days at Hogwarts

Chapter 554 Cave
The gradually brighter morning light illuminated Grimmauld Place. Strands of light entered the bedroom through the window gaps. The girl's long eyelashes were dyed golden, her eyelids trembled slightly, and she happily opened her eyes.

Hermione saw the unfamiliar ceiling, the sunlight falling on the desk by the window, and the half-empty ink bottle emitting a mysterious blue-black glow. Compared to when she had left not long ago, this spacious and tidy bedroom had less gloomy, damp and musty smell, and the quilt had a warmer scent from the sun.

She heard some noise coming from the direction of the stairs. It was the sound of footsteps in slippers quickly walking on the old wooden steps. It creaked and was a little harsh.

Hermione subconsciously reached out her right hand to her side, but felt nothing. She sat up and looked at the empty space beside the pillow in a daze. She felt a little empty in her heart for a moment, but she came to her senses after a few seconds and her face became hot.

Hermione patted her blushing face: "Oh... Hermione Granger, what are you thinking about..."

The bed next to her was empty, luckily Ginny was already up.

After she had put away her unspeakable feelings, she got up quickly, washed up, combed her hair, put on a simple and capable plaid shirt, changed her shoes and opened the door. The sound coming from the basement kitchen suddenly became clear. She took only two steps out of the door and saw Loren standing at the stairs waiting for her. There were still traces of water on his hands, and it seemed that he had just washed up.

"Good morning, Loren..." Hermione's eyes lit up, but she quickly avoided his gaze. The memory of getting up in the morning flashed through her mind, and she subconsciously didn't dare to look into his eyes.

Loren glanced at the little witch suspiciously, walked up to her, patted her on the shoulder, and took her hand and walked downstairs: "What's the matter, Hermione, why are you so weird like everyone else?"

"I didn't!" Hermione raised her voice subconsciously. Her cheeks felt hot again. She glared at the man fiercely, "Don't think I don't know that you rubbed the water stains on my clothes!"

Loren seemed to have heard nothing and frowned slightly. "Hermione, do you feel that Harry and the others are hiding something from us? Think about it, the two of us were out on a mission, and they were trapped in the old house for several days, but they didn't pester us with questions, and they didn't look for us to have a meeting at night. Something is wrong, very wrong..."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. She knew he was trying to change the subject, but she continued her train of thought. "I also noticed that at the dinner table last night, Harry, Ron, Ginny, George, and Fred didn't dare look Mrs. Weasley in the eye, but they made frequent eye contact with Sirius. They must be hiding something from the others."

"What will it be..."

The two had already arrived at the basement kitchen and saw that the table was already filled with the fruits of Mrs. Weasley's early busy work - a hearty breakfast.

"Hermione, Loren, come and sit over here, come and try the freshly fried bacon!" Ginny held a roughly shaped sandwich in her hand and leaned over to greet the two of them. "You must not have been able to have a good breakfast outside these few days, so Mom specially made it up to you!"

"And sausages and jam. We took out all the stock at home..." Harry smiled brightly.

"Hmm!" Ron nodded, his mouth full of food.

"Go wash your hands..." After finishing her work, Molly walked out from the stove and rubbed their hair with a smile.

A few minutes later, a warm and cozy scene appeared on the long dining table. Cups and plates collided with each other, making crisp sounds. Arthur and Bill ate breakfast while analyzing newspapers. George and Fred ate quickly. Lupin spread out a piece of bread and asked Sirius to pass him the marmalade...

"The list of items for the new school year at Hogwarts has been sent to you. I will take you to Diagon Alley for shopping tomorrow..." Molly stared at the twin brothers as she said this. "The food at home is almost gone. I will go shopping for daily necessities today. You stay at home and pack your luggage. Be quiet, understand?"

"I'll obey your orders, my queen!" George nodded hurriedly with a bright smile.

Loren looked up and found that several little wizards next to him also had the same strange smile on their faces.

Molly thought for a moment and added, "Stop tinkering with your inventions. Your father and brother have to work at the Ministry of Magic, and Remus has to go out to deal with things in the United States. Only Sirius is at home, and he can't clean up the mess you two have caused."

"We promise not to cause any trouble for Sirius! We won't mess around in the house!" Fred promised solemnly, trying hard to keep a straight face to prevent himself from laughing out loud.

Harry and the others nearby lowered their heads, their expressions a little tense, and their shoulders twitching.

Even Sirius turned his eyes away and looked upwards, as if the pattern on the chandelier was particularly attractive.

Loren and Hermione looked at each other and became more certain of their guess that there must be something wrong with these people!

After breakfast, the adults went to work, some went out to handle business, and some went out to buy things.

George and Fred huddled together, mumbling to themselves about their own recipes for skipping classes, concentrating on studying the dosage of the Vixen venom, and occasionally checking their lab notes. Ron was copying his History of Magic paper, and was also collecting the shortcomings of others to complete his own homework. Harry and Ginny were studying the Seeker's tactical manual, one talking eloquently while the other listened with eyes sparkling.

Loren and Hermione sat together, seemingly talking in low voices with their heads down, but they were always paying attention to these people.

When the last sound of a door closing came from the entrance hall, the atmosphere suddenly changed. The remaining little wizards sat together on the other side, squinting their eyes as they looked at the two people sitting at the end of the long table.

Ginny gave Hermione a look of condemnation, but Hermione remained unmoved.

Harry and Ron denounced Loren, but Loren refused to respond.

George and Fred sent congratulatory messages, and Loren raised his eyebrows, as if he understood something.

The two sides looked at each other for several minutes before Ginny couldn't help but mutter, "You two traitors, you actually sided with the adults and conspired to hide important information from us!"

Loren spread his hands, his eyes innocent and his expression blank: "I don't understand what you are talking about."

"Damn it, you still want to hide it from us? Kreacher told us that you clearly found Slytherin's locket and gave it to Dumbledore to destroy it!" Ron scolded.

Harry nodded heavily, and just when he wanted to say something else, he was interrupted by Sirius. He looked up and looked at the two of them solemnly: "Loren, Hermione, I'm telling you the truth. After listening to Kreacher's story about Regulus, we plan to go to the cave to retrieve Regulus' body. We have been planning this for several days, and today is the best time..."

Hermione frowned her pretty eyebrows: "Why hide this matter? Why don't you tell Mr. Weasley and the others?"

Sirius opened his mouth, an embarrassed look on his face: "Harry...Harry and the others also want to get involved. If we tell Arthur and Molly, this matter will have nothing to do with Harry."

"Mrs. Weasley is thinking about safety!"

"We've discussed this..." Sirius argued weakly, "Kreacher told us what happened in the cave that year. We believe that even the final poison is not lethal. As long as we can stop those Inferi, then... there won't be much danger." "You guys..." Hermione opened her mouth, wanting to refute him, but seeing the expectant looks in Harry and Ginny's eyes, she couldn't utter anything after a long time.

Loren lowered his eyes and fell into thought. He searched deep in his mind for the various traps in the cave and nodded slowly: "We will go with you, but I still have to tell Mrs. Weasley when it's over."

"no problem!"

Before Sirius could say anything, George and Fred cheered.

"School is about to start anyway!"

"I will be nagged by my mother for two days at most. I have to finish my adventure first!"

"..."

Sirius rubbed his face silently. The little ones could hide back in school, but he had nowhere to hide, especially since he was the adult culprit.

Forget it, let’s talk about it after the incident happens.

"Kreacher! Let's go!"

……

Kreacher was very old, only half the height of a man, with pale skin that always drooped in wrinkles, and bat-like ears with a lot of white hair. For a skinny house-elf, it was inevitable that it was a bit beyond his ability to teleport with 8 people at a time.

As the people being carried, Loren and the others felt terrible, as if they were squeezed in a thick rubber tube, unable to breathe, and every part of their bodies was squeezed, until it exceeded the limit of the little wizards' endurance and they felt slightly suffocated, and then the invisible tube suddenly burst open -

An adult wizard, seven underage wizards, and an old elf appeared on the coast, breathing in the fresh, salty air.

As the cool sea breeze blew towards them, the slightly salty smell penetrated their noses, and the sound of surging waves rang in their ears. Everyone stood on a black rock that stood tall above the sea, watching the waves rolling in from the distance, raising white foam.

Loren turned his head and looked back, and saw a steep rock wall falling straight down. It was so dark that he couldn't see its face clearly. The area around it was bare and desolate. Apart from the vast sea and rocks, there was no tree, grass or beach.

"Where is the entrance, Kreacher?" Sirius' voice mixed with the waves, sounding as if it came from a long distance.

Kreacher's thin body trembled slightly, staring at the cliff and the huge spherical stone on it. It was a long time before he heard Sirius' call. He didn't speak, but walked forward tremblingly along the rock protrusion.

There were many jagged grooves on the rocks for stepping on, leading to the giant pebbles below that were half exposed above the sea around the cliff. Sirius asked them to follow behind Kreacher, and he was responsible for the rear guard, all the way to the bottom of the cliff. The low rocks were covered with mosses and algae with a fishy smell, and were slippery.

There was a narrow gap not far ahead. The waves crashed against the sides of the gap and swirled. It was pitch black inside and nothing could be seen clearly.

Kreacher slid into the sea almost without stopping, and swam towards the crevices, splashing cold water. The cloth wrapped around his body was instantly soaked, becoming swollen and heavy.

Harry and Ron hesitated for a moment, then slowly squatted down, wanting to follow Kreacher into the water and swim over. They heard Loren's slightly teasing voice behind them.

"You've made your clothes dirty, you'll probably be beaten by Mrs. Weasley." The applewood wand tapped the two men's shoulders, and a gentle force lifted them up, floating forward behind Kreacher.

Loren followed closely behind, Hermione held Ginny's hand and floated lightly. George and Fred were not very skilled, so Sirius, who was at the end of the team, helped them, and the three of them floated together.

A group of people floated into the crack and moved deeper along the secret passage. The passage became narrower and narrower, with only three feet of space between the muddy rock walls on both sides. After an unknown amount of time, a row of steps suddenly appeared on the water surface in front of them, extending upward into a cave.

Entering the cave, the air around was quiet and cold.

The hidden perception conveyed ominous feelings to them. Under some unknown pressure, Ginny and Ron calmed down. Except for the twins, everyone else's heart was slightly raised. Even though they had heard Kreacher's description of the structure of this place and knew the hidden mechanism ahead, they still dared not relax.

Like the sobbing wind blowing in from the cracks in the rocks, it seemed to be carrying ominous malice and the whisper of despair. The dampness and coldness stubbornly drilled into the bones. Kreacher's teeth were chattering, and he said tremblingly: "This is just the anteroom, the entrance hall. We need to go inside... What's blocking us now is the mechanism set by the Dark Lord. There is no danger, but..."

George and Fred approached the rock with great interest, put their hands on the rough rock wall, studied and explored it carefully, and when they found nothing, they took out hammers and knocked around, trying to chisel a path directly.

Unexpectedly, the sound really made them move, and the outline of an arch appeared on the rough rock wall, reflecting a dazzling white light.

Before the two could be happy, the outline disappeared and the rock returned to its original state.

"But you need to pay a price to pass through, the price of blood." Kreacher's unfinished words added a bit of chilliness to the cave.

Loren approached the wall cautiously, looking at the powerful and evil magic that swirled and gathered in the shape of an arch. It did not have the malice of a deadly curse, nor the powerful force that was ready to explode. Instead, it had a desire, a bloodthirsty desire.

He took out some animal blood from the pendant and sprinkled it on it. The dazzling white light appeared again, but soon subsided and disappeared.

"It seems that Voldemort only recognizes human blood..." Loren held his chin with his hand and began to think about whether his door-opening spell was suitable for opening this door.

"Let me do it."

Sirius pushed a few people away, rolled up his sleeves, and quickly ran the wand across his forearm. A faint light flashed, and a stream of bright red blood spurted out, gradually covering the surface of the rock.

The dazzling white outline of the arch appeared on the cave wall again, becoming clearer and clearer, gradually revealing the real doorway leading to the endless darkness inside.

(End of this chapter)