Hogwarts: Bourne Returns from Warhammer

Chapter 167 Racing Weasley
"You can't, at least you shouldn't...get into the trunk!"

Percy loudly reprimanded his two brothers in an angry tone.

Early this morning, a house elf named Momo came to the Burrow to deliver a letter. This letter was addressed to him by name.

After reading the contents of the letter, Percy, a relatively "alternative" Weasley who has always been known for his rules, couldn't calm down instantly.

He immediately rushed to the garage downstairs of his house and drove into a [Polonaise] that his father, Mr. Weasley, bought from the Ministry of Magic for a small amount of money two or three months ago and had just modified it.

The car's original owner was a wizard, an immigrant from Eastern Europe.

Because he cast a spell on a big tree after drinking, and then wanted to ride it to play Quidditch, he was severely punished by the British Ministry of Magic.

In the end, the wizard put up his modified car as collateral to pay the fine from the Department of Legal Enforcement of the Ministry of Magic.

The whole thing was uneventful.

As the director of the Office for the Prohibition of the Misuse of Muggle Articles, Mr. Weasley used an internal discount price - less than 10 Galleons - to buy back the mortgage that was supposed to be sealed in the Ministry of Magic's warehouse.

Although he didn't understand any mechanical principles, with the help of the "Repair Spell", he dismantled the car's parts and cast many spells on it.

He modified this car into a magic car, and in addition to running on the ground, it also has a basic function of flying in the sky!
When this car is flying in the sky, its "fuel consumption" per 100 kilometers is seven "floating spells".

Originally, as the (probably) most conservative wizard in the Weasley family, Percy didn't like the car parked in his shed garage.

In his opinion, if you want to fly, a broomstick is the vehicle that a wizard should use; and if you want to travel long distances, then applying for a "portkey" from the Ministry of Magic is the right way.

However, after receiving the letter from his junior disciple Bourne, he felt anxious and couldn't care less about the tradition——

The broomstick is too slow;

Go to the Ministry of Magic to apply for a "portkey". It's a weekend, and he's not Dumbledore...

Therefore, the Gryffindor prefect could only grit his teeth and get into Mr. Weasley's car.

He pressed a small silver button on the dashboard. The car disappeared—and so did he. He could feel the seat vibrating, hear the engine, feel the car's chassis lifting off the ground.

The ground on both sides and the crooked chimney on the roof of the Burrow suddenly sank, and they were no longer visible for a while. The car rose higher and higher, and in a few seconds, the entire village of Ottery-St. Catchpole appeared below them. In the morning, some families in the village had just lit their cooking fires.

Percy stepped on the accelerator, and the car flew out like an arrow. His wand also floated and turned into a pointer, indicating the direction for him.

In this way, under the guidance of the wand, after flying for about an hour, with a "pop" sound, the car and Percy reappeared.

The car drove straight through a blanket of low-altitude cotton-like clouds, everything became dark and blurry, and the clouds pressing in from all sides made him feel a little dazzled.

Fortunately, he knew that what he needed to pay attention to was only some Muggle flying equipment, such as "leftover chickens" and "air buses".

What really guided him in the direction was the magic wand floating above the center console of the car.

Moreover, walking in the clouds makes it easier to avoid the sight of Muggles, and it is less likely to cause any trouble that is difficult to solve.

Percy poked the invisible booster, "There is indeed something wrong with this switch-"

However, before he could finish speaking, two affirmative replies came from behind him.

"Yes, there is something wrong with this switch."

"No, I think there is something wrong with the Disguise Curse that Dad cast. He ignored some useful experiences given by the two of us."

Percy felt his face become square.

"George, Fred..."

Percy gritted his teeth and looked at the rearview mirror, seeing the twins who had just rolled from the narrow trunk of the Polonaise to the back seat.

"...Why are you in the car?"

The twins looked at each other and then laughed in perfect agreement.

"Originally, we wanted to secretly drive this car out for a while."

"However, as soon as we got into the car, we found a 'Mr. Weasley' walking into the carport."

"We thought it was dad, so we hid in the trunk in the back."

"As a result, now I know that 'Mr. Weasley' is not dad, but Brother Percy, you, 'Mr. Weasley'."

"Isn't this a coincidence?"

At this time, the [Polonaise] finally broke out of a low cloud, and its wheels were flying across the soft sea of ​​clouds. Under the dazzling daylight, the entire sky was bright and blue, boundless.

Only the driver's mood and the scenery around him cannot be said to be in harmony with each other, or they can be said to be completely opposite.

However, because this magic car has been driving for more than an hour, the "Levitation Curse" has been used 8 or 9 times, and there is no longer land under it but vast expanse of blue water, so even if Percy wants to turn around and take the twins Throwing it back to the Burrow was out of the question.

"You two, listen up."

Since there was no way to send the twins back, he decided to find something for them to do: lest they cause any trouble while driving halfway.

"I'll say hello to you in a moment, and you can cast the 'Levitation Spell' on the 'W' emblem on the center console." Percy said, "Since you are already in the car, then the 'gas cost' of this car, You also have to share a part.”
-
"how much is it?"

"Twenty pounds, or four gold galleons."

The Anglia taxi stopped in front of a tunnel entrance. The taxi driver did not look at the meter, but looked at his watch and calculated the fare.

Taxis here are charged by the second.

Although this is a Muggle rule, it is really profitable, so a wizard taxi driver also learned it.

Dumbledore frowned and asked, "Did you learn the 'Muggle-Wizard Currency' exchange ratio from Gringotts?"

The reason why Dumbledore asked this was because the price of this taxi was a bit ridiculously expensive.

He is not the kind of "old-fashioned" who knows nothing about the value of money in the Muggle world, and as the principal of Hogwarts, Dumbledore actually has to deal with Gringotts once every year before the start of school. Otherwise, Gringotts would not agree to exchange wizard currency for young wizards from Muggle families, and also set an upper limit of 200 galleons per person per year.

You know, Gringotts usually does not accept Muggle currency. Except for the young wizards at Hogwarts, adult wizards cannot exchange Muggle currency for even a copper Knut from Gringotts.

To be honest, this rule is not deliberately made by the goblins.

There are three reasons:
First, Muggle currency is too easy to counterfeit in the hands of wizards - with just a "copying spell" and then using "transfiguration" to change the serial number, a wizard can basically make a card whose authenticity cannot be determined in a short time. muggle currency.

Second, today (the vast majority of) Muggle currencies are banknotes issued as guarantees of government credit, rather than precious metals such as gold and silver.

For wizards who are only subject to the laws of the Ministry of Magic and live in the magical world, it is difficult for the Muggle government to affect their lives. Therefore, the currency used by Muggles naturally has no "value" among wizard groups. "This foundation.

Third, after collecting the Muggle currency, except for a small part, it will be treated as "commodity" and sold to wizards who like to collect Muggle supplies. As goblins who value money more than their lives, the bankers at Gringotts will try their best to reinvest the remaining Muggle currency into Muggle society in exchange for returns.

In this way, those goblins will inevitably come into contact with Muggles. The Ministry of Magic in various countries is actually very opposed to their doing this, because this kind of contact between goblins and Muggles is very likely to have an impact on the "Statutory of Secrecy", and the "Statutory of Secrecy" is the basis for the establishment of the Ministry of Magic in various countries.

Unless goblins themselves dislike Muggles (or to be more precise, they hate all humans equally), goblins would not be able to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with Muggles due to nature.

In addition, the total amount of Muggle currency that Gringotts needs to process every year is not very large - the total denomination of Muggle currency received by Gringotts around the world every year is only ten to twenty thousand pounds.

Moreover, if you want to reinvest them back into Muggle society, the total cost of all the links is not low.

The enthusiasm of those goblin bankers for investing in Muggle society can be said to be "better than nothing", or basically "bite the bullet and do it".

Therefore, the Ministry of Magic of various countries allowed the goblins of Gringotts to handle those Muggle currencies, but they also followed the "Four Don's Principle"——

I don’t support or oppose it; I don’t endorse it, and I don’t take responsibility for it.

Therefore, although there is an exchange ratio of "5:1" between British pounds and Galleons, in fact, no wizard today would exchange gold Galleons for British pounds.

Because it's not worth it.

"Then I'll give you Muggle currency."

As he spoke, Dumbledore took out a wallet and paid the driver two bills.

The smile on the driver's face froze.

He really didn't expect that such an old wizard in front of him actually had pounds. Of course, he would not know that before coming to Gibraltar, the old wizard was enjoying a moment of leisure life at the Odyssey Club in London. After failing to steal the chicken, the taxi driver had no choice but to accept the two 10-pound notes. He decided not to pay attention to this old man who looked very "tough".

He was not going to tell the old man: Nowadays, when going to the Pillars of Hercules Commercial Street, you can actually use a special "Eagle Ocean" instead of drilling into the tunnel under the huge rock like many years ago (Note 1) , and found the original entrance of the commercial street in that dark place.

"What's there to be so arrogant about?"

Seeing Dumbledore's tall figure walking into the tunnel, the driver, who seemed to be about to start the car, cursed in a low voice.

"After entering the Pillars of Hercules and entering that 'Emperor's New Clothes' store, a rich old man like you is just another piece of shit to be ripped off."

He secretly took out a piece of paper from the glove box on the car door, then took out a quill pen and wrote two sentences on it, and finally took out his wand and chanted a spell on the paper.

Immediately afterwards, the piece of paper turned into a paper airplane and flew out of the car window...
-
The magic car flies very fast and for a long time. It flew for three hours! (Note 2)

Also saw land again.

This time, he only saw a somewhat desolate land, with rumbles of thunder in the distance, and never-ending drizzle sweeping in from the northeast.

Countless important events in the world seem to occur with such drizzle. There may have been a storm here yesterday and the day before yesterday, and there may have been a flood last week, but that is all in the past now.

At this time, the clouds above them were still full of rain, but all that really fell was an annoying drizzle.

"Yingadim~Leviosa~~"

George boredly recited the "Levitation Spell". He and Fred lost the guessing game, so this time it was him who "refueled" the magic car.

Percy stepped on the accelerator, and the speed that the magic car had just dropped increased again, but this time the engine began to whine.

The three Weasley brothers felt a little uneasy and looked at each other.

"Maybe it's just tired," said Fred. "After all, it's never traveled such a long way, and Dad hasn't even driven it to the Ministry of Magic in London."

[Polonaise] flew for more than 20 minutes, and the whine of the engine became louder and louder. They all pretended not to pay attention, and tried their best to pretend not to see the wipers on the windshield swinging feebly - it seemed like this A protest from the car itself - not yet silent...

"It's not far," Percy said, more to the car than to the twins, "It's not far now."

He stepped on the clutch and switched gears a little nervously, hoping to let the engine find a more comfortable working environment.

However, this is the shift...

When he raised his hand, the gear lever suddenly seemed to have burst out of a long-suffering temper, and automatically shifted back to neutral with a "bang".

"Hey, man, help me," George coaxed from the passenger seat, his hand slowly reaching for the gear lever.

"We're almost there, please help me—"

But at this moment, streams of steam suddenly spurted out from under the hood in front of the car. The car shook violently.

Percy glanced quickly out the window and saw the calm blue, mirror-smooth water a mile below. The knuckles of his fingers holding the steering wheel turned a little white. The car shook again.

"Hold on a little longer and we're almost landing."

Percy muttered.

They had rounded Cape Gibraltar...the wand's destination was just ahead...Percy pressed lightly on the brakes.

First there was a "clang" sound, and then there was a "crack" sound, and the engine stalled completely.

The three brothers' eyes widened at the same time.

Then, the front of the magic car tilted downwards, and they began to fall, and the speed became faster and faster, heading straight towards the huge rock in Gibraltar that was more than 400 meters above sea level.

"Oh no--"

Percy yelled and turned the wheel as hard as he could. The car was like a sliding roller coaster. It turned a huge arc and narrowly avoided a hard landing. It quickly passed over the grass on the top of the mountain, went around the side of the cliff near the sea, and actually... Start running along the steep rock wall.

The wand floating on the center console, like a compass disturbed by a magnetic field, began to circle up and down, left and right.

"Get ready!"

Percy yelled, and he quickly grabbed the wand, trying to cast a few spells on himself and his two little brothers.

"There shouldn't be any danger."

He comforted the twins who were so startled that they couldn't help but hold on to the armrest diagonally above the seat.

Deceleration and shock absorption, levitation, escape, phantom transformation...

Well, the last one isn't enough.

Because George and Fred had not learned the "Apparition Alongside" technique, Percy could not ensure that they could apparate away safely with him.

However, as his elder brother who was about to enter the sixth grade of Hogwarts, he had to find a way to prevent his two younger brothers from being seriously injured.

He was a Gryffindor prefect after all.

Moreover, Percy himself is also the best at using magic spells among the Weasley brothers, except for his eldest brother Bill.

However, just when he grabbed the wand with one hand and was about to leave the steering wheel with the other hand, the wizard's intuition suddenly hit his soul——

Percy jerked the wheel.

Chi chi chi——

The rubber tires rubbed against the rocks of the cliff, making a sharp friction sound, and a burning smell also spread to the noses of the three Weasley brothers along the cracks in the window.

"Fire!" Fred exclaimed.

What he wanted to say later was immediately blocked by the violent jolts. Because the car is running on the rock wall now, the protrusions on the rock wall are like potholes on the road. When the tires run over, the car bumps violently.

However, because Percy turned the steering wheel fiercely, the front of the magic car, which was traveling all the way down, suddenly turned again and drifted vertically on the rock wall. The entire car went into a huge gap in the rock wall.

There was a burst of friction between metal and rock, and clusters of sparks shot out. The rearview mirrors on both sides of the car were immediately broken and then flew out.

The car body was constantly vibrating violently, and because the car beams were deformed, the sides and windshield were all shattered into slag.

"Protegos!"

Percy recited the spell in time and blessed himself and the twins with the Armor Protection Charm.

This spell is one of the key points in the fourth-year spells class at Hogwarts. Maybe some fifth- and sixth-year wizards forget it after learning it, but as an academic master, Percy will not return it as long as he learns it. To Professor Flitwick.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked his two brothers anxiously.

"I hit my head, and I probably lifted a bag as big as the Golden Snitch."

"Me too, but mine is bigger, probably as big as the Quaffle."

Hearing that these two people were still trying to bicker and compete, Percy put his heart back in his stomach. He firmly held the steering wheel and began to adjust the direction.

The magic car kept drilling deeper into the "crack" in the rock wall. He also saw that this "crack" was basically a tunnel dug by people. There were even old-fashioned cages with lights on the sides on both sides. Traces of tunnel lights.

However, this tunnel must have been abandoned for a long time, and it was very dark inside. Percy could only summon the "fluorescent spell" while squinting his eyes to identify the direction, trying his best not to let the speeding magic car hit the wall of the tunnel.

Just now, his wizard intuition suddenly told him that this road was a passage.

However, after driving a few hundred meters, just as Percy was trying to find some tunnel exit ahead, his eyes suddenly widened.

Because he saw, less than a few dozen meters in front of the car, a wall built with bricks.

"Stop! Stop!"

Percy slammed on the brakes and tried to hit the dashboard and windshield with his wand and shout, but the car continued to speed forward, and the wall seemed to be rushing towards them...

　Note 1: There are many military tunnels under the Rock of Gibraltar, most of which were dug by the British, and some by other people who occupied this place. Some estimate that the total length of these tunnels even exceeds the total length of Gibraltar's existing streets.

　　Note 2: It takes about 4 hours to fly from Gibraltar to Heathrow Airport. The magic car takes a shortcut by default and is faster, so it was set to fly for more than 3 hours.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)