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Chapter 1125: Harry Kidnapped
🕑 Added 2024-05-26 14:00:06 +0000 UTCIn the darkness, Harry came to the windowless corridor again, his footsteps echoing in the silence.
"That blasted dream again!" he muttered, trying in vain to follow the steps of Occlumency to seal his mind.
Since apologizing to Snape on Evan's advice, Harry had resumed his Occlumency lessons.
At that time, the atmosphere in the office was absolutely tense and awkward.
For a few seconds, Harry thought Snape wanted to pounce on him and kill him.
But in the end, he didn't say anything and just informed Harry of the new class time.
This seemed to mean forgiveness, Harry thought so naively, and he also planned to tell Sirius, Evan and Hermione about it.
But Harry immediately regretted it, and what Snape did next was definitely revenge.
He would not choose to forgive because of Harry's apology. He asked Harry to return to the course perhaps to torture and humiliate him even more.
Absolutely, Snape wanted revenge on Harry for what Harry's father, James, had done to him in the past.
"It's no use!" Harry gave up trying to close his mind and walked into the door in front of him.
Behind the door was a black-walled, black-floored circular room lit with blue-flamed candles, and there were several doors all around him.
To be precise, there were twelve doors.
"Which one should I choose?" Harry stared at the doors in front of him, trying to decide which one he should enter.
With a loud rumbling sound, the candles began to move sideways and the circular wall started rotating.
This dream became more and more real, and Harry knew that he was digging deep into his mind, and maybe he could know his true purpose tonight...
This was a good opportunity, and Harry didn't want to give it up.
Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the rumble died away and all was quiet again.
Blue lights flickered in Harry's eyes; apart from that, he couldn't see anything.
The blue light was spinning, spinning fast, and he was being driven out, waking up again.
At the very least, he should have been able to see what was behind the next door, but it was no use; his vision grew increasingly blurry.
Harry woke up from his slumber, breathing hard to get air into his lungs.
Strangely, he was not lying on the familiar and comfortable four-poster bed, but sitting on the cold ground.
"Ron?" Harry tried to shout, trying to figure out what was going on.
There was no response. Could it be that Ron went out with Lavender again? But what was this echoing sound?
Harry became more and more confused. He felt that the ground was smooth, not the rough rocks and floors of Hogwarts.
He tried to stand up, but failed. He was tied to a pillar by a rope...
"Huff, huff!" Harry blinked hard so that he could see clearly.
The next second, he shook vigorously, hardly believing what he was seeing—a golden hall in front of him.
He'd been here before; this was the Ministry of Magic!
"The Ministry of Magic, why am I in the Ministry?!" He suddenly became sober.
At this moment, except for him, the spacious Atrium on the ground floor of the Ministry of Magic was empty.
The light was darker than during the day, and the fireplace embedded in the wall was unlit, giving an eerie and desolate feel.
Fear and confusion, these were the main feelings Harry felt now, occupying his heart.
His memories were still stuck at Hogwarts, before he fell unconscious.
During dinner, Harry had received a notice that members of the Special Reform Group wanted to talk to him.
They wanted him to come to the office — formerly Umbridge's office — at eight o'clock in the evening.
In the weeks since Dumbledore left, this kind of conversation had been held many times, especially after Fred and George ran from Hogwarts. The Ministry of Magic's Special Reform Group became even more unruly and frequently met with students for questioning.
Whenever they suspected something was wrong with anyone, they would have a conversation and try to find some clues.
As a key target, Harry had been interviewed many times, usually by two particularly old Ministry officials.
Although he claimed to know nothing, there was no doubt that they were suspicious of him.
Fudge and the Ministry believed he must know something, and they saw Harry as a breakthrough direction to solve the current troubles.
Harry couldn't see the point of doing so; it was just a waste of time.
No matter how many times they talked, he would never be foolish enough to reveal the current whereabouts of Evan and Hermione or the D.A. affairs.
Harry had thought that this would be the case tonight, but when he walked into the office, he saw no other Ministry officials. Only Lucius Malfoy was there. He was also a member of the Special Reform Group, and the one he detested the most.
Before he could say anything, his vision went black and he fainted...
Yes, Harry remembered now, he had been attacked by Malfoy, but why was he at the Ministry of Magic?
And being tied up here—what was going on? It was all too strange!
Harry had many questions. The next second, a loud conversation sounded from somewhere near the statues, and he hurriedly closed his eyes.
"It's no use, we need that boy!"
"Then bring him over and press his hand onto that damned shelf!" came a slightly hoarse woman's voice. "Lucius, you said you brought him here?"
"Yes, following the Dark Lord's orders," Lucius's smooth voice sounded, and Harry's heart tightened.
"We must hurry up; they will find out that Potter is missing soon!"
"Useless coward, are you afraid?" the woman mocked.
"Facing Dumbledore, no one wouldn't be afraid...”
“According to our information, Dumbledore is not currently in Britain. In fact, the main forces of the Order of the Phoenix are also away, so we do need to hurry. Rookwood, can Potter retrieve that thing just by being there?" said Malfoy slowly. "Or does he need to do it willingly?"
"No need for resources; anyone involved can retrieve it from the shelf, without suffering pain or obstruction."
Harry had heard this voice. He was Augustus Rookwood, the Death Eater who’d escaped from Azkaban.
All the blood in his body turned icy cold; things were becoming clear. He had been kidnapped from the school by Malfoy and a group of Death Eaters. In the office, Malfoy used his authority to summon him over, then knocked him out.
Through the uncontrolled fireplace, they could easily reach the Ministry of Magic.
From their conversation, it seemed these Death Eaters had tied him here primarily to force him to retrieve something from a shelf.
Yes, that thing was behind that door, and it was something Voldemort needed urgently.
What was it? Could it be some dreadful weapon?
