Chapter 40: Sudden Changes
However, the plan did not go well at all. First, he and Ron were chased away by Professor McGonagall from the door where Louwe was hidden, and Snape noticed Hermione looking suspicious. When the three of them reunited in the common room, they couldn't help but look at each other, obviously a little frustrated.
"Well, that seems to be the only way to go, right?" Both Hermione and Ron stared at Harry, only to see that his face was pale and his eyes were shining.
"I'm sneaking out of here tonight, and I'm going to try to get my hands on the Philosopher's Stone first!"
"You're crazy!" Ron said, "You can't do that! ”
"Didn't you hear what McGonagall and Snape said? You're going to be expelled! Hermione apparently disagreed.
But when Harry said "Voldemort killed my parents" with a painful expression, Ron and Hermione were speechless.
Yes, Voldemort killed his parents, which was an inescapable fact, and the biggest reason Harry chose to stop Voldemort from making a comeback and confronting his sworn enemy.
Obviously, neither Ron nor Hermione had the means, nor the qualifications, to deny it.
He glared at Ron and Hermione angrily, as if to say that even if they didn't agree, he would definitely go.
"You're right, Harry." Hermione said weakly.
"It's good that Maca picked up the Cloak of Invisibility that day, and I think I'll use it." Harry said, remembering Maca again, "I just don't know, where did Maca go?" I'd love to ask him what he suggests. ”
"But can it cover all three of us?" Ron wondered
"We? Three people? ”
"Oh, don't be stupid! Do you think we're going to leave you alone? Obviously, you need a helper. ”
"Of course not," Hermione said proudly, hunching her little chin as well, "how did you think of leaving us alone to find the Philosopher's Stone?" I'd better go through my books and maybe find something useful...... By the way, you'd better call Maka-"
"But we couldn't find him." Ron opened his mouth to pick up the end of her sentence.
"But...... If we were caught, even you would be expelled. Harry clearly didn't want his best friend to be implicated as well.
"Maybe not," Hermione smiled confidently, "Flitwick secretly told me that I got a hundred and twelve points on the Charms exam!" With such a high score, they were reluctant to drive me away. ”
"But I don't know," Ron patted his forehead, "I think it's best for us to go back to Maca and let him deal with Professor McGonagall." ”
After dinner, they carefully avoided the crowd and searched around Hogwarts Castle again. But it didn't seem to work—he didn't even come to dinner, it was like he had evaporated from school.
Eventually, they returned to the common room. Hermione was a little fumbled through the books and notes, trying to find a few spells that worked, or something.
Harry and Ron, on the other hand, rarely spoke, thinking about what they were going to do in a moment.
When the classmates had gone back to bed one by one, Harry hurried back to the dormitory and took out the cloak.
Just then, he stumbled upon a rough-looking flute that Hagrid had given him for Christmas. He pocketed the flute and prepared to use it against Louwe—he didn't feel like he was in the mood to sing to the big dog.
By the time he ran back to the lounge, all three of them were mentally prepared, and they were ready to go. Unexpectedly, Neville slipped out from behind a couch.
"What are you doing?" He was holding his toad, Lev, in his hand. It seems that Levif has been fighting for freedom again.
"Nothing, Neville, nothing." Harry hurriedly hid the cloak behind him.
"You're going out again." Neville whispered as he looked at their sinister looks.
After the twists and turns of the last time, Neville seems to have a lot of resistance to a night tour of Hogwarts. He felt that there was no benefit at all in doing so, and that he could be deducted points.
He blocked the exit of the common room, in front of the portrait doorway, and spread his arms to prevent Harry from letting them out.
That night, Maca said to Professor McGonagall—he said I was doing the right thing. It's for your own good not to let you out, and you can't break the school rules anymore. Neville flashed with determination, "Maka added, "I'm brave!" ”
If you want to say that Maca didn't say these things or not—yes, he did. He felt that Neville had courage in his nature, and although he was cowardly and inferior because of his growing environment, he would always grow at a critical moment.
Of course, he didn't expect that his words would be a reason for Neville to stop Harry. It can be seen that Neville does have courage, but it seems that his brain is not enough - or rather, he is still a child after all!
"I won't let you do that." Neville said, puffing out his chest, "I'm going to- I'm going to take on you!" ”
"Neville," Ron furious, "get out of that hole, don't be an idiot—"
"Don't call me an idiot!" Neville took a step forward.
"Come on, come and hit me!" He raised two chubby fists and shouted, "I'm ready!" ”
Harry couldn't help but turn to Hermione, and he said anxiously, "Think of a way." ”
Hermione stepped forward, pursed her thin lips, and pointed her wand at Neville.
"I'm really, really sorry for that," she said, "and it's all petrified!" ”
Neville immediately straightened up, and his whole body became stiff, and after shaking in place, he "snapped" and fell to the fluffy carpet like a statue.
Hermione ran over and flipped Neville over—his upper and lower gums clenched together so tightly that he couldn't speak. Only his eyes were rolling, looking at them in horror.
"Hermione, what did you do to him?" Harry asked in a whisper.
"It's a full-body restraint charm, which Maca used when she punished Malfoy. He told me some of the points of the spell, and it worked," Hermione looked at Neville sadly, "Oh, I'm sorry Neville, I'm so sorry." ”
Harry dragged her out of the common room - they were pressed for time, and maybe Snape had already seen the Philosopher's Stone by now.
Along the way, Harry tricked Peeves into making it to the fourth floor as fast as he could.
"Oh—the door is open!" Ron whispered.
"How. See," Harry whispered, "Snape has passed through Lowe without a hitch. ”
Looking at the ajar wooden door, they seemed to realize more clearly what they were about to face.
"If you want to leave now, I don't think I will blame you." Harry said, "You can take the Cloak with you, you shouldn't need it anymore." ”
"Don't talk stupid" "Let's get in quickly!" ”
Ron and Hermione said almost at the same time.
Harry looked at them and nodded, squeezing the emotion in his heart, and gently pushed the door open.
With the creak of the door opening, a low bark rang in their ears - while he couldn't see Harry hiding beneath the invisibility cloak, he had apparently spotted it.
"Look at its feet, the harp." Hermione asked quietly.
"I dare say, Snape must have stayed." Ron said.
"Apparently as soon as the music stops, it wakes up immediately." Harry said as he pulled out his flute, "Okay, listen—"
I don't know if Harry doesn't know how to do it, or if Hagrid's flute doesn't sound accurate, but it's very ugly. Both Ron and Hermione couldn't help but cover their ears.
But this noise-like vagueness seemed to work especially well for the three-headed dog, who soon stopped barking, began to droop his eyelids, and fell asleep on the ground after a while.
Harry continued to blow while Ron and Hermione went to remove the huge dog's paw pressed against a trapdoor.
To be honest, Lu Wei passed this level quite easily, and the level interwoven by the devil's web in the back was not very difficult. Unexpectedly, on the third level, Harry and their first accident occurred.
“…… They're not birds at all! Harry stood in front of the locked door, looking at the shiny little things that were hovering in the air, "They're keys—winged keys!" Take a closer look. Apparently this means? ”
"That means, the door can't be opened by the Lockpicking Charm," Hermione said, "Alajo Cave opens!" ”
Sure enough, the locked gate didn't move.
“…… No, you see," Harry said, pointing to the corner, "broomsticks! ”
"But among so many birds, I mean keys, among so many flying keys to find the right key, it would take maca to find the right key." Ron looked feebly at the large group of small flying things in the air.
"I thought I could try, Mrs. Hodge said I flew well." Harry said.
However, so far, Harry has only flown a few times in flying lessons. For a young wizard who has not practiced systematically to do this, no matter how talented Harry is, he can't do it. At least that's what Ron and Hermione thought.
"Anyway, I'll have to try!" Harry said firmly.
He grabbed a broom and stepped on it, a little nervous, but not too scared. He muttered to himself, "Just follow what was taught in class, yes, that's right."
It turns out that if the talent is high enough, it can actually be done.
Well, except that Harry was lying on the ground when he was holding the flying key, which had obviously been caught once, his other hand was bent at a strange angle.
"Oh-no-" Hermione couldn't help but cover her mouth.
At this time, Maca, who was immersed in the experiment, would never have thought that she had missed this event. And what he didn't expect was that his words really changed all this, and since then he has gone to another unknown extreme.