Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 490 Harry, Run!

At Hermione's insistence and suggestion, Dumbledore's Army finally reached an agreement: nine members of Dumbledore's Army, including Harry (equivalent to one combat class), would go to the Ministry of Magic, while the remaining members of Dumbledore's Army would remain at Hogwarts to complete the tasks assigned by Tyrell.

Finally, after a heated argument, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, George, Fred, Ginny, Luna, and Cho Chang were chosen to go to London to rescue Sirius Black.

These nine people are currently the most theoretically knowledgeable members of Dumbledore's Army, such as Hermione and Luna.

They either have extensive practical experience, like George and Fred Weasley, or Harry.

Either they have neither of these, but they still rush headlong into it, like Ron and Neville.

Although everyone except Hermione, Neville, and Luna were on the Quidditch team, they still chose to travel to London on Thestrals.

Firstly, flying brooms are far slower than Thestrals; secondly, they need to conserve their energy before the real battle begins.

Once everyone was seated, the Thestrals slowly crouched down, then shot into the sky like arrows, their speed and angle so steep that the young wizards had to cling tightly to their bodies, using both hands and feet, to avoid slipping off their bony tails. They soared over the treetops and flew towards the fiery sunset—

Harry kept his eyes tightly shut; he never imagined he could fly so fast.

The Thestrals hurtled past the castle, their broad wings flapping powerfully. The cool air lashed at Harry's face. He squinted against the wind and turned to see his eight companions flying alongside him. To avoid the wake they created, they all ducked as low as possible behind the Thestrals' necks.

They flew over the grounds of Hogwarts, skimming over Hogsmeade, and Harry could see the mountains and valleys below.

Gradually, the daylight began to fade, and they flew over village after village. Harry saw lights scattered like stars, followed by a lone car speeding along the winding mountain road, passing hill after hill, on its way home.

"How bizarre!" Harry could barely hear Ron's shout coming from somewhere behind him, imagining what it would feel like to be speeding through the air so high up, without being able to see his own mount.

As dusk fell, the sky gradually took on a pale, hazy purple hue, scattered with tiny, shimmering stars.

Soon, only the lights of the Muggle town would let them know how high they were off the ground and how fast they were going.

Harry wrapped his arms tightly around the horse's neck, wanting it to fly faster.

How much time has passed since he saw Sirius lying on the floor of the Department of Mysteries?

How long can Sirius Black hold out against Voldemort?

Harry could only conclude that his godfather had neither obeyed Voldemort's orders nor been murdered, because he was certain that either outcome would make him feel Voldemort's joy or anger flowing through his body, making his scars burn as badly as they had on the night Mr. Weasley was attacked.

They were flying in complete darkness.

Harry felt his face stiff and cold, and his legs, which were tightly clamped between the Thestrals' sides, were numb, but he dared not change his position for fear of slipping off.

He could hear nothing but the rumbling air rushing past his ears, and his mouth was dried and frozen by the cold night wind.

He had no idea how far they had gone.

His hopes were entirely pinned on the Thestral beneath him, which continued to fly swiftly and resolutely through the dark night sky, its wings almost never flapping as it flew forward.

If they're too late, he's still alive, he's still fighting, I can feel it.

If Voldemort was certain that Sirius would not yield, I should have known.

Suddenly, Harry felt a jolt in his stomach.

The Thestral's head suddenly tilted towards the ground, and he slid forward a few inches along its neck.

They were finally about to land. He seemed to hear a scream behind him, so he turned around nervously, but didn't see the falling body. They were probably just as startled as he was when they changed direction.

The bright orange lights all around grew larger and rounder; they could see the rooftops of buildings, the headlights of traffic like the gleaming eyes of beetles, and the square windows emitting a dim yellow glow.

Suddenly, they seemed to be rushing towards the sidewalk. Harry clung to Thestrals with all his might, bracing himself for the impact of the sudden landing.

However, Thestral landed lightly on the dark ground, like a shadow.

Harry slid off its back and glanced around the street. The overflowing dump truck was still parked not far from the dilapidated phone booth, its original color obscured by the monotonous orange streetlights.

They all squeezed into the phone booth, and even though the inside of the booth was much larger than it appeared from the outside, it still felt a bit crowded with nine people inside.

“Dial 62442!” Harry shouted.

Luna, who was closest to the phone, picked it up and dialed a few numbers—

Just like when Harry came last time, nine badges were lined up from the coin slot.

After they put on their badges, the phone booth suddenly shook, and then their vision began to drop little by little.

"The Ministry of Magic hopes you have a pleasant evening." With a crisp voice, Harry and his companions officially arrived at the Ministry of Magic.

The phone booth door flung open, and Harry stumbled out, followed by Neville and Luna. The only sound in the main hall was the continuous rushing of water from the Golden Fountain, which spewed from the wands of wizards and witches, the arrows of centaurs, the tips of goblin hats, and the ears of house-elves, landing in the circular pool.

The entire Ministry of Magic was deserted and eerily silent.

“Let’s go!” Harry called out softly, then led the other eight people, following the images in their memories and dreams, to the Department of Mysteries.

Just like in the dream, they passed through a simple black door, then through a huge circular room, and finally—

We arrived at the room where the dusty, gray crystal ball had slowed down.

“You said it was row 97,” Ron whispered. “Yes…we’re close, everyone be careful!” Harry responded softly, glancing up at the silver numbers flashing under the support frame—

53
They took out their wands and tiptoed among the shelves.

They walked all the way to the 97th row, their eyes fixed on their surroundings.

However, everything before his eyes now was slightly different from what he had dreamed about... Harry did not see his godfather, nor even the Death Eaters or Voldemort.

"What happened?" Ron asked in a low voice, his voice trembling slightly.

“I…” Harry was momentarily speechless; he didn’t know what was going on either—

Based on previous experience, Sirius should be here.

“Harry, your name is on this crystal ball!” Cho Zhang said, pointing to a crystal ball next to him.

Harry walked over quietly and looked up—

The crystal ball had a date written on it, along with the words: "The Dark Lord and Harry Potter".

Harry reached out his hand, somewhat confused.

“No, Harry…” Luna suddenly spoke up, “I don’t think you should touch it!”

“Yes.” Hermione became somewhat anxious, and he nodded as well.

“My name is written on it…” Harry murmured, then reached out and gripped the dirty crystal ball tightly in his hand.

It seemed as if nothing had happened.

Apart from--

An excited voice came from behind: "Well done, Potter... Now, slowly turn around and give it to me!"

It's Lucius Malfoy's voice!

Twelve glowing wands appeared around them, all pointed at them.

Twelve Death Eaters surrounded Harry from four directions, trapping the nine-person fighting group in the center. Now, with just a wave of their wands, all nine, led by Harry, would be injured or even killed.

The one leading the group was Lucius Malfoy, who was looking at Harry with a mocking expression.

"Where is Sirius?" Harry called out.

Several Death Eaters laughed, and one of them, a woman with a grating voice, said smugly, "The Dark Lord is always right!"

Upon hearing this voice, Neville Longbottom's face turned pale.

“I know Sirius has been kidnapped by you… Where is he?” Harry mustered his courage and asked loudly.

“You should understand the difference between reality and dreams by now, Potter.” Malfoy glanced at Harry with a hint of disdain. “Hand over the orb of prophecy, or we’ll kill all your companions.”

"This is a trap!" Harry finally realized... he had been tricked, and his mind was now blank.

“I told you so.” At that moment, a familiar voice suddenly appeared, “You should learn to distinguish between reality and dreams.”

"Tiera!" Harry exclaimed with delight, craning his neck to look around. "Tiera, where are you?"

Lucius Malfoy and the pale-faced, high-pitched-voice madwoman were the first to react, slowly turning their heads to look behind them—

A young student in a Ravenclaw uniform emerged from the darkness behind them.

Lucius recognized this student; he knew Tyella, a Muggle who had died last year at the hands of Voldemort.

"Who are you?" Lucius shouted, turning his wand away from Harry and pointing it at the student who had appeared behind him. "Stand over there and don't move!"

Lucius was unaware of the true nature of Dumbledore's army training, nor did he imagine that Tyrell, who had been killed by the Dark Lord, would "resurrect," so he simply assumed that someone was impersonating Tyrell to scare him.

"Hehehehe..." The person in front of him did not stop because of Lucius's words, but continued to approach.

However, Tiera's situation seemed a bit strange. Like a puppet, Tiera's movements had a strange sense of incoordination and stiffness. His body seemed quite different from when Lucius last saw him, as if someone had forcibly mixed Tiera's face with another woman's body.

As Tierra drew closer, Lucius could see a strange mist swirling around Tierra's mouth and nose, flowing in and out of its body with each breath.

"Thump...thump...thump...thump..."

Immediately afterwards, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly appeared and was rapidly approaching.

A moment later, three strange knights riding bizarre warhorses appeared behind the other Death Eaters, blocking all four paths.

Three warhorses, one of gold, one of silver, and one of bronze, neighed, each carrying the symbol of war, plague, and famine, respectively.

Seeing this bizarre scene unfold, the other Death Eaters gradually shifted their wands from Harry and his friends to knights.

At that moment, Harry suddenly felt a warm, wet sensation near his ear, and then he heard that familiar voice:
"Now! Run, Harry, run!"

(End of this chapter)