Chapter 625 Returning Home

The speed of the express train gradually accelerated, winding through the mountains and fields. The outside scenery was observed through the glass, as if a special filter had been added, making it greener and clearer.

Harry and Ron spent most of the trip playing wizard chess. One scratched his head and then chose to give up the struggle. He didn't care about the situation on the chess board and messed around. They talked about next year's Quidditch team. Smiling low, the chess pieces shouted impolite words.

Ginny leaned next to Harry, flipping through the quizzes on The Quibbler.

Loren accompanied Hermione through the Daily Prophet. The articles in the newspaper now were all about how to resist dementors, how to see through Polyjuice Potion to confirm whether relatives and friends around you have been replaced by others in disguise, and the typical symptoms of the Imperius Curse... …

The second half is a work report from the Ministry of Magic, telling what measures the Aurors have taken recently to deal with dark wizards, how many dementors have been arrested and taken in, and the werewolf recruitment announcement. Some hysterical passages are published in the readers' letters section. A man who lives alone in An old witch in Cornwall claimed to have seen Lord Voldemort walking past her house one morning.

"There is almost no useful news..." Hermione sighed dejectedly, leaning her head on Loren's shoulder, "but all signs indicate that the war is about to begin."

"It hasn't really started yet." Loren closed the newspaper for her.

"Time is running out for the Ministry of Magic."

"..."

The two chatted quietly, and the journey was spent in such chatter.

At lunchtime, they bought a pile of pot cakes and pumpkin pies, filling the cubicle with their sweet aroma.

The exquisite sweets made them fall into a deep sleep. When they woke up, the shadow of the town appeared outside the window. A few hours later, the train began to slow down. As it approached King's Cross Station, the whistle on the top of the carriage spewed smoke, and the train completely stopped. Stop.

The temperature in London is slightly higher than that in Hogwarts, about one or two degrees, but the air here is slightly turbid, and the interior of the station is filled with various indescribable smells.

Loren put his wand into his sleeve, put Crookshanks into Hermione's arms and let her hold it. He snatched the box from Hermione's hand and pointed an empty box in one hand towards the magic partition between the two platforms. Go.

Hermione scratched the ginger kitten's chin and smiled slightly.

The pick-up line across the wall grew unexpectedly.

The most conspicuous person in the crowd is Mad-Eye Moody. The brim of his bowler hat is pushed down very low, covering the rotating magic eye. Traveling cloak, covering up like a terrorist, pedestrians passing by will cast their eyes at him.

Sirius was wearing a smart work jacket and had stubble covering his chin. He looked like a convenience store handyman.

Standing behind him was Tonks, chewing gum expressionlessly. The sun shone through the dirty glass on the station ceiling, making her hot pink hair shine. She was wearing a dress with the Weird Sisters printed on it. The bright purple T-shirt with the pattern and the cyan jeans that have been washed to white with pudding, have the temperament of a rock youth.

The Weasleys were dressed most like Muggles. They wore brown jackets and inconspicuous black slacks. It would be better if Arthur could stop looking around.

Molly was talking quietly to Bates. She saw their silhouettes from the corner of her eye and immediately hurried forward to hug several children one after another:

"Ginny! And my dear children, how are you?"

"Very good." Harry replied with some emotion.

"Very good," Loren and Hermione replied politely.

"Very good!" George repeated at the top of his voice. The words suddenly changed a little. Fred said in a sinister tone, "After all, you only remember your daughter Ginny and forgot the names of the other children..."

"What are you talking about!" Molly slapped the two of them angrily.

The slightly heavy atmosphere suddenly became relaxed. After hearing Arthur saying that he wanted to give Harry a ride and have a chat with his aunt and uncle, Loren and Hermione did not stay too long. They greeted their acquaintances in turn and then said goodbye. , and walked to the parking place with Grandpa Bates.

"How about it? You've been a gentleman this time. I'm carrying both boxes!"

Loren said proudly to the old man.

Hermione stood by holding the fat cat, looking at the old man with a smile, her eyebrows arched, and said with a smile: "Grandpa Bates, long time no see, how are you doing at home recently?"

"Long time no see, Hermione!" Grandpa Bates responded happily, smiling with wrinkles on his face, "It's nice at home. Your parents went to the beach for Easter vacation. Please take care of this bad boy at school. ”

"I didn't do anything either."

"This guy didn't bully you, did he? Tell me, I will teach him a lesson when I get home."

"No, Loren is very nice. He even helped me carry my luggage."

"It's just an empty box. There's nothing to praise about it."

"..."

Loren watched silently as the two walked to the car, chatting happily, as if he was the outsider.

Put the ignition into gear and drive home.

As the sun set, the car drove into Hampstead Gardens. Hermione ran ahead in three steps and quickly opened the door of Granger's house: "Mom! Dad! I'm back!" "

Loren followed him into the house and took a deep breath. The alluring aroma lingered in his mouth and nose. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were sitting at the dining table waiting for them, with bright smiles and joy on their faces.

"It's like this every time. Mom comes before dad. Can't you come to me first when you get home?" Wendell sighed and pretended to blame.

"Ignore him." Monica hugged her daughter and was affectionate. When she saw Loren entering the door behind her, she greeted warmly, "Lauren, come here quickly and tell us whether Hermione is good or not in school. You have important exams this semester. , She must stay up late a lot, right?"

"Mom!" Hermione said in a long voice with her head buried in her arms.

Loren revealed without mercy: "Yes, this person often stays up late..."

"Next time, teach her a lesson..."

Perhaps they came back during the Christmas vacation, and the separation was not a long time. Loren did not see any obvious changes in their faces.

There was a lot of noise and laughter, and it was another heartwarming dinner.

…

By the time dinner was over, the sky had completely darkened.

Everyone sat in front of the TV, listening to the news and chatting.

The year has passed halfway, and TV news is doing a mid-year review, taking stock of the big news that happened in the first half of the year and analyzing it.

Hermione nestled in her mother's arms and talked softly. She only stopped to read when she heard news of interest. Most of the time, it was mainly men who listened. Occasionally, they would make a few comments. Wendell's views were basically from a medical point of view. , Bates focused more on economic policy, while Loren was more casual and spent most of the time listening.

"Barings Bank collapsed last year and its bankruptcy liquidation is coming to an end..."

"From February 10th to 17th, a human-computer chess competition was held in Philadelphia, USA. World chess champion Kasparov played against the Deep Blue computer. He defeated the computer by two games and won a prize of US$400,000..."

"On March 20, the British government admitted for the first time that eating mad beef may cause a terminal disease of brain failure. So far, 10 cases of this disease have occurred in the UK, of which 8 people died. After the news came out, it caused panic around the world, and many Restaurant chains have stopped using British beef, and more than 30 countries including the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan and South Africa have successively announced bans on the import of British beef..."

"Remind residents again..."

"This epidemic is quite serious..." Grandpa Bates said with emotion. "The bank manager told me that the cattle in many pastures have been destroyed. About 500 million pounds of export foreign exchange have been lost, and 3.5 billion have to be spent on imported beef. , this year’s trade deficit is serious.”

Wendell leaned back on the sofa and looked at Loren, who was not far away. "Mad cow disease mainly manifests as neurological symptoms and systemic symptoms... The onset of disease is not very fast. Can the wizards' magic cure this disease?"

Loren shook his head: "I don't know, this is the category of healing magic. Common human diseases and injuries are not a problem for wizards, but to deal with diseases caused by this virus... Anyway, the wizard community has been using dragon pox for a long time. There is nothing that can be done about the sores, and there is also the Black Death from centuries ago, which is what we often call the plague. The wizard can only protect himself from infection. "

"It turns out that magic is not omnipotent."

Wendell shook his head and sighed, while the news review on TV continued.

“On April 20, the Eight-Nation Nuclear Security Summit was held in Moscow. This meeting was first proposed by Russian President Yeltsin. The main results of the meeting were the adoption of a declaration on strengthening nuclear security cooperation, a program to oppose illegal trading of nuclear materials, and a comprehensive ban on Four documents including the declaration on the Nuclear Test Treaty and the declaration on Ukraine..."

Hermione, who was whispering to her mother, suddenly sat up, listened carefully to the news report, and frowned with concern.

"On June 15, a major explosion occurred in Manchester. The explosion was a terrorist attack launched by the Irish Republican Army in the city center. During the incident, a bomb was placed in a van and detonated in the van. About 90 minutes ago, relevant departments received a phone warning, which saved at least 75,000 people from evacuating the bomb. Because the bomb disposal team failed to remove the bomb in time, 212 people were still injured..."

Loren and Hermione glanced at the time it happened, their eyebrows slightly knitted together.

Bates noticed something was wrong between the two of them, recalling the conversation with Arthur at the station, and asked in disbelief: "This terrorist attack could have something to do with wizards, right?"

Loren thought for a moment and shook his head: "Probably not..."

The time when this bombing attack happened happened to coincide with the time when Voldemort initiated the unrest. However, there were many clues about the involvement. The terrorist organization warned in advance and proactively announced responsibility for it afterwards. In addition, many people were injured but no one died. It should be just a simple matter. of terrorist attacks.

Several parents looked at each other, with the same uneasiness flashing in their eyes, but said nothing more.

…

Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.

This house had been vacant for several years. Fortunately, the decoration was simple and the furniture was neatly arranged. The dust on the ground and the spider webs in the corners could not withstand the power of the cyclone, and it was quickly cleaned with the help of many wizards. clean.

Sirius spent some time sourcing the ingredients, and Molly waved her wand and whipped up a delicious dinner without any effort.

"You're just like Ron!" Molly sat next to Harry and served him a bowl of onion soup. "You two seem to be under a growth spell. I dare say that since the Christmas holidays, you have at least grown." Several inches, Harry, take more..."

"Okay." Harry held the bowl and sipped the soup.

"How was your semester? Have you adapted to the two new professors?" Molly spread jam on the bread and handed it to him. "Horace Slughorn was at Hogwarts many years ago and taught me and Arthur. I think he and Dumbledore entered the school at about the same time. Do you like him?"

Harry's eyes lit up, swallowed the hot soup in his mouth, and asked quickly: "Do you know this professor, Mrs. Weasley? I have something to ask him."

"I don't think so..." Molly felt a little strange, "For a student like you, he should be very happy to talk to you. He is always willing to tutor students and value those ambitious students. Oh, he never spent more time on Arthur back then..."

Harry listened quietly to Molly's story. He knew that Mr. Weasley had been promoted and was now in charge of several newly established departments with more than a dozen people under him.

Dinner was over.

Moody, Arthur and Sirius went to the Dursleys' house next door to discuss Harry's summer stay. Harry was a little worried and tried his best to resist the temptation of the game console and wanted to follow, but was rejected.

Harry had to sit in front of the TV and absent-mindedly played fighting games with Ron. He could beat him with one hand.

George and Fred were curious about everything here. They followed Arthur and kept opening and closing the refrigerator door, waiting for the coffee machine to discharge the brown liquid with a strong aroma. They couldn't wait to drink a big mouthful. Their faces twisted instantly, and they swallowed the coffee with a hideous look. They forced a forced smile and recommended this novel Muggle drink to the people around them.

But no one was fooled.

"Oh, George, I think this can be put into our joke shop products!"

"Yes, Fred, put it in the strange beans."

Listening to the two people's words, Harry smiled, turned his head and noticed Tonks next to him. She looked a little haggard, and her smile was also a little forced. Although her hair was still pink, it looked a little dull without the sunshine of the day.

"What's wrong with you, Tonks?"

Tonks pursed her lips: "I'm worried about Remus."

"What's wrong with him?"

Harry was a little surprised. He thought that Professor Lupin didn't show up because he stayed at the Black mansion or was carrying out some other Phoenix Order mission. Now it sounds like he is doing something very dangerous.

"He returned to the werewolf group." Tonks whispered, "Just two weeks ago..."