days at Hogwarts

Chapter 261 Illusion Treatment

The old man didn't have the kindness he had when he first met and greeted him, nor the morbidity he had when he encouraged Neville.

After taking off her fox fur clothes and the vulture on her hat, she looked as old as a normal person, a normal mother, and a normal grandmother.

Only at this moment did Loren seem to realize that she had an outstanding Auror son who had brought infinite glory to the Longbottom family, but now, her son and daughter-in-law had been an idiot for 12 years.

The group of people walked into the closed ward, keeping silent in a tacit agreement.

Loren thought that after meeting the patient's family, there would be a chatting process, just like the doctor communicating with the patient's family before surgery. He might need to explain the process and principles of the treatment method in a verbose manner.

But there was nothing. The first thing Mrs. Longbottom said after meeting and greeting was for Loren to start directly.

They didn’t ask whether it could be cured, they didn’t ask what the risks were, they didn’t ask how sure they were of success…

Passing through the corridor and arriving at the door of the closed ward with the name Janus Sitch on the door, the therapist Meliam, whom Loren had met before, stood at the door.

"Principal Dumbledore, Mrs. Longbottom." Meriam came forward. "The other patients in the ward have been moved, and only Frank and Alice are left in it. If..."

Meriam looked at the heavy expression of Mrs. Longbottom, and the hospital's request for research turned into a normal blessing: "I hope everything goes well for you. I'm in the room at the end of the corridor. What's going on? Call me anytime you need me."

After that, he left quietly.

Following Mrs. Longbottom into the closed ward, the beds for Lockhart and other patients were already vacant. Loren could see the two innermost beds at a glance.

Frank Longbottom's face was pale, his body was swollen, and his eyes were staring at the quilt on the bed with dull eyes.

Alice Longbottom has a thin and haggard face, bulging eyes, and gray hair.

The moment she saw Neville enter, Alice's eyes lit up. She hurriedly opened the drawer of the bedside table, rummaged through it and found a piece of wrapping paper for Bubble Super Bubble Gum, and handed it to Neville happily.

"Well, well!" She lost the ability to speak and gestured with movements that only she could understand.

Neville reached out and took the candy wrapper, holding it tightly in his palm.

So Alice laughed happily, hummed a song and sat back on the bed, her feet dangling in the air.

Mrs. Longbottom did not reprimand Neville as usual. Her eyes stayed on her son and daughter-in-law for a short time, and then turned to look at Loren, with no extra expression on her face: "Please, Mr. Morgan... please is you."

Dumbledore also nodded to Loren: "I have already told Mrs. Longbottom all the relevant information. Do as you think."

"[Collapsed]" Loren's wand shot out two red spells, causing the two patients to fall into coma.

Dumbledore and Mrs. Longbottom stood quietly aside, looking calm.

Neville looked at him in surprise.

"Although you don't ask, I still want to explain before the ceremony officially begins." Loren looked at Neville seriously.

"I will use a magic mirror to build a passage to the depths of their consciousness. It is an illusion for me and Neville, and a dream for them. The illusion is divided into three layers, and the first two layers are under my control. Within the range, but Neville needs to go deep into the third level alone. No one knows what is there. Although it is not life-threatening, it is not 100% safe."

"I can." Neville raised his head and looked directly at Loren, holding the wrapper of Chuibao Super Bubble Gum in his hand.

Old Mrs. Longbottom nodded, her voice slow but firm: "He is a child of the Longbottom family."

All preparations are completed and the ceremony begins.

Loren took out Bloody Mary's hand mirror from his pocket, put his wand into the scarlet magic light of the mirror, and picked out three strands of thread. The bloody light extended to the eyebrows of Neville and Longbottom respectively.

The magic that acts on the soul swims on the bloody thread, connecting the three people who are related by blood and linking their consciousnesses.

Neville only felt that his eyes were in a trance for a moment, and his head was slightly dizzy. When he opened his eyes, he and Loren were the only ones left in the closed ward.

The curtains were floating on the empty hospital bed, the windows were ajar, and the sounds of the whole world seemed to be swallowed up by something. It was so quiet that it made people feel uncomfortable.

Loren's voice broke the silence of the world, causing Neville's eyes to focus.

"Neville, Neville!" Seeing that he was still a little dazed, Loren reached out and patted his shoulder, "This is the first layer of the illusion, a reflection of the space we are in. Come on, we have to Keep going deeper.”

"What's the second layer? How do we get there?" Neville shook the candy wrapper in his hand and it was already a little warm in his palm. This warmth made Neville feel at ease.

Loren did not respond immediately, but walked around the closed ward and slowly walked towards the stone door of the ward.

He pressed his palm against the stone door and pushed it gently, and the thick door opened outwards.

After Neville caught up, Loren replied: "Generally speaking, the second level is controlled by me. In order to make it more acceptable to you, I set it up as - Diagon Alley."

The roommate's words echoed in the empty ward, and Neville subconsciously looked towards the heavy stone door.

In order to prevent patients from running around, the stone door of the closed ward was designed to be heavy and strong, and the [Alajo Cave] was required to open the door for entry and exit, but Loren only opened it with a slight push.

The scene outside the door was even more incredible. It was not the fifth-floor corridor of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Maladies, but a winding cobblestone street with no end in sight.

Loren grinned: "Welcome to Diagon Alley."

This is what you see when you use your wand to knock open the wall behind the Leaky Cauldron. Outside is Diagon Alley, which leads to the wizarding world.

After walking out of the ward, Neville heard the rumble of stones being moved. He quickly turned around and looked back, only to see that the stone door suddenly turned into a wall made of red stone bricks, which was exactly the same as the wall of the Leaky Cauldron.

It was as if they had just walked out of the Leaky Cauldron instead of the closed ward.

Neville stared at the sunny, shop-lined but deserted street in front of him, and it took a long time before he muttered: "This... this..."

He had always known that his roommate was mysterious and powerful, but when faced with this scene that was more magical than magic, Neville was still shocked.

Ignoring Neville's surprised emotion, Loren carefully observed the familiar yet unfamiliar Diagon Alley, trying to use his magical vision to check.

Crystal blue light and shadow flowed in the eyes, and the scene in front of him turned into scarlet smoke. Wisps of mist floated and dispersed, forming the outline of the street, and then dissipated suddenly, constantly floating.

The smoke seems to have some kind of magic power, attracting people's attention, making people involuntarily indulge in the environment, and subconsciously ignore the wrong things in the scene.

For example, there are no living creatures in the entire street, but the sound of flapping wings keeps coming from the Eela Owl Shop, as if there are many owls living inside it.

Loren took the initiative to ignore these environmental anomalies and sensed the direction of the flow of magic power.

The scarlet smoke floated in the air, forming a certain shape and then spreading out, flowing in one direction like a river. Although the flow rate was slow, it was very "conspicuous".

"Loren?" Neville's voice came from the side, with some timidity and nervousness, "How do we get to the third floor? Which door do we need to open?"

Although the street in front of him was familiar, the lack of people seemed particularly frightening, and even the bright sunshine seemed to have a strange chill.

At some moments, Neville even felt that Loren around him was fake and would turn into bubbles and dissipate at any time.

<divclass="contentadv">"No need to push the door." Loren replied, while walking quickly forward.

His gaze extended along Diagon Alley, through Partridge's Crucible, Madam Malkin's Robe Store, Flourish and Blotts Bookstore, Ollivander's Wand Shop, Slug & Giggs' Pharmacy...

All the way to a dark and dirty path, which leads to Knockturn Alley.

The blood-colored mist flowed into the alley and disappeared silently, swallowing up the scarlet magic power that created the illusion like a black hole.

"Then what are we going to do next?"

Neville followed. He carefully observed the shops on both sides of the street. When he saw the Florin cold drink shop, his eyes paused for a moment.

The ice cream in the window is steaming, and the attractively colored jam has a sweet aroma.

"It's not us, it's you. The third level is your parents' consciousness. If I enter rashly, it may cause changes." Loren led him straight towards Knockturn Alley.

When passing by Gringotts, Neville saw that the shiny bronze door on the outside was half open. Through the crack of the opened door, there was a silver door inside, with a clear warning engraved on the door:

Come in, stranger, but beware...

Neville shook his head and quickened his pace.

After passing countless shops, they came to the entrance of the alley, which was dark and narrow, with an eerie chill.

"You have to walk the road ahead by yourself. I don't know what's on the third floor. What you have to face may be a dragon, a Death Eater, or even Voldemort. But no matter what it is, you have to find it. Your parents, get them out of there.”

Loren stopped and turned to look at Neville seriously: "This is a world of illusions. It will not cause any real harm to your body in reality. But the feeling is real and the pain is real. If the pain exceeds what you can bear, The limit..."

"Am I going to be like my parents?" Neville asked dully.

"That's not true, it's just that the world will collapse." Loren shook his head and replied.

Neville stopped talking and cast his gaze towards the dark Knockturn Alley.

The false sunshine in Diagon Alley cannot shine in, and the shadows in those alleys are squirming, as if there are some monsters lurking in them that choose people to eat.

"Thank you Loren." Neville took a long breath, "When I come out, I'll treat you to ice cream from Florin's Cold Drink Shop."

After saying that, Neville strode into Knockturn Alley and disappeared into the shadows.

……

Hogwarts Castle, entrance hall.

The bright sunshine shone in through the door, and fell a diamond-shaped golden color on the floor, which was a bit dazzling.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape stood in the golden sunlight and watched as a small black beetle fluttered its wings, slowly turned into a small black dot, and finally disappeared from sight.

"Honestly, I thought you would be soft-hearted. After all, she is -" Snape said calmly, "a top student in Transfiguration."

"This is her own choice, isn't it? I didn't like her very much when she was studying. Besides, she has graduated a long time ago." Professor McGonagall withdrew her gaze and spoke calmly.

She might have gone soft on students walking out of Hogwarts, but Miss Rita Skeeter was not one of them.

Train Animagus anonymously, use transfiguration to spy on secrets, and then use these secrets to provoke people's hearts...

Even so, Dumbledore was still willing to give Rita a chance to serve as an assistant teacher in the Animagus class.

Snape recalled what Rita had done, with a hint of sarcasm on his lips.

The beetle lady was silent for a while, and after pretending to cooperate with the teaching to make Mag loosen her vigilance, she actually tried to attack Mag and escape...

After being knocked down by Professor McGonagall, she moved out of the Ministry of Magic as an excuse, claiming that before sneaking into Hogwarts, she had been in contact with Umbridge, the Senior Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic. Long-term loss of contact would cause the Ministry of Magic to have problems. An excuse to search Hogwarts.

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Dumbledore and Rita reached an agreement.

Rita went to the United States to find out some information for Dumbledore for one year.In exchange for them keeping Rita's Animagus identity a secret forever.

……

Edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"boom!"

The little witch's figure disappeared instantly, leaving a vacuum human-shaped space. Air rushed in to fill the void, making a dull sound of air explosion.

The next moment, Hermione appeared in the old-fashioned wooden circle, and immediately lowered her head to confirm her position.

"The center of the wooden circle!" Hermione suppressed the joy in her heart and reached out to touch her face.

There are still two eyes, eyebrows, a clear nose, and some dead skin on the lips... This is not the point.

The little witch quickly made sure that she had not left any part of her body, and a delighted smile broke out on Hermione's face.

Professor Flitwick was beside her, looking at her quietly with a gentle smile: "The spell was cast neatly and the placement was precise. Congratulations, Miss Granger, you have mastered Apparition."

"Thank you, Professor!" Hermione said happily.

Miss Granger is a steady and smart little wizard, and with Dumbledore's permission, Professor Flitwick feels much more at ease than when he taught Loren.

He smiled and removed the wooden circle created by the transfiguration spell. "Before you obtain the qualification certificate, do not openly use this magic. That will expose you to a fine of several hundred galleons."

"I know!" Hermione nodded heavily.

"Then let's go back."

……

Four people were lying on the bed in the closed ward, two of them adults were wearing St. Mungo's hospital gowns, and the other two were young wizards who had just laid down and were wearing Hogwarts magic robes.

Old Mrs. Longbottom looked at her son, daughter-in-law, and grandson with deep eyes, and no thoughts could be seen on her old face.

"Albus, do you think they can succeed?"