Chapter 658 Lightning Breaks Through the Sky
Walking through the lobby and entering the auditorium, the view suddenly brightened up. Thousands of pumpkin lanterns were floating in the air, light-colored ribbons were spewing flames, and bats were fluttering and flying like thick dark clouds. The ghosts wandering around made the temperature in the room a little low.
The flash of lightning illuminated his face, causing Loren to squint slightly unconsciously. The lightning simulated by the magic dome was too realistic and a little dazzling.
Sitting down at the Gryffindor table, Hermione's voice sounded beside her, with a bit of novelty: "Those fire-breathing ribbons are so beautiful, look! They can also turn into lions! There were no such things at the previous Halloween banquets. Professor Flitwick has discovered new magic to decorate the castle..."
"Maybe not Professor Flitwick." Loren answered casually, "Those flames are more like Professor Bagshot's magic, orange-red mixed with light blue."
"Gryffindor... Professor Bagshot..."
Hermione lowered her voice and secretly glanced at the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who was whispering to Dumbledore on the stage. She remembered some records in the book that the professor was indeed very good at fire magic.
After a few seconds, the little witch gradually came back to her senses. She couldn't look directly at those flame-related costumes. Although she knew rationally that such a thing could not happen, she always subconsciously thought of the scene of the castle being set on fire.
This worry continued until the performance of the Hogwarts Ghost Drama Company began. Ghosts emerged from the walls and floors. After the parade and orchestral performance at the opening ceremony, "The Death of Witch Myrtle" starring Myrtle officially began.
The emotions were too full, the expressions were exaggerated, and the lines were messy...
These are the shortcomings that Sir Nicholas Porpington found out. He still can't accept that Myrtle's show replaced his show.
This is a betrayal of the Hogwarts tradition!
Although this tradition only lasted for five hundred years.
Ignoring these insignificant shortcomings, this play is still quite good. The young wizards applauded and cheered, saying that they were very happy to watch it, so the leading actress Myrtle cried even harder.
…
In the Minister's office on the top floor of the Ministry of Magic, Amelia Bones, the senior deputy minister who was temporarily stationed at the headquarters, read the report from Mrs. Edgemore of the Floo Network Administration, burned the note to ashes, wrote an order to continue monitoring on parchment, tapped her wand, and the parchment letter turned into a paper plane and flew out…
Next is the Department of Magical Accidents and Disasters. The Reversal of Accidental Magical Events Team, the Memory Cancellation Command, and the Muggle Issues Mediation Committee are all on standby, ready to act at any time…
The Department of Law Enforcement, pay attention to abnormal magic fluctuations at any time, and detect all unregistered wands in the country…
The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, prepare to take over a large number of Dementors…
"And the rest of the remaining personnel..."
After confirming the last order, Amelia Bones put down the quill pen, rubbed her eyebrows slightly, and relaxed her tense heartstrings for several hours. At the same time, she said to another person in the office, "Bertha, help me recall, is there anything missing in the Ministry's affairs?"
Behind another desk in the room, Bertha Jorkins checked each department responsibilities, shook his head and said in a deep voice: "No omissions, all personnel have been arranged."
"We must be vigilant at all times." Bones opened his eyes, his brows could not hide the fatigue and anxiety, "Rufus led the Aurors to perform the most dangerous mission. We stayed in the headquarters to provide them with logistics and support. We must be prepared to deal with all emergencies..."
"I know, Miss Bones." Jorkins, who was in a high position, was no longer the confused clerk before. She had accumulated a calm and reliable temperament. "The Ministry of Magic has turned on all protections, closed all entrances and exits, and blocked the Apparition. After the Aurors set off, the fireplace was completely turned off and closed."
The alchemy array center of the Ministry of Magic not far away emitted a scattered light, illuminating Bones's worried face. The senior deputy minister repeated softly:
"Fireplace..."
...
In the city of Hastings, nearly 100 kilometers away from London, a simple fireplace was built on the lawn at the edge of the holiday park, and the matches in the furnace had been lit.
Freshly-made Floo powder fell on the gaps between the oily pinewood firewood, and the green flames burned fiercely. The magic power released from the flames played the role of a transportation hub, just like a station port. Through a secret and special connection, this simple fireplace has become the most important node of the Transportation Management Department.
A few hours ago, along with the rising green flames of the holiday park, the fireplaces in the corridors of the magic department hall were lit one by one. The Aurors who had been waiting for a long time put on a full set of Weasley protective equipment, stepped directly into the flames, and descended on this small town near the border, hiding in the strangely dressed Muggle team.
Almost all the Aurors were dispatched, every ray of magic in their bodies was surging, and every wand in their hands was ready to go. The Minister Scrimgeour, who had just taken office, once again activated the bill proposed by Barty Crouch twenty years ago:
Show no mercy to the Death Eaters, and use the Unforgivable Curse on the Death Eaters!
…
The stars and the moon still did not appear, the ink-like sky became increasingly darker, and the cold wind of the winter night blew in from all directions, passing through the city's tall buildings and blowing the street lights, as if to blow out the festive atmosphere.
Next to the holiday park, people celebrating the festival have dressed up in strange costumes and painted their faces with bright paint. Smiling women are happily counting the prepared candies.
Behind a street stall selling cookies and candies, Nymphadora Tonks, with her fangs bared and her hair standing up, chewed the gum in her mouth, blowing bubbles from time to time, and looked in front with interest. The strangely dressed Muggle young people walked by in groups, howling like ghosts and wolves, and bit the candy bubbles with a snap: "The way they celebrate the festival is really interesting!"
"We are on a mission." Kingsley's outfit is even more gloomy and terrifying, with black and white paint on his face to make a skull shape, looking like a voodoo grim reaper. His tone is very calm, "Pay attention to the temperature around you at all times. If you suddenly feel cold, it's the Dementors. We are near, and there are werewolves. Although it is not a full moon tonight, there will be sequelae if bitten by a werewolf..."
These are the basic knowledge of Auror training. Tonks did not pay much attention to it. She just repeated the action of chewing gum. When she saw a little girl dressed as a witch approaching, she immediately smiled: "Oh... cute little witch, do you want something?"
The girl glanced at the voodoo death god next to her, turned her head away in fear, and said timidly: "If you don't give me candy, I will play tricks..."
Tonks laughed immediately: "How do you want to play tricks?"
The little girl was stunned.
According to the normal process, when I finished saying this, shouldn't the adults give me candy?
How normal people would ask me how to play tricks?
"Why do you dress up as a witch?" Tonks asked in a long voice.
"I...I..." The girl twisted her fingers and hesitated without answering.
"Little witch, don't you know how to play tricks on people? How can you do that?" Tonks squatted down beside her, hugged the little girl and stuffed a multi-flavored bean into her mouth, and said in a friendly tone, "I'll teach you a few ways witches play tricks on people. Remember them well. If someone doesn't give you candy, use your wand to make his front teeth bigger, bigger than squirrel teeth. That's what I did when I was a kid..."
The little girl dressed as a witch was a little scared and wanted to go somewhere else to ask for candy, but she thought the stories told by this sister were very interesting. Those strange spells were very interesting, more interesting than cartoons.
And...
The little girl sipped the candy she had never tasted before, looked at her coquettishly, and fell into deep entanglement.
And this sister is really beautiful.
"..."
Kingsley, who was not far away, couldn't help but fall into silence. He didn't doubt the authenticity of the stories Tonks told at all. He was just worried that if the girl really listened to them, she would become a headache for the professors when she entered Hogwarts in the future.
"This spell is called the front teeth as a big stick, and it works best with the grinning hum..."
"There is also the Tarantella dance..."
"The bat spirit spell is also a good choice..."
There are no stars in the sky, and the little girl's eyes are getting brighter and brighter.
...
London, 10 Downing Street.
The lights in each office are bright, and the seats behind the desks are full. The staff are aimlessly dealing with the backlog of work during the workday, and their hearts are full of doubts.
Only some staff should stay on duty tonight, and the others should be on vacation normally, but just two hours ago, all staff suddenly received an emergency notice and quickly rushed back to Downing Street to be on standby. As for the specific matters - keep it secret for the time being.
Assistant Minister Herbert Jorley sat in his seat, tapping the table with his index finger constantly. Perhaps he noticed that the Muggle at the next table was looking at him for the thirteenth time. Jorley realized that the slightly rapid tapping frequency revealed his anxiety, so he put away his fingers and looked at Emmeline Vance, who was also bored not far away, feeling a little annoyed.
They should have been lying in ambush in Hastings, or staying at the Ministry of Magic, instead of coming here to accompany these Muggles and yawning at boring documents!
I really don’t know what Kingsley is thinking!
Why can he stay in Hastings to participate in the ambush?
“…”
In the office at the innermost layer of the corridor, behind the desk, the folder he was reading covered most of the Prime Minister’s face. He raised his head slightly, revealing a pair of shrewd eyes, his eyeballs turned left and right, and his peripheral vision inadvertently swept towards the portrait of the ugly man on the wall, and he felt a little proud in his heart.
The man in the picture frame did not close his eyes and doze off as usual. He always looked around anxiously, listening from time to time, as if he was communicating with the person on the other end. He had left several times in just two hours...
The Prime Minister was more and more certain of his guess.
Just as he was about to leave today, he flipped through the list of night duty on a whim, and was surprised to find that the three wizards who were monitoring him were absent at the same time!
This is a situation that has never happened before!
The Prime Minister immediately concluded that they must have taken some action, and re-convened the staff who had left to cover up again. The most important ones were the members of the group targeting the wizarding world.
And...
The Prime Minister lowered his eyes and looked at the parameters in the report.
...
Hogwarts, the Great Hall.
The magic dome simulated a dark and gloomy sky, with howling winds and thunder roaring, scaring the pumpkin lanterns and bats to flee everywhere. This terrible scene did not delay the young wizards from enjoying their dinner.
The food at the banquet was sumptuous and exquisite, including slightly browned pan-fried beef and mutton steaks, reddish tomato soup, and pies with juicy fillings spread all over the long table. The boys ate until their stomachs were about to burst. Even the little witches who were trying to control their weight had to order a second portion of every food.
Hermione felt that her belly had swollen, so she silently put down the tableware, looked around, noticed the empty seat at the guest of honor seat, and reached out to poke Loren next to her: "Professor Firenze seems not to be here. He went back to the centaurs tribe to celebrate the festival. Already?"
Loren glanced up and replied thoughtfully: "The centaurs probably don't celebrate Halloween, and I remember that Firenze seemed to be expelled by other centaurs..."
"We have reconnected recently." Ginny, who is sitting opposite, has taken Firenze's divination class, so she knows some news. "I heard that there have been some major changes in the astrology recently, and the centaur tribe is going to hold a bonfire ceremony to interpret it. Astrology, so I asked Firenze to go back.”
When Harry heard this, he couldn't help scratching his head: "Last time we passed by your classroom and heard Firenze's lecture, didn't he say that he couldn't completely believe in astrology?"
"What he said is that he can't completely believe it, but it's not that he doesn't completely--"
Before Ron could finish his muttering, he was interrupted by the beef pie that was suddenly fed to him. He turned his head and looked dissatisfied. At some point, Lavender squeezed Seamus away and sat over, grinning at the corner of his mouth with a particularly special smile. Bright: "Dear little baby Ronnie, I'm done eating, let me feed you!"
"..."
Several people nearby shivered with coldness and silently moved aside.
Ron's mouth was blocked by the pie. He looked at Harry and Ginny, then at Loren and Hermione, with a dazed look in his eyes.
Why do you feel different from them?
There was another thunder across the dome, and the jack-o'-lantern with carved features showed a frightened expression. The fire inside shook, causing the shadows of various things in the auditorium to continuously pull. The sound of flapping wings sounded, and swarms of bats came from a corner. Flying to another corner, the room became even more noisy.
"The centaurs' horoscopes..."
Loren murmured softly as he tasted the salty mushroom soup.
He lowered his head slightly and looked at the pendant on his chest.
The dolphin carved from Cypress wood is all white, and its eyes are inlaid with two gems of different colors. The inner space expanded by the traceless stretching spell is experiencing bursts of movement, and something is heating up slightly.
The light and shadow in his pupils floated, and the crystal blue light flickered. His gaze penetrated the alchemy circle and runes, and penetrated the barrier of space.
The cover of the Book of Abraham is trembling slightly.