Thestrals on the Road, a Trap at the Department of Mysteries

Since Thestral can only be seen by those who have witnessed death, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were in an awkward situation, unable to even see them, let alone ride them.

Luna helped them onto the Thestral one by one, teaching them how to hold onto the mane before the three of them could barely be considered to be on their mounts.

"That's incredible." Ron patted the neck of the Thestral he was riding. "It looks like I'm floating in mid-air."

"It's just a bit ugly," Ginny joked. "The posture is very indecent."

"How can you talk about your own brother like that?" Ron rolled his eyes speechlessly and adjusted his posture as much as possible.

"Are you ready?" Harry asked solemnly, and everyone nodded in unison.

He didn't know how to get Thestral to take them to the Ministry of Magic, so he simply leaned close to Thestral's ear and said very directly, "London, Ministry of Magic, Guest Entrance, if you know how to get there..."

Fortunately, Thestral did not disappoint him; it only paused for a moment before spreading its wings and soaring into the sky.

Caught off guard by the sudden acceleration, the six had to cling to the Thestral's neck to avoid being blown off by the airflow.

They flew out of the Forbidden Forest, the stadium, Hogsmeade Village, the woods and rivers, rapidly receding from their sight.

The last rays of the setting sun were gradually swallowed by the night. They saw the Muggle village and a few vehicles speeding along the uneven road.

Harry felt the rush of wind and the buzzing in his ears, gaining a full understanding of the Thestral ' speed. Soon, even Firebolt couldn't keep up, but he still felt it wasn't fast enough.

After all, in the footage he saw, Sirius Black was still being tortured by the Death Eater. Nobody knew how much patience the Death Eater had, or how long he could hold out. If they were a step too late, they would probably only be able to collect Sirius Black's corpse.

While they were rushing on their way, Aaron arrived at the Divine Thunder Hall.

He directly transferred his memories to the Thought Form, then sat down in the chair and hugged Abei in his arms.

The Thought Form remained silent for a moment, then comforted her, "There's no need to worry so much. You've done everything you could."

The Lycoris, used for self-defense, is enough to make even Archmage hesitate to act; the Moon Drop, used for survival, would be something even a peak-level archmage like Voldemort would have to respect.

"But I always feel like I've forgotten something, and I have a vague unease." Aaron rubbed his temples anxiously. "As the saying goes, even the wisest person can make a mistake."

I'm not a wise man, but my intuition is usually quite accurate. Don't tell me you didn't sense it.

"So what if we sensed it?" The Thought Form shrugged. "They're the ones courting death. We can't just drag ourselves into it!"

Furthermore, although Professor Snape disliked Harry Potter, he valued his life more than anyone else.

"What did you say?" Aaron seemed to realize something. "Yes, Professor Snape. He doesn't know that Harry has already walked right into the trap, so the notification to the Order of the Phoenix Society might not be as urgent."

"It's no big deal." The Thought Form waved its hand. "Professor Snape is capable of keeping his personal life separate from his official duties and won't let his personal feelings get into business. He must have already informed me."

"That's true!" Aaron nodded noncommittally. "But if it wasn't Professor Snape I overlooked, where else could it be?"

"If you ask me, don't overthink it. In reality, we only have two choices: go or not go."

If we don't go, we can't even start discussing any of the issues, but if we do go...

Aaron paused for a moment, then looked at the shelf on the wall with his Thought Form. It held the valuable resources he had accumulated over the years.

Various Potions, rare materials, four guns besides the Lycoris Lily, hundreds of enchanted bullets, Magic Carpet, Captain Jack's Compass, a one-time Tiger Talisman, and the most valuable Nika Mask, and so on.

Aaron took a deep breath. "The situation isn't that serious yet, is it?"

"I don't know, but it's better to be safe than sorry," the Thought Form said seriously. "There are things we've overlooked, and given that both you and I have anxieties, once we decide to go, it will definitely not be a small matter."

Voldemort has set a trap, the Death Eater are definitely there, and the Phoenix Society will arrive sooner or later, then it will be a chaotic battle.

The scale of this battle could be large or small; it could be a battle between three Warlock on a small scale, or it could be ten times larger on a large scale.

Moreover, the Dark Lord might very well intervene personally; after a year of preparation, he's almost ready to make his appearance before the public.

Aaron's lips twitched; he couldn't deny that the Thought Form's words had indeed given him a great sense of pressure.

Did the Book of Prophecy say anything?

"A crisis triggered by a Prophecy Orb, that's all."

"Does it even need to be said?" Aaron said speechlessly. "Isn't there anything else?"

"Not yet, but even if it does, it probably won't be good news."

Aaron patted his forehead. "Try doing your own Divination!"

"This is the only way, but it may not be able to Divination the future we want," the Thought Form said helplessly, then snapped its fingers, and a Shadow Ninja placed the Crystal Ball on the table.

The two exchanged a glance and focused their attention on the Crystal Ball, carefully observing the few images that appeared in the thick fog.

They flew in the night sky for an unknown amount of time when suddenly yellow lights appeared in Harry and the others' field of vision, along with dense buildings and cars of all sizes parked along the streets.

The Thestral suddenly changed direction and swooped down, but the impact of the fall was not much, and it landed steadily.

When their feet touched the ground again, the six of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Riding Thestral is incredibly thrilling, but if given a choice, they would definitely not choose this method.

"Are we there yet?" Hermione looked around the desolate street with curiosity. Apart from a few dilapidated offices, a small tavern, and a dump truck overflowing with cargo, there was only a run-down red telephone booth. "Don't tell me the Ministry of Magic is a place like this?"

"Follow me." Harry quickly entered the phone booth, and the others hesitated for a moment before squeezing in as well.

"I remember it was 62442. That's the number Mr. Weasley dialed when he took me to my trial," Harry said, pressing the number he didn't quite believe. A woman's voice came through the phone booth.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and the purpose of your visit."

"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood, we're here to rescue people unless your Ministry of Magic has already done so."

"Thank you, guests. Please take your badges and put them on the front of your clothes."

Six badges slid out of the coin slot, and each of the six people picked up their own badge marked 'Rescue Mission' and pinned it to their front.

"Okay, can we go in now?"

"Yes, guests from the Ministry of Magic."

You will need to go to the security checkpoint for inspection and register your Wand.

As soon as the words were spoken, the red telephone booth trembled and slowly descended.

The elevator descended to the visitor entrance, which is the main hall on the eighth Seventh Floor level, and then stopped.

"The Ministry of Magic hopes you have a pleasant evening."

The elevator doors suddenly opened, and Harry and the others gripped their Wand, ready for battle. But the place was empty; the fireplaces on either side of the walls were not lit, and the Wizarding World Fountain made the sound of flowing water, creating a slightly eerie atmosphere.

"The Ministry of Magic needs a rest too, right?" Ron said, forcing a smile. "I mean, the staff need to sleep too, right? It's a bit strange that there's not even anyone on guard duty."

"We need to hurry." Harry pressed the elevator button decisively, and the elevator slowly moved downwards.

"Department of Mysteries"

As the woman's voice faded, the elevator doors opened again.

Harry looked at the black door at the deepest part of the room and felt inexplicably uneasy, but he still took a step forward.

After pushing open the door, they entered a circular room, but Harry's expression was not good, as it was somewhat different from the scene in his dream.

There was only one dream door in the dream, which he could easily find, but there were twelve identical doors in this room. Who knows which room stores the Prophecy Orb?

"Should we search room by room?" Luna asked softly.

Harry nodded helplessly. "That's all we can do. I'll let you know if we find it."

Pushing open the first door, the rectangular room was empty, with a huge glass tank in the middle, in which many colored things floated around in the dark green liquid.

"Not here," Hermione said awkwardly. "These are brains. We'd better move on to the next room."

"But there are some doors here too." Ron pointed to the wall, where a row of identical doors stood.

Harry's lips twitched slightly. There was a door within a door, making it seem even more difficult to find the right one. More importantly, the next room was unlikely to have a similar door.

"It shouldn't be these," Harry said uncertainly. "I entered the second room very easily in the dream. Let's go back and try again!"

They retreated back into the circular room and marked the door containing the brain before opening the second door.

The second door leads to a huge stone pit surrounded by rows of stone benches, similar to the seven-roomed trial chamber.

At the center is a tall stone platform with an archway on it, and a black curtain Veil inside the doorway without any wind.

The Veil seemed to possess a mysterious allure, enticing Harry to slowly approach.

"There was a sound, and you could tell what was being said."

"There's no sound, Harry," Hermione said somewhat anxiously. "Let's go out quickly!"

"I heard it too." Luna stared intently at the swaying Veil. "There's someone inside."

"That's just an empty archway," Hermione said impatiently. "Hurry up, Harry, we're here to save Sirius Black."

Upon hearing Sirius Black's name, Harry immediately snapped out of his reverie. "Yeah, we need to get out of here right away."

They returned to the circular room and marked the eerie space.

The third door couldn't be opened, and even the unlocking spells didn't work, so they had no choice but to try opening the fourth door first.

This time Harry found the place he was looking for; the room was filled with tall shelves, on which were many dusty glass marbles.

"This is it," Harry said excitedly, then gripped his Wand and began searching for the ninety-seventh shelf according to his memory. If he wasn't mistaken, Sirius Black was suffering there.

"Ninety-two, ninety-three, ninety-four, ninety-seven..." Harry stopped in front of the ninety-seventh shelf, but stared wide-eyed around and couldn't find Sirius Black.

Harry's heart sank. The worst might have happened: Sirius Black had been murdered.

"He should be here."

"But it's not there." Hermione swallowed hard. "And there were no signs of a struggle around."

"What are you trying to say?" Harry asked fiercely.

"Another possibility, as Aaron mentioned," Hermione's voice trembled, "Is a trap. We have to get out of here right now, immediately."

Upon hearing this, Harry's lips twitched slightly.

He was still somewhat unwilling to believe it, or rather, he still harbored some wishful thinking.

Perhaps Sirius Black is still here, just unconscious, hidden behind some shelf by Voldemort.

That was the only way he could comfort himself; otherwise, he was the one who had led everyone into danger.

"Harry," Neville said, pointing to a Prophecy Orb on the shelf, "Has your name on it."

Harry paused for a moment, then looked at the Prophecy Orb, which had a label underneath: Dark Lord and Harry Potter.

The Prophecy Orb began to shimmer with a faint light, and a cloud of mist slowly swirled within it.

Harry couldn't resist and reached out to take it off.

The one with the power to conquer the Dark Lord is nearing his end, born into a family that has resisted him three times...

This information reached his ears, but before he could even hear Hermione's voice, he was pulled back to Reality Stone.

Footsteps came from the shadows, and a masked person approached them.

Besides him, two masked men emerged from each of the other passageways and approached them. The masked men instinctively huddled together, picked up their Wand, and nervously confronted them.

Harry recognized the first masked man who appeared; his Wand was exactly the same as Lucius Malfoy's.

"Very well, Potter, give it to me."

Where is Sirius Black?

"You really should distinguish between dreams and Reality Stone." Lucius drew his Wand and ran it across his face, the mask turning into black mist and disappearing. "What you see is only Dark Lord wants you to see. Now give me the Prophecy Orb."

Upon hearing this, Harry clutched the Prophecy Orb tightly, his heart filled with regret.

Aaron had warned him, but he still insisted on coming over. However, he and Hermione inquired about the Order of the Phoenix Society through the hearth, and the House Elf from Black said that Sirius Black was not there.

"If you dare touch us, I'll smash it."

"Hahahaha..." A shrill laugh came from behind Lucius, and a disheveled witch came over. "He really knows how to have fun, my little darling, Potter."

"Bellatrix Lestrange Lestrange." Neville saw the witch, and a surge of immense hatred welled up inside him.

His mother was driven insane by this madman's Cruciatus Curse. She was supposed to be imprisoned in Azkaban, but she managed to escape.