Volume 4: The Sea and the Ship Heading North Chapter 186 Hayley and Colin
Hayley is an owl who graduated from special training at the Auror Command.
Compared with the pet owls of ordinary wizards, it not only never gets lost, but also has the absolute determination to complete the task.
Three years ago, it completed all the assessments for the Wizard Tactical Owl, graduated successfully, and was eventually assigned to its current owner, Nott Scabio.
To be honest, its owner is really nice to it.
Normally there is food and meat, and from time to time I chat with it in private, but in fact, when Aurors are on missions, they rarely encounter situations where they need to use owls.
So although her life was comfortable, Haley had not performed any key tasks for three years. The most she did was to help Scabio deliver some letters between friends.
This has always bothered Haley, who has received professional training. In the past three years, she has unwillingly gained a lot of fat under her feathers.
And today it finally has the chance to show its skills. It can see that its master is currently facing a very critical situation , and the letter held in its claws is very likely the key life-saving straw.
So after Haley took off from the building, she was very determined. According to her racial talents, she began to fly close to the ground along the shortest line to Britain!
On the island of Azkaban, under the influence of the gray fog, it cannot fly too high. Otherwise, with the pendant that Scabior gave it to guide it, it will lose its way in the vast fog. The best way is to ensure that the ground or the sea surface always remains within its field of vision.
But just as it broke through the gray fog and was about to fly out of the land area of Azkaban Island, an old wooden ship docked on the coast suddenly caught its attention.
…
Colin saw the Hogwarts through the telescope 10 seconds before Hayley discovered it.
After Jon, Fred and others landed on the island, the students who stayed on the ship did not stay on the ship doing nothing.
Neville assigned observation posts almost everywhere from the bow to the stern of the ship, and asked Colin, who had always been the lookout, to be on standby at all times and remain alert to the surrounding situation.
Not only do they have to pay attention to whether there will be spark signals on the island of Azkaban, but they also have to observe the appearance of abnormal creatures such as Dementors, so that they can be adequately prepared in the first place if problems occur.
But a whole morning passed, and Colin stood guard at the top of the mast with a telescope for a long time, but he did not find a single living creature around the island.
It was like a dead island. Apart from the depressing gray fog floating around, there was no other moving object.
Even in the sea water near the coast, there were no fish or shrimps to be seen. It was so lifeless that it reminded Colin of the desolate feeling when his parents took him to the cemetery in his hometown in the countryside to visit the graves when he was still in a Muggle elementary school.
But Colin never put down the telescope in his hand.
He likes taking photos and has always wanted to own a camera of his own. This wish was about to come true when he was about to go to middle school, but he was coaxed into signing an admission notice by a professor named Barty Crouch, and taking photos became a luxury.
However, after entering the sea, the job of acting as a lookout made up for Colin's emotional lack of photography.
He really liked the feeling of holding up the monocular telescope and looking into the distance. Whenever he found a very clever angle and saw a great scenery, he would imagine that there was a shutter button on the telescope. With just a light press, he could freeze the beauty of the moment.
Even on the desperate and silent island of Azkaban, Colin could find many alternative wonders.
He had spent the entire morning observing the huge castle that was vaguely visible in the gray fog. Under such an atmosphere and sense of oppression, it had a unique kind of magnificence.
So, when a small black dot broke through the gray fog from the island and flew towards the direction of Hogwarts, Colin noticed it immediately.
He did not ignore this small black dot. After a whole morning of vigilance, he had confirmed that there were no living animals on the island. So the sudden appearance of this bird-like creature was obviously very abnormal.
Therefore, Colin immediately put down the monocular telescope in his hand, grabbed the railing, and shouted at Neville, who had been staying on the deck and had not returned to the cabin since John and the others left.
"Report to the second mate! There is an unidentified flying creature approaching us at the three o'clock position of the bow!"
On the deck, not only Neville, but also George and Hermione around them all heard Colin's shout.
Everyone looked in the direction Colin reported. Even without a telescope, they could vaguely see a small black dot approaching their location.
Even without Neville's reminder, everyone present drew their wands cautiously.
"What's that?" George asked, frowning.
Neville narrowed his eyes solemnly, he could already vaguely see the animal in flight.
"It seems... an owl?"
"owl?"
Hermione asked calmly, "Did Jon and his friends take an owl with them when they went to the island?"
"No, Hogwarts does not keep owls, whether in carriages or cabins. Because now the owls raised and used by wizards in the UK have independent numbers, which makes it easier for the Ministry of Magic to check at any time whether these animals delivering letters are legally owned by their owners. Once they find that illegal owls are delivering letters, they have the right to check the contents of these letters."
"It's difficult for us to get such formal numbering, so Hogwarts has not had the habit of using owls since the exile."
Neville explained, never taking his eyes off the owl that was getting closer and closer to them.
"So this owl can only belong to someone else on the island."
Jasyan swallowed and looked a little nervous.
"So what do we do now?"
Neville was unusually decisive.
"Shoot it down! No matter who on the island is sending the letter, intercepting the letter is the safest way!"
Under his command, all the students on the ship raised their wands and aimed at the owl that was getting closer and closer to their ship.
Haley, who was trying to break out of the gray fog, just discovered at this moment the big ship under her and the countless magic wands on the ship that were pointed at her with red light flashing at the tips!
All of its feathers were stimulated to the point of blowing up, and memories of long-ago training were awakened, and it subconsciously began to perform evasive maneuvers in the sky.
However, the next second.
Overwhelming beams of light shot out in the direction where it was!
