In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter

Chapter 37: The little boots

"Da, da, da, da, da."

A very soft, hard-to-notice sound was heard, but Jon, whose left ear was always pressed against the floor through his sleeping bag due to paranoia, could not help but tense his body at this sound.

He knew what he had been expecting was here!

The sound of tiny footsteps approached from afar, and the person walking in the corridor walked with seemingly cautious steps, not daring to move too fast, moving forward step by step in the corridor.

Very soon, the sound reached Jon's ears, he held his breath, and through the gap at the bottom of the wooden door, he saw a pair of worn-out small leather boots!

The boots were not very big, obviously not something an adult could wear, but for the owner who was wearing them, it looked very fitting, as if the owner of the feet was just about the same age as Jon and the others!

Jon froze for a second, but he didn't have time to mull it over. He darted out of his sleeping bag and didn't try to risk opening the door, and went straight to Professor McGonagall, who was keeping watch in the middle of the great hall.

"There's someone out there, Professor."

Professor McGonagall's face turned more serious than ever, and instead of expressing doubts about Jon's claim, she immediately stood up and walked quickly towards the great hall door and opened it!

The moment she looked at the long corridor, a door happened to be closed gently.

Professor McGonagall drew her wand, she didn't turn around, and slowly closed the door to the great hall using her free hand behind her back.

The light on the long corridor wasn't exactly bright, but it was clear enough for her to notice that someone was indeed there just now!

She walked to the location where the figure had disappeared, and there are several doors right next to each other, and Professor McGonagall wasn't sure which room the person was hiding in, so she didn't just blindly enter to search.

Now Slughorn is injured, Filch's battle power is not necessary to mention, and Hagrid must keep a close eye on the wagon in such a situation, the entire protective force inside the wagon is only her alone, so if the battle arises in the wagon, she can not possibly have more energy to ensure the safety of the students afterwards.

Without the slightest hesitation, Professor McGonagall walked quickly to the end of the long corridor and reached the door of Dumbledore's office, the door was not locked, so she pushed the door open directly, which was totally devoid of life, except for a phoenix with brightly coloured feathers standing on a golden perch that stared at McGonagall who pushed the door open.

"Fawkes, you need to go to the plaza and get Moody, Kingsley and the gang over here soon!"

Fawkes cocked his head, then he unfolded his crimson wings, and a golden blaze of light enveloped his entire body, after which he disappeared from the office.

The wagon was enchanted with the same Anti-Apparition Charm as Hogwarts Castle, and wizards can't Apparate directly into the wagon; only the ability of the Phoenix can be used.

During the wait, Professor McGonagall stood in the long corridor all the time, to make sure that no one had come out of any rooms.

She didn't have to wait that long before the exact same golden light that Fawkes used to leave illuminated the entire corridor, and the crimson bird landed with seven or eight people, ranging from old, physically crippled wizards to young, youthful, fashionable witches and tan-skinned wizards with stoic gazes, and so on.

"What's the situation, McGonagall?"

Moody's magic fake eye kept darting around, and as soon as he arrived at the wagon he began to scout the surrounding area.

McGonagall took a deep breath and quickly explained the current situation.

"We encountered Death Eaters, Dumbledore and the others are holding them back, Slughorn was seriously injured and lying in the hospital room, but now there is someone from enemies side lurking inside the wagon, and I have no extra energy to search the wagon since I have to look after the students, so I need your help!"

Moody calmly drew his wand, and at his side, all seven male and female wizards who had come together from the plaza also put their wands up in front of their bodies.

"Of course, when something happened last time we were not able to come over due to being occupied in Finland because of that task given by Dumbledore, so this time we certainly won't miss out on anything."

"It's been a long time since I returned, I really miss this place." The sassy witch with pink bubblegum-like curly hair took a deep breath of air from the wagon with a look of enjoyment.

The male wizard with gold earrings and dark skin cautioned from beside her.

"Don't think of this as a return visit to the school; you've been through a few things too, Tonks, so stay alert and be vigilant."

"Of course, I know that, it's a shame Bill and the guys all stayed in Finland and didn't come back, otherwise they'd be clamouring to come along."

The leader, Moody, glared at them with his original eye.

"Scatter! Stop this chitchat and check out all the rooms on the wagon immediately!"

The Order of the Phoenix wizards skilfully began to split up into groups of two and began to check the rooms carefully, starting from the few rooms that McGonagall had pointed at them.

***

Most of the students had already slipped into sleep, so they were not disturbed by this sudden development in the wagon, and Jon was still thinking about the pair of boots he had just seen through the crack in the door.

McGonagall did not wake up the other young wizards, and when she returned she took Jon directly to a deserted corner of the great hall alone and asked in a solemn tone.

"Green, tell me everything you saw."

Jon did not hesitate to tell what he saw, along with all the speculation he had just thought of.

"I saw someone walk through the gap at the end of the door, Professor, and he didn't seem like an adult wizard, as he wore small, worn boots unless he was someone with the same build as Professor Flitwick."

McGonagall's brow furrowed as she looked at the shoes on Jon's feet.

"Did those boots match the size of the shoes you are wearing?"

Jon shook his head.

"Almost as big as my shoes, but they seem to be a little smaller."

His words caused Professor McGonagall to go and check the number of first and second years in the great hall first, and after making sure there weren't any missing people, she fell into a moment of contemplation, and Jon who was beside her reminded her softly at that moment.

"Professor, I think that person may not be a student, moreover, a person with such a size in the wizarding world may not need to be a wizard."

McGonagall turned her head abruptly, her gaze fixed on Jon.

"Tell me what you have in mind, Green."

"From what I've read in the library, I know that there have been many rebellions of humanoid magical creatures in the Wizarding World before, Professor." Jon said calmly, "Like the goblin rebellion, the books said they are generally small and thin and will use a different type of magic than wizards. There are also house elves, a group of creatures that have always acted as servants of pureblood wizards, they are loyal to their lords and also know magic, but more importantly, they are also small in stature like goblins!"

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