The days of hanging out at Hogwarts

"Harry!"

Ginny threw herself at Harry, almost knocking him down on his back, "Oh, did you see it, he's coming, Harry's coming! We didn't hear you come in! Oh, how are you? You're everything Is everything okay?

"We really wanted to write to you and tell you what happened this month, but Percy said someone was monitoring the owls coming and going from the Burrow, so we had to write useless nonsense. We can't tell you anything, Dumbledore. We are also asked to swear not to say anything..."

Harry held an excited Ginny in his arms and gently stroked her red hair.

Loren and Hermione narrowed their eyes and smiled meaningfully together.

George and Fred were sitting on the single bed at the back, leaning against the soft quilt, holding a long flesh-colored rope in their hands and tinkering. At this moment, the room was only illuminated by a few oil lamps, and the dim light fell on the surrounding walls. On the wall, the corners of their mouths evoked meaningful smiles.

Falling in love is the most fun thing to make fun of.

Maybe you can even extort some pocket money, no, it's confidential labor fees...

"Let him breathe, Ginny..."

Ron walked past several people with gentle steps, carefully closed the door tightly and sighed, "I finally see you, Loren and Hermione. I have never missed you as much as I did this summer vacation."

After not seeing each other for a month, he had grown several inches taller and looked lankier and more clumsy than before, but the long nose, red hair, and freckles on his face were still exactly the same as before.

"Hey, Loren, Hermione!" George and Friar greeted in unison, "Long time no see!"

"haven't seen you for a long time."

Loren and Hermione nodded in agreement, bypassing Harry and Ginny, and walked towards the twins: "Why are you all so happy? Did you hear something extraordinary during the month we were apart? ?”

"I did hear some..."

"But I didn't hear it clearly."

"Tell me what you know..." Hermione said, and the two sat down on the bed opposite them. Loren looked at the furnishings in the room.

The room is spacious, with high ceilings and clean walls. There is no messy decoration. There is only a blank canvas inlaid in a gorgeous picture frame, exuding a faint, damp musty smell. Apart from two single beds, there were only a few benches, making it look empty.

"Where do I start..." George shook the flesh-colored rope on his hand.

"Let's talk about the Order of the Phoenix first..." Fred sighed and pulled out something in the shape of an ear along the string.

Roughly the same as what Loren knew, the Order of the Phoenix was a secret society created by Dumbledore. It was founded around the 1970s to fight against the growing threats of Voldemort and Death Eaters.

After the First Wizarding War, the Order of the Phoenix was temporarily disbanded.

Until this summer, Dumbledore summoned them again.

"Who's in there?" Hermione's eyes were bright.

"We have only seen about twenty of them, and you can see them here, but there must be more than these..."

"I saw some photos at my dad's place. There were a lot of people who had appeared in newspapers when we were little. It took Bill some time to find those old newspapers from Gringotts."

Fred counted slowly on his fingers, "Brothers Fabian and Gideon Prewett were murdered by six Death Eaters led by Antonin Dolohov, Caradoc Dill Bone disappeared, Edgar Bones and his family were captured, Benji Fenwick was brutally murdered, and Marlene MacKinnon..."

George added: "Actually, the Longbottoms also count, but they were cured and it made the news."

Hermione glanced at Loren next to her and nodded calmly: "These are all the members who were killed. What about the people who have reunited? What are the current members of the Order of the Phoenix doing recently? What conspiracy does the mysterious man have, Dumbledore?" How does Lido plan to stop him?"

"As we said before, mother tried every means to prevent us from knowing the inside story, and the Order of the Phoenix did not allow us to participate in the meeting." George looked a little aggrieved and fiddled with the prop ear in his hand.

Fred muttered unconvinced: "So we don't know some specific details, we only know a little bit..."

At this time, Ron walked from the door, followed by Harry and Ginny, who had blushing cheeks. The three of them brought stools and sat down next to them, talking about what they had heard recently.

"Some members of the Order of the Phoenix are tracking those Death Eaters whose identities have been exposed and paying close attention to their whereabouts. Percy is in charge of this job." Ron said slowly, "I heard him mention it before when I was at home. In order to spy on us, Fudge wanted to promote Percy to be Assistant Minister, but he refused and replaced him with someone named Bertha Jorkins..."

Hearing this, Hermione glanced at Loren again.

"In addition, some of them are absorbing more people to join the Order of the Phoenix, and Bill is doing this." Ron opened his eyes slightly, and a strange light emitted from his eyes, "Fleur is probably his target. ”

Loren was immediately happy when she saw his expression. I was afraid that this boy was not thinking about his sister-in-law.

"Fleur Delacour?" Harry said in surprise.

Ginny snorted: "In order to improve her English, she found a job at Gringotts in Diagon Alley, and Bill has been giving her personal tutoring."

Fred chuckled: "Charlie also joined the Order of the Phoenix, but he is still in Romania. Dumbledore wants him to absorb as many wizards from abroad as possible, so Charlie has extensive contact with people when he is not at work."

"There are still some people who are standing guard about something and have been discussing some security mission."

"You're not protecting me, are you?" Harry raised his head in surprise.

Unexpectedly, Ron shook his head: "Mrs. Figg has always been responsible for protecting you. Not long ago, wizards were put on duty. I heard that it was a new member who provided information. Someone in the Ministry of Magic wants to deal with you. ...You know, Voldemort can't find the Dursleys yet."

"Ministry of Magic? Who?"

"Well... when I heard this, my mother discovered our little invention and was very angry." George patted his chest with some fear, "Fortunately, we have learned how to apparate, so we were not caught on the spot."

Fred showed the ears held by the rope to several people: "Telescopic ears are a recent invention. In order to prevent mom from throwing them into the trash can or throwing them into the fireplace to burn, we have to hide them. ”

Loren took the telescopic ear and held it in his hand to observe carefully: "Is there any other news?"

The design of the retractable ear is very innovative, the process is not complicated, and the materials are not rare. If you use two ears to transmit sound to each other, you can make calls within a short distance. It can be regarded as the prototype of a wired phone. It does not use electricity and consumes no money. able.

"No more." Ginny spread her hands with a helpless expression, "We have been cleaning this house for the rest of the time, cleaning it thoroughly. This house has been empty for many years, and many things have grown and multiplied in it. We have spent a lot of effort I just cleaned the kitchen and most of the bedrooms, and I think it’s time to clean the living room tomorrow.”

"We obviously know that they are having an important meeting, and even Snape is attending the meeting, but we can only sit here." Ron punched the bedside railing in anger, and then his expression twisted in pain, and his face was hideous.

Ginny looked at her brother with a look that looked like a fool, and felt a little disgusted: "There is no way, the retractable ears don't work anymore, my mother has recited anti-disturbance spells on almost every important door, even the kitchen door. The retractable ears can't get under the door at all. I really don't understand what she is worried about. Are she worried that we will steal her potato peeling magic? "

"What a shame, I really want to know what that old guy Snape wants to do."

The twins looked very reluctant and spoke through gritted teeth.

"I heard that a report is being read. It's top secret."

"..."

Half an hour later, Molly knocked on the bedroom door: "The meeting is over, come downstairs for dinner. Many people want to meet you, especially you, Harry..."

A group of people walked out of the bedroom and looked down from the railing. The dark hall below was crowded with wizards. They were whispering excitedly and walking towards the door. Snape was among them, with shiny hair. Reflective.

How is Professor Snape doing lately, and how is his research on the resurrection potion going?

Loren poked her head over the railing.

As if he was aware of the prying eyes, Snape also raised his head to look upstairs. When their eyes met, Loren saw those eyes. There was a bit of fatigue in the indifferent eyes, like a patient who had been suffering without sleep for several weeks. , in the sleepy and chaotic night, my head is unusually clear.

boom!

The exchange of looks was interrupted by a scream from Tonks: "I'm sorry! It's all my fault for that unlucky umbrella stand. This is the second time I tripped over it."

Harry was stunned for a second, as if recalling some unbearable memories, and immediately shrank his neck and reminded: "Hurry, cover your ears!"

Loren seemed to understand something and quickly raised his hand to cover Hermione's ears.

Before anyone else could react, a bloodcurdling scream flooded the entire house:

"Beasts! Bitch! Dirty and sinful scoundrels! Bastards, freaks, ugly monsters, get out of here! How dare you desecrate the home of my ancestors——"

In front of the foyer, two velvet curtains covered with insect holes were suddenly lifted, revealing a life-size magical portrait. An old lady wearing a black hat was screaming desperately, shrilly and harshly.

The old lady was drooling, her eyes were rolling, and the yellow skin on her face was tense from screaming.

Lu Ping rushed over in three steps at a time, trying to close the curtain to cover the old lady inside, but he couldn't do it. Sirius also burst out of a door, grabbing the curtain and joining them in the effort.

"Shut up, you horrible old witch, shut up!"

"The prodigal son, the shame of the family, the evil offspring I gave birth to!"

"I told you! Shut up! Mouth!"

The conversation between a loving mother and a filial son continued until the curtain completely covered the portrait, and the screams gradually disappeared, leaving only an echoing silence.

Hermione was startled and blinked in confusion.

Loren turned to look at the door again. All the original group of wizards had disappeared, and Snape had also left. Only Lupine and Tonks were left standing in front of the door and using magic to add many locks and bolts to the door.

"That's Sirius' mother. We tried to take down her portrait when we came here a few years ago, but failed. She seemed to have cast a permanent sticking charm on the back of the canvas."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and led them downstairs while explaining: "Oh, you don't know yet, Loren and Hermione, this is the house of Sirius' parents, and he is the only one left in the Black family, so this The house belongs to him now."

"So he gave this house to Dumbledore as his headquarters..." Molly held onto the stairs and said in a low tone, "Really, he originally wanted to get married here, but now the wedding has to be postponed."

"Where is the bride? Is she here?" Harry asked quickly after hearing the news about his godmother.

"How could it be possible to stay in such a dangerous place? Sirius has reduced contact and said that the wedding will be held after the incident is over..."

Passing by a row of house elves' heads on the wall, Hermione complained with some annoyance: "These... these... can't they be taken off?"

"You said this, the adults are too busy, we haven't cleaned up here yet..."

"Don't worry, Hermione, we will clean this wall tomorrow..."

Loren's eyebrows twitched and he remained silent for a while. A long-standing memory emerged from the bottom of his mind, and some information that no one in this world should have known was being sorted out bit by bit.

It was about another Black child, Regulus Black, a Death Eater.

It was about the fifth Horcrux made before Voldemort's fall, Slytherin's Locket.

Although the locket had gone through many twists and turns in the stories he knew, it was now in this old house, in the hands of an old and crazy house elf.

Loren glanced at the dried head pendant and asked softly: "Are there any house elves in this house?"

"There is another one, his name is Kreacher." Ron shook his head, "A house elf who has been staying here, a madman, whose biggest ideal in life is to cut off his head like his mother and stick it on the wall. He will definitely come and cause trouble when the wall is being cleaned tomorrow."

"Really..." Loren nodded thoughtfully.

Walking up a flight of stone steps to the basement kitchen, it was as dim as the hall above, a cave-like deep room surrounded by rough stone walls. Most of the light comes from a large fireplace across the room. The smoke coming out of the pipe filled the air, like gunpowder smoke on a battlefield. The heavy iron pots and basins hanging from the dark ceiling looked hideous and eerie in the smoke.

Because of the meeting, the room was filled with many chairs, and in the middle was a long wooden table. On the table were scattered parchment rolls, goblets, empty wine bottles, and a pile of things that looked like rags.

Arthur and Bill sat at the end of the long table, whispering something with their heads together.