"Did the traitor who sneaked into the carriage follow the traitor?" Ron speculated while chopping onions.
Now he doesn't even want to mention Percy's name anymore, but instead uses traitor as a nickname.
Compared to the others, Neville was obviously much more perceptive. He washed the potatoes and shook his head.
"The mole's purpose cannot be just to take Percy away. It's not even as meaningful as him staying on the carriage and reporting our location to the Ministry of Magic at all times."
"I haven't dared to sleep alone recently, so I can only squeeze into the same bed with Hermione." Lavender came over with a bucket and said irritably.
Hermione, who was stirring the cream, turned to look at her helplessly.
"Tonight we have to divide the quilts into two. You always like to take away the quilts at night. I'm about to catch a cold."
"Actually, even if you don't catch that person, don't be too nervous." Jon said calmly, "After he helped Percy leave the carriage, if he really wanted to do anything harmful to us, he would have done it sooner.
We should take action now, instead of waiting until everyone is prepared to take action."
He put Neville's washed potatoes and Ron's chopped onions into a large basin, then lifted them up with Justin and walked towards Hanton and the others who were boiling a large pot of hot water.
"Waiting for news from the professors, I hope today's search will yield some results."
They had been preparing for the sumptuous dinner in the evening all day today, but the lunch was not bad. The place where the carriage stopped was cast a Muggle expulsion spell by the professors, so as long as the students did not leave the designated area, the students
We can move around here freely without worrying about being discovered by anyone.
During lunch time, Dumbledore and other professors also got off the carriage. Looking at the expressions on Professor McGonagall's and others' faces, most students could guess that this search was going to be carried out, and it was estimated that nothing significant would be found.
Clues to value.
This is really not a normal thing. As the final escape from Hogwarts, the protective measures on this carriage are quite complete. Unless Dumbledore and a certain professor in the carriage directed and acted like they did the year before, even if
A wizard can sneak in, and it's very difficult to hide.
However, this is a welcome dinner after all. Those freshmen who have just been picked up on the carriage can clearly feel the tense atmosphere these days. It is time for them to relax a little today.
A long table was placed on the grass. This table was much larger than the year Jon entered school. It was covered with a white tablecloth and filled with food that the students had been busy preparing for the day.
Dumbledore would never have a long speech on such occasions. He knew that children are always impatient when it comes to delicious food and dinner.
But before the banquet officially started, he still mentioned it with a smile.
"Don't worry about the dangers on the carriage. Although we still haven't gained much today, we already have a method. I believe we will see the results soon."
Naturally, the students had 100% trust in his words. Except for the first-year students, the lingering pressure in the hearts of all the little wizards was suddenly relieved, and there were more joys and laughter at the dinner.
There are no new professors to introduce this year. Lu Ping has been teaching the students on the carriage for nearly half a semester, and they have already become familiar with him.
The students on the carriage were as enthusiastic as ever. They introduced the new students to the professors who were sitting at the front of the long table, and at the same time explained to them their future life in the school.
Those students at Hogwarts Castle who only came to the carriage this year have long lost the restraint they had when they first came here. They look like other children who were enslaved as slaves in the castle.
Life has long been suppressed in my heart by today's happiness. Except for occasionally recalling the unbearable past every time before falling asleep, and my body will tremble a little, at other times, my life will be the same as if I was taken to this carriage from the beginning.
The dinner lasted until nearly ten o'clock and finally came to an end. Under the leadership of Dumbledore, the students sang the Hogwarts school song to the starry sky above their heads. Then most of the students began to return to the carriage to rest, except for the freshmen.
All plus one from each grade from second to seventh grade, leaving these small group of students to clean up the remaining mess.
Jon was also one of the students who stayed to help, and Dumbledore did not leave either. He asked the professors who had been busy all day to go back to the carriage to rest. He and Filch helped together, and took care of the students here.
He drew his wand and knocked on the long table full of food scraps. The plates and cups on it became extremely clean. Then the sixth and seventh grade students used spells to gather the tableware and finally stack them neatly.
When they got together, the remaining students were cleaning up the garbage left on the ground around them.
Gabrielle did not return to the carriage immediately. She floated next to her "roommate" Luna, directing her to pick up the peels.
But soon she felt bored and floated next to Jon. She kept talking happily about how great today's dinner was. She now thought that when she was old enough, she would not go to Beauxbatons to go to school, but come to
I just don't know if her parents can agree with this Hogwarts carriage.
Jon was thinking about things and didn't pay much attention to the little girl's chirping words. He just used his wand to restore the suppressed grass on the ground to its original state, while nodding his head to show that he was listening.
Gabrielle soon discovered his perfunctory behavior, so she pouted and floated to the grass on the edge of the carriage to play with the fireflies.
Jon wasn't thinking about anything else. He was just thinking about what Dumbledore said before the banquet started, that there was already a way. He didn't think it was an unreasonable comfort. Since Dumbledore said this
, it means that he must have an idea.
Just as the students who were left behind to clean up the place were tidying up the place as it was before they arrived, the freshmen with the lightest workload were preparing to step up the stairs and return to the carriage.
A piercing scream suddenly pierced the quiet night sky!
"ah!
!”
This was a delicate female voice, and as soon as this voice sounded, all the students present, as well as Dumbledore who had not yet returned, all turned their heads to look in the direction of the source of the voice.
Gabrielle, who was originally floating around the grass with fireflies, hugged her head at some point. Her silver hair, which was completely like clouds, trembled behind her, which originally looked transparent in the moonlight.
At this time, the body became even more unreal.
And in front of her, a creature wearing a gray cloak, as tall as a bamboo pole and as tall as two meters, floated out of the woods silently!
The moment this monster appeared, a winter-like coldness enveloped the entire venue. Every student who saw it seemed to be frozen by this biting cold, and their bodies could not stop trembling.
A feeling of deathly silence and despair arose in my heart for no reason!
The moment he saw this monster, its name came to Jon's mind——
Dementors!
"Call the gods to protect you!"
Almost in the blink of an eye, Dumbledore's voice reciting a spell sounded behind him. Jon also raised his wand and ran quickly in the direction of Gabrielle without any hesitation.
"Get back to the carriage! All students, get back to the carriage!"
Silver light illuminated the wilderness, and Dumbledore's calm and obviously angry voice sounded, causing the students who had been stunned to look at the dementor to come back to their senses.
Return to the carriage.
Dumbledore's spell did not summon the Patronus, but the silver light was like another moon in the dark night, piercing the cold that had enveloped this place of difference.
The dementor floating in front of Gabrielle began to retreat. It seemed to be extremely uncomfortable with the silver light and did not dare to move forward easily. Instead, it returned to the darkness behind the grass.
Jon's hand passed through Gabrielle's cold body. The little girl who had been stunned finally returned to her senses. She cried out Jon's name, and then stretched out her transparent hand to grab it.
The hem of his robe.
Jon held the wand in his hand, softly comforting her, and kept leading her back. At the same time, with the help of the warm silver light behind him, his eyes also saw the scene behind the grass where the fireflies were no longer dancing.
Dementors, hordes of dementors!
They are hidden in the woods where the silver light cannot reach them, and their number cannot be clearly seen, but at a glance, they can only be felt as if they are everywhere in sight!
"Take Gabrielle back, Jon."
Dumbledore's voice sounded directly behind Jon. At this time, they were the only two people left on the field, and the other students had already returned to the carriage.
Hagrid waved the reins and sat in the driver's seat. The Thestral, which can only be seen after contact with living death, let out a restless roar. Jon did not stop for a moment. He quickly took Gabri, who had been holding on to his clothes.
Jumped on the carriage.
After he got in the car, Dumbledore also walked to Hagrid's driver's seat. The silver light emitted from the tip of his wand gradually failed to deter the hundreds of dementors behind him. These bodies were covered in tattered gray robes.
Monsters surged out of the woods!
"Let's go, Hagrid!"
After hearing the order, Hagrid immediately pulled up the reins. In fact, the Thestrals did not need to be driven away by him at all. After receiving the order to run wildly, they ran towards the golden wheat fields ahead!
Before the horses' hooves trampled the nearly ripe wheat, they fled to both sides in a hurry like pedestrians blocking the road. The carriage was galloping, but the dementors did not give up on the target in front of them.
They rise up from the woods, like countless kites with broken strings, flying into the night sky!
The originally clear starry sky was blocked, and the suffocating coldness pressed from mid-air to the ground like a blizzard!
Hagrid, who felt the deathly silence most intuitively, was obviously pale, but he still tried his best to hold the reins in his hands.
"It takes time for the Thestrals to accelerate! Sir! We can't get rid of them for the time being!"
There was no special change in Dumbledore's expression, but under the half-moon glasses, he narrowed his eyes at some point and raised the wand in his hand again.
He did not answer Hagrid's words, but recited the spell in a calm voice.
"Call the gods to protect you."
The moment the spell fell, a silver light that was ten times more dazzling than before illuminated half of the night sky!
Under the overwhelming light, a bird very similar to Fox emerged from the silver light!
Different from Fox's gorgeous golden and red appearance, its lifelike feathers are all as silver as moonlight. Every time its wings are spread downward, there will be a silver glow swaying at the end of the wings.
The moment this silver phoenix guardian angel appeared, the gray sky was pierced by this brilliance!
The monsters that originally blocked the entire night sky began to scramble back, but their speed was obviously no match for the phoenix soaring in mid-air. The gray silence was dissipating, and the silver light in the sky recalled the stars again.
Hagrid showed an extremely excited expression.
"We're out of them, sir!"
Dumbledore's face was still so calm. He looked at the fading ashes and said softly.
"We are only getting rid of them temporarily, and the fundamental problem has not been solved."
The Thestrals completed their initial acceleration, and the surrounding scenery was like a rapidly turning slide, constantly passing by both sides of the carriage.
In a very short time, they crossed the entire wheat field, passed the village, and passed along a city.
After making sure to completely get rid of the Dementors behind him, Dumbledore returned to the carriage through the driver's door.
In order to prevent someone from using this chaos to create even greater chaos, the students had been arranged to the dining room by the professors who had returned to the carriage. When Dumbledore opened the door and walked in, these students all had uneasy expressions on their faces.
Look at him.
That originally old and calm face would always show a gentle smile when facing these children.
"Go back to sleep. The outside situation has been solved. Remember, if you want to go out to the bathroom at night, you must wake up your roommates."
After hearing his words, the students all breathed a sigh of relief, and under the separate arrangements of McGonagall and Flitwick, they returned to their dormitories. Before leaving the restaurant, each of them did not forget to pay attention to Deng.
Bledo said "Good night, Professor."
Jon had already calmed down Gabrielle and asked her to go back to the dormitory with her roommates Luna and Ginny.
When he and Neville passed by Dumbledore, Jon actually had something to ask the old man, but after meeting Dumbledore's bright eyes that vaguely revealed some fatigue, he
I swallowed these words temporarily.
The night gradually deepened, and tonight Hogwarts returned to that uneasy calm.