Chapter 1271

"Come on, let's go to Albania. It won't take an afternoon to search the entire country." Ron said sarcastically.

This couldn't help but make the other three people feel uncomfortable. Ron seemed to have changed his personality since he separated.

However, maybe this is what it is, or maybe in the third grade, they were too focused on what Voldemort wanted to do and neglected their friends around them.

"There can't be any Horcruxes there." Fan Lin put the parchment away.

"Why?"

"Most of the Horcruxes were made before. In Albania, Voldemort only has soul fragments left. Even to survive, he needs to possess a snake. Do you think Voldemort..."

"Didn't I tell you not to call him by his name?" Ron suddenly shouted, interrupting the three people's consideration.

"Oh, okay..." Fan Lin suppressed his anger, "But no matter what, you can't control my thoughts. Maybe you can choose not to listen..."

"Fan Lin..." Hermione tugged on Fan Lin's clothes. Naturally, Fan Lin didn't say more.

Ron was also livid and sulky.

"We can first talk about Voldemort... I mean, the mysterious man's Horcrux." Harry glanced at Ron and said with some embarrassment.

"Oh, okay." Fan Lin nodded, "It is certain that there will be no Horcruxes in Albania. Moreover, the snake possessed by Voldemort has been killed by me, so it was originally possible. The sexiest one.”

"You mean, Nagini?" Harry thought of the snake that once possessed Nagini.

"So, Albania can be crossed out," Hermione said, crossing Albania out of her notebook.

"So, what about the next one, Borgin-Bock's Magic Shop, that's where he used to stay."

"I don't think he's hiding anything in Borgin and Bork," said Harry, who had said it many times, but repeated it just to break the awkward silence, "Bogin and Bork are dark magic. Experts on items, they will recognize this Horcrux immediately."

At this point, Ron yawned obviously. Harry resisted the strong urge to throw something at him and continued, "I reckon he hid it at Hogwarts."

Hermione sighed.

"But Dumbledore will find out, Harry!" Harry repeated his point and looked for reasons in his favor.

"Dumbledore said in front of me that he was never sure he knew all the secrets of Hogwarts. Let me tell you, if there was a place there that was prone to crouching..."

"oh!"

"You-Know-Who! Then!" Harry shouted, forcing himself to endure, "If there is one place that is really important to Voldemort, it is Hogwarts!"

"Oh, forget it," said Ron mockingly, "His school?"

"Yes, his school! It was his first real home, a place that meant a lot to him; it represented everything to him, even after he left..."

"We're talking about You-Know-Who, right? Not you?" Ron asked.

Harry forced himself not to look at Ron, because Harry was afraid that if he couldn't help it, he would rush out and fight Ron.

"There is also the crown of Ravenclaw, which Fanlin found and destroyed in Hogwarts. Maybe there are other Horcruxes in Hogwarts. After all, Hogwarts is very big, isn't it? There are many Not even Dumbledore can do anything about it..."

"I can tell you seriously, Harry, that Ravenclaw's diadem was made by Voldemort when he was still in school."

"And, you told us that You-Know-Who asked Dumbledore to give him a job after he graduates," Hermione said.

"Yes," Harry replied.

"And Dumbledore thinks he just wants to come back and try to find something, possibly something from one of the other house founders, to make a Horcrux?"

"Yes." Harry answered.

"But he didn't get the job," Hermione said, "so there's no way he would have gone out there to find the founder's stuff and hide it in the school!"

"And, to be sure, we should focus on the founder's relics, but this is not in Hogwarts, is it." Fan Lin said.

"Okay, then." Harry was convinced. "Forget Hogwarts."

There are no other clues. They had no choice but to come to London, hide under the invisibility cloak, and search for the orphanage where Voldemort grew up. Hermione secretly entered a library and discovered from their records that this place had been rebuilt many years ago. They arrived at its location and discovered the tower block that is now a government agency.

"We could try digging the foundations?" Hermione said jokingly.

"There's no way he's hiding a Horcrux here," Harry said firmly.

He knew this from beginning to end. The orphanage was the place where the devil had tried so hard to escape, and it was impossible for him to hide a part of his soul here. Dumbledore showed Harry the splendor and mystery of the place where Voldemort hid his Horcruxes.

This dark, gray corner of London is the most remote place imaginable, especially compared to buildings like Hogwarts or Gringotts...the wizard's bank...with their gilded doors and marble floors. Compare things.

Still without any new ideas, they continued to travel through the countryside. For safety reasons, they set up their tents in different places every night, and every morning they made sure to clear all traces of their presence before setting out to find another remote and secluded location.

When they Apparated, they visited many forests, narrow mountain streams, purple wilderness, gorse-covered mountains, and protected coves with many pebbles.

Compared to Curry's anxiety, Fanlin's mentality became more and more peaceful.

Fanlin had a rough idea of ​​the magic circle diagram he got from Alex. Ironically, Fanlin tried his best to speculate on Voldemort's other deep meanings, but it was indeed just a resurrection magic.

But Voldemort was not resurrecting the present people. He was going to break the rules of time and drag the powerful death god from time.

Fanlin felt that he had roughly thought of what conditions were needed, but the problem was that the Ministry of Magic only had a time converter that could do it, but it was not realistic to use it to reverse thousands of years of time.

Thinking of this, Fanlin felt relieved. Just like them, he found that he was doing useless work in the end through constant attempts.

...

"What's wrong? What did you see?" Fanlin looked up and asked Harry, who looked embarrassed, "Are you..."

"A face," Harry muttered softly, "The same face. The thief who stole from Gregorovitch."

At this time, Ron would turn his head away, not hiding his disappointment. Harry knew that Ron wanted to get news about his family or other people in the Order of the Phoenix, but after all, Harry was not a TV antenna. He could only know what Voldemort was thinking at that time, but could not choose what he wanted to know.

Obviously, Voldemort was constantly thinking about the cheerful but unknown teenager, including their names and whereabouts.

Harry could be sure that Voldemort knew no more than him.

As Harry's scar continued to burn, the happy blond boy also appeared and disappeared in his mind. He had to try to hide any discomfort or pain, because when he mentioned the thief, other people had no reaction except impatience.

Ron and Hermione didn't care at all, and through the Elder Wand, Vanlin probably guessed who Harry was talking about.

Grindelwald?

The previous owner of the Elder Wand before Dumbledore.

Voldemort will eventually find the Elder Wand, Vanlin never doubted it, but how long it will take, that's unknown.

Vanlin has been trying to contact Fawkes, because he wants to meet Dumbledore, but the problem is that Fawkes has no response at all, and as for Dumbledore's location, Vanlin can't find it now, it has been hidden by magic.

As for Harry, the long search finally made Harry fall into endless confusion.

In frustration, Harry tried to think about the location of the Horcrux in a wider range, but the only place that appeared in his mind was Hogwarts.

However, Vanlin didn't consider it at all, Ravenclaw's crown had been destroyed, so he didn't raise his opinion again.

Autumn swept the village they passed by with leaves. So the tent they pitched had leaves to cover.

The fog created by nature seemed to join the ranks of the Dementors' fog, and the wind and rain also came to trouble them. The fact that Hermione could better identify edible fungi could not make up for the loneliness of being isolated, out of the group, and their sense of knowing nothing in the battle against Voldemort.

"My mother," Ron said one night when they were sitting in a tent on the banks of a Welsh river, "can conjure delicious food out of thin air."

He became even more irritable when he saw the many burnt fish on his plate.

Vanlin looked at Ron's face impatiently. Desperate circumstances always change people's temperaments, don't they?

"Your mother can't make food out of air," Hermione said reluctantly, "No one can. Food is the first component of the five major exceptions to the law of the sea..."

"Oh, put it simply, can't you?" Ron said, revealing the fish he was chewing between his teeth.

"It's impossible to conjure food out of thin air! You can summon it from a place you know in advance, you can change it, and if you already have some, you can increase its quantity..."

"Well, I don't want to increase the quantity of this kind of thing anyway, it's disgusting." Ron said.

"I did my best to cook the fish Harry caught! I noticed that I was always the one who picked the food when it was almost finished!" Hermione said a little irritably, and then put down the plate in her hand...

"Don't say it..." Fanlin looked at Ron coldly, "You can come to cook tomorrow, Ron, you can find some food and try to use magic to turn them into edible things, and we will sit there and complain with a long face, and then you will know that you..."

Before he finished speaking, Fanlin looked outside with some vigilance as if someone had grabbed his neck.

"Of course, I think I..."

"Shut up, Ron!" Harry also said, and then stood up.

Fan Lin also got up and glanced at Harry. Then, the two of them nodded and rushed out in a hurry. The black river rolled behind them. Suddenly, Fan Lin heard the sound again.

He looked around in the light of his wand. Nothing is moving.

"You cast the earplug listening spell here, right?" Fanlin asked Hermione in a low voice.

"I've done everything I can," she replied in a low voice. "Hearing spells, Muggle banishing spells, daydream spells, the like. There's no way they can hear or see us, no matter what they are." who."

The sound of heavy footsteps and the sliding of rocks and branches told them unmistakably that some people were climbing down from the cliff to the wooded slope to the narrow bank of the river where they were encamped.

They drew their wands and waited. The magic they cast here can protect them from the attention of Muggles and ordinary wizards, especially in this darkness. If they are Death Eaters, then their defensive magic will be tested by dark magic for the first time.

The sound grew louder, but did not become clearer. It seemed that a group of people had come to the river bank.

Fan Lin estimated that they were less than twenty feet away, but the sound of the waterfall made him unsure. Hermione took out the beadwork bag and started to rummage for something. After a while, she found some retractable ears and gave them each one. They hurriedly put one end of the flesh-colored string into their ears and threw the other end out. The exit of the tent.

A few seconds later, Fanlin heard a tired male voice. "There should be some salmon here, or do you think it's too early for the season? The salmon are coming!"

There were a few clear splashes of water, and then the sound of a fish struggling rapidly. Someone grunted in appreciation.

Fanlin put the telescopic ears deeper into his ears: in addition to the river water, he could also recognize many sounds, but they did not speak English or any human language he had ever heard. It was a rough, harsh language, a rattling sound in the throat. And it sounded like two people talking, one of whom sounded deeper and slower.

The flames burned brighter on the other side of the tent, and a huge figure swayed in the firelight that penetrated the tent. The enticing aroma of grilled fish kept drifting in their direction. Then there was the clink of cutlery and plates, and the first man spoke again.

"Here you go, Griphook, Dirk."

"Goblin!" Hermione mouthed to Fan Lin. Fan Lin nodded, confirming Hermione's idea.

"Thank you." The goblins said together in English.

"So, how long have you three been running away?" The question came from a new, mellow and pleasant voice. Fan Lin felt vaguely familiar. He imagined a round face with a smile.

"Six weeks...seven weeks...I forgot." The man said in a tired voice, "I just met Griphook a few days ago, and soon joined Dirk's team. I am very happy to form an alliance with you. "

He paused for a moment, scratching the glass with his knife, then lifted the glass from the floor and put it back again.

"Then why did you leave? Ted." The man continued to ask.

"I knew they were coming for me soon," Ted said in a smooth voice, and Harry immediately realized who it was: Tonks's father.

"I heard Death Eaters were in the area last week and I decided it was best to run away. I refused to register as a Muggle-born. So you see, I knew the day would come and I had to leave eventually. My The wife will be fine, she's a pureblood, and I saw Dean there, um, a few days ago, right kid?"

"Yes," another voice said. Fan Lin, Hermione, Harry and Ron looked at each other, without speaking but very excited. They were sure they recognized the voice of Dean Thomas. A classmate of Lanffindor.

"Muggleborn, right?" the first man said.

"Not sure," Dean said. "My father abandoned my mother when I was young. I don't have any evidence that he was a wizard." There was a silence, except for the sound of chewing. Then Ted started talking again.

"I must say, Dirk, I'm surprised to meet you. Happy, but surprised. Rumor has it you've been caught."

"I got caught," Dirk said. "I escaped halfway to Azkaban. Someone knocked Doulus unconscious, and then I grabbed his broom. That was easier than you think. , I don’t think he was conscious at the time. He might have been under the Imperius Curse, and if so, I would shake hands with the wizards who cast it on him because they saved my life.”

There was another moment of silence, except for the crackle of the fire and the rush of the river. Then Ted said, "Whose side are you two on? I, uh, always thought the Leprechaun was on You-Know-Who's side, generally speaking."

"You are wrong," said the elf with a high voice. "We are not on either side. This is a war between wizards."

"Where are you going to hide next?" "I want to be cautious," the elf with a deep voice said, "I refuse what I think is a reckless request. I know full well that I am in danger."

"What did they ask you to do?" Ted asked.

"Such a request is an injury to the dignity of our species," the goblin replied, his voice becoming rougher and less human as he spoke. "I am not a house elf."

"What about you, Griphook?"

"For the same reason," the high-voiced goblin said, "Gringotts is no longer under my control. I don't approve of the wizarding administrators." It muttered something incomprehensible, and Dirk laughed. stand up.

"What's so funny?" Dean asked.

"Haha," Dirk said, "there are some things in there that even wizards don't recognize."

There was a brief silence.

"I don't understand..." Dean said.

"I had a little revenge before I left," Griphook said in English.

"Good man...good witch, I mean." Ted hurriedly revised. "I assume you locked the Death Eaters in a tall, secret cave, didn't you?"

"If I had done that, the sword would never have helped him escape," Griphook answered. Dirk laughed again, and even Dirk chuckled.

"Dean and I still don't quite get it," Ted said.

"Severus Snape does the same, even though he doesn't know what it is," Griphook said, and the two elves laughed maliciously.

Harry was almost suffocated with excitement in the tent. He and Fan Lin looked at each other, trying to hear the sounds clearly.

"You haven't heard about that, Ted?" Dirk asked, "about those students at Hogwarts who tried to steal the Sword of Gryffindor from Snape's office?"

It was like an electric current coursed through Harry's body, tingling his nerves and causing him to stand rooted to the spot.

"Haven't heard a word about it," Ted said. "The Daily Prophet didn't report it, did it?"

"Not at all," Dirk chuckled, "Griphook told me. He heard it from Bill Weasley who works in the bank. One of the students who wanted to get the sword was Bill's sister."

Several people glanced there, and it was obvious that both Harry and Ron were holding on to the telescopic ears tightly, as if it was the rope of their lives.

"She and two other friends entered Snape's office and broke the glass case that apparently contained the sword. Snape caught them as they tried to sneak the sword down the stairs."

"Oh, God bless them," said Ted, "what did they think they could use this sword to defeat You-Know-Who? Or Snape himself?"

"Whatever they wanted to do with the sword, Snape decided that it was no longer safe to leave the sword there," Dirk said. "After a few days, he may have received instructions from the mysterious person. I Guess he sent it to London for preservation."

The goblins laughed again.

"I don't know what's so funny about that," Ted said.

"That's false," Griphook said in a harsh voice. "The sword of Gryffindor!"

"Oh, yes. It was just an imitation—a wonderful imitation, to be sure...but it was made by wizards. The original sword was made by goblins centuries ago, and it must have had the goblin quality Certain properties of armor. Wherever the true sword of Gryffindor is, it's certainly not in Gringotts Bank."

"I see," said Ted, "I don't think you told those Death Eaters about this?"

"I don't see any reason to bother them with something like this," Griphook said self-righteously.

Now Ted and Dean were laughing with Dirk and Dirk. In the tent, Harry closed his eyes, hoping that someone would ask some questions that Harry needed to know the answers to.

After a long minute, Dean spoke. He was (Harry shuddered just thinking about it) Ginny's former boyfriend.

"What will happen to Ginny and the others? They are the ones who want the sword."

"Oh, they were brutally punished." Griphook said casually.

"So, are they okay now?" Ted asked quickly, "I mean, the Weasleys can't afford to have another child get hurt, can they?"

"They weren't seriously injured, as far as I know," Griphook said.

"They are so lucky," Ted said. "Judging from Snape's track record, we should be grateful that they are still alive."

"You believe that story, don't you, Ted?" Dirk asked. "You believe Snape killed Dumbledore?"

"Of course I do," said Ted. "You're not going to sit there and tell me what you think Potter did?"

"It's hard to know what to believe these days," Dirk muttered.

"I know Harry Potter," Dean said, "and I'm sure he's really...the Savior, or something."

"Yes, there are many people who believe he is, kid," Dirk said, "including me. But where is he now? He ran away with so much going on. Do you think he knows a lot that we don't, or has something What kind of special mission is he fighting and resisting outside instead of hiding? And you also know that the Daily Prophet has been sparing no effort to oppose him..."

"The Daily Prophet?" Ted said sarcastically. "If you still read that newspaper you deserve to be cheated, Dirk. If you want to know the truth, watch The Quibbler."

Just as he finished speaking, a breathless sound of vomiting sounded, getting louder and louder. Dirk swallowed a piece of fish bone. Finally, he spat and said, "The Quibbler? That tattered magazine compiled by that old madman Xenon Ferrius Lovegood?"

"Magazines aren't so weird these days," Ted said. "You need to take a look. Chenon Ferrier published all the facts that the Daily Prophet deliberately didn't print. It's no longer with those snoring horns. The Beast has been entangled for a long time, I don't know, but Xenoferius says on the front page of every issue that those wizards fighting Voldemort should prioritize helping Harry Potter. ”

"It's hard to help a boy who has disappeared from the world," Decker said.

"Look, the fact that they haven't caught him yet is an achievement in itself," Ted said. "I'm glad there's no word on him right now, and that's what we're doing, hiding somewhere safe, isn't it? ?”

"Yes, you are right to the point," Dirk said seriously. "While the entire Ministry of Magic and all their followers are looking for him, I would rather see him caught now. However, it is also possible They've caught him and killed him without making it public, haven't they?"

"Oh, don't say that, Dirk," Ted muttered.

There was a long silence, except for the clatter of knives and forks. When they spoke again, they discussed whether they should sleep on the river bank or retreat to a tree-covered slope to sleep.

Then they decided that the trees would provide better cover, so they put out the fire and climbed back up the slope, their voices gradually dying away.

Several people rolled up their retractable ears.

Harry found it difficult to remain silent after overhearing these words. He couldn't even say another word: "Ginny... that sword..."

"I understand!" said Hermione. She rummaged in her beaded bag, this time reaching as far as her armpits.

"Here... we... are..." She squeezed out a few words through her teeth. It was obvious that she was trying to pull something out from the depths of the bag. Gradually, a gorgeously decorated picture frame was revealed.

Fanlin hurried to help her. As they held up the empty portrait of Phineas, Hermione kept her wand pointed at it, ready to cast a spell at any moment.

"If someone had tampered with that sword in Dumbledore's office," she gasped, as they leaned the portrait against the side of the tent, "Phineas Nigel would have witnessed it. His portrait hangs next to that place."

"Unless he's sleeping," said Harry.

"No, no, no, you don't need to sleep for these pictures." Fan Lin said, staring closely at Phineas's portrait.

Snape won't really kill Ginny, but what Snape did to George is obviously not reassuring.

Harry waited with bated breath as Hermione knelt before the empty canvas, becoming so anxious that, if possible, he really wished Ginny would do nothing.

What did Snape do to Ginny?

Hermione pointed her wand at the center of Chinatown, cleared her throat, and said, "Uh... Phineas? Phineas Nigel?"

Nothing appears.

"Phineas Nigel?" Hermione said again. "Professor Black? Can we talk to you please? Please!"

"The word 'please' is always useful." A disingenuous voice said, and Phineas Nigel slid into his portrait.

This caught Hermione off guard.

The next second, a black blindfold immediately covered Phineas Nigel's cunning, black eyes, causing him to hit the frame and scream in pain.

"What...how dare you...what are you going to do...?"

"I'm sorry, Professor Black," Hermione said, "but this is a necessary defense!"

"Take this filthy attachment at once! Take it away, I say! You are destroying a work of art! Where am I? What happened?"

"You don't need to know where you are," Fan Lin said lightly, and then Phineas Nigel seemed to be frozen suddenly, no longer trying to peel off his dark eye patch.

"Could it be that the source of this voice is the missed Mr. Al?"

"If you really think so." Fanlin said, looking at Harry.

"We have a few questions to ask you...about the sword of Gryffindor."

"Is this, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, as you wish."

Phineas came with great interest.

"Well," Phineas Nigel said, turning his head to try and see Harry, "yeah, that stupid girl did the most ignorant thing there..."

"Stop talking about my sister." Ron said rudely, very dissatisfied with Phineas's words.

But Phineas Nigel raised his eyebrows arrogantly.

"Who else is here?" he asked, turning his head this way and that. "Your voice annoys me! That girl and her friends are the most idiotic idiots. Trying to steal from the principal."

"They weren't stealing," Harry said. "The sword was never Snape's."

"It belongs to Headmaster Snape's school," Phineas said rudely. "Why did the girl named Weasley get it? She should be punished, along with the idiot Longbottom and that crazy girl!"

"Neville is not an idiot, and Luna is not crazy!" Hermione said.

"Where am I?" Phineas Nigel asked again, starting to struggle with his blindfold again. "Where have you taken me? Why have you removed my portrait from my ancestral home?"

"Never mind that! How did Snape punish Ginny, Neville and Luna?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Professor Snape sent them to the Forbidden Forest to do something for that big fool Hagrid."

"Hagrid is not a big fool!" Hermione said sharply.

"Snape may think it is a punishment," Harry said, "but Ginny, Neville and Luna will definitely be happy with Hagrid. The Forbidden Forest... They have faced many worse things than the Forbidden Forest, which is good!" He felt relieved. He had been thinking about the horror, at least the Cruciatus Curse. (To be continued)