Volume 4: The Sea and the Ship Heading North Chapter 180: The Hogwarts That Never Was
Azkaban did not have Dementors from the beginning. It was used by the Ministry of Magic as a prison to detain prisoners.
Its history dates back to the fifteenth century.
The first fortress of Azkaban was built on an island in the North Sea that never appeared on any map, Muggle or wizard.
There are rumors that this place was created by magic, while others say that magic was cast to enlarge the space.
The fortress was originally home to an obscure wizard who called himself Axtis.
He is extremely powerful, but his nationality is unknown. Axtis performs the most evil of dark magic, and also takes pleasure in luring, torturing and killing Muggle sailors who pass through his territory.
At that time, many people believed that he had lost his mind. It was not until after his death that the hiding spell he cast lost its effect and the Ministry of Magic became aware of the existence of the island and the building. Those who went to investigate were only willing to mention that the place was full of Dementors and refused to reveal more.
After Jon and Fred got off the boat, they saw gray mist everywhere.
These thick fogs looked no different from normal fog and covered the entire Azkaban Island and the surrounding waters.
"The gray fog is full of magic. Unless there are certain people or ships, if they sail away from the shore, it is basically impossible for them to find their way back. After the Hogwarts leaves the shore, it will directly start sailing to the next destination. There is no way to guide them back."
Nick, who was floating in the air, stared at Jon and said with a frown.
"You don't want them to be left with a psychological burden when they abandon you?"
Fred, who was standing by, heard Nick's words and looked a little surprised. He looked at John.
Jon apologized to him with an apologetic look on his face.
"I'm sorry, Fred. I didn't have the time to ask for your opinion in private just now, so I acted on my own. Nick is right . If the Hogwarts sails away from the coast of this island without waiting for us to return, it will be impossible to find the original road again with Neville and the others driving."
"Once this happens, there's a high probability that the two of us will be left on this island forever."
Fred didn't have the slightest intention of blaming Jon for this matter, he looked very relaxed.
"Hey, what are you talking about? How could I possibly blame you for something like this? Not only me, Jon, but if you let anyone on the Hogwarts come down with you, they will only praise you for doing the right thing. I definitely know which is more important, the safety of the two of us or the safety of the entire school. It was also right not to tell George and the others. If they knew, they would never give up on us and sail away."
Fred is certainly not afraid of sacrifice, just like he sacrificed himself in battle without regrets in the normal timeline.
But even knowing his character, Jon did not take it for granted that he could decide the fate of others privately.
Everyone has the right to make his own choice. Even if you know very well that he will definitely choose this, it is up to him to choose.
So Jon apologized to Fred solemnly.
Nick, who was floating in the air, looked at them with a complicated expression.
He has been in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for hundreds of years and has witnessed countless students coming in and out of the castle.
Over the years, I have seen all kinds of disputes and witnessed all kinds of friendships, but at Hogwarts today, there is no difference between colleges or bloodlines. No matter what family one comes from, almost everyone regards their classmates as their closest people.
There has never been such a period in hundreds of years.
Far from tearing the school apart, the loss of Hogwarts Castle brought it together more closely in other ways.
Nick had no doubt that such a Hogwarts would not be crushed by darkness and injustice, just as from ancient times to the present, the highest standards of life recognized by both Muggles and wizards are still truth, goodness and beauty.
There were no guards along the coast of Azkaban Island, so John and his companions easily landed on the island with Nick.
"In fact, people often have some misunderstandings about the name Azkaban." Nick explained to them as they walked forward, "In fact, in the beginning, this name was not for the island, but for the castle built in the center of the island. The name of the castle was Azkaban, just like Hogwarts Castle."
"It's just that the island itself has no name, so over time, everyone called the entire island Azkaban. Because of this, many people who don't know about it don't know that the prison itself is actually a castle."
Jon and Fred looked in the direction Nick was looking at, and through the gray fog that had become somewhat thinner, they indeed saw a tall, dilapidated castle.
The stone outer wall was covered with black and purple plants of unknown origin. They swayed in the cold sea breeze, like withered arms reaching out from a prison.
Fred subconsciously wrapped his thick robe tightly around him, and his voice was unconsciously mixed with some nervousness.
"So what are we going to do when we get to the island?"
Nick replied.
"We should go and see if there are any Aurors from the Ministry of Magic stationed on this island?"
"We take the initiative to find the Aurors?" Fred's eyes widened slightly. "Why? Aren't we going to look for traces left by the Dark Lord on the island?"
Before getting off the ship, Jon had already told everyone that in addition to avoiding the war between Britain and France, Dumbledore had assigned them an additional purpose for this voyage.
"It's been 13 years since the Dark Lord came to this island, and none of us knows what he did on the island in that time," said Nick.
Fred raised a question.
"Will the Aurors stationed here know about this? The Ministry of Magic wouldn't send someone to stay here for 13 years straight, would it? Moreover, the Dark Lord wouldn't think of hiding this matter. He would definitely deliberately erase the memories of all those who knew about it at the time, or even kill them directly."
"But Dementors are unkillable."
Jon mentioned this, which made Fred stunned. The twins were very smart and he immediately thought of Jon's intention.
"You mean, he won't get rid of these Dementors on the island! They have been staying on this island all the time, and they must know what happened 13 years ago!"
