HP Midnight Light

- November 1981, 11 - Azkaban

It was a dark and stormy night.

A bolt of lightning fell from the sky to illuminate the cell, and at the same time candles were suddenly lit in the corridor connecting the left and right towers.The Warden of Azkaban hurried past with his subordinates.

"They're here!"

"Let them in." He stopped in the middle of the corridor to issue another round of orders.

A violent storm swept across the entire sea, and it was impossible for anyone to see the situation on the sea through such a terrible wind and rain.The warden waited quietly, and the person behind him took the time with a pocket watch:

"Ten seconds left. Five seconds. Four seconds—three—two—one—"

"Get the dementors out of the way!" said the warden.

At this moment, a strange gray-white mist suddenly appeared above the sea. They appeared from all directions out of thin air, and quickly surrounded the isolated island where the wizard prison of Azkaban was located.The sound of wind and rain was instantly blocked by the fog, and the island was eerily quiet for a moment, as if people had suddenly become deaf.

The dementors surrounding the tower seemed to have received an order, and retreated closer to the tower, making way for a path from the coast to the prison gate.

"Let's go down." The warden led his subordinates down the narrow stairs to the hall. "Open the gate!"

The heavy iron gate rose slowly, and they walked into the wind and rain outside.

Due to the influence of the dementors, it was extremely cold outside the Azkaban prison, and the warden and his subordinates wrapped their cloaks tightly and shivered slightly.Only the occasional sneeze and cough break the silence.

"How long do we have to wait?"

"Wait until they pass the final barrier," replied the Warden, "Listen—"

A strange sound floated from the sea, accompanied by the roar of the sea and the sound of the distant wind.Under their gaze, a vortex suddenly appeared on the sea below the gray-white mist for no reason, and the waves slammed against the rocks on the shore.What looked like a long, dark ridge began to slowly rise up from the middle of the eddy, and then, from above, they saw the rigging...

Slowly and imposingly, a large black ship rose to the surface, glimmering in the dim light.People standing on the shore can see the blurred light in the porthole, like ghost eyes.At last, with a loud splash, the boat emerged fully, bobbing on the rippling waters, and began to drive towards the shore, and in a moment they saw the splash of anchor being thrown into the shallows and the boards being laid ashore. bang bang.

People disembarked, and when they walked to the illuminated area, the staff of Azkaban Prison could clearly see the robes they were wearing and the arms of the Ministry of Magic on them.

"My old friend!" cried the leader to the warden, "I have brought a new prisoner!"

"You must have brought a handwritten letter from the Minister for Magic?" asked the Warden.

"Yes, right here." The man rummaged in his pocket for a while, and took out a roll of parchment.The warden took it and flipped through it roughly:

"Very well, so where is our new prisoner?"

The man beckoned to the Auror behind him, and a man was escorted forward.He was in heavy handcuffs and anklets, and when the Aurors grabbed his hair to hold his head up, the warden noticed he was also in the muzzle.

"He's dangerous, sir," said one Auror, plainly. "You'd better keep him in the coldest, dankest cell—the filthy and shameful traitor!"

"Siris Black." The leader calmly announced the prisoner's name, "Death Eater, sentenced to life in Azkaban."

"Go to hell!" At the same time his words fell to the ground, a person rushed forward and slapped Sirius across the face. He was caught off guard and fell into the wet mud. The Auror quickly grabbed the person, Emmeline Desperately trying to break free from their bondage, he spat on Sirius, "How dare you! How dare you betray James and Lily who trust you so much! Do you have nightmares? Tell me, Black, you will dream of dying Do the Potters still have Peter?"

"Who is this?"

"The people sent by the Order of the Phoenix are responsible for confirming his identity." The warden nodded Sirius, who had already struggled to get up from the ground silently. He mentioned:

"Then check."

The jailer of Azkaban raised the lamp in his hand to illuminate the prisoner's muddy, haggard, devastated and handsome face: "Is that him?"

Emmeline stared at Sirius fiercely: "Yes, that's him—I really hope that Harry will never know that you are his godfather for the rest of his life, otherwise the child will definitely go mad with grief! You should be sentenced Dementor's Kiss! You heartless, ungrateful bastard!"

The prisoner listened to Emmeline's reprimand numbly, as if he had been deaf.The Auror kicked the prisoner in the crook of the leg as if venting his anger, and he fell to his knees in the mud with a plop.

"His heart is as cold as his master's," said the Auror contemptuously. "Don't be fooled by that face, the soul beneath it is ten thousand times more evil than you can imagine!"

The prisoner knelt on the ground obediently, allowing the Auror to humiliate him, his long eyelashes half-down, motionless.

"Here's his wand." The person in charge of the escort handed over a small box to the Warden. "I'll leave it to you, Blake. Will we send another batch of Death Eaters tomorrow?"

"The Lestrange family?"

"And Barty Crouch Jr."

"That's good." Emmeline sneered, "You two siblings can finally be reunited in prison!"

"okay--"

Emmeline immediately asked sharply: "Do you want to speak for him?"

The warden didn't make a sound. After signing the document, he handed it back to the other party, and then waved his subordinates to take Black away.

- November 11th - Ministry of Magic

"You are hurt?"

"Just a small injury." Moody replied calmly, but half of his face was covered with blood. "I think they took half of my nose off."

"You need to go to St. Mungo's."

"I don't have time," Moody demanded. "Anyone—come and fix me, and I'm still going after the Death Eaters."

The Auror helped Moody stop the bleeding: "We haven't rested for over three days."

"Special times, special circumstances." Moody grunted.

The Auror glanced outside the door: "The minister talked to him after the trial yesterday, and he acted like crazy after that... Some people say that he hasn't given up the idea of ​​running for the minister."

The "he" here clearly refers to Crouch.

"We all know that's out of the question." Moody regrouped. "Are you going with me?"

"Who is this chasing?"

"Evan Rozier."

will i die?

Maybe!

Evan was running in a dense forest at an astonishing speed. The whirring sound behind him and the spells passing by him proved that he was far from getting rid of those damn "tails".

"Father!" Cornelia shouted from the front, and she helped Evan block several spells, "There are people coming ahead!"

"Is it an Auror?"

"No!" There was a hint of panic in Cornelia's voice, "It's the Order of the Phoenix."

"Come to me, kid." Evan shouted after glancing around. Cornelia came out from behind a tree not far away, and he pulled his daughter into the narrow gap between two huge rocks. , "We can't all run out, you know?"

"We can do it!" Cornelia gasped, her eyes wide open and filled with fear, "Cheer up, we'll be safe as long as we get out of this forest."

"You know we can't escape, kid." Evan smiled wryly, and took off the ring bestowed on him by the Dark Lord on his finger, "Take this, and hide away with Leto—hiding in the countryside or Just flee abroad."

The Aurors were closing in on them, and the Roziers could hear them scouting the area.Cornelia didn't dare to speak, but shook her head silently and desperately.

"The Lestrange family is in prison. It is impossible for Malfoy and those who escaped to help. The rest of them will not be able to protect themselves..." Evan stared at his only daughter with a cold and forceful face. Finally, there was a trace of vicissitudes of resignation, "Whether you want to or not, you have to admit that at least for now, we are over."

"The Dark Lord cannot be defeated by a baby, Father!"

Evan stared at her silently.

Cornelia's eyes slowly filled with tears: "But...but I can't just leave you like this. And Batty...and where can I escape? Neither the Ministry of Magic nor the Order of the Phoenix will let you go My, those Death Eaters will not betray me in order to reduce their punishment - isn't that how Signus was sent to Azkaban?"

"Forget me and Barty, Leah, and forget about the Dark Lord and the new world we dream of. Maybe you don't want to, but now you have no choice." Evan took Cornelia's hand and put the ring Put it in her hand, and then slowly close her daughter's hand, "If you can take Leto from disaster smoothly, you will give her this ring when she grows up, and let her know her The meaning of the last name and the story of her father's generation. But now you have to put it all aside, Leah, I have been trying to teach you all my life to save you from potential disaster, and one of the things I have repeatedly emphasized is to understand which Which is more important."

Tears rolled down Cornelia's face and onto the back of Evan's hand, and she raised her other hand to cover her mouth to keep her choking sound from coming out.Evan raised his hand to touch Cornelia's hair and wiped away her tears:

"You see. Parkinson's surveillance by the Ministry of Magic has protected him from our slaughter."

Just as Cornelia was about to speak, an Auror's voice came—

"Check behind that rock!"

"I'll cover you." Evan said in a low voice, he gave Cornelia a last glance firmly and reluctantly, and then jumped out of the rock where he was hiding, "Avada Kedavra!"

"He's here!"

"catch him!"

"Avada Kedavra! Cruciatus!" Evan threw the spell and ran forward quickly along a path.

- July 11 - Greengrass House

At midnight, someone knocked on Sean's door.When he woke up from the dream and went downstairs to the living room, Vera was already standing there in her dressing gown.Seeing him coming, she hurried forward to meet him and asked softly, "Is it them?"

"Impossible." Even though Xiao En said so, he couldn't help feeling flustered.Recently, the Aurors hunted down the Death Eaters in large numbers, and Crouch was eager to restore his reputation, and even went to great lengths to investigate all those who were related to the Death Eaters.Although Sean has never really been involved in the great cause of the Death Eaters, he has nothing to do with the notorious Source of Life project after all. Who knows if Crouch will send him to Azkaban on a whim Go squat for a few days.

However, the people outside the door were still knocking on the door, louder and faster.

"Who is it?" Sean raised his voice and asked, "Report your name."

"It's me." The person outside the door spoke.

"Damn it!" Sean cursed in a low voice, and before he had time to stop, Vera yelled:

"Cornelia!"

"Stupid woman." Sean glared at her fiercely, and Vera backed away in fear.A few days ago, the news that Evan was outnumbered and then committed suicide spread throughout the wizarding world. At present, the Ministry of Magic has issued a wanted list and listed Cornelia as the number one reward target. Opening the door and letting her in at this time is of no use other than causing trouble for Sean. Can't get it either.

"I know you're inside, Sean." Cornelia announced his name, "Don't force me to open this door myself."

"Your time is past, Cornelia—"

"That's not necessarily the case." She replied calmly, "I didn't come here to cause trouble, Sean, you certainly don't want to make things big, do you?"

"You don't have a bargaining chip to threaten me now..."

"What's that kid's name?" Cornelia asked softly, "Astoria?"

Sean's expression was slightly distorted. Vera glanced at him and screamed, "Astoria? Astoria! Who is that? Who is she?"

"Open the door, Vera." Cornelia demanded, "I helped you fulfill your wish, now is the time for you to repay me."

Sean threatened: "How dare you—"

However, Vera has already run forward and opened the door of Greengrass' house.She took a step back, and Cornelia walked in, the door slowly closed behind her, Cornelia pulled off her hood, revealing a bloodless but still calm face.

There was a moment of silence in the house.Sean stared at Cornelia fiercely, and she looked back at him without fear.Vera's eyes drifted between the two for a moment and then fell on Cornelia's face: "Who is Astoria? Tell me." Her trembling shoulders proved that she had already guessed the answer.

"His illegitimate daughter, a bastard whose biological mother's identity cannot be seen." Cornelia replied coldly, "Don't be afraid, Vera, that woman can't threaten you, her identity is as bad as her reputation , not only pure-blood families look down on her, but even pure-blood traitors will keep her at arm's length. If Sean wants to marry him, then he is basically planning to pack up and get out of England—"

"Rozier," Sean interrupted, "how dare you—"

"Yes, I'm threatening you, Sean." Cornelia replied clearly, "I have nothing at the moment, and I am ready to give it a go. If you want to anger me, then just come."

"Crazy woman!" Sean muttered.

Cornelia ignored him, and turned directly to Vera who was trembling with stimulation: "As I said before, I want you to do me a favor."

"Do... a favor?" Vera asked softly, "What can I do for you?"

"I'm going to complete my father's unfinished business, so I want you to help take care of my daughter." Cornelia shook off the cloak that was wrapped outside, revealing the baby in her arms, and Sean made an unidentified sound shouted, but Vera waited for her next words, "In return, after I find the Dark Lord, I will help you get rid of the mother and daughter."

"I won't let you touch them!"

"It's up to you, Sean! I'm not talking to you either!" Cornelia snapped suddenly, "If he dares to obstruct it, then you get him involved in the Source of Life project or had contact with me I'm sure Crouch would be happy to let him move into Azkaban."

Sean panted heavily, but didn't dare to speak again.

"If you let me know what you're up to, I promise Astoria and her mother will go to see Merlin immediately." After Cornelia put down a cold threat, she took Leto seriously. Give it to Vera, "Promise me that you will take care of her like your daughter."

"Will you keep your promise?" Vera asked, her face was still pale, but she became resolute for some reason.

"Just like I made a promise to you last time—I will." Cornelia thought for a while, took off the ring on her finger, conjured a thin silver chain through the ring out of thin air, and put it on Leto's neck, "You are taking care of Rozier's heir, Vera, I hope you understand what this means."

- 11 November - Cumbria

"Is this his castle?" asked Scrimgeour.

"That's right." Francis handed him a hand-drawn map. "This is drawn by my daughter. She deduced the internal structure of the castle from Berstrode's letters and unintentional words."

"She is clever and brave." Scrimgeour took the map. "I wish I could meet her in person someday."

Francis brushed off his last, insincere compliment: "Hope you find something of value."

"We will. I think Rozier and his daughter haven't had time to transfer the contents inside." Scrimgeour waved his hand to signal the Auror to enter the castle. Only then did Francis remind implicitly:

"Of course, I'm sorry for the deal I made with Bostrode... I know that my punishment is inevitable, but I hope this will make up for it—"

"We all understand how Burst forced you to help him." Scrimgeour was well aware of Francis' calculations, but he also knew that there was no need to worry too much about this issue, anyway Francis would There is no real crime, "You just accidentally picked an inappropriate son-in-law, these things will not affect your life and your daughter's life at all."

Francis smiled slightly: "Then I'll wait for you here. Maybe we can go to my house to have a drink together later."

"Of course." Scrimgeour nodded and walked into the castle.A trainee Auror rushed up from the stairs with a blue face:

"You have to come see this!"

"what?"

"The execution chamber of the Death Eaters." After saying this, the Auror ran out of the door without regard for impoliteness, leaning on the wall to vomit.

"Take me to have a look." Scrimgeour ordered, "The rest of the people go to search other parts of the castle."

"You have to be mentally prepared." Moody personally led him down the stairs and around the complicated maze, "This is more disgusting than anything I have ever seen in my life." Saying, he pushed open The door to the courtroom.

What caught their eyes was a huge room filled with various instruments of torture, but this was not the most terrifying thing. What really made Scrimgeour sick was the rotten smell in the air, and of course, more Because of... what he saw.

Not only the blood-stained robes that were torn apart and randomly piled up in the corner, but also the scattered limbs and pieces of meat scattered on the ground, as well as the stone brick floor under their feet: it has become sticky from being soaked in blood for a long time Answer, it is wet, there are flies circling up and down as far as the eye can see, wriggling maggots have grown in the cracks of the bricks on the ground——

"Go and search here." Scrimgeour barely suppressed the desire to vomit and took a few steps back, "Find all the remains and relics."

He staggered out of the dungeon, out of the castle, and fell outside on the grass in the winter sun, and Scrimgeour nearly wept as he breathed a breath of pure air.

"Are you okay?" Francis looked at him carefully, Scrimgeour waved his hand weakly, and he asked again, "Is there anything in there?"

Scrimgeour retched, motioned Francis to approach him, and Scrimgeour said hoarsely, "They're all disciples of the devil!"

After a while, the Aurors came out of the castle one after another. Each of them had a look on their faces that Francis couldn't understand: somewhere between hatred and emptiness, lighter than sadness, but more important than pleasure .

"What did you find?" Scrimgeour asked, cheering up.

"There aren't many things." Moody, the leader, replied, "It's just some documents and lists. We guess more important things may be hidden in those Death Eaters' homes."

"What about other than that?"

Moody pointed to some of the boxes held by the Aurors, and he lifted a few of them to show Scrimgeour—

A worn gold watch.

A simple ring.

A broken cross.

A heart-shaped pebble.

A light green ribbon stained red with blood.

A torn colored plastic pinwheel.

A pair of glasses that have lost their lenses.

A severed hand.

A rotten severed finger.

More just torn robes and bones.

Who did they belong to?who are they?Did they die happily or painfully?

This is an eternal mystery that can be solved, but no one wants to know the answer.

In front of this gloomy, dark and nameless castle full of evil, the Aurors and Francis, who accidentally witnessed the tragedy, were overwhelmed by the most primitive and complex emotions.

"Burn this place." After a long time, Scrimgeour finally ordered, with long-lost tears in his eyes, "Burn this place! Nothing is left behind!"

The flames were raging, and the castle built by the Dark Lord was slowly engulfed by the flames, and the black bricks and tiles were gradually eroded by the fire.They burned the stone table that once sat around the most notorious dark wizards, they burned the dark instruments of torture-they burned everything here that could be used to hurt people, but they could never make this place Countless crimes reduced to ashes.

"We've spent all these years fighting a war," Francis said, "just to destroy a castle."

Under their gaze, the Dark Lord's nameless castle finally came crashing down.What is raised is not smoke, but a strange medium that slowly turns into dust after being suspended in the air for a while.

Whatever ambition and fanaticism, intrigue and alliances there had been here, Voldemort's stronghold of dreams of a dark empire had finally crumbled.

"It only took us 11 years to beat him," Scrimgeour said suddenly. "In retrospect, it feels like a day, but it also feels like a lifetime."

The author has something to say:

Note:

1. The description of the ship transporting prisoners refers to the description of the Durmstrang ship in "Goblet of Fire".

2. Of course Evan loves Cornelia, he just wants her to live now, but Cornelia is thinking about revenge.

3. Francis wanted to take this opportunity to completely disregard the influence that Signus might have on him, and Scrimgeour was just selling favors

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