Hogwarts 1991

Chapter 677

[The Leaky Cauldron] and [Diagon Alley] are not what they used to be.

The street buildings that were originally only one or two floors began to squeeze into each other, stacked on top of each other... mixed with huge sculptures and dilapidated temples, forming a new 'gathering point' with a strange style.

[The Leaky Cauldron Bar] is located on the first floor, where the original door and the main hall... were directly cut into two parts, one part is open to the open air... the other part is buried deep in the ground at an angle...

It was as if a giant had directly tore the house in half.

Old Tom, with his wrinkled old face, commanded some poorly dressed wizards to rebuild the entire bar.

They stood outside the lowest level of the huge building... waving their wands to strengthen the remaining structure of the Leaky Cauldron.

It looks like it's mostly packed and almost finished.

I don't know why it has become like this, old Tom, why hasn't he pushed it to rebuild, and is trying his best to maintain this dilapidated old building...

What does he want to do?
What's more, in such a world, can this [Leaky Cauldron] still be open?
Other wizards weren't much better off, though.

They gathered scatteredly in various places of this weird building.

Confused and mechanically waving his magic wand, he kept moving those broken stone statues and temple fragments from other places...to fill in and strengthen his magic shop.

And this kind of behavior just happened to make the [Leaky Cauldron] densely packed with magic shops in Diagon Alley.

They are mixed with the black and red rocks that are unique to this world, as well as broken and huge sculptures (huge stone faces, sculpted giant hands with strange gestures, giant beast statues with fangs and sharp teeth, twisted dead wood and stone forest)... gathered together layer by layer.

The whole building... looks like someone has kneaded the area between Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron.

Those shops are intertwined and connected in series, with shop doors and windows protruding from all directions. The layout of Diagon Alley, which was originally orderly, is now completely chaotic.

The cobblestone ground, the huge black and red stones, the roofs of the houses, even the white walls of Gringotts, and the marble stairs are mixed together...together to form the twisted narrow paths, narrow and dark alleys here.

The roads of this huge mixed building... up, down, left, and right, extending in all directions, twisting and winding like a maze to connect all the places here.

All kinds of magic shops (Ollivander Wand Shop, Magic Pet Shop, Quidditch Boutique Broom Shop...), even Gringotts... this monopoly magic bank is all integrated in this building in a weird form.

In fact, not only the buildings of Diagon Alley, but even the magic shop of Knockturn Alley have been integrated into it.

All kinds of skeletons and magic items exuding black magic are displayed directly in front of a store on the second floor.

It was a location that suddenly appeared, [Bojin-Bock], the silvery signboard hung above the storefront that looked like a huge mouth of an abyss, constantly shining with strange lights.

A greasy-haired, hunched wizard with a red face... sitting on a balcony (like a tongue) protruding from his shop, looking in all directions.

It can be seen that...he is quite satisfied with his current situation.

Next to his shop, in a corner, a small place, crowded with other small shops in Knockturn Alley.

There are small stalls outside some shops selling a poisonous candle with a strange green light; there are shops selling all kinds of furry giant insects (spiders, centipedes, scorpions...); in the windows of some shops... there are all kinds of shrunken and horrifying human heads; in the deepest alley, where McGuffin can't see... there are faint roars of living corpses.

These guys actually imprisoned living corpses...

However, this is not the most exaggerated, the biggest change is Gringotts.

Its original white walls, marble stairs, and the gleaming silver gate...as well as the magnificent main hall for receiving wizards were all dismantled one by one, and strangely placed in various positions of the city.
However, the remaining overall building of Gringotts has been elongated... It is placed in the very center of the building, as eye-catching as a cylinder.

And the goblins are directing these many wizards, in a certain area below it (that is, [The Leaky Cauldron Bar])... Digging underground passages hard.

I don't know what those goblins want to do.

In short, the weirdness and absurdity of this building cannot be described in words.

From the bottom to the top of MacGuffin and Black... When observing this building, I can still feel some distorted beauty.

In McGuffin's opinion, the building in front of him is quite... a strangely distorted, dilapidated and abandoned feeling like the Kowloon Walled City, an unusually chaotic magical punk aesthetic.

A large part of Muggles and wizards are hiding in the edge corners of this building, they are densely crowded in those alleys, or the open space in front of those magic shops (that is, on the roof of the magic shop below),

They were either confused, or apprehensive... or worshiped on the ground, raising their hands to the sky... shouting the name of Voldemort...

However, some organized wizards walked back and forth, waving their wands and casting spells with the goblins... The solidity of the strange building complex in front of them made it tightly integrated layer by layer.

But the current situation of the two of them, MacGuffin and Sirius, is not to enjoy the scenery, to find out what use these wizards are here to build and transform such a thing... What is the use.

When Sirius Black woke up, he knew right away what the MacGuffin had brought him here... for.

——exchanging information, wanting to inquire about Dumbledore or the whereabouts of the Ministry of Magic from these wizards.

And the guy with the best news should be right in front of them.

Time is running out!

Both Blake and McGuffin are well aware of this.

Sirius pulled out his wand, walked over directly... came to old Tom who was so busy in the dark, exchanged some awkward greetings, and then asked very casually, "Tom... do you know where Scrimgeour and the others are now? The Ministry of Magic should still be in operation, right?"

"They should also come to this world, right?"

Old Tom, who looked like a shriveled walnut and had few hairs, dealt with Sirius calmly.

There was some fear in his words. Obviously, although Black had received an emergency endorsement from the Ministry of Magic, his innocence had been clarified.

But the bad reputation in the past made many people not want to be associated with him.

The wizards who were working in front of Old Tom moved directly to the other side... avoiding them.

However, McGuffin looked at the sneaky expressions of these guys, and always felt that these guys seemed to be a little more afraid of him. (It seems that the previous scene where Harry transformed into Voldemort really scared some people.)
After Black directly asked Old Tom about the Ministry of Magic, the old fox did not answer directly, but silently directed the other wizards,

They're moving a large, stunning stone spear into the Leaky Cauldron to act as a load bearing column.

The diameter of the spear requires two or three adults to stand hand in hand in order to be able to barely hold it.

Then, Old Sandalwood, he took out a long pipe, and in a strange posture... come on, suck on puffs of gray smoke.

Although he didn't say it, McGuffin and Black could see... something in his eyes and small movements.

The owner of the [Leaky Cauldron] is implying...someone in the bar.

The man had smooth, flowing blond hair, and he was timid all the time, not daring to look directly at other people.

Maybe I saw someone paying attention to me.

The guy stood up from the shabby, rotten chair that looked irreparable... and slipped directly along a stone staircase that... dangled down from the upper floor.

Went to the second floor.

After McGuffin and Black saw this, they quickly followed.

time is limited.

No one knows when Voldemort... or the Death Eaters will follow. They must find clues from the Ministry of Magic and find Dumbledore as soon as possible.

The three of them followed each other all the way around, walked through the cobblestone alleys formed by various magic shops, dark alleys and various roads, jumped around in the magic shops of all levels, and after a while... they came to the new Gringotts, which is the strange... The entrance of the magic bank in the shape of a cylindrical tube building (it is located on the sixth floor, the most central location of the building floor).

However, the McGuffins did not go in, but followed the wizard to a narrow alley on the left side of Gringotts.

This small alley was so narrow that Sirius almost couldn't squeeze in sideways...

This winding, twisting, deep and cramped alley was a dead end, and it didn't take long... a low wall blocked in front of them.

The red masonry wall was still slightly familiar, before McGuffin and Black realized it.

The man took out his wand and tapped a certain area in the corner of the wall, and then, the wall shook, and suddenly another large hole appeared under their feet.

The three fell straight down.

It was very different from the slippery, endlessly dark chute to the Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets in my second year.

The three of them, McGuffin... fell straight up and down.

And it was quickly held by the air, and landed in a dry...even hot place.

Here is a circular cave like the Colosseum, with huge black and red stone bricks... Paved corridors intermittently surround them.

The surrounding walls, those stone bricks, and even the top of the cave... emanated a faint red light, illuminating the underground cave.

All kinds of broken and dilapidated stone statues are lying horizontally, or embedded in the walls, in the ground... placed there in a mess.

The man who brought them here was standing not far from McGuffin and Black, his face was blurry, and Nuo Yinuo was now in the shadow of the black and red communicative.

At this time, the man pulled the flowing golden wig off his head, and then used his hands on his face, stomach... all over his body, and he returned to his original state, and he also tightly grasped a gel-like thing.

then……

Mr. Arthur Weasley was tall and thin, with a 'red Mediterranean' head... suddenly appeared in front of the two of them.

"Arthur!" Sirius Black went over happily and hugged him.

It seems that during the time at Snape's house, the two of them... got along very well.

But the two also knew that now was not the time for pleasantries or inquiries.

After a few words, Black brought the topic back to normal.

"Arthur, why did you come here? Are Dumbledore and the others also in this world... I have urgent business with them, Harry, he needs help?"

"I know... I was sent here by Professor Dumbledore..."

"Then where is he... I must find him quickly..."

"Not in a hurry!"

"No, the Dark Lord is still chasing us both...and I'm more afraid...he's back in front of that Muggle house..."

"We have no time to waste!"

Blake urged anxiously.

However, Arthur Weasley was calm and dissatisfied, and he sighed with a tired face.

"Listen, Sirius...we still have a lot of time. Haven't you noticed yet?" Arthur Fan Wen said.

"Found what..."

"The time... the time is wrong!"

"Since this unknown black magic ritual swept across London, the time in the whole area was wrong..."

"This ancient black magic ritual not only stagnates the flow of time here and outside... but also interferes with the time sense of everyone within the scope of this ritual."

"Besides, since coming to this world, the impact has become more serious."

"What do you mean?"

"You saw this strange building outside... didn't you guess something?"

"The wizard here in Diagon Alley has been in this world for more than a month..."

"How is it possible? This is where I, Harry and Hagrid landed... If there is any clue, we would have noticed it too." McGuffin did not believe Mr. Weasley's statement.

"When you stay in a certain area of ​​the world and stay still, you will find that the flow of time starts to become extremely fast... This is also the same as the location of the Ministry of Magic that cannot stay in one place. This is why [Diagon Alley] and [The Leaky Cauldron Bar] were built in this way... The goblins and wizards here want to turn this building into a walking castle."

"No, no, that Muggle family and I stayed in that house all the time, if that's the case...we should be affected too. But that's not the case at all." Black retorted.

But upon hearing such words, Mr. Weasley's expression immediately became tense.

"...I know...there is only one exception...it should be because the Dark Lord has been staying around you...where he has been...the time in that area will temporarily return to normal."

"Is it possible that the mysterious person is really chasing you?"

"I don't know, I didn't see..." McGuffin replied.

"I'd like him to come after him, so...the pressure on Harry and the others will be much less," Black said.

Hearing such an answer, Mr. Weasley's expression was finally no longer so calm. He hurriedly took out a black-red candle from his pocket, lit it, and emitted a golden light, illuminating the road ahead.

"If that's the case, it's really time to act, and you can't wait any longer. Come with me..."

Then Mr. Weasley himself took the lead, holding up the flickering golden candle, and stepped into the glowing red tunnel aisle.

(End of this chapter)