Chapter 1584 A War Without a Winner (Thirty-Six)

Chapter 1586 A War Without Winners (Thirty-Six)

The three of them went to the castle to look for Albert.

However, the castle, which had lost its usual vitality, looked eerie and terrifying. Even the ghosts that often wandered around the castle disappeared silently.

All this made Harry and Ron, who were used to the noisy castle during school days, feel uncomfortable, and they couldn't help but reach for the wands on their belts.

"Where do you think Albert will be?" Hagrid was the first to speak and break the silence.

"Probably, it should be in the library, or the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor!" Harry was stunned for a moment, and after a brief thought, he continued, "Of course, it may also be in the Defense Against the Dark Arts Office. Do you know where the Defense Against the Dark Arts Office is?"

"I think Albert is most likely to stay in his office, and the second is the library." Ron seemed to remember something and asked, "Harry, do you have the Marauder's Map with you?"

"The Marauder's Map is with Hermione." Harry shook his head and said, "She seems to be planning to return to school to finish her seventh grade, so she borrowed the map from me."

Since Harry became an Auror and started working for the Ministry of Magic, the Marauder's Map has no use to him, so he naturally won't carry it with him.

So the three of them could only try to find Albert's whereabouts.

They first knocked on the Defense Against the Dark Arts Office on the third floor, but unfortunately there seemed to be no one inside, so they could only go to the library on the fifth floor to try their luck.

Fortunately, they were lucky. The door of the library was half-open, and a familiar yet unfamiliar voice came from inside.

When they pushed the door and walked into the library, they found that Albert and Cedric stopped talking and stared at them.

Cedric looked at the people at the door and said to Albert, "They should be here to see you."

When Albert's eyes fell on Ron's face, he had already anticipated the arrival of the three people.

"Um... we have lost contact with Hermione." Harry was gently pushed from behind by Ron and was forced to stand up and ask, "Do you know what Hermione is like now?"

"Hermione? Didn't Hermione go home?" Albert looked at Harry and Ron in confusion, as if he thought of something, and explained, "Her family is now settled in Australia, so Hermione is in Australia."

"Is Hermione going to settle in Australia?" Ron widened his eyes and finally couldn't help asking.

"After all, Hermione has been separated from her family for a long time. It's normal for her to want to spend more time with her family, right?" Albert looked at Ron in confusion, as if he couldn't understand what Ron was so excited about. "Besides, didn't she say she would return to Hogwarts to repeat the seventh grade?"

"See, I knew it would be like this." Hagrid reached out and patted Ron on the shoulder, comforting him, "So, you don't have to worry about it."

Ron staggered after being patted by Hagrid's big hand. As soon as he stabilized his body, he couldn't wait to ask, "Does Hermione plan to stay in the UK after graduation?"

When saying this, Cedric cast a look at Ron, and probably guessed what was going on.

If it were him, he would probably come to Albert to inquire about the news.

However, judging from Ron's reaction, they seemed, seemed... to be one-sided, and Hermione went to Australia to find her family, and it seemed that Albert and Hermione went to find people together.

Although Albert was married, this matter seemed a bit... well, not right.

"Oh, I think she will stay in England."

"Great."

Ron almost jumped up.

Albert raised his eyebrows slightly and made a simple analysis, "After all, Hermione is not familiar with Australia. Except for her parents, everything in that land is unfamiliar to her. And wizards from Muggle families usually gradually separate from their families after their children graduate from school."

Albert knew what Ron was thinking and suggested, "In fact, you can ask Hermione about this yourself. After all, Hermione will definitely return to Hogwarts when school starts in September."

As he said that, Albert turned his head to look at Harry and asked, "Ginny shouldn't go back to school to repeat her studies, right?"

"She definitely won't go back to school to continue her studies."

Speaking of this, Harry felt very guilty. Ginny had given up too many things for him.

"Where's Hagrid?"

Albert nodded and looked at Hagrid and asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"I just slaughtered a big rooster. I heard that you were here, so I wanted to invite you to have dinner with me and talk about the courses for next semester. My advanced class for Care of Magical Creatures is a mess. I want to hear any good suggestions you have." Hagrid made an excuse for himself and said to Cedric, "You also come to Diggory. I remember that you seem to be the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts next semester."

"I'm afraid not, Hagrid. I have an appointment with someone at noon."

"Who?"

Hagrid's tone was particularly resentful. He suspected that Albert was not confident in his cooking skills.

"Kingsley."

Albert gave Cedric a look and said, "You know, I also have the title of senior consultant. It's not good to always refuse the minister's invitation."

"That's true." Cedric cleared his throat after noticing Albert's gaze, "The Minister has been looking for an excuse to invite Albert to dinner and talk about the current situation in the wizarding world. You know, Albert has always been reluctant to go to the Ministry of Magic, so the Minister can only think of other ways."

Hagrid's face was full of resentment when he heard this, but he couldn't say anything else, so he could only sulk alone.

"Then when are you free?"

"You know, I've been very busy recently, and many things need me."

"Because of Umbridge's incident?" Harry felt that he had guessed the reason, "I heard that they suspected that Nelson Tobin was the mastermind behind it."

"That's not surprising. Nelson Tobin has a very radical personality, and he has an indirect hatred with Umbridge. Umbridge's policies killed his entire family." Albert was not surprised to hear such news from Harry, "I think Kingsley probably doesn't have any evidence to prove Nelson Tobin!"

"Yes, there is no evidence." Harry hesitated for a moment, and said, "Actually , Kingsley hopes to reach some kind of tacit understanding with Nelson Tobin. "

"This is actually normal." Albert said that he could understand this, "Even if Kingsley really found some evidence, he would not easily take action against Nelson Tobin, especially during this period of time, otherwise it would easily cause a backlash from the entire wizarding world, and perhaps those who once supported him would shout for him to step down and get out. After all, many people hope that Umbridge will die, and he will not easily go against public opinion. "

"But why didn't Kingsley sentence Umbridge to death?" Ron was even more puzzled. This matter was obviously very simple. As long as Umbridge died, all problems would be solved.

"Because the law doesn't allow it."

Cedric answered Ron's question for Albert, "Mr. Minister is only temporary now and has no right to amend this part of the law. Even if he can do that, he won't do it. As the Minister of Magic, he needs to maintain the credibility of the law."

"I don't think Kingsley really cares about the law."

Ron saw that Kingsley hoped to reach a tacit understanding with Nelson Tobin, and it was not difficult to see that their minister didn't care about the law at all.

Otherwise, how could he do that?

"That's because you don't understand the essence of the law!" Albert said meaningfully.

"What?" Everyone looked stunned and turned their heads to look at Albert.

"The meaning of the law, from the moment it was born, is to strengthen and maintain the rule of the ruler. Maintaining order is second, and then helping to uphold justice."

"So, sometimes it's not surprising to encounter some seemingly absurd things."

When everyone suspected that the attacker was not a Death Eater, Kingsley still took the initiative to suppress the matter and put the blame on the Death Eaters. This is the reason.

If the investigation results are that the people who originally supported Kingsley did it, he might not even be able to be the temporary minister.

"Now you understand why I hate those politicians so much." Albert looked at Harry, who was stunned, and kindly reminded him: "If you want to go further as an Auror, then you must also face these problems."

"I always thought that Cornelius Fudge was an exception, but I didn't expect that it was the case." Harry's expression was particularly complicated. Albert's words directly smashed many filters.

"You are still living comfortably."

To be honest, Cedric envied Albert, but envy was envy, he was actually quite satisfied with his current life.

"Everyone has their own choices."

"By the way, do you know where Hermione lives?" Ron suddenly interrupted and asked.

"Don't worry, Hermione should be back in England in a few days." Harry turned his head and asked Ron: "Do you plan to settle down in the newly built village?"

"This... I haven't thought about it yet."

"Then think about it carefully."

As he said, Albert looked at Hagrid and said, "When you retire in the future, you can also consider settling down with us."

"I think I can work at Hogwarts for another 30 years." Hagrid never thought of leaving Hogwarts to go somewhere else.

This is his home.

However, Hagrid was still very grateful for Albert's invitation.

()