HP Approaches the Magic World

Chapter 897

Hermione knew about Harry's departure.

Her sleep has always been poor, especially recently, as she wakes up whenever there is any disturbance.

It's the same today.

Harry was too reckless. Even though such a big problem had just arisen, he still chose to go into the forest alone.

It's really heartbreaking.

The wind is very cold.

After adding a coat to herself, Hermione held her collar and walked out of the tent. On the outside, you saw Snape standing outside.

"Good evening, Professor Snape, I don't think you came here suddenly to take us back."

Snape was hidden in the dark shadows and looked at Hermione silently.

There was no light between the two of them, so Hermione raised her hand, and a ball of fluorescence spread out between the two of them.

Even if she gave Harry her wand, she still had ways to protect herself. As Jon's student, how could she not be able to cast spells without a wand?

Hermione's talent has been praised by even Grindelwald. If we simply talk about her talent in magic, she is even better than Jon.

"I'll deliver something."

"You guessed it, so the items have been delivered?"

"He went to get it."

"Is anyone following you?"

"I think you should treat me better." Snape said solemnly: "This is not the attitude of a good student towards his professor."

"Am I still a student now?"

"Miss Granger...you are indeed very good. It seems that Jon does have a good student."

Snape sneered: "But you don't have to worry about tonight. I brought Ron back to you. The Deluminator Dumbledore left for him is very good. Let him tell you the details, Joe.

Well, let me come to meet you and let you prepare in advance. I also want to meet Molly. Where are you going next?"

"have not decided yet."

Hermione knew that Snape had no bad intentions, and she also knew that he was not the leader of the plan. If she was to blame, the first person to be blamed would probably be her teacher Jon.

So this thing must not be important.

"Your teacher has been unable to get away recently, so let me tell you, you have to check two things next, Horcruxes and Deathly Hallows. You don't need to check Horcruxes. He will naturally help when the time comes."

"Teacher is here to help, regarding the Deathly Hallows..."

"Check it out yourself. We are not nannies. We want to protect your safety. We don't care about anything else. If we have to do everything, why do you want to leave our protection?"

"..."

Snape left and Jon cut away the screen.

Hermione doesn't need to worry, she can handle these things, she's a good actress.

Your talent is too strong, don't worry.

…

Harry is very much worth worrying about.

When Jon cut the scene back, he saw him lying on the ice, looking at the bottom of the pool.

He pointed his wand at the silver sword body and whispered: "The sword is flying!"

The sword didn't move, and Harry didn't expect it to come.

If it were that easy, the sword would be lying on the ground waiting for him to pick it up, instead of deep in the frozen pond.

He began to walk around the circular ice surface, trying to remember the last time the sword fell into his hands automatically. At that time, he was in a critical situation and asked for help.

"help me."

He whispered, but the sword still lay on the bottom of the pool, cold and motionless.

Harry began to recall Dumbledore's words.

"Only a true Gryffindor could pull it out of the hat."

What are the unique qualities of a Gryffindor?

A little voice in Harry's head replied: Their courage, courage and chivalry make Gryffindor outstanding.

Harry stopped and let out a long sigh, the mist of breath quickly dissipating in the cold air.

He knew what to do, and if he had to admit it, he had expected it from the moment he saw the sword lying under the ice.

He scanned the surrounding woods again, but was now convinced that no one would attack him.

If anyone wanted to attack him, they could do so while he was walking alone through the forest, and there were many opportunities while he was surveying the pond.

The only reason for procrastination at the moment is that what needs to be done is too unpleasant.

Harry began to take off layers of clothes with his unruly hands.

Is there anything "chivalrous" in this, he thought gloomily, unless it could be considered chivalrous if he didn't ask Hermione to do it for him.

As he was taking off his clothes, an owl hooted from somewhere, and he thought of Hedwig sadly.

He was trembling now and his teeth were chattering, but he continued to take off his clothes until he was left with only his underwear and his bare feet standing on the snow.

He put the bag containing his wand, mother's letter, Sirius's mirror fragment and the old Snitch on the pile of clothes, then pointed Hermione's wand at the ice.

"Torn apart."

An explosion pierced the silence like a bullet: the ice cracked, and large gray-black ice cubes swayed on the surface of the water.

Harry judged that the water was not deep, but to get the sword, he had to be completely submerged in the water.

No amount of thinking will make the task ahead easier, nor will it warm the water.

Harry walked to the pond and placed Hermione's wand on the ground, keeping it lit.

Then, trying not to think about how cold he would be or how shivering he would soon be, he jumped in.

Every pore on his body screamed in protest, the air in his lungs seemed to freeze, and the biting ice water reached his shoulders.

He could hardly breathe, and his whole body was shaking so hard that the water shook him to the shore. He searched for the blade of the sword with his numb feet, and just wanted to dive once.

Harry gasped and trembled, delaying the moment of immersion every second. Finally, he told himself that he couldn't do it anymore, and he mustered up all his courage and dived into the water.

The bone-chilling cold tormented him like fire. His brain seemed to be frozen. He dived to the bottom of the pool in the dark ice water, stretched out his arms to fumble for the sword. His fingers caught the hilt, and he pulled it up.

Suddenly, something tightened around his neck.

He thought of water plants, although he didn't encounter anything when he dived.

He raised the hand that wasn't holding the sword and tried to rip it off, but found that it was not a waterweed: the chain of the Horcrux had tightened and was slowly strangling his windpipe.

Harry kicked as hard as he could to push himself up to the surface, but he only hit the stone wall of the pond.

He was thrashing around, breathing hard, trying hard to grab the chain that was getting tighter and tighter, but his frozen fingers couldn't pry it open.

Venus began to appear in his mind, thinking that he was going to drown, that there was no hope, that there was nothing he could do, and that the arms holding him must belong to the God of Death...

He woke up, coughing, retching, and was soaked. He had never been so cold.

Not far away, another man was panting, coughing, and staggering around.

Hermione arrived just in time again, just like when the snake attacked...

However, it doesn't sound like her. Listen to the low cough and the heavy footsteps...

Harry didn't have the strength to raise his head to see who was saving him.

All he could do was raise his trembling hand to his throat and touch the place where the locket had been squeezed tightly into his flesh.

The locket was gone: someone cut it off for him. At this moment, a breathless voice sounded above his head.

"Are you-you-are you sick?"

Only the shock of hearing this voice gave Harry the strength to get up.

He shivered violently and stood up unsteadily.

Standing in front of him was Ron, clothed but like a drowned rat, with his hair stuck to his face, holding Gryffindor's sword in one hand and the severed gold chain with the Horcrux hanging on it in the other.

"What the hell," Ron gasped, holding up the Horcrux as it swung back and forth on its shortened chain, a bit like a parody of a hypnotist show: "Why didn't you take this thing off when you jumped?"

Harry couldn't answer.

Compared to Ron's reappearance, the silver deer was irrelevant, really irrelevant.

He couldn't believe it. Even though he was shivering from the cold, he still grabbed the pile of clothes that were still lying by the water and put them on his head one by one while staring at Ron, a little worried every time he looked at it.

If you don't see him, he will disappear.

But he must be serious: he just jumped into the pond and saved his life.

"Is-is it you?"

Harry finally said, his teeth chattering and his voice weaker than usual because he was almost strangled just now.

"Um."

Ron looked a little flustered.

"You-you summoned the deer?"

"What?

No, of course not!

I thought it was you!"

"My patronus is the stag."

"Oh, by the way, I think they look different. They don't have horns."

Harry hung the leather bag given by Hagrid around his neck, put on the last sweater, bent down to pick up Hermione's wand, and looked at Ron again.

"Why are you here?"

Apparently, Ron wished the question had come up later, or not at all.

"Well, I - you know - I'm back, if -" He cleared his throat: "You know, if you still want me."

There was silence for a while, and the topic of Ron running away seemed to be like a wall between the two of them.

But he's here, he's back, and he's just saved Harry's life.

Ron looked down at the thing in his hand and seemed surprised for a moment.

"Oh, by the way, I fished it out."

He said unnecessarily, showing Harry the sword for inspection: "That's why you jumped, isn't it?"

"Yes," Harry said, "but I don't understand, how did you get here? How did you find us?"

"It's a long story." Ron said, "I've been looking for you for several hours. This forest is really big, isn't it?

I was just about to take a nap under the tree and wait for dawn, when I saw the deer running over, and you were following behind."

"You didn't see anyone else?"

"No," said Ron, "I -"

He hesitated and looked at the two trees next to each other a few meters away.

"——I seemed to see something moving over there, but I was running towards the pond because you jumped down and didn't come up, so I didn't want to take a detour——Hey!"

Harry was already running towards where Ron pointed.

Two oak trees grew close together, with a gap of only a few inches at eye level, making it a good place to steal without being noticed.

But there was no snow around the tree's roots, and Harry saw no footprints.

He walked back to where he was, and Ron stood waiting, still holding the sword and the Horcrux.

"Is there something there?"

"No."

"Why is the sword in the pond?"

"The one who summoned the patron saint must have put it in."

The two looked at the exquisite silver sword, the hilt inlaid with rubies shining slightly in the fluorescence of Hermione's wand.

"Do you think this one is real?"

"There's a way to know, right?"

The Horcrux was still dangling in Ron's hand, and the locket was shaking slightly. Harry knew that the thing inside was restless again. It had just felt that the sword was nearby, and tried to strangle Harry to prevent him from getting the sword.

Now is not the time for a long conversation, the locket should be completely destroyed immediately.

Harry raised Hermione's wand and looked around, and found the place: under the shade of a sycamore tree, there was a large flat stone.

"follow me."

He walked over first, brushed off the snow on the stone, and reached out to take the Horcrux.

But when Ron handed over the sword, Harry shook his head.

"No, you should do it."

"Me?" Ron said in shock: "Why?"

"Since it was you who fished the sword out of the pond, I think it should be you."

He was not being generous or accommodating, just as he had just learned that the deer was harmless, he was convinced that Ron must wield the sword.

Dumbledore at least taught Harry to recognize certain types of magic and the immeasurable power of certain actions.

"I'll open it," Harry said. "You stab it. Once it's open, stab it, okay?"

Because the things inside will resist, Riddle in the diary wants to kill me."

"How do you open it?"

Ron asked with a horrified look.

"I'll tell it to open, in Parseltongue."

Harry said that the answer came out of his mouth so naturally that he felt as if he had always known it deep down: maybe it was his final encounter with Nagini that made him realize it.

He looked at the snake-shaped "S", which was made of sparkling emeralds. It was easy to imagine it as a small snake coiled on the cold stone.

"No!" said Ron, "No, don't open it! Really!"

"Why? We're about to get rid of this damn thing, it's been months-"

"I can't, Harry, really - you do it -"

"But why?"

"Because this thing is bad for me!"

Ron looked at the locket on the stone and stepped back: "I can't deal with it!

I'm not excusing myself, Harry, but this thing affected me more than it did you or Hermione, and it gave me some thoughts that I already had, but it made everything worse.

I can't explain it, every time I take it off I wake up, but then I have to put the damn thing back on - I can't, Harry!"

He had already dragged the sword back to a distance, shaking his head repeatedly.

"You can do it," said Harry, "You can do it!

You just caught the sword, and I know it's you who should use it.

Please, get rid of it, Ron."

Hearing his name seemed to be an incentive. Ron swallowed and walked back to the big stone, still breathing heavily through his long nose.

"Tell me when."

He said lowly and hoarsely.

"Count to three,"

Harry looked down at the locket, squinting at the letter "S" and imagining a snake, while the contents of the locket scurried like a cockroach in a cage.

It was almost easy to pity it, except that the scar on Harry's neck still hurt.

"One...two...three...open."

The last word was a hissing growl, and the small golden lid of the locket popped open with a click.

There was a living eye blinking behind each of the two small glass windows, black and bright, like Tom Riddle's eyeball before it turned red and the pupil turned into a line.

"Stab!"

said Harry, pressing the locket firmly against the stone.

Ron raised the sword with trembling hands, the tip of the sword hanging above two wildly rotating eyes.

Harry clutched the locket tightly and braced himself, already imagining blood spurting out of the empty window.

At this time, a voice hissed from the Horcrux.

"I saw your heart, it's mine."

"Don't listen to it!"

Harry said sharply, his face becoming a little distorted: "Stab quickly!"

"I see your dreams, Ron Weasley, and I see your fears.

Whatever you desire can happen, but whatever you fear can also happen..."

"Quick stab!"

Harry shouted, and there was an echo in the woods. The tip of the sword trembled, and Ron stared into Riddle's eyes.

"Always the least favored, mother prefers the daughter... the least favored, and now that girl is attracted to your friend... always second best, always dwarfed..."

"Ron, stab it quickly!"

Harry yelled, he could feel the locket shaking in his hands and was scared of what was going to happen.

Ron raised the sword higher, and Riddle's eyes turned red.

From the two small windows of the locket and from the pair of eyes, two weird soap bubble-like things emerged, which were the heads of Harry and Hermione, bizarrely deformed.

Ron screamed and took a few steps back. Two human figures rose up from the locket, with chests, waists, legs, and finally stood in the locket like two trees with the same root. Between Ron and the real Harry

Swinging above.

Harry had withdrawn his hand from the locket because it suddenly became extremely hot.

"Ron!"

he shouted, but now Riddle Harry was speaking in Voldemort's voice, and Ron stared at the face as if hypnotized.

"Why come back? We are better and happier without you. We are glad that you are not here... We laugh at your stupidity, your cowardice, your self-righteousness-"

"opinionated!"

Riddle Hermione repeated that she was prettier than the real Hermione, but terrible: she was swaying in front of Ron, laughing. Ron seemed terrified but unable to move, his sword hanging limply at his side.

"Who would look at you, standing next to Harry Potter, who would look at you?

Compared with the ‘Savior Star’, what have you done?

Who are you compared to the Boy Who Lived?"

"Ron, stab it, stab it!"

Harry yelled, but Ron didn't move. His eyes were wide open, and Riddle Harry and Riddle Hermione were reflected in them, their hair swirling like flames, their eyes glowing red, and his voice rose.

Gao Cheng's evil duet.

"Your mother admitted it," Riddle Harry said sarcastically, and Riddle Hermione laughed loudly: "She prefers me as her son, and she is willing to exchange..."

"Who doesn't like him more? Which woman would choose you?

Compared with him, you are nothing, nothing."

Riddle Hermione sang softly, her body became as long as a snake, wrapped around Riddle Harry, and hugged him tightly, their lips touching.

On the ground in front of them, Ron's face was filled with pain. He held his sword high and his arms were shaking.

"Stab it, Ron!"

Harry thought he saw a hint of red in Ron's eyes.

"Ron——"

There was a flash of sword light, and the sword suddenly thrust out. Harry jumped out of the way, and there was a metallic clang, followed by a long scream.

Harry turned around quickly, slipped on the snow, and raised his wand to defend himself, but there was nothing to block him.

The terrifying phantoms of himself and Hermione disappeared, and only Ron stood there, holding the sword feebly and looking down at the fragments of the locket on the stone.

Harry walked back to him slowly, not knowing what to say or do.

Ron's breathing was rough, and his eyes were not red at all. They were still the same blue color and a little moist.

Harry pretended not to see it and bent down to pick up the broken Horcrux.

Ron punctured the glass of both small windows, Riddle's eyes were gone, and wisps of smoke came out of the colorful silk lining of the locket.

The thing living in the Horcrux disappeared, and torturing Ron was its last act.

The sword fell from Ron's hand with a clang, and he fell to his knees, holding his head.

He was shivering, but it wasn't because of the cold.

Harry stuffed the broken locket into his pocket, knelt down beside Ron, and cautiously placed a hand on his shoulder.

He didn't get dumped, which he thought was a good sign.

"After you left," he whispered, secretly glad that Ron's face was hidden: "She cried for a week, maybe longer, but she didn't want me to see it.

There were many nights when we didn't talk.

You’re not here…”

He couldn't talk anymore, and now that Ron was back, Harry fully realized how much they missed him without him.

"She's like a sister to me,"

He continued: "I love her like a sister, and I'm sure she feels the same way about me, and always has, and I thought you knew that."

Ron didn't answer, but turned away and wiped his nose loudly with his sleeve.

Harry stood up and walked towards Ron's huge backpack a few meters away, which Ron had left behind when he ran towards the pond to save him.

Harry put it on his back and walked back to Ron.

Ron also got up, his eyes bloodshot, but still calm.

"sorry,"

He said angrily: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left. I know I am - am -"

He looked around in the darkness, as if hoping that a word vicious enough would swoop down and claim him.

"You almost made up for it tonight," Harry said: "You fished out the sword, destroyed the Horcrux, and saved my life."

"Sounds much greater than who I am."

"Things like this always sound much greater than they are," Harry said. "I've been trying to tell you that for years."

The two of them walked forward at the same time and hugged each other. Harry grabbed the still damp clothes on Ron's back.

"Now," said Harry after they separated, "all we have to do is find the tent."

Finding the tent is not difficult.

Although it seemed like a long way to follow the doe in the Black Forest, with Ron by his side, the time it took to get back was surprisingly short.

Harry couldn't wait to wake up Hermione. He walked into the tent excitedly, and Ron followed a little hesitantly.

Compared with the pond and the forest, it is extremely warm here.

The only source of light was the bluebell-like flames, still glowing in a bowl on the ground.

Hermione was curled up in the blanket and sleeping soundly. Harry called her several times before she woke up.

"Hermione!"

She moved, quickly sat up, and pushed her hair away from her face.

"What's wrong, Harry? Are you okay?"

"It's okay, everything is okay, not just good, but great, there is someone here."

"What did you say? Who-?"

She saw Ron standing there with his sword in hand, dripping water on the ragged carpet.

Harry retreated into the shadows of the corner, took off Ron's backpack, and tried to blend it with the canvas wall of the tent.

Hermione got out of bed and walked towards Ron as if sleepwalking, staring at his pale face.

She stopped in front of him, her lips slightly parted, and her eyes widened.

Ron smiled weakly with hope and half-opened his arms.

Hermione rushed forward and began beating every inch of him within her reach.

"Ouch - Ouch - let go! What -? Hermione - Ouch!"

"You big-ass bastard Ron Weasley!"

Even though I knew it a long time ago, I was still very angry.

Maybe, this is because I like it.

Who can say for sure when it comes to love, right?

Hermione punched every word she spoke. Ron protected his head and hid behind, while Hermione chased forward.

"You - crawl back - here?

—so many—so many—weeks—after—

Oh, where's my wand?"

She seemed to snatch it away from Harry, who reacted instinctively.

"Armor protection!"

The invisible vertical wall immediately separated Ron and Hermione, and the force knocked her onto her back.

She spit out the hair in her mouth and jumped up again.

"Hermione!" said Harry, "Calm down—"

"I won't calm down!"

she screamed.

Harry had never seen her so out of control, almost crazy.

"Give me back the wand! Give me back!"

"Hermione, please—"

"Don't boss me around, Harry Potter!"

She shouted sharply: "I'm warning you! Give it back to me! And you!"

She pointed at Ron accusingly, like a curse, and Harry felt that Ron couldn't be blamed for taking a few steps back.

"I ran out to chase you! I shouted to you! I begged you to come back!"

"I know," Ron said, "Hermione, I'm sorry, I really-"

"Oh, you're sorry!"

She laughed, a high-pitched, hysterical sound.

Ron looked at Harry for help, but Harry just made a sad face and expressed his helplessness.

"It's been so many weeks since you came back - so many weeks - and you think you'll be fine just by saying you're sorry?"

"Then what else can I say?"

Ron shouted, and Harry was glad that Ron was starting to resist.

"Oh, I do not know!"

Hermione shouted, with bitter sarcasm: "Wrack your brains, Ron, it only takes two seconds -"

"Hermione," Harry interjected, in what he considered an unkind attack: "He just saved my—"

"I don't care!" she screamed. "I don't care what he did! After all these weeks, we might all be dead—"

"I know you're not dead!"

Ron roared, overpowering her voice for the first time, and moved forward as much as possible through the Iron Armor Curse: "The Daily Prophet talks about Harry all day long, and so does the radio. They are looking for you everywhere. There are many rumors.

And ridiculous stories, I know I will hear about them right away if you die, you don’t know-"

"I wonder how you lived?"

Her voice was now so high-pitched that soon only bats could hear it.

But she was so angry that she couldn't speak for a while, and Ron seized the opportunity.

"I wanted to come back as soon as I Disapparated, but I fell into the middle of a group of search teams, and Hermione couldn't get away at all!"

"A group of what?"

Harry asked.

Hermione sat down on the chair, folded her arms tightly, and crossed her legs, looking like she wouldn't let go for a few years.

"Snatchers," Ron said, "are everywhere, a bunch of guys trying to make money hunting down Muggle-born wizards and pure-blood traitors.

There is a reward from the Ministry of Magic for every person caught.

I was alone and looked like I was at school age. They got excited and thought I was an escaped Muggle-born.

I hurriedly tried to persuade him, so I didn't get dragged into the Ministry of Magic."

"What did you tell them?"

"I said Stan Sampack, the first person I could think of."

"Did they believe it?"

"Those people are not very smart.

One of them must be of troll blood, the smell on his body..."

Ron glanced at Hermione, obviously hoping that this little humor would lighten her mood, but her limbs were still tightly tangled together, and her expression was as stone as a stone.

"Anyway, they started arguing over whether I was a Stan or not, which was a bit pathetic to be honest.

But after all, they were five against me, and they even took away my wand.

Later, two people got into a fight. While the others were distracted, I punched the person who grabbed me in the stomach, grabbed his wand, cast a disarming spell on the guy holding my wand, and apparated.

Shaped.

I didn’t do very well, and I split again——”

Ron raised his right hand, two nails were missing.

Hermione raised her eyebrows coldly.

"——The place where I appeared is so far away from you. By the time I return to the original riverside, you will have already left."

"Oh, what a thrilling story,"

Hermione said in the haughty tone she always used when she wanted to hurt someone: "You must be frightened.

And we went to Godric's Hollow. Let me see, what happened there, Harry?

Oh, by the way, the mysterious man's snake jumped out and almost bit us to death, and then the mysterious man arrived in person and caught us in just one second."

"What?"

Ron opened his mouth and looked at Hermione and then Harry, but Harry ignored him.

"Think about losing your nails, Harry!

This really highlights how little we suffer, doesn’t it?”

"Hermione," Harry whispered, "Ron just saved my life."

She didn't seem to hear.

"However, I would like to know something,"

She said, staring a foot above Ron's head: "How did you find us tonight?

This is important.

Knowing this, we can ensure that we won't be disturbed by people we don't want to see anymore."

Ron stared at her, then took out a small silver object from his jeans pocket.

"this."

In order to see what he took out, she had to look at Ron.

"Deluminator?"

She acted a little too surprised and forgot to appear cold and fierce.

"It doesn't just turn the lights on and turn them off,"

Ron said: "I don't know how it happened, and I don't know why it was that time and not at other times, because I have always wanted to come back since I left. But I was listening to the radio that day, and it was Christmas.

Early in the morning, I heard—heard you."

He looked at Hermione.

"Did you hear me on the radio?"

"No, I heard you in my pocket. Your voice," he held up the Deluminator again, "came out of this."

"What on earth am I talking about?"

Hermione asked, her tone somewhere between suspicion and curiosity.

"My name, 'Ron'. You said...what wand..."

Hermione's face turned red, and Harry remembered: that was the first time they said Ron's name after he left.

Hermione mentioned him when talking about repairing Harry's wand.

"So I took it out," Ron continued, looking at the deluminator. "It didn't look weird, but I was pretty sure I heard your voice, so I pressed it and the lights in my room went out.

, but another light appeared outside the window."

Ron raised his hand and pointed forward, staring at something that neither Harry nor Hermione could see.

"It's a ball of light, it seems to be pulsing, it's blue, like the light around a portkey, you know?"

"Um."

Harry and Hermione said involuntarily together.

"I knew this was it, so I quickly packed up my things, put on my backpack and walked into the garden."

"The little ball of light was waiting for me in the air. After I came out, it floated up and down for a while.

I followed it to the back of the cabin, and then it... well, it floated into me."

"What?"

Harry raised his eyebrows, thinking he hadn't heard clearly.

"It floated towards me," Ron said, gesturing with his index finger. "It floated up to my chest, and then - it went in. Here it is,"

He pointed to a point near his heart: "I can feel it, it's warm.

As soon as it enters my body, I know what to do and it will take me where I have to go.

So I apparated away and came to a hillside with snow everywhere..."

"We've been there," Harry said. "We stayed there for two nights. The second night I kept feeling like someone was walking around in the dark, shouting!"

"Well, that should be me."

Ron said: "At least, your protective spell is effective, because I can't see or hear you.

But I believed you were nearby, so I finally got into my sleeping bag and waited for one of you to show up.

I think you'll always show up when you put the tent away."

"Not necessarily," Hermione said: "To be more safe, we all disapparate under the invisibility cloak.

And we left early because, as Harry said, we heard people bumping around."

"I stayed on that mountain all day," Ron said, "I always hoped that you would show up. But when it got dark, I knew I might have missed it, so I pressed the deluminator again, and the blue light appeared and floated in again.

into my body, and I apparated into this forest.

Still can't see you, I can only hope that one of you will show up - Harry showed up.

Oh, obviously, I saw the deer first."

"What do you see?"

The two of them then recounted their adventure. As the story of the silver deer and the sword at the bottom of the pool unfolded, Hermione frowned and looked back and forth at the two of them, so focused that she even forgot to wrap her limbs tightly.

Although I knew about this, I was still surprised when I heard it again.

"But it must be a patron saint!"

She hid the fact that Snape's patronus was a deer and said: "Didn't you see who summoned it?

Didn't you see anyone?

It leads you to the sword!

Unbelievable! What happened next?”

Ron told how he saw Harry jumping into the pond and wanted to wait for him to come up. Then he realized something was wrong, jumped in quickly to save Harry, and went back to fish out the sword.

He talked until he opened the locket, then hesitated, and Harry intervened.

"—Ron pierced it with his sword."

"And then...then it died? That's it?"

"Oh, it - it screamed." Harry glanced at Ron and said, "Here."

He threw the locket into her lap, and she picked it up carefully, examining the punctured small window.

Concluding that it was finally safe, Harry waved Hermione's wand to lift the Iron Armor Curse, and turned to Ron again.

"You just said that you earned a wand when you escaped from the search team?"

"What?"

Ron, who was watching Hermione examine the locket, said: "Oh - yes."

He opened the buckle of his backpack and pulled out a short, black wand from the bag.

"Here it is, I guess it's always good to have a backup."

"You're right," Harry said, holding out his hand. "Mine is broken."