Evan squinted and looked at Dumbledore in astonishment.
On the shore of the dark lake not far away, Dumbledore did not turn around. He turned his back to everyone, as if what had just happened had nothing to do with him.
Sirius, Harry, and Hermione had their eyes wide, waiting for his next move.
Everything was just the same as before, everything became unreal again, and Evan tried to recall the wonderful feeling and look for the traces of magic.
It wasn't as strong as it just was, but he still could clearly feel the location of the boat.
Even if his eyes couldn't see it, Voldemort's magic traces staying on the boat were still very clear.
Evan bowed his head and tried to remember this feeling.
Of course, it's one thing to be able to notice the traces left by magic. Identifying this magic and breaking it is another matter.
He focused to see what Dumbledore did.
In front of them, keeping his hand clenched in mid-air, Dumbledore raised his wand with the other and tapped his fist with the point.
Immediately a thick coppery green chain appeared out of thin air, extending from the depths of the water into Dumbledore's clenched hand.
Dumbledore tapped the chain, which began to slide through his fist like a snake, coiling itself on the ground with a clinking sound that echoed noisily off the rocky walls.
The chain pulled something from the depths of the black water. Everyone gasped as the ghostly prow of a tiny boat broke the surface, glowing as green as the chain, and floated, with barely a ripple, toward the place on the bank where they stood.
"How did you know that was there?" Harry asked in astonishment.
Sirius and Hermione also looked at Dumbledore curiously, and Evan tried to remember the strong feeling of the magical changes when the chain and the boat appeared.
"As I just said, magic always leaves traces," said Dumbledore, as the boat hit the bank with a gentle bump, "sometimes very distinctive traces. I taught Tom Riddle. I know his style."
"Is… is this boat safe?" Harry didn't understand Dumbledore's words. He scratched his head and continued to ask, "It won't…"
"Oh yes, I think so. Voldemort needed to create a means to cross the lake without attracting the wrath of those creatures he had placed within it; in case he ever wanted to visit or remove his Horcrux."
"So, the things in the water won't do anything to us if we cross in Voldemort's boat, will they?"
Looking at Harry's expression, he was obviously worried.
What should they do if the boat reached midway to the island and suddenly sunk?
In fact, not only Harry, but also Sirius, Evan and Hermione were equally worried, and a horrible image emerged in their minds: the moment they were out of sight of the bank, the hands that had just appeared would come out of the dark water.
"I think we must resign ourselves to the fact that they will, at some point, realize we are not Lord Voldemort…" Dumbledore said calmly, "We can't escape. Don't forget the purpose of our trip. We will definitely have to face them. This is almost inevitable. Thus far, however, we have done well. They have allowed us to raise the boat; we must be allowed to use it."
"But why did Voldemort let us?" asked Harry.
"Too proud, he only believes in his own strength, this is another weakness of his, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Voldemort would have been reasonably confident that none but a very great wizard would have been able to find the boat. I think he would have been prepared to risk what was, to his mind, the most unlikely possibility that somebody else would find it, knowing that he had set other obstacles ahead that only he would be able to penetrate. If there is no accident, it should be the stone altar and the liquid inside to store the Horcrux. I can't wait to see what is inside."
Everyone gathered around and looked down at the boat. It was really very small.
"I do not understand, Professor" Hermione said softly, "this boat, it doesn't look like it was built for us. Will it hold all of us? Five people and Kreacher? Will we be too heavy together?"
Hermione's fears were very justified. Though measured in terms of area, they could barely stand on it, it was common sense that the boat could only hold one or two people at most.
When he heard Hermione, Dumbledore chuckled.
"There's no need to worry about it, "Voldemort will not have cared about the weight, but about the amount of magical power that crossed his lake. I rather think an enchantment will have been placed upon this boat so that only one wizard at a time will be able to sail in it."
"But…"
"We need to take a chance." Dumbledore took a step forward, the boat weighed down, deep in the water, and stopped a quarter further from the edge of the boat.
The boat swayed and looked as if it might sink to the bottom of the water at any time.
Harry and Hermione couldn't help but scream, and Sirius took a step forward and tried to hold Dumbledore.
But nothing happened. After the swing, the boat gradually stabilized.
"Very well, as I guess, you can come up. I think it unlikely that your powers will register compared to mine." Dumbledore said, "Be careful not to touch the water."
Dumbledore moved aside and Sirius walked up.
Everyone's heart was lifted, and they looked nervously ahead. The boat sank a little more, shook slightly and stopped at once.
This time, the depth of draught could not be compared with that of Dumbledore when he went up.
If the boat's "heft" was not measured by weight, but by the amount of magical power, then the difference between Sirius's magic and Dumbledore's was very striking.
To describe it, it was as the gap between a tank and a bottle of water.
Then came Harry and Hermione.
The two of them climbed into the boat cautiously, as what was left of it above the surface was so narrow that it looked like it could sink at any moment.
But nothing happened. The boat didn't even flutter, and it kept floating steadily, and the draught was almost unchanged.
It was incredible; Harry and Hermione seemed to have no weight.
This also meant that, in terms of magical power, the two of them together were not even equal to Sirius, let alone comparable with Dumbledore.
If Sirius's magical power was a bottle of water, the magic of Harry and Hermione was more like a glass.