Chapter 431 The only way
·
Yun Yin Shen
Chapter 431 The Only Way
"Fortunately, I have Crouch with me... This guy's fate is no better than mine!"
Fudge smiled wryly. Although he had calmed down, he was extremely depressed.
"Maybe...it's not that bad!"
Dumbledore said calmly, "What we need now is to go back to the time... to find out where Wormtail went?"
He stared at Hermione with his pale blue eyes.
Everyone stared at the little witch following Dumbledore's gaze.
Hermione was still reveling in the fact that Sirius was innocent... and she was shocked by how much MacGuffin was hiding from them.
After coming here for a while, she realized what Dumbledore meant.
"Professor, you mean..."
She widened her eyes and took out a very long and thin gold chain from her neck.
"Time Changer!"
"Why didn't I think of that?"
Fudge was overjoyed, he hurried to Hermione's side, trying to get the little shiny golden timer in his hand.
"What do you mean?"
exclaimed the twins.
"Oh, forgot you were still awake?"
"Passed out!"
Fudge flicked his wand, and George and Fred slammed their heads on the bed.
"minister!"
Madam Pomfrey growled in dissatisfaction.
Fudge waved his hand and said, "Some things are not suitable for too many people to know! I will talk to Arthur!"
After speaking, he played with the timer, but his expression became depressed.
"Dumbledore, I remembered, this year I approved a little witch to apply for [Time-Turner] to study all subjects... It must be her! Miss Granger!"
"This thing is strictly controlled... At that time, the Ministry of Magic stipulated the use rules through magic, and our age has exceeded the age range stipulated by this thing. If we use it in violation of the regulations, the monitoring department of the Ministry of Magic will definitely know, and there will definitely be rumors at that time. I can't stop it."
"It's not for us," said Dumbledore quietly.
"What! You...you mean..."
Fudge's eyes turned to MacGuffin.
Yes, maybe only this little wizard can...
"It's not MacGuffin... After his body has undergone the dangerous transformation of black magic before, it is no longer possible for him to experience this... until now it is still in the unknown magic field. We must measure and evaluate his problems..."
"It's Hermione, Harry and the others! Dumbledore said."
"Only Hermione, who has been proficient in using [Time Turner] many times, may know how to investigate where Wormtail is without causing serious consequences?"
"What! I don't allow it!"
It was Snape who responded first, he shouted.
It made Harry very strange.
Snape also noticed this, so he hesitated for a moment, and then said immediately, "Dumbledore, you have given them enough privileges, are you encouraging them to break the rules now?"
However, apart from Black who had no right to speak, only Madam Pomfrey might support this point,
And Fudge even took what Dumbledore said as a life-saving straw, although he said that Harry and the others went back to the past... Whether they could really find Peter Pettigrew was very doubtful.
Harry and Ron obviously haven't figured out what's going on, and they were very surprised to see the different expressions on the faces of the people.
McGuffin looked at the expression of the old bee, but a thought came to his mind - he always felt that this guy seemed to be trying to drive Harry and the others out,
And...Professor Trelawney, the double-faced old witch, has been here all the time, which reminded him of the weird exam in the divination class this afternoon, which even aroused McGuffin's bad premonition.
"Okay, time is running out... It's been more than ten minutes past midnight. If we want to catch up with the time for Wormtail to disappear...Miss Gran, just turn five times." Dumbledore said.
"Well, play it safe, Harry! Just make sure Peter Pettigrew is alive and see which direction he's going... tell me the rest when you get back and I'll let the Aurors hunt that guy down," said Fudge.
In just a few words, Dumbledore and Fudge decided everything.
Black felt a burning sensation in his stomach.
No, it can't be—
If the little wizards were right, and the dementor polymorph was indeed possessed by Voldemort, it would be too dangerous to go back in time.
Even if he locked himself in Azkaban again, Black didn't want Harry to take the risk.
He and Snape looked at each other the same way, although the two still hated each other...but maybe at this time, they could only cooperate with this guy.
If he didn't guess wrong, the doe should represent... that guy has always remembered Lily... which means that this guy should not hurt Harry.
Black thought for a moment, gave Snape a look, and then interjected, "You can't do this, they're just little wizards... This matter is too dangerous. If possible, I'd rather be imprisoned in Azkaban again..."
"That's right, quickly put this guy in Azkaban! This way the matter will be over!"
Snape nodded and interrupted.
'I don't want this! '
'I don't even look at this situation because of who! '
When Fudge heard these words, he was so angry that he roared in his heart, staring at the two fat and thin guys in front of him.
"Shut up! Blake!"
Fudge directly waved his wand and petrified Black, "Sirius, don't forget... I am still a wanted criminal. If Dumbledore and others were not present, I would have already been handed over to the Aurors. You have no right to speak, you better shut up!"
"And you Snape...why didn't you reveal the identity of this guy earlier...I..."
"Minister! Hurry up!" Dumbledore said, looking at his watch.
"Oh!"
"It's up to you, boys, to decide for yourselves!" said Fudge.
Harry was still a little confused, unable to figure out the situation.
Hermione jumped out of bed directly, came to Fudge, took the little gold timer again, and shouted, "What are you waiting for?"
"Harry, come here!" she said eagerly. "Quick!"
Amid the urging, Ron and Harry walked up to Hermione in confusion.
McGuffin watched as Hermione slowly stretched the golden chain around the necks of the three people.
"Wait, take the invisibility cloak... here are your wands!" Dumbledore waved his hand, and in the dark corner of the infirmary...the three wands, the invisibility cloak, and the Marauder's Map all floated into the hands of the three.
"Five turns are enough, this is the limit...be careful, Miss Granger!" Fudge instructed.
"Then, professor, minister...see you next second!"
"Remember, tread carefully, and...good luck!" said Dumbledore.
McGuffin also understood Dumbledore's plan, so he hurriedly ordered, "From under the Whomping Willow... there is a secret road to Hogsmeade! Remember... hit the scar!"
Hermione turned the timer five times.
In an instant, the three of them disappeared in place.
……
The dark ward disappeared.
With a feeling of rapid flight, various blurred scenes flashed before Harry's eyes... the full moon in the night sky, the sun in the morning... blurry shadows turning... and giant rumbles in his ears...
Soon, they regained a feeling of being down-to-earth and coming to reality.
Everything comes back into focus.
--This is?
Harry found himself standing in a dark tunnel.
Very familiar, very annoying feeling.
He immediately realized that they had come to that again... in the secret passage behind the statue of the hunched witch on the fourth floor.
And some voices came indistinctly from the front.
Footsteps, and... Ron, Harry and various noises were faintly heard by the three of them.
Hearing this familiar voice, Harry turned his head to stare at Ron in front of him, but he didn't make any sound at all.
what's the problem?
"Come on!"
Hermione whispered, she put the invisibility cloak on several people, then untied the gold chain from their necks, then pointed to the front, pulled Harry and the others along the stone ladder slide, and climbed up with difficulty.
At the end, when she was in front of the stone statue, she explained to the two of them, "We went back five hours in time..."
"That voice just now..." Ron asked.
"Well, it's us!"
"Then let's stop it quickly..."
"No, Ron! Whatever you're thinking... is wrong! We'd better not interfere with what we know has happened... or we'll be in a horrible situation."
"Think about it, what would happen if you appeared in front of yourself?"
"You're going to think you're crazy, or that you've seen some dark wizard or troll (Wendigo) pretending to be you."
"Even if I stop us from killing ourselves...this kind of thing will have unfortunate consequences. All wizards who go back to the past, face themselves directly, and try to change the past have fallen into some kind of strange curse. These wizards will automatically disappear into the world..."
"The Ministry of Magic has investigated such incidents several times, but all of them have been dismissed. There is a rumor that all wizards who have investigated this incident have encountered misfortune in the end. So these incidents were even blocked at the bottom of the [Department of Mysteries]...just left a lot of warnings about using [Time-Turner]." Hermione stared at Ron seriously.
"It's best not to let anyone see our tracks from the start...especially ourselves!"
"Okay, okay!" Ron and Harry nodded obediently, a little startled by Hermione's tone.
"By the way, open the [Marauder's Map] and see if there is anyone outside!"
Then Hermione explained to the two the function and origin of the Time Converter, as well as the horrific consequences that had occurred in history.
"Then what can we do when we go back in time?" Harry said despondently.
"We can find traces of Peter Pettigrew... to prove Sirius Black's innocence, so... hurry up!"
Seeing that there was no one outside, Hermione opened the stone statue and urged the two to leave. She seemed to have a plan in mind.
After coming to the corridor outside, Hermione pulled the two of them wearing the invisibility cloak to carefully avoid the little wizards, left the oak door in the front hall, and headed straight for the Forbidden Forest.
"where are we going?"
"Go to [Hogsmeade Wizarding Village] through another secret passage... You can see that passage on the [Marauder's Map]."
"Could it be that you want to play hide-and-seek with the Death Eaters down there again?" she asked angrily.
Hearing this, Harry and Ron shivered together, and said no more.
"There should be some trick to get us through there... I don't understand what McGuffin is talking about scars!?" Hermione said, staring impatiently at the [Marauder's Map].
"Perhaps...you should know it when you get there! It should be shown on the map...Since this is made by Sirius and the others." She muttered to herself.
At this time, the sky outside had begun to gradually darken, but there were still little wizards in twos and threes gathering together at a place far away from the fire dragon, taking a slow walk.
They passed by the little wizard Hagrid, and they saw Lupine saying hello to Hagrid and leaving. The big black dog (Sirius Black) was lying in front of the hut door and watched Lupine leave for a long time.
Looking at the humanized expression, Ron muttered, "I can't believe I didn't see all this..."
Ron, his two favorite pets - Mouse Scabbers and Padfoot are both Animagus... They are both adult wizards, and he is very concerned about this matter.
In particular, McGuffin didn't reveal anything to him, which made him even more ashamed.
Hermione led a few people, wearing an invisibility cloak, and flew across the vegetable garden, passed the greenhouse, and headed straight for the Whooping Willow.
Finally stopped in front of the huge willow tree,
They were panting.
Panting heavily, Hermione opened the [Marauder's Map] again, and clicked on the picture of the Whomping Willow with her magic wand to enlarge it.
——Sure enough, a tunnel entrance was found at the root of the tree.
There is also a large scar marked on the trunk above.
After receiving MacGuffin's prompt, Hermione immediately understood what to do.
Maybe I noticed something.
The branches of the Whomping Willow began to dance wildly, as if in a hurricane of magnitude [-].
Ron was terrified.
"I said...are we really going in there?" he said tremblingly.
Hermione gave Ron a blank look, she thought for a moment, then swung her wand and slammed a goose egg-like stone directly on the scar.
Suddenly, as if petrified, the tree stopped moving, all leaves and branches were still.
"Get in quickly—"
Hermione urged.
A few seconds later, they walked to the hole in front of the tree trunk, took off their invisibility cloaks and put them away, slid down the dirt slope one by one, and entered the low tunnel.
After lighting it up with the [Luminescent Curse], several people slowly groped forward in this narrow tunnel that only one person can pass through.
Following the ups and downs of the tunnel, they kept bending over and sideways to avoid the roots and branches that suddenly penetrated in all directions.
A few people walked forward silently like this.
Harry's mood was constantly fluctuating with the flickering [Luminescent Curse] in front of him, as well as the shadow...
He suddenly remembered one thing—that Blake was still his godfather in name.
If he's really innocent and they're able to catch Peter Pettigrew, that means—
He could run away from the Dursleys himself.
Even if not - having a wanted godfather would be enough to scare Dudley and Vernon!
Harry was very excited about this, and he felt that the joy in his heart could even be compared to winning the Quidditch final at one point.
"Where is the exit of this tunnel?"
After walking in silence for a long time, Ron couldn't stand the atmosphere, so he asked.
"I don't know... I guess it's Hogsmeade Wizarding Village... Otherwise, McGuffin wouldn't have told us about it!"
"Let's be careful in a while! Neither the Death Eaters nor Voldemort are easy to deal with!"
Hermione's words made the three of them even more nervous, and Ron even trembled.
Harry's previous euphoria was completely gone, too.
As he just got the topic, he suddenly remembered something——
Before he passed out, in the cellar of [Honeydukes]...the invisibility cloak, the patron saint, and the figure that looked like his father...
Is it?
(End of this chapter)
"Fortunately, I have Crouch with me... This guy's fate is no better than mine!"
Fudge smiled wryly. Although he had calmed down, he was extremely depressed.
"Maybe...it's not that bad!"
Dumbledore said calmly, "What we need now is to go back to the time... to find out where Wormtail went?"
He stared at Hermione with his pale blue eyes.
Everyone stared at the little witch following Dumbledore's gaze.
Hermione was still reveling in the fact that Sirius was innocent... and she was shocked by how much MacGuffin was hiding from them.
After coming here for a while, she realized what Dumbledore meant.
"Professor, you mean..."
She widened her eyes and took out a very long and thin gold chain from her neck.
"Time Changer!"
"Why didn't I think of that?"
Fudge was overjoyed, he hurried to Hermione's side, trying to get the little shiny golden timer in his hand.
"What do you mean?"
exclaimed the twins.
"Oh, forgot you were still awake?"
"Passed out!"
Fudge flicked his wand, and George and Fred slammed their heads on the bed.
"minister!"
Madam Pomfrey growled in dissatisfaction.
Fudge waved his hand and said, "Some things are not suitable for too many people to know! I will talk to Arthur!"
After speaking, he played with the timer, but his expression became depressed.
"Dumbledore, I remembered, this year I approved a little witch to apply for [Time-Turner] to study all subjects... It must be her! Miss Granger!"
"This thing is strictly controlled... At that time, the Ministry of Magic stipulated the use rules through magic, and our age has exceeded the age range stipulated by this thing. If we use it in violation of the regulations, the monitoring department of the Ministry of Magic will definitely know, and there will definitely be rumors at that time. I can't stop it."
"It's not for us," said Dumbledore quietly.
"What! You...you mean..."
Fudge's eyes turned to MacGuffin.
Yes, maybe only this little wizard can...
"It's not MacGuffin... After his body has undergone the dangerous transformation of black magic before, it is no longer possible for him to experience this... until now it is still in the unknown magic field. We must measure and evaluate his problems..."
"It's Hermione, Harry and the others! Dumbledore said."
"Only Hermione, who has been proficient in using [Time Turner] many times, may know how to investigate where Wormtail is without causing serious consequences?"
"What! I don't allow it!"
It was Snape who responded first, he shouted.
It made Harry very strange.
Snape also noticed this, so he hesitated for a moment, and then said immediately, "Dumbledore, you have given them enough privileges, are you encouraging them to break the rules now?"
However, apart from Black who had no right to speak, only Madam Pomfrey might support this point,
And Fudge even took what Dumbledore said as a life-saving straw, although he said that Harry and the others went back to the past... Whether they could really find Peter Pettigrew was very doubtful.
Harry and Ron obviously haven't figured out what's going on, and they were very surprised to see the different expressions on the faces of the people.
McGuffin looked at the expression of the old bee, but a thought came to his mind - he always felt that this guy seemed to be trying to drive Harry and the others out,
And...Professor Trelawney, the double-faced old witch, has been here all the time, which reminded him of the weird exam in the divination class this afternoon, which even aroused McGuffin's bad premonition.
"Okay, time is running out... It's been more than ten minutes past midnight. If we want to catch up with the time for Wormtail to disappear...Miss Gran, just turn five times." Dumbledore said.
"Well, play it safe, Harry! Just make sure Peter Pettigrew is alive and see which direction he's going... tell me the rest when you get back and I'll let the Aurors hunt that guy down," said Fudge.
In just a few words, Dumbledore and Fudge decided everything.
Black felt a burning sensation in his stomach.
No, it can't be—
If the little wizards were right, and the dementor polymorph was indeed possessed by Voldemort, it would be too dangerous to go back in time.
Even if he locked himself in Azkaban again, Black didn't want Harry to take the risk.
He and Snape looked at each other the same way, although the two still hated each other...but maybe at this time, they could only cooperate with this guy.
If he didn't guess wrong, the doe should represent... that guy has always remembered Lily... which means that this guy should not hurt Harry.
Black thought for a moment, gave Snape a look, and then interjected, "You can't do this, they're just little wizards... This matter is too dangerous. If possible, I'd rather be imprisoned in Azkaban again..."
"That's right, quickly put this guy in Azkaban! This way the matter will be over!"
Snape nodded and interrupted.
'I don't want this! '
'I don't even look at this situation because of who! '
When Fudge heard these words, he was so angry that he roared in his heart, staring at the two fat and thin guys in front of him.
"Shut up! Blake!"
Fudge directly waved his wand and petrified Black, "Sirius, don't forget... I am still a wanted criminal. If Dumbledore and others were not present, I would have already been handed over to the Aurors. You have no right to speak, you better shut up!"
"And you Snape...why didn't you reveal the identity of this guy earlier...I..."
"Minister! Hurry up!" Dumbledore said, looking at his watch.
"Oh!"
"It's up to you, boys, to decide for yourselves!" said Fudge.
Harry was still a little confused, unable to figure out the situation.
Hermione jumped out of bed directly, came to Fudge, took the little gold timer again, and shouted, "What are you waiting for?"
"Harry, come here!" she said eagerly. "Quick!"
Amid the urging, Ron and Harry walked up to Hermione in confusion.
McGuffin watched as Hermione slowly stretched the golden chain around the necks of the three people.
"Wait, take the invisibility cloak... here are your wands!" Dumbledore waved his hand, and in the dark corner of the infirmary...the three wands, the invisibility cloak, and the Marauder's Map all floated into the hands of the three.
"Five turns are enough, this is the limit...be careful, Miss Granger!" Fudge instructed.
"Then, professor, minister...see you next second!"
"Remember, tread carefully, and...good luck!" said Dumbledore.
McGuffin also understood Dumbledore's plan, so he hurriedly ordered, "From under the Whomping Willow... there is a secret road to Hogsmeade! Remember... hit the scar!"
Hermione turned the timer five times.
In an instant, the three of them disappeared in place.
……
The dark ward disappeared.
With a feeling of rapid flight, various blurred scenes flashed before Harry's eyes... the full moon in the night sky, the sun in the morning... blurry shadows turning... and giant rumbles in his ears...
Soon, they regained a feeling of being down-to-earth and coming to reality.
Everything comes back into focus.
--This is?
Harry found himself standing in a dark tunnel.
Very familiar, very annoying feeling.
He immediately realized that they had come to that again... in the secret passage behind the statue of the hunched witch on the fourth floor.
And some voices came indistinctly from the front.
Footsteps, and... Ron, Harry and various noises were faintly heard by the three of them.
Hearing this familiar voice, Harry turned his head to stare at Ron in front of him, but he didn't make any sound at all.
what's the problem?
"Come on!"
Hermione whispered, she put the invisibility cloak on several people, then untied the gold chain from their necks, then pointed to the front, pulled Harry and the others along the stone ladder slide, and climbed up with difficulty.
At the end, when she was in front of the stone statue, she explained to the two of them, "We went back five hours in time..."
"That voice just now..." Ron asked.
"Well, it's us!"
"Then let's stop it quickly..."
"No, Ron! Whatever you're thinking... is wrong! We'd better not interfere with what we know has happened... or we'll be in a horrible situation."
"Think about it, what would happen if you appeared in front of yourself?"
"You're going to think you're crazy, or that you've seen some dark wizard or troll (Wendigo) pretending to be you."
"Even if I stop us from killing ourselves...this kind of thing will have unfortunate consequences. All wizards who go back to the past, face themselves directly, and try to change the past have fallen into some kind of strange curse. These wizards will automatically disappear into the world..."
"The Ministry of Magic has investigated such incidents several times, but all of them have been dismissed. There is a rumor that all wizards who have investigated this incident have encountered misfortune in the end. So these incidents were even blocked at the bottom of the [Department of Mysteries]...just left a lot of warnings about using [Time-Turner]." Hermione stared at Ron seriously.
"It's best not to let anyone see our tracks from the start...especially ourselves!"
"Okay, okay!" Ron and Harry nodded obediently, a little startled by Hermione's tone.
"By the way, open the [Marauder's Map] and see if there is anyone outside!"
Then Hermione explained to the two the function and origin of the Time Converter, as well as the horrific consequences that had occurred in history.
"Then what can we do when we go back in time?" Harry said despondently.
"We can find traces of Peter Pettigrew... to prove Sirius Black's innocence, so... hurry up!"
Seeing that there was no one outside, Hermione opened the stone statue and urged the two to leave. She seemed to have a plan in mind.
After coming to the corridor outside, Hermione pulled the two of them wearing the invisibility cloak to carefully avoid the little wizards, left the oak door in the front hall, and headed straight for the Forbidden Forest.
"where are we going?"
"Go to [Hogsmeade Wizarding Village] through another secret passage... You can see that passage on the [Marauder's Map]."
"Could it be that you want to play hide-and-seek with the Death Eaters down there again?" she asked angrily.
Hearing this, Harry and Ron shivered together, and said no more.
"There should be some trick to get us through there... I don't understand what McGuffin is talking about scars!?" Hermione said, staring impatiently at the [Marauder's Map].
"Perhaps...you should know it when you get there! It should be shown on the map...Since this is made by Sirius and the others." She muttered to herself.
At this time, the sky outside had begun to gradually darken, but there were still little wizards in twos and threes gathering together at a place far away from the fire dragon, taking a slow walk.
They passed by the little wizard Hagrid, and they saw Lupine saying hello to Hagrid and leaving. The big black dog (Sirius Black) was lying in front of the hut door and watched Lupine leave for a long time.
Looking at the humanized expression, Ron muttered, "I can't believe I didn't see all this..."
Ron, his two favorite pets - Mouse Scabbers and Padfoot are both Animagus... They are both adult wizards, and he is very concerned about this matter.
In particular, McGuffin didn't reveal anything to him, which made him even more ashamed.
Hermione led a few people, wearing an invisibility cloak, and flew across the vegetable garden, passed the greenhouse, and headed straight for the Whooping Willow.
Finally stopped in front of the huge willow tree,
They were panting.
Panting heavily, Hermione opened the [Marauder's Map] again, and clicked on the picture of the Whomping Willow with her magic wand to enlarge it.
——Sure enough, a tunnel entrance was found at the root of the tree.
There is also a large scar marked on the trunk above.
After receiving MacGuffin's prompt, Hermione immediately understood what to do.
Maybe I noticed something.
The branches of the Whomping Willow began to dance wildly, as if in a hurricane of magnitude [-].
Ron was terrified.
"I said...are we really going in there?" he said tremblingly.
Hermione gave Ron a blank look, she thought for a moment, then swung her wand and slammed a goose egg-like stone directly on the scar.
Suddenly, as if petrified, the tree stopped moving, all leaves and branches were still.
"Get in quickly—"
Hermione urged.
A few seconds later, they walked to the hole in front of the tree trunk, took off their invisibility cloaks and put them away, slid down the dirt slope one by one, and entered the low tunnel.
After lighting it up with the [Luminescent Curse], several people slowly groped forward in this narrow tunnel that only one person can pass through.
Following the ups and downs of the tunnel, they kept bending over and sideways to avoid the roots and branches that suddenly penetrated in all directions.
A few people walked forward silently like this.
Harry's mood was constantly fluctuating with the flickering [Luminescent Curse] in front of him, as well as the shadow...
He suddenly remembered one thing—that Blake was still his godfather in name.
If he's really innocent and they're able to catch Peter Pettigrew, that means—
He could run away from the Dursleys himself.
Even if not - having a wanted godfather would be enough to scare Dudley and Vernon!
Harry was very excited about this, and he felt that the joy in his heart could even be compared to winning the Quidditch final at one point.
"Where is the exit of this tunnel?"
After walking in silence for a long time, Ron couldn't stand the atmosphere, so he asked.
"I don't know... I guess it's Hogsmeade Wizarding Village... Otherwise, McGuffin wouldn't have told us about it!"
"Let's be careful in a while! Neither the Death Eaters nor Voldemort are easy to deal with!"
Hermione's words made the three of them even more nervous, and Ron even trembled.
Harry's previous euphoria was completely gone, too.
As he just got the topic, he suddenly remembered something——
Before he passed out, in the cellar of [Honeydukes]...the invisibility cloak, the patron saint, and the figure that looked like his father...
Is it?
(End of this chapter)
