days at Hogwarts

Chapter 604 A different path
The thick flames tilted down, as if the air had become kerosene that helped fuel combustion, expanding and spreading in an instant.

The skin all over his body was quickly burned and cracked, and Voldemort's vision was completely occupied by the brilliant flames. Blood and water vapor evaporated and quickly turned into part of the flames. Intense pain came from every part of his body.

Voldemort almost fell into despair. Just as he followed his body's instinct and put his hands on his abdomen to curl up, he was forcibly pulled out by a figure and something was stuffed into his hands.

The portkey's magic suddenly burst into life, and a flash of fire appeared.

In the vast wilderness cemetery, the wind was howling, the snow was thick, and the charred and carbonized flesh was melting with snow water, stained with some bright red and charred black. The cold touch flowed through the body with the blood, the nerves gradually became numb, and the severe pain deep in the soul gradually eased.

After an unknown amount of time, in this desolate cemetery in the severe winter, he finally recovered some strength and struggled to half sit up.

The wilderness of Little Hangleton was still familiar, with the remains of the church and the cemetery, and broken tombstones scattered around, most of which were exposed on the ground, and a small part of which had not yet been dug up. They had once helped him to regain his life, but were now covered with weeds and vines and pressed under the snow.

The branches were covered with snow, the whiteness stretched as far as the eye could see, the smoke from the little village of Hangleton rose in the distance, and the cool breeze that swept through the air was particularly refreshing.

Beneath the tombstone engraved with "Tom Riddle", a translucent gray-black mist lingered there. Its magic power was weak, like a candle swaying in the wind. It was a ghost, a ghost rejected by the world of death.

Voldemort stared at this scene in a daze for a few seconds. The scene that had plunged him into despair not long ago flashed in his mind, and some distant memories also emerged in his heart.

That was about sixteen years ago. He was caught off guard and hit by the rebounding Killing Curse. The same body was destroyed, but the same ghost remained.

Voldemort recalled the scene of instructing Snape to refine the Horcrux. It was just a sudden idea at that time, with the idea of ​​experimenting, but he never expected that it would play a role at this time.

But compared to his gratitude towards Snape, he felt more humiliation and hatred in his heart.

Voldemort walked to the bottom of the tombstone, uttered a heart-wrenching hoarse roar, and stood in the melting snow.

"Dumbledore!"

……

"A Death Eater suddenly broke out, activated the Portkey and took them away!"

"Yes, almost, just a little bit, Dumbledore could defeat him again..."

"Quiet...Williamson, warn the public immediately..."

"Dawlish, detain the Death Eaters controlled by the Anti-Apparition Charm. Do not send them to Azkaban, but keep them in the Ministry of Magic's Court of Inquisition..."

"Bertha, call back all the staff who are still able to work, organize people to clean up the battlefield, remove the curse from the wizards who have been cursed by the Imperius, and notify St. Mungo's to receive the wounded..."

"Amelia... Percy..."

"..."

Rufus Scrimgeour issued orders in an orderly manner. The main hall was crowded with people. Many male and female Aurors carefully moved the petrified Ministry of Magic employees and Death Eaters. The fireplaces on both sides of the wall were burning brightly, and the bright green flames spewed and licked the marble.

Harry opened his eyes and woke up from his coma in a daze. He looked around in a daze and found that Ginny was lying on his left and Ron was lying on his right. George and Fred seemed to have woken up earlier than him and were observing with great interest the Death Eaters who were first fed skipping candy and then petrified by the Basilisk.

They look focused and enthusiastic, but the direction of their research is likely to be seriously illegal.

Harry's eyes slowly focused and he found Hermione in the corner. She was holding a notebook, observing and recording the operations of various departments of the Ministry of Magic. Her magic robe was clean and tidy. Compared with the other wizards around her who were dressed in messy clothes and had embarrassed expressions, she was really out of place.

While others were experiencing a life-and-death battle, she seemed to be experiencing a study tour.

Some vague fragments flashed in his mind. Harry slowly stood up and walked over slowly: "Hermione, you..."

Hermione knew exactly what he was going to ask, and before he could finish, she told him all at once: "Voldemort has escaped, everyone is fine, Ginny was hit by a Stunning Spell, Ron fell and hit his head, he will wake up soon, and Dumbledore is upstairs communicating with Director Scrimgeour about the situation."

"That……"

"Loren left something in the Department of Mysteries. He went back to get it. He will be back soon."

Harry blinked and scratched his head, but ultimately decided not to ask the question in his mind.

Just before he lost consciousness, he seemed to hear the Stunning Spell was cast by Hermione, and there was a basilisk figure wandering in the thick fog...

……

On the eighth underground floor, the Department of Mysteries was still in a mess after being ravaged by two legendary wizards. No one knew where the Unspeakable was lying. The Aurors did not dare to deal with these rooms casually and could only simply seal off the scene.

Didn’t you see that the famous Voldemort couldn’t even withstand one of these doors?

They had ambushed the Death Eaters and besieged Voldemort without getting hurt. It would be funny if they made a mistake and got caught in these weird rooms. I wonder if the Ministry would pay them a pension as if they died in the line of duty.

"Little guy, it's dangerous ahead, you can't go in!"

Outside the wooden door at the end of the corridor, the Auror who was posting blockade tape stopped an underage wizard with a gentle attitude. He recognized this man: a classmate of the Boy Who Lived, who broke into the Ministry of Magic with them today and participated in the battle against the Death Eaters upstairs.

Loren smiled softly and said, "I just retrieved my pendant. I left it in there when I retreated."

"The Hall of Time and the Hall of Prophecy..."

The Auror hesitated for a moment. There was no danger in the Time Hall and the Prophecy Hall. The main purpose of protecting the status quo was to facilitate the future repair work of the Silent Man. However, according to his observation, the time converters and prophecy balls were full of magic power. When the repair spell was cast on them, they did not tremble at all and had no reaction at all.

If it can't be repaired, sweep it into the trash.

"Okay, I'll only give you ten minutes. If you can't find it, stop looking."

"Thank you so much."

Loren nodded with a gentle smile on his face, looking like a well-behaved student.

Walking into the circular room, the place was filled with the smell of a ruin after a fire, and the surroundings were ruins mixed with wood and rubble. Loren looked at the wooden door of the Time Hall, which had been smashed by Voldemort and only scattered fragments remained, and walked in. Various clocks were scattered on the ground, some were damaged, and some were still making a steady and firm ticking sound. A glass cabinet on the wall fell to the ground, and glass was splattered everywhere. In the cabinet were various time converter hourglasses, but now they could not be touched.

I don’t know which hourglass was broken, causing the space-time where the cabinet was located to fall into a time loop, and the process of breaking is constantly repeating.

Loren stood there and observed for a while, wisely not getting closer, but coming to the bell-shaped crystal cover in the center of the room.

An almost body-length bell-shaped crystal glass cover stood on a table. The repeated bombardment of magic spells did not affect it. The bright light mist inside was still floating up and down. The hummingbird repeated the process of hatching, growing, dying and returning to the eggshell.

"time……"

Loren glanced at the hummingbird and casually reached out his hand to the crystal cover. The expected touch did not happen. The surface of the crystal cover sank like a soap bubble, and his hand reached into the glittering mist.

Light mist lingered around the slender hands, and a strange feeling came to my heart. With a thought, my palm quickly shrank, and the nails became soft and thin and shrank into the flesh. The skin became smoother and whiter, until the whole palm turned into a baby's palm, and then expanded to its original size, and the nails grew out from the fingertips again.

Without any panic, Loren calmed down and focused his attention on his hands... or rather, on the light mist. A subtle connection transmitted feedback, and under the control of his consciousness, the dazzling mist spread along his arm until it came out of the crystal cover, without any change in time.

After leaving the crystal cover, the hummingbird eggshell lost its luster and turned into an ordinary bird egg, lying quietly in the crystal cover.

The light mist crawled along the arm like a small snake, crawled onto the pendant on the chest, climbed up the dolphin carved from cliff cypress, and climbed up the surface of the snake scales inlaid in the position of the right eye.

What surprised Loren was that the mist of time was not collected into the storage space, but the golden mist seeped into the snake scales, staining them into translucent golden gems, with silver stars floating on the gems.

After a brief thought, Loren vaguely realized something and nodded thoughtfully.

Loren came out of the Time Hall and turned to look at another wooden door. Due to the impact of some spells and flames, only the upper half of the door was intact, and only half of the branded flame mark remained, still burning quietly.

Pushing open the wooden door, he saw various planetary satellites orbiting in front of him. The gravity that enveloped his body disappeared. Loren lightly tapped his feet and floated into the planetary room.

The room seemed to simulate the space environment. Breathing was smooth and the air was abundant. Pluto was shattered in half, with black and grey debris floating everywhere. The remaining half of the planet was slowly rotating in the universe.

The starry universe should be empty and lonely, but this planetary room is a bit cramped. Compared with the scene that Loren had dreamed of, although there is no visible edge here, it lacks the majestic grandeur and there is no personal perspective to face the shock of the majestic planet.

Yes, this was not his first time to come into contact with the starry sky...

Recalling the original feeling in his mind, Loren exhaled lightly, and his thoughts began to spread in this space.

The silent darkness began to flow like quicksand, like an undercurrent beneath the surface of a calm lake, the waves and ripples invisible and intangible.

The dim planet fell to the ground. Under the dim light, the boundless starry sky gradually revealed its true appearance. The round pit-like room was almost larger than the entire Hogwarts Castle, but not as large as the vast starry sky.

Under Loren's conscious control, the invisible darkness gathered together, spread and crawled along his arm, and finally attached to the surface of the snake scales at the left eye of the pendant, gradually permeating it, and finally the light was dimmed and turned into an obsidian that swallowed the light.

Some people observe death, some people understand time and space.

The paths to the truth of the Philosopher's Stone are different.

……

12 Grimmauld Place.

The howling wind and snow were blocked out by the tightly closed doors and windows. The candles left over from the wedding lit up the entire basement kitchen. The large pot floating above the flames trembled up and down, and the rich aroma of meat wafted throughout the kitchen.

"The latest news from the Daily Prophet..."

Percy paused, pushed his father's head away, stretched the newspaper in his hand, and read slowly, "The Dark Lord has returned! Yesterday morning, many escaped Death Eaters appeared in Knockturn Alley and released the Dark Mark to cover up the attack on the Ministry of Magic led by the You-Know-Who...

"Under the command of Rufus Scrimgeour, the head of the Auror Office, and Bertha Jorkins, the assistant to the Minister, the Auror ambush achieved great results. Later, due to the support of the Death Eaters from Knockturn Alley, some Aurors and staff were petrified. St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Wounded Soldiers is closely discussing the treatment plan with Minerva McGonagall, the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts..."

"The mysterious man escaped unexpectedly, the Ministry of Magic declared a state of emergency, and Dumbledore issued another warning..."

"The former Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, has seriously violated relevant regulations. He is greedy for power and disregards the safety of the wizarding community. Because of his personal inclination, he used the Ministry of Magic's functions to cover up the warning issued by Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and wantonly tarnished Dumbledore's reputation... After discussion and decision by the Wizengamot, it has been decided to remove Cornelius Fudge from his position as Minister, activate the emergency regulations, and replace him with Rufus Scrimgeour..."

Arthur, who was closely involved in the whole incident, shook his head, feeling very proud, but when he saw the look Molly was giving him, he quickly lowered his head and continued reading the newspaper.

Percy didn't push away this time. He was injured due to his impulsiveness and was still wearing bandages.

"There are still many doubts in this incident that have not been clarified... The basilisk that appeared in New York and Devonshire has reappeared, causing the greatest damage in this battle..."

Molly glared at the father and son coldly, then turned back to concentrate on controlling the heat of the broth. Although Voldemort was not completely eliminated in this battle, Dumbledore's wisdom and power gave all wizards a shot of sedative.

At the dining table, Ron excitedly recounted their heroic deeds of bravely breaking into the Ministry of Magic. When Marjorie asked about the specific process of the battle in the main hall, Ron was stuck and stammered, not knowing how to continue making up the story.

"Maybe Loren and Hermione know the details." Harry scratched his head, his tone a little hesitant.

When Loren and Hermione went to New York for vacation, a basilisk appeared in New York; when they went to watch the Quidditch World Cup, a basilisk appeared in the camp; this time there were two people at the scene again, and they were neatly dressed. He vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't be sure.

"It's a pity that they went home directly. I can only wait until the next semester starts to ask them in detail..."

The candle flame still flickered.

Ignoring their chattering noise, Betty sat at the dining table, staring at her newlywed husband, her eyes reflecting the candlelight, sparkling, and she whispered, "Let's have a baby."

Sirius was stunned. Before he could react, he heard Kreacher's excited cheering from upstairs.

"Great! Kreacher is going to have a little master!"

Feeling that all eyes in the basement kitchen were focused on him, Sirius's face darkened:
"Kreacher!!"

(End of this chapter)