A broken Hogwarts

The clouds in the sky are getting thicker and thicker, and the cold wind is blowing. The ancient castle in the distance is like a dark giant beast, standing eternally among the mountains.

There have been a lot more rainy days this year than in previous years, and the air is often covered with cold and wet mist. I don't know if it is affected by the dementors stationed nearby.

Owen walked out of Hogsmeade quickly. Melete lay obediently in his backpack, with only a small head looking around, and her big furry ears swaying slightly in the wind.

The little wizards walking back in twos and threes were talking and laughing excitedly, and everyone's packages were bulging. But as soon as they walked out of the village, they fell silent as if they were being strangled by invisible hands. They lowered their heads and accelerated their pace in a panic.

Several dementors were wandering outside, and the area was enveloped in an even colder and bone-chilling chill. There was even a thin layer of frost on the ground. Their faces hidden under the dark hoods silently watched the students walking past them, greedily sucking the happiness in people's hearts, making the little wizards' faces turn a little pale.

Owen raised his head with interest and took a look at the nearest Dementor, but he did not see clearly the face under the tattered cloak. But he thought this was a good thing, otherwise he might not have the appetite to eat tonight.

The dementor he was watching took a deep breath, and a clear gurgling sound came from his throat. Until the little wizard in front of him walked away without being affected, it seemed to tilt its head in confusion as it did not absorb the food as expected, and then changed its target to the two little witches behind it.

Owen quickly turned a corner and looked down at the parchment in his hand. There were small black dots with names on them that were moving around on the complicated map.

"Harry and Blaise are together in the dungeon of the castle." He said to himself.

If Blaise had not decided to return to the castle early on a whim, then it was very likely that Bellatrix was going to take action against Harry. The crazy woman was unexpectedly well hidden, and Owen thought this might be a good time to solve the problem once and for all.

"But if that's the case...Brace is really an unlucky guy." He couldn't help but sneered. In the previous time in Diagon Alley, the Death Council selected Blaise and led Owen into a prepared trap.

"Though the people around him are even more unlucky." He rolled his eyes, then raised his left hand and snapped his fingers, summoning the most reliable "transportation vehicle" Nyx.

The phoenix with gorgeous black and gold feathers flew out of the flames, raised its beautiful head proudly, and stood gracefully on Owen's shoulders, its shiny smooth feathers transmitting warm warmth.

"Nix, please take me back to the Hogwarts castle, okay?" Owen said pleasantly, with an friendly smile on his lips, "Maybe I will take you to set fire to it later."

Nyx smacked his lips in dissatisfaction, his sharp beak clicking. It hates being used as a means of transportation!

"Please, Nyx." Owen clasped his hands together and turned to stare at it with clear and sincere eyes without blinking, "I will find you the best ingredients after this is over."

Nyx's ruby-like eyes flashed for a moment, and it was awkward for a while as it always tolerated the soft but not the tough. It chirped a few times and told Owen for the first time, "This is the last time."

It raised its head higher, flapped its broad wings with a roar, and disappeared into the black flames with Owen.

……

Harry had just left Sirius' office.

Today he spent most of the time with Sirius, receiving special training from him. Ever since he learned about Harry's good dueling ability, Sirius had set much higher demands on him, and even specially borrowed some Auror training methods. The strict special training made Harry's bones still ache.

But Harry was happy with this. He could feel his progress, not only in combat, but also in making up for some shortcomings in all aspects. He gained a lot of knowledge about how to respond to various emergencies, how to identify hidden dangers, concealment and disguise, sneaking and tracking, etc., which broadened his horizons.

This sense of fulfillment of absorbing knowledge like a sponge made him enjoy it, and he felt that he was going to fall in love with learning.

Sirius also specially bought him a lot of candies and novel magic tricks from Hogsmeade. The various products turned his office into a grocery store, which once made Harry wonder if his godfather had moved. Several shops in Hogsmeade were emptied. Harry was both moved and amused by this, and even his sense of loss about not being able to go to Hogsmeade dissipated a lot.

Carrying a large bag of heavy candies and toys, Harry walked down the luxurious marble stairs to the first floor. He couldn't help but glance into the foyer, hoping to see an acquaintance or something there.

There are indeed acquaintances. The castle administrator, Mr. Filch, was blocking the entrance to the castle, holding a strange-shaped detector in his hand and nervously scanning the little wizards who had just returned from Hogsmeade. , especially wary of their bulging packages, as if everyone had several grenades in their bags.

He asked each student's name rudely, then scratched a random mark on the long list in his hand, and then let the little wizard, whose cheeks were red with cold, through the door.

Harry didn't see the person he wanted to see, so he turned and walked towards the dungeon, intending to go back to the common room to do some homework.

Filch turned his head sharply, stared at him fiercely with his bulging eyes, and asked harshly: "What are you doing?"

"Passing by," Harry said honestly.

"Passing by!" Filch yelled sharply, staring at the Honeydukes candy bag in Harry's hand, his double chin shaking violently, "That's more like making it up! A man is sneaking around... Disgusting boy, how did you sneak in from outside?"

"I came down from upstairs..." Harry looked at the bag in his hand, "This was given to me by Sirius."

"I will check with him." Filch stared at him suspiciously and said angrily, "Okay, go back to your common room, you can only stay there!"

Harry shrugged, turned into the nearby corridor, and followed the downward stairs into the cold dungeon.

The maze-like dungeon was extremely quiet. Harry walked along the intricate corridors for a while and met no one on the way. Just as he was thinking this, he just turned a corner and bumped into Blaise.

Blaise was walking this way in a hurry, and when he saw Harry, he stopped and showed a relieved smile.

"Brace, you're back so soon?" Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise. He noticed that the other party was coming from the direction of the common room.

"There's nothing to go shopping for," Blaise said casually, his expression becoming mysterious, "I brought you a gift specially, Harry!"

"What gift?" Harry became alert instantly. Generally speaking, as long as Blaise shows such an expression, nothing good will happen.

"What do you mean by this expression?" Blaise said with a very hurt look. He took out a package and waved it in front of Harry's eyes, and said with a smile: "I brought you some Honeydukes candies and Zuko's new products, especially..."

He smiled, took out a small package from the bag, and opened it. Densely packed cockroaches were crawling around inside, making rustling sounds.

"Try it?" Blaise handed it over eagerly.

Harry's mouth twitched and he couldn't help but take a step back. He would never forget the fact that Blaise mixed a few real cockroaches into the pile of cockroaches and gave them to him, and then he gave them to Dumbledore. When he thought about this embarrassing thing that made him want to dig his toes into the ground, he couldn't help but want to strangle the guy in front of him.

"Thank you, you should keep it for yourself." Harry said with a dull face and continued walking towards the common room.

Blaise followed him, holding something in his pocket with his right hand.

Harry had just taken two steps when his expression suddenly changed and he frowned slightly. The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. How could someone as playful as Blaise come back from Hogsmeade early?

Moreover, Blaise had just come from the direction of the common room, which meant that he returned to the common room and then went out. Where is he going? Why are you following me back now?

The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it became. Harry's persecution paranoia recurred, and he always felt like there was something going on behind his back. He suddenly stopped and stood side by side with Blaise. He suddenly stopped when he saw the other person taking out his pocket.

"What's wrong?" Blaise looked at him doubtfully.

Harry walked slowly, keeping abreast of the other party, and quietly put his right hand into his pocket to hold his wand, pretending to be casual and asked: "Where were you going just now?"

"I'm going to find you." Blaise said matter-of-factly. "When I came back, I heard from others that you hadn't been back to the common room all day. I thought something had happened to you."

"I've been staying with Sirius today." Harry quietly observed Blaise's expression. However, he didn't see anything strange on the other person's face, and he wondered if he was overthinking it.

"Are Owen and Draco back too?" he continued to ask.

"No, I came back first, and they were reluctant to leave." Blaise grinned, "I don't think there is much fun in Hogsmeade... Well, I brought you something specially."

He turned to look at Harry, who was walking side by side with a certain distance from him, and raised the candy bag in his hand: "So, do you really not want to try the cockroach pile?"

Harry shook his head firmly.

"You don't think I put cockroaches in it again, do you?" Blaise said suddenly, and then rolled his eyes, "Am I the kind of person who would do such a thing?"

Aren't you? Harry thought to himself, giving him a look to let him know.

"Then you really have wronged me." Blaise shouted, then he grabbed a handful of cockroaches and stuffed them into his mouth, chewing them, staring straight at Harry, proving his innocence with practical actions.

"Uh...I believe you." Harry was speechless. At the same time, he felt a little confused. It seemed that he was really suspicious?

"These are brought to you." Blaise handed over the remaining candies.

There is no doubt that this behavior touched Harry's sensitive nerves again. He stared at the candy bag in Blaise's hand seriously for a long time. This kind of thing brought in from outside the school always made him uneasy, especially since he had received a letter containing a curse a few days ago.

He also remembered that Owen once told him not to accept other people's things casually. Something ordinary may contain a deadly curse or toxin, or it may be a well-disguised door key that can lead people unprepared into danger...

Especially now that he has not completely given up his doubts about Blaise.

Harry hesitated for a moment, not intending to reach out to pick it up, but it would be easy to break his friend's heart if he refused directly.

He thought quickly and finally thought of a reasonable excuse, so he coughed lightly and said: "Thank you so much, Blaise! Could you please help me take it back to the common room? It suddenly occurred to me that I forgot something in Sirius' office. I have to go back and get some right away. Oh, there are these too!"

With that said, he handed the bag in his arms to Blaise and lowered his head slightly to cover up his guilty conscience.

"Ah, okay!" Blaise took the bag from his hand, his eyelids drooping and he didn't know what he was thinking.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, grinned, and watched the other person walk towards the end of the corridor.

Just when he was about to turn around and walk in the other direction, Blaise suddenly staggered and let out a scream of extreme pain. Harry watched helplessly as he fell heavily to the ground, his limbs convulsing violently, and the candy in his arms spilled all over the floor.

"Those candies are really poisonous!" Harry reacted immediately and ran to Blaise's side in three steps at a time.

Blaise was already dying. His face was pale, his body was lying on the ground twitching, his lips were black and his eyes were protruding like goldfish.

"Brace, hold on!" Harry shouted anxiously. He could see that Blaise had been poisoned, but there was no antidote on him at this time. "I'll take you to the school hospital!"

A gray-haired cat raccoon jumped out from a corner with a "swoosh" and wandered back and forth restlessly at Harry's feet, biting his trousers with its teeth and hissing.

Harry didn't quite understand what it meant, and felt that Catnives was also worried about Blaise's situation. His life was at stake, and he didn't care to think about it. He hurriedly bent down and tried to help Brays up, but in his anxiety, it was difficult to support the other party's heavy body.

He looked around and there was no one around to help them. Only then did he realize that he still had magic, so he quickly let go of one hand and took out the wand in his pocket, intending to recite a spell to make the other person lighter.

At this time, Blaise didn't know where the strength came from. He suddenly raised his hand and grabbed his left wrist tightly. Then he hit him with all his strength and threw Harry, who was caught off guard, to the wet floor. superior.

"Ahem..." Harry couldn't stop coughing, and Blaise's elbow touched his chest, almost breaking his ribs. He was pressed heavily under the opponent's body, and his wrists were squeezed tightly with a huge force. It was hard to imagine that a poisoned person would have such strength.

The cat on the side suddenly jumped over and scratched the back of Blaise's hand with a claw, causing blood to spurt out. But Blaise still held on tightly, making Harry feel as if his wrist bones were being crushed.

"Brace, what are you going to do?" Harry mustered up all his strength to turn to the side and lift Blaise off his body, but the other man continued to pounce on him, clinging to his arms. an arm.

Blaise's eyes were empty, foam was already flowing out of his mouth, but there was a weird smile on his lips. He said angrily: "It's almost...I almost missed it...I missed the time..."

Harry's heart skipped a beat, and before he could muster the strength to break free from Blaise's entanglement again, he felt a hook hook behind his navel, and his whole body was dragged into the swirling colors.

They were flying as fast as a gust of wind, unable to see anything clearly. Harry could feel Blaise next to him, the two of them sticking together like conjoined twins, seemingly unable to get away from each other. (End of chapter)