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Chapter 450: Departure, and the Portkey
🕑 Added 2019-04-10 11:57:40 +0000 UTC
If he had thought about this, Evan could have helped them bring these things out without being discovered by Mrs. Weasley.
He had a cloth bag from Nicolas Flamel, and under the influence of alchemy and the Undetectable Extension Charm, the unsuspicious cloth sack could hold a lot of things.
The Undetectable Extension Charm can ensure that the contents are not found.
But apparently, Evan spent too much time in Ginny's room last night.
By the time he went back, Harry, Ron, Fred, and George had fallen asleep and didn't tell him about it.
Now that Mrs. Weasley had found out, it was too late to say anything!
Evan’s remarks to Hermione last night could not be said to Mrs. Weasley.
Regardless of whether she would believe it or not, alchemy, the Book of Abraham, and the evil gods all needed to be kept secret.
"Accio! Accio! Accio!" Mrs. Weasley shouted.
A lot of deformed candy, Ton-Tongue Toffees and other gadgets, zoomed from all sorts of unlikely, including the lining of George’s jacket and the turn-ups of Fred’ jeans.
"Mom, we spent half a year developing those!" Fred yelled out of grievance.
"You can't do this!" George looked at Mrs. Weasley with a distressed look as she threw these things into the burning fire.
"Oh a fine way to spend half a year!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked. "No wonder you didn’t get more O.W.L.s! You’ve been studying these things all day long!"
Under her angry gaze, Fred and George lowered their heads, and no one in the kitchen dared to speak.
All in all, the atmosphere was not very friendly as they took their departure.
Mrs. Weasley was still glowering as she kissed Mr. Weasley on the cheek.
As for Fred and George, who had a worse attitude, they hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and walked into the fireplace without saying a word.
They were going through the Floo Network to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
After another round of whirl, Evan drilled out from the spacious waiting room fireplace in St. Mungo’s.
This was his second time here. The last time he had followed Sirius to visit Ron.
Compared with before, it might be due to the fact that it was too early, the waiting room was quiet, and under the dim light, they could see no wizards waiting for the healers.
The very spacious hall was extraordinarily empty.
The air was filled with the cold smell of mixed disinfectant, feeling a little oozing.
It was as if there might be something horrible that could jump out of the corner at any time.
"Come on, I know where he is!" Mr. Weasley whispered.
They crossed the double door between the waiting room and the ward and walked through a narrow corridor.
On both sides were portraits of famous healers. Crystal bubbles filled with candles floated on the ceiling, looking like huge soap bubbles.
Just arrived in front of the ward, and before they entered, they saw Sirius coming out with a smile.
He looked very happy and, like everyone else, was dressed up as a Muggle.
"Finally you’re here, I can't wait!" Sirius said, embracing everyone in turn.
"Sirius, your injury?!" Harry looked at him in surprise.
"Don't worry, just a little skin wound. It’s already healed!" Sirius patted Harry on the shoulder with a smile on his face. "Harry, are you okay? Did those Muggles bully you?"
"I, I am fine!" Harry hesitated, not sure whether it was necessary to speak out his grievances.
But he could not stop himself, and he had already started to talk.
From his concern for Sirius and Evan, to this terrible experience of the summer vacation, the grievance of being left alone with the Dursleys, and the strange dream and the scar pain, all was said at once.
Harry had never felt this way before. He confided all this to an elder whom he fully believed in.
Sirius was just like a father to him.
The others did not disturb the dialogue between Harry and Sirius, and left room for them.
They knew that Harry, who had never experienced parental love, needed this feeling.
As for Sirius, this was what he had been waiting for a long time.
Sirius listened carefully to Harry's confession and whispered his opinion to him.
After quite a few minutes, he had finished talking to Harry and turned to Evan’s side.
"Thank you, Evan!" said Sirius, "Dumbledore told me that you saved my life after I fainted."
Evan was a little embarrassed. In fact, he had to thank Sirius too. If Sirius hadn't magically pushed him out of that huge pit, he might have fallen dead!
They talked for a while, and then Sirius took out something that looked like a Quaffle.
"Come on, kids, we can't miss the World Cup!" Sirius said, "It's time to get there. If there is anything to say, let it be later. Let's go now!"
“How do we get there? With Apparition?” Harry asked curiously.
"No!" Mr. Weasley took the Quaffle from Sirius. "We’ll go there with the Portkey. Fortunately, the Department prepared a Portkey at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. We don’t have to go out and look for it.”
"The Portkey?!" Harry stared at the Quaffle in his hand.
"Remember, I said before, about 100,000 wizards are coming to watch the World Cup!" Mr. Weasley explained, "With so many people who want to gather in one place, very strict organization is needed. The first thing is to stagger the arrivals."
Among the 100,000 wizards, there were a few who are able to use Apparition.
In a handy wood around the final venue, the Ministry of Magic set up safe points for Apparition.
However, for those who were unwilling or unable to Apparate, other methods could be used.
"People with cheaper tickets have to arrive two weeks beforehand. Some people use Muggle transport, but the number is limited. We can't have too many clogging up their buses and trains," Mr. Weasley said. "So, we use Portkeys. They’re objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time. You can do large groups at a time if you need to. There have been two hundred Portkeys placed at strategic points around Britain."
"So, this Quaffle is a Portkey?!" Harry continued.
“Yes!” said Sirius. “I have inquired, and there aren’t any more of us near St. Mungo’s. Hurry up, there's less than a minute to go, and the time's almost up!”
Evan had used Portkeys many times before, and only Harry, Ron, and Hermione still didn’t know about it.
He whispered to Hermione the principle of the Portkey and how to use it.
