Chapter 6: The Eleven-Year-Old Fugitive
Looking at Momo lying quietly on the hospital bed, Hydrus felt a little dazed.
Just this morning, she was drinking black tea as a young lady, and by night, she was so destitute she had nowhere to go.
She had even stayed in the hospital for a free dinner and a free night's lodging.
She shook her head, stood up, walked to the bed, and pulled open the curtains.
The window was welded shut and couldn't be opened. Outside was the brightly lit night view of London, but Hydrus knew this scene was a magical illusion because, at that moment, London was in the midst of a torrential downpour.
Closing the curtains, Hydrus felt that something about tonight's events was strange.
Why did the doctor want her to stay the night?
She had no connection to the doctor, and the one she brought for treatment was a house-elf, looked down upon by wizards. No matter how she looked at it, the situation reeked of strangeness!
Hydrus quietly opened the door and tiptoed towards the doctor's office.
She couldn't rest until she figured things out. Eavesdropping at the doctor's office might provide an answer.
Suddenly, a sense of crisis welled up in her heart for no reason.
It was as if some tragic fate was about to befall her.
She'd had this intuition since she was little, and it was always accurate!
Hydrus quickly slipped into a room.
Pressing her ear to the door, she heard the sound of chaotic footsteps outside, as well as the doctor's shout: "Auror sirs, quickly, she's in that hospital room!"
'Aurors?' Hydrus's heart sank. 'Could I be a wanted person?'
"Who are you?"
A young woman's voice sounded from behind her.
'Careless! There's someone in the room!'
Hydrus spun around, instantly putting on a harmless and pitiful expression. "I think I might have the wrong room..."
"Hydrus!"
The speaker was a girl with pink hair. The moment she saw Hydrus, she rushed over happily and pulled the bewildered Hydrus into a tight hug.
"Ny... Nymphadora-cousin?"
"I told you, don't call me Nymphadora!"
This girl was Nymphadora Tonks. Her mother, Andromeda, was Bellatrix's own sister!
So this girl was indeed her cousin. All one could say was that fate was a mysterious thing... to run into her like this.
Tonks had a happy expression, and Hydrus was happy too.
Because Tonks was a natural Metamorphmagus, able to change her appearance at will!
Just now, when the two of them embraced and their cheeks touched, Hydrus had grasped the principle of the Metamorphmagus's magical constitution!
"Alright, Cousin Tonks,"
Hydrus's face was brimming with a smile. From now on, she was also a Metamorphmagus. This put her in an exceptionally good mood, even if there were people outside hunting her right now.
"Why are you here? Didn't school already start?"
Tonks was thirteen this year, a third-year at Hogwarts.
Her cousin glanced at the middle-aged man sleeping soundly on the hospital bed and said helplessly, "My dad got Sunflower Piles, you know, the kind... um, the illness in that place."
The girl blushed slightly. "Anyway, he was in the hospital for two days and was finally cured! Mum pulled two all-nighters and couldn't take it anymore, so she went back first, leaving me to watch him for the night. I'll go back to Hogwarts tomorrow morning!"
Hydrus heard a commotion outside, faint voices filtering into the room.
"The tracking signal is still here. Search!"
"She couldn't have gone far, she's nearby!"
"Everyone be careful. According to the Gray family, that Dark wizard's methods are extremely strange!"
Tonks looked at Hydrus curiously. Her cousin's behavior was a bit odd today. Why was she paying attention to the noise outside?
'Is there something more exciting than reuniting with family?'
"Hydrus, you..."
Hydrus's expression suddenly changed drastically, and she said, "Cousin Tonks, I have something urgent. Let's talk next time!"
Crack!
Hydrus disappeared from the hospital room.
Leaving a stunned Tonks behind!
'St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries has Anti-Apparition jinxes! How did Hydrus manage to Apparate in here??'
'No, that's not the point!'
'The most ridiculous part is that she knows Apparition at her age, isn't it?'
The next moment, the door to the room was thrown open, and two Aurors rushed in, beginning to search the room without a word.
Tonks snapped out of her shock, and anger flared. "Who are you! Don't disturb my father's rest!"
An Auror replied coldly, "We're Aurors, hunting a fugitive!"
Tonks froze.
Hydrus's actions just now were extremely suspicious. Combined with the information from the Auror, her face filled with disbelief.
'Hydrus is a fugitive?'
...
...
When Hydrus reappeared, she was in front of the Leaky Cauldron.
She sighed.
In her first escape, she lost her status as a young lady.
In her second escape, she lost the vast majority of her treasure.
And in this, her third escape, she had lost Momo.
She had never expected that the Gray family would be able to persuade the Ministry of Magic to issue a warrant for her.
This wasn't the time to argue about whether it was fair or not.
If she were caught, there would be no trial. The Gray family had plenty of ways to kill her.
'Wait a minute, did I just hear "The tracking signal is still here"?'
Crack!
Crack!
The Aurors Apparated, surrounding Hydrus in an instant.
"Is the Anti-Apparition device activated?"
"It's activated, Director!"
A well-dressed man with impeccably neat, short gray hair nodded, stepped out from the group, and announced loudly:
"Hydrus Lestrange, you are under arrest for the brutal murder of two members of the Gray family!"
Hydrus recognized this man. After her cheap parents were locked up in Azkaban, he had visited Lestrange Manor quite a few times.
This was Barty Crouch, the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
In his view, Hydrus was the seed of a Dark wizard and must be monitored at all times.
Not to mention, the current Hydrus was also highly likely to be Voldemort's offspring!
Now that he had "leverage" in his hands, how could Crouch let Hydrus go?
Hydrus wailed inwardly. She was only eleven years old! At eleven, she was already living the life of a wanted fugitive...
'This is a serious deviation from my plan!!'
'No, I must fix this! I must prove my innocence!'
"Mr. Director," Hydrus held out her hands, palms open, to show she was unarmed and no threat. "I don't know if you've heard, but I didn't receive my Hogwarts letter, and my eleventh birthday was back in April."
"So what are you trying to say, Miss Lestrange?"
Crouch's face remained cold.
Hydrus said urgently, "I'm saying, I'm a Squib! How could a Squib like me kill two adult wizards?"
Crouch was unmoved. "Who knows if your Squib status is a disguise, or perhaps you have accomplices?"
The corner of the Director's mouth twitched. "Besides, how does a Squib Apparate, Miss Lestrange?"
'Fine, reasoning is useless. This old coot is determined to send me to Azkaban!'
'An eleven-year-old wizard, about to be sent to Azkaban before even setting foot in Hogwarts. Who could possibly understand this feeling?'
'This is absolutely not my life.'
Shaking her head, Hydrus disappeared with a crack.
'House-elf Apparition is just that useful!'
'Hydrus, and you still say you don't know magic??'
Barty Crouch was furious. He spun around and snapped, "Didn't you say the Anti-Apparition jinx was activated?"
The Auror was sweating profusely, holding up the device for Crouch to see. "Director, look, it really is activated!"
Another Auror immediately chimed in, "Director, I'll track her location now!"
In the silvery, blurry image, Hydrus began to take the Gold Galleons out of her sachet one by one and throw them on the ground.
Her expression was mournful, as if her entire family had been wiped out.
"She's near the World War II Memorial!"
"She's discarding the Galleons that have the tracking spell on them!"
"We have to get there before she finishes throwing them all!"
"Why can't I Apparate?"
"Me neither!"
The veins on Barty Crouch's forehead bulged.
"Idiots! Turn off the Anti-Apparition device!"
But it was already too late. In the silver image, Hydrus threw the last Gold Galleon to the ground and then disappeared.
Barty Crouch's face was ashen.
A girl who claimed to be a Squib could ignore Anti-Apparition measures and Apparate at will. The key was that she was also very likely the daughter of the Dark Lord.
And the Gray family, a family with little reputation that had always hidden in the shadow of the Lestrange family's glory, was able to cast a tracking spell on Gold Galleons—and more than one! As far as he knew, the number of people in the entire wizarding world with that level of magical skill could be counted on one hand!
Neither side was easy to deal with. Barty Crouch was beginning to regret it. He really shouldn't have gotten involved in this mess...
...
...
Hydrus appeared in a small alley. The downpour had subsided to a drizzle. The fine raindrops hit her, and the cold seeped into her body, reaching deep into her heart.
In this escape, she had lost all her possessions.
Overcome with sorrow, Hydrus looked up and wailed.
"Waaah—!!"
'This is so miserable!'
Sitting on the small steps in front of someone's house, Hydrus cried her heart out.
The door behind her suddenly opened, and a young, magnetic voice spoke:
"Whose little girl are you? Why are you crying so sadly?"
Hydrus's sobs hitched as she stopped wailing. The question brought her back to her senses. She quickly worked on switching her magical constitution, her eyes fixed on a Roman Holiday poster at the tram stop diagonally opposite.
A few seconds later, she turned her head, now wearing the face of a young Audrey Hepburn, tear-stained and pitiful, inspiring compassion in all who saw her.
"I... I don't have a home. I don't have anything left..."
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