Hogwarts Wasteland: The Witch from the Borderlands

After dinner, students can return to their long-lost homes through the fireplaces in their respective lounges, where the deans of each college will be there to look after them.

Hermione first went to the fourth floor to check on the stability of the Brilliant Stone, ensuring that nothing would go wrong during her two-month absence. She then drew some energy from it for future use before turning back to the Potions Department office.

When she arrived, everyone was there. Harry was being scolded by his mother with his head down, while Ron and Neville stood to the side, staring straight ahead, not daring to breathe.

Hermione's arrival immediately brought a smile to Lily's face: "You've come at the perfect time, Hermione. You haven't used Floo Powder before, have you? Let Harry demonstrate it first."

"Yes, Professor." Hermione nodded obediently.

Harry, overjoyed, immediately ran to the fireplace, grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, and shouted, "Godric Cliff Street!"

The next moment, green flames rose up, and Harry stepped into the flames and disappeared.

"Then Ron and Neville, Hermione, you're last. Remember, make sure you pronounce the place names clearly and loudly," Lily instructed.

Finally, after the boys had all passed through the flames, it was Hermione's turn. She took a deep breath, grabbed the Floo Powder, and clearly called out the name of her destination. Green flames rose, and she passed through with her eyes closed.

When I opened my eyes again, I was greeted by a cool and damp breeze. The surroundings were somewhat dark, but I could tell that I was in a cave. There were some magical light sources shining down from above, but they were not as bright as Hogwarts.

She saw James with three boys, smiling and waiting for her by the fireplace. Behind them was a huge courtyard with small holes in the ceiling, through which one could see the gloomy night outside. The fireplace stood on the rock wall, and at the highest point of the courtyard, a huge luminous sphere floated, like a moon, illuminating all directions.

"Get out of there first, or you'll bump into Mom," Harry warned.

Hermione quickly took two steps forward, and then the entire cavern came into view before her.

This is a huge rock pit tens of meters deep. You can see some traces of the mine's reinforcement. Around the central circular pit, there are six or seven ring-shaped platforms built along the rock wall. These platforms are the roads. Doors and windows are carved into the rock wall to form small houses. At this moment, warm lights are shining in these houses, blending with the huge fluorescent light at the top of the cave.

"Welcome, you've arrived in Godric's Hollow. This is our settlement built from the former mines—Godric Cliff Street!" Mr. James said with pride. Like Mr. Arthur, he was not only a member of the Order of the Phoenix but also a member of the Godric's Hollow Reconstruction Committee.

As the most famous gathering place for half-wizards, Godric's Hollow was not spared its fate. Betrayed by witch traitors, it was listed as a target, just like Hogwarts. The mad Muggles did not care that their fellow countrymen also lived there, and dropped nuclear bombs on the valley.

The original village was razed to the ground. The intense heat and radiation killed all life in the valley. However, the wizards could apparite, and as long as they weren't caught in the blast without realizing it, they always had a chance to escape. Therefore, some of the wizards who survived returned here after recovering their strength to rebuild their homes.

However, the radiation levels on the ground were too high. Even powerful wizards could not stay on the surface for long without protection. Therefore, the new village made use of an abandoned mine in the original valley. After decades of renovation and development, it has become what it is today.

Just then, Lily emerged from the fireplace behind him. She hugged James, then immediately turned cold: "Thanks to your Invisibility Cloak, Harry only got third place this year! He even lost to Draco!"

James immediately turned his gaze to his son in embarrassment, who gave him a smile that was more like a grimace.

"My dears, the children are all here, let's not talk about this anymore, let's go home first." James quickly changed the subject: "Although we've already eaten at the castle, I think you wouldn't mind having some more blackberry pie. The cave blackberry harvest was good this year, and I specially saved the freshest ones for you!"

The fireplace was on the second floor of Cliff Street, and the Potters' house was on the third floor. In fact, the first floor, which was closest to the ground, was not inhabited because the soil was permeated by radiation; it was used only as a defensive fortification. The second floor contained the fireplace, the cemetery, and the night watchman's hut.

It wasn't until the third floor and below that various functional buildings and residences were distributed.

As Hermione walked and looked around, she noticed that many of the tombstones had burn marks, and some were even half melted away, with the inscriptions no longer legible.

"Those were retrieved from the ruins on the surface, and they are engraved with the surnames of many ancient wizarding families, some of which have now been extinct," James explained.

"We should not forget history, so after they were treated with radiation protection, they were moved down and placed here."

Hermes exclaimed, "We should not forget history; that's so true."

"It was Bathilda Bagshot who said it, the author of our History of Magic textbook. She lives on the fourth floor." Harry pointed to a small, brightly lit room below. "But she's a weirdo, always acting strange."

Hermione shrugged, looking up at the giant fluorescent sphere at the top. "Will that stay lit like that forever? Won't people outside see it?"

If the cool white light shone through the hole in the top of the rock, it would be quite noticeable.

"That giant glowing light? We'll have wizards maintain it regularly. Humans shouldn't adapt to a lightless environment; we'll have to return to the surface sooner or later," James said.

"Also, there's no need to worry about being discovered from the outside. Those entrances are all enchanted, so even if someone walks up, they won't fall down. However, the outside environment is harsh, so basically no one will come here."

Each platform is connected by thick tree roots growing along the rock face. As long as a person stands on it, these tree roots will move on their own, sending the person up or down, depending on how they pull on the roots.

The third floor leads down to the living and production area, which includes residences, farmland, blacksmith workshops, mills, taverns, and even a stone-enclosed rat pen in one corner, specifically for raising large rats for consumption.

"Are there Muggles here?" Hermione suddenly realized that, judging from the size of this settlement, if it was all wizards, then the number of wizards was much larger than she had imagined.

"There weren't any before, but now there are more Muggles than wizards," Lily said.

"The Muggle natives in the valley did not escape the catastrophe of that year. After the surviving wizard families worked together to build a settlement, on the advice of Bagshot, Dumbledore and others, the wizards decided to take in some Muggles who had nowhere else to go. Over the decades, it has grown to its current size."

They descended slowly, riding on the tree roots.

"And Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, they're both Muggles, oh, and Cousin Dudley, but I don't like playing with him, he eats too much and is too big, I suspect Aunt Petunia secretly gave him some swelling potion made by Mom," Harry complained.

Hermione was surprised to learn that Lily was from a Muggle family; she had assumed that this talented Potions Master must have come from a long and pure-blooded family.

Each floor of Cliff Street wasn't very large, and they soon arrived at the Potter's house. From the outside, it looked like a small, secluded stone chamber, but in the magical world, there are no rules; wizards' residences always have hidden secrets within.

As soon as they entered, Hermione was enveloped in warm candlelight. The walls were a comfortable off-white, with small candles burning continuously. The sweet aroma of blackberry pie filled the air. Several movable chairs seemed to walk to the table on their own. On the cabinet were some of Harry's childhood toys, as well as some bottles and jars, a trophy engraved with James Potter's name, and a large number of medals awarded to Lily as a Potions Master.

Lily first led the children to assign them rooms. The seemingly small stone room was actually quite large inside. Apart from the first floor where the entrance was located, Hermione's room was on the second floor, and Ron Nawwell's were all on the first floor. The basement was a potion workshop and a storage room. Even so, there were still many empty rooms, which were previously expanded to accommodate more students.

After enjoying the delicious blackberry pie, Mrs. Lily's face hardened again: "Alright, get some rest tonight. Your holiday training starts tomorrow!"

The children's cries echoed once more in the small stone room. Outside the window, the quiet mining town slept in the soft white light.