https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-919-The-Note-in-the-Locket-and-Voldemort-s-Fury/13017658/
Chapter 920: The Stone Guardian's Joy
Chapter 920: The Stone Guardian's Joy
Due to the inability to Apparate within Hogwarts, Sirius, Lupin, and Mrs. Weasley's group could only choose to first arrive at Hogsmeade and then proceed to the castle.
To avoid being ambushed by Death Eaters lying in wait, they intentionally chose a more secluded spot—a depression to the left of the Screaming Potion Shack.
Previously, this place was known as the Screaming Hut, but Sirius renamed it a year ago when he took over. Although the shop name was a bit odd, after hearing it repeatedly, it somewhat rolled off the tongue.
After all, you couldn't expect someone who had lost eight thousand Galleons to come up with a better shop name.
The group concealed their forms and quickened their pace towards Hogwarts.
During this time, Sirius also took the opportunity to swap Regulus's Slytherin locket and shared with Harry and Lupin the story of how he tricked Voldemort, his expression filled with pride.
He felt proud of this brave young wizard from the decaying Black family.
"That's incredible," Harry said softly, "I can hardly imagine that a Death Eater would be so enraged by a House-Elf serving the Dark Lord. He must have had a resolute determination to drink those potions."
"Kreacher is just one of the reasons," Sirius said, "Regulus not only deceived the Dark Lord for over a decade but also seemed to have mocked him."
"No wonder the Dark Lord was so furious." Harry recalled the extremely distorted face from his memory and couldn't help but feel like laughing.
This was probably the first time the Dark Lord had been so thoroughly fooled.
Furthermore, Regulus proactively sacrificed himself, leaving the Dark Lord with no opportunity for revenge, forcing him to endure it.
As they walked and talked, they soon entered the outskirts of Hogsmeade village.
Unlike Harry's memory of a bustling scene, at this moment, not a single person was in sight, and the shops had closed early.
Except for one place.
The Pub and Grill, a gathering spot for all sorts of people, faintly emitted a glimmer of light.
Harry glanced in that direction, then halted and rubbed his eyes vigorously.
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked.
"Nothing..." Harry said.
He must have had a nightmare and not rested well. He thought he saw Dumbledore's figure in the window.
But that was impossible; he had personally attended the funeral not long ago... Dumbledore was dead, and no matter how unwilling he was to accept it, this was the truth.
Perhaps it was the owner of this shop; he looked quite similar to Dumbledore.
Harry recalled the appearance of the owner from his last visit to the Pub and Grill.
Silver hair, long beard naturally hanging down, and those distinctive blue eyes; if not for some differences in appearance, he could have been a second Dumbledore.
Harry couldn't help but wonder if there was some sort of family connection between them... As he had these thoughts, he also withdrew his gaze.
The three continued walking forward and soon disappeared at the end of the path.
At this moment, the door of the Pub and Grill suddenly opened, but no customers entered or exited; it was as if the wind had blown the door open.
If Harry were still there, he could have seen through the opening that the owner, who bore a resemblance to Dumbledore, was standing in the middle of the bar.
In front of him, three people lay motionless on the counter, as if asleep.
"Damn it, Dumbledore, why do I have to clean up this trash?" Aberforth waved his wand with some disdain, and the three people disappeared.
Unfortunately, Harry had already entered Hogwarts and didn't witness these events.
At this moment, Hogwarts also appeared completely transformed, as if it had become a massive greenhouse.
Harry struggled to describe the radiant light hovering above the castle. The first thing that came to mind was the windbreak covering the top of the greenhouse.
Some magical plants couldn't withstand the wind, like the Umbrella Jumper; even a slight breeze, or a slightly larger breath, could potentially blow them away.
Therefore, Professor Sprout not only required students to be fully armored during class but also specifically added a windbreak charm to the top of Greenhouse Five.
Just like what they were seeing now, as if the entire Hogwarts had become a massive greenhouse.
Several professors stood in the field, holding their wands high and chanting:
"Fortified Armor... Impregnable Shield..."
"Fortified Armor... Impregnable Shield..."
...
With their voices, beams of light flew from their wands, merging into the top layer of light.
"This is a large-scale protection spell..." Sirius whispered beside them, "I've never seen such a scale of Impregnable Shield before. It seems the professors are prepared to fight to the end."
"Flitwick, old pal, I'll help you out." He walked over and called out to Professor Flitwick, "Hey, Filius, my friend."
As a former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, calling Flitwick 'friend' seemed perfectly natural.
Sirius quickly found his spot and joined the team casting the protection spell.
Lupin did the same. As a werewolf, his keen sense of smell and adaptability to darkness made him ideal for scouting.
It was a little off.
Lupin looked up at the bright moon in the sky... It was a full moon, not a good day for werewolves.
His legs began to uncontrollably elongate, and hard, dark brown fur sprouted on his body.
However, Lupin seemed prepared, and as soon as his body began to transform, he took out a potion and drank it.
Under the moonlight, the werewolf's orange irises seemed to fade slightly.
"Remus, oh, heavens? How are you?" Mrs. Weasley ran over and asked. The werewolf's transformation was too sudden for her, and she hadn't even reacted yet.
Harry followed, but she blocked him behind her.
The werewolf didn't respond. At this moment, he had basically lost his ability to converse, but due to the Wolfsbane Potion, he still retained some rationality.
To avoid harming others, Lupin instinctively backed up a few steps, and his long wolf snout moved slightly.
After transforming into a werewolf, his sense of smell became even more acute, and he could even smell the cheap alcohol wafting from the Three Broomsticks.
Damn, those drinks must be really cheap.
The werewolf Lupin quickly shifted his attention to the scent of an unfamiliar wizard.
"Professor Lupin, are you alright?" Harry cautiously approached, asking again, with Mrs. Weasley's arm still in front of him.
To reassure them, Lupin backed up a few more steps and shook his terrifying wolf head, indicating his response.
Perhaps only today, the full moon wasn't an entirely bad day for him.
Subsequently, the werewolf Lupin didn't linger at the school and quickly turned and vanished into the darkness with a few leaps.
Harry continued with Mrs. Weasley towards the castle, with a shared goal.
Ron.
When they arrived, Sirius had told him that the Hogwarts students had already evacuated to another location, but he also mentioned that adult wizards were exempt.
Harry believed that Hermione and Ron would definitely stay, just like he would choose to remain at the school.
"Horace, you..." Slughorn's body trembled slightly.
"Slytherin needs to decide which side to take." Professor McGonagall interrupted him. "After this choice, I will no longer treat them as students."
Slughorn sighed dejectedly.
Harry was puzzled as to why Professor McGonagall was saying these things to Slughorn; shouldn't Snape be the Slytherin Head of House?
Speaking of which, where is he?
Such a significant event had occurred at Hogwarts, yet the Headmaster hadn't appeared until now.
Harry looked around, noticing the evident signs of combat. A large floor-to-ceiling window was shattered, with a faint silhouette resembling a human-shaped gap.
"Molly, so glad to see you... Oh, Potter, why are you here!"
At this moment, Professor McGonagall also hurried over, "Do you know they've been looking for you!
She took a few steps forward, standing in the middle of the corridor, and raised her wand, shouting in a slightly trembling voice:
"Stone Golem Deployment!"
Throughout the corridor, including the stone statues and armor on the upper floors, all jumped down from their stands. Loud rumbling sounds echoed from both upstairs and downstairs.
"Hogwarts is under threat." Professor McGonagall shouted.
Countless stone golems marched out of the castle in uniform, steady strides.
Professor McGonagall smiled and raised her wand again, preparing to continue the enchantment.
"Wait a moment," Kyle interjected, stopping her.
"No, it's fine. I'll just add a bit more power to give them some extra punch," he said.
Kyle waved his wand, and from the lizard-skin bag, several glass bottles the size of wine bottles floated out.
These bottles contained a beautiful blue liquid. With Kyle's manipulation, the liquid dispersed into numerous blue spheres, covering the blades of the giant axe, the double-edged sword, and the wolf-tooth ball.
Professor McGonagall's mouth twitched, her voice dry, "What is that?"
"Oh, it's the venom of the eight-eyed spider," Kyle explained, "Good stuff, at least it'll double the lethality of those weapons."
"Clink!"
As if by coincidence, Slughorn, who had hurried back, just heard Kyle's words and froze in his tracks, his wand slipping from his hand and falling to the ground.
Damn, what had he just heard?
The venom that could fill at least twenty crucibles, the venom of the eight-eyed spider?
A gallon of venom worth a hundred Galleons?
What a waste, what a waste!
Slughorn's face contorted, he had barely collected a small bottle of venom, and Kyle was playing with it like water.
To enhance the weapons of the stone statues... Are they compatible?
What a waste!
Professor McGonagall also rubbed her forehead, she could understand Slughorn's frustration, that venom was worth about thirty gallons... Three hundred Galleons, just to slightly increase the lethality of the stone statues' weapons?
Indeed, Kyle had wasted it.
However...
"So much venom from the eight-eyed spider, where did you get it from?" she couldn't help but ask.
"A kind-hearted neighbor in the Forbidden Forest gave it to me as a gift," Kyle explained, "They said they wanted to contribute to the protection of Hogwarts, even if it meant squeezing themselves dry and also squeezing their companions dry, I couldn't refuse their offer."
"Is that so?" Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes, wondering how she didn't know about such neighbors in the Forbidden Forest, and they were eight-eyed spiders, known for their brutality and cold-bloodedness in the magical creature community.
Kind-hearted?
"I'll just say this much, and you can leave it at that," Kyle waved his hand dismissively, "Anyway, they won't come to complain, and they've lived in the Forbidden Forest for so long, it's only right that they contribute a bit, isn't it?"
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, not saying a word.
Moreover, she suddenly realized that Kyle's actions were indeed effective.
The stone statues' armor inherently had strong resistance to magic, and now coated with the venom of the eight-eyed spider, it was like holding a weapon imbued with a killing curse, a touch would mean death.
The only drawback was that the speed might be a bit slower.
However, in large-scale battles, this drawback was essentially negligible, and there was no need to worry about it.
Professor McGonagall waved her wand, and the stone statues continued walking towards the castle, their weapons glowing with a faint blue light in the moonlight... Along with the venom, there was also a hint of Slughorn's resentment.
Slughorn couldn't accept Kyle's wasteful behavior, and he pounded his chest in frustration.
Meanwhile, Harry also found Ron and Hermione.
They indeed hadn't left the school and were planning something with other students.
Kyle saw many familiar faces here... Oliver Wood, Angelina Johnson, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Cho Chang, and Cedric Diggory.
It seemed not only the adult students had stayed, but many graduates had also returned.
"Oh, Harry!" Ginny ran over and hugged him, causing the Weasleys present to all frown slightly.
But that was all.
Hermione also came over, "I actually wanted to say you shouldn't have come back, but I know you won't listen, right?"
"Of course not," Harry smiled, "But how did you all know about this?"
"It was Cedric," Fred stepped forward and said, "He told us about this, and we told others, no one wanted to miss out on the fun, so we all came."
"But speaking of that, do you think that person will really come to Hogwarts?" George whispered.
He feared this might be a misunderstanding, and if that were the case, when Voldemort actually attacked Hogwarts, it might be difficult to gather such a large group.
Harry also guessed his concern and couldn't help but want to check on Voldemort's situation.
With this thought, the scar on his forehead seemed to respond, and a sharp pain immediately spread.
Harry covered his head and tightly held onto Ginny's arm to avoid falling.
"Oh, Harry, what's wrong?" a concerned voice came from beside him.
"I'm fine," Harry shook his head first, then looked at George and smiled, "Don't worry, he will definitely come."
Just then, he saw Voldemort rushing towards Hogwarts with boundless rage.
"Oh, such power is really impressive," Fred looked at the scar on Harry's forehead, a bit envious, and then quickly added, "Sorry, Harry, I didn't mean that."
"I understand."
"That's good." Fred smiled, "By the way, have you seen Kyle? I just saw him sneaking out of the Forbidden Forest, and when I turned around, he was gone. I've been looking for him."
"I saw him on the third floor." Harry thought for a moment, "By now, he should be in the Entrance Hall."
"Thanks."
Fred and George glanced at each other and quickly walked towards the door.
They agreed that at this time, it would be more interesting to be with Kyle.
...
(End of Chapter)
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