Volume 6: Summer at Spider's End Alley Chapter 426 Knockover Alley
Lupin and the others turned their attention to Jon.
To be honest, ever since Jon became younger, his current appearance doesn't always give people a very reliable feeling. After all, a six-year-old child stands in front of you and says that he can go after the top wizards in the magic world. The first reaction of a normal person would be that what this child says is really funny.
But Lupin and the others certainly wouldn't take Jon's appearance as reality.
It can even be said that Jon's current appearance is the best deception. No one would be wary of a child who looks like he hasn't even entered a magic school yet.
After hearing what Jon said, Dumbledore spoke immediately.
"If it's Jon who follows you, then there's no problem. We can't send many people to England, but you can pretend to be a mother and son. Such a combination is not conspicuous in England, and no one will suspect that a wizard from the Wizarding Horizon would send a child deep into the enemy camp."
Lily turned her head and glanced at Jon. She certainly knew what kind of feats Jon had performed in the Triwizard Tournament that had just ended.
It can be said that in the current Order of the Phoenix, no one has made greater contributions than him in the fight against Voldemort.
"If Jon doesn't feel like he needs some time off, I have no problem with that."
Jon shook his head at that.
"There was a long break between the games in the Triwizard Tournament. I didn't feel tired and didn't need to rest. And although my body has become smaller, my magic power and physical fitness haven't changed much, so there is no problem going to England."
There is nothing wrong with either of them, Dumbledore finally looked at Lily and said very seriously.
"I have one more request. If your pursuit of Snape in the UK is not going smoothly, you can discuss it with each other in normal situations. But if you encounter an emergency, you must listen to Jon."
Lily nodded and agreed without hesitation.
It wasn't that she had any direct trust in Jon, but she couldn't wait any longer. Every second she spent here would allow Snape to escape completely, so no matter what Dumbledore asked, she would agree to it first.
Dumbledore also saw that Lily's patience had reached its limit, so he didn't say anything more.
"Let's go. Remember, if you delay in the UK for too long, you will need a legal identity. Go to the Magic Joke Shop in Diagon Alley and find the owner there. He is the contact person for our new base in the UK."
Lily did not stop, she grabbed Jon's hand, then Apparated with Jon on the spot and disappeared from the Auror's station.
Only Dumbledore and Lupin were left at the scene.
But at this point, both Lupin and Moody felt that Dumbledore's decision to allow Lily and John to go to England was a bit hasty.
They didn't know the secret about Jon's Animagus. Although the fact that Jon turned into a six-year-old child after participating in the Triwizard Tournament had been spread throughout Europe by magic newspapers, no one thought that he could turn into a phoenix and be resurrected. Many people speculated that Jon might have used some special magic in Hogwarts Castle, which caused him to become like this.
Therefore, even if they did not doubt Jon's ability, they were still worried about whether it would be safe for Lily and Jon to go deep into Britain alone.
Dumbledore did not give any further explanation about this. He just told them to focus on their own business and kept the news of Snape's escape secret.
Fortunately, this is the core base of the Wizarding Line, and the wizards who stay here are all trustworthy, so there is no need to worry about the information leaking so quickly.
After Lupin and the others had left, Dumbledore looked towards the west, muttering to himself or to .
"What a hateful and pathetic love..."
…
Lily's hands were very cold, something Jon had felt when he was 11 years old.
At that time, he needed to choose between Barty Jr. and Lily. Although he had not yet fully verified Lily's identity, after learning Barty Jr.'s name, he chose the Hogwarts carriage without hesitation.
From that moment on, his fate was deeply tied to Dumbledore and his gang.
Therefore, even though he never showed it openly, Jon actually always had a deep gratitude towards Lily in his heart.
At that time, they risked their lives to snatch the students from Voldemort. Perhaps they just thought of this as a duty, but it was this completely selfless act that pulled Jon out of the bottomless abyss.
Otherwise, even if John discovered that young Batty was a dangerous person, he would not be able to escape such a fate.
So even if Dumbledore hadn't asked him for help in advance, John would not refuse to accompany Lily to England as long as she needed him.
After Apparating to the ground, they came to a dark and closed hut.
Lily seemed very anxious to catch Snape herself, but this eagerness did not make her lose her mind.
"Your current appearance has already appeared in the newspapers. Even if the child's appearance is not very recognizable, you must change your appearance a little bit."
As she spoke, she took out a bunch of bottles and jars from the pocket of her robe, and quickly found a bottle of transparent ointment. Lily poured all the ointment on her hands, then applied half of it on Jon's head, and then applied the rest directly to her own head.
"Apply the dye evenly. It will change your hair color to chestnut. This will be more realistic than Transfiguration and will last a long time. It can't be washed off with ordinary water."
The effect of this potion is truly magical. It is transparent and sticky when it comes into contact with human skin, but once it comes into contact with the hair, it will adhere smoothly to the hair and directly dye the hair chestnut brown. It is because of this that Jon and Lily quickly changed their hair color, which made them look more like a mother and son.
Jon only needs to change his hair color slightly, and there won't be any more changes.
His appearance was only reported in the newspapers recently. His face, which is more like that of a baby, is not very distinctive. In addition, as Dumbledore said, his body has grown much faster than the normal cycle in the past five days, which has changed his appearance a lot compared to a week ago. So even if people who are familiar with Jon don't stare at his face carefully for dozens of seconds, they won't be sure that this is Jon.
Lily needed more preparation. She used complicated potions to make herself look younger, making her look like she was less than 30 years old, which was more in line with the setting of a mother and son of John's current age.
At the same time, she lengthened her hair a little and changed the color of her eyes from the obvious emerald green to the same color as Jon.
In just one minute, she seemed like a completely different person. With Jon by her side, it was easy for people to subconsciously think that she was a young mother.
However, no matter how her appearance changed, the cold aura emanating from Lily remained unchanged.
"Walk."
After completing all the preparations, she took Jon and left the cabin.
It was only then that Jon realized that they were actually in Knockturn Alley.
This was a street that looked more dilapidated and desolate than Diagon Alley. There were not only some shops with obscured signs around it, but also some run-down houses. The room they walked out of was one of the houses, and it looked like a safe house that the Order of the Phoenix had prepared when they were in exile in England.
"Where should we start? This street is not small, and there are strangers coming in and leaving all the time. If Snape uses Apparition to move away immediately after arriving here, it will be difficult for us to find him."
Jon lowered his voice, followed Lily, like an ordinary little boy who followed his mother to a strange place, and asked, pulling Lily's sleeve.
Lily didn't explain much, just spoke briefly.
"Follow me."
They quickly passed through this area which looked shabby in Jon's eyes but was actually in relatively good condition in Knockturn Alley.
And Jon also saw some wizards scattered around.
The wizards generally wore hoods on their robes, while the witches wore pointed hats with wide brims that hid their faces.
It's not that Lily didn't want to cover it, but she was with Jon, and with this combination, it would be useless to cover her face with a hat. So she just showed her face openly, looking like a young aristocratic woman with a young master, and this would avoid a lot of trouble.
But as we go deeper into Knockturn Alley, some troubles are unavoidable.
When they passed a group of huts that looked like a gathering place for homeless people, a man wearing a tattered robe that could only be called a strip of cloth, with his hair standing up and a tuft of obvious chest hair on his chest, stared at Lily with his wolf-like eyes and stood up from the ground.
He looked at Lily's white neck, licked his tongue, and followed slowly behind. The people around him, who were dressed similarly to him, just watched the scene coldly.
Someone had to try, especially in Knockturn Alley under Voldemort's rule.
According to Voldemort's iron-blooded tactics, cleaning up Knockturn Alley would be easy, if not without any pressure.
But he seemed to have deliberately ignored this place. He never ordered the Death Eaters or British Aurors to clean up this gray area in the wizarding world. He even deliberately drove some special and dangerous people who were not so obedient to him to Knockturn Alley.
This has resulted in this wizarding street becoming increasingly darker over the years.
The original Knockturn Alley could only be described as a grey area at best. On the surface, it was still subject to the magical laws of the British Ministry of Magic, and at least it would not do anything excessive on the surface.
But during the reign of Voldemort, order had been completely lost here, and many powerful men from the wizarding world were driven here, including werewolves with rampant nature, lawless goblins, cruel and dark wizards, and wanted criminals who had killed countless people. There were all kinds of people here, but there were no good people. For a time, Knockturn Alley was in a most primitive survival environment of the jungle.
It was not until recent years, after some territories and forces in Knockturn Alley were divided up, that a slightly more orderly situation returned here. It is also because of this that this street has once again taken on the responsibility of providing a place for some pure-blood nobles or wealthy half-bloods to trade shameful items, returning to the original intention of establishing Knockturn Alley.
It was from this period that the Order of the Phoenix began to place some people here, but now due to the tense situation between France and Britain, there is only one safe house left here.
Of course Lily also discovered that they were being targeted.
The man who did not hold a wand but had a pair of hands full of sharp nails was about to quicken his pace and start running towards Lily and John.
Lily had a cold face and turned around to chant the spell without hesitation!
"Crucio!"
The Cruciatus Curse instantly hit the man who had just started running. The pain that penetrated deep into his soul made it impossible for him to move his limbs. He could only curl up on the ground like a cooked shrimp, wailing!
Lily's hands did not stop moving at all!
"Crucio!"
The second Cruciatus Curse fell upon the man again. His body was already convulsing. The pain made his eyes turn white, and he even felt like he might die on the spot or go crazy at any time.
But Lily's face showed no mercy, and the homeless people huddled under the wooden shed looked coldly at the man lying on the ground twitching.
This is the rule in Knockturn Alley. If you want to cause trouble for someone , you must be prepared to risk your life. If Lily had not fought back so strongly, her fate would have been even more miserable than that of the man lying on the ground, because once the harmless prey revealed that she was really just a sheep, there would be more than one wolf who wanted to eat her.
Therefore, Lily's move was extremely cruel. She cast the Unforgivable Curse at the first move, which was not like what a decent person would do at all. However, John did not have the slightest psychological barrier.
He is someone who killed an entire pure-blood family with a sword, snake fangs, and a killing curse. He has no right to have any psychological problems, right?
