Hogwarts: I am Harry's eldest cousin

"Albus, promise!" Fudge said stubbornly.

"I promise." The helplessness on Dumbledore's face became more and more obvious.

Why haven't I seen you care so much about Harry before?

Dumbledore recalled some things in the past. When Fudge first took the position of Minister of Magic, he was not like this now.

Although he has no special abilities, he is very self-aware. Unfortunately, he has changed after experiencing the power over the years.

Obsessed with power and status. But also closer to those so-called pure-blood wizards.

So did Dumbledore know where Dudley and the others were? He actually knew that Dudley had told him.

"Tell me, Albus, where he is, please."

Listening to Fudge's continued pleading made Dumbledore sigh.

"I can tell you, but Connelly, you should go find them tomorrow morning."

After getting Fudge's assurance, Dumbledore told him the location of Dudley and others.

"That place is very safe. Well, maybe safer than Hogwarts." He said with a strange expression.

Dumbledore originally wanted to say that the safety level is second only to Hogwarts, but then he thought that a lot of things have happened in Hogwarts recently, with the invasion of trolls, the remnant of Voldemort, the Horcruxes (two of them), and the basilisk.

In short, it has absolutely nothing to do with safety.

Chapter 187 The Gate of Trial

Perhaps Dumbledore's assurance worked, and this time Fudge listened to him and did not go to find Dudley overnight.

Instead, he waited until the next morning and brought the Aurors to the door early in the morning.

"When did these appear here?"

Fudge looked at the tall gate of the castle's outer wall and fell into deep thought.

He had been to Godric's Hollow more than once, and had also been to the Potter family's old house after the unfortunate deaths of the Potters.

Since what happened more than a decade ago, this place has definitely become the most desolate place in all of Godric's Hollow.

Now, not only has the Porter's old house been renovated, but there is also a luxurious building.

When did all this happen?

"I heard that the Carrow family helped build it." A Ministry of Magic staff member standing next to Fudge explained.

The fact that the Carrow family and Dudley were on good terms was almost an open secret among the upper echelons of England's wizarding world.

The gate of this outer wall can only be described in one word.

That is "big", it can even be described as a small mountain.

The gates of ordinary people's villas (manors) are large iron gates with railings. For example, at Malfoy Manor, people standing outside the gate can see the interior of the garden through the gate, but the gate of this castle garden is different. It would be more appropriate to describe it as a mountain gate or a wall.

Because this thing is solid and airtight.

In other words, you can't see what's going on inside at all if you stand outside the gate.

It was as if a '38th parallel' was drawn, isolating the other side of the door from the world.

But the key point is that such a big door has no door handle or keyhole, which is really unbelievable.

Yes, not only the castle gate, but also the gate to the garden outside the castle has no door handles.

But autonomous recognition is not used here.

'How to contact Mr. Dursley? ' became the question facing Fudge and his party.

Owl delivery? It's not impossible, but the problem is that they have to arrive at the door before delivering the letter.

You can't use magic to force the door open, right?

He came to see if Harry Potter was okay, not to break into someone's house.

Even if you use magic, there has to be a place to open it. If there is not even a keyhole, the unlocking spell will definitely be useless.

Fudge was accompanied by only ordinary Aurors. The Office Director Rufus Scrimgeour did not come here with them. If it were him, there would have been other ways, but his mission was to capture Sirius Black, and he just happened to be with Fudge yesterday.

Looking at the huge gate that was as big as a hill, Fudge suddenly had an illusion. The circles of patterns on the gate looked like countless doors overlapping each other. Could it be that this door seemed to be pushed?

Fudge pushed hard at the door, but it didn't budge.

"How could I have such a ridiculous idea?" Fudge shook his head and laughed.

Normal humans have no chance of pushing this kind of door, only giants can do it.

"What are you doing at someone else's door?"

Just as they were debating whether they should let an owl in, a cold but slightly stern voice sounded behind them.

When Fudge and the others turned around, they saw Draco, who was holding a civilized stick in one hand and looking at them with a vigilant look on his face.

He went to Diagon Alley to buy materials as Dudley requested after finishing a day's morning exercise.

"Lucius' son, Draco Malfoy?"

Fudge looked at the other person in surprise.

He had some friendship with Lucius, so naturally he also knew Draco.

"You are the Minister of Magic? Mr. Fudge?" Draco paused for a moment, then widened his eyes and said with an exaggerated and delighted expression.

In fact, he recognized Fudge at the first moment, but he still pretended to look at him for a while, and then his attitude gradually changed.

Well, most people enjoy this process.

Of course, this didn't stop him from thinking that the other person was a fool.

"Why are you here?"

Fudge was very pleased with Draco's attitude and became much friendlier towards him.

"Oh, Draco, I'm here to see Harry, Harry Potter."

Fudge explained to him simply: "Dumbledore said he was here, so... is he here?"

"Harry? Of course he is."

Draco walked forward, looked at the door and then at Fudge, and said with a roll of his eyes: "Why don't you go in?"

"Go in?" Fudge looked and blinked.

He didn't understand what Draco meant by going in.

The door is closed tightly. Are we letting them go in through the wall?

"Oh, I guess this must be your first time here."

Draco pretended to be in realization, and raised the corners of his mouth to form a perfect arc, revealing his upper and lower rows of eight teeth.

"Yes."

Fudge suddenly had the illusion that he was facing the second generation of Lucius, except that he was not as aristocratic and aggressive as Lucius, but gave people the illusion of being a polite gentleman.

Well, he looks more gentlemanly than his father Lucius.

"Do you have the key?"

"It's useless. This door doesn't need a key."

"No key required? What do you mean?"

Draco did not rush to answer Fudge, but walked slowly to the door and knocked on the closed door. A dull sound came, and there was no doubt that it was solid. Only his voice sounded slowly.

"If you want to get through here, ordinary methods won't work. You don't need keys or spells. None of that."

"Brother D named it the Trial Gate."

"The Gate of Trial?"

"That's right, only those who pass the trial can enter, and the trial method is also very simple."

Draco said, knocking on the door with his cane.

"Just push it away."

So simple?

"I tried and couldn't push it open."

Fudge said quickly. It's not like he hadn't tried pushing the door just now, but there was no response at all.

"I think you didn't use enough force. This door is very heavy."

After hearing Draco's explanation, Fudge immediately signaled with his eyes the Auror who followed him to go up.

The Auror understood and immediately walked to the door. He wanted to perform well in front of Fudge, so he pushed the door hard.

motionless

The Auror was a little embarrassed, then he gathered all his strength and pushed again.

Still motionless

Seeing the Auror trying his best and his face turning red, Fudge looked at Draco with a puzzled look.

"It's not strong enough. Didn't this Auror have breakfast this morning?"

When it comes to sharp tongue, Draco is no less sharp than his father. He has learned a lot from Snape.

"You go too." Fudge couldn't hold back his pride and motioned for another Auror to help.

They both worked hard together.

Still no response.

Just when Fudge thought Malfoy was playing a trick on him, the door finally reacted slightly.

Before Fudge could say anything, the two Aurors returned to their original positions after they had exhausted their strength.

"Did you really push it?"

Fudge was shocked.

Chapter 188: Ignorance is terrible

Looking at Draco's half-smile, Fudge felt a little embarrassed and motioned to his entourage.

"You guys come together."

So several wizards worked together, and the door was finally slowly pushed open a small gap.

Well, it wasn't Fudge's illusion, those circles of patterns were indeed countless doors overlapping each other, and the one they pushed open was only the smallest of those countless doors.

"Push harder, it's almost open."

Draco saw the door being pushed open a crack and said happily as he stood aside.

In fact, it stands to reason that even if Fudge and his group didn't push open the door, Draco would have to push it to go in.

But this guy played a trick and asked Fudge and the others to push the door for him, so he saved some effort.

With everyone's unremitting efforts, Fudge and others finally succeeded in squeezing in through the small door.

With a loud bang, the stone door slowly closed.

"Why would Mr. Dursley use a door like this?"

Looking at the slowly closing door, everyone was filled with fear; it was truly too much effort.

Because of safety.

The existence of the Trial Gate has destroyed the most commonly used entry-level skill for wizards - the unlocking spell.

Even if you find this place, you won't be able to get in within a short period of time.

Furthermore, the symbols on the Trial Gate were all defensive measures set up by Dudley. Unless they were dismantled by force, if one wanted to pass through the Trial Gate, one would have to push it with real strength.

Of course, violent demolition is not so easy, as the entire Trial Gate is made of fluoroapatite, one of the hardest biominerals in the world.