In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter

Chapter 149: Ash and Silver (2 in 1 Chapter)

"Did the mole who infiltrated the wagon leave with that traitor." Ron speculated while chopping an onion.

He was now reluctant to even mention Percy's name anymore, using the term traitor as a substitute.

Compared to the others, Neville, who was also obviously much more perceptive, cleaned the potatoes and shook his head.

"That mole's purpose couldn't just be taking Percy away, it wouldn't make half as much sense as him staying on the wagon and reporting our location to the Ministry of Magic at all times."

"I'm scared to sleep alone these days, and have to squeeze into a bed with Hermione." Lavender said irritably as she walked over carrying a bucket of water.

Hermione, who was whipping the cream, turned her head and looked at her helplessly.

"Tonight we have to take two quilts, you always like to wrap the whole quilt away in the night, I am about to catch a cold."

"Actually, even if we don't have a clue who that person is, we don't have to be too nervous." Jon said calmly, "When he helped Percy to leave the wagon, if he really wanted to make any harmful action against us, he should have done it long ago, not waiting until everyone now went on their guard."

He put the potatoes that Neville had washed and the onions that Ron had chopped into a large pot, and then carried them together with Justin toward Hanton and the others, who were boiling a large cauldron of hot water.

"Let's all wait for word from the professors, hopefully, today's search will yield some positive findings."

Throughout the day today, they were preparing for a sumptuous dinner tonight, of course, because of the rich ingredients prepared for the night, the lunch was not half bad, and the place where the wagon was stopped was charmed by the professors with Muggle-Repelling Charm, so as long as they don't leave the designated area, the students here can freely move around without fear of being discovered by anyone.

And at lunchtime, Dumbledore and other professors come down from the wagon, looking at Professor McGonagall and their faces, most students can guess that in today's search, it is estimated that there are no valuable clues again.

This is not quite a normal situation, especially since Percy's escape from the Hogwarts wagon last time, the protection measures on that wagon are quite comprehensive, unless Dumbledore and a certain professor on the wagon acted like they did the year before, otherwise it would be very difficult to hide even if a wizard was able to blend in.

But today is a welcome dinner, the new students who have just been brought on the wagon, can clearly feel the nervous atmosphere these days, today it is time to let them relax a little.

The long table on the meadow, the table is much larger than the year Jon just enrolled, the table is covered with a white tablecloth, surrounded by students busy with food prepared for the day.

Dumbledore would never make a long speech on such occasions, he knew that the children are always impatient in the face of food and game.

Just before the banquet officially began, he smiled and mentioned.

"Don't worry about the danger on the wagon, although we still have not gained anything today, there is already a solution, and I believe we will see the results soon."

The older students naturally had 100% trust in his words, and the lingering pressure that was in the hearts of all the young wizards, except for the first years, was suddenly relieved, and the laughter at the dinner became more abundant.

There were no new professors to introduce this year, and Lupin had already taught the students on the wagon for nearly half a semester and had long been familiar with them to the point of acquaintance.

The students on the wagon were as enthusiastic as ever, introducing the new students to the professors sitting at the other end of the long table and explaining their future lives in the school.

Those students from Hogwarts Castle who came to the wagon this year have long since lost the initial restraint that they had when they first arrived here, and they looked just like any other children, and the life of being enslaved in the castle has long been pressed into the bottom of their hearts by the happiness they have now, except for the occasional recollection of that unpleasant past before going to sleep, when their bodies would tremble a little, otherwise, it's just like being brought to the wagon from the very beginning.

The dinner was served until close to ten o'clock when it eventually ended, the students were led by Dumbledore to sing the Hogwarts song under the starry sky overhead, and then the vast majority of students began to return to the wagon to rest, except for all the freshmen plus one from each grade in the second to seventh years, leaving a small number of these students to clean up the rest of the mess.

Jon is also one of the students left to help, Dumbledore did not leave, he asked the professors who have been busy all day to return to the wagon to rest, and then he joined Filch to help the students while watching over the students here.

He pulled his wand and knocked on the long table full of food scraps, the plates and cups above all became incomparably clean, followed by sixth and seventh-year students using a spell to gather these cleaned dishes and eventually neatly stacked them together, and the rest of the students were taking care of the rubbish left on the ground around them.

Gabrielle also did not immediately return to the wagon, she floated beside her "roommate" Luna, directing her to pick up the fruit peel.

But soon she felt bored, floating beside Jon, talking happily about how great today's dinner was, she now wishes to be old enough to not attend Beauxbatons as she wished before, but to come to this Hogwarts wagon, it's just unknown whether her mother and father would agree.

Jon who was thinking about something didn't pay much attention to the little girl's twittering words, just kept nodding his head to show that he was listening while using his wand to restore the crushed grass on the ground back to its original state.

Gabrielle soon found his perfunctory, so she pouted and drifted to the bushes at the edge of the wagon to play with the fireflies.

Jon was not thinking about anything else, he was just thinking about what Dumbledore said before the dinner party started, something about already having a solution. He did not feel that it might have been an empty reassuring statement since Dumbledore said so, it means he must have already had an inkling; otherwise, his reputation would become lower.

Right when the students who stayed behind to clean up the place all tidied up the place back to the way it was before they came, the freshmen with the lightest workload were ready to step on the steps back to the wagon.

An ear-splitting scream suddenly pierced through the quiet night sky!

"AHHHH!!!"

It was a young girl's voice, and at the first sound of this voice, all the students present, as well as Dumbledore who had not gone back all turned their heads to look in the direction of the source of the voice.

Gabrielle, who was floating around the grass with the fireflies, didn't know when she held her head, her silver hair trembled behind her body, which was transparent in the moonlight, the body was even more illusory at this time.

And in front of her, a figure cloaked in a grey cloak, a more than two meters tall creature as thin and tall as a bamboo pole, noiselessly came floating out of the woods!

At the moment this creature appeared, a cold winter-like gloom enveloped the entire venue, the sight of it made every student immobile, as if frozen by this bone-chilling cold, their bodies could not stop shivering, and a deadly silence and despair rose up within their hearts for no reason!

The moment he saw this monster, its name popped up in Jon's mind -

Dementor!

"Expecto Patronum!"

Almost in a flash, the sound of Dumbledore reciting the incantation rang out right behind him, and Jon raised his wand, and without half a moment's hesitation, he ran quickly in Gabrielle's direction.

"Get back to the wagon! All students return to the wagon!"

Silver light illuminated the open wilderness, Dumbledore's calm voice rang with obvious sullenness, which made the students who had originally been looking at the dementor stunned to come back to their senses, and according to the grade from youngest to oldest, they quickly returned to the wagon.

Dumbledore's charm did not summon the Patronus, but the silver light is like another full moon in the dark night, piercing the frigid nature that has wrapped this patch of meadow.

The dementor floating in front of Gabrielle began to retreat, as if it felt unusually uncomfortable with the silver light, not daring to easily go forward, and returned to the gloom behind the bushes.

Jon's hand went through Gabrielle's cold body, and the little girl who had been stunned finally returned to her senses, she cried out Jon's name, and then stretched out her transparent hand to grab the corner of his robe.

Jon held his wand in his hand, while gently comforting her, and constantly led her backwards, meanwhile, with the help of that warm silver light behind him, his eyes also saw the scene behind the bushes which no longer had fireflies flying around.

Dementors, swarms of dementors!

They are hidden in the woods where the silver light does not shine, and it is difficult to tell the number, but at a glance, it just feels like they are everywhere as far as the eye can see!

"Take Gabrielle and go back, Jon."

Dumbledore's voice rang out from directly behind Jon, and by now they were only two people left at the venue, and all the other students had returned to the wagon.

Hagrid waved the reins and sat in the driver's seat, the Thestrals, which can only be seen if one has been in contact with death, let out a restless hiss, Jon did not stop for half a moment, he led the Gabrielle who had been clutching his dress quickly along and hopped on the wagon.

After he got into the wagon, Dumbledore walked to Hagrid's driving seat, the tip of his wand emitted silver light to deter those hundreds of dementors behind, these monsters whose bodies cloaked in tattered grey robes, surging out of the woods!

"Go, Hagrid!"

Hearing his order Hagrid immediately pulled up the reins, the Thestrals actually did not need him to drive, after getting the command to run unrestrained, they ran wildly towards the golden wheat fields ahead!

The wheat that is already close to ripening fled to the sides in a panic before the horses' hooves trampled them, just like pedestrians in the middle of the road, and the wagons galloped on, but the dementors didn't give up on their target in sight.

They flew from the woods upwards, like countless kites with broken strings, and headed towards the night sky!

The originally clear starry sky was obscured, and the suffocating gloomy cold oppressed down to the ground from mid-air like a blizzard!

Hagrid, who most intuitively felt this deadly stillness, had obviously turned pale, but he still did his best to grip the reins in his hands.

"Thestrals needs time to accelerate! Sir! We can't shake them off for now!"

Dumbledore's face showed no particular change, except that under those half-moon-shaped glasses, he narrowed his eyes at some point and raised his wand in his hand again.

He did not answer Hagrid's words, but his voice was calm as he recited the incantation.

"Expecto Patronum."

The moment the incantation sounded, the silver light that was ten times more dazzling than before lit up half of the night sky!

Under that overwhelming light, a bird extremely similar to Fawkes bathed out of the silver gleam!

Unlike Fawkes's golden red brilliant beauty, its lifelike feathers are all silver like the moon, every time the wings swung down, the silver glow at the end of the feathers will be swept off all around.

The moment this silver phoenix Patronus appeared, the sky full of grey was pierced by this light!

Those monsters that originally blocked the entire night sky began to scramble to retreat backwards, but their speed was clearly no match for the phoenix soaring in mid-air, the deadly grey silence was dissipating, and the sky was filled with silver light once again brought back the starry sky.

Hagrid showed an expression of unbridled elation.

"We got rid of them, sir!"

Dumbledore's face remained as calm as before, and he looked at the fading grey and said softly.

"We are only temporarily got rid of them, the fundamental problem has not been solved."

Thestrals completed the initial acceleration, and the surrounding scenery is like a slide show turned rapidly under the sides of the wagon, constantly passing by.

They passed beyond entire wheat fields, passing through villages and brushed along a city in a very short time.

After making sure that they had completely lost the dementors who were trailing behind, Dumbledore returned to the wagon through the door in the driver's seat.

To prevent someone from taking advantage of such chaos to create more chaos, the students who have returned to the wagon were sent to the great hall by the professors, Dumbledore pushed the door to enter, and all the students looked at him with restless expressions.

The original aged calm face in face of these children, as always showed a gentle smile.

"Go back to bed, the situation outside has been solved. Remember if you want to come out to the lavatory at night, make sure to wake up your roommate to go with you."

The students all breathed a sigh of relief at his words and returned to their dorm rooms in two separate lines as boys and girls, under McGonagall and Flitwick's arrangements. Before leaving the great hall, each of them didn't forget to say "good night, Professor" to Dumbledore.

Jon had calmed Gabrielle down and let her follow her roommates, Luna and Ginny, back to their dorm rooms as well.

When he and Neville passed by Dumbledore, Jon actually had something to ask the old man, but after looking at Dumbledore's clear and vaguely tired gaze, he swallowed the words for the moment.

The night is getting deeper and deeper, and tonight Hogwarts has returned to a kind of calm that makes people uneasy.

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