[HP]Aluet

It was completely dark by the time we left Hagrid's hut.

The evening breeze brushed my hair, and I narrowed my eyes slightly.

We chose to walk slowly towards the castle from the small path, so after a short while, we passed a thick tree.I may not have paid attention to this place in a long time, but in my mind, at least when I was in school, this tree did not exist.

"Oh, don't go near it, Ashley." Minerva took my hand and pulled me to the right path.

"That's a Whomping Willow. I planted it here a long time ago." Dumbledore explained, "The students don't know about Remus's special status, so it's also a place for him to hide. Spend the night of the full moon in August and fifteenth.”

I nodded suddenly.

"Remus Lupine." I looked at the Whomping Willow and whispered the name.At this moment, what I saw before my eyes was not this time-I was thinking about something else, and I didn't even know why I was absent-minded.

"Lucky boy," I said.

The gate of the castle is right in front of me. I turned my head and looked at the long road behind me. I remembered that when I was an 11-year-old girl, I was curiously led by a professor with a group of innocent faces. Here we go to the castle and welcome the new campus life.Perhaps for me, that was not only a starting point, but also a turning point in my life.

I miss this place so much—even though I am still standing on this land, my thoughts are still gushing out like a spring.What am I missing?I have no idea.

"Time flies so fast." I sighed.

"Yes, Ashley." Dumbledore slowed down with his hands behind his back, he looked at us with a smile, so after a few seconds, he spoke again, "I still remember that each of you just arrived The way it is here...sometimes I suddenly feel that the children around me are growing up, and I seem to prefer to stay in the past, although reminiscence hurts-maybe it’s not so good to say Appropriate. I still feel that the past few decades are very close to me, but in terms of life, we have to look forward." He sighed. "In this way, I will realize that I and you are not the same. In an era, you are no longer children, and I am old."

"I never noticed you growing old, Albus," said Minerva.

I laughed along with Dumbledore.

His blue eyes are always bright.Indeed, Minerva was right in saying that I never noticed him growing old.In my world, he is my most respected enlightenment teacher. This respect and trust may be transformed into a friendship that spans ages under the precipitation of the sun and the moon, because what is rare is that he not only has a calm and wise soul that has experienced many vicissitudes , and a beating heart that is always in high spirits.

I accompanied them all the way into the castle and upstairs, and I told Dumbledore that Riddle was looking for the Lin family.I think of that special member of the Order of the Phoenix—Mundungus Fletcher. He has a wide range of sources, and he might be able to find some clues.

"According to him, he has a friend who disappeared a long time ago. He thinks this job is too dangerous and wants us to pay twice as much."

I recalled the man Nagini killed in front of me.

I shivered, shook my head, and forcibly erased that memory from my mind.

It is understandable to refuse to work for the Order of the Phoenix because of fear, but asking for twice the salary...

I raised my eyebrows: "Can such a greedy person really be trusted?"

"Who knows?" Dumbledore shook his head, "But he can indeed help us a lot. It's just that our money may be a little tight."

"Oh?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Don't forget the current crisis in the UK... there is a lack of supplies, no trade with foreign countries, and the source of income is almost cut off." He said, "The forces of the dark wizards have occupied several ports. If it weren't for the help of the mermaids, they would definitely Will choose foreign aid to quickly occupy Britain... Money is a big problem, Ashley. We may not feel it deeply, but I believe you have encountered homeless people on the streets. Poverty can make people crazy of."

I was silent for a long while: "Where is my vault in Gringotts? I don't need much expenses. The money I have now is enough for me to live for a long time."

The last time my father saw Dumbledore, he handed him his keys to Gringotts.He tried to give it to me when I first got back from Riddle's, but I didn't take it, so the key is still in Dumbledore's.

I don't intend to use that money as my private property. My identity no longer exists. Apart from normal food, clothing, housing and transportation, my money really has no other place to use it. It's better to let it play some more important role at this time. significance.

Dumbledore patted me on the shoulder.

"It's not as simple as you think, Ashley." He said, "Besides, you need to arrange your own things, I will keep them for you, and hope that one day you will take them away. We lack What matters is not the reward money. The most important thing today is not this, but the economic tension in the whole of Britain. We must worry about some problems, the peace will not last long, and the negative impact of the war is too much."

I pursed my lips and remained silent.

After saying goodbye to them, perhaps due to some nostalgia, I did not choose to fly out of the Astronomy Tower this time, but used the most common way, walking through the quiet and dim corridor and down the stairs.

Just halfway through, the stairs began to rotate and change. I held the handle, and the stairs that originally led to the second floor now lead directly to the fourth floor.

I've seen this happen a few times before.

I reluctantly walked up the stairs, planning to go around the stairs on the other side on the fourth floor.

When I went up the stairs and walked to the corner of the corridor, I suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from a certain direction in front.I'm very sensitive to this tiny movement, so I cast the Disillusionment Charm almost instantly, and walked towards the source of the sound vigilantly.

"...Prongs, don't be so anxious, take another look at Filch's position..."

I pricked up my ears and heard a sound like flipping paper.

"It's okay, he's on the fifth floor, going up...wait—"

"Shh, shut up!"

The whispering sound suddenly disappeared.

I walked carefully around behind a pillar and emerged into shape.

"Lumos." My wand illuminated the faces of several people, startling them, and myself.

The black-haired boy at the front quickly took out his wand and pointed it at me, subconsciously pushing the other three back.

"How many of you?" I asked hesitantly.

They looked at each other awkwardly.

Of course, I am not afraid to show my face in front of a few children. After all, I am an old Hogwarts graduate, and it is normal to visit professors, but from their expressions, I can catch a trace of tension, and I can even Call it panic.

I took it for granted as a normal emotion of being caught violating school rules.When I thought about how I used to sneak to the library after curfew when I was a child, I felt a little sad for a while.

"Sneaking out during curfew is not a good thing." I softened my tone.

"Of course—we know," said a brown-haired boy with glasses.That's when I started noticing his looks - I almost froze because he looked so much like Potter.

My eyes shifted to the fat boy with small eyes next to him - I didn't see any familiar shadow from him, so I skipped him.Another boy with brown hair and brown eyes had several conspicuous scars on his face, which looked like they were scratched by some beast's claws.As for the boy with black curly hair in the front...

My heart constricted suddenly.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

He kept silent, his gray eyes full of vigilance.

"I'm not going to tell Filch about it," I added, and then asked again, "What's your name?"

"Sirius Black," he answered me.

I stared at his face for a long time, then at the Gryffindor crest on his chest.I wanted to say something, but I opened my mouth and didn't utter a word for a long time.

They were probably still worried about whether Filch would show up suddenly.

I moved my gaze away with complicated emotions, nodded in response, ignored them, turned around and walked towards the stairs at the other end of the corridor.

Time flies so fast...

Lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling, I once again sighed in my heart.

I turned off all the lights, didn't draw the curtains, and the moonlight outside the window poured on me unreservedly.I raised my arm silently, and by the moonlight, caressed the skin on the back of my hand, and then moved down to my forearm.My fingertips are no longer as smooth as they used to be, and everything reminds me of the rapid passage of time.In an instant, I had to accept the signs that I was slowly growing into a middle-aged woman.

The tip of my nose felt sore at this moment, my brain was suddenly empty, and when the warm liquid flowed into my ears, I suddenly realized that I was missing, feeling lost, and falling into sadness and regret—but now every day A choice has become the past tense, I have no ability to change everything that has happened, I want to abandon the heavy past and look forward, so the more I do this, the more horrified I find that I have already been deeply involved in the panic about the future In the whirlpool, there is no way out.

I forced myself to turn my attention to other things, but soon found that I couldn't.

Ten minutes passed, and I still didn't feel sleepy at all.I sat up from the bed, put on my shoes, and opened the cabinet door.

I rummaged, rummaged, and rummaged through a cabinet of clothes, and finally took out a box from it.It's still brand new and in such good condition it's like it was bought yesterday.

I opened it, and the red dress was still neatly folded there, and the rose that hadn't been cast with any spell had already withered and rotted, only the root branch was still intact.

I took the dead branch out of it, restored the box properly, and stuffed it in a corner where I couldn't see it.

I walked slowly, sat quietly at the table, put the dead rose in the bottle, and let it enjoy the treatment that a fresh and brilliant flower should have.