bioinnovel Chapter 77 Single-handed defense against Dumbledore: Deducing the Occlumency Technique!
Chapter 77 Single-handed defense against Dumbledore: Deducing the Occlumency Technique!
Chapter 77 Single-handed defense against Dumbledore: Deducing the Occlumency Technique!
At this point, King's Cross Station was in complete chaos.
A large number of young wizards and their parents were forced to remain in the Muggle crowd under the strange looks of the Muggles because they could not enter Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Several wizards, refusing to believe that the platform would malfunction, stubbornly charged at it despite repeated warnings from Ministry of Magic staff, and ended up being taken to St. Mungo's Hospital for treatment.
The scene inside the station was a scene of utter disaster.
Countless young wizards and their parents were complaining there, especially the parents of Muggle-born young wizards, whose impression of Hogwarts and the wizarding world had reached a new low.
"My God, the design of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters is absolutely idiotic."
"What's even more foolish is that we actually decided to rush in headlong."
"Now comes the stupidest thing: it might even fail. You can never be sure whether you'll successfully crash into it or just end up with a big bump on your head."
"Is this what wizarding is? To be honest, I already regret agreeing to let my child study magic. Is it too late for us to withdraw now?"
Some wizards have even more unfortunately experienced similar events twice in a row.
For example, Hermione Granger and her family of three were silently looking at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, feeling that familiar feeling.
Why do I say familiar?
Because the passageway had been in a similar state the time they tried to enter Diagon Alley to buy something, they had waited there for several hours before the Ministry of Magic personnel repaired the entrance.
This time, it happened again right when I needed to catch my train?
Hermione gritted her teeth and stomped her feet in anger.
She had seen Ciel in the crowd earlier and was thinking of going up to talk to him.
As a result, shortly after Ciel entered, the passageway broke down, just like it had in Diagon Alley, causing Hermione to miss her chance to speak with Ciel.
Hermione felt a wave of frustration.
"I also want to compete with Charles to see who has mastered more magic."
"Although all the previous competitions ended with Ciel crushing me, that may not be the case in magic."
Hermione is quite optimistic; she has been practicing spells ever since she first encountered magic.
Ciel's magical talent might not necessarily be stronger than hers.
Unfortunately, the chance to travel by train with Ciel and have a friendly competition has been completely ruined because of this damn broken passageway.
Thinking about this, Hermione became increasingly dissatisfied with the Ministry of Magic.
"What does it mean that similar situations have occurred twice in a row?"
"This shows that the Ministry of Magic is overstaffed and has not made proper preparations. The money of the magical world's taxpayers has been wasted somewhere."
"The Ministry of Magic is a complete shoddy operation. When I graduate, I'm going to run for Minister of Magic!"
Meanwhile, in the Minister of Magic's office, Fudge was already furious, his face turning ashen.
The situation at King's Cross Station is undoubtedly another blow to the current government of the Ministry of Magic.
This blow could be even more severe than the Black Wizard attack.
After all, not everyone will face an attack by a dark wizard, but on this day, thousands of young wizards and their parents faced the problem of the passage being blocked.
In just a short while, a flood of complaints had already reached the Ministry of Magic, most of them accusing the Ministry of Magic of only knowing how to collect taxes and doing nothing else.
Fudge's hands were trembling with anger as he paced back and forth in his office, questioning his staff.
"Has the funding for the repair of Platform 9¾ been disbursed?"
The staff member stammered.
"It's been sent."
Fudge's expression was cold.
"Has the full amount been distributed?"
"You didn't take it?"
The staff, sensing the risk of being blamed, panicked.
"Of course they took it. Everyone who works here, from top to bottom, has to take a little something."
"But Minister, we already overstated the budget when we submitted it. With each layer of skimming, that's offsetting the difference. The remaining gold is still enough to maintain the platform. We calculated that clearly when we submitted the budget!"
Fudge stared intently at his staff.
"Then tell me, since the money has been paid, why is the channel still not working?"
The aide was sweating profusely with anxiety, then, as if he had just thought of something, he quickly said...
"By the way, Minister, the money has been received, but since the Hogwarts Express is an asset belonging to Hogwarts, the money for repairing the platform was actually given to Hogwarts in the form of a subsidy."
"The specific repairs were handled by people hired by Hogwarts. This incident is not the responsibility of our Ministry of Magic."
"Hogwarts must have misused Galleons!"
Upon hearing this, Fudge and the other staff members present suddenly realized what was going on and unanimously uttered a name through gritted teeth.
"Dumbledore!"
"It's him again!"
Fudge waved his hand.
"Go, add another charge to the charges we're preparing to bring against Dumbledore: embezzlement and greed, which caused congestion at King's Cross Station and severely impacted the travel of wizarding citizens."
"Furthermore, Dumbledore's actions at this crucial juncture will undoubtedly further lower our approval ratings. What a ruthless old bee!"
Fudge clenched his fists, his eyes burning with fury.
"Dumbledore, I'm not done with you yet!"
He then turned to his staff and said.
"Keep increasing the budget for the Shire's reimbursement agreement. I need to expose more of Dumbledore's true colors as soon as possible!"
……
Meanwhile, in the Hogwarts Headmaster's office, Dumbledore was also dumbfounded when he heard the news that King's Cross Station was a complete mess.
Nothing like this has ever happened in all these years.
In that case, his plan to arrange a chance encounter between Shire, Harry Potter, and others at the train station would fall through.
But Dumbledore remained calm.
"It's alright. Although it was a bit unexpected, the backup plan still works."
"Those who board first will be assigned seats by the conductor, and then the conductor will remind the remaining little wizards that a certain carriage is empty and take them there, so that they can still be put together."
At this point, with the help of the Ministry of Magic commissioners and Hogwarts professors, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, which had malfunctioned due to insufficient magic, was finally repaired.
After a two-hour delay, the young wizards and their parents finally made it onto the platform, where they staged a scene of farewell.
Amidst the crowded Hogwarts Express, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were coincidentally brought together as they searched for an empty carriage.
Just then, the flight attendant guided them to the outside of the Shire's carriage.
"There's only one person in this carriage, so you two can make up a whole carriage."
Immediately, the carriage door opened.
Hermione spotted Ciel in the carriage, who was listlessly munching on a shorthand quill.
She couldn't help but let out a surprised cry.
"Charles Evans?!"
But the next moment, Hermione looked at the Ciel's carriage, which was packed with people, and a look of hesitation appeared in her eyes.
The remaining seats were occupied by girls, who, as if they had been waiting for a long time, had all covered their faces with their hats and were asleep.
Charles said softly, with a hint of apology in his voice.
"Excuse me, the carriage is full, and they're all asleep. Could you please close the doors?"
Hermione looked at Ciel surrounded by girls, gritted her teeth, but didn't know what to say. She could only close the carriage door and go with Harry and Ron to find another carriage.
The flight attendant, leading them along, kept turning back, her face full of confusion.
She clearly remembered that the private room in Xia'er was empty. When did it become full of people?
Could it be that you were too busy with work recently and got confused?
Well, there's nothing we can do about it," the flight attendant said apologetically, directing Harry, Ron, and Hermione to a new carriage.
After they left, a strange look appeared on Charles's lips.
"They actually found it."
"The Saviors Trio found their way to my carriage without any apparent reason. I don't believe it wasn't Dumbledore's doing."
"Dumbledore is old and likes children, likes to play house with them, but I don't like that."
"No one really wants to be in the same carriage as three eleven-year-old kids on a slow train, right? Please, that's the kind of situation I hated most in my past life. Luckily, I'm smart enough!"
"Dumbledore, is it? You old bastard, no matter how cunning you are, you can still be defended one-on-one by me, can you?"
Immediately, Ciel waved his wand, and the three girls in the seats next to him turned back into dolls.
Charles naturally locked the carriage door from the inside, and posted a sign outside that read "Someone is sleeping, please do not disturb." He then cast a silencing spell to shut out the noise and screams coming from outside before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
"The world is quiet now, that's good."
Then, Charles's gaze deepened.
"It seems that old Dumbledore is still the same as in the original story, he really likes to manipulate others and use people as pawns."
"This time when we go to Hogwarts, on Dumbledore's territory, safety is the priority, and we'll have to get the Occlumency procedure done."
"I don't expect to be able to deduce things in the most amazing way, nor do I expect to be able to drive myself crazy enough to enter R'lyeh, as I previously envisioned, but at least I need to be able to handle Dumbledore's usual tests, and also the challenge of the Sorting Hat."
The next moment, Charles whispered something in his mind.
"Deep Blue, demonstrate the Occlumency technique for me!"
(End of this chapter)