#487 - Delivering medicine quietly, the abnormality of Hogsmeade village (5K please read)

But after arriving on the third floor, Lin Xia and Draco encountered new problems.

They were shocked to find that the secret passage they had originally spotted suddenly disappeared on the third floor.

The two men put on invisibility cloaks and moved closer to the window, using the moonlight outside to look at the Marauder's Map.

Draco's wand tip repeatedly poked the third-floor mark of Hogwarts on the Marauder's Map, constantly zooming in on certain buildings in an attempt to find the secret of the disappearing secret passage.

He whispered, "I clearly saw a secret passage on the third floor before. I clicked on it and saw that it led to Hogsmeade village."

Lin Xia hummed, and said calmly, "Don't worry, I've seen this secret passage on the third floor before, and it's impossible for the secret passage to disappear for no reason.

Since they said they didn't reach the secret passage, it proves that it is very hidden and will not be discovered by other wizards."

Although they were wearing invisibility cloaks, they could still see the scenery outside the clothes, but it was like through a hazy gauze, and the scene was a little blurry.

But as long as you use the extrasensory spell to amplify your vision, even through the invisibility cloak, you can see the scenery outside as clearly as if there was no obstruction.

Lin Xia pondered and said, "I suspect that the secret passage requires certain conditions to appear. Now the conditions are not met, so we can't see it."

Draco suddenly thought of something and said with a grim expression, "I saw the secret passage when I was checking the map around six in the evening. Could it be that this secret passage can only appear at six in the evening?"

Lin Xia shook her head: "No, I got the live map at three o'clock in the afternoon. I observed it at that time and also saw this secret passage.

The appearance of the secret passage has nothing to do with time, or in other words, there are many conditions that must be met for the secret passage to appear, but we just didn’t encounter any of them.”

Lin Xia looked around and asked, "Do you remember where on the third floor that secret passage you observed was?"

Draco frowned. "Those ink spots were too small, and students often passed by. The names diluted the descriptions around the ink spots. I only vaguely remember that there seemed to be two words embossed next to the secret passage."

"Relief?" Lin Xia thought for a while, then found the scene of watching the Marauder's Map from his memory and remembered something: "Owl relief."

Draco's eyes lit up and he nodded immediately: "Yes, that should be an owl relief. I remember there is also an eagle. What eagle relief? It should be the owl you mentioned!"

Lin Xia looked around: "Let's quickly look for some relief owl."

This was not an easy project, as there was a wall on the third floor dedicated to relief carving.

There are various types of reliefs on it. Some patterns are very clear, but some are very abstract. They look like snakes from a distance, dragons from close up, cats from the side, but when you lie down and observe them, they look like lion's claws.

"Here—" Draco suddenly saw something and spoke a little louder, "Look at this pattern, doesn't it look like an owl?"

Lin Xia turned around and was about to say something.

Suddenly a gloomy voice came from a distance: "Who is there!"

The voice was as cold as ice. Lin Xia looked up and found that Snape was holding a kerosene lamp and came to the stairs on the third floor, some distance away from the wall where they were.

Perhaps because he had just heard Draco talking, Snape looked around vigilantly, raised his wand, looked left and right, and walked very slowly.

Draco suddenly tugged at Lin Xia's sleeve. Lin Xia looked down and found that the tip of his wand was resting on a certain place on the Marauder's Map, on which a line of ink words was magnified -

Although covered by the invisibility cloak, Lin Xia and Draco were not worried about being exposed, but Snape was not a professor who was easy to fool and he often did not play by the rules.

Suddenly, the tip of Lin Xia's wand poked a faded brick next to the owl relief, and the brick sank silently.

After a while, the stone wall in front of them looked like melted paraffin or butter baked at high temperature. When the edges and corners were melted, a spiral stone staircase leading downwards was revealed.

The moment the stone steps appeared, Lin Xia felt a damp, musty smell mixed with a cold wind blowing towards her. Even her invisibility cloak was lifted up by the sudden airflow.

Snape was still slowly approaching them, his eyes slightly narrowed, and he spoke again: "Who's here? Come out quickly, you've been exposed, I smell a damp smell!"

Before Draco knew what to do, Lin Xia grabbed Draco's wrist and ran into the secret passage.

The secret passage was dark, and the moonlight outside could not penetrate. Also, because of the invisibility cloak, their vision was plunged into darkness after entering the secret passage.

Lin Xia turned her head to look at the entrance of the secret passage, holding the parchment tightly in her hand, urging the secret passage to heal quickly, but the secret passage was still like melted butter and showed no signs of healing again.

She suddenly thought of something, and a faint glow came out from the tip of her wand, just like the moonlight coming in through the window.

She quickly found a faded brick by the entrance and poked it with her wand again.

The next moment, the entrance to the secret passage slowly recovered.

At the same time, she heard Snape's footsteps getting closer. Lin Xia turned her head to look at Draco and felt that his heartbeat was too fast.

Draco was also very nervous, with sweat breaking out on his forehead.

But they were lucky that they did not see Snape when the entrance to the secret passage was completely restored.

The vision fell into darkness again, and Lin Xia waved the magic wand and whispered: "Fluorescent flash!"

A ray of bright light appeared in the secret passage, illuminating the way ahead for them.

Just in case, Lin Xia also asked Draco to light the glow candles.

She felt that this secret passage had not been walked by anyone for a long time, so the air was so damp and rotten. Even Snape, who was some distance away, could smell the air flow.

They walked down the stone stairs step by step, and nothing happened during the process.

After walking for about half an hour, they finally saw a sealed stone door.

Draco breathed a sigh of relief. "We are lucky tonight. We ran into Snape before, and I thought we were unlucky. I wondered if we would be attacked in the stone staircase, but this stone staircase is very safe and nothing happened."

Lin Xia used fluorescent light to observe the stone staircase and poked around with her magic wand: "But we don't know how to open this stone staircase."

Draco looked down at the parchment. "It says to find a faded brick."

He asked in confusion: "But why didn't you tell me how to open the secret passage?"

Lin Xia pondered: "Maybe you want to add some tests?"

Draco: "Compared to this, I would rather believe that they deliberately concealed it. The person who made this map probably didn't want the young wizard to frequently go to Hogsmeade through the secret passage. If the secret passage is used too frequently, it will be discovered sooner or later."

Lin Xia found a faded stone brick at the bottom of the stone stairs and poked it with the tip of her wand. The stone door was pushed open and the light of the candle gradually fell onto the stairs.

This stone brick is not easy to find because no one has used it for a long time. In addition, it has been there for a long time, causing all the stone bricks to fade. Not only faded, but also covered with moss.

She used the extrasensory spell to observe and found that this brick had faded the most, so she poked it with her wand and found the correct way to open it without thinking.

Lin Xia and Draco walked out, and what came into view was a cellar where a lot of wine was stored.

Densely packed wine barrels are stacked up, revealing the flavors of many kinds of wine.

There was malt liquor, wine, cherry liquor... The way they came out was blocked by wine barrels, and they had to move the barrels away before they could get out.

Draco waved his wand and made all the barrels float up, quickly clearing a path.

After they all came out, Draco moved the wine barrel back to its original place. Lin Xia already knew where the stone door was, so she could find it quickly when she came again.

They stayed in the cellar for a while, each using a super-sensory spell to amplify their hearing and listen to the noise outside.

After listening for several minutes, a hint of surprise flashed in Draco and Lin Xia's eyes.

Something is not right.

Hogsmeade village should be very lively as Christmas approaches. In their imagination, it would be bustling with people even at night.

Employees in many stores are busy purchasing and displaying goods in preparation for Christmas which is coming soon.

On Christmas Day, many little wizards will come to Hogsmeade to celebrate, such as Draco. His family had brought him to Hogsmeade several times before he went to Hogwarts.

Some families even come every Christmas as a tradition.

During Christmas, Hogsmeade village will also be very lively with various performances.

Lin Xia thought of something and used the extrasensory spell to amplify her sense of smell. In addition to the strong smell of alcohol in the cellar, she also smelled the aroma of candy outside.

This aroma...

She raised an eyebrow, like a gingerbread house with icing.

Lin Xia said: "I didn't hear any footsteps outside, maybe they have already rested, let's go up first."

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The journey from the cellar to the ground level was easy, so easy that Draco wondered if something had gone wrong.

This secret passage is connected to a tavern, but it is just an ordinary tavern, not as famous as the Pig's Head Inn.

The two men walked out of the tavern wearing invisibility cloaks and finally saw some figures on the road, but passers-by were in a hurry and walked with their heads down, as if trying their best to avoid looking at others.

Lin Xia frowned. Even if it wasn't Christmas, the atmosphere in Hogsmeade village shouldn't be like this on ordinary days.

Suddenly, there was a noise not far away. Lin Xia and Draco approached quietly and found that two Aurors wearing special clothes arrested a man!

When the man was caught, he screamed wildly: "We are colluding with the evil god, I am innocent, you arrested me for no reason, I know nothing!"

Because someone was caught, the passers-by, who were already in a hurry, wrapped their robes more tightly and ran to the side at a rapid speed.

There were still some people on the street, but because of this incident, they were instantly cleared out in just a few minutes.

However, Hogsmeade village has spent a lot of effort on decoration in order to welcome the upcoming Christmas. There are many twinkling lights around, as well as giant statues specially cast for the festival.

The festive atmosphere was very strong, but because there were not many people, the liveliness created by the lights seemed unreal.

Lin Xia thought for a moment and whispered, "Let's go to O'Connor's shop first."

After they were quite a distance away from the Aurors, Draco asked, "Why did Hogsmeade become like this? What happened?"

Lin Xia shook her head solemnly: "I don't know, the professor didn't tell us. Besides, Christmas is coming soon, and the professor has asked students not to go to Hogsmeade."

This reason was very reasonable and no one doubted it. Little did they know that the professor did not allow students to go there because of some changes that happened in Hogsmeade village.

Draco thought of something and guessed, "I heard the captured man shout out 'evil god'. Could it be related to the contaminants we found in Honeydukes before?"

Lin Xia looked around. The street where O'Connor's shop was located was very remote. Even when Hogsmeade village was prosperous, not many people went to this street.

Now that there are Aurors on duty, no one will come here, for fear that the Aurors will think they are acting suspiciously and sneakily.

Lin Xia observed and answered Draco's question: "It should be. The Ministry of Magic has sent Aurors here, and there are a lot of them. I saw Aurors patrolling at some forks in the road just now."

She paused and said calmly, "I have a guess. I'm afraid that the 'flash firework exploding candy' we found is just one of the pollutants. There are many more pollutants hidden in Hogsmeade Village. That's why the Ministry of Magic attaches so much importance to it. They suspect that the entire village has been contaminated by pollutants."

Draco said in surprise: "If that's the case, can Hogsmeade still be open? Even if it can, there will be so many people at Christmas. Aren't you afraid something might go wrong?"

Lin Xia asked back: "It seems that the Ministry of Magic has found the problem and is trying its best to eliminate it in the cradle, so why can't Hogsmeade be opened?"

She sighed, "Christmas is an annual festival, and Hogsmeade is a very iconic street in the wizarding world. Every Christmas, so many wizards go to Hogsmeade to celebrate. If it is suddenly closed this year, what will other wizards think?"

Draco paused.

Lin Xia asked again: "Do you know when Hogsmeade Village was closed?"

Draco shook his head.

Lin Xia said in a deep voice: “When the Dark Lord and his army of Death Eaters were wreaking havoc, the Ministry of Magic closed Hogsmeade Village to protect the safety of the people.

The village would only be closed if something like this happened. Now it is closed for no reason. Does that mean the Dark Lord is about to return? Do you think the Ministry of Magic will allow such dangerous rumors to spread?"

The shadow that the Dark Lord casts on many wizards is too great.

Even though he has not returned completely, just some news about him is enough to make the entire wizarding world panic.

The Ministry of Magic definitely doesn't want to see this happen.

If they insisted on closing Hogsmeade, it would play into the hands of the Death Eaters, who wanted to stir up panic in the entire wizarding world.

But if they don't close Hogsmeade, they will have to face the various crises and difficulties brought by the Death Eaters.

Lin Xia walked to O'Connor's villa. The villa looked gloomy from the outside, as if no one had lived in it for a long time. The surface of the villa was covered with moss, and there was no light.

But in the wizarding world, all it takes is a small sleight of hand to prevent outsiders from seeing whether the lights in the villa are on or not.

As soon as Lin Xia and Draco approached the villa, they felt an invisible membrane blocking them.

Draco looked at Lin Xia and silently said a few words: "Defensive magic rune array?"

Lin Xia nodded and waved her wand to quickly dismantle it.

She had dismantled this magic array once. Although O'Connor added some difficulty to the original one, it was a pity that the wizard who sold him the magic array defense disk was a shoddy guy.

The several difficulties he added were superfluous and exposed the shortcomings of the magic array more obviously, so Lin Xia's second dismantling was smoother and faster than the first time.

After just a few minutes, she broke through the defensive rune array and quietly walked into the villa with Draco.

Lin Xia and Draco's eyes suddenly opened up. This villa was not as lifeless as it looked from the outside. Instead, it was brightly lit.

They jumped in through the window, and after a few steps they met a house-elf, and they stopped immediately.

Despite the magical status of house-elves, the spells they know are all common household magic, but they do not need to rely on wands to cast spells.

They are naturally sensitive to magic and can quickly release spells by just tapping their fingertips.

In this regard, wizards are not as good as house-elves.

Sometimes Lin Xia thought that the reason why humans enslaved house-elves was to imprint slavery in their bones to prevent them from rebelling.

Although human wizards can suppress it, it also comes at a huge cost, as this creature is naturally powerful in its perception and use of magic.

"Where's O'Connor?" the patrolling house-elf asked idly.

Another house-elf replied, "Still brewing potions in the potion room in the cellar?"

"It seems that it hasn't appeared for a long time, but it has made a lot of potions. Do you think its method can really work on Death Eaters?"

"I don't know. I don't think highly of O'Connor's revenge this time." Another house-elf said softly.

"Since you don't think it's a good idea, then why do you still come to help it? It could cost you your life."

The house-elf said calmly, "It was it that saved my life. If it hadn't given me the medicine, I would have been beaten to death by my master. It was it that picked up my socks and put them on for me. It was because of it that I was able to regain my freedom." (End of this chapter)