Harriet Potter

It took us six weeks to find relatively easy-to-search places in the UK where Horcruxes might be hidden: orphanages, the former site of Gaunt's old house, the famous wizarding settlement... Nothing is better than nothing, we can only say that we have nothing else to hide. made.I wasn't expecting much of Horcruxes being found in these places, and I wasn't too surprised, but we're getting more and more frustrated as the listed locations are ruled out one by one.

Contrary to what I had imagined, I never imagined that food would be a big issue on our trip.Sometimes one of us can wear the cloak and go to a nearby Muggle village to buy some food - Hermione insists that we leave a corresponding amount of money when we smuggle the food, but for the most part we end up It is a bit desolate, and can only feed on wild mushrooms, berries, and fish caught with the flying spell.Ron grew up enjoying the food cooked by his mother and house elves, while Hermione was an only child who devoted herself to her studies. On the contrary, I became the best cook among us because of my long-term experience of helping the Dursleys and making breakfast. people.But I have never dealt with this kind of completely raw ingredients, not to mention the shortage of seasonings on hand, the results can be imagined.Hermione can still finish it so as not to hurt my feelings, and Ron usually pushes away his portion after only a few mouthfuls.

We repeated the process of camping in strange places—living for a few days—cleaning up the traces left behind—and camping in another strange place, never showing up in our true colors, and encountering dementors in several places.Every day when I open my eyes, my nerves suddenly tense, and I can see that Ron and Hermione feel similarly.The lack of food brings us more restlessness and quarrels, which are usually forgotten after a full meal of normal food, but will happen again the next time we are hungry.

Adding to the situation was the tension between Ron and Hermione.When the three of us are discussing the next move or chatting together, everything is almost back to the way it was before the sixth grade, but when it is my turn to fetch water or go out to get food, or even go to the kitchen to make a cup of tea, I can always feel the air when I come back The unfinished words suspended in it.We were just three teenagers hiding in a tent, wandering around, the only thing we could do was not die - and under all this oppression, disappointment, and fear, my two companions were still madly longing for each other.Even though reasons we all know are preventing them from touching each other, what Ron and Hermione share besides that longing is the longing for their loved ones and the dissatisfaction with me.

I'm hiding something, they've always known it, and I know they know it, and it hurts us all.They have realized that I do not intend to disclose it, and that it is by no means a more rigorous program of finding Horcruxes than what we have now.Or maybe Ron and Hermione suspected that I was trying to keep us going in circles for nothing, and the thought stinged at me. We talked about everything, and I don't know when there had been such a big rift between me and my two best friends. Gap - from when I knew about it, when I decided to continue learning Occlumency, or earlier?Ron and Hermione put themselves in danger to help me leave their family, but I didn't really know what I was doing.They once made me believe that I was no longer alone, but every moment I spend with them now, I realize more clearly that I am an orphan.Everyone—and sometimes I wonder if that includes me—wanted the fearless, confident saviour, and I had no one I wanted or could think about, except the dead.

After the first round of search was completed, regarding the next step, Hermione suggested that we should check the locations that have already been searched to avoid omissions, but it seems that the enthusiasm is not high; I think we have wasted too much time, we should Start targeting more likely places to hide Horcruxes.Yet we don't know exactly where Horcruxes exist, and we're not foolish enough to think that breaking into Gringotts, or the mansion of some ancient pure-blood family working with Voldemort, is an easy way to get out, risking that possibility Not worth it at all.The only place I'm sure of is Hogwarts, and I've offered to sneak in in the middle of the night, but Hermione thinks we should wait until the holidays are when the school is least crowded.

In the end we all agreed with Ron that we hadn't heard from the outside world for too long.Clearly his proposal has something to do with the eagerness to know what's going on with the family, like my wish to go to Godric's Hollow to visit my parents' graves, but it's safe to say that continued isolation won't get us any further. , and now that school has started, the hunt should be relaxed.So in mid-September, the three of us returned to near London, camped in a small wood on the outskirts of the city, and took turns wearing an invisibility cloak to go out every day to inquire about the situation.

Now the Leaky Cauldron is guarded all day, everyone who wants to enter Diagon Alley through here will be questioned, so most of the time we can only hide in the inconspicuous corner of the Leaky Cauldron to eavesdrop on the conversations of the guests, and occasionally quietly Take away discarded newspapers.There was a lot of talk in the pub, and I'd heard about which fabrics Mrs. Skoll's cleaner was best for, what kind of love potion worked best on girls with different hair colors, and what characteristics a male Labrador should have for breeding. wait.Apart from these scattered and useless information, the most we know is the raids on truants and Muggle-borns, because people who are known to or family members of bar patrons are often arrested. Fortunately, we have not heard of them. name.In addition, we also know that Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade have curfews, and whether people or animals appear on the streets after dark, the Screaming Charm will be triggered.

Hermione and Ron were talking to each other at the tent door when I brought the tea out of the kitchen, and then Hermione put down her wand and let him in.It was my idea, and it wasn't really necessary, other than to provide a false sense of security.Ron hung the cloak on the back of the chair, and took out a paper bag and a crumpled copy of the Daily Prophet from his pocket.

"Delicious, bad news." He said, took a cup of tea from the tray and took a big sip, gasping for heat.

Hermione had started to flatten the newspaper, and I picked up the paper bag, which contained bread and bacon.This is another perk of camping near London, in order not to attract attention, we only carry enough for a meal or two at a time, Hermione and I will carry various canned fruits and noodles, and Ron will only take something he knows.

Upon seeing the front page, Hermione let out a disgusted noise, and I looked at Ron, who shrugged in an unsuccessful effort to appear relaxed. "No one died."

"Senior officials of the Ministry of Magic have completed their work of punishing magic stealers." Hermione had already read aloud, her voice rapid, "...the work of the Muggle-Born Registration Committee is led by the experienced senior investigator Dolores Jane Umm Rich is in charge... It was completed a few days ago, and the verified magic power stealers have all been sentenced to be deprived of their wizard status and given different years of punishment in Azkaban according to the severity of their crimes..."

"'Remove wizardry'?" I couldn't help but say, judging by the ten years the Dursleys had spent trying to 'squeeze' my magical powers out, it wasn't something that could be taken off like clothes.

"It's confiscating the wand, pouring a drug that destroys concentration—I think it's to prevent someone from using wandless magic in desperation, and throwing it into the street." Hermione raised her head, her eyes widened, "How could this happen? ? How could they do that?"

"At least they're alive." Ron leaned forward, resting his hand on Hermione's shoulder for a moment, until she recovered and continued reading the paper. "I just checked and there's no Ted Tonks or Dean on the list, they're both still wanted. God bless." He glanced at me and added, "There's no Fisher, of course. "

I froze for a moment, of course I was happy about it, but my colleague also realized how long I hadn't thought of Alvin.Hermione took a breath suddenly, and Ron and I looked over at the same time, and the entire page in front of her was lined up with photos of the punished, "No, there are no children here...not a single one...the previous news said that this year The ancestry of the entrants will be strictly screened, where are the Muggle-born children?"

The silence hit us suddenly, and I saw Ron and Hermione pale and knew I was too.The horrific truth was conveyed in our horrified eyes.

"Maybe...the Order of the Phoenix moved them away?" Ron said with some luck.

"They'll do that," I said, and Hermione nodded vigorously, covering her mouth.

I couldn't bear to continue to look at those faces in fear and despair, so I turned the newspaper back, and a large bust of Umbridge immediately appeared in my sight.Smiling smugly into the microphones below the bold headline, her slack cheeks quivering, she looked like a toad who had just swallowed a particularly tasty fly, just seeing this The face made the scars she carved on the back of my hand ache.

"Wait," I snapped the newspaper closer, "wait. That's impossible!"

"What?" Ron asked.

I pointed out the little thing dangling on Umbridge's chest. "See that locket?"

"I can't see it clearly, it seems to be old, and the mark on it looks like a letter..." Hermione looked at it for a while, then came to her senses, and almost jumped up, "You mean this locket is... that A locket? A Slytherin relic?"

"What?" Ron's voice dropped almost theatrically, "how did she get one - are you sure, Harry?"

I brought the newspaper to my eyes again, and stared at the thing, trying to summon the memory of the locket in my mind.Its size, shape, the S-shaped snake on it and the emeralds inlaid with snake eyes, the way it hangs on Merope's chest——

"It is." My throat tightened, "I'm sure."

"Could it be, I don't know, a knockoff?" Hermione asked.

"Except for the Gryffindor sword, all the relics of the founder disappeared long ago." I said, "You don't think the mysterious man made the locket into a Horcrux and passed it on to everyone?"

"Of course not! I just..." Hermione took a deep breath. "Well, there's only one way to make sure of that."

"We're going to break into the Ministry of Magic," Ron continued, grinning. "I bet Fred and George will be envious."

"We're going to break into the Ministry of Magic," I said again, causing a brief silence between us.