It was raining in Hogsmeade, and the Pig's Head Bar was particularly quiet today.
The bar owner sat behind the bar, his face expressionless.
He watched the dirty water trickle past the door.
His dragon-leather boots made a dull thud as he knocked his feet against the floor.
Beneath the floor, the enclosed basement was filled with smoke.
The flickering candlelight became even more mystical. In fact,
There was indeed a mystical gathering going on here.
In the misty light, the twelve people sitting around the round table looked like hollow figures. Sitting at the head of the table was an old man with white hair and a long beard, a strange aquiline nose and sharp blue eyes. It was the bar owner's brother, Albus Dumbledore.
Looking down from his left, Sybil Cassandra Trelawney's insect-like eyes were wide open. Jean Grey's brows were slightly furrowed.
Bashida Barchat's wrinkles were obscure. Looking down from his right,
Charles Xavier was sitting in a wheelchair with his fingers clasped together. Inigo Inmag's eyes were slightly narrowed as if he were sleepwalking.
Nick Lemay was smiling as he said something to the wizard beside him. "Who else is missing?"
"Only one more..."
"Who? Who else is missing? "
"I guess I'm getting old..."
Dumbledore patiently answered as they chatted and digressed. "Only one more... Only one more, Beedle."
Jean Grey, the youngest of the group, looked up in surprise. "Beedle?"
"Yes, Beedle." Dumbledore smiled gently.
Just then, the candlestick standing alone in the corner suddenly flickered. After several flickers, the flame suddenly grew into a ring of fire, and then a man fell out of the flame. Except for Jean, who exclaimed, the others all laughed. An old wizard who looked at least 120 years old affectionately pulled the man up, patted him on the shoulder, and laughed in a rough voice. "You're always the one who's late!"
Another Magus with a scarf covering half of his face said in a low, muffled voice, "I don't know how many more meetings like this can be held. I don't want to see this guy!"
Beedle sat down in the only empty seat, and Jean finally saw the late attendee clearly. He was a man of indeterminate age. In the dim light, his facial features were a little blurry, like a soft yellow shadow. But Jean knew that it was a very ordinary face. His thick brown curly hair was rare among Englishmen, but other than that, he was too ordinary. The only thing that stood out about him was the towel that was draped neatly over his shoulders.
Why did he bring a towel to the meeting? Jean was secretly puzzled.
"In this dangerous world, carrying a towel with you is the biggest guarantee of safety!"
Hearing Biddou's answer, Jean realized that she had asked what was on her mind. She couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed. Fortunately, Biddou's silly smile dispelled her discomfort. At the same time, Jean was surprised to find that Biddou had a pair of unusually bright eyes. It was a kind of brightness that bordered on naivety and enthusiasm, almost incompatible with his shy expression.
Dumbledore knocked on the table and started the meeting. "… Everyone here, except Professor Xavier and Miss Grey are members of the secret Phoenix Knights. And from today onwards, Professor Xavier and Miss Grey will also become members of the knights." He nodded to Professor X and Jean respectively before continuing, "First of all, I want to make it clear that the secret Phoenix Knights is not Albus Dumbledore's private organization. We are gathered here because we have seen the world and the message that the world conveys to us. There are too many metaphors and too many double entendres that interfere with our interpretation of the truth …" The blue eyes behind the lenses flickered. "But now we understand, and we have paid a price. But we understand that there is only one message that the world wants to convey …"
"It's calling for help!" Dumbledore pointed his wand at the huge crystal ball floating above the round table. The white magic light pushed the crystal ball to rotate. Jean only saw countless green lightning flashing across the surface of the ball, and a lot of screams and wails were hitting her eardrums. Before the crystal ball stopped rotating, Jean saw a heavy rain. She saw dark clouds above dark clouds, and a hideous face that had once appeared in her deepest nightmare.
Trelawney brought a cup of hot tea out of nowhere and put it in front of the pale Jean.
But Jean did not want to drink the tea. She stared at all the images until they disappeared. Then she heard Dumbledore ask, "Miss Grey, I think you can see further than us?"
I dreamed that I was sitting in a library, reading a very, very thick book. I have no recollection of the contents of the book at all. I only remember that I was getting more and more tired and anxious. However, the book seemed to have countless pages, and I couldn't finish flipping through it no matter how hard I tried. Just as I was about to collapse, I looked up and saw six walls of books … "
"The Babel Library!"
Jean glanced at Beedu, and then the man opposite her covered his mouth and motioned for the girl to continue.
"It was a hexagonal library that stretched endlessly, just like Asher's Labyrinth. No matter which direction I went, there was no way out. I could only run around like a madman until I met a boy." Jean took a deep breath and continued, "It was a boy about ten years old. He had black hair and blue eyes, and there was a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. He kept walking in front of me, reading a book as he walked. I kept chasing after him, but I couldn't catch up with him. I could only shout his name, but he wouldn't answer me. So I changed the question. I asked him, 'What book are you reading?' At this time, he would stop two or three steps away from me. He would turn around and smile at me gently. He would answer me, 'Harry Potter.' I was reading 'Harry Potter.' "
A certain name made the atmosphere of the round table solemn. Dumbledore looked around at everyone's expression, nodded to Jean, and then slowly said to everyone, "Yes, it's Harry Potter, the boy who was born on July 31, 1980 and survived."
Trelawney said in a trembling voice, "The child who will die."
Bashida's voice was hoarse and shrill. "The child who messed up history."
Professor X lowered his head and looked down. "I can't sense his emotions."
Ingmar's voice sounded like it came from a dream. "My dreamcatcher caught his fear."
Jean was surprised to find that Harry Potter was even stranger than she had imagined. And finally, Beedu touched his nose and smiled. "I haven't met him yet, but he should be a child with a story."
Dumbledore did not smile. Like most people, he had deep concern in his eyes. "He's just a child. Go on, Qin, tell me about the second dream. "
"The second dream …" Jean held the teacup that was still warm and slowly narrated, "The second dream is about the future. I saw the future in the dream. I saw a wasteland, only ashes drifting between heaven and earth, falling like snow. In the black snow, everyone was running for their lives, but as they ran, they turned into black shadows, and the shadows would disintegrate into black dust … I saw the tall buildings in the distance also collapsing and turning into ashes. A huge shadow covered the entire land, and death and disappearance were everywhere. I had nowhere to run, and could only wake up when I fell …"
The wizard asked in a low voice, "Miss Grey, why do you think that was the future?"
Jean looked up calmly. "Because I saw myself, sir. I saw myself in the future, and my friends. They were also among the fleeing crowd. And … "She glanced at Dumbledore and continued," I tested Bart Allen, the boy from the future. "
Dumbledore frowned, but still asked gently, "When?"
"At the Halloween party, just before Harry Potter lost control, I asked him if he had seen the wasteland. At that moment, I saw the scene in his mind."
"Was it really like your dream?"
"Yes, it was like my nightmare."
The candlelight flickered, and heavy shadows covered the land. The red-haired girl bit her lower lip hard, and her sensitive brain received a lot of uneasiness and panic.
In the end, Dumbledore broke the silence. The old wizard's calm voice slightly calmed everyone's nerves. "So, Jean's dream proved that we were right. There is indeed an unknown disaster threatening our world, so it desperately calls for help, hoping that someone can stop the apocalypse. Then, the only thing we can do, and what we have been doing, is to protect this precious world. And, somehow, our Harry Potter will play an important role in this story."
Then, at Dumbledore's request, everyone held the hand of the person next to them and closed their eyes. The crystal ball spun at high speed again, and the hot white light filled the entire basement. Jean felt that her hands and eyelids were burning. She could not help but hold Trelawney's and Bashida's hands tightly, and closed her eyes tightly at the same time.
After an unknown period of time, perhaps ten minutes, or perhaps a moment, Jean felt the white light receding. Then, she opened her eyes involuntarily. The people around her did the same. Everyone said the same thing in unison, "1994!"
“1994？ That sounds like a year … "Dumbledore stroked his beard and said in puzzlement," And it's not too far away. "
It was the end of the year 1992.
No one dares to say what will happen in 1994, so the secret meeting of the Order of the Phoenix Knights has basically come to an end. Our camera should turn to another place.
It was a dark room. There were no tables, chairs, candles, electric lights, or windows to bring light. The only thing that was shining was a screen embedded in the wall. On the screen, it said, "Received file. Sender: Blue Beetle."
The black-robed man standing in front of the screen moved his finger slightly, and the video file opened and began to play.
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