Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 224 Reunion

With Luna's help, Harry and the others each climbed onto a Thestral. Clinging tightly to its mane, the Thestral spread its enormous wings and flew towards London.

The Thestrals were fast and landed very lightly. Except for Luna, who gracefully flipped and jumped down, everyone else basically rolled onto the ground.

"Where should we go?"

They landed in a dimly lit alleyway in London. It was late, and the streetlights were off. Harry checked his bearings and pointed to a run-down phone booth in the alleyway, saying, "That's it!"

His experience of being interrogated during summer vacation taught him how to get into the Ministry of Magic. He opened the door of the phone booth with ease and called everyone to come in quickly.

After everyone came in and the door was closed, Harry picked up the phone and dialed 62442. He then heard a cold, indifferent female voice on the other end of the line.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and the purpose of your visit."

"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood!" Harry quickly rattled off everyone's names. "We're here to rescue people!"

"Thank you," the indifferent girl continued. "Guest, please take the badge and pin it to your clothing."

Six badges fell out from the coin return slot, and Harry quickly distributed them to everyone and pinned them to their chests.

"Guests of the Ministry of Magic, you will need to have your wand checked and registered at the security checkpoint. The security checkpoint is located at the far end of the main hall."

"Yes, I understand!" Harry shouted anxiously, his scar throbbing violently again just moments before, and he was increasingly worried about Sirius.

The phone booth began to shake violently, then plummeted downwards. The intense feeling of weightlessness caused everyone to lose their balance and tumble about in a heap.

"Ding!"

The door opened, and the group tumbled out in a disheveled state. What they saw was the huge golden fountain in the main hall, and there was no one else there.

"Something's wrong! We need to hurry!" Harry drew his wand and ran towards the elevator first. The others followed closely behind, wands in hand, and jumped into the elevator.

After everyone had entered, Harry quickly pressed the ninth button, and the elevator began to descend rapidly. This time it was a little slower, but not by much. Soon after, a cold-looking girl said "Department of Mysteries," and the gate creaked open the next second.

Stepping out of the elevator, they were faced with the black corridor that had appeared so many times in their dreams. Hope was within reach, and Harry couldn't wait any longer; he took the lead and ran inside. The others had no choice but to follow.

"Which door should we go through?" After pushing open the unremarkable black door, everyone was stunned when they stood in the circular black hall and faced the twelve unmarked, rotating black doors.

"What's going on?" Ron whispered, moving closer to Harry.

"It's probably so we won't know which door we came in through," Ginny replied softly, gripping her wand tightly.

"So what do we do now?" Ron asked again.

Harry shook his head upon hearing this and said, "We can only try them one by one. I know what the room looks like, as long as we find it..."

With that, Harry opened a black door on his right.

The first room was empty, with only a few tables and a huge glass tank in the center, where several strange, pearly white things were lazily swimming.

"What is that?"

"have no idea."

"Trembling maggots! Daddy said the Ministry of Magic is breeding them..."

"No, it's the brain."

"Something's not right. We should get out of here."

"Wait a minute..." Hermione called out to Luna as she was about to close the door after Harry left.

She held her wand, drew a red X in the air above the door, and whispered, "Show the mark!"

The door closed and started spinning again, but the red mark remained obediently imprinted on the door.

"Great idea!" Harry gave a thumbs up and then pushed open another door.

Their luck seemed to be running out; they had searched more than halfway but still hadn't found the place Harry dreamed of, and they were starting to get anxious. But they had no other choice but to try each place one by one; they figured they'd eventually find it using the most rudimentary method.

After Hermione marked eight doors, Harry pushed open the ninth one without hesitation. Before him stood rows of tall shelves filled with crystal balls, some dim, others shimmering with a faint green light.

"This is it!" Harry exclaimed excitedly. "He's in row ninety-seven, right there!"

He ran into the room and looked at each row. He quickly found the ninety-seventh row, but it was no different from the other rows; there was nothing there.

"No, it can't be..." Harry was on the verge of collapse. He ran back and forth several times, but still found nothing. "He should be here! I saw him!"

"Um... Harry, you should take a look at this..." Neville pulled Harry, who was wandering around like a headless fly, and pointed to a crystal ball on the shelf, saying, "Your name is on it."

"What?" Harry looked over in annoyance, but was stunned when he saw the words on the label. His name and Voldemort's name were both on it.

As if driven by a mysterious force, Harry walked to the crystal ball and slowly reached out his hand. A strange voice whispered in his heart, repeating itself endlessly…

"Get it...yes...get it..."

Finally, he grasped the crystal ball, and the green light on it immediately brightened, while the drifting clouds inside became more active.

"Very good, Potter..." a deep voice said. "Now, slowly turn around and give it to me..."

Everyone froze, especially Harry. He turned around and found that many people in black cloaks had appeared around him, blocking the way on both sides.

Suddenly, Harry's pupils contracted slightly as he recognized the person who had just spoken.

"Malfoy!"

Lucius chuckled, raised his hand and lifted his hood, revealing pale golden hair that fell smoothly over his shoulders, his cold gray-blue eyes staring directly at Harry.

"Give it to me, Potter!" he drawled, stretching out his hand with his palm facing upwards.

Harry gripped the crystal ball tightly, warily eyeing the men in black surrounding them, and asked, "Where's Sirius?"

"Hahaha……"

Several Death Eaters burst into laughter, one of which was a woman's voice that stood out.

"The Dark Lord is truly a master strategist!"

"I need to know where Sirius is!" Harry exclaimed.

"I need to know where Sirius is!" the woman said in a comical tone, which made the Death Eaters laugh again.

While the Death Eaters laughed, Harry and Hermione huddled together back to back, and he whispered, "Don't do anything, for now..."

"Oh! He's giving orders to the other kids! Like he's going to fight us!" the woman said loudly in a comical voice.

"Bellatrix, that's Potter for you, all about individual heroism..." Lucius said, then his smile vanished, and he coldly said to Harry, "Give me the orb of prophecy, Potter. Don't make me say it again!"

"Impossible!" Harry refused outright. "This is called a prophecy orb? And it's important to you?"

"I don't want to talk about it anymore, give it to me!" Lucius said impatiently.

"Tell me where Sirius is!" Harry shouted at Lucius, clutching the orb tightly.

"What are you waiting for, Lucius?" Bella couldn't wait any longer. She pointed her wand at Harry and shouted, "Prophecy Orb, fly..."

Harry was prepared, holding his wand upright in front of him and shouting, "Protect yourself!" Just in time, the prophecy ball didn't fly off his fingertips.

"Not bad, Potter, well..." Bella's eyes gradually went mad, and her face became ferocious, which made Harry and the others even more nervous. Unconsciously, their palms, which were holding wands, became sweaty.

"Slap, slap, slap..."

Suddenly, a round of applause rang out, and the group of Death Eaters who had been surrounding them immediately moved, making way for them. Even Lucius and Bella moved to the sides.

A tall man wearing a black hood walked over slowly, clapping his clean hands rhythmically.

"As expected of you, Harry..." A familiar voice rang out. Before Harry could even recall whose kung fu it was, Hermione suddenly pulled him aside, took a few steps to the person in front of him, and slapped him across the face.

"Is this how we greet each other after so long?" Hermione's raised hand was grabbed by the man, and when she raised her other hand, it was also grabbed.

While Harry was still wondering who this person who gave him that familiar feeling was, Ron suddenly started yelling.

"It's you! It's you!"

"Ike Streid!"

(End of this chapter)