Chapter 1251

Harry had become a little restless since Kreacher and Dobby left, and he had been walking around the house with great expectations all morning.

However, Kreacher and Dobby didn't come back in the morning, or even in the afternoon, until dusk, when Harry felt a little discouraged and worried. In front of her was a hunk of rancid bread that Hermione had tried in every possible way to get it to change shape, but it certainly didn't help.

Fan Lin was working hard to recover, but according to Madam Pomfrey's conclusion, it would take at least half a month. Unable to help it, the four of them seemed to be trapped in the house.

By the second day, Kreacher and Dobby still hadn't returned, and the same was true on the third day.

However, two cloaked figures appeared outside the door of No. 12 Grimmauld Place, where they remained until the evening, staring at the house they could not see.

"Death Eaters for sure," Ron said as Harry looked out of the lounge window.

"Do they know we're here?"

"I don't think so," Hermione said, although she looked a little frightened. "Otherwise they would have gone to report Snape, wouldn't they?"

"Hasn't it occurred to you that Moody cast a Locking Charm on them while they were standing there?" Ron asked.

"Yes," Hermione said, "Besides, they must know a lot of ways to get in, right? But they want to see if we will show up, after all they know the house belongs to Harry."

"How did they know -?" Harry began.

"Wizards' wills will be inspected by the government, remember? Sirius made his will a long time ago, so they will definitely know that Sirius left this house to you." Fan Lin raised his head and said, "But don't worry too much , if they were to come in, we wouldn’t be able to stay here as we are now.”

However, the arrival of the Death Eaters still triggered an ominous premonition in No. 1 Grimmauld Place. After Mr. Weasley's patronus, they did not receive any news from anyone outside Grimmauld Place, and tension began to rise. display.

Lack of rest and irritability led Ron to develop an annoying habit... playing with the Deluminator in his pocket.

This obviously annoyed Hermione, who was reading the story of Bieber the Bard and didn't really like the flickering of the lights.

"Can't you stop?" she finally exploded on the third night after Kreacher left, and all the lights in the living room were turned on and off again and again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," said Ron, and he flipped the switch, restoring all the lights. "I don't know what I'm doing."

"Hey, can't you find something meaningful to do for yourself?"

"What? Like reading a joke story?"

"Dumbledore left me this book, Ron..."

"...And he left me this Deluminator, maybe telling me that I should use it!" Before they could start arguing, Harry walked out first, without either of them noticing.

He headed towards the kitchen, which he had been to countless times, as he was sure that was where Kreacher was most likely to appear again. As he walked up the stairs to the foyer, he heard a slight knock on the front door, followed by the clanking of metal and the scraping of chains. All the nerves in his body were tense: he drew his wand, moved slowly into the shadows beside the row of severed house-elf heads, and waited.

"Wait a minute..." Fan Lin pressed Harry's shoulders and tied the cloak around him.

The door opened: he caught a glimpse of the brightly lit square outside, and a cloaked figure moved in, closing the door behind him. The intruder took a step forward, and then Moody's voice sounded, "Severus Snape?"

The smoky body moved toward him from the end of the hall, its lifeless hands eagerly raised.

"It wasn't me who killed you, Albus," said a quiet voice. Something unfortunate happened. The soot body exploded again. The newcomers could not pass through the thick white smoke left behind after it exploded. Fan Lin pointed his wand at the middle of the smoke.

"Don't move!" But Fanlin forgot the portrait of Mrs. Black. In his shout, the curtain used to cover the portrait was lifted, and she began to scream: "Mudbloods and bitches have defiled the portrait of my ancestors." Homestead…”

At this time Ron and Hermione ran down the stairs and stood behind Fanlin and Harry, holding up their wands like him.

The unknown man stood in the foyer, hands raised.

"Calm down, it's me, Remus!"

"Oh, thank God." Ron said weakly, turned and pointed the wand at Mrs. Black, and with a bang, the curtains swished shut, and the house became quiet again.

"Prove yourself!" Fan Lin threatened, and the light of the wand began to light up.

Lupine walked into the light, his hands still in a surrendering posture. "I am Remus John Lupin, a werewolf sometimes known as Moonface, one of the four makers of the Marauder's Map, married to Nymphadora... commonly known as Tonks... Marriage, I taught you how to summon the patron saint, Harry, in the shape of an elk, and, Fanlin, I also served as your butler."

"Oh, indeed," said Harry, lowering his wand.

"I'm sorry, Remus, but I had to check, didn't I?" Fanlin said, also putting away his wand, followed by Hermione.

"You can't lower your guard against your former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I fully support your verification. Of course, Ron, you shouldn't let down your guard so quickly."

They walked towards him.

Remus was wearing a thick black cloak and looked tired, but he was happy to see them.

"No news from Severus?" Remus asked.

"Not yet." Fan Lin shook his head, "Snape would not be stupid enough to come here."

"Is everything okay? Is everyone okay?"

"It's okay," Lupine said. "But we are all being watched. There are a few Death Eaters outside in the square..."

"we know……"

"I had to apparate quite literally onto the top step outside the front door to make sure they didn't see me. They must not have known you were here, or I'm sure they would have sent more people outside. They were watching. Everything that concerns you, Harry. Let's go downstairs. I have a lot to tell you, and I want to know what happened to you after you left the Burrow."

They entered the kitchen, and Hermione pointed her wand at the fireplace. The flames burned immediately, making the hard stone wall feel comfortable and the long wooden table shining with light.

Lupine took several bottles of Butterbeer from under his traveling cloak and they sat down.

"I got here three days ago, but I had to find a way to get rid of the few Death Eaters who followed me." Lupine said.

"So you're here right after the wedding?"

"No, it was after we met some Death Eaters in a café on Tottenham Court Road." Lupine squirted almost all of his Butterbeer onto the front of his clothes.

"What?" So they began to tell what had happened, and when they were done, Lupine looked as if he was petrified. "But how did they find you so quickly? It's impossible to track someone who's Apparating unless you catch them the moment they disappear."

"And it's not like they happen to be cruising down Tottenham Court Road, is it?" said Harry.

"We want to know," Hermione asked tentatively, "if Harry still has that connection with him?"

"Impossible!" Lupine asserted, which made Hermione feel relieved.

So, Lu Ping is not an insider?

Fan Lin frowned, the mess Dumbledore left him was really bad.

"If nothing else, if Harry was really in contact with him, they would have known that Harry was here. But I don't know how they tracked you to Tottenham Court Road. That's the order. It's worrying, very worrying," Lupine continued, looking a little confused, but that question could be put aside for the time being compared to Harry's concerns.

"Remus, tell us what happened after we left. We haven't heard anything since Ron's father told us that the family was safe." Fanlin said, "I tried to send a message, But no one..."

"Well, Kingsley saved us," said Lupin. "Thankfully he warned most of the wedding guests, and most of them Apparated before they arrived."

"A Death Eater or someone from the Ministry?" Hermione suddenly interrupted.

"Both, but really, they're all the same thing now," said Lupine. "There's about twenty of them, but they don't know you're here, Harry. Arthur said he heard they He asked about your whereabouts before killing Scrimgeour. If this is true, it seems that he did not betray you. "

Inexplicably, Harry was a little touched. He had never liked Scrimgeour as much as he did now, but if what Lupine said was true, then this man's last action was to desperately protect Harry.

"The Death Eaters ransacked the Burrow," Lupin continued. "They found the ghouls, but wouldn't go near them... and then they interrogated those of us who hadn't had time to escape for several hours. They were trying to get information about you, Harry, but of course there was no one else in the Society except No one knows you're here."

"Meanwhile they completely destroyed the wedding party, and more Death Eaters tried to force their way into every house in the suburbs that was connected to the Order. But no one died," he added hastily, blocking their question. "But they were very rough. They burned Dedalo Digg's house to the ground, but you know he was not at home. They cast the Cruciatus Curse on the Tonks family. Likewise, they also wanted to know that you were in their house. Where did they go after the visit? They were okay... freaked out, obviously, but otherwise okay."

"So, did those Death Eaters pass all the protection spells?" Fan Lin asked with a frown, "It's hard for me to understand that there are some uncommon ancient magics among them."

"You should realize, Fanlin, that the Death Eaters have now gained additional access to all the power of the Ministry of Magic," Lupine said. "Without fear of identification or arrest, they have been given the power to cast those cruel spells. They are trying to break every defensive spell we have put against them, and they are fully open about why they are here."

"I'm afraid, Voldemort's methods are still involved, otherwise it wouldn't be possible to break it so easily, at least not a few days ago. Only those vampires could."

"They are unscrupulous!" Lu Ping sighed.

"Don't they have an explanation for grilling people about Harry's whereabouts?" Hermione asked, her voice rather sharp.

"Oh," Lupine said, hesitating, then pulled out a folded copy of the Daily Prophet. "Here," he said, pushing it across the table towards Harry, "you're going to find out sooner or later... that's their excuse for chasing you anyway."

Harry flattened the newspaper. A large photo of himself occupied the first page of the newspaper. He read the title of the news: About the Death of Albus Dumbledore - We Need to Question!

For a moment, Ron shouted angrily, but Harry remained silent.

He pushed the paper aside, not wanting to read it at all: he knew what they were going to say, and no one knew who killed Dumbledore except those who had been in the tower to see him die, and yet, Rita Skeeter had told the entire wizarding world that minutes after Dumbledore's fall, Harry was seen running away from the scene of the incident.

"I'm sorry, Harry," said Lupine.

"So we lost control of Rita?"

Lupine nodded.

"The rune was in my hand before, but the night of Dumbledore's fierce battle was broken. They had already planned it..."

"But do people really know what's going to happen?" Hermione asked.

"In fact, they have quietly taken power." Lupine said. The official explanation for Scrimgeour's death has been that he died of natural causes and that his position has been replaced by Bius Decnis, who was under the Imperius Curse! "

"Why didn't Voldemort declare himself Minister of Magic?" Ron asked. Lupine smiled.

"Because he doesn't need to, Ron. Granted, he's a minister, so why does he have to sit behind a desk in the ministry? His puppet Decnis is handling the day-to-day political affairs for him, leaving him He has the freedom to expand his power far away from the Ministry of Magic."

"Of course many people have speculated what happened. The Ministry of Magic's policies have changed so dramatically in recent times, and many people are secretly talking that Voldemort must be behind it. However, this is the point, they are secretly talking, they are not Daring to trust each other, not knowing who could be trusted, they were too scared to speak out, afraid that their suspicions would be true and their families would be targeted. Yes, Voldemort was playing a very clever trick. , claiming that he may have inspired the rebellion, maintaining the pretense has created confusion, distrust and fear.”

"This dramatic change in Ministry policy," Harry asked, "includes warning the entire wizarding world to turn against me instead of Voldemort?"

"Of course that's part of it," said Lupin, "and it's a coup, now that Dumbledore is dead and you...the Boy-Who-Lived...are of course the symbol of the long war against Voldemort, But by suggesting that you had a hand in the old leader's death, Voldemort not only puts a label on your head, but also spreads fear and suspicion among those who have defended you in the past."

"In the meantime, the Minister has taken action against Muggle-borns." Lupine pointed to the Daily Prophet. "Look at the second edition."

Hermione turned to the second page with the same disgust she had felt when she held the secret of the Dark Arts.

"The Muggle-born Register," she read aloud, "The Ministry of Magic is promising to take action to investigate so-called Muggle-born people to better understand the magical secrets they hold." Recent investigations by the Department of Mysteries have shown that magic It can only be passed on through the reproduction of wizards. People who have not been proven to be of wizarding family lineage, also known as Muggle-born people, may have obtained magic through theft or force. "The Ministry of Magic is determined to find the person who has usurped magic. After the end of the process, it will send invitations to every Muggle-born person, inviting them to attend a meeting organized by the newly established Muggle-born Registration Committee."

"We won't let this happen," Ron said.

"But it happens, Ron," said Lupine, "Muggle-borns are being rounded up as we speak."

"But how can they say they are 'stealing' magic power?" Ron said, "That is a spiritual and intellectual manifestation. If you can steal magic power, there won't be so many squibs, right?"

"I know," Lupine said, "However, unless you can prove that you have at least one close relative of a wizard, your magic will be regarded as illegally obtained and will be subject to legal sanctions."

"This is what he has been working hard to pursue." Fan Lin said in disgust, holding Hermione tightly with one hand, "He is destroying himself!"

"I mean, if something goes wrong, your last name can be Weasley!"

"Thank you, Ron, but this is a joke!" Fan Lin poked with his wand, and all the articles about Muggles disappeared.

"Compared with this, what does Voldemort plan to do to Hogwarts?" Fan Lin asked, this was his concern.

"Every young wizard or wizard is forced to attend," he replied. "It was announced yesterday. This is a change. This has never been mandatory before. Of course, almost all witches and wizards in the UK graduated from Hogwarts, but parents have the right to choose to educate their children at home or bring their children to school. Send them abroad, if they think it would be better, and the entire wizarding population will grow up under Voldemort's eyes, which is another way to eliminate Muggle-borns. , because before they can enroll they have to show their blood identity, which means they have to go to the Ministry of Magic to prove their wizarding blood."

Harry thought with disgust and anger that some of the first years might be looking at a pile of new spell book lists right now, wondering that they might never see Hogwarts again, and might never see them again. family.

"This is just... just..." he muttered, trying to find the words to express the horror of what he had just imagined.

But Lupine just said quietly, "I understand."

Lupine hesitated.

"I understand you won't approve of this, Harry, but everyone in the Order of the Phoenix feels that Dumbledore has left you a mission."

"Yes," Harry replied, "for me and Vanlin, and Hermione and Ron are also involved, they will be with us."

"So, do you trust me enough to tell me what that mission is?"

Fan Lin raised his head and stared at this prematurely aged face with wrinkles and thick but gray hair. He really wished he could not answer like this. "I can't, Remus, and I'm sorry, but if Dumbledore didn't tell you, then I don't think I can either." (To be continued)