"Look, everyone—the shore's disappeared!"
Justin from Hufflepuff cried out, making Harry, who like most of the others had been gazing toward the center of the lake, whirl around.
Just as Justin had shouted, the shore where their boat had been docked had vanished from sight. The boat was now somewhere out on the lake.
And it was not heading toward the island at the center of the lake, but in the exact opposite direction!
"From this moment on, we are on our way to Avalon Prison—"
Amosta walked from the rail, which the students had not dared approach, to the middle of the boat. Smiling, he addressed them all.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Several shrill whistles suddenly cut through the gentle, springlike lake breeze. From the hazy distance, more than a dozen birdlike objects flew over and hovered above the great oak boat.
"Monitoring Mirrors—"
Harry immediately cried out.
"That's right—"
Amosta nodded approvingly at Harry, then explained to the curious young wizards,
"This lake is protected by many powerful spells, some of them cast by Professor Dumbledore and myself. It is unrealistic for anyone to reach Avalon Island by force across the lake—"
"What exactly are they, Professor Breen? Could you tell us?"
Cedric asked with great interest.
Harry had thought the question would go unanswered, but to his surprise, Professor Breen actually replied.
"First of all, every inch of space within your sight is bound by powerful Anti-Apparition Charms. It is impossible for anyone to reach this place through Apparition, even using Goblin or house-elf teleportation magic—"
Amosta said gently.
"Besides the Monitoring Mirrors, Banishing Charms and Howling Charms have been placed over the lake, along with several extremely powerful spells. Any intruder attempting to cross the lake by flight will be burned to ashes."
"What about beneath the