novelhk Chapter 275 Golden Egg (5)
Chapter 275 Golden Egg (5)
Just then, Lamia saw Mad-Eye Moody limping out from a distance.
Moody wore his old traveling cloak over his nightshirt and, as usual, carried his cane.
"A nighttime adventure?" he said gruffly, heading up the stairs.
Harry was terrified. He was worried that Moody would hand them over directly to Filch; after all, he was a professor too.
"It seems not." No one paid any attention to Moody, but he shook his head. "Then you're in trouble. I saw Filch nearby."
Lamia always felt that Moody was gloating, which was understandable. After all, he was a heartless Death Eater at heart, and it was normal for him to like to laugh at other people's jokes.
Moody took another step toward the stairs and then made room behind him. "Come in now, kids, or you'll be arrested."
Behind him, Lamia noticed that as he moved, a room appeared out of nowhere.
Harry was still hesitant, but Filch was getting closer and closer. They exchanged glances and walked into the room behind Moody.
The door was closed again, and it was pitch black inside.
"Where is this place?" Ron's voice trembled. He had just been carried in by Harry, and his feet were hurting so much that he couldn't even speak steadily.
"Shhh."
Lamia's red eyes stood out in the darkness, even seeming to glow. For some reason, Ron fell silent.
"Moody? You were here the whole time?"
Filch said suspiciously from outside.
"Of course, I just can't sleep. No one says you can't go out for a walk if you can't sleep." Moody said unhappily, his mechanical eye moving around, not even looking at Filch.
"Meow!" Mrs. Norris obviously smelled the scent of Lamia and the others, and bit Filch's trouser leg and pulled him towards where they were hiding.
"But my cat thinks there's someone else here, some pesky student?" said Filch angrily.
"There's no one here!" Moody stomped his bad leg angrily. "Get out of here!" His action scared Mrs. Norris so much that the poor cat's fur stood on end and she didn't dare to move forward.
"Okay, okay, don't be afraid." Filch picked up his cat with a distressed look on his face. "Moody, you'd better not lie to me."
The sound of talking outside disappeared, followed by the crisp sound of Moody's footsteps on the floor, and with a "creak", the door was pushed open.
"It's all right now. So, do you want to leave or stay here with me until dawn? Um..." Moody glanced at the watch on his wrist. "There are less than four hours left. Why not..."
"No, sir, let's go back." Lamia spoke first before Moody could say the next sentence.
"In that case, very good. Then you'd better pray that you don't get caught by Filch again. I can't save you a second time." He nodded casually.
In the Charms class the next day, Lamia and the others all looked gloomy because they had not slept well the night before.
But Harry's words suddenly caught the attention of several people.
"You said you've found a solution?" Hermione said excitedly, "That's great. Hurry up and help Lamia think of something. You don't have many days left."
"Keep your voice down!" Harry said angrily. "I just have an idea."
In Charms class, Lamia and Hermione sat alone at a table at the back of the classroom, with Ron and Harry sitting in front of them.
The spell they are going to practice today is the exact opposite of the Flying Spell, and is called the Banishing Spell.
Because objects flying around the classroom could easily cause unfortunate accidents, Professor Flitwick gave each student a large pile of soft cushions to practice with, so that even if something went astray, it wouldn't hurt anyone.
The idea was good, but the execution was not smooth.
"We'll have to find some other way," Harry said in a low voice, as Professor Flitwick flew past them helplessly and landed on a large cabinet. "Professor Moody called me back last night, right after we left."
"Oh, Harry," said Hermione, shaking her head in disbelief, "Professor Moody wouldn't do such a thing. Isn't that cheating?"
She cast a banishing spell on a cushion, and it flew over the classroom and landed in the box they were supposed to be targeting.
Harry looked at Hermione, thinking... Yes, Professor Moody didn't need to do this, but he did it, didn't he? Although they didn't believe it, what did that mean? Did it mean that he was lying?
"I don't care what Moody says," Hermione continued. "Maybe he's just trying to frame you, Harry, so you can get expelled. After all, cheating in a game like this has huge consequences, doesn't it?"
"-bad." Ron quickly interrupted, "So, Hermione, how can we help Harry and Lamia? Their competition is just around the corner."
"Harry, how could you go back after we left?" Hermione ignored Ron and said to herself, "This is too dangerous. If anything happens to you, we have no chance of saving you. Can you not take such a risk next time?"
"You never want to listen to me," Ron said aggrievedly, casting a spell on the cushion, which flew towards the window.
"Ron, I didn't, it's just that this matter is more important," said Hermione, and she also cast a spell on the cushion, and her cushion flew neatly into the box.
"It's okay, Hermione. Professor Moody doesn't look like someone who would do such a thing. He may want to help me pass this project. He helped me with the first project." Harry said with a straight face, looking a little unhappy.
He was greatly surprised when his cushion flew straight over the classroom and landed safely on Hermione's cushion.
"Harry, how long can you hold your breath?" Lamia said suddenly.
"Hardly a minute," said Harry sadly.
Ron was inclined to use the Scuttle Charm again—Harry had told them about the use of water-scuba, and Ron thought Harry could probably get a set of water-scuba from a nearby Muggle town.
Hermione flatly rejected the idea, pointing out that even if Harry learned how to operate the aqualung within the allotted hour, he would certainly be disqualified because he would have violated the International Statute of Magical Secrecy - it would be impossible for a aqualung to whiz across the countryside towards Hogwarts without being seen by Muggles.