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Chapter 851: The Broom Room
🕑 Added 2023-08-31 09:45:34 +0000 UTCIn terms of flying skills, Harry was indeed much better than Evan.
There was no danger on the way back, but Moody kept changing routes, making everyone freeze.
Evan hugged Harry from behind, he didn't need to control the broom, but he didn't have the mind to think about other things now.
In the dark night, the bitter cold wind blew and the temperature was much lower than when they came.
Evan squinted tightly. His ears were so cold, and he could feel Harry's body freezing too.
Compared to this kind of unbearable flight, he preferred the feeling of Apparition, and even traveling by Floo powder was much better than this. It might be uncomfortable to spin around in fireplaces but it was at least warm in the flames.
Kingsley Shacklebolt swooped around them, bald pate and earring gleaming slightly in the moonlight. Tonks had been following them on their right, her wand out.
Evan had no doubt that if a group of Death Eaters flew towards them at this time, they would have no resistance at all.
"Turning southwest, we ought to double back for a bit, just to make sure we’re not being followed!" Moody shouted.
"ARE YOU MAD, MAD-EYE?" Tonks screamed, whizzing over Evan and Harry, "We’re all frozen to our brooms! If we keep going off course we’re not going to get there until next week! We’re nearly there now!"
"Time to start the descent!" said Kingsley.
"All right, land!" said Moody, upset.
"Here is..." said Harry, shivering and looking around.
The grimy fronts of the surrounding houses were not welcoming; some of them had broken windows, glimmering dully in the light from the street-lamps, paint was peeling from many of the doors, and heaps of rubbish lay outside several sets of front steps.
He had been to this place, and Sirius had brought them here on that Christmas day.
But he couldn't find the house, and he couldn't remember where it should be. In the dark, it seemed that a force was interfering with his memory.
"Yes, the old house of the Black family is now the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix," Evan whispered.
"What’s the order of the...?"
"Here, read quickly and memorize," Moody muttered, thrusting a piece of parchment toward Harry’s Disillusioned hand and holding his lit wand close to it, so as to illuminate the writing.
The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.
He had just finished reading it, and in front of him, a battered door emerged out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty walls and grimy windows with a loud rumble.
It was as though an extra house had inflated, pushing those on either side out of its way.
Number twelve, Grimmauld Place appeared out of nowhere, and the memory of this house suddenly appeared in Harry's mind.
He looked at all this dumbfounded, feeling it incredible.
What surprised him even more were the changes in the old house. When he came here last time, the abandoned empty house seemed to have died. It gave the feeling that everything here was rotting. The peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway, the age-blackened portraits hanging crooked on the walls, and a lot of evil looking, dusty Dark magical items.
But now, the house had a brand new look, and the chandelier and the candelabra on the table were all lit up and resplendent.
Harry followed Evan and walked in. He immediately stood still, staring at everything in front of him in disbelief.
"Here!" said Moody, rapping Evan and Harry hard over the head with his wand. They felt as though something hot was trickling down their backs this time, and the Disillusionment Charm had been lifted.
"Welcome back, Master Evan, Master Harry!"
Kreacher, the house-elf in a clean apron, ran by with his slippers. He seemed to have been here all the time.
"Hello, Kreacher!" Harry whispered, "Thank you..."
There were hurried footsteps and Ron’s mother, Mrs. Weasley, emerged from a door at the far end of the hall. She was beaming in welcome as she hurried toward them.
"You're back; oh, Harry, it’s so lovely to see you!" she whispered, pulling him into a rib-cracking hug before holding him at arm’s length and examining him critically. “You’re looking peaky; you need feeding up, but you’ll have to wait a bit for dinner, I’m afraid…”
She hugged Evan again and turned to the gang of wizards behind them.
"He’s just arrived, the meeting’s started…" Mrs. Weasley whispered urgently.
The wizards all made noises of interest and excitement and began filing past Evan and Harry toward the door through which Mrs. Weasley had just come.
Harry made to follow them, but Mrs. Weasley held him back.
"No, Harry, the meeting’s only for members of the Order of the Phoenix," Mrs. Weasley said in an urgent whisper. "Ron, Hermione and Ginny are upstairs, you two can wait with them until the meeting is over and then we’ll have dinner. And keep your voices down in the hall"
Although Kreacher has cleaned up the entire house, he did not take down the portrait of Sirius's mother, and Mrs. Black's attitude towards everyone had not changed at all.
Once she was woken up, it would be a terrible disaster.
"What on earth is going on?" Harry asked in a low voice, walking up the stairs. "Who’s that man Mrs. Weasley said he was here?"
"Probably Dumbledore," Evan replied, looking at Kreacher leading the way before them. "I heard Fred and George say that Snape had something important to report tonight, and that's why he's here."
"The headmaster is here!" Harry opened his eyes wide, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.
Dumbledore was here, but he wouldn’t see him. He didn't understand why.
What made him feel even more uncomfortable was that Snape was there. Snape actually came to Sirius's house.
He felt like a fool, kept in the dark by everyone.
Evan didn’t know what Harry was thinking. He said to the house-elf in front of him, “Kreacher, where did you get the broomstick you gave me when I set out?”
"There is a broom room on the top floor. Master Evan, there are all kinds of broomsticks inside," said Kreacher, making gestures with his hands. "All are left by former family members, there are many of them."
"Can you show me around?"
Evan had been thinking about this on his way back. Since he planned to produce broomsticks, he wanted to view the Black family broom collection to prepare for future research on new broom products. After all, the information from the book was not as accurate as the real object.
