Chapter 384 - Long time no see, Moon Face.
He was terribly thin, with deeply sunken cheeks, and his skin looked sickly pale, even a little bluish-gray, in the dim light.
His chin was covered with messy stubble, the corners of his mouth were cracked, and his eye sockets were sunken, as if more than ten years in prison had drained all the vitality out of him.
But even so, he still straightened his back, and his dark gray eyes were still sharp and unruly, flashing dangerous light like a trapped beast.
He raised his hand and twisted his neck, making a crackling sound, then he raised his eyebrows at Lupin with a cynical smile.
"Moonface, long time no see."
Lupin froze, as if someone had hit him hard with a stick. He opened his mouth but couldn't utter a complete word.
This... this is impossible...!
He had clearly seen with his own eyes this face appear in the Daily Prophet, on the wanted poster of Azkaban, and being cursed as a "traitor" by countless people!
But now, this face was standing right in front of him, disheveled and thin, but still revealing that familiar wildness.
"You...how...?"
Lupin stuttered and couldn't form complete sentences.
Sirius wiped the corner of his mouth casually and stretched, still with that frivolous smile on his face, as if he didn't care about his current situation at all.
"I know you must have a hundred questions, ask them later."
He shook his head.
"We don't have time to explain any 'oh how did I get out of Azkaban' nonsense - get Harry out first."
Sirius looked past the still shocked Lupin and shrugged casually, then raised an eyebrow and looked at Dumbledore with his usual impatient tone.
"Hey, take us to find Harry."
This frivolous attitude made Lupin's forehead jump. He quickly moved over and warned Sirius in a low voice:
"Hey, you're still a fugitive, so be nicer to the principal!"
But unexpectedly, Sirius did not retort immediately. Instead, he suddenly stared at him with a very strange expression, with the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.
Lupin couldn't understand what this expression meant, and even vaguely felt that this person seemed to be about to lose his temper.
——But he didn't have time to think about it.
Dumbledore seemed to not care about Sirius' attitude. He just walked calmly towards the back door of the Leaky Cauldron leading to Diagon Alley and reached out to knock on the mechanism.
The stone wall slowly parted, revealing the alley.
Lupin's heart tightened and he quickly chased after him.
"Principal, there's a monster over here!"
But Dumbledore didn't even turn his head, and walked into Diagon Alley fearlessly, as if the threat outside did not exist at all.
Lupin followed anxiously, while Sirius seemed too relaxed.
He casually kicked the scattered cups and plates on the ground with his toes, a slightly malicious smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and then he slowly followed.
Dumbledore raised his head slightly, his eyes fell on the huge cloth above the sky, his pupils shrank slightly, then his eyebrows raised, and there was a hint of interest in his tone.
"Deverot did it?"
His voice was not loud, but it contained a hint of inquiry.
Lupin had no time to pay attention at the moment. He was still anxiously persuading Dumbledore to be careful. However, the next moment, Dumbledore suddenly stopped and looked straight ahead with sharp eyes.
Lupin was stunned, and subconsciously followed his gaze, his heartbeat suddenly stopped -
A monster slowly walked out from a dilapidated shop on the street.
Its body was strangely twisted and distorted, and there seemed to be countless blood vessels wriggling under its skin. A long and narrow hollow tube extended from its hideous face, slowly extending towards them, like some kind of bloodthirsty organ, greedily capturing the breath in the air.
Lupin felt a chill all over his body, and an instinctive fear made his blood seem to freeze.
We can't fight head-on, we must retreat!
He yanked at Dumbledore's sleeve and tried to drag him in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron.
But the next second, the color on his face completely faded——
Dumbledore did not move.
Lupin gritted his teeth and used all his strength, but it seemed as if he was not holding an old wizard, but an extremely heavy rock.
He turned his head sharply, looked at Sirius standing beside him, and shouted anxiously:
"Help! We need to leave now!"
However, Sirius just shrugged lazily, and even a familiar nonchalant smile appeared on his face.
"Let him sort it out."
Sirius said lightly, even with a hint of interest in his tone.
"I don't think he would be so stupid."
Lupin felt his heart tremble when he heard this, but Sirius obviously didn't seem nervous at all.
——He suddenly realized that perhaps he had underestimated Dumbledore's strength at the moment.
He loosened his hand, looked at Dumbledore deeply, and finally gritted his teeth and stepped back, praying silently in his heart -
Hopefully Sirius was right.
The monster suddenly crouched down, twisted its limbs to crush the bricks and stones on the ground, and rushed forward with ferocious momentum.
The air was filled with its foul, rotten smell, and the long, narrow pipe had been fully extended, pointing directly in the direction of Dumbledore.
However--
Dumbledore just leaned forward slightly, his seemingly loose wizard robe puffed slightly in the air flow, and his eyes were indifferent, as if he was watching a boring drama.
The next second——
He took a step forward, lowered his shoulders slightly, and smashed out with his right fist like thunder!
The air suddenly exploded with a thunderous roar, and the fist wind, with a terrifying impact force, instantly pierced through the monster's chest!
The whole world seemed to stop at this moment.
The monster's momentum came to an abrupt halt, its long and narrow mouth twitched, and an expression of disbelief and fear still remained in its empty eye sockets.
The next second, its back suddenly exploded, and dirty blood mixed with broken organs splashed out. The remaining body slid forward a few steps under the action of inertia, and finally fell to the ground with a bang, twitched twice, and became completely motionless.
The only sound on the street was the wind swirling through the pool of blood.
Dumbledore retracted his fist, shook his fingers slightly, frowned and looked at his cuffs, as if he was somewhat dissatisfied with the blood on them.
Lupin froze, his mouth slightly open as if he was trying to say something, but found that he couldn't say anything.
Sirius raised his eyebrows slightly, his eyes flickered between the monster's corpse and Dumbledore, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and he muttered softly.
"Uh... I thought you could solve it with magic..."
Dumbledore gently stroked the cuffs of his robes and said calmly:
"Sometimes, fists are part of the magic."
Dumbledore shook his hands, and black blood fell to the ground, turning into strange spots.
He turned around, his eyes flicking between Lupin and Sirius, his voice still calm, but with a hint of urgency.
"Don't just stand there, go look for anyone alive on the street, I'm going to the association—"
Before he finished speaking, his body suddenly stiffened and his eyes scanned the surroundings sharply, as if he had sensed some strange aura.
The air seemed to freeze at this moment.
Then, a feeling of suffocation as if being locked by a ferocious beast suddenly swept over everyone!
Lupin's back tensed instantly, a chill ran down his spine to the back of his head, and reason told him that something terrible was descending upon this ruin.
He swallowed, suppressed the uneasiness in his heart, looked at Dumbledore with trembling eyes, and his voice was a little dry.
"Is...someone traveling through time?"
Dumbledore did not answer, his eyes fixed on the golden beam of light not far away.
The beam of light was like a door leading to the unknown. The air around it was vibrating violently, as if the whole world was throbbing.
His voice was even deeper than before, with an unmistakable alertness.
"I don't know...but something is coming."
“Get ready!”
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