Chapter 188: Trip to the Cave

There is only one week left until the end of the semester. It snowed all night. When I woke up in the morning, I could see that the grass of the castle had turned white, and the Forbidden Forest in the distance was also covered with snow.

The students walked on the snow, and their feet made a creaking sound.

This weekend is Hogsmeade Week. Almost all senior students will take this opportunity to go to Hogsmeade Village to play. Michael and others also happily prepared to go out early in the morning.

Although they can usually sneak out of the school to play through the Vanishing Cabinet, most students are afraid of violating school rules.

And if there are only a few school-age children in the village, they will be recognized as truant students by the shopkeepers at a glance.

Some shopkeepers will turn a blind eye, but most people will urge or coldly ask them to go back to school quickly.

In short, only on the weekend in Hogsmeade can you have a better sightseeing experience.

When Wade finished breakfast and went out, he saw Michael and Padma holding hands with a green scarf. After seeing him, the two subconsciously separated.

"Hi, Wade!" Michael said in an unusually high voice, "It seems that you are ready to go out too!"

"Huh?" Anthony Goldstein walked out from behind Wade and looked at them curiously: "What going out?"

"Ah? This..." Michael laughed after accidentally letting the cat out of the bag, and hurriedly said: "Of course I'm going out for a walk. The snow is so beautiful today!"

Anthony stared at him suspiciously and said, "You don't want to sneak out of Hogsmeade during the weekend? I tell you, it's best not to do this! Several students have been caught by Filch."

"Ah?" Michael asked with a smile: "Who is so stupid?"

"A few first-year Gryffindors." Anthony said, "They thought it was cold today, so as long as they wore thicker clothes, they wouldn't be discovered by Filch!"

"Gryffindor... that's not surprising." Michael said seriously, "But I really didn't want to break the school rules, I just wanted to enjoy the snow."

"Of course, of course, the snow scenery for a few days is really fascinating!"

Suddenly, a voice that seemed to be jumping suddenly interrupted their conversation. Michael and Anthony wanted to leave quickly reflexively, but someone had already stretched out his arms and pressed their shoulders.

"Let me see who this is... Michael and Anthony! Two of my favorite students!"

Lockhart smiled and embraced the two students, then looked to the side: "Oh, and Padma! Are you also worried that you won't be able to see me at Christmas?"

"Don't worry! Don't worry! Although I have to go to France to attend an important event at Christmas, I will definitely come back on time to teach you in January! I promise, dear students!"

The three of them smiled at the same time and said politely: "Good morning, professor."

"Yeah, hello everyone." Lockhart nodded randomly, searching around, and finally saw the person he wanted to see: "Come here, Creevey! Take a picture of us!"

"Okay, professor." Colin Creevey, who always carries a camera, trotted over.

Michael and others showed an expression of wanting to escape. He wanted to find Wade to help him, but saw that the classmate disappeared without knowing when.

"Cunning guy, he must have cast an Ignore spell on himself!" Michael said angrily to Padma.

Padma nodded randomly, but she subconsciously showed a beautiful smile in front of the camera.

With a "click", Colin took the photo.

"I will send you the photo after it is developed." Colin said, and then asked Lockhart: "Professor, can you take a photo with Harry Potter?"

"I was just thinking of doing that!" Lockhart said happily, quickly letting go of several students who were just his "favorite" students, and picked Harry out of the crowd with sharp eyes.

"Come on, Harry, you must want a photo of me too, so that you can look at it often during the holidays, right? Don't be shy, boy, you know I will always indulge your little admiration!"

Lockhart grabbed Harry's arm and forcibly pulled him to his side, showing his much-praised smile.

Harry looked at Michael and others desperately and accusingly, his eyes saying: "What the hell are you doing? Why are you dragging Lockhart to take a photo?"

Michael and others avoided his sight in shame.

Lockhart kept reminding Harry to strike a charming pose, but Harry had no interest in cooperating with him. Only Colin was excitedly clicking the camera.

Michael felt extremely sympathetic towards Harry, and then he suppressed his conscience and quietly pulled Padma, signaling that they should take the opportunity to slip away.

The two squeezed out of the crowd, and suddenly Michael stopped.

Draco Malfoy stood in the shadow of the corner with his arms folded across his chest, looking coldly at the excitement over there.

Michael suddenly thought that Malfoy seemed to have not been arrogant enough to cause trouble to Harry for a long time.

Not only Harry, but even Neville was no longer bullied by him.

Since Crabbe and Goyle no longer followed Malfoy like a stone pillar, the presence of this Slytherin suddenly decreased a lot.

Michael shook his head, didn't take it to heart, and left along the stairs with Padma.

Not long after, Crabbe and Goyle also passed by the corridor.

Gol was holding a few pieces of cake in his hands, eating the dessert after dinner, while Crabbe, who was beside him, was imitating Malfoy's tone to teach him a lesson -

"You should be smarter, Gregory!" Crabbe said unhappily: "It's because you are too stupid that we are laughed at by Tracy and others..."

Gol nodded in a daze, not listening to what he said at all.

Suddenly, a figure stood in front of them.

"Vincent, Gregory."

Malfoy looked at the two of them gloomily.

"Ah, Draco." Goyle stopped, looked at Malfoy stupidly, walked towards him and asked: "Have you had breakfast?"

Crabbe grabbed Goyle and said to Malfoy with a bad expression: "Don't think we will be your followers and listen to your orders, Draco! You and your father are just rich, I am much better than you!"

Malfoy looked at this stupid, former companion and was laughed at by him.

"--better than me? Are you sure?"

He said in a long tone, raising the wand in his hand.

Far away, a senior Slytherin leaned on the railing, watching the scene below with a smile.

...

The waves beat against the black rocks, and foam accumulated on the sea surface near the cliff, drifting back and forth with the sea water.

The air was filled with a salty smell unique to the ocean. On the steep cliff, a red light flashed suddenly, and two figures appeared here.

"Oh, this is the place..."

Dumbledore looked around, his long beard and hair were flying in the wind. He had to hold down his precious beard with his hand, which was tied with a golden red bow.

Wade also raised his hand to hold down his hood to prevent his hair from being blown wildly by the wind, looking like a madman.

The fire of the phoenix flashed again, and this time it was Lupin and Sirius who appeared on the cliff.

"Good morning, Dumbledore, Wade."

"Good morning." Dumbledore asked with concern: "Sirius, how are you recovering?"

"Much better!"

Sirius showed his wand and the arm holding the wand, which finally had some muscles.

"For me, moving is the panacea! But Lupin always wants me to lie in the ward of St. Mungo's!"

He complained to Dumbledore casually.

Lupin turned a deaf ear to him. He leaned over to look at the large rocks protruding from the sea, and then looked at the deserted scene around him, and asked: "Where is this?"

"On the outskirts of London." Wade said: "There is a small village nearby, but there are almost no people."

Sirius looked a little solemn, and the smell of the sea breeze reminded him of the days in Azkaban.

He tried to suppress his discomfort, took a deep breath, and asked, "Which village are we going to?"

"No." Wade pointed to the rocks below and said, "We have to go down there."

"Down there?" Sirius stood on the edge of the cliff, looking at the steep rock wall and the bottomless sea below: "You can Apparate, I hope the rocks are not too slippery."

Lupin reached out to Wade: "Let me take you, Wade."

"No, I'll take you."

Wade opened his backpack and tapped it with his wand, and several old brooms came out of it and flew towards everyone.

These brooms were originally placed in the Room of Requirement, and Zoe and the others gave Wade the best one.

For this trip, Wade had made various preparations in advance, including four flying brooms, so that everyone would not need to take the risk of Apparate to the rocks or climb down the slippery rock wall.

Sirius quickly grabbed a broom and was the first to sit on it. Then he was suspended in the air and heard Wade say:

"Our destination should be nearby. It is a crack near the sea surface. It is not too wide and may be submerged by the sea water when the tide rises. There are steps inside and a large cave."

"So we need to find that crack first?" Lupin asked.

"Yes." Wade nodded.

While he was speaking, he also glanced at Dumbledore's expression to confirm that the old headmaster had not yet tracked down the cave where Voldemort hid the Horcrux.

Sirius was a little surprised. On the one hand, it was because he found that the leader was actually Wade, even though Dumbledore was right next to him; on the other hand, it was because of Wade's vague statement.

He knew there was such a place, but he had never been there?

Who told him?

Sirius thought of it naturally.

He saw that Lupin and Dumbledore did not ask anything, so he suppressed his doubts, kicked his feet, and swooped down from the cliff on his broom.

Then came Wade, Lupin and Dumbledore.

They were like four swift swifts, shuttling between the waves and rocks.

The sun shone on the rock wall, and the smooth stone reflected the light like a mirror, sometimes hiding a shadow behind it.

Soon after, Wade and the others heard Lupin's voice: "-Here!"

He shouted loudly. When everyone looked over, a red beam of light emerged from the tip of his wand, pointing directly at the rock wall, and then was swallowed by the dark crack.

Several people flew over.

The crack was only more than one meter wide, and from above, it looked like a narrow black stone. The sea water hit the rough rocks on both sides, and some slimy algae hung on the stone wall.

The beam of light shone in, and it seemed to extend to the deepest part of the cliff.

Vader hovered at the entrance of the cave, not knowing how Lupin found it so quickly, and even more not knowing how much effort Dumbledore had spent in the original plot to determine that Voldemort had hidden a Horcrux here.

Unfortunately, in the end, everything was in vain.

The sound of the waves, no one wanted to talk. They lowered their brooms, leaned down, and flew slowly into the narrow crack, their shoulders and arms occasionally rubbing against the seaweed on the rock walls on both sides.

The further they went in, the wider the crack became, until a few rough stone steps appeared in the field of vision, and in front of them was a huge cave.

"Lumospheric flash!"

Sirius raised his wand high, and the dazzling light spread out, illuminating the entire cave.

"It seems nothing." He muttered.

The sound waves hit the rock wall and bounced back. Sirius was startled to hear that his voice was louder than expected.

Lupin was also observing the surrounding rocks, but he didn't get much, and then he looked at the other two people.

Dumbledore's expression could be described as ecstatic. He seemed to have forgotten the people around him and was concentrating on checking the rock wall and the cave ceiling.

He also slowly circled the cave twice, stroking the cave wall with his fingers, muttering a spell in a strange language, and occasionally stopped to explore somewhere.

Obviously, Dumbledore was not like them, who found nothing.

What really surprised the two was Wade.

This twelve-year-old student obviously found something. He did not walk around, but his eyes moved slowly along the wall, and there seemed to be a strange light flashing in his eyes.

Lupin and Sirius looked at each other, feeling a kind of frustration and shock at the same time.

But they did not shout and ask, but made the light brighter, and did not make any sound, so as not to disturb the two.

After a long time, Dumbledore stopped. He turned around and looked at a few people, then asked Wade: "Wade, what did you find?"

Wade walked over, pressed his palm on the rock wall, and said: "This should be the entrance."

Dumbledore looked at Wade in surprise and joy, then nodded: "Yes, this is just the front hall, someone used magic to hide the entrance."

"But who did it, Dumbledore?" Sirius couldn't help asking: "Who would set up magic in such a hidden place?"

"I do have a guess, Sirius." Dumbledore pointed his wand at the rock and said: "But I don't think I need to announce the answer now - there must be everything we want in it."