Harry Potter and the Obscurus

Chapter 50 On the Hogwarts Express

The mechanical design of the Bojinbok store is very ingenious.

At the expense of all lethality and destructive power, Borgin-Bock modified the shop's magical traps into thread-like glue that maximized the slowing effect. Furthermore, to counter powerful wizards, he utilized ancient magic to create "arrays within arrays," which could increase the number of traps by harnessing the magic power used by thieves to cast spells.

It's no exaggeration to say that if the person trying to steal here were a Muggle, they most likely wouldn't have triggered the shop's magical traps. Nor would the initial few "speed bumps" have become a denser web than spiderwebs. (Of course, without magic, they wouldn't have been able to enter Borginborough's shop in the first place.)

It took Harry and Moran nearly ten minutes to figure out the mechanism. By the time they broke free of the encirclement, blew up the store, and Apparated away through Knockturn Alley, Borgin-Bock had already surrounded the magic shop with a large group of grey-market law enforcement officers.

"Ha ha!"

The silence of the night was suddenly broken by heavy breathing coming from room 11 of the Leaky Cauldron. A stranger staying in the room next to Harry's frowned and muttered something.

"It's this late, and you still insist on doing that kind of thing. You're so young, why are you not learning good things..."

Then, he put on earplugs to listen to the incantation, turned over, and went back to sleep.

Harry usually used Legilimency to monitor his surroundings, but at this moment, he had no time to listen to his neighbors' complaints. In the already chaotic mental world, two indistinguishable voices were busy shouting and yelling at each other:

"Damn it! I've been tricked!"

"I never expected that there was no space-manipulation magic in Bojin's shop at all, so it was that person who stopped us from using Apparition to leave!"

"Who is he? Why didn't we hear Apparition when he appeared? Why did he wave to us before leaving Borough of London? Why does he look so familiar? Could he be Professor Dumbledore? But that doesn't make sense."

"I was just wondering about that too. Now that you mention it, it reminds me. Thinking about it carefully, when he first appeared, he deliberately used his finger to push aside the magical trap... Could it be that he was intentionally warning us?"

"In short, he's definitely not Voldemort, and thank goodness he isn't! If it were him, we might already be dead in Borgin Burke's shop."

……

The following day, news of the theft at Borginborough swept through the entire British wizarding world. The Daily Prophet's front page, aside from Sirius Black's wanted poster, was almost entirely dedicated to the incident.

Whether it was Ron, Hermione, the Weasleys, or Percy, who was constantly chattering since becoming president of the boys' council, they all kept their eyes glued to the news in the newspapers without saying a word.

"You've all seen the news, right? I never imagined that Borginborough Magic Shop would be robbed! Who on earth had such power? I'm so curious! That's a place frequented by many wizards from both the legitimate and criminal worlds! Dad, I remember you said that the Ministry of Magic sometimes goes there..."

Upon hearing this, Arthur Weasley rushed over and covered George's mouth, while his wife, Molly Weasley, also acted swiftly, slapping George on the head and saying:

"You brat, all you ever think about is causing trouble for your father. Can't you guys learn from Percy?"

"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!"

George covered his head and mumbled a few words. Although no one could hear what he said, his expression showed that he was very dissatisfied.

"Mom! I haven't said anything yet, why are you talking about you?"

Fred, who was standing nearby, was the first to understand his twin brother's idea, and his translation work was therefore praised by George.

"Uuuuuuu~"

"You two..."

Mrs. Weasley sighed and rubbed her forehead, then said:

"Anyway, don't talk nonsense once you get to school. Remember to take good care of Ginny. Most importantly, you have OWL exams this year, so don't fail them!"

"I'm talking to you, George! You can't fail the test!"

"I'm clearly talking about you, Fred!"

Mrs. Weasley: "..."

A bright train whistle blew from platform 9. Mrs. Weasley kissed each of her children, then took paper-wrapped sandwiches from her basket. (Ron's was no longer corned beef.)

Mr. Weasley took the opportunity to pull Harry aside, briefly explaining the dangers of Sirius Black and warning him not to try to find him.

Having already learned the truth from Mo Ran, Harry nodded somewhat helplessly in response.

"Yes, but he's no more dangerous than Voldemort."

Upon hearing the name, Arthur shrank back in fright, looking exactly like Ron.

"Ha, Harry. Well... I'm glad you're stronger and braver than I thought. Well then, good luck."

"Yes, thank you too, Mr. Weasley. See you next year."

Minutes later, billowing steam billowed from the Hogwarts Express. Harry, who had barely slept all night, followed Ron and Hermione with droopy eyelids, walking down the aisle.

"Come on, there's only enough room for us here."

Hermione pointed to a compartment near the back of the car and said that she moved very gently, little by little, to the seat near the window.

Forced to sit opposite Harry and Hermione, Ron stared at the strange man's tattered wizard robes for a moment, then asked in a low voice:

"He doesn't look like a student, who do you think he is?"

"Professor RJ Lu Ping."

"Huh? How did you know?"

Hermione replied again:

"It says on his suitcase, 'Hey Harry... are you feeling unwell?'"

Harry's gaze swept across Hermione's face, then rested on the suitcase on the luggage rack with "RJ Lupin" written on it, and he said:

"I didn't sleep well last night. It was very noisy next door. Let me take a nap in the car."

Hermione's expression instantly turned to one of heartache, and she asked softly:

"Would you like me to sit across from you so you can lie down?"

"Don't do that, just go about your business. Listening to you chat is actually quite relaxing."

Harry replied.

Soon, another person was dozing off in the carriage.

Following the unpleasant incident between Crookshanks and Scabbers, Ron and Hermione were still at odds with each other, and without Harry's mediation, the two quickly fell into an awkward silence.

Time ticked by, and it wasn't until the kind witch pushing the food cart passed by outside the carriage that Ron broke the silence.

"Your cat seems much more sensible than before."

Hermione glared at Ron.

"I put Crookshanks in a cage because I was afraid of disturbing Harry's rest, not because of your rat, Ronald."

Ron clutched his bulging chest pocket and said in a nonchalant tone:

"It doesn't matter, I will protect Banban and won't let your cat scare it again."

……

"What course do you think Professor RJ Lupin will teach?"

"There is only one vacancy for the teaching position, Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

"We've been in school for two years, and the school has already changed two Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, each of whom only taught for a year. Do you think this job is cursed?"

"Who has the power to curse Hogwarts' teaching positions? Regardless of whether the first two had contact with the mysterious man, they themselves are not capable enough to teach this course."

Upon hearing Hermione's words, Ron wore a rather incredulous expression, raising an eyebrow as he said:

"So you really realized Lockhart was a good-for-nothing last year? And it wasn't because of Harry..."

Hermione blushed and glared at Ron, but her expression was noticeably less sharp than when Harry had just fallen asleep. She turned to Harry and whispered:

"I just hope that Professor Lupin can do his job well this year, or at least stop supporting Voldemort behind the scenes."

Ron shrank back, looking at the sickly and weak Lupin, who had no strength left, and said:

"Look at him, he's not very old but his hair is already starting to turn gray. It looks like any powerful witch could take him down. I reckon he'll probably only be a teacher for another year."

"Last year, you and Harry told me not to judge a book by its cover, right? How come you're going back on your word so quickly this year?"

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Ron coughed twice, feigning an attack, and steered the conversation toward recent news.

"Do you think the guy who stole from Borginborough's shop could be Sirius Black? After all, he's the only mortal who escaped from Azkaban on his own merits, and only he could possibly have that kind of ability!"

"But he'll definitely get caught!"

Hermione said firmly:

"The Ministry of Magic mobilized a large number of people, and even Muggles were used to search for Black's whereabouts."

"Muggle?"

Ron chuckled.

"Hermione, even Fred and George, wearing the invisibility cloak Harry gave them, could easily evade Muggle pursuit. Do you really think a fugitive like Black could be caught by someone who doesn't use magic?"

"You can't always think that Muggles are useless, and doesn't your dad always like to study Muggle inventions?"

"Shh!"

Upon hearing this, Ron quickly stopped Hermione, saying:

"Don't tell anyone at school about this. What your father did is against the Ministry of Magic's regulations. He exploited a loophole in the law to be able to manipulate those things."

"Okay, okay, I understand."

……

After another brief silence, Hermione and Ron changed the subject to Hogsmeade Village.

"We can go to Hogsmeade this weekend. I've been looking forward to this day ever since I read about it in the book. I wonder if Harry's aunt and uncle made things difficult for him and deliberately didn't sign his autograph."

"It shouldn't be that bad, but I think even without an autograph, Harry has plenty of ways to get himself to Hogsmeade Village."

“Ron, Black hasn’t been caught yet. It’s not wise to let him slip out of the school so easily…”

At this point, Ron and Hermione glanced at Harry, who was sleeping under his school uniform robe, and then burst out laughing.

"If you ask me, if Hogwarts is going to find another Defense Against the Dark Arts professor next year, they should just let Harry teach us."

"Of course he's capable, but being a professor at Hogwarts means taking care of students from all years. Harry has a lot to do and can't spend all his time on this. Oh, by the way, what's the place you most want to visit when you get to Hogsmeade Village?"

Hermione's question brought a dreamy look to Ron's face, and he said:

“That’s Honeydukes, of course! You know, Fred and George have been bragging to me about it for ages. They say the candy they sell there is something even Diagon Alley can’t make. Take Pepper Boy, for example, it’ll make smoke come out of your mouth, nostrils, and even your ears when you eat it; and the portable giant chocolate ball, it’s tiny, but once you open the bag, it’s a huge dessert filled with strawberry jelly, cream, and crunchy rice. The best of all is the candy stick quill pen, Fred even brought one to class and sucked on it, and the professor thought he was thinking about what to say next!”