days at Hogwarts

Chapter 557 Golden Fire

Ginny's spell was simple and crude, with a casual feeling as if she was dealing with potatoes and ribs. No matter how hard and difficult the ingredients were, they were not so stubborn in front of this spell.

Seeing the Inferi regrouping and approaching with pairs of pale, wet hands stretched out, the youngest red-haired witch was not discouraged at all. Instead, her eyes sparkled with eagerness to try.

I've long had enough of the gloomy and depressing atmosphere here, so it's a good opportunity to make some noise and liven up this place!

Several people stood back to back in a circle, clearing the Inferi that were crawling up from all directions. George and Fred, who were standing on Ginny's right, were also eager to try. They waved their wands at the area where the Inferi were most concentrated, with dazzling light on the tips of their wands. The dazzling beam of light cut through the air and slammed into the pile of Inferi with a whistling sound. One of the Inferi was hit by two Crushing Curses, and with a loud "bang", the fragments of its limbs exploded directly, knocking more than a dozen Inferi flying backwards.

Wow... Wow...

Those figures fell directly into the cold lake water, creating a wave of water, and were then stepped on by other Inferi, becoming stepping stones for them to climb up. More and more Inferi surrounded the island in the middle of the lake. Because of their almost infinite number advantage, the Inferi were more difficult to deal with than expected, and more difficult to deal with.

"Don't use too destructive spells!"

Seeing the debris flying everywhere, Sirius' heart tightened, and he quickly cast a few barrier spells, tripping a group of Inferi to the ground. "Regulus may be in there too. I have to bring his body back intact. Kreacher, you take the children back first..."

Before he finished his warning, Harry's exclamation suddenly rang out from beside him: "Be careful!"

Sirius' pupils suddenly contracted, and he realized that there was an Inferi corpse under his feet, and a pale and wet hand reached towards his ankles.

Then, a thick magic spell shining with a scarlet glow whizzed from the side, and the scarlet magic spell, with a sharp sound of breaking through the air, went straight to the face of the Yin corpse. The clumsy Yin corpse was instantly knocked away by the powerful impact force, and crashed straight into the group of Yin corpses that followed behind. The sound of broken bones suddenly rang out, and the corpse that was knocked away actually created an empty aisle in the dense group of corpses.

The corner of Sirius' eye twitched. He heard it clearly. When Harry cast the spell, he clearly said "Expelliarmus".

"Don't even think about letting Kreacher take us away first, Sirius. You can't stop these Inferi by yourself." Harry spoke quickly without turning his head, and while speaking he used a powerful Disarming Spell to create a passage.

"But……"

"Don't say buts, let's find Regulus first." Loren shook his head, and the tip of his staff splashed with green lights. Each green light represented a repulsive spell, which landed delicately on the brows of the Inferi who had just climbed ashore, knocking them into the lake and turning them into stepping stones for other Inferi.

The Yin corpses that were besieging the crowd suddenly became sparse, and there were only a dozen Yin corpses left standing on the small island in the middle of the lake. The field of vision suddenly widened, and the faces of every Yin corpse were exposed in front of them without any cover, clear and identifiable at a glance.

Sirius pursed his lips, a very strange feeling arose in his heart. He felt guilty for putting several children in danger, relieved that the pressure of being besieged by the Inferi was suddenly reduced, and happy that the plan to find Regulus's body was feasible. He was first saved by Harry's powerful Disarming Charm, and then relied on Loren's quick spell. He inexplicably felt like he was not like a professor.

Things became easy afterwards. Thanks to Loren's quick spellcasting and Harry's powerful disarming spell, the number of Inferi that came ashore was always limited to an appropriate level. Sirius and Kreacher were able to identify their clothes and appearance one by one. After confirming that it was not Regulus, the others would execute them on the spot.

The continuous beams of spell lasted for about an hour.

Sirius stood there, circling around to identify, muttering quietly: "Female, not... old, not... long-haired, not..."

Loren stood silently by and cast spells, with crystal blue light floating in his dark eyes. Compared to Sirius's identification by appearance, he was faster in judging by magic. Among the nearly countless groups of Inferi, most were ordinary people with no magic power, or Muggles. Only a very few of them had dim magical glow floating on them.

"found it……"

As the words fell, an Inferi climbed up the rock clumsily and stood up staggeringly.

The moment their eyes met, seeing the indifferent expression on that familiar face, Sirius felt goose bumps all over his body, and he could feel Kreacher beside him trembling all over. In the center of this cold and damp island in the lake, a warm current involuntarily welled up in his eyes.

The corpse's dark skin looked pale due to being soaked in water for a long time, mixed into a strange color. Its black curly hair was wet and stuck to its scalp. It was not very tall, and its exquisite and expensive robes were soaked and stuck to its body.

"Master Regulus!" Kreacher called out miserably.

“Regulus…”

Sirius murmured, but he did not lose his mind. He realized that the soul in that body had left more than ten years ago, and now only the instinct of the Inferi remained. He immediately used [Quick Binding] to trap the Inferi, walked forward slowly, and picked up the body that was as cold as death and without blood or flesh.

He turned his head to look at the little wizards and forced a smile: "We found him, let's go."

The smell of corpse and rotting flesh entered Sirius' nose, and he choked a few times, letting the lake water on the corpse splash on his face and slide down quietly. Harry said nothing and walked over silently. Others also gathered around Kreacher and put their hands on one of his arms.

"Wait a mininute."

Loren clenched the wand he had been holding loosely, and cast a repulsive spell for the last time. The Inferi that were still climbing up the shore were knocked down into the water one after another. But this was not the end. A powerful magical power surged in his not-so-strong body, and the slightly curly hair on his forehead floated gently: "These Muggles also need rest and liberation..."

The wizards waiting to leave were stunned for a moment.

Loren opened his lips slightly and said softly: "Lihuo!"

It is said that Fiendfyre is an extremely evil black magic that must be released with the intention of destruction. However, this young wizard now not only has no malice in his heart, but instead has the kindness to help others get rid of it.

The tip of the staff glowed brightly, and billowing flames gushed out, forming a ring of fire that hovered above the lake, shining with brilliant gold, blazingly hot, and endless.

The Yin corpses who had been persistently climbing onto the island and dragging people into the water finally stopped. They huddled under the water, looking up at the sky full of flames, their indifferent eyes flashing with fear.

The Ring of Fire fell into the lake.

The inky black lake surface was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the approaching brilliant golden light, until the fire ring sank into the water. The dark lake water finally became transparent and clear. After a few seconds of silence, the wide lake water suddenly boiled and evaporated almost instantly, turning into bursts of white water vapor.

Before the water vapor could rise, it was ignited by the golden fire ring. The golden flames instantly spread across the entire sunken pit. One could clearly see the flames covering the corpses inside, burning out the water vapor inside. The swollen corpses briefly revealed their true faces, outlining the contours of different body shapes.

Magic power gushed out and golden light shone brightly.

Everything at the bottom of the lake quickly disappeared.

Loren walked slowly to Hermione, put a hand on the house-elf's arm, and faced the surprised looks of the others, tilted his head, and looked puzzled.

Everyone was stunned again and looked down. The lake that had originally soaked the corpses had disappeared, leaving only a spacious circular pit. The rocks on the bottom and side walls of the pit were burned into lava and then suddenly cooled, turning into smooth and clear obsidian.

Loren patted Kreacher gently and said, "Let's go back."

"Yes, Mr. Morgan."

The next moment, the group of people disappeared instantly.

...Number 12, Grimmauld Place, basement kitchen.

Bright lights shone on the dining table. The freshly purchased steak was fried to perfection, juicy and fragrant. The stewed meat was soft and tender. The taste was not amazing, but the things made by Mrs. Weasley had a magic that you would never get tired of eating for hundreds of years. The dessert after the meal was the ice cream from Flobber's Ice Cream Shop that Molly brought specially for the children.

But almost no one spoke at the table. The silent and depressing atmosphere was like the dancing flames on the stove, burning everyone's heart.

Sirius swallowed the beef in his mouth with difficulty, without any taste. He glanced cautiously at the red-haired witch not far away: "I'm sorry, Molly, it's all my fault. I was the one who dragged the children to play with me..."

"Who can be blamed for this?"

Molly's smile was ugly, her eyebrows drooped, the corners of her mouth turned down, and her voice was filled with weak sobs, "Of course you are right, Regulus gave his life to fight against Voldemort. As his brother, you should of course find his body."

The twins, who were always naughty, felt upset after hearing this and became unusually well-behaved.

"Mother……"

"Don't be sad."

"I'm sorry, it's all our fault."

"We should keep an eye on our younger brothers and sisters and not play around."

Molly's shoulders trembled twice, and she opened her mouth but said nothing.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I'm also wrong..." Ron said weakly.

"I'm sorry, Mum..." Ginny's head was about to fall into her plate.

"Who can I blame? I should blame myself!" Molly covered her face with her hands and finally burst into tears. "It's my fault that I locked you up in the house for the whole summer vacation. It's my fault that I didn't ask anyone to look after you when I went out to buy things... Oh... Someone please understand me. You don't know, when I came back from shopping, there was no one in the house. I thought, I thought..."

Mrs. Weasley, the supporter of the entire family, burst into tears. Her cries could be heard by everyone, and their hearts were filled with confusion.

Hermione's eyebrows knitted together and she wanted to say something, but Loren held her hand and shook his head at her.

There were many things that could be said at this time. Mrs. Weasley could be advised to be more open-minded and not worry so much. Children should learn to face difficulties and dangers. But facing a mother who was worried about her children, he could not say anything.

This dinner was exceptionally quiet. The children helped to clean up the kitchen, as if hard work and good performance would earn Molly's forgiveness. After all the dishes in the cupboard were taken out and washed manually three times, faint sobbing sounds could still be heard from upstairs.

The underage wizards looked at each other, nodded with a stern expression, tiptoed out of the room, and walked up the stairs.

The crying continued, and George, who was walking in front, walked up the last few stairs two at a time, crossed the landing, pushed open the door of the living room, and saw their mother huddled against the dark wall, holding the magic wand in her hand, her whole body shaking with crying.

And lying with his limbs stretched out on the gray old carpet, under the bright moonlight, was Ron's body!

The people walking in front gasped when they saw this scene, and immediately turned around to look at Ron behind them - he was still alive and kicking.

Ron also walked up the stairs and saw this scene. His scalp tingled and his heart went cold. He shouted in a trembling voice, "Mom?"

"Oh, I'm sorry..." sobbed Mrs. Weasley, pointing her shaking wand at Ron's body. "Slippery...slippery...ridiculous!"

Snapped!
Ron's body became Bill's, lying on his back with his limbs stretched out, his eyes wide open and empty.

Molly cried even harder than before, sobbing and chanting the spell again: "Slippery... funny funny!"

POP! Mr. Weasley's body replaced Bill's, glasses askew and a stream of blood running down his face.

"No... funny! Funny! Funny!"

The bodies of George and Fred, Percy's body, Ginny's body... the death scenes of each member of the Weasley family appeared alternately, and each time the death was miserable, so scary that people got goose bumps.

"Mrs. Weasley..." Loren reacted quickly and recognized that there was a Boggart in front of him. He stepped forward to block the scene of corpses and Molly, waved his wand and turned the Boggart into a puff of smoke, and drove it back into the box not far away.

Molly, who was immersed in fear, finally came to her senses. She turned around and saw several red-haired children. She hugged them in her arms, threw herself on their shoulders, and cried heartbrokenly.

"Don't worry, Mom, it's just a Boggart..." Fred patted her head awkwardly, trying to comfort her like she used to.

"I always see you guys dying...dying!"

Mrs. Weasley sobbed into his shoulder, "Always seeing... seeing! Darling, d-dreaming about it..."

The Weasley children spoke out to comfort their mother one by one, their voices were all the same gentle, those were the words and actions their mother had once said to them.

"It's okay, mom. It's okay..."

"It was just a stupid Boggart."

"Mom, look, we are all here, alive and well."

"..."

It took Molly a long time to hold back her sobs. She wiped her eyes vigorously with her sleeves and raised her head from the children's arms embarrassedly. Her voice was still sobbing, "Don't... don't tell your dad, I don't want him to know... I'm so stupid... I can't even deal with a Boggart..."

"Oh~"

Fred dragged out the last word and said in a weird voice, "This is a handle!"

George made a weird face and said, "Unless you promise us that you won't care about what happened today—"

Snapped!
Molly slapped him on the forehead and glared at them: "What are you talking about? Threatening me? I'm your mother!"

Joyful laughter broke out, dispelling the heavy darkness in the old house.

(End of this chapter)