point, it had cautiously arrived in front of him. It was a female mermaid, and Jon had seen her before. Justin had tuned her up once at the fishing tournament held when the Hogwarts had sailed to this part of the ocean. It was just that Jon didn''t seem to think this as a reunion of old friends, and he nced around to see if any other merpeople were surrounding him. Because, although the root cause of Sir Stoker''s death was actually his own suicide, in the eyes of these merpeople, it was bound to have something to do with those of them who went up to the tower, and they should have had hostile emotions when they saw Jon. However, after the mermaid who came in front of Jon opened her mouth, there was not much resentment perceived from her. "You are. The captain of that ship back then?" The mermaid spoke in not-so-fluent English and circled around Jon in surprise as if surprised by the fact that after two years, not only did he show no signs of growing up, but he had instead be even smaller. Jon, for his part, looked at her without moving and nodded. Before he could open his mouth to test the waters, however, the mermaid added a tone of unbridled joy after seeing his acknowledgement. "Well that''s great, Sir has been sitting there alone and none of us can persuade him, do you want to go and see him?" Jon''s eyes widened. "Sir? Sir Stoker?" "What other Sir could there be?" "He''s alive!" The mermaid shook her head with a dark expression. "He''s dead." Despite the contradiction in her words, Jon grasped what this state of being both alive and dead represented. Even so, it still thrilled and lifted his mood. "Can you take me to him?" The mermaid nodded, and after signalling for Jon to follow her, she swam off in one direction with him. It was only after returning to the surface that he realised that under a cloudy sky, amidst the raging sea, there was a raised reef hidden in the waves. And sitting on that reef was a figure that was illusory and transparent, yet very familiar to Jon. "Sir Stoker!" There was excitement in Jon''s voice as he overpowered the waves and the wind and shouted. The ghost that had been looking distantly at the sky heard his voice and turned his head, gazing up into Jon''s eyes. The emotions in Sir Stoker''s eyes shifted as he looked at Jon, from confusion to puzzlement, like he didn''t recognise who this was at first nce, and only after Jon hade to him and spoke again did he show a dazed expression. " I am! Jon Green! The one who was a guest in the tower back then under the identity of Durmstrang''s Transfiguration Professor!" "Jon. Jon Green!" A gentle smile appeared on his face, one that was the pr opposite to the raging waves and roaring sea winds that surrounded them, as if the environment they were situated in was far less hostile, and rather as if they were in a quiet, cosy parlour with ck tea and small refreshments around them, taking the opportunity to spend an idle afternoon chatting away. "I really didn''t expect to see you again, and, in this form." He said softly, obviously not very loud, but clearly audible in the midst of all the noise. "Are you still wandering? Or maybe." Jon didn''t lie. "We''re still in a wandering situation, having been forced into Northern Europe by Voldemort, but before that we had counter-attacked back to Britain and killed him many times, only to realise that he wasn''t that easy to kill once we learned more secrets about him. My trip out here was to prepare the means to kill him." With that said Jon looked at Sir seriously. "Is it because of your obsession with this starry sky, that you turned into a ghost and still stayed in the world?" Sir Stoker tilted his head and looked towards the sky that had beenpletely shrouded in dark clouds, with countless electric rays travelling through it as if they were silver snakes. He gently opened his arms, and gusty winds wrapped the rain and poured it down! The dense rain passed through his illusory body and could only p on top of the dark reef. "I am not satisfied." "But bing a ghost gives you a better chance of realising your vision, Sir!" Hearing Jon''s words, Sir Stoker turned his gaze back to him, Jon seemed unaffected by the water and storm, even his hair and robes were not half-damp. "How can this help me? There is no way for a ghost to have any contact with the physical objects of this world anymore." "If you believe me, wait here for me for a few more days, Sir." Jon said as he pulled the piece of the astronomical telescope lens out of his robes, "And this piece, can I have it?" Sir Stoker nodded hesitantly. "It is only a fragment now; why do you possibly need it for?" "Use it to defeat Voldemort." Jon didn''t look like he was making a promise, more like he was stating a fact. He had re-boarded the small sailboat that was drifting in the storm only a few moments ago, and before he left, he made onest request to Sir Stoker. "If you could, could you ask the merpeople in these waters for help in scouting the coastline of the Norwegian North Sea on my behalf?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 539: Preparation Chapter 539: Preparation As the boat drifted across the ocean, Jon did not return back to Northern Europe after meeting Sir Stoker. Instead, he came to Britain without the knowledge of almost everyone. He changed his appearance and travelled quietly to a number of ces. The orphanage where he had crossed over and lived for a year. Those who had been his age with him had long since departed from that ce in previous years, and the orphanage''s dean had been reced by an older man he didn''t recognise. Jon didn''t have much attachment to that ce, but after all, it was still the ce where the original Jon had lived for ten years. He then made his way to Diagon Alley, which was still the same as when he had been there before, with the purebloods high above the rest, and the muggle-borns only numbly kneeling on the ground as ves who had no qualifications as human beings. Soon enough, he left Diagon Alley and came back to the graveyard where an unknown number of wizards who had died defying Voldemort were buried. He saw the skeleton that had fallen to his knees at Harry and James'' graves, as well as the fake tombstones that had once been made to cover Slughorn''s infiltration, and the names on those tombstones that were either unfamiliar or familiar. After that, he went to the field of flowers where the banquet for the freshman orientation ceremony was held on the seashore, where he freed the students from the castle, and where the wagon had stopped that year when he had first entered the Hogwarts wagon. It was only at the end of the day that Jon made his way back to that area between the mountains, on the shores of the ck Lake. Hogwarts Castle was of course closely guarded, and although it had long since been emptied of people by now, Voldemort obviously continued to take it very seriously, with a dozen or so Aurors patrolling the area every day. But for Jon, avoiding these Auror patrols was of course a simple matter. He arrived inside the castle and first went to the basement where he had once lived for more than half a year, and then wandered around the castle like a ghost. This was the first time he had been back to Hogwarts Castle since the Triwizard Tournament, and Jon could clearly feel that the castle was giving him a very different response nowpared to every time he had been here before. He could clearly feel that the castle itself has a thinking of its own. In the headmaster''s office, which was already empty, Jon stroked the cold, rough and hard stone walls and said softly. "You would love to go back to the way things used to be, wouldn''t you?" It was still quiet all around, but Jon could feel the castle giving its answer. It wasining, it was grieving, it was saddened by the fact that a ce built up for children''s happiness had be what it is today. "Don''t worry, it won''t be long, soon it will be back to the way it was." He soothed softly, making a promise that felt less like a promise and more like a statement of fact. "Can you leave me something? Something with emotionally intense magic." The castle''s consciousness seemed to think for a moment, and soon it was making urges and guidance for Jon toe into the chamber that had originally been the Slytherin''s chamber. Jon remembered this ce, Hermione had been there during the Triwizard Tournament and had found the Peeves Ghost who had been sealed off. But now there was nothing left here, other than a dirty clown hat dropped on the floor. The texture of the hat seemed to be somewhere between solid and illusory, clearly, Jon could reach out and touch it, but it had a feeling of being extremely unreal. And after taking the hat in his hands, Jon''s eyes filled with certainty. "Enough, this is what I need most." The whole castle leapt with joy, and its joy included the satisfaction of being able to help Jon, as well as the anticipation of the not-too-distant future that he had promised. After a day''s stay in Britain, Jon left the British Isles. He was back in the Northern European Witching Horizon quarters, by now the situation had be even more tense, although Voldemort had not yet made an appearance, the confrontation between the two sides of the ordinary wizards had already entered a feverish stage, and the battle lines in Germany were pushing forward at all times, and no one knew where the mes of the war would spread to the next day. So by the time Jon returned to Northern Europe, most of the forces in the Witching Horizon had been mobilised to the front, and in the rear, there was barely much left except for a few essential locations. When he returned and tried to find the professors in the school, only McGonagall was still there waiting for him. "I heard from Kingsley and the others what you wanted." Before Jon could exin why he was here, McGonagall had delivered something to him. "We guessed that you woulde to us as well, but Filius and Lily and the others are no longer in a position to wait for you here, and the German side is in dire need of manpower, so I''m going to have to leave right away as well after I give these to you in their ce." Jon took the items from her, which consisted of a silver ring, obviously, the one that Flitwick had been wearing on his hand, an old Beginner''s Guide to Transfiguration, which was obviously a special item belonging to McGonagall herself, which was also being handed over to Jon at the moment, and thatst item was a small magical toy broomstick that belonged to Lily. This was something that the Harry of this world had left behind when he was a baby, and it had always been her most precious memento. It was as if McGonagall felt a taste of parting, and as if her heart was aching for Jon for taking on the expectations of so many people at such a young age. With red eyes, she hugged Jon. "If it really reaches that point, be sure to protect yourself!" Jon didn''t reply, he just hugged McGonagall as well, while patting her back. "Be safe on the battlefield, Professor, the future Hogwarts will be counting on you to preside over the Sorting." McGonagall let go of Jon as she wiped the corners of her eyes and said with a smile. "That day wille soon enough." After handing over her things to Jon, McGonagall didn''t continue to stay here. There were still a lot of things that she needed to do at the front line, and being able to wait here for Jon toe back was already time that she had managed to squeeze out. Jon stayed alone in the room, sorting out all the "gifts" he had received in the past two days, and putting them in a safe ce. Then he stayed alone for a while, and after thinking for a while, he pushed open the door. He asked a lot of people and finally found Hermione in a temporary rescue centre near the front line. She was here to act as a temporary healer until the battle reached its most critical point, when, she would be travelling to the front line as abatant. Hermione had a busy schedule, and Jon didn''t bother her, after arriving at the rescue centre, he made himself avable as a volunteer to take part in the work there as well. It wasn''t until break time, when Hermione was sitting tiredly in her chair, that she saw Jon who had handed her a ss of water. "I thought you wouldn''t visit me." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 540: The biggest gain Chapter 540: The biggest gain "How is it possible." Jon was sipping the water himself, except that his voice was noticeably lower when he answeredter, making it sound and feel a little weak in tone. "I just didn''t want to nt a red g behind before the Battle." Hermione didn''t press the issue too much as she sat with her legs together on the stone steps, hugging her knees with the ss of water Jon handed her in her hands as she looked out at the dark night sky. "Neville and the others have all gone to the front line, and the war situation has deteriorated to the toughest point." "This situation won''tst much longer. When Voldemort show up, it will end." "What if we lose again?" Jon didn''t look so heavy in the face of this question, he said in a mock light-hearted tone. "If we lose, we''ll just go further north. Big deal, we''ll retreat to the North Pole for now, they won''t be able to reach us again if we''re separated by an ocean." Hermione turned her head to look at him, her expression was calm, but there was something else in her gaze. "You know what I''m asking, if we lose, there''s only one way we can lose." Jon wasn''t really stupid, of course, he knew what the true meaning of the question was. The only thing that mattered in terms of winning or losing was a showdown between him and Voldemort, and the only way they could lose was if Jon lost. This kind of loss is not a simple defeat, after all, Jon can still live if he dies. If ites to that situation, it is bound to be Jon himself is certainly in a difficult predicament where he can not be saved. The phoenix''s nirvana is not truly invincible, Voldemort, after understanding his immortal characteristics, will not fail to think of ways of targeting it, just as they have been looking for a breaking point for Voldemort''s Horcruxes. So Jon''s situation is actually far from being as safe as it seems, the worst thing that can happen to anyone else in this war is just a death, whereas once Jon is captured by Voldemort, it''s most likely a situation that is worse than death. Hermione had obviously seen through that. Jon didn''t y dumb this time, he put down the ss of water and rubbed hard to mess up Hermione''s long, smooth and neat chestnut hair that had been groomed ever since she arrived at the Hogwarts wagon. "There are some things that are actually pointless to consider all the consequences, a win is a win, a loss is a loss, instead of thinking about how the consequences will be, you should think more about how to deal with them." "Then why are you thinking of the consequences of what would happen to us!" Hermione had never pushed her head out of Jon''s grasp so hard before, venting the anger inside that she couldn''t suppress no matter what! "I know what you and that Mr Headmaster of Durmstrang have prepared! He''s not going to step up again in this war, but is going to go ahead and n out a fallback in the event of your defeat to preserve all that''s left!" "You put it in such a grandiose way! Saying something about not thinking about the consequences! And yet you''ve thought of everyone''s fallback! And what about the fallback you''ve left for yourself! You''ve never changed a bit since that one time on Azkaban!" Jon was clearly taken by surprise by such a sudden outburst from her. He opened his mouth to say something, yet Hermione suddenly hugged him in the next second! The fine strands of hair tickled Jon''s ears and made him hear the girl''s sobs. Jon didn''t say anything more, he knew that Hermione wasn''t asking him to give an answer to anything because the question itself was unanswerable. At this point in time, what kind of fallback could Jon prepare for himself? He couldn''t prepare anything, he could only make a choice like Dumbledore, if he seeded, he would be victorious, if he failed, the people behind him wouldn''t all be buried with him. It wasn''t that Hermione didn''t know this, her anger didn''t stem from Jon, but at herself. She was hating her own ipetence, she had thought that she could have been able to help Jon with some things at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, but at the end of the day, all the other people were still counting on Jon alone. Jon also hugged Hermione, he did not open his mouth tofort or anything, when two people can feel each other''s body temperature and hear that zing heartbeat, words are actually redundant. Hermione buried her head into Jon''s arms, it was like she didn''t want Jon to see her shedding tears. It wasn''t until she had dried all of her tears on Jon''s robes that she looked back up and sniffled. "I''m sorry." Jon rubbed her face. "Well, since you apologised sincerely, I''ll begrudgingly ept it, but what kind of person apologises only by saying sorry," He was obviously speaking in a mock flirtatious tone, but still, Hermione hated to hear it. "I don''t have anymon alchemical item on me." Jon''s tone was serious. "You''re special, you don''t have to give me any alchemical items, it doesn''t matter what, as long as it''s something you give me, whatever it is." His words were a little ambiguous, and Hermione was still ying it cool, but the uncontroble blush that spread across her face had already betrayed her true emotions. "So what do you want?" Jon didn''t make the first sound, but his arms around Hermione became noticeably a little tighter. The night sky was still shrouded in the thickest of clouds, but at some point, between the eyes of the two, as they spoke, the stars were on disy. Suddenly, Jon felt that the moon was really beautiful that night. The moonlight was as soft as a thread of silk, and as Jon lowered his head, Hermione was looking at him. Those eyes were bright, reflecting the whole night sky, and also reflecting Jon''s eyes. He could see Hermione''s eyshes fluttering slightly, and Jon''s heart unconsciously quickened along with that trembling, he had thought he would be calm, but no matter what kind of person, they would never show such a trait as calmness when it came to something like this. He slowly lowered his head, Hermione didn''t close her eyes, and the two of them just kept looking at each other until Jon felt the warm breath of the young girl was noticeably much more rapid than normal. The moon was darkening again, and two puffy clouds met at some point to block out the moonlight and Jon''s biggest gain of the trip. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 541: Battle Situation Chapter 541: Battle Situation Jon and Grindelwald looked at each other. The candle me in the room was dancing, reflecting their shadows on the wall like mayflies in the water. "A good harvest?" Jon held out a finger, and without any more forewarning, a cluster of blue mes lit up from his fingertip! Then the me became more and more vigorous, which was also mixed with some sharp invisible des. Finally, he flexed his finger and flicked, the me and the des all disappeared into thin air as if the previous scenes were just a mirage in the water. When Grindelwald saw this, he revealed a surprise that he had never shown on his face before. "If you can reach this level, it is considered a victory!" Jon, however, shook his head,pared to the others, he was actually more self-aware of his situation. "I can only call it a half sess, All that magic does allow me to have full control and use it now, but the emotionalyer stillcks a certain something." "Isn''t that something you''ve already thought of a way to deal with before, utilising the emotions that the original owner of the magic itself has to use it?" "Theoretically such a method is feasible, but in practice, it has never allowed me to truly seed, and I can only reach this current level." Grindelwald, however, did not look discouraged. "It''s enough to reach this level, there''s not much we can do to prepare until we''repletely sure of what we''re going to do and then begin it." Jon agreed with that, knowing that things had progressed more smoothly than they could have ever imagined and that they would have to let fate decide what the final oue would be after they had put their best foot forward. "Is there anything else that needs to be prepared?" Grindelwald asked, looking at Jon. Jon mused. "All the preparations we need to make have already been done, the next thing depends on who can''t hold back first. The current battle is crucial, if it''s us who ends up with the absolute advantage, then the one who can''t wait will be Voldemort, and if we''re at a disadvantage at the end of the day, then we''ll be passive in our choices." Just as Jon spoke, the firece in the room suddenly pulsed with a green me, and after a burst of light distortion, a human face revealed itself in the middle of the firece. "Mr Headmaster, the Dark Lord. He has appeared!" Jon and Grindelwald rose out of their chairs with a jolt, they nced at each other and both couldinstantly guess what had happened on the battlefield! *** "Hurry up and get Holger out of here! He can''t hold out much longer!" Lupin shouted, dragging a bearded male wizard beside him who had slipped into unconsciousness and was half covered in blood, and handing him over to the Witching Horizon wizard who was in charge of moving the wounded! Sirius gasped for breath and stood next to him, and in front of them, there was a wide open space, and above the open space, countless antennae-like things were wandering and floating, those were the [No-Fly Antennas] invented by the Weasley twins, and these gadgets yed an unexpected role in the battlefield,ying a great foundation for the advantageous situation that Witching Horizon was upying now. And beside them, there were hundreds of wizards gathered! Almost about half of the elite forces of the entire Witching Horizon were positioned here,manded by Lupin and assisted by Sirius. Large-scale wars where crowds gathered would rarely happen between wizards in general, and basically, they were small-scale battles in groups of three or five. However, the reality was that the more small-scale battles were fought in encounters, the more grievous the casualties on both sides in terms of personnel were, so grievous that both sides found it uneptable. Wizards may not be a scarce resource, but it is not easy to train a wizard who can excel in battle. In the early skirmishes, both sides had experienced extremely serious depletion in personnel, so at this stage nowadays, no matter if it was Voldemort''s British-French United Ministry of Magic side or the Witching Horizon side, they all tacitly integrated the originally dispersed wizard squads together. They don''t intend to just purely carry out small-scale special operations, that way, even if one side eventually won, it would be a disastrous victory of killing a thousand enemies and losing eight hundred of their own, and the two sides, no matter who it is, they can''t ept such a situation. Therefore, the current scene which was simr to a duel had appeared. This open space in front of Lupin and the others was the battleground for the duel, and at this time, that piece ofnd had already been sttered with blood, so obviously, this was not a battle that had just begun. And of course, this battlefield with Lupin and his group was not the only one out there, Kingsley and Moody were still leading a portion of their people in another area, which was likewise just as tragic as this ce. "How long have they been at a standstill?" Sirius asked Lupin as he finally calmed his breathing, wiping away the little blood that remained on his face. "Forty-seven minutes, and it''s been almost an hour since theirst wave of attacks." "I really can''t understand why you gave that mission to Tonks, aren''t you guy-" "We''ve known each other for so long, do you think I would favour her in a matter like this just because she''s my lover?" Lupin''s voice was calm. "By now, whether it''s me, you or Kingsley, we can already see very clearly that none of us will still be left alive if we lose this war, so by this time, is the so-called caring still necessary?" Sirius let out a long breath. "It doesn''t matter, you''ll always have to think about it more than I do anyway." And just between their conversations, amotion suddenly came from the opposite slope over the clearing, and in the next second, all the Witching Horizon wizards guarding the area, no matter whether it was Lupin or Sirius, became alert! They ended this hard-won rest, and the muscles in their hands, which had been rxed, gripped their wands even harder at this point. And by this time, they could already see that in the opposite direction, countless incantations had already lit up and shot towards the [No-Fly Antenna] that was floating in the sky. This was the fixed offensive strategy of the British and French United Ministry of Magic, who had an almost obsessive possessive desire for air control, and before every battle, they would spend a great deal of energy to clean up these inventions of the Weasley twins. But this time, both Lupin and Sirius could clearly feel that these Pureblood Union forces were moving much more aggressively than before! "Close to fifteen minutes earlier! Why would they suddenly change their tactics, what are they trying to do in such a hurry?" Lupin murmured and asked, but in fact, while asking, he already had an answer within him. "Kingsley''s side has made a big gain! Tonks has led a victorious mission!" Sirius shouted out excitedly! "These people we''re facing in front of us, they can''t wait! They''re afraid of being surrounded by Kingsleybined with us!" Soon, several owls arrived and confirmed it, and it was true that there was a major breakthrough on Kingsley''s side of the battlefield! Lupin and Sirius understood what they needed to do at this moment even without using their brains. As long as they could hold on to this ce! When Kingsleypletely dealt with the situation over there, then they couldpletely end the confrontation between the two sides! However, just as they made their decision. An extremely disturbing ck fog, without knowing when enveloped the entire sky! ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 542: The Ministry of Magic Internal Affairs Chapter 542: The Ministry of Magic Internal Affairs "Trash!" Voldemort didn''t know how many times he had cursed these arseholes under hismand with such a slur. But the truth had always been such a disappointment, it seemed as if these purebloods would never be able to get even one thing done, and no matter what kind of task was handed to them, he would still end up needing to step in and clean up the mess. Good thing, this was thest time. Voldemort looked at Lupin and Sirius on the ground who had organised the retreat of everyone without any hesitation after he had appeared, and he knew clearly that this war had begun to enter its final phase. All the previous fights had been preparing for this top-end battle, and in the present, it was obvious that the side of the British and French United Ministry of Magic hadpletely lost its advantage. He now stepped forward, seemingly reversing such a disadvantage in an instant, but in fact, on the battlefield that would affect the final oue, he had already be the passive side. However, in fact, Voldemort did not care about this. In front of absolute strength, the so-called passive or not was not a problem at all, the reason why he had been waiting for the results of the war of these people below was just to give his theory a solid foundation. After all, if the British and French United Ministry of Magic gained a great victory, it would be the same as providing the most favourable evidence for the pureblood superiority theory. But obviously, this ending did not satisfy Voldemort. But as things came to this point, he was not going to care so much, these days, the time left for Grindelwald and Jon was already enough. Today this Voldemort is confident, and even a little conceited, but not yet to the extent that there is no one else in sightpletely, although the way Jon killed him that time is through a variety of means of trickery, but the win is still a win, and if he is given enough time to grow, no one can tell to what extent Jon will growter on. The time he had predetermined was just these few days, even if the battle of these people below hadn''t reached its final conclusion, Voldemort didn''t intend to wait, he just didn''t think that the people under hismand could even hold on for a few days longer after this. Voldemort didn''t bother about those on the ground, rushing towards a position of Witching Horizon with all his might to help the British and French United Ministry of Magic, instead, he stayed aloof with his gaze in the sky, wondering who woulde out to face him this time? Still, the same loser who had been repeating the same mistakes? Or did they think they had prepared enough? Just as Voldemort was pondering, a golden-red light suddenly shed in the direction his gaze was looking! *** Ennd, Ministry of Magic. After Fudge''s position as Minister of Magic had been abolished, Barty Crouch Jr. had be the new Minister. Of course, unlike the previous position of Fudge, as Voldemort''s absolute mouthpiece, Barty Jr.''s Minister status certainly wouldn''t be without real power. Coupled with the fact that Voldemort usually wouldn''t even bother with those big and small matters, Barty Jr. almost became the Minister with the most power since the establishment of the Ministry of Magic. But even so, he has never shown anycency, as if he has no other desire in his life except to serve Voldemort, all day long he works diligently, and does not show even a hint of favouritism to anyone. This made a lot of people dissatisfied with him. Although the privileges that purebloods are supposed to have are been just as many under Barty Jr., there is of course a conflict of interests between purebloods, and Barty Jr. obviously wanted to be a solitary minister, treating everyone equally and only having absolute loyalty to Voldemort, which led to him bing more and more estranged from the rest of the purebloods after he became a Minister. "Those people at the front line are such losers, in the end, they actually had to make the lord himself intervene." Lucius was close to Barty Jr. these days perhaps due to work-rted reasons. After Voldemort regained power, he resumed his position as the Head of the Auror''s Office, and not long after Barty Jr. formally took over as the Minister of Magic, he became the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as well. In today''s war, he was mainly in charge of logistic-rted work, so naturally, he came into contact with Barty Jr. a little more. "If you people had taken fewer kickbacks, maybe this defeat wouldn''t havee." Barty Jr.''s voice was cold, but Lucius was not surprised, he knew that he wasn''t the only one who received kickbacks, and he wasn''t the only one that Barty Jr. had scolded, so since everyone was scolded, it was the same as no one being scolded at all. "Everyone is also just trying to make a living. Besides, is there any possibility of us losing?" Lucius casually picked up the teacup in front of him and took a light sip. Barty, however, was not in the mood to chat with him here at all, in this special period of time, there are a lot of things that need to be taken care of by him as a Minister, and there are still documents on his desk that need to be approved, these are allplicated trivial matters that do not need to be reported to Voldemort, and he can make the decision on his own, but it''s precisely these trivial matters that are the toughest to deal with. "Just tell me what''s going on, I''m pressed for time!" Lucius shrugged as if he were helpless. "The war is pretty much over now, the casualty report will soone out, and the post-war pension should be prepared in advance. The logistics department side said that this kind of thing needs you to talk to them in person, and it''s not possible for me, the Head of the Department, to step in." "Troublesome." Barty Jr. put down those documents in his hands, turned his head to face the firece and threw some Floo powder into it, after connecting to the office of the head of the Logistics Department, he settled the situation of the post-war pensions. After getting such a nuisance out of the way, he looked at Lucius with renewed impatience. "Any more questions?" Lucius smiled and rose from his chair. "If I have to say there is anything else, I guess I want to remind you, Crouch, it''s time to have a rest, even if you are loyal to our lord, you need to have good health, it''s not a good thing for you to stay awake for this many days in a row like this." Barty Jr. just said without lifting his head. "If that''s all the nonsense you have, go and do what you need to do." Lucius turned around and left the minister''s office. After he left, Barty Jr. rubbed the sides of his head, not really needing Lucius to tell him that he did need to rest and rx. But while all the other purebloods could be douchebags, he couldn''t, Voldemort had high expectations of him, and it was only natural that he would have to put in the effort and response to match such expectations as well. Barty leaned back in his chair and picked up the tea on the table, thinking that he might be able to have a nap, after all, right now, the most important thing that they should be doing was waiting for the news of Voldemort''s triumphant return. However, Barty Jr. didn''t realise that the position of the cup of tea he had picked up seemed to have shifted a little in positionpared to before. ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 543: Duel! Chapter 543: Duel! Jon wasn''t actually sure if he was ready or not. Perhaps he could have perfected his magic a little more, perhaps he could have continued to go a little deeper regarding the arrangements in the Ministry of Magic, and then perhaps he could have thought of something else to bring out. But Jon also knew that Voldemort wouldn''t leave him that much time. As Grindelwald had said, nothing in this world could be held back until it was perfectly prepared. And Jon knew full well that now was the time for him to face this problem. "I expected you to continue to hide and let that loser old man step out again." Voldemort''s voice was calm, and his tone did not hide the surprise he felt after seeing Jon alone. Jon took a deep breath, he still held the Elder wand in his hand, except that nowadays it was not just limited to the role of a spell-casting tool. "There''s nothing to be surprised about this, didn''t you always expect to see this situation in front of you as it is today, with me standing right here in front of you." Voldemort smiled, it was a casual smile, yet one could feel the gloom in it! "So what have you been doing all these days? What happened to the things you stole from me?" Jon, however, didn''t answer this question of his, there were some things he didn''t want to say more than he had to because he knew very well that Voldemort himself wasn''t actually sure what Jon had actually done with that time-turner. The more he said now, the more wrong it might get. Rather than waste more time talking, he should just get it over with! Jon waved his wand, and without reciting a spell, a golden-red me rose in the sky, illuminating the sky that had been shrouded by the ck mist behind Voldemort! The moment Jon appeared to engage in a confrontation with Voldemort, Lupin and the others had already held off on retreating their personnel. Although they knew that they could not help much at all in such a battle, they were also unwilling to just leave Jon alone and let him face Voldemort and those Death Eaters. In the sky, Jon had already taken the initiative tounch an attack, and on the ground, the Death Eaters and Witching Horizon were also shing with each other. They were all watching the situation in the sky, and everyone knew clearly that this war, which had been started in the seventies, was going to be decided on the final oue today! Those golden-red Nirvana mes that belonged to the Phoenix alone had a killing power that was not inferior to that of the Fiendfyre, as it directly acted on the soul, and it was much easier for Jon to control it in his hands. But Voldemort as if he didn''t care about this little means in his eyes, just gently shook the ck robe on his body, and that burst of ck mist rewrapped the whole sky, and even attached to these mes along with it, all of them were suppressed! Originally, it was these mes that had dealt a blow to Voldemort''s soul when he tried to invade Jon''s body in Hogwarts Castle, but in the present day, it was as if it did not affect him at all, and he was at leisure to grasp the situation. "The same trick won''t work the second time around." Voldemort opened his arms, the hem of his ck robe rattling in the wind beneath him! That rich ck colour set him off like the lord of this world! "Jon Green, don''t think I can''t guess! The only people who can go against me are those who are like me! There is no difference between us! And your soul is not native to this world at all! Am I right?" Jon didn''t show much shock at the fact that he had guessed and uttered where he came from with no scruples like that. Just like Voldemort said, Jon was investigating his origins, and if by now, Voldemort couldn''t guess some of Jon''s hidden secrets, then he wouldn''t be as aplished as he is today. "Don''tpare me to you." Jon just said in a cold voice, with countless invisible sharp des surrounding his body. "Although I have never felt that I am a good person, it would be too insulting to put me together with you." "Buzz!" The instant Jon''s words fell, countless sharp des cut through the air! The entire sky shrouded in darkness seemed to emit a miserable wail! Then the ck mist was sliced through with a huge cutting mark, and almost the instant the mark appeared, Voldemort stretched out his left hand, which was not holding his wand. Without much extra movement, he simply snapped his fingers, and the ck mist that had been chopped and copsed regrouped, while a sound like the sh of metal rang out. "Severus''s small trick, even if it has been improved a bit by you, a small trick is still just a small trick after all." From the beginning to the end, he had a light-hearted look, like he didn''t give a damn about all of Jon''s tactics. He really didn''t need to be concerned, afterpleting theplete fusion of the two souls, no one in this world would be his opponent. Only after Dumbledore killed him once with the power of the Death, Jon took advantage of the weakness and difort of his resurrection to kill him once by trickery. Now, of course, such a chance will nevere again, and Voldemort is unlikely to give such a chance to them again. Hearing Voldemort sneer like that, Jon also acted tly, like he didn''t care at all that none of his attacks had worked. "I''ve actually been trying to understand something." This was the first time that Jon had taken the initiative toe to Voldemort with a question. ck mist loomed around Voldemort, setting him off in an increasingly mysterious and shadowy manner. "Tell me." "You fused two souls to have a stronger ''will'' to cast spells, right?" Voldemortughed softly. "A wizard''s spell casting is either in magic or in the soul, otherwise what do you think I was doing it for?" "But the soul does not represent the totality of the ''will''." Jon looked at Voldemort, at the dark wizard who towered over him like a god. "How does it help magic if it''s just a strong soul, but emotionallycking?" Hearing Jon''s words, a look of disgust suddenly appeared on Voldemort''s face. "You''re not going to talk to me about love like Dumbledore, are you?" Jon shook his head. "The Professor was actually saying that the emotion of love is the most powerful in spell casting, and that''s actually true, but in the end, just like people, there''s essentially no up or down or high or low for any emotion. But no matter what kind of spell, there always has to be an emotion in it, right? What kind of emotions are you mixing in when you cast your spells?" "Is it only the desire for power?" Hearing Jon''sstment, Voldemort narrowed his smile. "You think it''s unnatural to cast spells with desire? Then tell me, what kind of emotions are not desires? Isn''t love or hate a desire itself?" ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 544: The weak and the strong Chapter 544: The weak and the strong "How does it matter if the so-called emotions that drive magic are positive or negative, as long as the power that can be achieved is sufficient?" Voldemort''s voice became high. He seemed to have a set of creed entirely his own, never being bothered by Dumbledore''s words of love. Especially after the fusion of the two souls. Now, hearing Jon''s question, he actually wanted to instil his own reasoning into Jon. "You''repletely brainwashed by that Dumbledore''s rhetoric, Jon Green! Love? I''ve never denied that it exists, but would a human being go out of their way to truly love a dog? Especially if that dog never pleases you, wags its tail at you and begs for food, or even thinks it was born to be your equal?" "You''re saying no wizard who isn''t pureblood can be called a human?" "You should know exactly who I''m referring to here by the [dog] substitution." Voldemort stared condescendingly into Jon''s eyes, "Between wizards, there may not be that big of a gap, but everyone knows that muggles and wizards are two species altogether, and the difference between the two is much worse than even the difference between a human and a dog! So how do humans deal with such a gap?" He answered his own question. "Domestication, domesticate these creatures into loyal pets, let the nature of subordination be engraved in their bones, the master is the master, the pet is the pet, as a wizard you have to be above the rest, and as the strongest amongst the wizards you have to be the king of all!" He looked at Jon with contempt with those cold-to-core eyes. "So can you see why I suppressed those mudbloods?" Jon met those eyes without fear. "In your eyes, it''s a bunch of dogs that are deluded enough to be human and have actually achieved it." "Hahahahahaha!" Voldemortughed maniacally like he was incredibly excited by this reply from Jon! "What is a human doing? Taking ferocious beasts and killing them before putting them in captivity, and domesticating docile animals before eating them. Look at them, do they even mention equality, fraternity, and fairness when faced with creatures of a different species than their own? This world is supposed to be about the weak and the strong! It is the supreme rule for those who are capable, to rise to the top, for those who are mediocre to fall to the bottom, and for those who are inferior to be eliminated! The so-called fairness is just a kind of whitewash used by those on top to hide their own specialness!" "But there will always be those who will naively take these false lies as truth, like Albus Dumbledore, how did his sister go mad? Doesn''t he know himself? Doesn''t he suffer? Yet he''s still willing to protect the muggles and mudbloods for this lie. Is that selflessness or stupidity?" Voldemort rose high into the air with a single step, as his words rang out. "The history of mankind has seen thousands of years of nobles andmoners, and is there no difference between them? They are capable of creating such a great hierarchy, then what about the wizards who control magic, which has its own strengths and weaknesses?" "Up and down, superiority and inferiority, that''s the way it should be, I''m just tearing down those hypocritical mortifications, and most of you who oppose me are really only doing so because you''re on the weaker side of the spectrum. Like we talked about earlier in Hogwarts Castle, Jon, if the pureblood supremacy theory was turned around and turned into muggle-born supremacy, how many of your like-minded mates would have gone from being the current victim to a new abuser?" Jon finished listening to his speech and by this time, Voldemort had floated to the highest point of the ck mist. He looked down from his high position, and the Death Eaters on the ground, who were getting more and more tense and were fighting to the death, erupted into violent cheers after listening to his speech. Perhaps some of Voldemort''s words had ripped some of the pureblood blinders off, but the fact that he had been able to rationalise in such a way why all the vested interests in the United Kingdom today were entitled to them was enough to make those Death Eaters present cheer. Whether Jon believed Voldemort''s words or not, those of them were really listening! Jon looked at Voldemort and knew that it wasn''t that he had an ulterior motive for saying those words, but that they were all what he believed from the bottom of his heart. The purebloods were cheering, and Voldemort was looking up at him, wanting to see exactly how Jon would counter his words. Jon, on the other hand, wasn''t half inclined to engage in any kind of argument with him or to explore what kind of society the world should actually aim to be. These people were all immersed in their own world nowadays, thinking that indulgence was the most sensible thing to do, and that restraint was hypocrisy, so even if Jon could talk his head off, it wouldn''t sway them one bit, and it would just be a waste of time. He just slowly raised his hand, the wand that was handed over to him by Dumbledore as his inheritance, with its rootsing from the [God of Death], horizontally in front of himself. It didn''t even look like a normal spell-casting motion, as the tip of the wand wasn''t aimed at anyone at all, and such a gesture wouldn''t allow for a normal waving of the wand. But after seeing this, a strange feeling surged through Voldemort''s mind as he looked at Jon, who was holding his wand across his body like he felt like he was preparing the ancient relic of inheritance to be devoured! "The most difficult thing in this world is actually convincing someone whose philosophy ispletely alien to your own." Jon''s voice rang out, his voice was soft as if he was simply saying something, but the actual words spoken were an irond deration of war! "But there are actually some words that I share with you, that the only way to solve problems at the bottom of the barrel in this world is really only an instinctual path such as the weak and the strong. Those truths you can feel free to say at any time, to any person, but right now, what I want to say is, Tom Riddle, are you ready?" As his words fell, the ancient Elder Wand suddenly went dry! It was as if all the magic power it contained had been sucked out by something in an instant, and the Elder wood, which hosted the most powerful wand core in this world, turned into a fragile and powerless withered tree branch! And a light grey me had risen from Jon''s body, a dead power, mixed with an aura that made Voldemort feel iparably disgusted, yet iparably familiar! Jon earnestly put away the withered branch that hadpletely lost its status as the Deathly Hallows, he looked towards Voldemort and extended his right hand. "I''ve always thought that Professor Dumbledore''s way of disciplining his students was just too gentle sometimes." ---- Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 545: Don’t force me! Chapter 545: Don¡¯t force me! Lucius was nervous. He carefully pushed open the door to the Minister''s office room and saw Barty Jr. who was already full of fatigue now lying on the high-backed chair, asleep. Obviously, he had put a little something in Barty''s cup of tea. After re-entering the Minister''s office, Lucius'' heart was apprehensive, but he didn''t have the slightest bit of regret for what he had already done. The final showdown on the frontline had already begun, and although most people in the British magicalmunity believed that their lord was bound to win the final victory. A few people knew that in that battle of the Ministry of Magic that had only recently passed, their omnipotent lord had been killed twice consecutively in a single day! And Lucius was one of those who knew. He didn''t understand Horcruxes, he didn''t understand why Voldemort couldn''t be killed, and he didn''t understand why Jon actually had the strength to fight Voldemort after Dumbledore''s death. The only thing he understands is that the direction of this war has be even more confusing. Since Voldemort could be killed once or twice, he could be killed many more times, and how long would he be able to maintain this undead trait? On the side of the Ministry of Magic in Britain, Lucius was already in a high position, but what if Witching Horizon did end up winning? After getting a certain personal promise from Jon via Draco, Lucius was willing toe and take a slight risk for once, as long as it wasn''t something that directly confronted Voldemort, then, even if he was found out, there was still room for redemption. Lucius stared at Barty, who appeared to have fallen asleep and called out his name twice to make sure he was really asleep. Only after seeing that Barty''s breathing was even, and he didn''t have the slightest intention of waking up did Lucius pull out a small vial of potion from his pocket. That was the Truth Potion that he had prepared beforehand. Then he slowly walked over to Barty''s side, opened the lid of the potion, and his other hand was about to go and press on Barty''s mouth as he did so! The originally seemingly sleeping Barty Jr. suddenly grabbed Lucius''s hand! The strength was so great that it was like an iron pincer, and it scared Lucius so much that he almost dropped the potion in his hand on the ground! "What do you want to know from me?" Barty Jr.''s expression was grim as he tightly grabbed Lucius'' arm with one hand, and with the other hand, he somehow pulled out his wand at some point, already aiming it at Lucius'' forehead! Lucius was shocked to the extreme in his heart, he didn''t understand how he was discovered. At this moment, from Barty Jr.''s reaction, it was obvious that he had sensed his abnormality and had directly tricked him into catching him on the spot! "I-I." Lucius opened his mouth, trying to organise his words, but in fact, his hand, which was originally holding the vial of Truth Potion, had long been hidden behind his back, quietly groping for the wand that was pinned to his pocket. Before his fingers could touch the end of the wand, however, the wand in Barty Jr.''s hand swung. Lucius'' original hopes of getting his hands on the wand were instantly dashed, and he was directly deprived of all means of resistance by this silent disarming charm! The face of Lucius turnedpletely white as he met the cold eyes of Barty Jr. and attempted to wrench his bound hand free from his grasp. "I just wanted to know about the division of the benefits after the war, and while it wasn''t the right thing to do, I didn''t mean to harm you! Let go, Barty, please, don''t force me!" "I am forcing you?" Not only did Barty Jr. not let go of Lucius''s arm, but he directly snatched the vial of Truth Potion! He looked at Lucius with the utmost grimness. "The ready-made thing is here, so let me find out what you really want to do by using it!" "Don''t force me!" "Drink it!" The vial of truth potion had been shoved hard into Lucius'' mouth! "I said don''t you force me!" Lucius was struggling, but the liquid in that vial was simply being poured down his throat without his control! With bloodshot eyes, he stared fiercely at Barty Jr. in the end, as if he hadpletely made up his mind about something, he violently pinched the ring on his ring finger with the tip of the thumb of the hand that had been grabbed by Barty Jr! In the next moment, the iparably powerful medicinal effect of the Truth Potion hit his consciousness, causing him topletely fall into a kind of drowsy state! But the ring that had been pinched and crushed, in a silent way, had already fulfilled the role it was supposed to have. The original Anti-Apparition Charm, which had been set up to the strictest extent within the British Ministry of Magic, had been quietly torn open at this very second. "Say, what do you want to know from me!" Barty Jr., however, didn''t even notice what kind of abnormality appeared around him, he stared at Lucius closely, and a terrible premonition rose from his mind, he could feel that Lucius'' purpose was definitely not simple! "Looking for... looking for something..." "Looking for what! Who told you to look for it!" "I told him to look for it." An abrupt voice interjected into this question and answer. The moment he heard this voice, the sweaty hairs on Barty Jr''s entire body red up, but at this time, his body couldn''t move at all! And this person who had appeared inside the Minister''s office at an unknown time had already walked in his line of sight. Grindelwald! Barty Jr. remembered the face clearly! This loser who his lord had never looked up and despised! He wasn''t sure what Lucius had done to allow Grindelwald toe to the heart of Voldemort''s base camp, but what he did know was that while his lord might be able to underestimate this old man, anyone other than him would have to look up to him! Grindelwald, however, didn''t give him any more time to think at all as he kicked Lucius, who was still in a state of unconsciousness, to the side. When Jon had gone through the n with him at the beginning, he had already counted on the possibility of him failing and had given him the option of being able to jump over the wall to the other side during the dogfight. The only reason Grindelwald was able to show up was obviously because Lucius'' own n had failed, and he had triggered the means that would save him, but once he used that, it meant that there would be no turning back at all. However, in fact, from the moment he promised to pick up something for Jon, there was no turning back, he just didn''t know that himself. Grindelwald''s tactics were iparably crisp and clean, he didn''t even look at the vial of Truth Potion that still had some of the liquid left in it, but instead, he directly pressed the upper half of Barty Jr.''s body down onto the desk. Then, with one hand on Barty''s head and the other controlling the wand, he extracted the memories from his mind! "Heh, true to Jon''s guess, he made a defence in your head too, just to be on the safe side." ---- #Zath and #Ptrc sc, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 546: Both Sides Chapter 546: Both Sides There was no problem with the idea of using the body as a wand. Inherently, before wands were actually invented, there were a variety of means of casting spells that wizards had used, it''s just that wands became the best tool for casting spells. The core of magic in this world was essentially actually the act of wishing for something. Wishing through the emotions in the soul, and then attaining the wish at the cost of magic power. Essentially performing an act of exchange. The strength of magic lies in whether the emotion is strong enough to rify what you need, and the second is that the magic is strong enough to allow for a greater exchange. The role of the wand is to assist the wizard in dering his needs and channelling his magic. Jon was now in a state where he no longer needed this act of assistance, and his soul was strong enough that the only thing heckedpared to Voldemort was strength in magic. But the special magic-absorbing properties of the General Counter-Spell gave him another chance to make up for this disadvantage. Originally, this spell was still limited by Jon''s own magic power, but after this experiment waspletely sessful, this was not a problem at all, the only thing that needed to be fulfilled was that the magic power he absorbed could not just be monotonous, emotionless magic power, but had to be mixed with a part of the "expectation" on the magic power. That''s why Jon was asking for gifts from other people all over the ce the other day. But this also led to a problem, because of theplexity of too many emotions, it also affected Jon''s own spell casting, which was also a problem that he himself had never thought of a way to solve. However, even with this little bit of influence in ce, it gave Jon enough capital to fight Voldemort head-on right now! "Relying on external objects?" Voldemort had certainly discovered that a part of the power Jon was using right now was not his own at all. "This kind of power that I wouldn''t even bother to look at, only ignorant fools like you would treat it as a supreme treasure!" He swung the wand in his hand violently, and the bright green beam of light pierced through the air in an instant! ck mist lingered over the killing curse, making it even more mysterious and haunting. After Jon ate the magic power from the Elder Wand, his entire body was in a state of being wrapped in grey magic power, what was adhered to it was not only the magic power of the Death itself, but also the residual magic power of the owners who had used the wand over the generations, it was extremely powerful, and even if Jon''s own body had been strengthened by the Nirvana me by an unknown number of times, it was extremely difficult to withstand it! He had to find a way to vent out that surplus magic power as soon as possible, so at the same time when Voldemort''s killing curse wasing towards him, Jon himself was like a meteor in the sky, rushing straight towards the centre of the darkness! The grey stream of mes left dazzling patches in the pitch ckness! Jon, who had given up his wand, naturally didn''t need to go back to casting spells with incantations, and he stared intently at Voldemort in the ck mist, brushing past the killing curse that was originally being aimed at him, and at this moment there was only one thought in his mind! He wanted the man in front of him dead! An overflowing emotion was urged by the powerful soul, which in turn mobilised the grey magic that was already overflowing in the form of a dreaded colossus! There are many ways to make a human die, and what the magic responded to Jon at the moment was everything he had at his disposal that was deadly enough to cause death! The invisible de chimed! A loud explosion enveloped the entire ck mist! The green aura of death lit up half the sky! And the moment Jon rushed towards Voldemort, the battlefield below could no longer maintain the stand-off filled with the smell of gunpowder, and Sirius roared and growled, raising his wand and sounding the horn of the charge! Lupin held up the banner with the Witching Horizon logo on it, and the wizards could no longer suppress their inner agitation, their robes were fluttering, and the light of magic was like flowing water weaving a great web on the ground! Voldemort truly felt threatened this time! Before this, he had always felt humiliated by the fact that he had been killed by Jon because he knew very well that Jon''s strength at that time was not enough to be his opponent at all, even if he had just been killed by Dumbledore once at that time, and his power had not been fully restored after his resurrection. To be able to be killed by Jon at the very end of the fight was purely because of the over-arrogance that he had developed after he had managed to eat his other self. And now, when he felt that he wouldn''t give Jon any more chances, he realised that even with the magic power of the others, Jon had actually really stood tall enough to be on par with him! Voldemort unleashed all powers. He was a genius in his own right, both in terms of magic and ''will'', he has always been far beyond normal wizards, and afterpleting the fusion of the two worlds'' selves and retrieving all of his Horcruxes, even Dumbledore could no longer act as a hindrance to him. Now, the only person who could still qualify as his enemy was at hand, and by killing Jon, Voldemort knew that no one in the world would stand in his way. With the Invisible Sword Curse eroded by the ck mist, and the sting Curse blocked by the Shield Charm, the Killing Curse couldn''t detect the figure that was hidden in the darkness. After Jon got close, countless pale arms reached out from those ck mists, they grabbed Jon''s body and kept pulling him towards the deepest depths as if they wanted to drag him into the deepest abyss! "What do you think is the most mesmerising thing in this world?" Voldemort''s voice echoed through the ck mist. "It''s power! It''s the power tomand anyone, any creature with desire, even the most terrifying monsters will do your bidding, the power to control everything!" Just as his voice fell, in the sky, a dense, cold and decaying aura swept over! Monsters that floated across the sky, with grey-tattered robes fluttering around, began to approach this battlefield! It was like they were pouring out! The moment they appeared, they attracted the attention of everyone on the battlefield! Looking at those monsters that relied on positive human emotions to feed on, whether it was Sirius or Lupin, their eyes tightened into tight dots! They thought of their previous experience on that prison ind! "Patronus Charms! All the ones you can use it! Cast it! Expecto Patronum!!!" *** "You seriously regard that man as your god?" Grindelwald let go of Barty Jr. who hadpletely lost his vital signs, and he sneered coldly before turning around and kicking in the door to the Minister''s office. As he walked out of the room, with every step he took, the features on his face, the colour of his hair, his clothing, and his stature changed with each stride, until he was transformed into another Barty Crouch Jr. by the time he reached the corner and encountered the Minister''s secretary, who was usually in charge of the chores. ---- #Zath and #Ptrc sc,Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 547: Give it a go Chapter 547: Give it a go A high-level protection spell such as the Patronus Charm might not be much of a difficult spell for the higher-ups in the Order of the Phoenix. But when the scope was broadened to the entire Witching Horizon, those who could use the Patronus Charm could be described as a rarity. After all, everyone in the Order of the Phoenix is a pir of the Witching Horizon, and even if those gathered here are the elite of the Witching Horizon, there are only a handful of people who can use the Patronus Charm to fight against the overwhelming number of Dementors. At this moment, not only the wizards of the Witching Horizon felt threatened, even the Death Eaters were in a panic. Dementors are not normal beings, the only thing that can drive them is the desire to eat, when they reallye down there, the possibility of the enemy being indistinguishable from them is greater, and among the Death Eaters, except for Snape who has already died, no one can cast the Patronus Charm. When ites to these Dementors, they are much more vulnerable than Witching Horizon wizards, and can only hope that they have enough self-control to restrain their desires. However, it was obvious that the vast majority of the Dementors had an extremely clear goal in mind, they were just charging towards where Jon was, with the main purpose of helping Voldemort to put further pressure on him. "Jon Green, I''ve heard a long time ago that you can summon twopletely different Patronus, and I''m curious to know if that''s true or not." That magic power from the Elder Wand, as it dispersed and overflowed from Jon''s body, also affected the ck mist that surrounded him, disintegrating the arms that were constantly reaching out, trying to pull him in. The ck mist turned into flying ash, constantly fading away, while under Voldemort''s urging, it constantly re-surrounded Jon again. And in the face of Voldemort''s question, Jon simply replied calmly. "False." He looked towards the group of Dementors that were getting closer and closer to him, and the corner of his mouth could not help but reveal a cold smile. "What a bunch of stupid things that can''t remember what they''ve been through." Then, for the first time in this battle, he cast a spell that required an incantation! "Expecto Patronum!" In the next moment, countless silver fments began to continuously converge around him with him at the centre, and then all of those emotions that were filled with positivity and happiness began to consciously shape themselves as if they hade to life! The first to appear was a majestic silver-coloured lion, followed by a small badger jumping from the sky towards the ground. Watching this scene, Voldemort narrowed his eyes, but those silver fments of light obviously still had about half of their amount still gathering, and in the next second, a silver eagle gliding in mid-air with its wings outspread was reflected into his eyes. But the spell''s effects were clearly not over, and at the sight of thest animal that appeared, Voldemort''s pupils shrunk slightly. It was a graceful, shadowy, silver serpent coiled in mid-air! The lion, the badger, the eagle and the serpent, the creatures that represented the four Hogwarts houses! Jon met Voldemort''s gaze as the four Patronus surrounded him, wisps of silver light as if they were fine rain hovered around them, as he spoke softly. "They became four after the Triwizard Tournament." At the same time as his words fell, those four Patronus rushed towards the hordes of Dementors like beasts out of their cages! Jon''s Patronus had always been somewhat special, not only in terms of numbers but also in terms of their lethality against the Dementors, which was far superior to the norm. Even below the battlefield, before Lupin and Sirius could use the Patronus Spell together, those Dementors had already been crushed by the four Patronus in one touch as if they were tigers running into a flock of sheep. After solving the problem of the Dementors, Jon didn''t have the slightest intention of wasting time! He rammed straight toward Voldemort, wanting to close the distance between him and Voldemort again, Jon knew exactly what his advantage was. It was true that Voldemort was strong, but he was still part of the traditional spell-casting faction, and to bring out the power of a magic spell, he still needed the power of a wand and an incantation, which meant that he had to open up enough distance and set up a position to fight. While Jon had nowpletely abandoned traditional spell casting, his body was the wand, and his physical qualities were far superior to Voldemort himself, the closer the distance was bridged, the greater the advantage it would be to him. At the same time, Jon did not want to let this duel be a protracted battle, he was absorbing the magic and reached a level that can bepared with Voldemort''s, but simrly, he had a huge problem that had not been solved from the beginning, that is, the emotions attached to these magical powers were helping him to control the magic more easily, but it has also be more unstable. Because after the spell wasunched with the magic, the emotions didn''t disappear and remained in Jon. These mixed emotions were blended together, and when the magic power in Jon''s body weakened, it would reveal great instability. What would happen with this instability, Jon himself wasn''t sure, and it was precisely because he hadn''t researched this thoroughly that he had told Grindelwald before that he was only 30% sure of himself before the battle. So now, he had to fight quickly and kill all the uncertainty in the cradle, while choosing to trust Grindelwald one hundred percent. Looking at Jon who was rushing over again, Voldemort acted very calmly, he just raised his wand in his hand and waved it casually twice, and those ck mists which were like an extension of his power, under hismand set up heavy obstacles in Jon''s path as he rushed over. However, the moment Jon made contact with those ck mists, his entire figure disappeared into ce! And Voldemort, who saw this scene, did not hesitate at all, he held his wand backwards and aimed it behind himself, and a dazzling green light shot straight out! Even if the process of casting the spell was simplified even further, Jon''s Apparition wasn''t as fast as the Killing Curse, and he could only sidestep with his body''s instinctive reaction, dodging the spell while looking towards Voldemort, who had already distanced himself from him once again. "What are you hurrying for?" Voldemort stared at Jon with eyes that looked as if they had seen through everything, the corners of his mouth curving up in a light curve. "This power is out of your control, isn''t it? You have to end this fight while you still have control over them." Even though Voldemort had already guessed all this, the expression on Jon''s face remained unchanged. He remained calm as scenario after scenario continued to sh through his mind, eventually, he pulled a transparent cloak over his head with one hand and gripped the ring with the ck stone in the other. "You''ve died more than once, so you should be familiar with this feeling, right?" The grey magic had never been higher! And Jon had decided on this final push to let it all loose! ---- #Zath and #Ptrc sc, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 548: Gamble! Chapter 548: Gamble! Everyone within the British Ministry of Magic had no idea that the Barty Crouch Jr. they were seeing at this time was actually a different person. Grindelwald arrived at the Department of Mysteries, which had already been repaired after that battle, and which looked very deserted as the Unspeakables who had been killed had not yet been replenished in full. He didn''t stop there and went straight to the Time Room, and based on the memories in Barty Jr.''s mind, he quickly found the room from which Jon had once found the Time-Turner. It was still emptypared to before, but it had something else. There was a book, a quill, and a wand with obvious signs of use. Looking at these things that didn''t feel all that abnormal from the surface, a cold smile appeared at the corner of Grindelwald''s mouth. "I hate riddles." As the words fell, a ghostly blue mended in the middle of the room. The Fiendfyre began to devour everything here, while Grindelwald had already arrived outside the Department of Mysteries, at the same time using Barty Jr.''s body to transfer everyone on that floor. It wasn''t until the fire, which had already looked like an enormous devouring behemoth, had begun to spread into The Atrium of the Ministry of Magic that someone had noticed the situation and cried out in rm! But by this time, Grindelwald had long since disappeared from Britain. *** Jon didn''t know how Dumbledore used it to be powerful. But he felt a greyish aura from the three Deathly Hallows, what the Deathly Hallows exactly is, Jon didn''t understand, but what kind of properties this dead magic has, Jon was able to study it clearly. Dumbledore has borrowed the power of the Death, but Jon feels that there is no need to be so polite since the Three Deathly Hallows have been passed down for so long, it has always belonged to whoever gets it, and there is no such thing as borrowing it or not borrowing it. I''m using my stuff, how can I still call it borrowing? The grey magic is eroding the surrounding ck fog, those magic belonging to Voldemort all seemed to be killed, bit by bit they all turned into dust and drifted away with the wind. Voldemort also felt threatened, the feeling Jon gave him at the moment was like the feeling he got when Dumbledore used the Three Deathly Hallows to kill him, the magic that seemed to be able to prey on all life brought him an extremely uneasy premonition. "You will only follow his old path too!" He sneered coldly, then gripped the wand in his hand tightly, and green light flooded out, but instead of forming a straight line, it was like a dense that blocked all of Jon''s actions! In the face of such a killing curse, Jon still didn''t have the slightest intention of slowing down. Those grey magic power formed a solid barrier in front of him when he was about toe into contact with those green lights, and with the most brutal gesture, it broke through the cage! Voldemort tried to dodge away from that area, however, Jon''s steeply outstretched hand grabbed his arm tightly! "Buzz!" Invisible swords burst out from his body! That grey, destructive aura was intermingled in it, wanting to decay Voldemort along with it. But Voldemort had been guarding against this move of Jon all along before, he had been killed by Jonst time after getting close enough to find a chance to kill him, and this time, he certainly wouldn''t give him that chance again! In the next moment, Voldemort''s entire body copsed along with the ck mist, and the sharp des couldn''t hurt him at all! On the contrary, Jon was surrounded at this moment, no matter how those grey magic power was eroding, there was no way to stop the ck fog from spreading! Moreover, an even more disturbing agitation surged in Jon''s heart, he knew that this was the beginning of the effects of the emotions attached to the magic power he had absorbed. He pressed down that chaotic thought, his gaze fixed on the ck mist right in the centre of it, as he stretched out his hand! "Avada Kedavra!" A grey-green curse pierced through the darkness, but only prated the ck mist through a void, but did not capture Voldemort''s figure! "You''ve run out of steam, haven''t you!" That frenzied voice rang in Jon''s ears, and when he jerked his head around to look over, he realised that Voldemort had appeared beside him at some point! It wasn''t that he was afraid of getting close to Jon, but he found an opportunity when Jon thought that there was absolutely no way that he would be near him, and appeared steeply in front of him! Countless ck mist began to wrap up Jon''s body, Voldemort didn''t use this opportunity to kill Jon, he knew very well that it wouldn''t help at all, Jon had been preparing all this time, and he certainly hadn''t been idle. In terms of resurrection aside, the limitations of the Phoenix''s Nirvana were actually much greater than the Horcruxes, killing Jon didn''t solve the problem, but he could trap Jon forever. As long as Jon would no longer be a hindrance to him, then whether he died or not was not something Voldemort considered uneptable at all. Jon had certainly noticed this, he looked to be struggling and fighting hard. These ck mists were behaving very strangely, his general counter-spell could not absorb them at all, and there was no way to break his other magic, no matter how hard Jon tried to break free, it was not going to be easy! The most crucial thing was that the cacophony of voices in his mind was getting louder and louder, all sorts of mixed emotions filled his mind, making him unable to think or cast spells calmly at all, and the magical power he could use was getting weaker and weaker as if everything was going to return to its original form. As time went on, Jon''s body was bing more and more rigid, and it looked as if he was about to bepletely swallowed up by the ck mist, with only one arm and half of his eye still exposed! Voldemort finally burst outughing as he pressed down on the half of Jon''s forehead that was still out, wanting to exert force and push himpletely into that infinite abyss! However, just as his hand had touched Jon''s body, a blue me was starting to ignite his hand! Unbeknownst to him, at some point, Jon had lit a fiendfyreced with death on him! It was a me that could burn anything to a crisp and could not be extinguished at all, and it was thest magic he was counting on. He was betting that Voldemort had made new Horcruxes in the meantime, and Grindelwald''s goal of finding them and destroying them was already underway! He was even betting that Grindelwald had already aplished this at this point, and that Voldemort, unaware of this, had taken a chance and instead of paying the price to resolve the fiendfyre, he would instead use the Horcruxes willingly to resurrect himself once more! But the next moment, before Jon waspletely engulfed in the ck mist, he saw that the expression on the man''s face hadn''t changed at all, and he hadn''t even hesitated for a second. He waved his wand, and with a single spell, he cut off the limb that had already beentched on by the fiendfyre! Darkness eventually enveloped Jonpletely and extinguished all his illusions. ---- #Zath and #Ptrc sc, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! Chapter 549: The Rein That Was Handed Out (2 in 1) (End) Chapter 549: The Rein That Was Handed Out (2 in 1) (End) "Hey, if you sleep any longer you''re going to miss it." The familiar voice ringing in his ears made Jon open his eyes. He was currently sitting on the wagon, it was exactly Hagrid''s driving seat, and in the small cupboard in front, Jon even found the half-eaten and half-unfinished rock crust cake he had eaten. The wagon was galloping along, and those eight Thestrals were spreading their wings that looked like batwings, galloping with the help of the wind. All around him were boundless white roses, the whole world seemed to be upied by these flowers. No matter how fast or how far the wagon ran, these were the only sights he could see. A pale hand brought him a ss of lemonade soda, bubbles rising from the clear liquid, and a brightly coloured lemon slice pinned on the rim of the ss. "Couldn''t be a better time to have a ss of this. Let me find out what Hagrid usually hides in here. Hmm, rock crust cake you probably won''t like, then. Ooh, how about a creamy cupcake." Dumbledore ced a portion of cupcakes in front of Jon, his hands holding the reins as he looked out at the endless white before him, with a cosy, soothing smile all over his face. Jon rubbed his forehead, where Voldemort had just pressed down hard, and turned his head to Dumbledore, whom he had never seen so rxed before, and eventually chose to pick up the ss of lemonade first. "Are we meeting in the world of the dead here? Professor." "If you are using a power from the Three Deathly Hallows, then we do indeed meet here." Dumbledore shook the reins to slow the Thestrals down a bit, then picked up the lemonade soda he had in front of him as well. He leaned backfortably in Hagrid''s wide seat and looked over at Jon. "I''ve always stressed love to Riddle, but when ites to you, you''re a little too much of it, Jon." "Too much?" Jon scooped a small spoonful of the cupcake''s whipped cream into his mouth, the satisfying sweetness making him squint involuntarily. "Yes, love is giving, it''s selfless, it''s about being willing to give, but we can''t spend every ounce of our heart on someone else can we?" Dumbledore smiled. "Riddle''s desires are such that everything he does is solely for his own benefit alone. You''re the opposite of him, a lot of the time you do things for the sake of others." Jon turned his head to him quizzically. "Is that bad?" "Any kind of thing once taken to an extreme will never turn out too well, and there are times when you should think for yourself." Dumbledore murmured, his gaze had strayed from Jon to the patch of sky in front of him. Jon followed his line of sight along with him, and the blue sky, which clearly had no sun but was still bright blue, somehow filled with shining meteors at some point in time! The meteors covered half of the sky, they waved their long tails and crossed through an unknown number of metres in the sky, and eventually faded back into the edge of the white roses. "These are the souls of the dead." Dumbledore said softly, "Those who have no more attachment to the world of the living will use this ce as a starting point for a new journey." Jon looked around in surprise. "We are now." "We?" Dumbledore burst outughing, "We haven''t even reached the starting point yet!" He regained his grip on the reins. "So, have you got something to think of for yourself? You''ve done enough. What about leaving the world of the living for them to sort out their problems on their own, and how about we look at something else here?" Dumbledore extended an invitation to Jon. That meteor shower seemed to be boundless, it really was like a heavy rain constantly streaking across the sky. Jon looked at that sky in a daze, as if he was thinking very seriously about Dumbledore''s words. Indeed, since he came to this world, it seems that he has always been on the move, in the wagon, in Hogwarts castle, on the ship, at the North Pole, in Durmstrang, in the Triwizard Tournament. It seemed as if he had made the decisions for himself in every single case, but every single one of them had not been purely for his own sake. But in the end, Jon shook his head. "I''m sorry, Professor, I still feel like I didn''t finish something." Dumbledore didn''t look like he was going to continue his persuasion either, he just got up from his seat, waved the reins in his hand, and suddenly threw them towards the location of the meteor shower in the sky! The reins looked as if they were of infinite length, constantly lengthening towards the sky. Jon followed the sight of the reins and looked over, but realised that it was impossible to see where it would eventuallynd. "There''s no need to be sorry, students will always have ideas of their own, and as a professor, of course, I won''t try to obstruct their own wishes, as long as they don''t endanger anyone else, I''ll tell them to just do what they want." Dumbledore turned his head and smiled as he handed Jon the rein. "As you choose to love others, Jon, then you must also trust that those you love will love you back. All the strength they give you contains their expectations, doesn''t it? Don''t go rejecting those expectations, they are not your burden, and they will never want to be your burden." Jon looked into Dumbledore''s eyes as the old geezer, who was over a hundred years old, squeezed his eyes towards him, and he grumbled dully, clearly having heard what Dumbledore meant, yet still grumbling. "Your riddles are always so infuriating, Professor." "There are times when life always needs those sorts of witty spices." Jon took the reins, and he could distinctly feel a force at the other end of the rope trying to pull him out of the wagon. He couldn''t resist the force and staggered and stumbled two steps towards the edge of the wagon in his stride. Jon did his best to steady himself, though he still hadn''t let go of the reins in his hands that were pulling with increasing force, and he looked into Dumbledore''s sapphire blue eyes that seemed to be forever clear and bright. "Will you walk on by yourself? Professor." Dumbledore waved his hand at him and simply smiled. Jon was no longer able to contend against that force, and the other end of the rein carried him and flew away from the wagon and into the vast sky to the swarm of meteors that were falling like a torrential downpour! The speeding Hogwarts wagon grew smaller and smaller in his eyes, soon bing a ck dot, and eventually, he was no longer able to find its shadow amongst the white roses across thend! Jon passed through the shower of starlight, and across the azure sky, and it was as if the whole world was shrinking under his eyes, and he eventually plunged into aplete silence of darkness. Then the tumultuous thoughts came flooding back to him again, and the incessant whispering sounded like it was trying to drive him mad! Jon didn''t try to tear those ck mists that were getting more and more sticky as if they were about topletely solidify and seal up, he stilled his mind and tried to listen to what those whispering voices were saying with unparalleled attentiveness. "." "-So sad ." "-Really sad." "-Dad said Mum woulde backter, but I know she''s gone for good. She died at the end to protect the students of Hogwarts." "-Why wasn''t I the one who died?" "-Pomona. You shouldn''t have let me go." "You were the best Hufflepuff Head." "-I''m sorry. I''m sorry, Dedalo. I didn''t get you out of that prison alive ." "-Ah...The perfect starry sky is so mesmerizing." Listening to that one all-too-familiar voice, listening to the ents full of sadness and softness, Jon couldn''t feel the noise half as loud anymore. These were their most unforgettable pasts and their most anticipated visions of the future. These emotions would not affect Jon, because what they expected was what Jon expected. Finally, the voice lingered on that kiss in the moonlight. "Jon, Please be safe." The fusion of two Voldemort''s wills had created a scenario where he stood at the very pinnacle of wizardry. At this point, Jon, who was being pined hope of by a myriad of wills, no longer knew what kind of condition he found himself in nowadays. After he stopped rejecting, let go of his own thoughts, and took the initiative to ept and understand thoseplicated emotions, he realised that everything was actually here. All the people he loved, loved him too. His own strong emotion and desire to win mobilising his magic, and the ck fog that originally bound himpletely, quietly melted away as if it was snow and ice under the sunlight. Voldemort, who had cut off his right arm and thought he had won the battle, suddenly turned his head in shock to look at Jon, who had reappeared from the ck mist. "Tom Riddle, you owe a lot of people, a lot of valuable things, and it''s time for you to pay your debt." Jon stood beneath the clouds as he looked at Voldemort and extended one of his hands. Countless spells surfaced in his mind. The current him, seemed like if he wanted to, then no matter which one he used he could make the most fundamental changes to the world, and the Voldemort in front of him was even as small as a small boat in a tsunami amid that unrivalled will. Soon, as if a decision was made, an incantation was recited from Jon''s lips. "Expelliarmus." This incantation was like an ironw of truth. The moment it was uttered from Jon''s mouth, everything on Voldemort''s body that could cause harm to the outside world, magic power, wands, ck mist, even the long untrimmed, sharp and pointy nails on his hands all disappeared! Voldemort became apletely defenceless man, he fell from mid-air, and the Death Eaters, who had been on the ground cheering for their lord''s victory and constantly keeping the Witching Horizon squad in close proximity, looked at the scene in disbelief. Jon followed him to the ground, without the support of magic, Voldemort seemed to have broken more than half of his bones! But he still clenched his teeth and stared at Jon, who had reappeared in front of him, without a single screaming out of his mouth. "A moment''s trickery cannot represent ultimate victory, Jon Green! Nothing is over yet!" Jon approached him slowly. "Are you counting on your newly made Horcruxes?" After hearing Jon''s words, Voldemort''s pupils constricted sharply. "Mr Grindelwald has gone to sort it out, he''ll deal with it cleanly, while the Horcruxes in the other world, have all been disposed of. You no longer have any means of resurrection, Tom Riddle." Voldemort could no longer maintain the viciousness that he showed, he stared at Jon dead in the face, his features had twisted up, but soon, he suddenlyughed again. "Do you think killing me will solve all this? I don''t know where you got your powers from, but could you solve all the hatred in the wizarding world by relying on that? Settle the rtionship between wizards and muggles. Voldemort is just a name and title; when the next Voldemort appears, will you be the next Dumbledore?" Heughed out loud as if he had told some extremely funny joke. Jon, however, was still looking at him with a calm expression on his face. "I just need to solve this one problem of yours." He bent down and tapped Voldemort''s forehead with his finger. In the next second, the expression on the face of this Dark Lord who terrified the entire magical world was fixed, he stopped breathing, his heart stopped beating, and there was no longer the slightest possibility of resurrection. The entire battlefield went quiet as if everyone did not expect this kind of end to unfold in front of their eyes. Only after the majority of the Death Eaters who had already understood the situation, fell to their knees and threw down their wands, and all the Death Eaters who resisted were eliminated, did the wizards of Witching Horizon erupt into a deafening cry! *** Six monthster. Inside the Hogwarts castle, which had been redecorated, Jon sat in the seat at the very centre of the faculty long table in the Great Hall, wearing the tuxedo that Hermione had specially picked out for him, and he helplessly repeated for the third time to McGonagall. "I really think you''re the better Headmaster Professor. No one ever said that whoever has the greatest amount of credit should be Headmaster of Hogwarts." McGonagall, however, replied seriously. "But it''s not us who chose you, it''s this castle, and if I be Headmaster, I wouldn''t even be able to get into the Headmaster''s office." While what she said was indeed the truth, Jon still propped his chin up and looked at the students in the great hall who were happily sitting in their seats already. These were both new students who had just been enrolled this year, as well as those who hadn''t yet finished their studies during the course of exile. Now they were finally able to return to the real Hogwarts castle and were able to start a normal campus life. Today, was the first dinner to celebrate the return to Hogwarts, and Jon was naturally thrust into the position of Headmaster. Although he thought he would be fine just being a professor of some sort of Defence Against the Dark Arts ss, everyone else had said that being Headmaster and being a professor didn''t conflict and that he would be perfectly capable of doing both. Hermione was sitting next to him. Now that it was time for the European magical world to be in a state of rejuvenation, the faculty and staff werecking, so she had stayed on as well, filling in as Astronomy professor for the time being, and then considering whether or not to stay on at the school afterwards. "My mum and dad asked me to check whether you''re still going to be over there this weekend?" She asked, whispering in Jon''s ear. Jon shrugged. "Where else would I go? You''re not going to make me settle with going to the Leaky Cauldron pub or staying in Hogwarts for a weekend, right?" "Didn''t Mr Grindelwald ask you to make a trip to Durmstrang?" "I''ve been there yesterday, he''s still preparing for his n right now, but it was agreed that there would be norge-scale experiments until we were sure that it waspletely feasible." Hermione grabbed Jon''s hand and the two interlocked their five fingers under the table. "Professor Dumbledore has no intention of waking up yet." Jon, however, didn''t look much saddened by this, he just brushed it off. "He just hasn''t had enough fun yet. But he''s already so old, he can be as wilful as he wants to be." Beneath the faculty long table, before the feast began, one by one, the students who had never taken part in the sorting ceremony were making up for it by going through the ceremony they had missed, and Neville, Ron and the rest of them all put on the battered hat with gusto, identifying the Houses where they were meant to be. They looked at Jon, calling out to him toe down as well, so they could see exactly where the Headmaster of Hogwarts was supposed to be sorted. Jon, at their urging, just had to let go of Hermione''s hand for a moment and put on the sorting hat as everyone in the entire great hall watched. "Ha, it''s been a long time since I''vemunicated with so many young minds!" "You''ll get your share every year from now on." "Thank you for that! Well, let me see your qualities before we talk about the rest. Think about it. What was your most profound experience?" Most profound experience? Jon went through his mind, almost everything he had experienced since he had arrived in this wizarding world had been unforgettable. What could be more unforgettable than the experience of escaping in a wagon school of wizardry and eventually making it back to the castle? As if the Sorting Hat had also sensed what Jon was contemting at the moment, it cleared its throat and shouted out in front of everyone in the entire great hall. (End of the book) ---- #Purriah, Thanks for all your love and support. Completed novel. Read all advanced chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat. Happy Reading!!! The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!