Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Malfoy Manor!!!

Dobby had taken Harry there to rescue Ron.

It was a surprising yet not unexpected outcome; almost everyone knew Harry was going to rescue Ron.

He had even had an argument with Sirius this morning because of it.

What was surprising was that Harry acted so quickly, even having Dobby Apparate him directly to Malfoy Manor.

Sure enough, the moment Evan asked the question, huge teardrops began rolling out of Dobby’s bulging eyes.

“It’s all Dobby’s fault, it’s all Dobby’s fault! Dobby took Harry Potter to that place! Dobby shouldn’t have done that! Master Evan ordered that Harry Potter couldn’t leave here, but Harry Potter said not to tell anyone else!” Dobby wailed loudly, rubbing his red, tear-filled eyes. “He wanted Dobby to take him there, but Dobby refused. Harry Potter said Dobby was his friend, that the great Harry Potter had to go there to save another friend of his, and Dobby…”

“Save another friend of his?!” Hermione repeated, exclaiming, “Oh my god, Dobby, you took Harry to Malfoy Manor!”

Dobby’s wailing only rang out louder, his house-elf’s tennis ball-sized eyes wide open, trembling from his toes to the tips of his ears.

“You went to Malfoy Manor to rescue Ron! My God, you actually did that! It was so reckless, so impulsive! Harry didn’t consider the dangers at all. He just went into the Death Eaters’ lair alone! He didn’t think about the consequences. Yes, house-elves can do that; they can break through wizards’ magical defenses,” Hermione continued. “But I don’t understand, why did you come back alone? Where’s Harry?”

“Harry Potter’s friend is locked in the secret chamber. Dobby can’t enter that place. Harry Potter told Dobby to come back and deliver a message,” Dobby sobbed. “We found an old wizard in the dungeon. Harry Potter called him Mr. Ollivander. Harry Potter told Dobby to bring him back first.”

“Ollivander?! But…”

“Alright, Dobby, take us to Malfoy Manor right now. Maybe Harry hasn’t been discovered yet,” said Evan, raising his wand.

More than twenty minutes had passed since Dobby ran into the library and was knocked unconscious. There was a high chance Harry had been discovered. The Malfoys probably never imagined that their former servant, a house-elf, would bring Harry into their manor, but that didn’t mean Harry could stay there for so long without being discovered.

However, after Voldemort’s rampage through the manor last night, not many Death Eaters would dare approach for a while.

Even if Harry had been captured, as long as Lucius didn’t summon Voldemort, there was still hope.

Inside Malfoy Manor, for a moment, Harry’s heart was pounding in his throat.

Draco Malfoy kept pacing back and forth in front of the large mirror, saying things like he could catch Harry; he must have spotted Harry behind the mirror.

Harry could feel himself panicking; it seemed there was no way out. His right palm, gripping his wand, was sweating profusely.

Through the mirror, he could hear Lucius’s urgent voice, asking Draco if he had discovered anything.

Harry’s mind even began to conjure up those pale, sharp faces beneath their pale blond hair.

As fear intensified, resisting Voldemort’s thoughts seemed increasingly difficult, and his scar began to burn again.

Without warning, his mind reconnected with Voldemort’s; the real scenery around him vanished. He was Voldemort, flying far away, over a black, turbulent ocean. He didn’t know where he was going; this place didn’t seem to be anywhere in Britain.

Harry gazed at the endless black sea, recalling the night he and Dumbledore went to Azkaban.

He felt as if he were merging with the darkness. A burst of excruciating pain shot through his scar, and Harry clutched his forehead hard. Everything snapped back into reality. The disaster he expected hadn’t occurred — he had not been discovered. Draco Malfoy finally stepped away from the mirror, the footsteps of the Malfoy family fading into the distance. Harry let out a long, heavy breath of relief.

Draco hadn’t noticed anything, but Harry had the strange feeling that Draco had deliberately let him go.

The idea was utterly absurd; if he were Malfoy, he certainly wouldn’t have done that.

The two of them had been adversaries for as long as he could remember, never able to stand each other — and now they were outright enemies.

If Harry had discovered Malfoy hiding behind a mirror, he would have definitely exposed him without hesitation.

When he was sure there were no more sounds nearby, Harry took a few deep breaths and crawled out from behind the mirror. His hands and feet were shaking.

He went back to the glass cabinet. This time, he quickly found the peacock Dobby had mentioned etched onto the huge pane of glass.

It stood proudly, unlike the other birds, its tail feathers fully fanned out.

Harry tapped the peacock image with his wand, and the entire shelf glowed a pale green, rotating open to reveal a secret passage behind it.

Although the passage was dark, Harry jumped down almost without hesitation.

He knew he had to hurry; he had opened the secret chamber, and the Malfoys might already know; they would be back soon.

Harry descended the steep stairs to a heavy door.

Without pausing, he swung his wand upwards with force, and the door opened!

Unlike the dark hallway, a sliver of light shone from inside the doorway, where a dim candle sat on a table in the center of the room.

The light flickered and blurred, and in the chair in front of the table, a red-haired boy sat with his back to Harry.

“Ron… is that you?” Harry said excitedly, recognizing Ron immediately even from behind.

Ron sat still, not turning to look at Harry who had burst in.

He didn’t seem to hear Harry’s voice, but he wasn’t completely unresponsive; his body trembled slightly, looking rather strange.

“Ron, I’ve come to save you! We have to get out of here right now,” said Harry excitedly, quickly approaching Ron.

This time, Ron seemed to finally hear Harry’s voice, or perhaps he reacted to his movement.

He slowly raised his head to look at Harry, his face expressionless, his gaze fixed blankly on Harry before lowering back down.

Harry’s heart gave a jolt. The joy that had just risen inside him was instantly washed away by a creeping sense of wrongness.

“Ron…”

“Harry Potter!” A sharp, wheezing voice rang out from the corner.

Harry turned quickly and saw a rat-like man with a face full of fear and astonishment.