Harry had already stuffed the Invisibility Cloak into his backpack. He had thought that since Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic did not object, carrying the Invisibility Cloak with him was a wise choice. He might need to use it in the future. However, now that he thought about it, he was not sure if the Ministry of Magic knew that he had an Invisibility Cloak.
Then, he thought that they should not encounter any danger in the alley. The Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters would not appear in public.
Besides, there were so many Auras with them. Elwyn was there too, and he was even more powerful than those Auras.
Harry's attention quickly shifted, and he did not worry about these things for too long.
Along the way, Lady Weasley did not speak, which was rare. Her nervousness seemed to be contagious to the others. Mr. Weasley kept talking. He repeated the contents of the Ministry of Magic's safety manual to them, telling them what to do when they encountered various dangers, which increased the tense atmosphere.
Harry and Ron were still thinking about Quidditch. They were studying how to form a new team.
Hermione and Ginny were also whispering together, and Elwyn heard that they were planning to buy new clothes.
Speaking of which, because of the tight financial situation at home, most of Ginny's clothes were second-hand.
Her first new robe was given to her by Elwyn.
Now that she had money, the girl naturally wanted to buy new clothes and other things that girls liked.
Watching her and Hermione's discussion, Elwyn realized that Ginny was no longer the little girl that Lady Weasley ran around holding hands with. She had grown up, matured, and was a beautiful girl.
And Hermione did not seem to be young anymore.
After her birthday on the 19th of September this year, she would be seventeen years old.
In the world of magic, seventeen years old meant adulthood, and one could do many things that they could not do before, such as ending a memorable first time.
Elwyn thought. There were only a few days until September 19th, and when Hermione became an adult …
Although he was not an adult yet, who cared? Whether a man was an adult or not was not measured by age.
Hagrid's younger brother, Glop, proved this point. Men valued responsibility and experience more than anything else.
"You're here," the old driver said just then.
This was the first thing he said. He slowed down and drove into Charlin Cross, stopping outside the Broken Cauldron.
"I'll wait for you. Do you know how long it will take?"
"About two hours," Mr. Weasley said. "Ah, great, he's here!"
Just like Mr. Weasley, they looked out the window and saw a familiar figure.
There was no Auror waiting outside the bar. Instead, there stood the big, black-bearded Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts' hunting ground warden. He wore a long beaver coat and had a joyful smile on his face. He waved at them, ignoring the surprised looks from the passing Muggle.
"Harry, Elwyn, Hermione, Ron, Ginny!" He said in a loud voice and rushed over. He pulled Harry, who was the first to get off the car, into his arms. The hug almost crushed Harry's bones. "How was your summer vacation? I'm so happy to see you all. You have no idea how much Glop missed you all … "
"Oh, how is he recently?"
Hagrid looked fine. At least he was not covered in wounds.
"Very good. He has learned to be polite. His temper is not as bad as before. Thanks to you all …" Hagrid said and hugged Elwyn tightly again. "But I haven't found a new female giant to keep him company."
"Take your time. You'll find one eventually," Elwyn said.
Men with stories were often welcomed, even giants.
"Hagrid, we didn't expect you to be the security guard," Harry said with a smile, rubbing his ribs.
"I know. It's just like the past, isn't it? You see, the Ministry of Magic wanted to send a group of Auror, but Dumbledore said I can do it. " Hagrid said proudly. He puffed out his chest and put his thumbs in his pocket. "Alright, let's go in. After you, Molly, Arthur … "
They walked into the Leaky Cauldron. For the first time, the place seemed so quiet and empty.
The lively crowd of the past was gone. There was only the wrinkled, toothless Tom, the owner.
As soon as they entered, Tom looked up hopefully. But before he could speak, Hagrid said solemnly, "We're just passing by today. Tom, you must understand, this is Hogwarts' business, you know."
Tom nodded gloomily and continued to clean his glasses.
Elwyn, Harry, Hermione, Hagrid and the Weasley family walked through the bar and came to the cold little yard at the back where the rubbish bin was kept. Hagrid raised the pink umbrella in his hand and knocked on a brick on the wall. Immediately, a doorway appeared, leading to a winding cobblestone path.
They stepped through the doorway and stopped to look around.
Just as they had been told, Diagon Alley had changed completely.
The colorful display of spell books, potion ingredients and cauldrons that used to be displayed in the display window was gone. Instead, it was covered up by the large notices posted by the Ministry of Magic. Most of these intimidating purple notices were enlarged versions of the safety warnings in the brochures distributed by the Ministry of Magic during the summer.
Among them, there were some notices with black and white photos of wanted Death Eaters in action.
Elwyn knew that the number of such notices had increased over the past few months.
This meant that the number of Death Eaters was increasing. Many Dark Wizards had joined the Lord Voldemort's army, including some foreign wizards. They worshipped the Lord Voldemort and saw England as the main battlefield of the war. They saw the upcoming war as a holy war and came from all over the world.
At this rate, it would not be long before the entire Diagon Alley was filled with wanted posters.
As they walked forward, they could clearly see that several shop windows had been nailed shut, including Florin Fusco's Ice Cream Shop.
On the other hand, many shabby stalls suddenly appeared on both sides of the street.
The closest stall to them was set up under a stained striped canopy outside Liza Bookstore. In front of the stall was a cardboard sign: Amulet, effective against werewolves, Dementors and Ghouls.
A scruffy little wizard was selling a bunch of silver mascots on chains to passersby, rattling them noisily.
"Ma'am, buy one for your little girl?" He called out to Lady Weasley as they passed by, at the same time casting a lecherous glance at Ginny. "Protect her pretty neck?"
"If I were on duty..." Mr. Weasley said, glaring angrily at the amulet seller.
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