12 Grimmauld Place

The night was deep.

It just so happened to be a full moon, and we happened to be flying high in the sky, so the silvery moonlight seemed even more serene and cold.

Hermione raised her head slightly, opening her eyes a crack.

The silvery moonlight filled her eyes, and the whole world seemed to expand instantly. She was sitting on the back of the Hippogriff Loren had transformed into, her hands tightly wrapped around his neck, which was covered in smooth, cool scales.

The cold wind of the night ruffled the girl's hair. Her gaze passed through the transparent body shrouded by the Disillusionment Charm and looked down. The scene on the ground quickly shrank into a pattern pieced together from dark green and black, and the square gardens Privet Drive grew farther and farther away.

This method was devised by Loren.

First, they cast Disillusionment Charm to conceal their forms, then transformed and flew into the sky with her. Apart from Mad-Eye, the other wizards did not notice anything different about them, and simply assumed that they had been keeping their brooms in some kind of storage alchemy equipment, just like their luggage.

In front of them was Tonks, leading the way, and behind them was Mad-Eye, surveying the entire situation.

Hermione pressed her head against his neck again. As the flight altitude gradually increased, the temperature dropped, the speed gradually increased, and the wind blowing in their faces became even colder. Through the gaps in his scales, she could smell his usual orange scent, as well as a slight warmth.

A strange joy stirred within her.

"Quick, turn left! Turn left! There's a Muggle looking up!" Moody shouted from behind.

The voices were sparse and indistinct due to the cold wind, but Tonks immediately reacted, grabbed the broom handle and swung it sharply, with the others following closely behind.

"We need to fly higher... another quarter mile!"

As the altitude increased again, nothing could be seen below except for tiny, pinhole-like bright spots—the lights from streetlights and car headlights. Two of these spots likely belonged to Uncle Vernon's car.

By the time the shapes of the clouds became clear, the scene on the ground had completely blurred. The cold wind in the sky grew even more biting, and the other wizards' robes were filled with wind, making a fluttering sound. The straps that Tonks used to fasten the birdcage and the empty box creaked and rattled.

Along with the whistling wind, Harry's intermittent laughter also reached his ears, sounding exceptionally cheerful, as if all the frustration and depression of the past month had been blown away by the wind.

Mad-Eye was still giving orders in his hoarse voice:

"South! There's a town ahead! Fly southeast!"

The entire group turned right to avoid flying directly over the twinkling lights of countless homes, but Mad-Eye seemed to have no sense of direction, constantly changing his route during the hour-long flight.

At least in Hermione's memory, he seemed to be going in circles.

"Keep ascending. There's a patch of low clouds ahead. We can fly in and hide inside!"

Hearing the command to change direction again, Tonks yelled angrily, "Don't fly in the clouds! We'll get soaked, Mad-Eye!"

Mad-Eye quieted down for a moment, but soon his gruff voice of command returned:

"Turn southwest! We need to avoid the highway!"

"..."

"We'd better turn back a bit to make sure we're not being followed!"

Tonks couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed the broom handle, turned around, and yelled, "Are you crazy, Mad-Eye? We're freezing on this broom! If we keep veering off course like this, we probably won't get there until next week! And we're almost there!"

"It's time to begin landing," Lupin said, his voice trembling with exhaustion. "Harry, Loren, Hermione, you stick close to Tonks!"

"Very good!"

Tonks cheered, Hermione vaguely saw her blow a kiss to Lupin below before swooping down into a large patch of light, the wizarding party following closely behind, tracing a smooth arc.

The lights grew brighter and clearer, crisscrossing and extending in all directions until one could clearly see car headlights, streetlights, chimneys, and television antennas, interspersed with dark black squares—those were the houses.

We've arrived!

The group landed in the middle of a small square on a messy, desolate grassy field. Hermione felt the enormous creature beneath her gradually shrink until it became a figure slightly taller than her, carrying her steadily on its back.

Loren felt a soft touch on his back, patted the hand that was tightly wrapped around his chest, and said in a teasing voice that only the two of them could hear, with a faint but clear laugh, "What, want to stay on my back forever?"

Hermione quickly let go of her hands, landed on the ground, and tidied her hair and clothes by feel, finally patting her burning face without making a sound.

Thankfully, I have the Disillusionment Charm, otherwise he would have laughed at me again if he saw me like this...

Loren stopped in his tracks, a smile appearing on his face, a fleeting glint of crystalline blue light in his eyes.

"This is it, but we need to perform some necessary rituals to get in." Moody muttered as he walked forward, his eyes scanning the house numbers on both sides of the road, as if searching for something.

The houses in the vicinity had a gloomy and unapproachable appearance. Some of the windows were broken, gleaming dimly under the streetlights, many doors had peeling paint, and the front steps of several houses were piled with garbage.

"Where is this place?"

The wand struck them and unleashed a counter-spell, causing Loren and Hermione to break free of invisibility and reveal themselves.

"I know!" Harry suddenly appeared beside him, his voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement. "Sirius Black brought me here before, it was...it was..."

Harry looked bewildered, scratching his head as he pondered the address. His brows furrowed, and his eyes grew increasingly blank. "I clearly remember it, I should remember it, but..."

"Don't even think about it. This place is protected by very powerful magic. You can't reveal anything without the permission of the Secret Keeper."

Moody explained in a gruff voice, rummaging through his cloak, pulling out his Curved Flask and taking a big gulp. His large, bony hands were so cold they were trembling slightly.

Loren and Hermione realized that this was the legendary Fidelius Charm.

Harry also recalled the spell; his parents had used it to escape Voldemort and the Death Eater, but ultimately they had mistakenly trusted Wormtail Peter ...

"Come with me!"

Moody tucked the bottle back into his pocket, limped ahead, and finally stopped next to a dirty, dilapidated house.

The faint rumbling of stereo speakers could be heard coming from the upstairs windows, and a pungent stench of rotting garbage emanated from the bulging garbage bags inside the dilapidated doorway.

"Here," Moody said gruffly, shoving a piece of parchment into Harry's hand. "You guys read this quickly and memorize it."

Loren and Hermione curiously went over to investigate.

The handwriting above is long and thin: The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at 12 Grimmauld Place, London.

The next moment, the paper curled up and caught fire, then drifted to the ground. The group looked up and surveyed the surrounding houses. They were currently standing in front of number 11, with number 10 to their left, which immediately turned into number 13 as they approached.

"12 Grimmauld Place..."

Loren silently recited it in his heart, and a strange Magic Power fluctuation arose, spreading out like ripples. As if echoing, corresponding ripples appeared in the space in front of him.

Sensing the invisible fluctuations of Magic Power, his gaze fell on the gap between the two houses.

A dilapidated door appeared out of nowhere between numbers 11 and 13, followed by filthy walls and gloomy windows, making it look as if an extra house had suddenly swelled up, squeezing out everything on either side.

Whether viewed from Muggle's perspective, a wizard's perspective, or even from the perspective of various other Fantastic Beasts, the scene before us is magical enough.

Even without knowing the detailed principles of the Fidelius Charm, Loren could sense that such a spell contained a powerful force that was almost like a rule, rather than being merely concealed by color and shape like the Disillusionment Charm.

The first thing to solve is the concealment and convergence of the basic space. The principle is similar to the reverse application of the Untraceable Extension Charm, but it is much more difficult to implement.

Last but not least, how to erase the memory of this address from the minds of all those in the know, not just the memory, but also the impressions and perceptions, so that without access to information about the hidden location, those in the know would be completely unaware that something was amiss.

The so-called "soul magic" in Charms is completely different from the non-surgical brain alterations in Muggle medicine.

In the long history of Muggle neurology, some people have tried to treat mental illnesses by damaging the prefrontal cortex, causing people to become dull and apathetic. Others have damaged the hippocampus, causing memory problems. In short, by damaging different areas of the brain, it is possible to affect multiple aspects such as memory, language, behavioral cognition, and limb control.

Throughout the history of soul magic passed down from thousands of years ago, successive generations of dark wizards and scholars for research purposes have developed and created all sorts of spells that affect the soul, such Memory Charm, the False Memory Charm, Legilimency, Occlumency, and Imperius Curse...

Without exception, they are all uncontrollable and will cause serious consequences.

Given the above realities, the magic and complexity of such a powerful, concealed spell are simply unimaginable.

This was the first time Loren had witnessed the activation of the Fidelius Charm firsthand, but even with just a cursory observation, he could see that the Fidelius Charm's magical design was beyond imagination. It was a spell that achieved near-perfect secrecy by compressing space and modifying inner beliefs, without affecting those in the know or even being detected by them.

I tried to say "12 Grimmauld Place" but couldn't. The address was right there on my lips, but when I tried to say it, it became blurry.

This is the most powerful characteristic of the Fidelius Charm: apart from the designated Secret Keeper, no one else can reveal the secret, even if they know it.

Hermione was also shocked by the spell. She and Loren exchanged a glance, and neither of them asked any questions.

"Unbelievable, right..."

Moody seemed used to the awe of those standing there. He grinned and limped up the broken stone steps. "Come on, we've already wasted a lot of time. The Order of the Phoenix has a meeting waiting for us."

The black paint on the door had peeled off, and it was covered with scratches from left to right. The silver door knocker was shaped like a coiled snake. There was no keyhole or mailbox.

Lupin pulled out his wand and knocked on the door. Immediately, a series of loud metallic clanging sounds and the rattling of chains rubbing against each other came from inside.

"Squeak—"

The old, worn-out hinges groaned under the weight of the load, and the door opened with a thud.

Following Lupin into the old house, Harry finally saw the scene from his memory. He chuckled and mysteriously instructed, "Don't go too far in, don't touch anything, and don't make any noise."

Loren probably knew what he was talking about, but he didn't ask any questions. He silently took Hermione's hand and followed the others inside.

Stepping across the threshold into the dark Entrance Hall, a damp, musty smell hits you, carrying the stench of rotting wood, like an abandoned house that has been abandoned for a long time.

It seemed as if some kind of magic within the walls had come into play. With a rustling sound, a row of old-fashioned gas lamps on the wall lit up one after another. A chandelier adorned with a crystal sculpture of a coiled serpent cast a faint, hazy light. The light flickered a few times like a candle flame before gradually stabilizing, illuminating the long, gloomy Entrance Hall, the peeling wallpaper, the worn and frayed carpet, and the portraits that hung crookedly on the walls, blackened by the passage of time.

Those are probably the ancestors of the Black family.

Footsteps approached them, growing louder as Mrs. Weasley emerged from the Entrance Hall and hurried toward them, a warm smile on her face.

"Oh, Harry, Loren, Hermione, it's so good to see you!"

Molly pulled Harry into her arms, and Loren and Hermione, who were standing nearby, noticed that she looked much thinner and paler than when they last met.

"You must be hungry after your journey. You need to eat more to replenish your energy, but it'll probably be a while before dinner... The meeting is about to start. He just arrived and is about to give his report. You should go quickly..."

Molly told Moody to take his men to the meeting first, then grabbed the three who wanted to follow. "No, kids, only members of the Order of the Phoenix can attend the meeting. Ginny and her brothers are upstairs. You can stay with them until the meeting is over, and then we'll have dinner..."

Watching her retreating figure, Loren and Hermione looked at Harry standing to the side.

Back in familiar surroundings, Harry, now calmer, waved for them to follow, while pressing a finger to his lips. "Shh, don't talk loudly in the Entrance Hall."

They tiptoed past two long, worm-eaten curtains, then around a large umbrella frame that looked like it was made from a troll's severed leg, and up a dark staircase next to a panel on the wall with a row of wrinkled heads—the heads of House-elf.

Turn right on the Second Floor, and follow the sound to push open the second door.

Inside the room, a group of red-haired young wizards turned to look at them, their expressions gradually becoming more animated, their eyes radiating surprise.