Innocent The Whomping Willow

They kept flying north, checking the train's direction every once in a while, and seeing a different picture each time they descended. London was soon left far behind, replaced by flat green fields, then vast purple swamps, villages with churches like children's toys, then a big bustling city, with countless Vehicles like densely packed colorful ants.

However, after a few hours, Harry had to admit that some of the fun was fading away. The toffee made them thirsty - 40 - and had no water to drink. He and Ron had both taken off their blouses, but Harry's shirt was wet against the back of the chair, and his glasses kept sliding up the tip of his nose. Instead of admiring the fantastic shapes of the clouds, he missed the train dozens of miles below, where fat witches pushed carts and sold iced pumpkin juice.

"It shouldn't be far." Augustus looked at the dense ant-like houses under the sky. The sun began to sink beneath the clouds, dyeing the sea of ​​clouds pink. "Would you like to go down and take a look at the train again?" he turned to Ron and said.

The train was still below them, winding around a snow-covered mountain. Below the clouds, the sky is much darker.

Ron stepped on the accelerator and went up again, but the engine began to whine.

"Maybe it's just tired," said Ron. "It's never come this far.."

They all pretended not to notice as the sky grew darker and the whine grew louder. Stars lit up in the night, and Harry put on his smock and tried his best not to see the windshield wipers swaying feebly, as if in protest.

Augustus took out his silver wand and applied a restoration to the old car. Most of the parts that had been overwhelmed by work were instantly repaired, and the whole car suddenly regained some vitality.

"Not far," Ron said more to the car than to Harry, "not far now." He patted the dashboard nervously. After a while, they flew under the clouds again, squinting in the darkness for a familiar ground target. "There!" Harry shouted, startling both Ron and Hedwig, "right up ahead!" On the dark horizon, on the top of a high cliff across the lake, stood Hogwarts Castle. Silhouettes of turrets and towers.

In the sight of Augustus, the majestic Hogwarts Castle is getting closer and closer, and it is about to arrive smoothly. I hope nothing goes wrong before that.

Regrettably, the car started shaking and gradually slowed down.

"Help me," Ron coaxed to persuade kindly, and shook the steering wheel gently, "It's almost there, help me—"

The engine was running, and steam spewed out from under the hood. Harry couldn't help clenching the edge of the seat as they flew up the lake.

The car shook violently. Harry glanced out the window and saw the calm, black, mirror-smooth surface of the water a mile below. Ron's knuckles turned white as he held the steering wheel. The car shook again.

"Help," Ron murmured.

They flew over the lake. the castle was ahead. Ron stepped on the gas.

With a thud, followed by a crack, the engine shuts down completely.

"Oops," said Ron in the silence.

The car tipped down and they began to fall, faster and faster, hitting the castle walls.

Augustus stood up from his seat and cast a spell on the front of the rapidly falling car. The rapidly falling car seemed to encounter layers of soft cushions in the air and began to slow down and descend slowly.

The car turned in a large arc, brushed past the wall, flew over the dark greenhouse, and vegetable fields, and flew over the black lawn outside, falling all the way.

Ron simply let go of the steering wheel and pulled his wand from his back pocket.

"Stop! Stop!" he yelled, slamming the dashboard and windshield, but they were still falling fast, the ground rushing towards them. "Watch out for that tree!" Harry yelled, jumping over to grab the steering wheel, but it was too late - clack la.

There was a loud bang of metal hitting the tree, and they hit the thick tree trunk and fell to the ground, and the car body shook violently. Steam billows from under the deformed hood; Hedwig screams in horror; Harry's head hits the windshield, a bump the size of a golf ball; Ron is desperately low to his right Shen Yin.

"Are you all right?" Harry turned his head and looked at the embarrassed Augustus and the dead gray Ron.

"My wand," Ron said in a shaky voice. "Look at my wand."

It was almost broken into two pieces, and the top end was pulled down, with only a few strands of wood attached.

Harry was about to say that the school would fix it, but before he could say something, something hit the car on his side. The force was as great as a rushing bull, knocking him down towards Ron when the roof was struck just as hard.

"What!" Ron gasped, staring at the windshield; Harry turned his head just in time to see a branch as thick as a boa constrictor hitting the glass. It was the tree the car hit that was attacking them. Its trunk is bowed, and its gnarled branches smack every part of the body that it can reach.

"Ah—!" Ron yelled, and another twisted twig smashed his car door into a hole, and countless knuckle-thick twigs struck the windshield with a hail of thumping thumps. Shivering, a branch as thick as a battering ram was frantically pounding the roof of the car, and the roof seemed to sink.

"Sit in your seat and don't move!" Augustus picked up the silver wand, turned to Ron and Harry, and instructed, then pointed to the huge willow tree, and clusters of electric flowers danced around the edge of the wand. The willow tree seemed to be surrounded by an invisible cover. For a moment, dark blue lightning formed in mid-air, and the huge willow tree was surrounded by lightning, and countless forked lightning formed in the air began to hit the willow tree, and the willow tree sent out With a whimper, he was whipped on his body by the lightning that lit up the night around him, and the broken and charred tree body was revealed, but after a while, the whole tree stopped dancing and fell completely silent.

Harry and Ron stared blankly at the scene in front of them, "Is it dead?" Harry asked somewhat unsustainably. "Who knows? Maybe." Augustus replied somewhat dull, "It's pitiful." Ron looked at the wilting willow tree and thought about the countless huge lightning in the sky just now, and he couldn't help shivering. "Let's go, maybe the sorting ceremony isn't over yet, and we may still have dinner in time." After wiping the smooth silver wand, Augustus reminded Ron and Harry. The three jumped out of the car and walked towards the castle.