Chapter 680 Gaunt’s Old House
Chapter 680 Gaunt’s Old House
From Chris' mouth, Kyle also learned what happened this morning.
The process was not complicated. Umbridge took the batters to Hampshire early in the morning, preparing to find some material for the front page of today's "Daily Prophet."
She is already very familiar with this kind of thing, so the people she leads are all veterans who have had many experiences and work well with each other.
When they arrived at the place, the strikers spread out skillfully, looking for useful clues, but by chance, they actually met the Death Eaters who came to do something this time.
Then when the batters came back from their tour, they saw an extremely horrifying scene.
The always arrogant Umbridge was rolling on the ground in pain, struggling for mercy, and next to her was Bellatrix, who was holding a wand and laughing crazily.
Almost subconsciously, a beater with a camera took pictures of this scene, but for the sake of the Ministry of Magic's face, the newspaper did not choose this photo, but used another one.
"So, Umbridge took the initiative to bump into her?" Kyle asked incredulously.
"So be it..." Chris said, "Now that the mysterious man has not shown up, he is obviously hiding something. Under normal circumstances, Death Eaters would not do such boring things without being threatened.
"But Umbridge is an exception. Everyone now knows that she is a person who firmly opposes Death Eaters, and whether it is attitude or speech, she is even better than Barty Crouch back then.
"And Bellatrix is one of the most crazy and loyal followers of the mysterious man. Now that she has met him, she naturally wants to get rid of such a threat for the mysterious man."
"Then couldn't she just use the Death Curse?" Kyle glanced at the photo in the newspaper, "Why did she use the Cruciatus Curse? This curse can't kill anyone."
"I think she probably wants to ask for some useful information from Umbridge." Chris thought for a while and said, "For example, the Ministry of Magic's plan, or the location of the Order of the Phoenix headquarters. This is also her usual method. s method."
"She thinks Umbridge is a member of the Order of the Phoenix?"
Chris looked at Kyle with a strange expression, as if he was surprised that he could ask such a question.
"Do you think..." he said, "is there anyone in the Order who is more like Umbridge than Umbridge?"
"Well, that seems to be the case." Kyle muttered.
Judging from her recent performance alone, Umbridge is indeed more of a standard member of the Order of the Phoenix than anyone else...including regular staff like Sirius or Moody.
Especially the last appearance of Dumbledore in the newspaper just proves this point.
"Umbridge will probably be very happy." Kyle murmured in a low voice: "She became an important figure in the Order of the Phoenix overnight, and at the same time she fulfilled her promise in the newspaper...Fighting the Death Eaters to the end, they are irreconcilable. …”
Chris shook his head and said nothing.
Half an hour later, Kyle left the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and returned to his office.
What surprised him was that Fudge acted very calmly and was not panicked by Bellatrix's appearance and actions.
Of course, there was still some surprise, but he soon returned to normal, as if he had really accepted the news that Voldemort had been resurrected.
Now that Voldemort is resurrected, what happened today is naturally nothing surprising.
By noon, at Fudge's request, Kyle went with him to St. Mungo's to visit Umbridge.
As soon as he arrived on the fifth floor of St. Mungo's, Kyle heard Umbridge's shrill voice coming from the corridor.
"I want to go out...I want to see the minister!"
"It's not safe here. That crazy woman may come here at any time..."
"You can't stop me, I am the Senior Minister of Magic, get out of here!"
Hearing the last sentence, Fudge's expression suddenly changed slightly... If Umbridge is a senior minister, then who is he.
Then for some unknown reason, the screaming stopped suddenly.
A therapist ran out of the room sweating profusely and saw Fudge standing in the corridor.
"Sorry, Minister, I didn't know you were here too." He quickly explained: "Ms. Umbridge's shouting was too loud. In order not to affect other people's rest, we can only find a way to make her fall asleep temporarily. "
"Oh, it doesn't matter, this is what it should be." Fudge didn't mean to blame the therapist at all. He said with a smile: "You really shouldn't yell here. There is nothing wrong with what you did."
Hearing this, the therapist breathed a sigh of relief.
"It seems that our trip this time is in vain." Fudge looked at Kyle and said meaningfully: "I think it is better to let her rest for a while, which will help her recovery."
"That's right, Minister." Kyle said. Since Fudge had said so, he naturally wouldn't refute it.
But one thing to say, Umbridge is still quite powerful. She has just been tortured by the Cruciatus Curse, but she can still scream out. This is not something ordinary people can do.
For example, Sirius was weak for several days after being hit by the Cruciatus Curse. Kyle didn't think Bellatrix's Cruciatus Curse was any worse than others.
Because of this incident, Fudge just walked around the fifth floor of St. Mungo's and went back to the Ministry of Magic without even entering the ward.
For the rest of the afternoon, Kyle continued to return to his previous state of idleness, with nothing to do but play Auto Chess Wizards in the office.
Kyle chose the black chess piece. Every time he makes a move, the white chess piece will automatically move to the corresponding position, which is very suitable for killing time when you are alone.
The day passed quickly, and when Kyle returned to Hogwarts, people in the castle were also discussing what was in the newspaper this morning.
Although in recent times, the "Daily Prophet"... There would be some news about Death Eaters published from time to time, but they were basically relaying what the striker or someone said, as if the Ministry of Magic could only follow the Death Eaters and never catch them.
But today's newspaper came with a clear photo of Bellatrix's crazy look, which caused another wave of panic.
Fortunately, someone also saw Dumbledore passing by in the corner.
"The principal is here too..." a Gryffindor girl said with relief, "This Death Eater must be finished."
"No wonder the principal hasn't been in school recently. It turns out he went to deal with Death Eaters..."
"But what if the principal is not here and the Death Eaters choose to attack Hogwarts..." someone said worriedly.
"Don't worry, don't forget there is Professor McGonagall..."
"Yes, with the professors here, Death Eaters will definitely ask for trouble if they dare to come."
……
There was a lot of chatter in the auditorium and you could hear it wherever you went.
But this situation soon disappeared.
There was less than a week before the exam, and the increasingly heavy schoolwork made their minds full of the upcoming exam, leaving them unable to distract themselves from other things.
The Quidditch finals originally scheduled for this week were, for unknown reasons, postponed until after the exams by Professor McGonagall.
Maybe she felt that reviewing was more distracting than playing ball.
After a Transfiguration class, they were given the timetable and specific requirements for the exam.
"The NEWT exam, like OWL, will last for two full weeks." While eating dinner, Cedric said: "There is one class every day, with theory test in the morning and practical test in the afternoon. You can continue to review at other times."
"I think it's better to finish the exam as soon as possible." Mikel seemed to remember last year's experience and said with a grimace: "To be honest, I was always very nervous during the days of the OWL exam and couldn't understand anything at all. , where are you?"
"I'm okay," Cedric said, "and I think I should pass."
Although he said this, Kyle noticed that Cedric could not help but rub his hands and take deep breaths. It seemed that Cedric was also nervous about the upcoming exam.
Hogwarts has entered exam week.
<divclass="contentadv">At the same time, a flame suddenly appeared out of thin air on a deserted country road, and then there was an old man with a gray beard on the road, and then there was another man wrapped in black beside him. A man in a cloak with a sinister expression.
"Dumbledore, your plan was successful. The Dark Lord seems to think that Ogden was dead before you found him..."
"Severus, believe it or not, it was not my plan for Umbridge to be there," Dumbledore said.
Snape snorted from his nostrils, obviously not believing this.
As soon as Bellatrix found where Ogden was, Umbridge appeared in front of her. If it hadn't been arranged in advance, how could such a coincidence happen? Do you think he is an idiot?
Looking at his look, Dumbledore knew that he couldn't explain it anyway, but what he said was true, and it was all just a coincidence.
Dumbledore sighed and simply stopped explaining. He had more important things to do now.
"Thank you Severus, please go back to Hogwarts first."
"I don't think this is a good idea." Snape said without moving, "The Dark Lord has been very dissatisfied with me recently, and I need to know what you are doing."
Dumbledore turned to look at him, "Believe me Severus, if you tell Tom what I am going to do, he will kill you immediately.
"This is related to his biggest secret, and he won't let anyone know."
Snape was silent for a moment.
"It's a Horcrux, right?" he said. "What clues did you find?"
"Ogden's memory should help us," said Dumbledore.
He did not persuade Snape to leave, but continued walking forward and came to a wooden signpost.
There are two arrows on it, which read: Great Hangleton, 5 miles. Little Hangleton, 1 mile.
Dumbledore turned in the direction of Little Hangleton, and Snape followed.
They walked for a while and followed the tall hedges on both sides to a valley. Between two steep hillsides, there stood a village.
On the hillside across the valley, there is a large and magnificent house.
"That's where Riddle lives?" Snape frowned as he looked at the big house, "So you want to go there? Then why take such a long detour."
However, what Snape didn't expect was that Dumbledore did not go to the village, but walked towards the side path, then turned right and disappeared through a gap in the fence.
Hidden entrance, same as St. Mungo's and the Ministry of Magic. Before the Muggle expulsion spell was invented, this was also the most common method used by the older generation of wizards to protect themselves from being discovered, and the effect was quite good.
Snape quickly followed.
The two came to a narrower dirt road. The place was extremely desolate. The dirt road was winding, pitted, and covered with rocks. The vines on both sides spread to the road. It was obvious that no one had been there for a long time.
The path led to a dark forest. Dumbledore came to the forest, pulled out his wand, and waved it lightly.
The tangled trees in front of them were separated by an invisible force, revealing a strange-looking house hidden among them.
The house had also not been inhabited for a long time, and even the door was covered with lush vines, making it look like a giant cocoon.
Dumbledore waved his wand again, and the vines automatically separated to both sides. With a "squeak", the door that had not been used for an unknown period of time was opened.
Snape noticed that there was a snake on the door. It was brightly colored, as if it had been nailed on it just yesterday. It was incompatible with the quaint and old surroundings.
"Where is this..." he couldn't help but ask.
"Gaunt House." Dumbledore stooped and walked into the house.
"Gaunt..." Snape's expression changed slightly.
"Yes." Dumbledore said, "This is the last place where Tom's mother lived... Be careful, I don't know if Tom has applied any additional magic, so it's best not to mess with things here."
"I know, you don't need to remind me." Snape said, "How did you find this place?"
"Bob Ogden," Dumbledore said, "As a former member of the Legal Enforcement Division, he was here once on a case, and I happened to get this news."
Every time the two of them took a step in the room, there would be a harsh creaking sound from the ground, and it was obviously daytime, but it was extremely dark here, as if all sunlight was blocked by the trees outside.
"What are you looking for?" Snape asked.
He took a look around and saw that the place was even more shabby than he thought. Most of the things were gone, leaving only some worn-out furniture or missing cups.
Dumbledore said nothing. He walked around the house and finally stopped in front of a small table with slender legs.
Snape guessed that this table should once have been filled with exquisite and valuable furnishings, but now there was only a thick layer of dust.
"It's not a clever method... It seems that this is not the way Tom used to protect it." Dumbledore took out his wand and tapped it lightly on the table.
Then, the table turned over like a glove that had been taken off, and an ugly ring suddenly appeared in front of the two of them.
The ring was golden, with a black gem the size of a copper coin set in the middle.
Snape looked at the ring carefully and felt that it looked familiar.
Dumbledore also saw the ring, and his eyes fell on the black gem unconsciously.
For a moment, his breathing became much heavier and he subconsciously reached out his hand.
"Stop!" Snape shouted quickly: "There is something wrong with this ring. Someone has placed a terrible curse on it."
Dumbledore didn't seem to hear his reminder and had no intention of stopping.
Seeing that his hand was about to touch the ring, Snape realized with horror that he had no time to do anything.
However, at this moment, a string of golden threads suddenly appeared on Dumbledore's arm.
These thin wires tightened around Dumbledore's arms like ropes, forcing his hand to stop less than an inch from the ring.
Subconsciously, Dumbledore tried to break free from the restraints on his arms, but what he got in return was a sharp pain.
Those thin lines were embedded in Dumbledore's body, and in just a moment, several bloody marks were drawn on his arms.
However, this pain also revived Dumbledore's increasingly confused brain.
He looked at the ring close at hand and gasped for air.
"I……"
Dumbledore was about to say something, but at this time, Snape had already ran over. He didn't seem to see those golden thin lines, but only saw several blood marks on Dumbledore's arm for no reason.
In addition, Dumbledore's finger was too close to the ring. In desperation, Snape didn't care so much and directly raised his leg.
"Dammit, don't touch that thing!"
With a dull crashing sound, Dumbledore felt a pain all over his body, and then the scene in front of him suddenly began to move backwards quickly.
When Dumbledore finally realized what had happened, he saw the dusty floor and the flash of Snape's soles.
