Chapter 151 149. Ash and Silver (four thousand)
"Did the ghost who sneaked into the carriage go with that traitor?" Ron speculated while chopping onions.
He didn't even want to mention Percy's name now, but instead referred to him as a traitor.
Compared to the others, Neville was obviously much more perceptive. He washed the potatoes and shook his head.
"The purpose of that insider can't be just to take Percy away. It's not even as meaningful as him staying in the carriage and reporting our location to the Ministry of Magic at all times."
"I don't dare to sleep alone anymore, so I can only share the bed with Hermione." Lavender walked over with a bucket and said irritably.
Hermione, who was stirring the cream, turned her head and gave her a helpless look.
"Tonight we are going to divide two quilts. You always like to wrap the quilts away at night. I am about to catch a cold."
"Actually, even if you don't catch that person, you don't have to be too nervous." Jon said calmly, "After he helped Percy out of the carriage, if he really wanted to do anything harmful to us It should be done now, not until everyone is prepared to start doing it now."
He put Neville's washed potatoes and Ron's chopped onions into a large basin, then lifted them up with Justin, and walked towards Hanton and the others who were boiling a large pot of hot water.
"Wait for news from the professors, I hope today's search will yield some results."
They have been preparing for the sumptuous dinner all day today, but the lunch at noon is not bad. The place where the carriage stopped was cast by the professors to expel Muggles, so as long as they do not leave the designated area, the students You don't have to worry about being discovered by anyone if you move around here at will.
At lunch time, Dumbledore and other professors also got off the carriage. Looking at Professor McGonagall's expressions, most of the students could guess the search, and it is estimated that there was nothing wrong with it. clues of value.
This is really not a normal thing. The protective measures on this carriage, which was the last escape from Hogwarts, are quite perfect. Unless Dumbledore and a certain professor on the carriage directed and acted on their own like the year before last, otherwise even if There are wizards who can mix in, and it is very difficult to hide.
But this is a welcome dinner after all. The freshmen who have just been picked up in the carriage can clearly feel the tense atmosphere these days. It is time for them to relax a little bit today.
The long table was placed on the grass. This table was much larger than when Jon first entered school. The table was covered with a clean white tablecloth, and it was filled with the food that the students had been busy preparing for the day.
Dumbledore would never have a long speech on such an occasion, he knew that the children were always eager to wait for the food and dinner.
Just before the banquet officially started, he still mentioned it with a smile.
"Don't worry about the danger on the carriage. Although we still haven't gained anything today, we have already found a way. I believe we will see the results soon."
The students naturally had 100% trust in his words. Except for the first-year students, the lingering pressure in the hearts of all the little wizards was relieved immediately, and the laughter at the dinner became more and more.
There are no new professors to introduce this year. Lupine has taught the students on the carriage for nearly half a semester, and he is already familiar with it to the point that he can no longer be familiar with it.
The students on the carriage were still as enthusiastic as usual. They and the freshmen introduced the professors sitting at the front of the long table, and at the same time explained to them their future life in the school.
Those Hogwarts castle students who only came to the carriage this year have long since lost the restraint they had when they first came here. They look like other children, and they were enslaved as slaves in the castle Life has long been suppressed by the happiness of today, except that every time before going to sleep, I will occasionally recall the unbearable past, and my body will tremble a little. The rest of the time is the same as being brought to this carriage from the beginning.
The dinner was finally over until nearly ten o'clock. Under the leadership of Dumbledore, the students sang the Hogwarts school song to the starry sky above their heads. Then most of the students began to return to the carriage to rest. Only the freshmen All plus one for each grade from grades 2 to 7, leaving these small groups of students to clean up the mess.
Jon was also one of the students who stayed to help, and Dumbledore didn't leave either. He let the professors who had been busy all day go back to the carriage to rest, and he and Filch helped out together, taking care of the students here.
He drew his wand, and tapped casually on the long table full of food residues, and the plates and cups on it became extremely clean. Afterwards, students in grades six and seven used spells to gather these tableware, and finally stacked them neatly Together, the rest of the students were cleaning up the garbage left on the ground around them.
Gabriel did not return to the carriage immediately, she floated beside her "roommate" Luna, directing her to pick up the peel.
But soon she felt bored, and floated to Jon's side, talking happily about how great the dinner was today. This Hogwarts carriage, I just don't know if her parents can agree.
Jon was thinking about something, and he didn't pay much attention to the little girl's twittering. He just used his wand to restore the overwhelmed grass on the ground to its original state, and kept nodding to show that he was listening.
Gabriel quickly discovered his perfunctory, so she pouted and floated to the grass on the edge of the carriage to play with the fireflies.
Jon wasn't thinking about other things, he was just thinking about what Dumbledore said before the banquet started, that there was a way. He didn't think it was an unreasonable consolation. Since Dumbledore said this, it meant that he must have made up his mind.
Just when the students who stayed to clean up the place were tidied up as they were before they came, and the freshmen with the lightest workload were all about to step on the steps and return to the carriage.
A piercing scream suddenly cut through the quiet night sky!
"ah!!"
This is a delicate female voice, and the moment the voice sounded, all the students present, as well as Dumbledore who hadn't returned, all turned their heads to look in the direction of the source of the voice.
Gabriel, who was floating around with the fireflies around the grass, hugged her head at some point, her silver hair trembling behind her body like a cloud, it was originally transparent under the moonlight The body became even more illusory at this time.
And in front of her, a creature wearing a gray cloak, with a figure as thin as a bamboo pole and as tall as two meters, floated out of the woods without a sound!
At the moment this monster appeared, a winter-like coldness enveloped the entire venue. Every student who saw it seemed to be frozen by this piercing coldness, and their bodies could not stop shaking. There was a dead silence and despair in my heart for no reason!
The moment he saw this monster, its name popped up in Jon's mind—
Dementors!
"Call God for protection!"
Almost in the blink of an eye, the sound of Dumbledore chanting a spell sounded behind him, and Jon also raised his wand, without any hesitation, he ran quickly in the direction of Gabriel.
The silver light illuminated the field, and Dumbledore's calm and sullen voice sounded, bringing the students who had been stunned by the dementor back to their senses. Return to the carriage.
Dumbledore's spell did not summon the Patronus, but the silver light was like another moon in the dark night, piercing the cold that had wrapped up the difference.
The dementor floating in front of Gabriel began to back away. It seemed that it felt extremely uncomfortable with the silver light, and it didn't dare to go forward easily, but returned to the darkness behind the bushes.
Jon's hand passed through Gabrielle's icy body. The little girl who had been stunned finally came to her senses. She cried out Jon's name, and then stretched out her transparent hand to grab him. The hem of his robe.
Jon held his wand in his hand, comforted her softly, and kept leading her back. At the same time, with the help of the warm silver light behind him, he also saw the scene behind the grass where there were no more fireflies flying.
Dementors, hordes of dementors!
They are hidden in the woods where the silver light cannot reach, and the number cannot be seen clearly, but at a glance, I feel that they are all in sight!
"Take Gabriel back, Jon."
Dumbledore's voice sounded right behind Jon. At this time, there were only the two of them left on the field, and the other students had already returned to the carriage.
Hagrid waved the reins and sat in the driver's seat. The Thestrals, which can only be seen after contact with the death of the living, let out a restless roar. Jon didn't stop for a moment. Jumped into the carriage.
After he got into the car, Dumbledore also walked to Hagrid's driver's seat. The silver light from the tip of his wand gradually failed to deter the hundreds of dementors behind them, whose bodies were dressed in tattered gray robes The monsters surged out of the woods!
"Go, Hagrid!"
Hearing the order, Hagrid drew up the reins immediately. In fact, the Thestrals didn't need him to drive them away at all. After receiving the order to run wildly, they rushed towards the golden wheat field ahead!
Before the horseshoes trampled on them, the wheat that was close to maturity fled to the sides in a hurry like pedestrians blocking the road. The carriage was galloping, but the dementors did not give up on their target.
They rise from the woods, like countless kites with broken strings, and fly into the night sky!
The originally clear starry sky was blocked, and the suffocating cold was pressed from midair to the ground like a blizzard!
Hagrid felt the dead silence most intuitively, his face had obviously turned pale, but he still tried his best to hold the rein tightly.
"Thestrals take time to accelerate! Sir! We can't get rid of them for now!"
Dumbledore's face did not change in any particular way, but under the half-moon glasses, he did not know when he narrowed his eyes, and raised his wand again.
He didn't answer Hagrid's words, but recited the spell in a calm voice.
"Call God for protection."
The moment the incantation sounded, the silver light that was more than ten times brighter than before illuminated half of the night sky!
Under the overwhelming light, a bird very similar to Fox emerged from the silver light!
Different from Fox's golden-red and gorgeous appearance, its lifelike feathers are all silver like moonlight, and every time the wings are swung downward, there will be silver lights swaying at the end of the wings.
The moment this silver phoenix patron saint appeared, the gray sky was pierced by this brilliance!
The monsters that originally blocked the entire night sky began to scramble to retreat, but their speed was obviously not as fast as the phoenix soaring in midair. The gray silence was dissipating, and the silver light in the sky recalled the starry sky again.
Hagrid showed an extremely excited expression.
"We got rid of them, sir!"
Dumbledore's face was still so calm, he looked at the fading ashes, and said softly.
“We just got rid of them temporarily, the root problem has not been solved.”
Thestrals have completed the initial acceleration, and the surrounding scenery is like a slide that is flipping down quickly, constantly passing by the sides of the carriage.
In a very short period of time, they crossed the entire wheat field, passed through the village, and passed by a city.
After making sure that the dementor behind him was completely shaken off, Dumbledore returned to the carriage through the door of the driver's seat.
In order to prevent someone from using this chaos to create even greater chaos, the students have been arranged in the dining room by the professors who returned to the carriage. When Dumbledore opened the door and walked in, these students all had anxious expressions look at him.
The originally old and calm face will always show a gentle smile when facing these children.
"Go back to sleep, the external affairs have been resolved. Remember that if you want to go to the bathroom at night, you must wake up your roommates together."
After hearing his words, the students all breathed a sigh of relief, and returned to their dormitories under the separate arrangement of McGonagall and Flitwick. Before leaving the dining room, each of them did not forget to say "good night, Professor" to Dumbledore.
Jon has already calmed down Gabriel's emotions and asked her to go back to the dormitory with her roommates Luna and Ginny.
When he and Neville passed by Dumbledore, Jon actually wanted to ask the old man something, but after meeting Dumbledore's bright eyes that revealed a little tiredness, he said Swallowed these words temporarily.
The night gradually deepened, and Hogwarts tonight returned to that disturbing calm.
This is to make up for yesterday, and there will be a chapter of 4,000 words later, which will be later
(end of this chapter)