Chapter 294: Prophecy Ball
Under the illumination of orange street lights, an old telephone booth stands on the street.
Harry had been to the Ministry of Magic when he was accused of violating the Reasonable Restraint of Minor Wizards Act, and knew that the unassuming phone box was actually the entrance to the Ministry of Magic.
He squeezed into the phone booth with his friends. Fortunately, they were all young wizards around fifteen years old, and there were no fat people in the team, so they were able to squeeze in.
"Whoever is closest to the phone, dial the number 62442!" Harry shouted to the friends inside.
62442 is typed out using a nine-square grid, which actually means MAGIC.
Ron's arm was awkwardly bent as he stretched toward the dial and dialed the number.
When the dial quickly turned back to its original position, a woman's cold voice came into the phone booth:
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, please state your name and your business."
"Harry Potter, Ron Weiss, Hermione Granger," Harry said quickly, "Ginny Weiss, Neville Longbottom, Rolf Scamander De, Luna Lovegood..."
"We are here to save people, unless you, the Ministry of Magic, get him out first."
"Thank you," the cold voice said, "Guest, please pick up the badge and pin it to the front of your clothes."
Seven badges slipped out of the metal chute that was supposed to eject coins.
Hermione picked them up and passed them wordlessly over Ginny's head to Harry. Harry glanced at the top one which read:
Harry Potter, rescue mission.
"Guests of the Ministry of Magic, you are required to be checked and register your wand at the security desk. The security desk is located at the end of the main hall."
"Got it!" Harry shouted, "Can we act now?"
The ground of the phone booth suddenly shook, the sidewalk outside gradually rose up and covered the window, and darkness closed above their heads.
With a dull grinding sound, they gradually descended into the depths of the ground.
"Do you think it's too easy for us to get in?" Hermione asked hesitantly in the darkness, "Will the Ministry of Magic make it so easy for us underage wizards to come in and save people?"
"It seems a bit strange." Rolf also frowned, "I remember that the Ministry of Magic used to be very strict with the guests, especially since our reasons were a bit unfair, but they didn't ask any more questions."
Rolf had been to the Ministry of Magic many times with his grandfather and father, and was quite familiar with it, but this time the review situation really made him feel a little weird.
The relationship between Fudge and Harry is so tense, how come the people at the Ministry of Magic are not paying attention to this name...
"Maybe it's because it's the middle of the night?" Ron guessed. "It's long past time to get off work. My dad didn't work overtime until this point at the latest... But they are not in the Order of the Phoenix now. where?"
They sneaked back into the Order of the Phoenix through Umbridge's fireplace beforehand, but didn't find any adults.
"But even in the middle of the night, there will be someone on duty here, right?" Hermione asked, "Why didn't anyone ask us about our purpose and just gave us the pass?"
"This further proves that the Ministry of Magic has been captured by those Death Eaters!" Harry said impatiently, "It is possible that something happened to the employees on duty as well!"
The others were silent.
Thinking of this, a kind of nervousness completely enveloped their hearts... Can they really save Sirius from the brutal Death Eaters with just a few students who have not yet graduated?
A thin golden light shone on their feet, getting wider and wider, and gradually moved to their bodies.
In such a narrow space, Harry grabbed his wand and squatted down as much as possible to stare outside through the glass to see if anyone was waiting for them in the main hall.
But the main hall seemed empty.
The light in the main hall of the Ministry of Magic was darker at night than during the day, and there was no fire in the mantelpiece built into the wall. But when the elevator stopped smoothly, he saw that the golden symbol on the dark blue roof was still twisting irregularly.
"The Ministry of Magic hopes you enjoy your evening," the cold female voice said.
The door to the phone booth opened suddenly, and Harry stumbled out, followed closely by Neville and Luna.
The only sound that could be heard in the main hall was the continuous rushing of the golden fountain in the center of the hall, water spurting from the wands of wizards and witches, the arrows of centaurs, the tips of goblin hats and the ears of house elves. , falling into a circular pool.
"Come with me," Harry whispered.
Seven people were running at full speed in the hall. He was at the front, passing the fountain and running towards the security desk, where a wizard who weighed Harry's wand once sat guarding, but now there was no one there.
Harry thought there should be security here, and believed the lack of a guard at the door was a bad sign.
His sense of foreboding intensified as they walked through the Ministry of Magic's golden doors to the lifts.
He pressed the nearest "down" button, and the elevator clicked into view almost immediately. The golden fence slid from the middle to both sides, making a deafening, echoing clang.
They rushed in and took the elevator to the ninth underground level of the Ministry of Magic.
"Department of Mysteries."
said the cold woman's voice as the lift came to a stop.
The fence opened, and they walked out into the corridor. There was no movement except the nearest torch flickering in the air stirred up by the elevator. It was eerily quiet.
Harry's eyes turned to the plain black door in the corridor - in his vague connection with Voldemort, he could see that Sirius was tortured inside this door, and now they were finally here.
"Let's go." He whispered, leading everyone forward along the corridor.
The other little wizards were all staring nervously in front of them. Only Luna, who always had a strange brain circuit, was looking around curiously.
"Okay, everyone, listen," Harry said to the others, stopping less than six feet away from the Black Door, "Maybe we should leave a few people here... to look out, and -"
He actually wanted to rush in alone, because this operation was very dangerous, and the other people had nothing to do with Sirius, so there was no need for them to step into danger for him.
"But if something happens, how can we notify you?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrows. "You might be far away from us."
"We're all going with you, Harry." Neville said firmly.
"Well, let's keep going." Ron also said.
Rolf smiled and nodded at him.
Harry was still hesitant and unwilling to take them all with him, but it seemed that he had no choice...
He turned around and walked towards the black door, which opened automatically.
…
"Get ready, Lucius, they're coming in."
Dracula said to a bronze mirror, behind which was the nervous face of Lucius Malfoy.
Harry and other seven young wizards entered the black door of the Department of Mysteries, but they didn't even notice that one of the six halls here quietly opened a gap - that was the Hall of Death.
Dracula had been standing next to the huge stone arch, feeling the looming breath of death behind the curtain, and observing the actions and progress of Harry and others through the cracks in the door.
After contacting Lucius, he took out another two-way mirror.
"Albus, are you from the Order of the Phoenix here too?" Dracula asked looking into the mirror.
"Everything is ready," Dumbledore said from behind the mirror. "When you lift the anti-Apparition spell over there, all available members of the Order of the Phoenix will directly disapparate to the Department of Mysteries."
"Okay, remember to ask your people to save Lucius Malfoy's life, I promised him." Dracula added.
"No problem, I will give the order." Dumbledore said.
In fact, Hermione and Rolf were absolutely right to be suspicious of unusual behavior in the wizarding world.
The Ministry of Magic should have some employees on duty late at night, but there were many Death Eaters who had close connections with the Ministry of Magic. Lucius and Yaxley easily found excuses to lure away those on duty. member.
Without manual review, Harry and others' entry application was directly approved by Yaxley, allowing them to walk in easily.
The hallucinations Harry saw were also fake——
Voldemort learned that Sirius was one of the most important people to Harry, a father and a friend, so he used the connection between the two to invade Harry's brain and let him see hallucinations of Sirius being tortured. .
As Lucius said to Dracula, Voldemort's purpose is to obtain a prophecy ball, which records the fate of Harry and Voldemort.
However, what Voldemort did not expect was that Lucius leaked this matter to Dracula early on.
As a result, Dracula contacted Dumbledore again, and the two quickly discussed a plan to take this opportunity to deal with Voldemort.
"Are you confident?" Dracula looked aside and asked.
Young Riddle was standing there, looking a little nervous.
"I don't have much confidence. After all, that is my main soul that has completely restored my strength." He said gloomily, "And I only have three soul fragments here, not even half of the seven..."
"It will definitely be more than half after today." Dracula said with a chuckle, "We will suppress him. You are only responsible for finding the Horcrux on Voldemort."
…
"That's it!"
After trying several doors in succession, Harry finally found the right one.
It was as high as a church and was lined with towering shelves. There were countless small, dusty glass balls on the shelves, but nothing else.
More candlesticks are embedded on the shelf at certain intervals, and dim light shines from above, and the small glass balls glow faintly in the light.
Harry walked forward slowly and looked down at a dark aisle between two rows of shelves. He could not hear a sound or feel any movement, not even the smallest movement.
"You said that Sirius was here in row 97." Hermione said quietly next to him.
"Yes." Harry responded softly.
He raised his head and looked towards the nearest row of crystal balls. The candle next to it glowed with blue flames, and the silver number flashed under the bracket, "53".
"I think we should go to the right." Hermione whispered, glancing sideways at the row next to her, "By the way...this is 54..."
"Everyone, get your wands ready." Harry lowered his voice and instructed.
They tiptoed along the long aisle between the shelves, looking back from time to time to glance behind them. It was almost pitch black in the distance.
There are little yellowed labels on the shelves beneath each glass ball. Some of the balls emit a mysterious flowing light, while others are dim and dark, like extinguished light bulbs.
They walked past row 84, row 85... Harry was trying to listen to the slightest sound, but he couldn't hear anything. Maybe Sirius's mouth was blocked, or maybe he was unconscious...
Or maybe it was the most fearful thought in his heart, that he might be dead... Thinking of this, Harry felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
"97!" Hermione said suddenly.
They stood together at one end of row 97, staring intently at the corridor next to the shelves. No one was there.
"Sirius should be right over there," Harry said, his mouth already a little dry. "It's impossible to see clearly from here."
He led everyone through two rows of towering glass balls. As they passed, some of the glass gave off a faint light...
"He should be around here," Harry's voice was very low. He was convinced that with every step he took, Sirius' ragged figure would appear on the dark floor. "Somewhere here... really Very close..."
"Harry?" Hermione tried calling him.
Harry didn't want to answer, his mouth was already very dry.
"Somewhere...here..." he said.
They had reached the other end of the row of shelves, exposed to more dim candlelight.
There was no one here either, just echoes and dusty silence.
"Harry," Hermione said slowly, her voice amplified, "I think...Sirius is not here."
No one said anything.
Harry couldn't understand. He clearly saw Sirius. It was Voldemort's perspective... He didn't understand why Sirius wasn't here, and he couldn't believe that there was an error in the picture he saw.
He ran quickly in one direction past the rows of shelves and looked along them.
However, there was no sign of Sirius anywhere, and no sign of a fight.
"Harry?" Ron shouted.
"What?" Harry responded dejectedly.
He thought Ron would tell him he was stupid, or suggest that they should go back to Hogwarts, or scold him for taking the risk of bringing a group of friends to the Ministry of Magic in the middle of the night...
However, Ron was talking about something else: "Did you see this?"
"What?" Harry asked.
He strode up to Ron and saw him looking at a dirty glass ball on a shelf.
"What are you looking at?" he asked gloomily.
"It...it has your name on it." Ginny said in surprise.
Harry moved closer, and Ginny pointed at a small glass ball. It was dirty, as if it hadn't been touched in years, but the shimmer inside made it shine.
"My name?" Harry asked confused.
He stepped forward and looked at the yellowed label beneath the glass ball affixed to the shelf.
The label bore a date in delicate font, followed by a series of letters:
to .\\n
(Sybill Patrick Trelawney to Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore)
"What is this?" Ron asked, "Why is your name on it?"
"This is a prophecy ball." Rolf frowned and said, "If Harry's name is written on it, then it is most likely a prophecy about Harry."
"Prophecies?" Harry was a little curious, "What will these prophecies say?"
He raised his hand, took hold of the dirty little ball, and took it off.
At the same time, a lazy voice suddenly sounded in the darkness not far away:
"Very well, Potter, now turn slowly and give it to me."
…
…
