94 Diagon Alley

The little wizards twitched, "Assuming we all participate, how do we get there?"

"I think we have solved this problem." Luna said lightly, "Let's fly over!"

"I said," said Ron, almost furious, "maybe you can fly without a broomstick, but we can't grow wings, and whenever we—"

"In addition to using a broom, there are other ways to fly." Luna said calmly.

"Looks like we're going to be riding on the back of Snorkel or whatever?" Ron asked.

"The Horned Snorers can't fly," Luna said sternly, pointing behind Harry, "but they can fly, and Hagrid says they're very good at spotting what the rider is looking for. ."

Harry turned around and, according to Luna, there should now be two Thestrals standing between the trees, blinking timidly, watching the secret conversation , as if they could understand every word.

"Great!" he whispered, walking towards them. Harry eagerly reached out a hand and tentatively patted the closest Thestral on the neck.

"Is this some kind of Crazy Horse?" said Ron dubiously, staring at the place to the left of Thestral's body that Harry was patting lightly, "the ones who have seen dead people. Something that only humans can see?"

"Yes," said Harry.

"How many?"

"Only two," Luna said.

"Well, we need three," said Hermione, still looking a little shaky, but still as determined.

"Hermione, four horses." Ginny frowned.

"Actually, I think we need seven." Luna said calmly as she counted. "Don't be silly, we can't all go!" Harry said angrily. "Listen to me, the three of you—" He pointed to Neville, Ginny, and Luna. "The three of you can't go, you don't—" They immediately made more protests. Harry's scar ached more violently again, and every minute they procrastinated was precious, and he didn't have time to argue. "Okay, fine, it's your choice," he said curtly, "but unless we can find more Thestrals, you can't—"

"Oh, more Thestrals will come here," said Ginny confidently. She was glad that Ron was squinting in the completely wrong direction, apparently her expression made Ron think she was staring at the horses.

"Why do you think so?"

"Because, you may not have noticed, you and Hermione are covered in blood," Ginny said calmly, "and we know that Hagrid used raw meat to attract Thestrals. That's probably why the two of them appeared in the first place..."

Harry felt his robe being pulled slightly at this time, and he looked down, and an invisible creature was probably licking his sleeve, which had been covered by Grapp The blood was soaking wet.

"Excellent," he said, and a good idea popped into his mind, "Ron and I get on these two and go first, and Hermione stays with the three of you. , she could attract more Thestral—"

"I don't want to stay behind!" said Hermione anxiously. "I can't see it anymore," Luna said with a smile. "Look, there are more Thestrals over there—you two smell so strong..."

Harry turned around and heard the footsteps of at least six or seven Thestrals, walking cautiously through the woods. He has no excuses now.

"All right," he said angrily, "then pick one and ride it."

Neville hunched over, lying on the back of the other Thestral, trying to straddle one short leg to the other side. Luna was already sitting on her side, tidying up her robes, like she would ride Thestrals every day. But Ron, Hermione, Gwen, and Ginny remained motionless, with their mouths open and their eyes wide open. In fact, they had to find Luna's help to find where Thestral appeared. "Come here." She dragged them to the side of Thestral who was standing around, helping them one by one ride onto the Thestral's back.

Before walking back to her mount, Luna took their hands and let them grab the horse's mane, and told them to grab it. All four of them looked terribly nervous.

"It's unbelievable," muttered Ron, stroking the horse's neck carefully back and forth with a free hand, "unbelievable...if I could see it—"

"We'd better never see it." Harry said gloomily, "So, are you all ready?" The others nodded. "Okay." He lowered his head and touched Yestral's black and smooth head, swallowing nervously. "Then, London, the Ministry of Magic, the guest entrance," he said uncertainly, "if you knew how to get there."

Thestrals stood motionless for a while, then suddenly spread their wings, almost throwing Gwen off; The sky was rushing so fast and the angle was so steep that Gwen had to hug its body tightly with his hands and feet to avoid slipping off its bony tail. The students rushed over the treetops into the fiery sunset, eyes closed, cheeks pressed against Thestral's silky-smooth mane.

Gwen screamed in mid-air: "I hate flying—!"

They flew over the grounds of Hogwarts and over Hogsmeade; followed by a solitary car on its way home, darting across hills along a winding road . As twilight fell, they flew in the darkness. Gwen felt her face stiff and cold, and her legs clasped tightly to Thestral's sides were numb, but she didn't dare to switch positions for fear of slipping. They couldn't hear anything, only the rumbling air galloped in their ears, and their mouths were frozen from the cold night wind.

Finally, the Thestrals landed lightly. Everyone glanced around the street. A dump truck that was almost overflowing was parked not far from the dilapidated phone booth. Under the monotonous orange streetlights, they could not see their original colors.

"Where shall we go now?" Luna asked Harry politely and with interest, which sounded more like a fun day trip.

"This way," said Harry. He gave his mount a quick grateful pat, then quickly led the others to the dilapidated phone booth and opened the door. "Come on!" he urged his hesitant companion.

Gwen, Ron, and Ginny entered obediently; Hermione, Neville, and Luna then squeezed in; Harry glanced back at Thestrals, who were in the dumper Look for spoiled food scraps. Then he squeezed hard into the phone booth behind Luna.

"Whoever is closest to the phone, dial 62442!" he said.

Ron's arm bent awkwardly towards the dial and dialed the number; as the dial quickly turned back to its original position, a woman's indifferent voice entered the phone booth.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, please state your name and business."

"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger," Harry said quickly, "Gwen Ollivander, Ginny Weasley Sly, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, we're here to save lives."

"Thank you," said the indifferent voice, "Guests, please take your badge and keep it in front of your clothes."

Six badges slipped out of the metal slop that was supposed to eject coins. Hermione picked them up and handed them out silently. Gwen glanced at his own: Gwen Ollivander, rescue mission.

She couldn't help but curse in her heart, and just let them in. The Ministry of Magic is really about to end.

"Visitor of the Ministry of Magic, you need to be checked at the security checkpoint and register your wand. The checkpoint is at the end of the main hall."

"Got it!" Harry exclaimed, his scar aching again, "Can we move now?"

The floor of the telephone booth shook suddenly, the pavement outside gradually rose past the window, and the Thestrals, who were foraging for food, slowly slipped out of sight; the darkness closed above their heads, accompanied by dullness Scratching sounds, they descended into the depths of the Ministry of Magic.

A thin golden light shone on their feet, wider and wider, moving to them. Strangely, the main hall seemed to be empty. The light was a little dimmer than it was during the day, and there was no fire in the mantelpiece built into the wall, but when the lift came to a smooth stop, he saw that on the dark blue canopy the golden symbol was still incessantly and irregularly. wiggling.

"The Ministry wishes you a good evening," said the woman's voice.

The door of the phone booth slammed open, and Harry stumbled out, followed by Neville and Luna. The only sound that could be heard in the main hall was the constant rush of water from the golden fountain, which spewed incessantly from the wands of witches and wizards, from the arrows of centaurs, from the tips of goblin hats and from the ears of house-elves. in a circular pool.

"Come here." Harry said softly, and the seven were running at full speed in the hall. He ran past the fountain at the front towards the security checkpoint, where a man who used to be called by Harry's wand was sitting. Heavy wizard guards, but now there is no one there.

Gwen thinks there should be security guards here, and believes that it is a bad omen that no one is keeping the door.

Her foreboding intensified as they walked through the golden gate to the elevator. Harry pressed one of the nearest "down" buttons, and the elevator clicked almost immediately at the back.