The walls on both sides of the alley were not high, but Harry felt like he was walking in a canyon with steep rock walls on both sides. A deep sense of depression made his breathing become shallow.
Greasy, fishy, turbid - the smells in the air were mixed, and Harry couldn't tell which smell it was, but just smelling this smell always made him want to vomit.
When passing a small restaurant - Harry never thought that there would be people doing business deep in Knockturn Alley.
A thick layer of dust accumulated on the frame of the window, and the old window glass was greasy, with many claw-like finger prints. Looking through the light window into the dark interior, I found that this shop looked like a medieval black workshop. There are actually customers dining in the small restaurant.
It was a guy with bandages all over his body like a mummy. He was feasting on a large piece of green blood on the plate in front of him, which looked like a pancreas.
Perhaps sensing Harry's gaze, the customer slowly turned his head to look outside the store, and bared his teeth dripping with green mucus at Harry.
Harry trembled suddenly, remembering Professor Blaine's previous instructions for him to hurriedly look away and pretend that nothing happened.
"...Well, it's not impossible to follow me, but the place we are going to is more dangerous. There are some rules you must remember..., first of all, no matter what, stay by my side and don't leave even half a step. Secondly, no Yelling is allowed, no matter how confusing you see it, and... well, don't stare at anyone for more than five seconds, unless you're going to take out your wand and start a fight... Got it? , Potter?"
Harry nodded desperately, unable to contain his excitement.
Just now, Professor Blaine told him that he needed to go to the depths of Knockturn Alley to do something, and he just asked Professor Blaine if he could accompany him with the idea of giving it a try. However, unexpectedly, after a brief thought, Blaine Professor En really agreed.
"I will abide by everything you say, Professor!" Harry said urgently, as if he was afraid that Professor Blaine would regret it.
Harry had already seen the dangers of Knockturn Alley. As for the 'deeper place' Professor Blaine said, Harry could predict that it would be a place many times more evil than Borgin and Burkes. If it were him If he were alone, he would never get involved rashly, but with Professor Blaine, Harry thought this was a good opportunity to 'see the world'.
Think about it, even Aunt Peggy knows that there is St. Mungo's Hospital in the wizarding world, but he has almost no knowledge of the wizarding world except Hogwarts and Diagon Alley. This is indeed something that makes him feel very special. Things of shame and despair.
After receiving Potter's categorical assurance, Amosta took out his wand and shook it. Two brand-new black cloaks without any identifiable features and a solid-color mask floated out of the swirling air.
"Keep them on, Potter, it would be unwise to show your true face where we are going."
Although his expression was confused, his mood was very throbbing. Harry fiddled with the collar of the black cloak for a while, and then adjusted the fit of the mask and cheeks to ensure that no trace of his skin was exposed to the air.
Now, more than ten minutes had passed since he passed the small restaurant just now. Amosta was familiar with the road and walked forward leisurely, but Harry, now, could no longer figure out his specific location. .
As we move forward, we can gradually see some other wizards in the narrow alley with many forked roads.
Some of these wizards were alone, and some were in pairs. Harry also saw a dozen wizards standing under an arched doorway at an inconspicuous turn, muttering, and the atmosphere was quite tense.
"What are they doing?" Harry asked quietly, lowering his voice.
"I cast a spell, Potter. No one can hear our conversation, as long as we don't make too exaggerated body movements." Amosta said calmly with a normal volume.
"Those people...I think they are trading."
Harry glanced at Professor Blaine's back with hidden eyes and did not continue to ask. He had a feeling that after putting on the cloak, Professor Blaine seemed to have a different personality. He became a little cold and unwilling to talk to others. .
Just as Harry was thinking about why Professor Blaine had changed like this, a huge white head protruding from behind the high wall blocking the road in front caught Harry's attention. He stared at that head for a few more times. When I opened my eyes, I realized that it was the head of a statue.
It's so strange. Why is there a statue deep in Knockturn Alley? Whose statue is this? !
And when he walked around the high wall and saw the scene behind the high wall, Harry's mouth, which had not been closed all the way, opened wider.
In front of you is a small circular square with an ancient style. Each rock tile paving the square is soaked with traces of time. In the center of the square, stands a statue of an old man. This statue is about as high as two stories. The whole body is carved from snow-white stone.
Harry stared at the statue's face for several seconds before asking in an uncertain tone,
"Merlin?"
"Good eyesight, Potter." Amosta nodded approvingly.
Harry pursed his lips and said nothing. In fact, the reason why he could recognize who this statue was was entirely because the commemorative coin that Professor Brain gave to Ron had an image of Merlin that was almost exactly the same as the statue in front of him. At this moment, Ron was so treasured after receiving this commemorative coin that he even asked Hermione to borrow relevant books from the library to understand the value of this commemorative coin.
"But why?" Harry asked a confused question.
Amosta did not answer immediately. He stared quietly into the eyes of the tall statue, with many thoughts in his mind.
In the past three or four years, he has been in and out of the underground world many times, and he has long lost his curiosity about the statue of Merlin at the entrance. However, since returning from the Island of Avalon, he has learned more about Merlin who only exists in legends. A lot of curiosity.
"Humph, the place where Merlin sleeps forever..."
Amosta snorted in his heart, staring at the statue with a sinister look in his eyes.
In order to destroy the double snake staff, the four founding giants of Hogwarts set up a millennium mystery. This matter may have some unclear connection with this legendary wizard who was mythologized.
"Under the statue, there is a huge cave just like the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets. It has a long history and is very ancient. It is the home of the most secretive wizards and the most bottomless dark wizards in the UK and even in Europe. That is also where we are going. The destination, there are rumors--"
Just when Harry couldn't help but ask again, Amosta said slowly, "The cave was built by Merlin... It is precisely because of that cave that we are where we are today. Alley, and Diagon Alley outside, of course, these are just word-of-mouth, loose accounts-"
Harry's eyes kept blinking, and he no longer knew what words to use to describe the emotions rolling in his heart. He suddenly realized that his knowledge of the magical world had been too superficial.
Click--
The hoarse sound made Harry alert. He held the wand tightly in his hand hidden under his robe. He looked at the hem of the statue in surprise. The old-style wizard's robe was lifted diagonally upwards, revealing a black and whirring figure. The evil wind's cave entrance suddenly appeared.
A wizard whose face was also unclear came out of the cave and jumped out of a rusty cart. Then, he quickly walked out of the cave and glanced at the dozens of lanes around the small square. After finding the right direction, he walked straight After walking over, the figure quickly disappeared into the alley. From the beginning to the end, the wizard did not even look at Amosta and Harry.
"Let's go, Potter -" Amosta started walking towards the cave entrance again, "it would be unwise to stay here too long."
After getting off the 'crazy' trolley, Amosta stood at the exit panting as usual. Even though he had ridden on it many times, he still couldn't get used to this trolley, which was many times more exciting than a roller coaster. Harry beside him He was standing steadily, which surprised Amosta, but he was relieved when he thought that Harry was the youngest Quidditch Seeker at Hogwarts in a hundred years and was extremely talented.
The air in the underground world, which has not changed for thousands of years, is still bad. Amosta stared at the familiar environment in front of him. Suddenly, the eyebrows behind the mask tightened a little.
Compared with the past, this place is much deserted. Not only the 'commission market', but also the 'pet market' and 'trading market', which are always noisy, are much cooler than usual.
The reason for this phenomenon is that there are a group of people all over the underground world, wearing uniform black cloaks, and their aura is incompatible with this place.
"Auror from the Ministry of Magic--"
Amosta squinted his eyes and glanced at the guy closest to him, who was also looking at himself and Potter, and his lips moved a few times.
"Come here to try your luck, wondering if you can catch Sirius Black?"
The Ministry of Magic has Aurors stationed in the underground world all year round, but in order to avoid irritating the wizards and dark wizards here who sneer at the current rules of the magical world, they will not send too many people and only maintain the minimum level of interference. But now , in order to catch Blake, they had to break this tacit understanding.
Amosta is not surprised by the Ministry of Magic's high-profile move. In today's magical world, there are two sharp swords hanging over the heads of all wizards, frightening the secretly young people.
One handle is undoubtedly Albus Dumbledore who has been retiring at Hogwarts all year round, and the other handle is the Dementors and Azkaban in the hands of the Ministry of Magic. Now, Sirius Black is alive. Escaped from Azkaban, which caused the Ministry of Magic to lose face and feel deep fear at the same time.
Not to mention, Black himself was a loyal henchman of the second generation Dark Lord Voldemort.
"Professor B-Brain..."
A spectacular huge fan-shaped cave, with rows of green torches floating in the air exuding a strange aura, walking around, and each one was surrounded by a wizard who made Harry uneasy.
Harry felt his teeth chattering. He wanted to express his shock, but he didn't know how to describe it.
In a daze, Harry remembered that two years ago, he and a large group of young wizards followed Hagrid through a steep and narrow path. After turning a corner, Harry saw for the first time the towering Hogwarts Castle, which was as high as the sky. when.
"Is this still the magical world..."
Harry asked in a babble-like voice.
"This is the wizarding world, Potter."
Amosta smiled slightly and said. He did not urge Harry to move forward. He knew that the little wizard needed some time to digest what he saw.
"that..."
Harry tremblingly stretched out his fingers under his robes to point to the pet market, but when he was halfway up, Professor Blaine's instructions suddenly sounded and he retracted his fingers as if frightened.
"Oh, you mean centaurs?" Amosta glanced in that direction and said casually,
"There is also a tribe of centaurs living in the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts. It is the largest tribe of centaurs in Europe."
Harry nodded numbly. He stared at the centaur whose limbs and neck were fixed to the ground by iron chains as thick as his wrists and was roughly stuffed into a cage. His rigid brain was thinking hard.
Firenze, Ronan, Bane...
Harry still remembered the names of the centaurs he met. Among these centaurs, the proudest one was the one named Bain. He became furious just when he saw that he was riding on Firenze. Thinks Firenze has tarnished the centaurs' honor.
"If Bain saw his own kind treated like this by wizards..."
This thought flashed through Harry's mind, and he felt his breath become hot. "Why put it in a cage? These people..."
"There are all kinds of reasons, Potter—"
Amosta said calmly, "Not all countries in the world have centaurs. Some wizards capture them in order to sell them at a high price, some in order to get some internal organs from the centaurs or do magic experiments, and some Some simply enjoy the pleasure of destroying the self-esteem of such proud creatures--"
Harry stared at the weak-looking centaur with whip marks on his cheeks. He felt a rush of air rush to his forehead, making his vision blurry.
"Why, uh...Professor, doesn't the Ministry of Magic care?"
"No matter how blazing the sun is, it can't eliminate all the shadows on the earth, Potter."
Amosta put his palm on Harry's shoulder to prevent the irritated little wizard from suddenly losing control of himself, "A stable social order must give evil a proper place."
Harry didn't give any response, but suddenly understood why the centaurs he came into contact with were so resistant to contact with wizards.
Bang!
A sudden crash made Harry, whose eyes were on fire, move his eyes away with difficulty. He looked further away, where a humanoid creature with a bird's head and scaly wings was frantically pretending to imprison him. In front of the iron cage, four or five wizards were bargaining fiercely.
"that--"
Harry gasped and said, "That creature, do people buy and sell it to destroy their self-esteem?"
"Oh, that--"
Amosta smacked his lips and his tone became difficult to understand, "The reason is much more complicated... I can't explain it to you, Potter, because you are still young. When you, um... become an adult, , you can probably understand.”
Harry did not ask again, but in his heart he disagreed with Professor Blaine's statement. Even if he reached Professor Dumbledore's age, he thought he would not understand such behavior!
Suddenly, Harry remembered what Dobby once said to him. During the years when Voldemort was active, wizards treated house elves like vermin...
Now, Voldemort had been defeated, and he had defeated it himself... Although he had never felt anything about it..., the sights in front of him told Harry that the wizarding world did not seem to be as beautiful as he imagined.
"Do you think that makes sense?" Harry suddenly asked dully, "I mean, defeating Voldemort."
Amosta raised his eyebrows, and after pondering for a moment, he asked,
"Do you know Voldemort, Potter?"
Harry didn't know how to answer Professor Brain's question. He had faced Voldemort twice, the most recent time two years ago.
Everyone around him, except for Professor Dumbledore and Professor Braine, looked like they had been stepped on by a troll when they mentioned the word Voldemort. This let Harry know that Voldemort was wreaking havoc in the wizarding world. Those years must have been very scary.
Evil, violent, cruel, frighteningly powerful... Harry could think of these words to describe Voldemort. In addition, he himself had a deep blood feud with Voldemort, but knowing... Harry did not dare to speak rashly.
"The world needs order, Potter. Whether it is a world of light or darkness, it needs an order that most people can recognize and abide by. As long as order is observed, wizards or magical creatures can maintain their lowest and most basic Precious wealth - life,"
Amosta pushed Harry's shoulders in another direction and dragged him towards the commission market.
"During the years when Voldemort was active, he was also striving to create an order, that is, to enslave everyone, become the master of everyone, and have the power of life and death to deprive everyone of their lives at any time. This order, no matter in the bright world, Or a world of darkness, both are absolutely unacceptable.”
Amosta walked with Harry, who was breathing heavily, toward a small courtyard surrounded by a low wall with a tall sign in the center of the cave. During this period, the Auror from the Ministry of Magic followed quietly and fell thirty years behind them. feet, and followed for half a mile.
"Go away."
Amosta stood still, turned his head and spoke with a cold, murderous tone.
Harry also turned his head, looked at the wizard who obviously hesitated for a few seconds, and then walked angrily in the other direction, and asked in surprise,
"What's wrong, Professor Blaine, what does that man want to do?"
"It's nothing, Potter," Amosta replied vaguely, "You can see it, there are a lot of bad guys in this place, he probably wants to steal something..."
Amosta did not tell Harry that the Auror probably wanted to find out whether there was Sirius Black among them, because if this young wizard whose world view had suffered a big impact, he would obviously Here, I turn a blind eye to the evil that is happening, and I am afraid I will doubt my life.
They continued to walk forward, but suddenly, a short figure passed by not far in front of them, causing Harry to stumble, and his gloomy expression once again showed surprise.
"The goblin...that one is from Gringotts..." Harry exclaimed.
Amosta glanced at the goblin with a dark face and wrinkled cheeks, and said calmly, "It is difficult for wizards to tell the difference in appearance between the two goblins, so they never do anything when they come here. hidden."
"But--"
Harry frowned and said in surprise, "Why do goblins come here...Aren't they afraid of being put in a cage too!"
"They are allies of wizards, Potter -" Amosta curled his lips, "These half-human creatures have very exquisite craftsmanship, and they have their own unique social system and magical heritage. Wizards are afraid of the power of goblins. , so, they are free here.”
Amosta tapped Harry on the shoulder with a finger, reminding him to look away.
"This Gringotts goblin showed up here...well, if nothing unexpected happens, I think it came to secretly dispose of some assets in the bank."
Harry was stunned, and his brain was sluggish for a while before it started to work.
"...You mean, you mean!" Harry's breathing quickened again, "The goblins stole the wealth stored by wizards in Gringotts..., no, Hagrid said that Gringotts is The safest place outside of Hogwarts... if you want to save something!"
"That's right, Potter." Amostala pulled Potter and continued walking forward, "Under normal circumstances, there will be no problem in storing gold in Gringotts, but there are also some special circumstances... "
Before Harry could continue to ask, Amosta explained,
"If a wizard, or a family, stored all their wealth in the underground vault of Gringotts, but for some reason, all members of the family died unfortunately, and Gringotts could not find anyone who could inherit the money. A man of great wealth, how do you think this situation should be handled?”
Harry hesitated before saying in an uncertain tone, "The wealth belongs to Gringotts?"
"it's not true--"
Amosta stepped over a puddle of smelly water on the ground and gave an unexpected answer,
"According to the Justified Confiscation of Materials Act, this uninherited wealth should be confiscated to the Ministry of Magic to be used for the construction of the magical world... However, I think you are aware of the reputation of goblins for being greedy for money, Potter. Although forced Due to the pressure of the wizard, the goblins had to hand over their wealth, but they obviously would not be willing to do so...
Therefore, it is very easy to understand that during the handover, it is very easy to understand by tampering with the ledger and quietly hiding part of it. "
"Are all the Ministry of Magic stupid?"
Harry, who was angry at the Ministry of Magic's inaction for the crime that happened right in front of his eyes, screamed sharply.
"What makes you think that, Potter?"
Amosta smiled and said,
"If you ask me where in the wizarding world has the largest number of wizard elites, then there is no doubt that it must be in the Ministry of Magic. Of course they are not idiots, but, Potter, the law also needs someone to enforce it, and those wizards who enforce the law They...also expect to live a wealthy and luxurious life..."
Harry opened his mouth, once again falling into silent astonishment.
After a while, he finally understood the meaning of Professor Brain's words... The Ministry of Magic has always known that this situation exists, but there are wizards and goblins among them who are complicit.
After thinking about this, Harry's expression became numb again.
He thought of Ron's father, Mr. Weasley, the only Ministry official he was familiar with.
So, does Mr. Weasley also do these things in private... Harry felt ashamed to speculate on Ron's father, Mr. Weasley, who was very friendly to him, but he couldn't control himself. Think so.
No, Mr. Weasley is not such a wizard!
After a moment, Harry got the answer himself.
If Mr. Weasley is really the kind of wizard who does despicable things, then the economic situation of Ron's family cannot be as bad as it is now. It is precisely because of his uprightness and principle that he is obviously very capable. Only Mr. Weasley with his seniority is not very popular in the Ministry of Magic!
This answer made Harry feel much better. He wanted to ask some other questions, but found that the two of them had already arrived at the low wall.
"Wait for me here, Potter."
Amosta ordered Harry to stay where he was and not to move, while he entered the courtyard through a gap and walked towards Cacus, who had been staring at them for a long time.
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
The 'business' done by the Ministry of Magic was bleak, and the bored Foley stood up. He quickly looked at Amosta, but because Amosta was not wearing the usual black robe with markings and his face was very conspicuous. The magic vortex, so he didn't recognize it at all.
"It's me, Foley--"
Now that his identity has been exposed, Amosta doesn't need to disguise himself, he said in his original voice.
The astute Karkus immediately realized who the person in front of him was, and his tone immediately became happy. When he noticed that Mr. Blaine had left the short wizard aside, Foley lowered his voice.
"It's you, Mr. Brain, are you here to accept a commission?" Before Amosta could respond, Karkus poured out his bitter words again, "In order to catch that damn Black, the Ministry of Magic destroyed this place. It’s a mess, if it weren’t for the fierce resistance, they would even want to bring dementors here!”
"The wealth you have accumulated is enough for the Foley family to live comfortably until the next century. Foley, there are countless wizards who are miserable than you."
Amosta mercilessly exposed Karkus's hypocritical cry, and was surprised by the bold action of the Ministry of Magic. If they really dared to send creatures like dementors into the underground world, then I am afraid that the magic world would be in trouble by now. Caught in a melee.
While Amosta was thinking, Karkus had already diligently taken out his small notebook, flipping it in front of him, and kept mumbling.
"Let me see, Mr. Blaine, I have left you two valuable tasks with a large commission... According to the agreement we reached before, you will not be charged any agency fees within one year. Oh, in here..."
"Don't bother, Foley."
Amosta glanced at Harry, who was looking at the tall tower standing at the innermost end of the fan-shaped cave, and said indifferently, "I didn't come to you this time to accept a commission."
"And you are?"
The movements in Karkus' hands suddenly froze, and his easy-going features that made people uneasy were full of confusion.
"I'm here to come to you to issue a commission."
Amosta cracked the joint of his index finger with a click and said seriously.
Reading Pavilion
