Hogwarts Advanced Guide

Chapter 338 The Uninvited Guest in Spider's End Alley

Many miles away, the mist that once lingered outside the Prime Minister's window was now floating on a dirty river.The river is meandering, weeds are overgrown on both sides, and garbage is piled up.A gigantic chimney, the relic of an abandoned mill, looms high and sinister.

There was no sound, only the whimpering of the black river, and no sign of life, only a lean nurse slid down the river bank, sniffing hopefully the wrappers of some fried fish and potato chips in the deep weeds.

At this time, with a light snap, a slender figure with a hood appeared out of nowhere by the river.The fox was stunned, and stared at this strange new figure with vigilant eyes.The figure seemed to be figuring out its bearings, and after a while, it walked forward with brisk strides, its long cloak rustling across the grass.

"I wish I was the first to get here." Hera's pace was already fast, and he felt like he was about to trot.

Hera crossed the river with little effort, and he quickly crossed the dilapidated wooden bridge. Before him was an old railing, and behind the railing was a narrow cobbled alley.

Hera ducked through a gap in the rusted railing and hurried across the alley.

He almost flew through an alley between the houses and turned into another almost identical street.Several street lamps have been broken, and Hera is sometimes illuminated by lights and sometimes shrouded in darkness.

It was almost in the afternoon that Hera received Mundungus's reply, because Hogwarts' communication was likely to be monitored by the Ministry of Magic, so he had to return to Black's old house before he could ask Mundungus.Only then did Mundungus inform Hera of where he had placed Sirius—the Order of the Phoenix only knew they were at Spider's End.

In this way, Hera walked into the deeper part of the maze-like ruined brick house, and it took a lot of effort for him to find a street called Spider's End Alley. In fact, if he hadn't been here earlier, he would have wasted even more time. He didn't know the wizards living nearby, so he couldn't borrow the Floo Network.

For safety's sake, Sirius' safe house was not connected to the Floo network, and even in the records of the Ministry of Magic, it was just an ordinary abandoned Muggle house.

"At the end of Spider's End." Hera murmured in a low voice. He walked past the dilapidated windows stared at by wooden boards, and his footsteps on the cobblestones echoed.The tall mill chimney rose against the sky like a giant finger raised in warning.

At last he found the last house, and there was a dim light in the curtains of a downstairs room.

Hera took a deep breath and knocked lightly on the door. He had even clenched his wand tightly. He didn't know what Mundungus would think of him when he knew the truth. Either he raised his wand to attack, or he took the opportunity to blackmail Gallon, or he had already notified Dumbledore.
It can be said that Hera is ready to run away, at worst, go to North America first, Voldemort and Dumbledore's hands can't reach there yet.

Hera stood waiting at the door, panting slightly, smelling the smell of the sewage river blown by the evening wind, the hand holding the wand was already sweating.

After a few seconds, he heard movement behind the door, and then the door was opened a crack, and a man looked at him, with long and messy ginger hair, swollen and bloodshot eyes, followed by a strong smell of alcohol and tobacco, Mundungus was right.

Hera pushed back the hood, his face was a little pale, as if glowing white in the night.

"Hera," Mundungus said, opening the door a little wider, and the light shone on Hera, which made him squint his eyes. "Why are you here alone?"

"Dung, Hogwarts, I can't find anyone who has time to come with me." Hera said nervously, his words were surprisingly fast.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Mundungus asked cautiously.

Hera shook her head. "I don't know where he went. I think it might be the Ministry of Magic. You probably heard that they put Umbridge in the castle. Let me see how Sirius is, okay?"

"Of course." Mundungus nodded, he took a step back and let Hera into the room.

"Dunger, how is Sirius?" Hera asked hesitantly, with a worried tone, but Mundungus didn't notice at all, he just smiled strangely.

"You'll know when you come in and take a look," Mundungus took out a pipe from his arms and smoked it, and a cloud of stinky smoke drifted out from the pipe.

Hera nodded, and followed Mundungus into the living room, which was a small living room, giving the impression of a dark cell with soft walls.The walls were lined with books, most of them bound in old black or brown leather; a candle-lit lamp hung from the ceiling, casting a dim halo in which were crammed together a frayed sofa, an old armchair, and a rickety table.

This place has a desolate and deserted atmosphere, and it seems that no one usually lives there.

Hera tried her best to keep her tone normal, "Dunger, how did you find this place, it looks really good."

"It's Snape's house. He said it's not commonly used, but I think he's lying." Mundungus pointed to a room, "Sirius is in that room."

"Severus?" Hera was surprised, "How could he agree to let Sirius live here? Doesn't he hate Sirius the most?"

"Who knows? Maybe this is the place Snape hates the most, that's why he agreed." Mundungus was completely enveloped by the smelly smoke.

Hera frowned, "I think, you'd better not smoke in his room, even if he doesn't like it very much. Believe me, no one's taste is as peculiar as yours."

"I'll pay attention." Mundungus took another big puff. "By the way, Snape specifically emphasized to me that I'm not allowed to touch anything in this room."

"I think he's right." Hera had no doubt that if Snape hadn't said that, Mundungus would have made this place an empty house in the blink of an eye—he had the ability, the gift of stealing.

Hera walked to the room that Mundungus pointed to just now. In fact, there were not many rooms here. He took a deep breath, grabbed the doorknob and pressed it down.

Pushing open the door, a man was sitting on the sofa with his back facing Hera, his black hair was messy, and he was staring blankly out of the window.

"Black" Hera asked in a low voice.

The man on the sofa struggled violently, trying to stand up from the sofa, but he couldn't, as if some invisible rope bound him.

"Sirius?" Hera called again.Sirius on the sofa struggled even harder, even growling.

Mundungus walked over with a cloud of foul-smelling smoke, "It's useless, he's almost completely lost his mind."

"Then why did you say in your letter—"

"I'm just saying he's awake, right?" Mundungus said, another puff of thick smoke heading straight for Hera.

Hera hurriedly waved her hand and fanned it to prevent the cloak from being stained with the extremely hard-to-remove stench.Then, after a while, Hera came to her senses and asked incredulously, "You mean, he just woke up?"

"Yes," Mundungus nodded, "In fact, I think this is a very interesting discovery, and I have a bold guess."

"What?" Hera raised his eyebrows, and his hands in his pockets loosened a little. If it wasn't necessary, he didn't want to get rid of Sirius.

Mundungus put the pipe in his pocket, and the cloud of smoke would not dissipate for a while. Hera could only talk to him through the smoke. "You and I both know that a dementor's kiss will suck people's souls, but what about the original body? Will new ones be born on it—"

"You mean that a new soul was born on Sirius' body?" Hera exclaimed in surprise.

Mundungus nodded, "I have such a conjecture, but I find it unbelievable. This is the first time I've heard of it in the magic world."

"This has to wait for Dumbledore's confirmation. This is no longer the scope of magic we understand." Hera slowly closed the door and said cautiously.

The smoke had dissipated somewhat in front of Mundungus, but Hera suspected it had simply diffused into the room. "I thought so too, that's why I was surprised why Dumbledore didn't come over."

Hera was silent for a while, and then asked quickly: "Then what memory does he have? Like before, who caught him?"

"Not at all." Mundungus shook his head regretfully, the smoke in front of him has cleared, "I can't communicate with him at all now, in fact, he almost doesn't care what I say, only a few words will make him excited."

"For example?" Hera hurriedly asked.

Mundungusto recalled, "For example, Harry, Potter, Dumbledore, Peter, etc., most of them are names. I think these people are engraved too deeply in his mind."

"Indeed." Hera nodded without making a sound.

"In that case, I'll go back to Hogwarts first. Dumbledore isn't in the castle. I don't want to find out that I've been messed up when I get back to the castle." Hera tightened her cloak and was about to leave.

Mundungus asked in surprise, "Aren't you going to stay for dinner?"

"No, I've already eaten." Hera said, this is naturally a guy, he almost didn't feel like eating after seeing the note on the owl's feet, he was almost hungry all day.

"what a pity--"

cuckoo~~~
"I've got the turkey." Mundungus smiled awkwardly and turned to dinner. "There is also some sherry wine, which is a private collection and is only open to close friends."

"With pleasure." Hera nodded, and he followed Mundungus' pace, and they walked out of the room together.Mundungus didn't eat here, in fact Snape didn't allow him to touch anything in the room except the one where Sirius was kept.

Simply, Mundungus found an abandoned room nearby. It was not difficult. After all, even from a Muggle perspective, the neighborhood was in ruins. It was almost a miracle that there was a family living there.

"Come on, what do you need me for?" Hera ate a few mouthfuls, her stomach was no longer so empty, and then said to Mundungus.

Mundungus smiled awkwardly and rubbed his hands, "I know you know me best."

"Brothers have to settle accounts clearly." Hera interrupted Mundungus, "I won't discount it because of your flattery. I've already washed my hands and stopped doing those things."

"Since when did you do the killing?" Mundungus stared at Hera incredulously, "Aren't you the first one to run when something goes wrong?"

"Ahem, that's not important," Hera coughed twice, "I don't do what I used to do now, I'm afraid you have found the wrong person, Dunge."

Mundungus took a big sip of wine and said, "Actually, it's not a troublesome thing. I just want to ask you to make a portkey. There is a foolish German girl. She asked around the Greek border and no one was willing to make it for her, so—"

"So you came together?" Hera looked at Mundungus suspiciously. He didn't believe that Mundungus felt sorry for the little girl. It was definitely because Mundungus saw that the little girl was deceitful and had a large sum of Galleons in his hand. "She doesn't want to go to the East, does she? You know, magic is strictly controlled there. Every time I try to enter, I will be spotted by their Aurors."

"Oh, it's very dangerous there, but not there." Mundungus nodded, he was naturally aware of Hera's concerns.Portkey producers can't make places they haven't been to, it must be a place they are familiar with or impressive.

And once the goal is not clear enough, it is a failed Portkey, which will lead its user to any place at will, not just on the earth.

Therefore, when most of the custom-made door keys are used for the first time, the user always asks the maker to accompany him - lest he fool the user with a failed door key.

"I can only think of you, you are the most outstanding portkey craftsman on the border." Mundungus complimented, and at the same time filled Hera's wine glass with sherry.

"So, where is it? I can't guarantee that I will be able to make it. You know the production conditions." Hera didn't touch the wine glass. "And I don't seem to have much time these days."

"No hurry, that German girl is not in a hurry." Mundungus said hastily, "but the place she wants to go to is a bit special."

When Hera heard this, she immediately wanted to refuse, "I don't have any shortage of Galleons now, I'm sorry, but I refuse."

Mundungus took a sip of his wine, approached Hera and whispered, "It's the Ministry of Magic. She wants to go to the Ministry of Magic."

(End of this chapter)