Chapter 788 Arrival at No. 12 Grimmauld Place

"Excellent," said Lupine as he looked up and saw Tonks Flinn and Harry coming in. "I think we set off in about a minute. We should probably go out into the gardens and get ready. Harry, I left a letter telling your aunt and uncle not to worry-"

"They won't worry," Harry said.

"And you're safe."

"That will just disappoint them."

"And you're going to see them again next year."

"Do I have to see them again?" Lupine smiled but made no answer.

"You should know, Harry, even though I don't want you to come back here..."

"Okay, I understand." Harry felt a little irritated inexplicably, "So, where are we going?"

"A place you want to go." Fan Lin said helplessly. He could understand Harry's mood. As a person involved, he was excluded by Dumbledore.

"Come here, kid," Moody said roughly, using his wand to guide Harry to him. "I need to make you invisible."

"What do you need from me?" Harry asked anxiously. "Invisibility spell," Moody said, raising his wand. "Lupine said you were given an invisibility cloak, but it didn't work when we were flying. This spell will better disguise you. Come here—"

Moody hit Harry's head hard, and Harry had a strange feeling, as if Moody was just cracking an egg. Cold magic flowed from the point where the wand struck to Harry's body.

"I know, it's the Disillusionment Curse." Harry said and looked at his palm. He saw that Fan Lin had used this spell before, but now he also needs it?

Has the situation become serious enough?

"Beautiful boy, Moody," Tonks said admiringly as she looked at Harry's belly. Harry looked down at his body, or rather what had been his body, for it looked nothing like before. It is not invisible, but merely accurately applies the color and texture of the kitchen behind his body to his body. Harry now looked like a human chameleon.

"Follow me," Moody said, opening the door with his wand. They all walked outside and stepped on the beautiful lawn that Uncle Vernon had taken care of. "Clear night sky," purred Moody, his magic eye scanning the heavens. "Maybe get some cloud cover. Now, you," he called to Harry, "we're going to fly in tight formation. Tonks is in front of you and you're following her closely behind, Lupin Covering you below, I will be behind you, Van Lin next to you, and the others in a circle around us. Under no circumstances can the formation be broken, understand? If one of us is killed ——”

"What do I look like?" Harry asked worriedly. But Moody ignored him.

"The rest of you keep flying, don't stop, don't break the formation. If they take out all of us and you survive, Harry, our rear guard is currently gathering in another location, keep flying east and they will pick you up. of."

"Don't look so happy, Moody, Harry will think we don't realize the seriousness of the situation," Tonks said, strapping Harry's suitcase and Hedwig's cage to the broom, fully equipped.

"Besides, I don't think your second option is very reliable, sir. They are not that rampant yet." Fan Lin said as if to comfort Harry.

It is not difficult to understand that now Voldemort has no time to pay attention to Harry. He is addicted to more powerful magical power. This is the news delivered by Trevor.

"Oh, maybe. Don't let your guard down, kid. Even though those Death Eaters are terrible, a curse that catches you off guard will still take you away, right?"

"Take it away?" Harry asked.

"Probably dead." Moody muttered, but his excitement could not be concealed at all.

"Please, Moody," Tonks said helplessly.

"I'm just telling the kid the plan," Moody complained. "It's our job to get Harry safely to headquarters, and if we're killed in the operation—"

"Like Fanlin said, no one will die," Kensley Shacklebolt said in his low and calm voice.

"Get on your broomsticks, that's the first signal!" Lupine screamed, pointing to the sky.

High above them, a bright red flare already flickered in the night sky, and Harry immediately recognized it as a wand flare. He put his right foot across his Thunderbroom and gently grasped the handle. He felt the broom vibrating slightly, as if he was eager to rise into the air with Harry again.

"Second signal, let's go!"

Lupine shouted an order as another green flare exploded high in the sky.

Harry kicked the ground hard.

As the neat square lawn of Privet Drive receded, the cool night wind whistled through Harry's hair, and the lawn quickly shrunk into a dull patchwork of green and black. At the same time, everyone All thoughts about the Ministry hearing were thrown to the back of his mind, as if a howling wind had blown them out of Harry's mind.

He felt as if his heart would burst with joy: he was flying again, flying away from Privet Drive as he had fantasized about all summer, and for a few glorious acts he was now home, all his All the problems seemed to be gone, and they seemed so irrelevant under this vast, star-studded night sky.

Fan Lin didn't feel much at all. If possible, he would be happy to use the flying carpet he and Hermione bought, but the British Ministry of Magic did not allow it.

The broom is really uncomfortable to sit on, and it would take a lot of energy to turn it into a magic weapon...

However, being able to bring Harry out is quite exciting. Think about it, Ron and the others can only squat at home, but he can come out to participate in Harry's rescue operation. This is simply not too comfortable. .

Enjoy London's night skies and the thrill of adventure.

"Turn left, turn left, there's a Muggle looking up!" Moody called from behind.

Tonks made a swerve, and Harry followed close behind, seeing his suitcase swinging wildly beneath Tonks' broom.

"We need to gain altitude, a quarter of a mile!" Harry's eyes watered in the cold as they rose sharply, and now he could see nothing below but the faint flash of headlights and streetlights.

Two of those faint flashes might have belonged to Uncle Vernon's car. The Dursleys should be returning to that empty home soon. They might be furious about the imaginary lawn game. Thinking of this Harry couldn't help but laugh, though his voice was soon drowned out by the fluttering of the others' robes, the creaking of the wind reaching his ears as they sped through the air.

Harry had never felt so alive, or happy, in nearly a month.

"Directly south!" Moody called. "There's a town ahead." They turned to the right to avoid going straight through the spidery web of lights below.

"Aiming to the southeast, continue to climb. There are a few low-altitude clouds in front of us. We can hide ourselves by flying in!" Moody gave instructions.

"We're not going to go through the clouds!" Tonks shouted angrily, "We're going to get wet, Moody!" Harry was relieved when she heard these words. He was so nervous that he was holding the handle of the Thunderbroom with both hands. They all gradually became numb. He wished he'd remembered to pack the jacket, now he was shivering with cold.

Fan Lin's choice was really the right one. He secretly added a warming spell to him before setting off. Otherwise, it might have been even worse.

Even so, Harry wasn't much better.

From time to time, they changed their route according to the instructions of the magic eye. Harry's eyes couldn't open due to the strong cold wind, and his ears began to hurt. He could remember that he had only felt this cold feeling once before, and that was when he participated in a snowstorm in his third year. Quidditch match with Hufflepuff Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The bodyguards surrounding him were like a flock of big gray birds. Harry couldn't figure out the exact time. He was surprised at how far they had traveled; it felt like at least an hour had passed.

"Turn southwest!" shouted Moody. "We're going to avoid the railroad!"

Harry was very cold now, and he longed for the warm and dry car below. Then, he even missed the experience of traveling with Floo powder. Maybe spinning in the fireplace was not a comfortable thing, but at least he was warm inside the flames. of.

It would be great if Hermione was here at this time, she would definitely give a solution.

Fan Lin didn't care. His unexpected ability to withstand the cold. Harry remembered that Fan Lin said that this was brought to him by a talisman, a Chinese talisman.

Unfortunately, the magic power of the warming spell has declined to the extreme. Only one area on the chest is still hot, and the magic power has been naturally compressed there.

Kensley Shacklebolt suddenly swooped around him. His bald head and earrings shone slightly under the reflection of the moonlight. Now Emilan Vance was on his right, and her wand had been taken out. , looked left and right, and then pounced on Harry's head. Her place was taken by Sturgis Podmer.

"We should turn back twice to make sure we're not being followed!" cried Moody.

"Are you crazy, Moody?" Tonks yelled from the front, "We're freezing on our broomsticks! If we do this there's no doubt we won't get there next week! Besides, we're now It’s almost there!”

"It doesn't matter. No one is following. I marked everyone. Strange wizards will be discovered."

"It's time to start landing!" Lupine shouted. "Follow Tonks, Harry!"

Harry swooped down after Tonks.

In front of them was the largest network of lights Harry had ever seen, a vast, chaotic criss-cross of lights, dots scattered in the deepest darkness. They flew lower and lower, until Harry could make out individual headlights and streetlights, as well as chimneys and TV antennas. He wanted to drop to the ground now, though he was sure someone might have to thaw him out to get him off the broom.

"Here, let's go!" Tonks shouted, and within seconds she was landing. Harry followed suit and landed in the center of a small square covered with weeds. Tonks had already unpacked the rest of Harry's luggage.

Harry looked around tremblingly. The surrounding houses all have grimy exteriors that don't look welcoming to visitors: some have broken windows, streetlights dimly shine through, paint is peeling from many doors, and large amounts of trash accumulate on the front steps. superior.

"Where are we?" Harry asked.

"A place you will like." Fan Lin arched Harry's shoulders, just like Fred often did.

Lupine said calmly, "Wait a minute."

Moody rummaged around inside his robes, his rough hands clumsy with the cold.

"Found it," he muttered, holding up a lighter that looked like a silver cigarette in the air and making a clicking sound. With a bang, the nearest streetlight suddenly went out. He fiddled with the lighter again, and the adjacent street lights also went out. He continued to fiddle with the lighter until all the street lights in the square went out, and finally only the light came through the curtained windows and the sickle-shaped head above his head. moon.

"Borrowed from Dumbledore," Moody muttered, placing the lighter back in his coat pocket. "That's to prevent any Muggles from peering out of the window, see? Come here now, hurry up."

He took Harry by the arm and led him away from the grass, across the road and onto the pavement, Lupine and Tonks following behind them, Harry's suitcase between them, and the rest of the bodyguards unzipped. Wands guarded their sides.

The dull thump of a speaker came from the upstairs window of the nearest house. A pungent smell came from a large pile of bulging boxes behind the broken door.

"Here," Moody muttered, throwing a piece of parchment into Harry's colorful hands and holding his glowing wand close to the parchment so that he could illuminate the writing on it. “Read it quickly and remember it.”

Harry looked down at the parchment. The small handwriting was vague and read: Phoenix's Command Headquarters can be found at 1 Grimmauld Place, London.

"What is a so-and-so order—?" Harry began to ask.

"Not here, kid!" cried Moody. "Wait here until we get in."

He pulled the parchment out of Harry's hand and lit it on fire with his wand. As the note curled up in the flames and floated to the ground, Harry looked around at the houses again.

They were standing outside the house now. He looked to the left and saw number eleven. Then he looked to the right and saw number thirteen.

"But where is-"

"Try to remember what you just remembered," Lupine said calmly.

Harry began to recall that he had arrived at No. 1 Grimmauld Place soon. Except for a smashed door that now appeared between No. 11 and No. 13, the rest was a dirty facade. and filthy windows.

No matter which direction you look at from the outside, these things look like extra parts from another house.

The speakers in the house in Room 13 roared. Apparently the Muggles living inside couldn't feel anything.

Magic, a hidden house, is obviously beyond Harry's knowledge, just like the Room of Requirement, but it is in Hogwarts, and it is not comparable to this twisted world. Obviously, the left and right The man was a Muggle, sitting in the house watching the TV with the Beatles next to him, looking like an avid fan.

"Don't be stunned, this is what you want to see." Fan Lin patted Harry on the shoulder and motioned for Harry to come up quickly. (To be continued)