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Chapter 716 The Return Journey
Chapter 716 The Return Journey
The next morning, the students left the castle in Thestrals, and the train arrived right on time at Hogsmeade Station.
Xilun and his companions arrived a little late. Just as they jumped off the carriage, they heard a loud whistle and a thick plume of smoke billowing from the chimney, indicating that the Hogwarts Express was about to depart.
"We'd better hurry, I don't want to take the Knight Bus back!" Harry seemed to recall some unpleasant memory, his face turned pale, and he dragged his luggage and rushed to the train.
The others hurried to catch up and finally managed to board the train before the doors closed completely.
"Finally made it—" Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sorry," Siron said somewhat embarrassedly. Harry and the others left the castle so late because they were waiting for him; otherwise, they would have arrived here ten minutes ago and wouldn't have needed to rush.
"It's okay, we made it in time," Harry said. "But what were you doing last night? We knocked on the door for so long this morning and couldn't wake you up."
"Ugh, don't even mention it." Xilun rubbed his forehead.
After returning from the principal's office yesterday, he has been trying to engrave runes on the locket with the Gryffindor sword.
This was more troublesome than he had imagined.
The sword was too big and not particularly light, making it difficult for Xilun to carve smaller runes on a pendant box that was less than the size of his palm.
So Xilun could only place the sword horizontally on the table, with the tip hanging out in the air, and then use the pendant box to scratch it.
Xilun rarely does this. Even if he has written the same magic runes countless times, he must be extremely careful to ensure that he does not make a mistake.
Moreover, the pressure required to engrave runes is very strict, although Gryffindor's sword can indeed leave marks on the locket!
But it wasn't as easy as Xilun had imagined.
Leaving a mark on the locket large enough to accommodate the cane core filling is not an easy task, and Siren cannot use too much force, otherwise he will puncture the locket directly.
And so, it took Xilun an entire night to barely complete half of the work.
It's likely that Dumbledore anticipated this outcome, which is why he told Siron that if he couldn't finish, he could take the sword home.
In retrospect, this decision was indeed necessary.
Furthermore, having been highly focused, Siren fell asleep immediately as soon as he relaxed. He slept soundly, and Harry knocked on the door for several minutes without waking him.
Hedwig eventually flew in through the window, scratching and yelling until she woke him up.
Siren pondered how to explain this in a way that would make it easier for them to accept that he was using the Gryffindor sword to turn the Slytherin locket into a wand.
Before he could even make up his mind, the train sounded another loud whistle and slowly pulled away from Hogsmeade Station.
"We'd better find a box quickly," Hermione said. "But if you'd rather talk in the hallway, then disregard what I said. Harry, though, you need to come with me to the Prefects' Box; we need—"
"I know how to maintain order," Harry said.
"That would be perfect." Hermione nodded.
Because they had to fulfill their duties as prefects, the two couldn't take their time finding an empty private room, so Xilun offered to take their luggage.
After all, it was because of him that they arrived so late, so it was only right that they help out more.
However, finding a private room was surprisingly easy; they found an empty one without even reaching the back of the car.
"What great luck!" Ron said happily as he went inside.
"It's probably not just luck," Siron said, waving his wand and placing Harry and Hermione's luggage on the shelf above. "I have a feeling there are far fewer people on the train."
"Fewer people? No, not really—" Ron opened the door to the private room and peeked outside.
"It shouldn't be wrong," Siron said. "Some people are afraid that the Death Eaters will attack the Hogwarts Express on the way, so they naturally won't take the risk."
"But if they don't take the train, how will they get back?" Ron asked. "They can't all take the Knight Bus, can they?"
"Don't forget about Apparition," Siron said. "Parents can wait in Hogsmeade Village in advance so they can get their children out of here as quickly as possible."
"Ah, I almost forgot you could do that too." Ron nodded in realization.
He then went outside to take a look and found that, just as Xilun had said, there were far fewer people on the train.
Previously, whether it was the start of the school term or a holiday, the train was always packed with people, and the compartments were extremely crowded.
But even though the train has been running for quite some time now, there are still at least five empty compartments.
"Tsk, as if going home would prevent Death Eaters from targeting them," Ron muttered under his breath.
This was probably the quietest return journey they had ever experienced; there were no noisy shouts or anyone running around outside.
Even the prefects responsible for maintaining order finished their duties earlier than usual.
Before noon, Harry and Hermione found their private box.
"It's unusually quiet on the train today," Harry said impatiently as soon as he closed the compartment door. "Even the first-year students are sitting quietly in their compartments, which would have been unthinkable before."
"Of course, Voldemort has already attacked the Ministry of Magic twice this year, and no one can guarantee where he'll go next," Siron said.
He didn't continue what he had done the night before; the train was too bumpy, making it even harder to control his strength. Since he wasn't in a hurry to return the sword, he decided to wait until he got back.
"Yes, it's all because of Voldemort," Harry sighed.
Because of a name, everyone's enthusiasm was low for the rest of the trip. After going out in the afternoon, Harry only took a quick look around before coming back.
Finally, the train gradually slowed down, and the familiar platform could be seen outside the window.
At that moment, the doors to the private rooms were opened again, and Ginny walked in from outside.
"Harry, and Siren, Mom told me to remind you again: if you don't see her or anyone else after you go outside, don't leave the station."
"Ah, okay." Seeing Ginny's serious expression, Harry nodded earnestly, but couldn't help feeling a little worried that the Death Eaters might be up to something again.
However, as they left the platform and were greeted by Mrs. Weasley and a host of familiar Order of the Phoenix faces, their worries quickly dissipated.
"Mrs. Weasley, Sirius—" Harry waved vigorously.
"Oh, Harry, darling." Mrs. Weasley trotted over and gave him a big hug. "It's so good to see you're all alright."
"Me too," Harry said.
On the other side, Xiren also saw Garian and Lila who came to pick him up.
"We were planning to go to Hogsmeade," Lila said, "but you seem to prefer taking the train."
"Because the train is safer." Siren glanced back and saw Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick walking out from behind the partition wall on the platform.
If even the students could think of it, how could Dumbledore and the professors not have thought of it?
On this return journey, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick stayed on the train the entire time to protect the students. Unless Voldemort himself came, or summoned the Death Eaters to launch a large-scale attack on the Hogwarts Express, the two of them together were more than capable of protecting the students.