Chapter 740: Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place
Chapter 740: Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place
The Night Thunder horse-drawn carriage sped through the vast clouds, quickly leaving the distant village buildings far behind.
Perhaps because they were now familiar with the route, the return journey was much faster, and soon they had left the region where Devon was located far behind.
"Are you going back to Hogwarts now?" Kyle suddenly asked as they approached London.
"What do you mean?" Connor looked at him and asked, "Don't you plan on going back?"
"I have something to take care of in Diagon Alley," Kyle said.
"Now?" Connor frowned.
"Yes, now," Kyle paused for a moment, as if thinking something over.
If they returned to Hogwarts first, they would still have a long way to go, and by then, it would be too late to go to Diagon Alley.
But now that they were already near London, it was the perfect opportunity to make a quick stop.
However, Kyle was a little hesitant to let Connor return to school alone in the carriage.
After all, in the wizarding world, the Night Thunder carriage was a rare and top-tier mode of transportation. Kyle feared that it might attract the attention of the increasingly rampant Death Eaters.
"If you don't have any other plans..." Kyle thought for a moment and said, "How about coming with me? We can make a quick stop in London for lunch."
"Of course, I'd love to." Connor smiled and agreed without hesitation.
"Then it's settled."
Kyle stepped out of the carriage and whispered a few words to the Night Thunder.
The carriage, which had been flying towards Hogwarts, suddenly turned and headed towards London.
"Wait..." Connor remembered something, "There are quite a few people in London. What if a Muggle sees the carriage?"
"Don't worry," Kyle said, "That's another advantage of the Night Thunder carriage. Muggles can't see this special magical creature, just like they can't see Dementors. As for the carriage itself, it's even simpler."
Kyle took out his wand and tapped the carriage lightly. Immediately, the carriage was concealed by some sort of barrier.
"Disillusionment Charm, a bit crude perhaps, but this is London, it should suffice."
The carriage flew through the gray clouds hanging over London and reached their destination in less than half an hour.
They arrived at a square that seemed to be from a bygone era.
"Get ready," Kyle said to Connor, "This place is also protected by the Fidelius Charm."
Connor nodded slightly, looking a bit tense.
Just as the carriage came to a stop, a cold voice called out from outside before they could even jump down, "Who's there? Come out, and keep your wands away."
The voice sounded vaguely familiar.
"It's okay, Charlie, it's me," Kyle said as he stuck his hand out of the carriage first to show that he wasn't holding a wand, and then stepped out.
"Kyle?" Charlie said in surprise, "What brings you here?" He hurried over but didn't put away his wand.
"I should've guessed. This carriage is clearly from Hogwarts, and they haven't changed it in decades."
"Then why point your wand at us?" Kyle asked.
"It's my duty, I had to make sure," Charlie said with a smile, "Now, there's one more thing. Where are you headed?"
"Number twelve, Grimmauld Place," Kyle said, "That should be enough to prove that I'm not someone disguised by Polyjuice Potion."
"The Death Eaters don't know this address," Charlie said and gave Kyle a hug.
At this moment, Connor also stepped out of the carriage.
Charlie froze for a moment, then narrowed his eyes, saying nothing, but giving Kyle a meaningful look.
"We just happened to be passing by," Kyle said as if he hadn't noticed Charlie's expression, "Are Fred and George here?"
"They got back half an hour ago," Charlie nodded, but then hesitated and pulled Kyle to the side, lowering his voice, "I don't want to be a killjoy, Kyle, but this is the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Are you sure about bringing this young lady here? Does Dumbledore know about this?"
"I haven't had the chance to tell him yet," Kyle said, "But I can assure you that Connor is on our side."
Dumbledore's agreement to let Connor go to Nick's manor already indicated his stance. Even if Connor hadn't officially joined the Order of the Phoenix yet, her connection to Snape was enough to grant her knowledge of this place.
"In that case, I have no doubts," Charlie agreed after a slight hesitation.
"Come on then," he waved to Connor and took the lead.
"Mom would be thrilled to see you all," he added.
Then, to Connor's amazement, a house suddenly materialized, pushing the buildings marked numbers 11 and 13 on either side.
"Let's go, hurry up," Charlie said as he climbed the stone steps and pushed open the door, calling out, "Mom, look who's here!"
"Keep it down, Charlie!" Mrs. Weasley came out of a room, "Shouldn't you be outside on lookout duty? Why are you back already? It's not even close to lunchtime."
"No, Mom, it's Kyle," Charlie explained.
"Kyle?" Mrs. Weasley paused, then looked past Charlie.
"Oh, Kyle, dear, what a pleasant surprise," she said.
She quickly walked over, glanced at Charlie, and upon receiving a confirming nod, gave Kyle a warm hug.
"What brings you here at this time?" she asked, "I asked Dumbledore about you, and he said you had other matters to attend to during the holidays and couldn't come here."
"That's right," Kyle explained, "We were on our way back to Hogwarts and just happened to pass by London, so we thought we'd drop by for a visit.
"Yes, I'm Connor Prince," Connor replied, turning first to glance at the nonchalant Kyle before looking back at Mrs. Weasley.
"Welcome, dear." Mrs. Weasley stepped forward and gave her a hug. "I'm so glad to have a new face here."
"New...face?" Connor echoed, a hint of confusion in her eyes.
To be honest, she still had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there. She remembered that the Weasleys, Kyle, and Cedric all lived in Saint Ketchibor Village. But this place...
Seeming to sense her bewilderment, Mrs. Weasley asked, "Dear, didn't Kyle tell you where we are?"
Connor shook her head.
Mrs. Weasley immediately shot an annoyed glance at Kyle but was interrupted by two excited voices before she could say anything.
"Connor!"
"What are you doing here?!"
Fred and George rushed forward, nearly knocking over a curious Ron, who had been standing behind them.
"You know her too?" Mrs. Weasley asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Mom, we've known her for six years!" Fred exclaimed. "Not just us, but Dad, Charlie, and Bill know her as well."
He was referring to the time during the Quidditch World Cup when Connor had accompanied them. Mrs. Weasley hadn't been there, so she hadn't met Connor before.
"She's the Connor we told you about," George chimed in. "Also one of our best friends..."
"...and it seems like she and Kyle are even better friends," they finished together, winking at each other and sporting mischievous grins.
Their grins were so sleazy that even Mrs. Weasley couldn't bear to look, and she promptly twisted their ears and pushed them back into the room.
"Sorry about that, dear. Now, where were we? Oh yes, the Order of the Phoenix." Mrs. Weasley calmly turned back to face them.
"The Order of the Phoenix?" Connor repeated, her eyes widening.
"Yes, it's an organization Dumbledore founded to fight against the Death Eaters, and this is their headquarters," Mrs. Weasley explained as she led them toward the kitchen. "Now, come along, let's get out of the doorway. Lunch will be ready soon. I made stewed beef, so we'll eat as soon as Charlie gets back from his lookout duty outside. Bill will relieve him at noon."
"Yes, Mom," Charlie replied obediently, turning to leave the house and closing the door behind him.
"This way, dears," Mrs. Weasley said, guiding Connor and Kyle toward the kitchen.
At that moment, Kyle noticed several heads poking out from the staircase—Harry, Hermione, and Ginny, with Ron standing beside them.
"What are you all still doing here?" Kyle asked, a hint of surprise in his voice. "Isn't today the last day of the holidays? Shouldn't you be taking the Hogwarts Express back to school?"
The Hogwarts Express had departed early in the morning, so they shouldn't have still been there.
"We were supposed to," Harry explained. "But Mr. Weasley said that Professor Dumbledore arranged for a one-time Floo Network connection, so we can get back to school in just a second."
"I see, that's convenient," Kyle commented.
"Yeah," Harry nodded. "But what about you, Kyle? What brings you here at this time?"
"I just told you, we were passing by," Kyle replied casually.
However, while his words might have convinced Mrs. Weasley and Harry, they didn't fool Fred and George.
Taking advantage of Mrs. Weasley leading Connor into the dining room, the mischievous twins grabbed Kyle and pulled him into another room.
"Spill it..."
"What are you up to?!"
Fred and George positioned themselves on either side of Kyle, their eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Don't give us that 'we're just passing by' nonsense..."
"...that lame excuse won't work on us!"
"I wasn't trying to excuse myself," Kyle shrugged, a playful smile on his face. "I came here because I wanted to make a trip to Diagon Alley. Remember what I mentioned in my letter to you guys?"
"Diagon Alley?" Fred thought for a moment. "You mean about keeping an eye on Draco Malfoy?"
"Exactly," Kyle confirmed. "So, did he go to Diagon Alley at all during the holidays?"
The Weasley brothers' shop wasn't far from the entrance to Diagon Alley, and even from inside the shop, they could see the area around the entrance through the window.
That was why, in his previous letter to the Weasley brothers, he had casually mentioned this matter.
"We're not sure," George shook his head. "You know, the Ministry of Magic has been busy lately, and we haven't had the time to keep an eye on the shop all the time."
"But we've tasked the house-elves in the shop with that job," Fred added. "They always have an extraordinary passion for work, so leaving it to them is the best choice."
"Makes sense," Kyle nodded, patting the twins' shoulders. "Then why am I even asking you this?"
With that, Kyle turned to leave the room.
"Hey, wait up!" Fred called out, blocking the doorway. "We were planning to go ask about it this afternoon and then write to you. We never expected you to show up here!"
They were incredibly curious as to why Kyle had suddenly decided to keep an eye on Draco Malfoy.
"Come on, tell us, are you going to target the Malfoy family?" Fred asked, "If so, be sure to take us with you."
"We've been waiting for a day like this for a long time, honestly!" George said eagerly.
The conflict between the Weasley and Malfoy families was well-known in the wizarding world. Mr. Weasley and Lucius Malfoy had even gotten into a fight at Flourish and Blotts, and the incident had made the front page of the Daily Prophet for several days.
A few years ago, when the platform had been mysteriously closed, Ron had no choice but to drive a flying car to school... At that time, Lucius had seized the opportunity to spread rumors, nearly causing Mr. Weasley to lose his job.
Of course, in addition to these incidents, there had been many other disputes, and the rivalry between the two families had continued unabated to the present day.
Now that an opportunity to strike a blow had finally presented itself, they were naturally eager to seize it.
Kyle, of course, knew what they were thinking.
"Sorry, you're thinking too much into it." Kyle said, "This time, it's just because of Draco Malfoy himself."
"It doesn't matter if it's just him. You can tell us." Fred said.
"Yeah." George nodded vigorously, "You're about to go back to school and prepare for your N.E.W.T. exams. You won't have much time to deal with matters outside of school then.
"Maybe we can help you."
Kyle hesitated for a moment, "Do you really want to know?"
"Yeah."
"Tell us!"
The two boys were so curious that their heads were bobbing up and down.
"Okay." Kyle said, "In fact, I discovered that Draco Malfoy is devising a plan to bring Death Eaters into Hogwarts."
The room suddenly fell silent.
A second later.
"If you don't want to talk about it, just say so." Fred pouted, "Why bother making up such a story to fool us?"
"Also, if you're going to make up a story, at least put some effort into it." George scoffed, "One Malfoy... is going to bring Death Eaters into Hogwarts?
"Even if you told that to Ron, he wouldn't believe it."
The two boys looked at Kyle again, disappointed by his casual attitude.
But Kyle remained calm.
"One Malfoy can't do it... what if I helped him?"
"You're helping him?" George paused, testing the waters, "You don't mean you're helping him bring Death Eaters to Hogwarts?"
"Yeah." Kyle said, "Is there a problem?"
Fred and George first thought that Kyle had been tricked with a Polyjuice Potion.
But soon they realized that with Charlie guarding the door, he wouldn't make such a low-level mistake.
Additionally, Kyle's demeanor and tone didn't seem like he was joking.
If that was the case, it was highly likely that he was telling the truth...
The two boys immediately became excited, rushing to Kyle's side and pushing him onto a chair. One of them massaged his shoulders, while the other kneaded his legs, their enthusiasm overflowing.
"Quick, tell us all about it..."
"We've always disliked Hogwarts for banning our prank products from school."
"It's like they're crushing our dreams."
"They completely deny our creativity!"
"We're at odds with that school rule!"
The two boys were so impassioned that it seemed as if they were ready to lead an army of Death Eaters to overthrow Dumbledore and create a brand-new Hogwarts if Kyle gave the word.
"You two are so brave... Does Mrs. Weasley know about this?" Kyle asked casually.
"Of course not."
"Otherwise, Mom would kill us..." Fred shrugged.
"Alright, now tell us your plan."
"It's not my plan, it's Malfoy's." Kyle didn't hide anything anymore, speaking directly, "He plans to use a Vanishing Cabinet to create a new secret passage into Hogwarts."
"Vanishing Cabinet?" Fred stroked his chin, "You mean the kind that can connect two different places together?"
"Aside from that, is there any other way to artificially create a secret passage to the outside world?"
"Impossible." George frowned, "Aren't Vanishing Cabinets supposed to be destroyed already?
"I read a book on alchemy a while ago, and it mentioned that sixty years ago, someone used a Vanishing Cabinet to infiltrate the International Wizarding Federation and kill an important witness. After that, all such cabinets were destroyed."
"That's right." Fred said, "And the alchemists who had the ability to make Vanishing Cabinets were forced to sign magical contracts, vowing never to make them again and never to pass on the knowledge."
"Even the Malfoy family wouldn't be able to get their hands on one, right?"
"That's correct." Kyle said, "However, coincidentally, there's one Vanishing Cabinet that was overlooked in Hogwarts."
"Did Malfoy find it?" Fred's expression turned serious. "I have to go tell Dad."
"Hold on." This time, it was Kyle who stopped him, "Malfoy didn't find it, I did."
Fred and George paused in their tracks.
But before Kyle could relax, he continued, "However, I've already given that Vanishing Cabinet to Malfoy."
...
(End of Chapter)
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