Time passed little by little.
The trio looked anxious and restless as Harry stared at the flames burning in the fireplace, expecting it to suddenly change colour and a wizard to emerge from it and tell them what had happened. Or send a Patronus to deliver a message. ... But nothing happened.
The wood crackled and the atmosphere in the office became dull and depressing. Harry thought it might be due to the high temperature - it is late July, August will be here soon, and not many people would choose this time to light up the fireplace.
He needed a thermostatic locket ... Harry wondered as he sat on the edge of his seat, but then a deeper concern weighed on him, and he couldn't restrain the thoughts that popped into his head ... he had handed over his hair personally and agreed to the plan, and if Sirius died because of it, it is entirely caused by his hands.
Just then, the flames in the fireplace suddenly sprang up, to the height of a man, and the colour changed to emerald green, as a figure swirled and appeared.
It is Kingsley Shacklebolt.
Harry's heart thumped, he heard a suppressed squeal next to him, but he could not distinguish whether it was from Ron or Hermione, the flames had returned to reddish-orange colour, which meant that there is no one behind, Harry's heart tugged.
Where is Sirius? Where is Ms. Bones? He mentally yelled.
"What's the situation?" Felix rose from the couch, the coin he had been playing with clenched in his fist.
"It went okay," Kingsley said, with a sweaty face and messy clothes, with plenty of gray-brown mud rubbed on them, like he had been playing in the mud. "Caught two Death Eaters, the escapees, Macnair and Rookwood - Augustus Rookwood."
"What about Voldemort, he didn't show up?" Felix asked with a frown.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione held their breath and looked blearily at Kingsley, who shook his head, looking confused and puzzled, "Didn't meet him. In fact, there were only these two Death Eaters, the rest were a motley bunch - Dementors, a couple of werewolves and vampires, and some dark wizard from somewhere ... Bones think they were under an Imperius Curse."
"So Voldemort was just testing the waters? He hid in the shadows and watched?" Felix muttered to himself, not really satisfied with the result.
"I suppose so." Kingsley panted, "There were a lot of cannon fodder, a swarm of them came up and intimidated us, and I wondered when Death Eaters got so brave ... casualties occurred at that time-- "
"Casualties?" Hermione breathed in and asked.
"Oh, no one died," Kingsley explained, "a few were wounded, not life-threatening - I will continue, the two Death Eaters stood back, they seemed to be purely trying to finish the job of testing us as they hide behind and fired spells, Sirius and Bones worked together to take one down, as for the other one ... I guess Dumbledore secretly took a shot."
Felix almost sorted out the whole process.
"What about Sirius, where is he now?" Harry couldn't help but ask.
"With Bones, I came back alone to report, and bring some men over to bring back the prisoners, er, of course - to call Healers." Kingsley said, turning to look at Felix, "Mr. Hap, this operation has barely met the expectation, you can leave with the children next, Mrs. Weasley is accommodated in Arthur's office."
Felix nodded in silence. Then Kingsley hurriedly walked out of the office.
"Come on, I'll take you back." Felix said.
"Is this the end of it?" Harry asked, still feeling a little incredulous.
" Nothing to be done, Voldemort didn't take the bait," Felix shrugged, "This is war, you can't expect your opponent to make a fatal mistake right off the bat and get it over in one fell swoop, though ..." He furrowed his brow, from the news sent back by Lucius, Voldemort has been lying low a bit too much lately, showing up only a few times altogether.
Of course, it does not exclude that he wants to gather followers first.
He has sent out the Death Eaters, who have just escaped from Azkaban.
"We'll go and meet up with Mrs. Weasley first, then you guys head back to the Order of the Phoenix Base." Felix said as they walked out of the Minister of Magic's office and took the elevator to the 2nd level where the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is located, the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office is also on this level. The four of them stepped out of the elevator and walked into a hallway with room doors on both sides.
"We need to go through two doors, then turn left, then right, and finally go all the way to the end of the corridor." Ron said to a somewhat lost Harry, "I've been here a few times, and the Aurors have very distinctive cubicles ..."
After walking through the first oak wood door, they reached an open area, where the Aurors focused on their desks, not too many people at the moment, and the few who remained gathered together with expressions of both excitement and concern on their faces.
"The operation was very sudden ... not much information ..."
"I hope there will be good results."
"Didn't Kingsley say it was a big win?"
"Chesterton, congratulations on your promotion, you should be the youngest head of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures?"
"I got a little help from my family." A young man trailed off haughtily and said in a loud voice, revealing the family crest on his chest, without looking.
...
"Chesterton Avery!?" Hermione suddenly turned around and said pointedly, her eyes fixed on the showy young man with a deadly stare.
Chesterton stood in a small compartment and looked over in her direction, the smile on his face quickly cooling as he said arrogantly, "It's me, and you're--" His eyes moved between the trio, and then he spotted Felix behind them, and his voice turned weak as he said, "So the award ceremony is over?"
Hermione, however, refused to take any notice as she stared at him and whispered, "You wicked-"
"Hermione." Felix interrupted her.
Chesterton looked exasperated, with bafflement. He had the heart to let out a few harsh words, but he feared Felix, who is standing off at the side, and his eyes shifted back and forth between cowering and viciousness. Finally, he grunted heavily as he turned around and left without looking back.
Hermione looked at him with irritation.
"How can someone like him get a promotion?" They had passed through the second oakwood door and walked down the empty corridor, as Hermione remained indignant, as Harry and Ron were both surprised at her fierce attitude.
They had never heard that Hermione had crossed paths with this man.
"I remembered!" Harry suddenly said: "Avery, remember? In the graveyard, Voldemort's first tortured a Death Eater because he pretended he was under the Imperius Curse after Voldemort lost his power and escaped punishment by doing so ..."
Ron also recalled. "It did happen, but the voices aren't quite the same, and that Avery was obviously a bit older-"
"Doesn't that say more about how bad their family is?" Hermione said meanly. "Professor, why doesn't the Ministry of Magic arrest all the Death Eaters whose names they know?"
"Calm down, Miss Granger." Felix said, "The Ministry of Magic stands for order and can't arrest people for no reason ... though private stalking is definitely there." A momentary escape is nothing, Lucius could anytime produce evidence against a whole bunch of people, to get them into Azkaban.
But what Voldemort, who has no one to turn to and has lost hope of ruling, will do is beyond anyone's guess.
The key to this war always has been Voldemort alone.
"Ms. Bones should really investigate all those pure-blooded scum ..." Hermione muttered in a small voice, Ron glanced over, so she hurriedly said, "Oh, of course, your family doesn't count, you're - --"
"--a pureblood traitor." Ron nodded, chuckling to himself.
They found Mrs. Weasley in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office on the second level, she looked fairly calm and had Percy with her. When she saw Harry and the gang enter, she rushed over to them and gave them hugs and kisses.
"Fortunately, you're all okay--"
"Mom," Ron struggled hard. "We didn't even go out!"
"Well, even so ..." she said with a grin, "your father went over to help, and I heard that no one got into trouble, and they caught a bunch of bad guys too, it was a quick and successful operation... ... Ms. Bones took the lead, what a good minister we've blessed with."
Mrs. Weasley is obviously very happy with the result, Harry looked at Professor Hap who smiled without saying anything, so he wisely did not remind her that the biggest source of danger in the whole operation - Voldemort did not appear.
"Let's wait for Arthur for a while, so I can take a look at him," Mrs. Weasley said rather unkindly, "and then we'll go back and prepare your birthday party." She said to Harry. "And you, Percy, you have to come over tonight."
"Mum, I'm busy." Percy muttered, "There are dozens of reports to write -"
"Bring Penelope with you - and if you forget, watch yourself." Mrs. Weasley finished the sentence by herself, leaving a helpless Percy behind.
They reached the lobby of the Ministry of Magic by elevator and looked at the gilded fireplace on one side of the wall from afar.
Ten minutes later -
Felix gazed at the fireplace area as those fireplaces rose in unison and one figure after another emerged triumphantly from them. The gilded hall burst into life with applause.
The Aurors escorted two dozen black-robed wizards as they emerged, all wearing hoods and dressed like Death Eaters. Only the masks on their faces were taken away, and their robes are dirty, as they staggered and shoved forward.
In Felix's eyes, the assailants - most of them looked rather downcast, and several vampires with pale faces and thick black circles under their eyes had a listless expression as if they hadn't slept in days - looked rather prominent as they walked together with the group.
And there is also an exception among the vampires. He seemed to be in good spirits, looking around, without a trace of fear. When his eyes fell in Felix's direction, he grinned happily.
Harry also stared at the crowd, knowing that some of these people may have been controlled by the Death Eaters with a curse, but how exactly to check it he had no idea. If Avery had managed to escape punishment by lying about being under an Imperius Curse, then what about now?
Harry's scars abruptly and inexplicably hurt.
Harry's eyes widened, and his brain boiled like a caldron, with spoons constantly stirring inside. The Occlumency is barely enough to keep him from passing out. Harry became dizzy and his perspective changed rapidly, as he appeared in the body of another person, and through those eyes, he looked across the room, where his enemy -
The Saviour Harry Potter, the Blood traitor Ron Weasley, the mudblood Hermione Granger, and the menace Felix Hap who had left him in shock.
"No--" Harry cried out, not knowing whose mouth he shouted the words through.
"Harry, what's wrong with you?"
"Harry?"
Harry gasped, bending over and pointing in one direction, "Voldemort, Voldemort ... he's right here!" He found his consciousness returning to his body as Sirius and Ms. Bones darted over, stopping dead in their tracks in shock at the words.
Felix narrowed his eyes and stared in the direction Harry pointed - there is no Voldemort there, only the bound assailants.
"He's really here!" Harry exclaimed as Voldemort stood calmly, locked eyes with him, his eyes scarlet and red, "Don't let him harm anyone!"
But for others, it seemed that Voldemort is completely invisible.
"Voldemort! He's right there!" Harry freaked out, why was everyone looking at him instead of Voldemort?
"Harry, what happened to you--"
"Is it an illusion?"
"He is there," Harry tried to explain while still staring dead ahead, "He's dressed all in black! Black suit and black tie, with his head, tilted, moving his fingers, and he drew his wand - you guys, you guys -" The people around him took a step back and looked at him cautiously.
"Put your wand down, Harry." Hermione said shakily.
What was she talking about? Harry couldn't figure it out for the life of him. He suddenly stared at his hand, the wand had appeared there somehow, his hand seemed to be disobeying his order, a force is constantly fighting against him.
"Use Occlumency, Harry."
Felix said in a hushed voice while staring at the strangely behaved vampire, with stellar lights in his eyes, thinking room magic instantly released, and in a blank void, he only had time to catch a hasty glimpse: a thin man lying on the ground, moaning in pain; another - Voldemort smiled leeringly and raised his wand.
"Avada--"
Felix instantly cut off the magic.
In reality, the pale vampire fell to the ground, without a breath of life.
"He's dead!" Auror, who was escorting him, said in horror.
Meanwhile, Harry felt a wave of dizziness and woke up again to find himself lying on a couch. He heard muffled voices.
Harry struggled to strain his ears, only to have his face bump into a hand.
"Harry?" Hermione whispered.
"Shh." Harry shook his head gently, and he opened his eyes, judging by the decor, this should be the Minister of Magic's office, albeit not the same room as before.
"Dumbledore, I need to know why, the boy-" It is Ms. Bones' voice, but it seems to be separated by something that he can't quite catch.
"He has a name!" Sirius yelled in annoyance.
"Well - Harry said he saw the You-Know-Who and could describe exactly what he did, and we all know it's not real, it's probably a hallucination, but, but -" Ms. Bones' voice was lowered.
Harry tried his best to hear them, when Hermione handed him Extendable Ears without a sound, he looked at her gratefully, and then put one end in his ear, the sound suddenly became clear.
"- his actions, he was imitating the actions of the You-Know-Who in his mouth."
Harry's heart felt like he had plunged into the bottom of a cold lake.
"Are you trying to say that Harry was controlled by him?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
"Don't rule it out," Bones said dryly, and Sirius let out a bark that sounded like a canine bark. " Or it could be a curse or something, everyone knows Voldemort is good at those, and I need to know what you think, so I can make proper arrangements."
After a moment of silence -
"The scar, Voldemort's unsuccessful curse linked him with Harry, and when they're close together, they influence each other. And Harry, who is only a fifteen-year-old boy, clearly falls short -"
Dumbledore said softly.
"But I can assure you, Amelia. Harry is perfectly safe in the Order of the Phoenix Base and Hogwarts, no danger to others or to himself. And it must be noted that Harry is quite gifted in the art of Occlumency, or perhaps Felix's tutoring has been very effective ..."
"Thank you for the compliment, Headmaster Dumbledore." Felix's voice said.
"Well, I trust your judgment." Mrs. Bones was persuaded, "The boy - Harry, does he need to be sent to St. Mungo's?"
"I think Mrs. Weasley will take care of him." Dumbledore said briefly.
The footsteps became clear and Harry immediately buried his head into the sofa and pretended to sleep, his mind jumbled, Hermione took the opportunity to pull the Extendable Ears off his ear - and the next second, Dumbledore, Bones, Sirius, and Felix walked in.
She put her hands behind her back unnaturally.
"Let Mrs. Weasley in, she must be waiting anxiously ...," Dumbledore said gently.
"I'll tell mom." Ron said as he stood up.
"Also - about the Thief's Downfall, it's important to hurry, Mr. Hap, can I come with you to see 'Future World' Company?" Ms. Bones went on to discuss the work.
"No problem." Felix said with a nod.
Harry drifted off to sleep once again.
...
When Felix and Ms. Bones came out of the 'Future World' company, the sky is totally dark, and most of the stores have their doors and windows closed, only the magic lamp at the entrance still emitted a soft light, which illuminated the rows of wanted notices very clearly.
"I'm going back to the Ministry of Magic from the public fireplace, don't worry." Ms. Bones said.
Felix nodded, watched her disappear into the fireplace, and turned toward the sword castle, where he had to study the material on Thief's Downfall, or at least weave through each of the difficult areas.
At that moment, out of the darkness, a small figure rushed out - a small boy, probably only seven or eight years old.
The neighbourhood resident? Felix did not feel any threat from him, but ... he stared at a letter held in the boy's hand.
"One bald uncle asked me to give it to you," the little boy timidly held up the letter in his hand, and said in a sobbing voice: "He told me to wait here, I want to go home ... but can't leave. "
Felix's gaze flinched as he quickly looked with his magic perspective, and there is only a faint hint of magic lingering on the envelope. He picked up the letter and patted the little boy's head, "I received it, so hurry up and go home now."
Only when the little boy disappeared did Felix open the letter, which only contained an address to Apparite, provocative and sinister magic.
"Is it to duel me? I've been looking forward to it for a long time too, I have a lot of magic that I didn't use before."
Felix stared at the letter and muttered to himself, he seems to have been given the same treatment as Dumbledore, being asked to fight privately by Voldemort. It seems that his own embodiment of runes and survival after getting hit by the Killing Curse has left an extremely deep impression on Voldemort.
He disappeared from Diagon Alley using an Apparition.
The cool and breezy night is a perfect time to test magic.
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