Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - H.P.S.T Chapter 1597: Escape

“The Dumbledores lived in Godric’s Hollow?”

“Yes, that’s what I just said,” said Auntie Muriel testily.

Harry felt drained, empty, an emptiness even greater than the revelation that Dumbledore might have mistreated his sister.

Never once, in six years, had Dumbledore told Harry that they had both lived and lost loved ones in Godric’s Hollow. Why?

Were Lily and James buried close to Dumbledore’s mother and sister? Had Dumbledore visited their graves, perhaps walked past Lily’s and James’s to do so? And he had never once told Harry … never bothered to say …

And why it was so important, Harry could not explain even to himself, yet he felt it had been tantamount to a lie not to tell him that they had this place and these experiences in common. He stared ahead of him, barely noticing what was going on around him until Hermione gently tugged at his arm.

“Are you okay?” Hermione asked softly.

“I’m fine!” Harry said automatically, looking up to see Evan, Hermione, and Elaine staring at him worriedly.

Auntie Muriel was still rambling on, boasting about her secrets about Dumbledore, but Harry heard none of it.

“Godric’s Hollow is a famous place. Long ago, it was a gathering spot for wizards, home to many ancient Wizarding families,” Evan hesitated, then began to explain the history of Godric’s Hollow to the somewhat dejected Harry. “Ever since Ignotus Peverell escaped Death —”

He stopped short, his heart skipping a beat.

Evan had seen Sirius Black burst into the marquee, scanning the crowd with urgency.

Some people greeted him, but he ignored them, breathing heavily and impatiently, dismissing them.

“Sirius!” Evan, Harry, Hermione, and Elaine leaped to their feet and ran to the marquee entrance.

“Thank Merlin you’re all here. Quick, come with me, we don’t have time!” said Sirius joyfully when he spotted Evan and Harry.

“What’s going on?”

“Voldemort and the Death Eaters are attacking the Ministry. They can’t hold out much longer. We have to leave at once —”

He hadn’t finished his words when something large and silver came falling through the canopy over the dance floor.

Graceful and gleaming, the lynx landed lightly in the middle of the astonished dancers. Heads turned, as those nearest it froze absurdly in mid-dance. Then the Patronus’s mouth opened wide and it spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.

“The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming.”

Everything seemed fuzzy, slow.

Many people were only just realizing that something strange had happened; heads were still turning toward the silver cat as it vanished.

Silence spread outward in cold ripples from the place where the Patronus had landed. Then somebody screamed.

“Damn it! Scrimgeour and his Aurors couldn’t hold out for five minutes,” said Sirius, drawing his wand.

In a split second, the scene descended into utter chaos.

Guests were sprinting in all directions; many were Disapparating; the protective enchantments around the Burrow had broken.

At the same time, cloaked and masked figures appeared. They were Death Eaters.

Then, Lupin, Tonks, and other members of the Order of the Phoenix also appeared. They raised their wands and fought with the Death Eaters.

“Let’s go!”   

“But Ron…”

“I’ll find him, get out of here now!” Sirius shouted, waving his wand and sending a spell at a Death Eater who had just materialized.

Evan also fired two spells, sending a Death Eater flying.

Following Sirius, he rushed forward two steps, trying to rejoin the Order of the Phoenix, but immediately stopped.

From nowhere, black fire burst into existence at the center of the stage, exactly where the Patronus had vanished moments earlier. Out of the flames, Voldemort himself emerged.

The flames swirled rapidly, forming a black whirlwind, mixed with the guests’ shrill cries.

Evan opened his eyes wide, and through the dancing flames, he saw Voldemort’s scarlet eyes.

Although he had seen those eyes many times, this time they were different.

The scarlet eyes flashed dangerously, magic flowing through them, and there was no trace of humanity in them, like the eyes of a monster.

Amidst the flames, Voldemort smiled grimly and raised his wand directly towards Evan in the distance. Voldemort’s imposing presence, combined with a powerful magical aura, oppressed him. An unprecedented sense of danger surged through Evan’s heart, immobilizing him — he watched helplessly as the world before him was filled with a green glow.

Just as the Killing Curse was about to strike Evan, Hermione grabbed him from behind, and a vast darkness descended upon him.

Evan’s vision blurred, and he could no longer hear anything. All he could sense was Hermione clutching him tightly.

They were being squeezed through space and time, away from the Burrow, away from the descending Death Eaters, away from Voldemort himself, emerging from the flames, and away from the Avada Kedavra that could have ended Evan’s life.

Although it was still the same Unforgivable Curse, Voldemort’s power had clearly increased, even greater than when Evan had fought him a few days earlier.

Had he already discovered the Elder Wand? Or gained some other forbidden power?

No one could tell Evan the answer. He opened his eyes and saw Hermione clutching him tightly.

On the other side, she was holding hands with Harry and Elaine.

The sky had darkened; the air carried the heavy stillness of a summer evening, not a breath of wind stirring.

Around them, the street was packed with people, noisy voices rising and falling everywhere.

“Where are we?”

“Tottenham Court Road. I’ve been here before,” Hermione panted. “Walk, just walk, we need to find somewhere for you to change.”

The four of them half walked, half ran up the wide dark street thronged with late-night revelers.

Many people ogled them; Evan and Harry were still wearing dress robes, and Hermione and Elaine’s clothes were far too fancy.

A few minutes later, in a shadowy, secluded alleyway, Evan and Harry hurriedly changed out of their clothes.

“We shouldn’t have left the Burrow. Sirius’s still fighting there, and we haven’t found Ron,” Harry said anxiously.

His mind was still reeling, trying to piece together everything that had just happened.

“Ron will be fine. Most of the Order are there, they’ll manage to retreat safely. Voldemort’s target is you and me!” said Evan. “He spotted me just now — and unfortunately, his power has grown stronger. Thank Merlin for Hermione’s Apparition. If we go back, we’ll only put everyone in even greater danger.”

Translating_Wizard

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