The King of Flags at Hogwarts

The black marble floor, illuminated by candlelight, resembled a pool of black water; gazing at it for too long could induce a dizzying, weightless sensation.

Twelve black doors were neatly arranged on the circular wall, and Dumbledore opened one of them without hesitation, leading Bobby along.

Opening the door, the room gave Bobby a completely different feeling from the outside hall.

In the center of the empty, bright room, there was a huge glass tank, with many white things swimming around in the dark green liquid.

There was also a table in the room, next to which sat a man with a sorrowful face and long hair.

"Hello, Mr. Broderick Bode."

The pale-faced man stood up with a serious expression: "Hello, Professor Dumbledore."

He led the two to a door, saying, "Behind this door is the Hall of Death."

He warned sternly, “You can visit, after all, you have gone through the proper application process. But I still have to say, please do not approach the curtain, it is dangerous. Even now, we don’t know what’s behind that door.”

The three of them entered the room.

It was a slightly larger, square room, dimly lit.

The house has a central depression, forming a large stone pit about twenty feet deep. Stone steps encircle the entire house, descending gradually, each step very steep, like a lecture hall.

At the center of the pit is a raised stone platform with an archway on top, which looks ancient and dilapidated.

There were no walls supporting the archway, and a tattered black curtain or drape hung on it. Although the air was cold and there was no wind, it swayed gently, as if it had just been touched.

Another silent man in the room, Mr. Kroc, was already waiting there. He stood by the central stone platform. Coincidentally, Mr. Kroc was someone Bobby also knew, from the World Cup final.

The gentleman nodded very kindly to Bobby, clearly pleased with her performance at the World Cup.

“Mr. Bod,” Bobby asked, “when was this ancient archway moved to the Ministry of Magic, and where did it come from?”

Bode thought for a moment and replied, "About thirty-four years ago, this archway suddenly appeared in the center of Stonehenge, and when we went to drive away the Muggle tourists, the archway mysteriously disappeared."

It was finally found at Durdles Natural Stone Gate in Dorset, where it was floating on the waves inside the gate.

"Because it was so mysterious, we brought it back to the ministry."

Dumbledore looked knowing: "I remember 34 years ago, several members of the ministry went missing. I heard they were involved in an accident while handling an emergency magical event. Is this the case?"

Bode shut his mouth, meaning "I can't say."

Bobby murmured, “Legend has it that Avalon is in the southwest of England, so both Durdle Gate and Stonehenge are in the southwest. I think this must be the entrance.”

Poppy walked toward the archway, but Bode and Crocker immediately stopped her.

“Miss Evans, please do not proceed. You are only permitted to visit, not to approach the archway.”

Bobby's eyes darted around, looking pitiful and endearing. She asked timidly, "Can't you make an exception? This is very important to me."

Dumbledore looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle. This shameless act of feigning helplessness was not something he taught Bobby. He should have a good talk with Gale later and not teach Bobby all sorts of nonsense.

Bode still had that bitter and resentful look on his face, but Kroc couldn't help but swallow hard.

“No, Miss Evans, this is our duty as Silencers.”

Bobby lowered his head, kicking his left foot idly on the ground. "But I feel a call to me from there. Maybe I can help you unravel the secret of this archway?"

Bode shook his head again: "Rules are rules. It is our duty to study these mystical matters. If you want to study them, please join the Silent Ones."

Faced with the stubborn Bode, Bobby turned to Dumbledore.

The old wizard shrugged. Even the Minister of Magic couldn't mobilize the Silent Ones, so there was nothing he could do.

Bobby took a deep breath, and after exhaling sharply, her crisp words startled Bode and Crocker: "The Silent One will have diarrhea in the next moment."

That witch!

A second later, Bode and Crocker suddenly squeezed their thighs together and covered their stomachs with their hands.

Twenty seconds later, Kroc turned pale and began to sweat profusely; while Bode's face looked even more sallow, and his features were contorted.

Even so, the two still locked in a fierce stare-down with Bobby, exchanging sharp exchanges.

A minute later, the two began to tremble and bent over, forming the shape of shrimp...

Two minutes later, Kroc was the first to yell and rush out of the room.

Three minutes later, Bode took small, quick steps, clutching his stomach with one hand and his buttocks with the other, and left the place groaning.

Dumbledore sighed. "They are all good, dutiful people. You shouldn't do this."

Bobby shook his head. "I only refrained from saying anything more offensive because I knew they were good people."

"No, what I mean is, you shouldn't include the entire silent population."

Bobby was taken aback, then realized that there were more than just Bod and Crook among the Silent Men... So today, the Ministry of Magic's toilets were going to face an unprecedented test.

She shook off the pungent associations and walked to the archway. "Mr. Dumbledore, I'm off."

Old Deng asked uneasily, "Are you really sure?"

Bobby nodded: "I have to do this."

"I don't think it's that urgent."

Bobby's face was filled with sorrow: "It's very urgent. I haven't seen Christine for a year and a half."

Dumbledore asked in surprise, "She even went back to Evans' mansion before the World Cup?"

“I was only suspicious at first, but when I opened her closet before school started and saw the empty magic-enhancing potion inside, I knew she wasn’t herself.” Poppy said, stepping firmly into the archway and disappearing in an instant.

Meanwhile, Bode and Crocker waited anxiously in front of the elevator, one taking small steps in place, the other hopping around in place.

Because they were a few minutes late, the other Silent Ones got to use the elevator first.

—There are no toilets on this floor of the Department of Mysteries.

Chapter 113 Avalon and Christine

After a moment of weightlessness and a fall, Bobby landed on the water.

Her shoes and socks were quickly disintegrated, but the grayish-black liquid could not cause her any harm.

But she still floated up; the water would break down her clothes, and she didn't want to be naked.

Everything here was gray; the sky was gray, the water was gray, and even the floating souls were gray. Only she herself was colorful.

She floated on the surface of the water, the gale beneath her feet causing ripples to spread across the calm sea of ​​death.

The ripples spread in all directions, and wherever the water passed, the spirits stopped and looked toward Bobby.

The next moment, they bowed to Bobby as if on a pilgrimage, their expressions devout.

Poppy ignored the spirits and began moving at high speed in one direction. Just like when she was hit by Avada Kedavra and came here, she could still clearly feel something calling to her from that direction.

How fast can Bobby fly at full speed? Nobody knows, but her current flight has already generated sonic booms, which is hard to imagine that a human being could do with just their physical body.

Behind her, the Sea of ​​Death was split in two, and the gray water was raised high.

After flying for a while, Bobby suddenly stopped because she saw someone she knew.

"Aunt Lily?"

As Bobby drew closer to the bewildered spirit, he became increasingly certain that this was his aunt, who had been dead for over ten years.

She looks almost exactly like me.

As Poppy approached, all the undead within five feet of her turned colorful and their eyes lit up! But as Poppy left, they returned to their grayish-white appearance.

She stopped in front of Lily Potter, and the grayish-white spirit quickly came to life, with red hair and blue eyes.

"Where is this? And who are you? Why do you look just like me?"

"This is the world of the dead. Are you Lily Evans?"

"Yes, it's me."

“My name is Bobby Evans, and my father is Selvi Evans.”

“Selvi… Oh, I remember now, you are Selvi’s cousin’s child. I even held you when you were born.”

Lily looked around and murmured, "The world of the dead? So, am I dead? Yes, yes, I'm dead. Voldemort has found us..."

Her expression suddenly changed drastically. She stepped forward, trying to grab Bobby's shoulder, but instead grasped only air. "Bobby! Tell me, where's Harry? How is Harry?"

Bobby comforted her, saying, "Don't worry, Harry is fine. He's a pretty good wizard now. He even helped Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup last year."

Lily breathed a sigh of relief. "Then he's like his father...that's good..." Lily suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Bobby, I lost my composure. What are you doing in the world of the dead? What happened to you?"

Bobby laughed and said, "I'm fine, I just came here to take care of some business."

Lily was utterly astonished; this was the world of the dead: "How did you do that?"

“My bloodline is a bit special,” Bobby said, not wanting to linger too long. “Aunt Lily, I have other things to attend to. We’ll talk later. If there’s a chance, I’ll take you and Uncle back so you can have a good look at Harry.”

Lily asked excitedly, "Can we?"

Bobby looked ahead: "Let's see if I can find the answer there."

After Bobby left, Lily's soul quickly returned to its gray-white state, and she continued to wander aimlessly.

Bobby saw many dead souls along the way, which suddenly turned into specks of light and merged into the Sea of ​​Death, perhaps having completely forgotten their past lives.

She wondered if it was possible that as long as a soul harbored attachments, it wouldn't reincarnate, just like the ghosts of Hogwarts.

Bobby flew forward a little further. Half an hour had passed since she entered the world of the dead. At her speed, she had flown at least a thousand kilometers, but she still didn't see any islands ahead.

She wanted to fly higher, but found that it was impossible to fly high here. The gray mist in the air was like a ceiling, preventing her from advancing any further.

Just as she began to feel anxious, she heard a "pop" sound. She felt herself break through a thin membrane, and then her eyes lit up. A large island, covering at least fifty or sixty square kilometers, appeared before her.

Birds sing and flowers bloom, lush greenery abounds.

Bobby stood on the beach and turned around. The azure sea was suddenly blocked by a curtain of light a few hundred feet from the shore. On the other side of the curtain of light was the Sea of ​​Death that she had just flown from.

"Bobby! What brings you here!"

Bobby heard a familiar voice, turned around in surprise, and saw Christine walking towards her in a white dress and various gold ornaments.

When was the last time I wet the bed?

Bobby asked a question out of the blue.