Chapter 808
The Scenery from the Airplane
Chapter 808 The Scenery from the Airplane
【understood. 】
There was no surprise, no follow-up questions, not even any extra emotion; the extremely brief reply seemed to contain a powerful sense of confidence and control.
Michael paused for a moment, then let out a deep breath.
—Yes, Wade isn't as careless as Neville and Harry. How could he not have noticed something that he himself had already noticed?
The situation and the level of power that Wade was in were far more complex than he had imagined. If he had been careless, he might have been dead long ago.
Moreover, he had Alastor Moody by his side, a man whose very nature was to be wary…
But if the same situation happens again, Michael will still send this message.
Even if 99 out of 100 reminders are superfluous, as long as just one is effective, then all 100 reminders are valuable.
Michael suppressed a vague worry, picked up his backpack, and silently followed his parents.
There were far more passengers in economy class, and the line was very long. Michael looked up at the passengers in front of him, then frowned again—
It turns out that not only in first class, but also in economy class, the proportion of young passengers is alarmingly high, and most of them are strong and healthy men.
He saw only three or four elderly people, a disabled person with a cane, and women and children... if you exclude the group of wizards, there were very few.
—What's going on? Did Muggles hold some kind of large-scale event that's only for young and middle-aged men?
Michael's fingers were itching to text Wade again. But looking back at the passengers following closely behind him, he stopped.
Michael couldn't help but turn around and look at a kind-looking young man in his twenties behind him.
"Sorry to bother you."
Michael tried to make his tone sound casual and conversational: "I noticed there seem to be a lot of young people on this plane, and I'm a little curious... Are there any big events in the UK lately?"
"Huh?" The young man with dark brown curly hair said blankly, "It should be... World War II Memorial Day?"
"So that's it..."
Michael smiled, but his doubts deepened.
The 50th anniversary of the end of World War II is indeed a big day, and there will be national commemorative events in a few years... But why are there so few elderly people participating in such events?
He asked, feigning curiosity, "Is this why you went to England too?"
"Haha, of course not," the young man laughed. "Because my wife is in England! And she's about to give birth! I took leave specifically to go back, hoping to be there in time for the little one's birth!"
Michael quickly replied, "Ah! Congratulations!"
"Thank you!"
The young man smiled brightly, looking very happy.
Michael turned his head, and the smile on his face instantly faded and disappeared.
The person behind me taking the flight was probably just a coincidence and for personal reasons, but the others... surely it wasn't all a coincidence?
He frowned deeply.
……
While economy class passengers were still boarding, Wade sat in a window seat, looking down and flipping through his friend's book.
Lu Ping smiled and asked softly, "Are you in touch with your parents? Why don't you take this opportunity to look at the scenery outside the window?"
For example, Hermione and Harry next to them—although it wasn't their first time on an airplane, they were still very excited, the two of them huddled in front of the window, chattering away.
Wade smiled, turned a page of his friend's book, and said softly, "The scenery I'm looking at is different from ordinary scenery."
As he spoke, he unfolded a blank sheet of parchment and touched the portable quill pen on the spine of the Friends' Book. The quill pen immediately jumped up and flew across the paper.
Lu Ping hurriedly looked around and saw that the passengers were all sitting quietly in their seats, some reading, some chatting, and some with their eyes closed as if preparing to sleep. No one was paying attention to this side.
He whispered, "Wade, even though the plane is about to take off, it's best to..."
Lupin's voice stopped abruptly as he became engrossed in the gradually emerging drawings on the parchment.
In just a few seconds, this quill pen drew a cross-section of the airplane, and then left a dot of a different color on the paper with each takeoff and landing:
Green, red, yellow, black...
Dots of various colors, spaced at regular intervals, are distributed on the "airplane," clearly indicating the locations of all the passengers.
They are all "green".
So what do the other three colors represent...?
Following the markings on the parchment, Lupin casually glanced around, his gaze lingering on certain people before turning to Wade in surprise.
The boy nodded and asked with a smile, "So, Remus? Isn't this scenery more interesting than the scenery outside?"
Lupin paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Indeed..."
"Hey, did you see something interesting?"
A voice suddenly came from ahead, and Lupin's heart tightened. He instinctively reached for his wand, but then forcibly restrained himself.
He looked up and saw that Victor and Modigliani in the front row had their heads sticking out from behind their chairs.
Modish seemed to be about to reach for something from above, while Victor, as if drawn by their conversation, leaned on the back of his chair and asked.
Lupin slowly released the handle of his wand and said gently, "It's nothing...isn't the airplane itself interesting enough?"
"Haha, you're right!"
Victor said with great interest, "Sometimes I really think, Muggles... I mean, these machines alone are enough for us to study for a lifetime."
“It can only be used as a reference occasionally,” Modigliani said. “For us, there are too many useless parts in their design.”
Don't underestimate them!
Victor said seriously, "What were Muggles like a hundred years ago? And what about now? In another hundred years, they might have already turned the moon into their territory!"
"And the wizards who rode brooms a thousand years ago are still riding brooms today, having been left behind by Muggle technology."
"When wizards become obsessed with ancient spells and personal magic, they lose the drive to embrace change and accelerate collective progress!"
Lupin: "..."
To openly mention wizards and magic... Does nobody care about the secrecy laws? There are Muggles sitting in front of you! However, when he looked at the other passengers and flight attendants, he saw that the passengers seemed to have heard nothing, and the flight attendants were all in the connecting area between the cabins, with no one paying attention to the group of people chatting.
Of course, there was no Auror from the United States suddenly jumping out and announcing that they had violated the secrecy law and needed to be detained or fined.
This scene should have been reassuring, but Lupin became even more tense.
"Of course, these restrictions are being broken down now..."
Victor turned to Vader and smiled, "It is because of alchemists like Mr. Vader Gray that the shackles of arrogance that have bound wizards for thousands of years can be broken. This is also what motivated me to start learning about alchemy!"
Mordisi's face darkened. He opened his mouth, wanting to retort sharply, to emphasize the profundity and power of magic, and to condemn Muggle technology for merely relying on external aids...
However, before he could speak, his gaze swept across the massive airport outside the window and he saw another enormous mechanical construct carrying hundreds of people slowly lift off the ground, flying faster and faster, and getting farther and farther away from the ground.
He was momentarily lost in thought and forgot to speak.
After a long pause, Modish let out a suppressed, resentful, and angry snort from deep in his throat, then abruptly turned his head away, no longer looking at Victor or paying any attention to the people behind him.
Victor winked at Wade and Lupin, then sat back down with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the displeasure of those around him.
At first, they seemed to have forgotten why they turned back.
Lupin slowly turned his head to look at Wade.
Wade winked at him, his expression bearing a striking resemblance to Dumbledore's.
Lupin leaned back in his seat, not asking any further questions. He could only hear his heart pounding in his chest, and a buzzing sound seemed to be ringing in his ears, immersing him in a huge shock from which he could not recover.
Wade... he actually...
Lupin slowly clenched his fists; otherwise, he feared he would tremble uncontrollably.
Looking around the cabin again, Lupin suddenly had a completely different feeling, as if the parchment in Wade's hand had grown a thousand times larger, overlapping with the plane, and giving everyone a halo of different colors.
Hermione's voice came from beside her: "Thank you, Sirius! I mean... you booked me a first-class ticket too. It's my first time experiencing this!"
On the way there, Mr. Granger had booked his plane tickets in advance through a travel agency. However, since the return date was uncertain, they agreed to wait until the date was set before buying the tickets—this would inevitably be much more expensive, but the Granger family could still afford it.
But when it came to booking the plane tickets, Sirius took on all the responsibility and bought all the tickets for everyone.
At that moment, Sirius, who had been fiddling with the table in front of him, gave a slightly unruly smile upon hearing this and casually said:
“Don’t mention it, Hermione. After all, we brought you out of your safe home, so we should return you safely and happily. Besides…”
He shrugged and said casually, “Why not make the journey more comfortable? It’s one of the few ‘good traditions’ of the Black family—never skimping on enjoyment.”
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Harry couldn't help but laugh at Sirius's tone when he mentioned his family, then excitedly said:
“After we get back to London, how about we go on that Lilliput adventure? I asked Wade, and he just said you’ll know once you’ve been there. I think he’s just too lazy to tell us the details…”
Hermione was immediately drawn to the topic, turned around, and unconsciously quickened her pace:
"Then we'd better do our homework beforehand. I bet that amusement park uses either an enlargement spell or a shrinking potion, but shrinking potions are expensive and there are certain risks involved in using them, so theoretically they can't accommodate a large number of people playing together..."
Sirius Black's face lit up with relief as he watched the two young men excitedly discussing their London adventures.
Then, his gaze crossed the aisle and met that of Moody, who was sitting alone at the back with eyes as sharp as a hawk's. The two exchanged a brief glance.
Moody's: [Beware of potential threats; there's a guy acting suspiciously.]
Sirius Black: [I understand, I'll keep an eye out.]
This silent exchange was heavy yet tacit, a stark contrast to the relaxed and joyful atmosphere among the teenagers.
It's as if an invisible boundary quietly separates the wary adults from the hopeful teenagers.
Sirius then looked at Lupin, only to find that his friend's expression was not what he had expected.
Remus... seems to be daydreaming?
……
As the flight approached its midpoint, the engines emitted a steady, low hum. The cabin lights were dimmed, most passengers slept in their seats, and those who occasionally needed to converse spoke in hushed tones.
In the drowsy stillness, Mordis suddenly opened his eyes and looked around.
Victor tilted his head to the side, his mouth open, and looked like he was drooling in his sleep.
The two boys, who had been making a ruckus since boarding the plane, were now covered with blankets, their eyes tightly closed, their chests rising and falling, emitting even and long breaths.
Modish lowered his eyes, took a coin out of his pocket, and squeezed it hard!
The coin between your fingers quickly heats up, indicating that the signal has been successfully transmitted.
Modish couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth slightly. He tossed aside the now useless coin, opened the overhead luggage compartment, took out his carry-on suitcase, and turned to leave.
Suddenly, a resistance came from the other end of the box.
Mordisi turned around and saw that Victor, who had been sleeping, had somehow woken up. He was holding the box with one hand and asked, as if half-asleep:
"The plane is still in the air! Mr. Graves, where are you headed?"
Modish frowned and said, "Toilet, please let go!"
"You even bring your suitcase to the restroom? You really don't trust people at all!"
Victor yawned and, seemingly casually, released Mordis's box.
Just as Mordisis was about to leave, he felt resistance behind him again. He looked over dangerously and saw Victor tugging at his sleeve, his other hand outstretched, smiling, "You dropped something."
It's that coin that was once enchanted with a linking spell, but has lost its effect!
Modigliani wanted to say, "No, you can have it."
But judging from Victor's expression, if he really said that, he'd probably keep arguing for a while.
So Modigliani quickly grabbed the coin, his throat bobbed, and he mumbled a "thank you" before turning around again.
This time, Victor didn't foolishly pull him back again.
But the instant he turned around, Mordis felt a chill run down his spine, and his scalp tingled instantly—
Suddenly, everyone in the seats around him, except for Harry and Hermione, had woken up. Their eyes stared at him silently and knowingly, as if they had all seen through his secret!
(End of this chapter)