Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures-Chapter 1251: Birthday and Adulthood

Harry had already stowed his Invisibility Cloak in his backpack and felt that, if that was good enough for Dumbledore, it ought to be good enough for the Ministry, so it would be a wise choice to carry the Invisibility Cloak with him. It might come in handy. But now that he came to think of it, he was not sure the Ministry knew about his Invisibility Cloak.

Then he thought that there shouldn’t be any danger in going to Diagon Alley, as Voldemort and the Death Eaters would not appear openly.

Besides, there were so many Aurors accompanying them, and Evan was there too — he was even more powerful than those Aurors.

Harry’s attention soon shifted away, and he didn’t worry about these things for long.

Along the way, Mrs. Weasley, unusually, didn’t say much. Her tension seemed to spread to the others. Mr. Weasley kept talking, reciting the contents of the Ministry of Magic’s safety manual to them, telling them what to do in case of various dangers, unintentionally increasing the tense atmosphere.

Harry and Ron were still thinking about Quidditch, discussing how to form a new team.

Hermione and Ginny were huddled together, whispering. Evan overheard them talking about buying new clothes.

Speaking of which, due to the family’s tight finances, most of Ginny’s clothes had been second-hand.

Her first new robes had actually been a gift from Evan.

Now that she had money, the girl naturally wanted to buy new clothes and other things girls liked.

Watching her discussion with Hermione, Evan realized that Ginny was no longer the little girl who ran around holding Mrs. Weasley’s hand. She had grown up and matured a lot, and now she was a beautiful young lady.

And Hermione didn’t seem so young anymore either.

After her birthday on the nineteenth of September this year, she would turn seventeen.

In the Wizarding world, turning seventeen meant reaching adulthood, being able to do many things they could not do before and completing memorable firsts.

Evan thought about it. There weren’t many days left until September the nineteenth. When Hermione would come of age…

Though he himself wasn’t of age yet, who cared? A man’s maturity wasn’t measured by age.

Hagrid’s brother Grawp had proven that point; what mattered more for men were responsibility and experience.

“Here you are, then,” said the driver, a surprisingly short while later, speaking for the first time as he slowed in Charing Cross Road and stopped outside the Leaky Cauldron. “I’m to wait for you, any idea how long you’ll be?”

“A couple of hours, I expect,” said Mr. Weasley. “Ah, good, he’s here!”

They imitated Mr. Weasley and peered through the car window to see a familiar figure.

There were no Aurors waiting outside the inn, but instead the gigantic, black-bearded form of Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, wearing a long beaverskin coat, beaming as he waved vigorously at them, and oblivious to the startled stares of passing Muggles.

“Harry, Evan, Hermione, Ron, Ginny!” he boomed, sweeping Harry, who had been the first to step out of the car, into a bone-crushing hug. “How was your summer? Great ter see yeh. You don’ know how much Grawp missed you…”

“Oh, how’s he doing?”

Hagrid looked fine, at least not covered in bruises.

“Very good, he’s learned some manners, and his temper isn’t as bad as before, all thanks to yeh…” said Hagrid, pulling Evan into a tight hug as well. “But I haven’t found a new female giant to keep him company.”

“Take your time, you’ll find one eventually,” said Evan.

The man with a story was often well-received, and the same went for giants.

“Hagrid, we didn’t know ‘security’ meant you,” said Harry, grinning as he massaged his ribs.

“I know, jus’ like old times, innit? See, the Ministry wanted ter send a bunch o’ Aurors, but Dumbledore said I’d do,” said Hagrid proudly, throwing out his chest and tucking his thumbs into his pockets. “Let’s get goin’ then — after yeh, Molly, Arthur —”

They walked into the Leaky Cauldron, and for the first time the place seemed so deserted and empty.

Only Tom the landlord, wizened and toothless, remained of the old crowd.

He looked up hopefully as they entered, but before he could speak, Hagrid said importantly, “Jus’ passin’ through today, Tom, sure yeh understand, Hogwarts business, yeh know.”

Tom nodded gloomily and returned to wiping glasses.

Evan, Harry, Hermione, Hagrid, and the Weasleys walked through the bar and out into the chilly little courtyard at the back where the dustbins stood. Hagrid raised his pink umbrella and rapped a certain brick in the wall, which opened at once to form an archway onto a winding cobbled street.

They stepped through the entrance and paused, looking around.

Just as they had heard, Diagon Alley had changed.

The colorful, glittering window displays of spellbooks, potion ingredients, and cauldrons were lost to view, hidden behind the large Ministry of Magic posters that had been pasted over them. Most of these somber purple posters carried blown-up versions of the security advice on the Ministry pamphlets that had been sent out over the summer, but others bore moving black-and-white photographs of Death Eaters known to be on the loose.

Evan was well aware that the number of such ‘wanted’ posters had been increasing over the past few months.

This showed that the number of Death Eaters was increasing, and many Dark wizards had joined Voldemort’s ranks, including a certain number of foreign wizards. They worshiped Voldemort, regarded Britain as the main battlefield of the war, and the upcoming war as a holy war, and they were pouring in from all over the world.

At the current rate, it wouldn’t be long before the entire Diagon Alley would be covered with wanted posters.

As they moved forward, they could clearly see that a few business windows were boarded up, including those of Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor.

On the other hand, a number of shabby-looking stalls had sprung up along the street. The nearest one, which had been erected outside Flourish and Blotts, under a striped, stained awning, had a cardboard sign pinned to its front:

AMULETS

Effective Against Werewolves, Dementors, and Inferi

A seedy-looking little wizard was rattling armfuls of silver symbols on chains at passerby. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

“One for your little girl, madam?” he called at Mrs. Weasley as they passed, leering at Ginny. “Protect her pretty neck?”

“If I were on duty…” said Mr. Weasley, glaring angrily at the amulet seller.

“Yes, but don’t go arresting anyone now, dear, we’re in a hurry,” said Mrs. Weasley, nervously consulting a list. “I think we’d better go to Madam Malkin’s first. Everyone needs new school robes. They’ve all grown so much— come on, everyone —”

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