Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - H.P.S.T Chapter 1656: Harry in Danger

In The Quibbler’s Crumple-Horned Snorkack column, Mr. Lovegood narrated what he called the “discovery of the century” in a style Evan knew all too well.

Aside from a brief mention of the “house-elves’ homeland” at the beginning, the entire article was filled with speculation and analysis about the relationship between the Snorkack and ancient house-elves — nothing of real substance. Knowing Luna and Mr. Lovegood as he did, Evan thought it far more likely that they had simply been mistaken than that they had actually found a real Snorkack!

After all, things like this had happened many times before.

About half a year earlier, for example, Mr. Lovegood had announced that he’d found Snorkack footprints, which later turned out to be nothing more than Mooncalf tracks.

For years, aside from writing articles and conducting bizarre experiments, Mr. Lovegood’s favorite pastime had been traveling the world with Luna in search of traces of imaginary creatures. They had been to many places, often remote and untouched, such as primeval forests, snow-capped mountains, or ancient magical ruins.

On these fantastical journeys, they had also collected a great many “souvenirs.”

The main reason these souvenirs were brought back was because, in Mr. Lovegood’s view, they proved the existence of those mythical creatures.

However, his ideas were ultimately proven to be mostly wrong and absurd.

Whether it was the Snorkack or anything else, they were all non-existent figments of imagination.

In general, through long and persistent collecting, Mr. Lovegood had amassed a lot of worthless junk, much like Mr. Weasley’s penchant for collecting all Muggle-related industrial products, even if those things were meaningless. Mr. Lovegood’s finds were similarly mostly worthless.

If it weren’t for the mention of the house-elves’ homeland, this article would have been utterly worthless garbage in Evan’s eyes.

Reading such a thing was a complete waste of time.

“What does it say?” Hermione asked, leaning closer to read the article with Evan.

“It doesn’t say where the house-elves’ homeland actually is,” said Evan, tapping the page with his fingers.

Where he tapped, there was a photograph of a strange creature carved into a large slab of pale yellow stone — the very creature Mr. Lovegood claimed in the article to be the “Crumple-Horned Snorkack.” But to be honest, the thing looked more like a genetically mutated Graphorn.

However, ignoring the Snorkack entirely and looking only at the style of the drawing on the stone, it did resemble something that could have been created by house-elves.

Perhaps it really was a relic left by ancient house-elves.

This stone tablet was definitely in Mr. Lovegood’s hands now. Regardless of how he had obtained it, he must know at least something about its whereabouts. And since he had mentioned the “house-elves’ homeland” at the beginning of the article, it was possible he had actually been there and found this relic left behind by ancient house-elves.

As for why he didn’t clearly state the location of the house-elves’ homeland in the article, that was easy enough to explain.

With such an important discovery, Mr. Lovegood would certainly intend to continue exploring there to find more clues about the Crumple-Horned Snorkack.

“What is that thing? From the photo, it looks a bit like a child’s doodle,” said Hermione.

“No, this was drawn by a house-elf. If you’ve seen Dobby’s work, you’ll see they’re quite similar.”

“Bad drawings always have something in common. Even if that’s the house-elf style,” said Hermione, “it still doesn’t prove anything.”

“It doesn’t matter. All the questions we have about this article, we can ask Mr. Lovegood himself,” said Evan.

Compared to staying here and searching aimlessly, going to talk with Mr. Lovegood and Luna was hardly a loss.

And they could also warn them to be careful — this couldn’t go on! Recently, Mr. Lovegood had been openly publishing articles opposing Voldemort and the Ministry in The Quibbler. Expecting the Death Eaters to simply tolerate such behavior was far too naive.   

There was still time to warn him. If something really happened, it would be too late.

“It’s settled then, we’ll go talk to Luna’s father after lunch. I remember Luna’s house is near the Burrow, easy to find.”

“But Sirius warned us not to go out anytime soon!”

“If we’re quick enough, he’ll never know. Besides, having something to do is much better than being cooped up in this old house. And with Harry’s current condition, it’s really worrying. I don’t think Luna’s house is being watched yet, we can find a way to get Harry —”

Before Evan could finish speaking, a high-pitched, shrill voice rang out, “Harry Potter!”

The house-elf Dobby woke up, forcing open his bulging, tennis ball-sized eyes, looking at them with teary eyes.

It was him who had shouted.

“Oh, yes, Dobby, you’re awake, that’s great. I mean, are you alright?” said Evan, nudging Elaine with his toe.

“I’m sorry, Dobby, I shouldn’t have used those books,” said Elaine immediately.

To make her apology seem more sincere, she kept blinking as if she were trying very hard to cry.

“Harry Potter!” Dobby repeated.

“You’re confused, Dobby. I’m Elaine, not Harry — Elaine!”

“No, Harry Potter, Master Evan, Harry Potter!” Dobby kept calling Harry’s name.

“Harry’s lying upstairs!” Elaine said, bewildered, glancing at the house-elf before turning to Evan with a puzzled look.

“Dobby, what happened to Harry?” Evan pressed, something seemed off with Dobby.

“Harry Potter is in danger, it’s all Dobby’s fault. Master Evan has to go save Harry Potter, he has to hurry, right now.”

“Don’t rush, Dobby, explain yourself clearly. Are you saying Harry left this house?”

Dobby nodded, his bulging eyes widening even more.

“That’s impossible. If Harry had left, we would definitely have known,” said Hermione. “No one can Apparate in or out of here anymore.”

“It’s the house-elf’s magic. Dobby can take Harry away,” Evan’s heart sank. He should have thought of that, but everyone had overlooked it. Everyone had ignored the house-elf’s magic, thinking it was insignificant. “Dobby, where did you take him?”

The house-elf Dobby trembled, seemingly hesitant to say the name.

Almost at the same moment the question left Evan’s lips, he realized the only possibility, and Dobby’s reaction confirmed his worst suspicion.

Translating_Wizard

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