Chapter 723 Beginning with a Snake and Ending with a Snake (End)
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Yun Yin Shen
Chapter 723 Beginning with a Snake and Ending with a Snake (End)
"That's a weird change in the mixture of images and magic power left behind after Voldemort's soul died... It's a unique phenomenon that occurs in the new generation after the magic power recovers. There will be more and more things like this..."
McGuffin said as he twirled a few rings on his fingers.
"Because that thing is not even a ghost, so now we have no way to eliminate the residue left by Voldemort..."
"But because I have reached an agreement with Hogwarts, the Muggle government, and various schools of magic. This train sometimes needs to transport little wizards and Muggles without magic power, so I have to expel this thing from this train..."
"Can't we use the old Hogwarts train?" Hermione somewhat missed the old train.
McGuffin didn't answer directly.He tapped the table lightly.
A magical oil painting that was originally located above the fireplace in the room suddenly turned into a transparent glass window, showing the scenery outside.
—It's Hogwarts!
The train has arrived at this magic school.
And other students, parents of some new students, and Emily Albert... Accompanied by Hagrid and Professor McGonagall, they are heading towards the magic castle.
"This train not only possesses a fast transshipment capability that surpasses all large vehicles in the world, but more importantly... just like the [passenger] code says, it can lead to any place, especially the magical secret realm that is about to undergo various changes in the future, which is contrary to common sense..."
"What Magical Rift? You keep saying that word... what the hell does that mean? And what does that have to do with Sirius' injury?" Harry asked.
"I can't explain this to you...you can only understand it if you see it with your own eyes!"
As McGuffin said, like pinching plasticine, he pulled directly from the back of his armchair... and pulled out a long strip.
The strange liquid object soon turned into a flesh-colored horn.
"Mr. Argus, come in." He said into the loudspeaker.
The door behind Harry lit up with the familiar golden light again.
then,
— Squeak!
After a sound, the door opened, and a guy in an old windbreaker with thinning hair and an excited and eager face came in.
Harry and the others are very familiar with this person, Ron called his name directly,
"Filch!"
Argus Filch ignored the three of Harry, but stared at McGuffin with excitement and fanaticism, and said with great respect, "Mr. Albert, can we start?"
"Be patient, Mr. Filch... Before I act, let me ask you one last time, do you really want to participate?"
"You and Harry are different. Since we are doing this for the first time, the risk of this operation is inestimable to you..."
"If you want to give up... I can understand!" McGuffin said.
"Sir, I'm fed up with being powerless and weak. I'm fed up with years and years, days and days... watching those little wizards waste their time without appreciating their talents... I'm fed up with being in the most amazing magic school in the world, and I can't cast a single spell... I'm fed up with being a Squib!"
Filch was suppressed, roared in a low voice, venting the pain in his heart.
Looking at Filch's current appearance, Harry Ron felt a little guilty in his heart. They used to cooperate with the twins... and played a lot of jokes on Filch.
Although there are often reasons for each, most of them are retaliation for each other.
But listening to Filch's miserable self-report, they still felt some guilt and sympathy.
Only Hermione's expression moved slightly, as if she understood what McGuffin was going to do.
And what Filch said next also proved her thoughts, "Sir, in order to possess magic power, in order to use magic... I can pay any price."
"Okay!" McGuffin nodded slightly,
Then, he took out three booklets from under the desk.
It's still the same kind of gold pages, with different names written on them: [London Zoo Director's Notes], [London Zoo Security Staff Work Manual], [London Zoo General Service Staff Work Rules].
"No, this is yours!"
McGuffin handed the [Zoo Security Staff Manual] to Filch, then handed the [Zoo Director's Notes] to Harry, and the remaining two to Hermione and Ron.
But after Filch took the manual, his expression was disappointed. He stared at the booklet in Harry's hand, full of longing.
McGuffin shook his head, "That position is not suitable for you. Although if you become the director, you can get stronger magical talents, even better than ordinary wizards...but if you choose it, you will just die in vain."
Hearing this, Harry immediately felt that the booklet in his hand was like a hot charcoal, extremely hot.
"Don't worry! Harry... to other people, what you hold is a deadly but attractive potion. But to you, it is just a proof of identity."
"You have faced the living Voldemort countless times, and [Joermungandr]... Are you still afraid of some residue left after the loss of these two?"
"This is just the lowest level of magical secrets, and those sources of infection with magical mutations can only be effective against Muggles and squibs who have no magic power... With this defensive measure, you don't have to worry about being affected by that thing."
Seeing that Harry and the others were confused, McGuffin smiled and said, "I forgot, you have to see for yourself...to understand all this!"
After snapping his fingers, the train started again, but stopped again after a minute or two.
"Come with me!"
McGuffin stood up, he opened a door, and led the crowd directly outside the train.
There was a white mist outside, and a sorceress in a blue robe stood outside the train door.
Her slender hair was scattered on her shoulders, her gray eyes were cold, and there was a mocking sneer at the corner of her mouth, she stood not far away and watched everyone.
Although she couldn't tell how good-looking she was, her brows and eyes revealed a sense of sharpness, and that face, that expression... all vaguely gave Harry a sense of familiarity.
I always feel that not long ago, I met someone with a similar face.
Harry couldn't help thinking to himself.
"Alice! Keep an eye on the train!" McGuffin told the witch.
Then, he took Harry, Filch and the other four to a trot, rushing out of the white mist.
A brand new building appeared in front of them.
It's 【London Zoo】.
(Even paint, photos, protective fences...even pedestrian passages are not set up...only a giant gilt English nameplate, very tacky, straightforwardly displayed...this is [London Zoo])
There is not a single staff member outside the zoo.
Aside from the sign, there was only a long blank notice board standing beside the door without a gate.
There are only a few big characters [Guidelines for Tourists] written on it, and then a weird reminder to remind tourists that they must abide by the safety rules in order to ensure their own safety.
There are no redundant regulations.
"It's not finished yet." McGuffin said with a wry smile, "Let's go! I'll let you see the most critical part of this magical secret realm, which is also the monster you want to guard. I just want to put that thing in the prison..."
McGuffin led a few people and walked straight into the empty zoo.
He explained to Harry and the others as he walked: "This was originally the former site of the London Zoo. In fact, no one cared about the reconstruction of this animal at first... But because of Voldemort's soul fragments and [Jomungard's] magic power, it was accidentally revived on that train... Due to its characteristics, our existing magic cannot eliminate this weird phenomenon at all."
"So at the suggestion of Professor Dumbledore and I, INA decided to imitate the weird mystery that appeared in the [Jason Murder Incident in Crystal Lake on Friday] that happened in the United States, and decided to build two mirrored zoos, using a similar small magical mystery to contain this source of pollution,"
"Pollution source!?" Harry asked.
"Well, after research, we found... this monster has the greatest malice towards all intelligent life. He is constantly exuding deep-level magic fluctuations, interfering with and polluting the magic of wizards... If a wizard blends with him deeply, after a long time together, although he will not suffer from malicious transformation like Muggles, but will also change the nature of his magic power and way of thinking...they will gradually degenerate and become dark wizards."
Hermione and Ron stopped in horror.
"Don't worry! You won't have any big problems. Not to mention that you have faced the magic power of [Jomungard], Harry alone... He had such an intimate fusion with Voldemort's soul fragments, and he didn't change his mind... With this kind of experience, even without the protective means I provided, nothing will happen to him."
"By the way, the means of protection... refers to the rules and regulations in those pamphlets. The rules in them are not only for you to abide by, but also the magic contract I made with that monster. Even in the face of ordinary people, it has to abide by the rules in it..."
Just as he was talking, McGuffin stopped suddenly and said to everyone, "Here we are, this is here... [Reptile House]!"
"Let's go, go in and see what you are going to deal with next!"
"Mr. Filch, no... take it..."
McGuffin stomped his feet, and a golden tree sapling emanating golden light rose from the ground, and soon grew into a small seedling and then stagnated.
In the familiar expressions of Harry and the others, he bent down and pulled it out, and shook it vigorously... turning the World Tree seedling into a golden, forked stick similar to a magic wand.
"Sir!" Filch was very excited.
"Don't be too happy, it's just a one-time protection to prevent you from being polluted by it!"
After McGuffin finished speaking, he led a few people into the [Reptile Hall].
The hall is cold and dark, with large transparent glass on the four walls and dim yellow lights inside.However, there is nothing in these glass chambers, only some stones, running water and rotten wood are placed dead inside.
Seeing this familiar scene, both McGuffin and Harry fell silent again for a while.
It all started here.
McGuffin knew very well that although he and Harry hadn't met at the time, they had already had contact.
And it was here that Harry really discovered the magic of himself for the first time, and discovered his mysterious connection with Voldemort.
And McGuffin himself realized the other side of the world for the first time.
Although the memory was cleaned by the [Forgetting Curse] at the time, but when his current mana reached such a level, these memories have naturally been recovered.
The scene where everyone was running away, Dudley's little chubby bumped him away, and Amanda Albert...his little sister...and the members of the memory write-off team who suddenly fell from the sky and came to deal with this matter...
Those scenes vaguely echoed in front of McGuffin's eyes, and he was a little lost for a moment.
Same goes for Harry.
Maybe he also recalled... the Brazilian python he was talking to at that time.
Hermione, Ron, and Filch slowed down their breathing and pace. For some reason, they always felt that there was a palpitating smell in this [Reptile House].
Every time they took a breath, they felt that their blood and their bodies were like melted ice water, and the blood vessels flowed viscously...the blood mixed with fine pieces of melted ice.
Filch held tightly to the [London Zoo Security Manual] and the golden forked wand in his hand, as if this could give him some comfort.
clap, clap!
Kick, kick, kick!
The footsteps of the five of them echoed crisply and coldly in this empty venue.
call!
When Hermione couldn't help trembling all over, rubbing her arms, and other people exhaled white mist from their mouths.
McGuffin finally stopped, "Here we are!"
The largest glass curtain wall in the pavilion appeared in front of them. Like the underwater attractions in the aquarium, this glass curtain wall completely occupied the entire wall and isolated a large space.
Not only that, but on the edge of the glass curtain wall... there are some runes of golden light constantly floating around.
The magic stripes formed by the golden threads continue to appear faintly on the curtain wall.
Even Filch could see that all this... was blocking some terrible monster.
Several people stopped in their tracks and stared inside.
Nothing!There is nothing inside.
Harry and the others turned to look at McGuffin suspiciously.
"No hurry! This time, in addition to letting you know... what you will face, there is also the need to put this thing... into the seal that has been set..."
After speaking, McGuffin raised his arm, waved directly at the glass curtain wall, and walked forward step by step.
Like stepping over a transparent waterfall of mist, he directly passed through the glass curtain wall with runes and entered the isolated space.
Then, he took out a black and gold box from his pocket, opened it, and poured it down.
A dark green ball...expanded rapidly, changing from the size of a ping pong ball to a terrifying ball with a diameter of two meters in just two or three seconds.
This monster is very disgusting, like countless giant pythons entangled together, wriggling and intertwined... During this time, the heads and tails of countless snakes were constantly exposed.
It kept making a terrifying hissing sound, shaking the glass curtain wall slightly.
After doing all this, McGuffin retreated directly as before, passed through the glass curtain wall, and returned to Harry and the others.
He said: "Thanks to Ron... lured this guy out, otherwise it would be very troublesome to find it!"
However, Harry and the others had no other reaction at this time.
The images of the thing in front of them kept echoing in their minds, and the eyeballs of the three (including Filch) protruded directly, as if they wanted to engrave the monster's posture into their eyes.
--hiss!
Harry drew a sudden cold breath.He felt the scar on his forehead start to hurt sharply again.
However, when he woke up, he found that it was a phantom pain, and his wound did not re-burn.
There was a cold and slightly tingling feeling on his forehead, like an ice cube stuck to it, as if to remind Harry that this thing was indeed inextricably linked to Voldemort, and it was formed by the aggregation of the residue and fragments left by the Dark Lord's soul.
After Harry gasped for breath a few times, he hurriedly patted Ron and Hermione awake.
When they were about to wake up Argus Filch, they found him bent and curled up, hissing and hissing,
That voice...was Parseltongue!
How can it be!
Harry tried to figure out what Filch was talking about, but then remembered... He couldn't understand Parseltongue since Voldemort's soul fragment left his body.
But fortunately, at this moment, Filch was speaking in a nonsensical manner, and after a while he began to roar again in English, "Snake...snake, you are a snake...no, I am a snake...no no no, I am not a snake, I am a human...I am a wizard!"
He hummed in pain.
As Filch chanted crazily, dark green snake-shaped scales appeared on his neck, and a forked letter spit out from his mouth, and the eyes were bloodshot and red...the pupils even directly turned into vertical pupils of snakes.
Harry and Hermione rushed over to grab his body, shook him, and tried to wake him up, shouting, "Mr. Filch! Mr. Argus!"
Hermione even directly took out her wand and pointed at the other party, 'Quickly wake up! '
However, in the end, it was the booklet [London Zoo Security Manual] in Filch's hand, which merged with that weird golden magic wand. Suddenly, a golden lion roaring up to the sky appeared on the cover of the booklet, and a huge roar erupted, which drove away the abnormality on Filch's body.
"Albert, what on earth are you going to do!" Harry glanced at Filch who was lying weakly on the spot, and then angrily asked McGuffin next to him.
Before McGuffin could answer, Filch, who was about to faint on the ground, managed to support himself and said, "No, it's all right... This is my own problem!"
"It seems that I am indeed just a security guard, and I can't get in touch with that thing deeply, and I can't become the director of the garden..."
Filch's words were beyond Harry's understanding.
It was McGuffin who was on the sidelines and explained them in detail.
The strange phenomenon in front of me is formed by the accidental condensation of Voldemort's soul fragments and [Jomungard] magic power... It is unconscious, without reason and soul, just like a computer program...
It is only operating according to the laws of existence, and it only has instinct, an instinct that infects all intelligent life, especially human beings.
This monster spreads an infectious curse similar to [Blood Curse], constantly infecting existences with weak magic power and low willpower.
"And if there is no food or bait, no magic can permanently trap this thing. It will immediately appear in front of anyone who is thirsty, full of greed... craving for the existence of undead life..."
"Just think... how much trouble this would cause the Muggles and wizarding world!"
"That's why the IMA united the British Muggles and the magical governments to build this magical secret place to detain it..." McGuffin said.
"Wait! What are you using as bait? Could it be that those so-called food... are humans... are Muggles!"
"Impossible! How could Professor Dumbledore agree..." Hermione retorted loudly.
"He did agree, and everyone agreed... because if this thing doesn't appear on the [train], it will appear in the real world, like the curse of the living corpse, and it will continue to infect without limit, infecting any life...even thinking..."
McGuffin said as he twirled his fingers around his temples, and a tiny little Guffin jumped out.
He threw it above the glass curtain wall... In mid-air, that little thing turned into a small green snake and fell onto the glass wall with a snap.
"Muggles without magic power, as long as they see this thing...if their will is not firm and there is no embankment...they will turn into a snake in a short period of time, as if under the [Blood Curse]."
"To prevent all this from happening, we have to find a way to imprison him... and only this method can seal this strange phenomenon in this park."
"What's more, everyone who comes here is voluntary... not only the staff, but also tourists..."
Filch nodded aside.
"If Muggles and Squibs resist this monster's erosion of their minds through their own will, they will be able to stimulate the induction in the body... and the mechanism of shielding magic power will be revived, and they will have their own magic power..."
Listening to what McGuffin said, Harry, Hermione and the others immediately thought of what Dumbledore had said, and the so-called three elements of magic.
This explanation does sound plausible.
McGuffin continued: "...visitors...staff, security...the director..."
"This is the level of work in this weird zoo, or the level of being a bait... The higher the level, the more you will face the true form of this monster. Only the courage and will of extraordinary people can overcome its curse. And it is like a certain kind of immunity. Once you persist in this job, you will be able to experience the flow of magic power and grow the magic power in your body..." McGuffin said.
"That's right, that's what I want!" Filch nodded, his tone full of desire.
"Harry! You also saw the reaction of everyone just now. Only you can face that thing and wake up automatically. This job is... easy for you, and you are the most suitable candidate."
"And before the next headmaster takes office, you can find and obtain the ability of [Parseltongue] from this monster, that is, the residue of Voldemort's soul, and even the Dark Lord's spellcasting skills...even some of his memory fragments!" McGuffin said.
"You mean..." Harry asked.
"Well, you can find a cure for Sirius from those fragmented memories... After all, Black's current situation is caused by Voldemort using the power of [Jormungard], which is the power of time... A little carelessness will cause irreversible consequences, and Egypt can only delay the deterioration of Black's symptoms..."
"Before there is no suitable method, no one... I, or Dumbledore... dare not easily try to separate Black from the stagnant time zone. Only Voldemort, the person involved, will know how to break the curse..." McGuffin answered Harry's questioning gaze.
There was silence again, this time for a long time.
Until that weird snake ball seemed impatient to stay inside...
All of a sudden, it exploded suddenly, turning into thousands of twitching tentacles, spreading out and crawling disgustingly inside... Like a loose ball of wool, twisting and swinging those snake heads and tails indiscriminately.
Very disgusting!
This appalling, indescribable scene directly impacted the sanity of Filch, Hermione and the others, and once again plunged them into a situation where they lost their minds, lost their minds, and gradually alienated.
It wasn't until this scene happened that McGuffin and Harry quickly left here with a few people, and left this weird [London Zoo].
After returning to the [Huanyu Train], there was still silence among the few people.
McGuffin reckoned that Harry and the others needed time...to digest the news and adapt to this gradually changing world.
And Harry didn't know how to respond to his friend's proposal now.
"On the one hand, Sirius' life is safe, on the other hand, he really doesn't want to have any meaningful connection with Voldemort...especially with that kind of weird and irrational pollution source..."
The possession of Voldemort several times is still Harry's worst nightmare in the back of his mind.
[Universal Train] soon sent Harry and the three of them to the Hogwarts train station again.
And Professor McGonagall seems to know what McGuffin will do after leaving Harry and the others.
——On the carriageway not far from the train station, a Thestral carriage was standing alone.
After seeing Harry and the others off, McGuffin stood at the train door, watching Filch drive the Thestral carriage and gallop towards Hogwarts Castle.
And behind him, came a cold voice, the tone was full of disgust.
"Are you so sure that... Potter will take the job?"
"He will accept that Harry is the most suitable, and he knows this... not only because of Sirius, but according to Harry's character, he can't ignore those Muggles... as food and bait in front of that weird sacrifice..."
"Hmph, I hope you can keep Potter safe."
"If you play off...I won't spare you...Albert!"
A man and a woman, two voices... came and spoke alternately.
It was Snape, two Snapes.
Obviously, what has been played off now is... this former Potions professor, he doesn't know how... divided himself into two parts, male and female, and he can't get back to the original state.
Fortunately, Harry didn't see this just now, otherwise, Snape would really have no face to live on.
McGuffin secretly laughed at this guy.
At this time, red light filled the air, and a burst of white mist surged and struck.
Dumbledore's figure...slowed down from the back section of the carriage,
Holding the blood-colored oil lamp, he came to the two of them.
However, McGuffin and Snape didn't seem to be surprised by this, as if they knew that Dumbledore could appear on this train at any time.
Albus Dumbledore also looked up, the Thestral carriage turned into black dots in the sky.
Until the black dot landed below the castle and disappeared from the sight of several people.
The three came back to their senses.
"Let's go!" McGuffin waved his hand and said to Snape. "Where to go next? Which station?"
"It's Nurmengard! From Gellert Grindelwald..."
Alice...that's Snape's female body, she said gloatingly at Dumbledore.
"After the last research, a pollution source with a dangerous level of level [-] has appeared in Austria...the secret place where an ancient castle has been turned into has appeared in the present world. So after IMA research, it has been set up as the next site!"
"Okay! It's time for us to leave here too!"
McGuffin touched the ring on his hand and returned to the train.
"Are you going, Professor?" he asked softly. "The construction of the site there has not been completed. If you want to go, you must take the train with us."
Dumbledore had a rare look of hesitation and melancholy on his face, and finally... he still shook his head to express that he would not go.
But at the moment when the train doors were about to close, Albus Dumbledore suddenly shouted at McGuffin, "McGuffin...do you regret it? If you want...you can still go back to Hogwarts to go to school with Harry and the others now. You don't have to bear the current responsibility..."
"I know!"
McGuffin looked at the void in front of him, looked at the system invisible to others, and responded in such a low voice.
"However, that's Harry's story..."
"We all have our own journey in life..."
"My story is not like that... Perhaps, it has just officially begun..."
The voice was faint, echoing in the hiss of the train starting.
McGuffin followed the [Universal Train] to the next station.
In this way, the old story has changed, and countless people...will begin to meet their own new stories,
Their story unfolded a new chapter in this new era amidst the noise of the [Universal Train].
^^^
PS (Concluding remarks): It is finally over.I thought it would be finished around the Chinese New Year, but I didn't expect it to take so long.
I overestimate myself.
Whether it's the few chapters I owed at the beginning, I didn't have the energy to make up, or at the end, the state of stretching after the outline was torn out one after another... always, it was a promise.
Say sorry here.
However, I still finished the book and filled in the pits I remembered one by one (of course, it is estimated that there will be many omissions and contradictions)
Finally, I would like to sincerely thank all the readers who have read... and supported this book.
(End of this chapter)
"That's a weird change in the mixture of images and magic power left behind after Voldemort's soul died... It's a unique phenomenon that occurs in the new generation after the magic power recovers. There will be more and more things like this..."
McGuffin said as he twirled a few rings on his fingers.
"Because that thing is not even a ghost, so now we have no way to eliminate the residue left by Voldemort..."
"But because I have reached an agreement with Hogwarts, the Muggle government, and various schools of magic. This train sometimes needs to transport little wizards and Muggles without magic power, so I have to expel this thing from this train..."
"Can't we use the old Hogwarts train?" Hermione somewhat missed the old train.
McGuffin didn't answer directly.He tapped the table lightly.
A magical oil painting that was originally located above the fireplace in the room suddenly turned into a transparent glass window, showing the scenery outside.
—It's Hogwarts!
The train has arrived at this magic school.
And other students, parents of some new students, and Emily Albert... Accompanied by Hagrid and Professor McGonagall, they are heading towards the magic castle.
"This train not only possesses a fast transshipment capability that surpasses all large vehicles in the world, but more importantly... just like the [passenger] code says, it can lead to any place, especially the magical secret realm that is about to undergo various changes in the future, which is contrary to common sense..."
"What Magical Rift? You keep saying that word... what the hell does that mean? And what does that have to do with Sirius' injury?" Harry asked.
"I can't explain this to you...you can only understand it if you see it with your own eyes!"
As McGuffin said, like pinching plasticine, he pulled directly from the back of his armchair... and pulled out a long strip.
The strange liquid object soon turned into a flesh-colored horn.
"Mr. Argus, come in." He said into the loudspeaker.
The door behind Harry lit up with the familiar golden light again.
then,
— Squeak!
After a sound, the door opened, and a guy in an old windbreaker with thinning hair and an excited and eager face came in.
Harry and the others are very familiar with this person, Ron called his name directly,
"Filch!"
Argus Filch ignored the three of Harry, but stared at McGuffin with excitement and fanaticism, and said with great respect, "Mr. Albert, can we start?"
"Be patient, Mr. Filch... Before I act, let me ask you one last time, do you really want to participate?"
"You and Harry are different. Since we are doing this for the first time, the risk of this operation is inestimable to you..."
"If you want to give up... I can understand!" McGuffin said.
"Sir, I'm fed up with being powerless and weak. I'm fed up with years and years, days and days... watching those little wizards waste their time without appreciating their talents... I'm fed up with being in the most amazing magic school in the world, and I can't cast a single spell... I'm fed up with being a Squib!"
Filch was suppressed, roared in a low voice, venting the pain in his heart.
Looking at Filch's current appearance, Harry Ron felt a little guilty in his heart. They used to cooperate with the twins... and played a lot of jokes on Filch.
Although there are often reasons for each, most of them are retaliation for each other.
But listening to Filch's miserable self-report, they still felt some guilt and sympathy.
Only Hermione's expression moved slightly, as if she understood what McGuffin was going to do.
And what Filch said next also proved her thoughts, "Sir, in order to possess magic power, in order to use magic... I can pay any price."
"Okay!" McGuffin nodded slightly,
Then, he took out three booklets from under the desk.
It's still the same kind of gold pages, with different names written on them: [London Zoo Director's Notes], [London Zoo Security Staff Work Manual], [London Zoo General Service Staff Work Rules].
"No, this is yours!"
McGuffin handed the [Zoo Security Staff Manual] to Filch, then handed the [Zoo Director's Notes] to Harry, and the remaining two to Hermione and Ron.
But after Filch took the manual, his expression was disappointed. He stared at the booklet in Harry's hand, full of longing.
McGuffin shook his head, "That position is not suitable for you. Although if you become the director, you can get stronger magical talents, even better than ordinary wizards...but if you choose it, you will just die in vain."
Hearing this, Harry immediately felt that the booklet in his hand was like a hot charcoal, extremely hot.
"Don't worry! Harry... to other people, what you hold is a deadly but attractive potion. But to you, it is just a proof of identity."
"You have faced the living Voldemort countless times, and [Joermungandr]... Are you still afraid of some residue left after the loss of these two?"
"This is just the lowest level of magical secrets, and those sources of infection with magical mutations can only be effective against Muggles and squibs who have no magic power... With this defensive measure, you don't have to worry about being affected by that thing."
Seeing that Harry and the others were confused, McGuffin smiled and said, "I forgot, you have to see for yourself...to understand all this!"
After snapping his fingers, the train started again, but stopped again after a minute or two.
"Come with me!"
McGuffin stood up, he opened a door, and led the crowd directly outside the train.
There was a white mist outside, and a sorceress in a blue robe stood outside the train door.
Her slender hair was scattered on her shoulders, her gray eyes were cold, and there was a mocking sneer at the corner of her mouth, she stood not far away and watched everyone.
Although she couldn't tell how good-looking she was, her brows and eyes revealed a sense of sharpness, and that face, that expression... all vaguely gave Harry a sense of familiarity.
I always feel that not long ago, I met someone with a similar face.
Harry couldn't help thinking to himself.
"Alice! Keep an eye on the train!" McGuffin told the witch.
Then, he took Harry, Filch and the other four to a trot, rushing out of the white mist.
A brand new building appeared in front of them.
It's 【London Zoo】.
(Even paint, photos, protective fences...even pedestrian passages are not set up...only a giant gilt English nameplate, very tacky, straightforwardly displayed...this is [London Zoo])
There is not a single staff member outside the zoo.
Aside from the sign, there was only a long blank notice board standing beside the door without a gate.
There are only a few big characters [Guidelines for Tourists] written on it, and then a weird reminder to remind tourists that they must abide by the safety rules in order to ensure their own safety.
There are no redundant regulations.
"It's not finished yet." McGuffin said with a wry smile, "Let's go! I'll let you see the most critical part of this magical secret realm, which is also the monster you want to guard. I just want to put that thing in the prison..."
McGuffin led a few people and walked straight into the empty zoo.
He explained to Harry and the others as he walked: "This was originally the former site of the London Zoo. In fact, no one cared about the reconstruction of this animal at first... But because of Voldemort's soul fragments and [Jomungard's] magic power, it was accidentally revived on that train... Due to its characteristics, our existing magic cannot eliminate this weird phenomenon at all."
"So at the suggestion of Professor Dumbledore and I, INA decided to imitate the weird mystery that appeared in the [Jason Murder Incident in Crystal Lake on Friday] that happened in the United States, and decided to build two mirrored zoos, using a similar small magical mystery to contain this source of pollution,"
"Pollution source!?" Harry asked.
"Well, after research, we found... this monster has the greatest malice towards all intelligent life. He is constantly exuding deep-level magic fluctuations, interfering with and polluting the magic of wizards... If a wizard blends with him deeply, after a long time together, although he will not suffer from malicious transformation like Muggles, but will also change the nature of his magic power and way of thinking...they will gradually degenerate and become dark wizards."
Hermione and Ron stopped in horror.
"Don't worry! You won't have any big problems. Not to mention that you have faced the magic power of [Jomungard], Harry alone... He had such an intimate fusion with Voldemort's soul fragments, and he didn't change his mind... With this kind of experience, even without the protective means I provided, nothing will happen to him."
"By the way, the means of protection... refers to the rules and regulations in those pamphlets. The rules in them are not only for you to abide by, but also the magic contract I made with that monster. Even in the face of ordinary people, it has to abide by the rules in it..."
Just as he was talking, McGuffin stopped suddenly and said to everyone, "Here we are, this is here... [Reptile House]!"
"Let's go, go in and see what you are going to deal with next!"
"Mr. Filch, no... take it..."
McGuffin stomped his feet, and a golden tree sapling emanating golden light rose from the ground, and soon grew into a small seedling and then stagnated.
In the familiar expressions of Harry and the others, he bent down and pulled it out, and shook it vigorously... turning the World Tree seedling into a golden, forked stick similar to a magic wand.
"Sir!" Filch was very excited.
"Don't be too happy, it's just a one-time protection to prevent you from being polluted by it!"
After McGuffin finished speaking, he led a few people into the [Reptile Hall].
The hall is cold and dark, with large transparent glass on the four walls and dim yellow lights inside.However, there is nothing in these glass chambers, only some stones, running water and rotten wood are placed dead inside.
Seeing this familiar scene, both McGuffin and Harry fell silent again for a while.
It all started here.
McGuffin knew very well that although he and Harry hadn't met at the time, they had already had contact.
And it was here that Harry really discovered the magic of himself for the first time, and discovered his mysterious connection with Voldemort.
And McGuffin himself realized the other side of the world for the first time.
Although the memory was cleaned by the [Forgetting Curse] at the time, but when his current mana reached such a level, these memories have naturally been recovered.
The scene where everyone was running away, Dudley's little chubby bumped him away, and Amanda Albert...his little sister...and the members of the memory write-off team who suddenly fell from the sky and came to deal with this matter...
Those scenes vaguely echoed in front of McGuffin's eyes, and he was a little lost for a moment.
Same goes for Harry.
Maybe he also recalled... the Brazilian python he was talking to at that time.
Hermione, Ron, and Filch slowed down their breathing and pace. For some reason, they always felt that there was a palpitating smell in this [Reptile House].
Every time they took a breath, they felt that their blood and their bodies were like melted ice water, and the blood vessels flowed viscously...the blood mixed with fine pieces of melted ice.
Filch held tightly to the [London Zoo Security Manual] and the golden forked wand in his hand, as if this could give him some comfort.
clap, clap!
Kick, kick, kick!
The footsteps of the five of them echoed crisply and coldly in this empty venue.
call!
When Hermione couldn't help trembling all over, rubbing her arms, and other people exhaled white mist from their mouths.
McGuffin finally stopped, "Here we are!"
The largest glass curtain wall in the pavilion appeared in front of them. Like the underwater attractions in the aquarium, this glass curtain wall completely occupied the entire wall and isolated a large space.
Not only that, but on the edge of the glass curtain wall... there are some runes of golden light constantly floating around.
The magic stripes formed by the golden threads continue to appear faintly on the curtain wall.
Even Filch could see that all this... was blocking some terrible monster.
Several people stopped in their tracks and stared inside.
Nothing!There is nothing inside.
Harry and the others turned to look at McGuffin suspiciously.
"No hurry! This time, in addition to letting you know... what you will face, there is also the need to put this thing... into the seal that has been set..."
After speaking, McGuffin raised his arm, waved directly at the glass curtain wall, and walked forward step by step.
Like stepping over a transparent waterfall of mist, he directly passed through the glass curtain wall with runes and entered the isolated space.
Then, he took out a black and gold box from his pocket, opened it, and poured it down.
A dark green ball...expanded rapidly, changing from the size of a ping pong ball to a terrifying ball with a diameter of two meters in just two or three seconds.
This monster is very disgusting, like countless giant pythons entangled together, wriggling and intertwined... During this time, the heads and tails of countless snakes were constantly exposed.
It kept making a terrifying hissing sound, shaking the glass curtain wall slightly.
After doing all this, McGuffin retreated directly as before, passed through the glass curtain wall, and returned to Harry and the others.
He said: "Thanks to Ron... lured this guy out, otherwise it would be very troublesome to find it!"
However, Harry and the others had no other reaction at this time.
The images of the thing in front of them kept echoing in their minds, and the eyeballs of the three (including Filch) protruded directly, as if they wanted to engrave the monster's posture into their eyes.
--hiss!
Harry drew a sudden cold breath.He felt the scar on his forehead start to hurt sharply again.
However, when he woke up, he found that it was a phantom pain, and his wound did not re-burn.
There was a cold and slightly tingling feeling on his forehead, like an ice cube stuck to it, as if to remind Harry that this thing was indeed inextricably linked to Voldemort, and it was formed by the aggregation of the residue and fragments left by the Dark Lord's soul.
After Harry gasped for breath a few times, he hurriedly patted Ron and Hermione awake.
When they were about to wake up Argus Filch, they found him bent and curled up, hissing and hissing,
That voice...was Parseltongue!
How can it be!
Harry tried to figure out what Filch was talking about, but then remembered... He couldn't understand Parseltongue since Voldemort's soul fragment left his body.
But fortunately, at this moment, Filch was speaking in a nonsensical manner, and after a while he began to roar again in English, "Snake...snake, you are a snake...no, I am a snake...no no no, I am not a snake, I am a human...I am a wizard!"
He hummed in pain.
As Filch chanted crazily, dark green snake-shaped scales appeared on his neck, and a forked letter spit out from his mouth, and the eyes were bloodshot and red...the pupils even directly turned into vertical pupils of snakes.
Harry and Hermione rushed over to grab his body, shook him, and tried to wake him up, shouting, "Mr. Filch! Mr. Argus!"
Hermione even directly took out her wand and pointed at the other party, 'Quickly wake up! '
However, in the end, it was the booklet [London Zoo Security Manual] in Filch's hand, which merged with that weird golden magic wand. Suddenly, a golden lion roaring up to the sky appeared on the cover of the booklet, and a huge roar erupted, which drove away the abnormality on Filch's body.
"Albert, what on earth are you going to do!" Harry glanced at Filch who was lying weakly on the spot, and then angrily asked McGuffin next to him.
Before McGuffin could answer, Filch, who was about to faint on the ground, managed to support himself and said, "No, it's all right... This is my own problem!"
"It seems that I am indeed just a security guard, and I can't get in touch with that thing deeply, and I can't become the director of the garden..."
Filch's words were beyond Harry's understanding.
It was McGuffin who was on the sidelines and explained them in detail.
The strange phenomenon in front of me is formed by the accidental condensation of Voldemort's soul fragments and [Jomungard] magic power... It is unconscious, without reason and soul, just like a computer program...
It is only operating according to the laws of existence, and it only has instinct, an instinct that infects all intelligent life, especially human beings.
This monster spreads an infectious curse similar to [Blood Curse], constantly infecting existences with weak magic power and low willpower.
"And if there is no food or bait, no magic can permanently trap this thing. It will immediately appear in front of anyone who is thirsty, full of greed... craving for the existence of undead life..."
"Just think... how much trouble this would cause the Muggles and wizarding world!"
"That's why the IMA united the British Muggles and the magical governments to build this magical secret place to detain it..." McGuffin said.
"Wait! What are you using as bait? Could it be that those so-called food... are humans... are Muggles!"
"Impossible! How could Professor Dumbledore agree..." Hermione retorted loudly.
"He did agree, and everyone agreed... because if this thing doesn't appear on the [train], it will appear in the real world, like the curse of the living corpse, and it will continue to infect without limit, infecting any life...even thinking..."
McGuffin said as he twirled his fingers around his temples, and a tiny little Guffin jumped out.
He threw it above the glass curtain wall... In mid-air, that little thing turned into a small green snake and fell onto the glass wall with a snap.
"Muggles without magic power, as long as they see this thing...if their will is not firm and there is no embankment...they will turn into a snake in a short period of time, as if under the [Blood Curse]."
"To prevent all this from happening, we have to find a way to imprison him... and only this method can seal this strange phenomenon in this park."
"What's more, everyone who comes here is voluntary... not only the staff, but also tourists..."
Filch nodded aside.
"If Muggles and Squibs resist this monster's erosion of their minds through their own will, they will be able to stimulate the induction in the body... and the mechanism of shielding magic power will be revived, and they will have their own magic power..."
Listening to what McGuffin said, Harry, Hermione and the others immediately thought of what Dumbledore had said, and the so-called three elements of magic.
This explanation does sound plausible.
McGuffin continued: "...visitors...staff, security...the director..."
"This is the level of work in this weird zoo, or the level of being a bait... The higher the level, the more you will face the true form of this monster. Only the courage and will of extraordinary people can overcome its curse. And it is like a certain kind of immunity. Once you persist in this job, you will be able to experience the flow of magic power and grow the magic power in your body..." McGuffin said.
"That's right, that's what I want!" Filch nodded, his tone full of desire.
"Harry! You also saw the reaction of everyone just now. Only you can face that thing and wake up automatically. This job is... easy for you, and you are the most suitable candidate."
"And before the next headmaster takes office, you can find and obtain the ability of [Parseltongue] from this monster, that is, the residue of Voldemort's soul, and even the Dark Lord's spellcasting skills...even some of his memory fragments!" McGuffin said.
"You mean..." Harry asked.
"Well, you can find a cure for Sirius from those fragmented memories... After all, Black's current situation is caused by Voldemort using the power of [Jormungard], which is the power of time... A little carelessness will cause irreversible consequences, and Egypt can only delay the deterioration of Black's symptoms..."
"Before there is no suitable method, no one... I, or Dumbledore... dare not easily try to separate Black from the stagnant time zone. Only Voldemort, the person involved, will know how to break the curse..." McGuffin answered Harry's questioning gaze.
There was silence again, this time for a long time.
Until that weird snake ball seemed impatient to stay inside...
All of a sudden, it exploded suddenly, turning into thousands of twitching tentacles, spreading out and crawling disgustingly inside... Like a loose ball of wool, twisting and swinging those snake heads and tails indiscriminately.
Very disgusting!
This appalling, indescribable scene directly impacted the sanity of Filch, Hermione and the others, and once again plunged them into a situation where they lost their minds, lost their minds, and gradually alienated.
It wasn't until this scene happened that McGuffin and Harry quickly left here with a few people, and left this weird [London Zoo].
After returning to the [Huanyu Train], there was still silence among the few people.
McGuffin reckoned that Harry and the others needed time...to digest the news and adapt to this gradually changing world.
And Harry didn't know how to respond to his friend's proposal now.
"On the one hand, Sirius' life is safe, on the other hand, he really doesn't want to have any meaningful connection with Voldemort...especially with that kind of weird and irrational pollution source..."
The possession of Voldemort several times is still Harry's worst nightmare in the back of his mind.
[Universal Train] soon sent Harry and the three of them to the Hogwarts train station again.
And Professor McGonagall seems to know what McGuffin will do after leaving Harry and the others.
——On the carriageway not far from the train station, a Thestral carriage was standing alone.
After seeing Harry and the others off, McGuffin stood at the train door, watching Filch drive the Thestral carriage and gallop towards Hogwarts Castle.
And behind him, came a cold voice, the tone was full of disgust.
"Are you so sure that... Potter will take the job?"
"He will accept that Harry is the most suitable, and he knows this... not only because of Sirius, but according to Harry's character, he can't ignore those Muggles... as food and bait in front of that weird sacrifice..."
"Hmph, I hope you can keep Potter safe."
"If you play off...I won't spare you...Albert!"
A man and a woman, two voices... came and spoke alternately.
It was Snape, two Snapes.
Obviously, what has been played off now is... this former Potions professor, he doesn't know how... divided himself into two parts, male and female, and he can't get back to the original state.
Fortunately, Harry didn't see this just now, otherwise, Snape would really have no face to live on.
McGuffin secretly laughed at this guy.
At this time, red light filled the air, and a burst of white mist surged and struck.
Dumbledore's figure...slowed down from the back section of the carriage,
Holding the blood-colored oil lamp, he came to the two of them.
However, McGuffin and Snape didn't seem to be surprised by this, as if they knew that Dumbledore could appear on this train at any time.
Albus Dumbledore also looked up, the Thestral carriage turned into black dots in the sky.
Until the black dot landed below the castle and disappeared from the sight of several people.
The three came back to their senses.
"Let's go!" McGuffin waved his hand and said to Snape. "Where to go next? Which station?"
"It's Nurmengard! From Gellert Grindelwald..."
Alice...that's Snape's female body, she said gloatingly at Dumbledore.
"After the last research, a pollution source with a dangerous level of level [-] has appeared in Austria...the secret place where an ancient castle has been turned into has appeared in the present world. So after IMA research, it has been set up as the next site!"
"Okay! It's time for us to leave here too!"
McGuffin touched the ring on his hand and returned to the train.
"Are you going, Professor?" he asked softly. "The construction of the site there has not been completed. If you want to go, you must take the train with us."
Dumbledore had a rare look of hesitation and melancholy on his face, and finally... he still shook his head to express that he would not go.
But at the moment when the train doors were about to close, Albus Dumbledore suddenly shouted at McGuffin, "McGuffin...do you regret it? If you want...you can still go back to Hogwarts to go to school with Harry and the others now. You don't have to bear the current responsibility..."
"I know!"
McGuffin looked at the void in front of him, looked at the system invisible to others, and responded in such a low voice.
"However, that's Harry's story..."
"We all have our own journey in life..."
"My story is not like that... Perhaps, it has just officially begun..."
The voice was faint, echoing in the hiss of the train starting.
McGuffin followed the [Universal Train] to the next station.
In this way, the old story has changed, and countless people...will begin to meet their own new stories,
Their story unfolded a new chapter in this new era amidst the noise of the [Universal Train].
^^^
PS (Concluding remarks): It is finally over.I thought it would be finished around the Chinese New Year, but I didn't expect it to take so long.
I overestimate myself.
Whether it's the few chapters I owed at the beginning, I didn't have the energy to make up, or at the end, the state of stretching after the outline was torn out one after another... always, it was a promise.
Say sorry here.
However, I still finished the book and filled in the pits I remembered one by one (of course, it is estimated that there will be many omissions and contradictions)
Finally, I would like to sincerely thank all the readers who have read... and supported this book.
(End of this chapter)
