harry potter book of crimes

"Squeak——"

When I pushed open the closed side door of the church, there was a harsh sound from the slightly rusty hinges, which gave people goosebumps.

And then, before everyone could take a few more glances at the dark and gloomy space behind the door, a series of muffled "Duo Duo" sounds suddenly came from the darkness deep in the church and penetrated into everyone's ears.

.

It was as if... someone was banging on a piece of damp, rotten wood.

"This is the foyer," Neville said softly after listening to the strange movement for a few seconds. "It was almost like this when we came here last time - because Maka and the others usually don't seem to go here.

Usually, you enter and exit directly from the main entrance at the next corner, so there is no lighting here."

"Well," Hermione nodded, "Since it's the same no matter where you go, let's go in!"

"Okay... Oh, you can go directly to the nave of the church by taking the side corridor on the right," Neville pointed to the right, "Maka and the others should be over there... Uh, I mean, probably."

Hearing this, Hermione stepped inside the door, looked around, then took the lead and turned towards the doorway Neville mentioned.

This church should be considered relatively large among all the churches in the UK, and in today's fog, the larger and empty the building is, the darker it is. Fortunately, I have been used to being in Hogwarts since I was a child.

Hermione and the others obviously wouldn't feel too uncomfortable taking a night tour of the castle.

Everyone's footsteps continued to echo in the room, mixed with the inexplicable tapping sounds that had not stopped until now, and were still coming one after another, making it difficult to distinguish them for a while.

And soon, they walked through the side corridors and came to the entrance of the church's nave.

"Is Maka in there?"

Standing at the door and looking inside, Hermione seemed a little confused, because the middle hall in front of her was even darker than the foyer and corridor outside. At a glance, except for the prayer bench near the door, there was almost nothing else.

Unable to see, everything was submerged in the dark mist.

"Shouldn't it be?" Neville and other people who had been here looked inside with puzzled expressions, "The last time we came here, there was a magic ball of light floating on the ceiling of the middle hall.

The entire hall is illuminated as if it were daytime. Not to mention dispersing the fog, at least I can see the whole thing at a glance and there will be no problem."

Hermione listened and was silent for a moment, then frowned slightly and said:

"Could it be...maybe Maka isn't here anymore."

This guess was actually what she wanted to say when she saw those figures outside just now, but if Maka wasn't here, then who would be here to turn this ancient city into this?

Since we were in the British land with enemies on all sides, everyone couldn't help but look at each other in confusion when they heard Hermione's doubts.

But then, Hermione didn't know what she suddenly thought of, and she suddenly raised her eyebrows.

"Whether Maka is here or not, at least...I think I may know who made those...those 'things' outside!"

Before she finished speaking, she waved without looking back, gesturing for everyone to follow her. Then, she suddenly quickened her pace and walked straight into the depths of the church's nave, following the sound of knocking.

Everyone didn't know what she was thinking of, but seeing that she was like this, they had no choice but to follow her away in a hurry.

Not long after, the group headed by Hermione quickly passed through the deserted and dark middle hall, entered a place similar to a lounge through a half-open door at the far end, and then entered a deeper room.

In a dark corridor.

This corridor is somewhat winding, with many doors on both sides - most of them are open and open, with nothing inside except old furniture.

Occasionally, she would encounter one or two closed doors, and Hermione didn't seem to want to open them and take a look, and went straight to the direction where the knocking sound came from.

"Click."

Until, Hermione gently opened a door that stood between her and the sound, and a ray of light finally passed through the gap between the two door leaves and fell into everyone's eyes.

Perhaps because they had been in the dark for too long, the light still made everyone feel a bit dazzling, so they couldn't help but raise their hands to block it.

Soon after, they finally understood the scene hidden behind the door.

It was a petite figure, sitting on a relatively large wooden rocking chair facing the door. While she slowly rocked back and forth with the rocking chair, she grabbed a small hammer and lifted it up.

Falling, hitting... a spine resting on her thigh?

And just around the rocking chair, there were piles of various human skeletons, all scattered on the floor in a very messy manner.

Ron, who was leaning forward to look forward, could swear that he just took a glance and saw more than one skull among those terrifying piles of bones. The empty eye holes made him quickly retract his head again.

He wasn't even interested in seeing who was sitting in the rocking chair.

"Sarah."

Hermione stood at the door and called softly in a very subtle tone.

"Shh," Sarah, who was sitting on the rocking chair, stopped what she was doing and pointed her index finger at the door, "I still have a lot of 'babies' who need to sleep here, be careful not to wake them up."

After lowering her voice and saying this, she raised her hand again and pointed. Hearing this, Hermione and others subconsciously turned their heads and looked in the direction she pointed.

However, at the other end of this rather large room, there were actually several rows of rectangular stone jars shaped like coffins neatly placed, with dark green liquid rippling slightly inside. From the doorway, only the outermost few jars could be seen.

You can vaguely see the stone jar at the mouth, and what appears to be a humanoid object lying in the liquid is inside.

Hermione looked at it a few more times, unable to accept it for a while, and couldn't help but stand there in silence for a moment. Then, she shook her head slightly and put this weird scene aside.

"Sarah, where's Maka?" she asked in a softer voice than before.

"Maka has something to do and has left temporarily." Sarah held up the spine she was tapping just now and admired it from side to side without raising her head. "Oh, by the way, it's with Miss Blois and Miss Blois."

Her father left together. If you want to find Maka, just wait here!"

"How long?" Neville couldn't help but ask.

"How long?" Sarah thought for a moment, then shook her head, "I don't know, Maka didn't say."

After finishing her words, Hermione hesitated again, and then finally asked a question that everyone was very concerned about.

"Then...what are you doing here?"