Chapter 3015 (`) What Hermione and Dumbledore saw at Anne’s house (1)
Two days passed in a hurry. For the teachers and students of Hogwarts who were on vacation, these two days were just a short episode in their vacation life. There was still more than a week before the vacation ended, which was enough for them.
Go ahead and have fun and relax.
However, today, for Hermione Granger, a girl who had just entered her first year at Hogwarts and was a Muggle-born girl, it was a very, very important day that made her nervous and excited.
Because, at noon today, she is about to embark on a mysterious journey with the principal Albus Dumbledore - to visit an ancient wizard family!
And that kind of thing, for her whose parents are both Muggles and whose exposure to the wizarding world is limited to Diagon Alley and Hogwarts, is undoubtedly an unprecedented adventure and novel experience.
And if she was the only one to go, it would be absolutely impossible for her to say that she was not uneasy or afraid!
However, fortunately, Anne also agreed to go with Principal Dumbledore, so Hermione asked the owl to deliver a letter to Hogwarts yesterday, and before arriving at the appointed time, Principal Dumbledore once again
I came to her house and looked with her at a beautiful large conch placed in a box that was delivered yesterday.
"oh!"
"This is the door key..."
Dumbledore and Hermione stood next to the box, and the first time he saw the conch, he recognized what it was.
"Port key?"
"So this is the portkey. I've seen it in the History of Magic. No wonder Anne told me in her letter not to touch it, but it looks like this?"
Nodding, Hermione couldn't help but feel a little happy.
Because her parents wanted to take a look last night, but in view of Anne's warning, she held back, otherwise, maybe the family of three would have been teleported to Anne's house last night, right?
"No……"
"Strictly speaking, it's not that the door key looks like this, but that the 'port key' is originally just a magical item that can quickly transfer people from one location to another."
"It could be anything, but it's usually something fairly inconspicuous so that it's not accidentally touched?"
"For example: broken tires, empty medicine bottles, silver combs, rusty oil cans, sneakers, moldy old boots, old tires, the head of a wizard statue, etc."
"As long as it is cast with special magic by a wizard, it can be called a 'portkey'."
"Because when traveling across continents, portkeys are more stable and faster than apparation and broom flight, and they are not restricted by the floo network?"
After briefly explaining it to the studious Hermione, and seeing the other party nodding in understanding, Albus Dumbledore looked at the large conch in the box again and looked towards Zheng Man.
Hermione, who was full of anticipation and nervousness, still holding the edge of her robe tightly with both hands, asked:
"Are you ready?"
"Miss Granger, we are going to start our journey."
Smiling slightly, Dumbledore made his voice as gentle as possible, hoping that it would help dispel the uneasiness and tension.
"Yes, Mr. Principal."
"I'm ready!"
Hermione took a deep breath, nodded, her eyes flashing with determination, and handed her hand to Dumbledore, asking him to grab her hand and touch the conch together.
Swish——!
As Dumbledore and Hermione's hands touched the door key, a strong spinning dizziness instantly surrounded the two of them.
Hermione only felt as if she was being pulled by some invisible force. At the same time, she also found that her navel seemed to be tightly hooked by something terrible. An indescribable feeling of powerlessness came over her, making her feel trapped.
It hooked and pulled her towards a certain place quickly, leaving her completely unable to breathe, open her eyes, unable to speak and almost lose consciousness immediately.
But fortunately, just at the moment when she felt as if she was going to die, everything suddenly stopped again, and the terrible feeling completely disappeared. She found that she had landed firmly on the ground, without any inertia at all?
"vomit--"
What was not mentioned then was that as it was the first time to use a portkey, Hermione of course knelt on the ground and retched vigorously to relieve the discomfort.
"!!"
But soon, as she gradually recovered, she was stunned by the scene around her, which made her subconsciously forget about the dizziness and discomfort after landing.
"This is……"
"No way?"
Anyway, at this moment, her eyes widened, her mouth opened wide, and she almost screamed in surprise.
Because she saw: Under the blue sky and white clouds, a huge and snow-white blue-roofed castle stood in the distance, its towering tower pointed straight into the sky, the broad city wall was carved with complex and mysterious patterns, and one of its golden towers was even more...
It shines brightly in the sun, making people dazzled for a while.
Surrounding the castle wall was a vast garden, with grass and sparse trees that did not block the view. During this period, all kinds of flowers were in full bloom, and the fragrance of flowers floated in the wind. When birds and animals came and went, she felt refreshed and happy.
Behind her and Dumbledore and farther on both sides, was the vast sea. Looking past, the waves were sparkling, and the waves were still gently lapping at the shore, occasionally making a roaring sound.
"ah!"
"On an island?"
"this……"
"Is this true?"
After seeing her situation clearly and realizing that she and Principal Dumbledore beside her had arrived at such a place in an instant, Hermione was shocked and couldn't help but start mumbling to herself.
Because she has never seen such a spectacular and magnificent sight. Even the castle of Hogwarts may be taller and more majestic than here, but it cannot compare with the luxury of the fortress in front of it.
In fact, in her opinion, even the royal palaces and fortresses in the Muggle world, such as Buckingham Palace, are probably much inferior?
"It's true!"
“Really amazing!”
After nodding in agreement with Hermione's words, Dumbledore sighed and looked at the scene in front of him with a smile. There was also a trace of surprise in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.
"alright."
Then, he gently patted Hermione on the shoulder to show comfort and encouragement:
"Miss Granger, we must not be rude. You must cheer up."
"This is actually not surprising. You know, our wizarding world is always full of all kinds of miracles and mysteries. This world is very big, and there are many corners that we have not touched. Maybe this is just one of them?"
"today……"
"Let's just treat this as a magical fantasy adventure, what do you think?"
After all, Dumbledore is an old monster who has lived for more than a hundred years. Although this place really shocked him, he was only a little surprised at first because he thought he was well-informed. He was not like Hermione.
Such a surprise.
"But……"
At this time, Hermione, who was gradually recovering, thought for a while, then turned to look at Dumbledore curiously, her eyes full of doubts:
"headmaster……"
"Why have you never heard of a Hastur family like Anne's?"
"You have also seen that a family that owns such a large island with such a beautiful castle and manor should not be unknown in the wizarding world, right?!"
While asking, Hermione looked at the surrounding environment again and marveled again and again.
Because she saw, in the distance, there seemed to be a group of beautiful birds playing by the stream, and there were magical lights shining on them. They seemed to be some kind of magical animals?
If this entire island, which seemed to be larger than Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest, was the territory of Anne's family, then she simply couldn't imagine what would be on it!
"Well..."
Dumbledore pondered for a moment, stared deeply at the gorgeous castle in the distance for a while, organized his words before sighing with embarrassment:
"Miss Granger..."
"The wizarding world is like a huge treasure house, hiding countless ancient and mysterious families."
"Many of them possess or have possessed powerful magical power, as well as ancient witchcraft that is enough to protect their family territory from outside interference for generations."
"Unless these families show up voluntarily, it will be difficult for the outside world to know of their existence."
"It is even said that some families, even if they have gradually disappeared in the long river of history, no one knows about their existence?"
Regarding this point, Dumbledore is indeed not talking nonsense, but there are indeed many examples.
It is said that many houses of ancient families were not discovered until there was a problem with the protection spells. Then when people from the Ministry of Magic went in to investigate, they found that in addition to skeletons and dilapidated houses, they could only learn from some remaining books, stone tablets and other things.
Can we understand the truth of the matter?
Of course, those things are not something that a first-year freshman like Hermione should be exposed to.
"That's it..."
Hermione was fascinated by what she heard, and nodded suddenly after Dumbledore stopped, seeming to understand something:
"So, Anne's Hastur family is such an ancient wizard family hidden in the world, right?"
"Are we the first outsiders to come in?"
Thinking of this, Hermione's eyes couldn't help but light up.
"Maybe?"
With slumped shoulders, Dumbledore smiled kindly and did not answer the question directly.
"That……"
However, Hermione's heart was still full of curiosity and she still had a lot of doubts, so she paused and then continued to ask:
"Principal, why did the Hastur family choose to show up at this time?"
"What does this say?"
For Hermione, who is known as a 'know-it-all', whenever she finds a problem, she wants to get to the bottom of it to understand it.
"Oh--"
However, Dumbledore just smiled and shook his head, while his eyes revealed a depth and wisdom:
"Miss Granger..."
"Your question is very interesting..."
"However, I'm not very clear about the reason why the Hastur family showed up."
"But I think they must have their own ideas and plans."
"But these are not what we need to worry about at the moment. Our mission now is: enjoy this trip, see and observe this mysterious island?"
With that said, before Hermione could speak again, he quickly changed the topic:
"Look!"
"The owner here seems to have noticed our arrival."
"She's out."
"Hurry up and get ready, at least don't let the master see your embarrassment?"
As he spoke, Dumbledore stretched out his hand to help Hermione, who had just bent over to retching, brush off some grass clippings and dirt from her body.
"That is..."
Hearing this, Hermione quickly tidied up and looked in the direction indicated by Dumbledore, and then she saw: As the courtyard door outside the castle was slowly opened, inside the huge courtyard, due to the distance, a
It's too far to see clearly, but the girl wearing the Gryffindor wizard robe that the two of them are very familiar with is running quickly towards the outside?
Chapter completed!