Chapter 1323: The Instigator
Chapter 1323: The Instigator
News of a group of Harry Potters appearing on the Hogwarts Express spread like wildfire through the British magical community overnight, via newspapers and letters. Even as the Prophet reporter tried to twist the facts, most witches and wizards could see through the paper to the partial truth they wanted to believe.
British wizards weren't fools; they were just ordinary witches and wizards who tended to be opportunistic and neutral for self-preservation.
Moreover, there were plenty of eyewitnesses on the Hogwarts Express.
They had witnessed the arrogant Death Eaters forcing the train to a halt, boarding it to capture Hogwarts students. They had also seen the famous Harry Potter riding his Nimbus 2000, chasing away Dementors and subduing Death Eaters to rescue the captured Hufflepuff girl.
The British wizarding community was overjoyed that their savior, Harry Potter, was willing to stand up against Voldemort.
Given the choice, no one would want to live under Voldemort's rule. They persisted only because they had no other option. As long as their interests and lives were not at stake, most people, despite not openly supporting Harry, would be rooting for him to defeat Voldemort in their hearts.
Of course, their support ended there.
Compared to the complex-minded witches and wizards, the young students of Hogwarts had fewer ulterior motives. All they saw was their hero, Harry Potter, standing up for them and helping them defeat those despised Death Eaters, helping them get their sweet revenge.
He was truly one of them.
As for the Prophet, which tried to twist the facts, it had successfully drawn hatred upon itself. It was said that some witches and wizards, disgusted by the paper's ugly behavior, had sent Howlers to mock its distortion of the truth and its ugly attempt to portray the Death Eaters as employees of the Ministry.
Having kept abreast of the outside world, Harry, upon learning of this, felt his gloomy mood from practicing the Blasting Curse lift. He, too, disliked the ugly face the Prophet presented.
As for the content of the article, Harry didn't see any issues with it. He was just curious about Albert's intentions. After getting a rough idea from the Weasley brothers, he stopped paying attention to the matter.
Just because Harry didn't care, didn't mean others didn't.
"Albert once asked me for some of my hair, but I didn't expect him to use it for this," Ron said, at a loss for words due to Harry's calm demeanor.
"Um..." Ron chose his words carefully, "Won't this attract the attention of both Voldemort and the Death Eaters to us?"
With Harry already being a target, Ron really didn't want to draw any extra attention from Voldemort and his followers.
"We're not doing anything special at the moment, so there's no need to worry about being specifically targeted," Hermione reassured him. She didn't think Albert would deliberately sabotage Harry. On the contrary, by doing this, Albert was increasing Harry's influence, and perhaps...
"We can even use fake Harrys to divert the Death Eaters' attention in the future."
After all, with the use of Polyjuice Potion, most people wouldn't be able to tell if they were real or not.
Hermione believed that the Death Eaters would definitely be confused when multiple sets of the trio appeared together, as Albert didn't have her or Ron's hair. And those "smart" Death Eaters would surely notice this and recognize that only when Harry, Hermione, and Ron appeared together was it the real deal.
As the trio discussed the events of the previous day, the entire British wizarding community was abuzz with the same topic. Especially the students of Hogwarts, who were particularly enthusiastic about it. The appearance of over a dozen Harrys the night before had become the hottest topic of the day, along with the badge bearing the shield and wand symbol.
Now, the students knew that it was the emblem of the Defense Association, and they understood what kind of organization the Defense Association was. But the events of yesterday had given them a new perspective on the group, and they were filled with curiosity about this magical association.
Riding on this curiosity, Neville's efforts to secretly reorganize Dumbledore's Army went more smoothly than expected. Many former members of Dumbledore's Army were willing to rejoin.
After all, the Defense Association seemed truly formidable, as evidenced by their overwhelming defeat of the Death Eaters, which showcased their advanced dark arts defense skills. Perhaps this was the standard of the Ministry's Aurors.
However, rumors claimed that the members of the Defense Association were mostly recent graduates.
Could they achieve the same?
Of course, they were also curious about the famous Harry Potter and wanted to know why he had shown up and what he intended to do.
The enthusiasm for rejoining Dumbledore's Army was even higher than Albert had anticipated. On the first day of school, Neville, Ernie, and Luna successfully reorganized Dumbledore's Army.
Of course, they didn't recklessly use the name "Dumbledore's Army," and they even used the acronym "DA" sparingly, as it drew too much negative attention and could easily arouse the interest of Snape and the other Death Eaters.
Following Luna's suggestion, they agreed to use the Witch and Wizard Card Club as a cover. After all, Luna was the club manager, so changing the frequency of their monthly gatherings wouldn't be an issue.
And as for forming an illegal gathering?
They were just playing cards; how was that illegal?
The impact of the Harry Potter incident didn't end there.
It was said that someone had spotted Voldemort and the Death Eaters near another Muggle-born wizarding sanctuary, and two unfortunate souls who had ventured out had met their demise.
The reason was simple. Albert had instructed everyone to store the looted valuables in a house near the Muggle-born wizarding sanctuary, protected by the Fidelius Charm, to prevent anyone from bringing items with tracking spells back to their headquarters. This caution undoubtedly saved many lives and served as a harsh lesson to the members of the Defense Association, forcefully suppressing the young witches' and wizards' exuberance.
Countless people were terrified to realize that the outer defenses of their headquarters would be of little use if Voldemort found their lair.
In the event of a nighttime sneak attack, they might not even have enough time to hide within the Fidelius-protected headquarters.
"Everyone was scared out of their wits!"
George carefully observed Albert's expression and asked in a low voice, "Did you foresee this?"
"I had my suspicions," Albert replied.
"Suspicions?" Everyone was surprised.
"You stripped them of everything valuable. Wouldn't you expect them to try and turn the tables on you?" Albert tossed aside the nonsensical Prophet and instructed, "Keep sending Howlers to the Prophet, and remember to mention in the Witch Weekly that the Prophet has always been under the control of the Ministry, both in the past and now. It's best to brand the Prophet as untrustworthy so that others won't be misled by the paper."
"The Prophet is inherently untrustworthy!" Jordan interjected, putting down his fork.
"By constantly repeating this reminder, it will be easy to subconsciously label the Prophet as unreliable," Albert explained.
Cedric understood Albert's intentions and directly asked about the next steps. "Won't there be a problem taking Harry Potter back to Hogwarts?"
"That was Harry's idea," Albert replied.
"Yes, Harry did say that," George nodded in agreement with Cedric. "Don't worry, Harry won't cause you any trouble."
"I think he's caused enough trouble in the last few years," Kenneth interjected sharply.
He did not support the idea of Harry going to Hogwarts and taking on more risks.
Ignoring Kenneth's comment, George continued, "He's been practicing the Blasting Curse lately and wanted to know if you have any tips for controlling it."
"No, it's actually a slow process, similar to practicing Transfiguration. It requires precise control over one's magical power." Albert took a sip of his milk tea and glanced at the whispering group, warning them, "Don't attempt the Blasting Curse recklessly. Throughout history, there have been plenty of unfortunate souls who were burned to death by their own Blasting Curse on their first try. I don't want to come back one day and find this place reduced to ashes. Those who lack reverence for Dark Magic usually meet gruesome ends."
"You can teach us!"
Kenneth was intrigued by the curse and, with Albert by their side, he felt more courageous about attempting it.
"I don't have that much time," Albert replied. "Learning all those useless Dark Magic spells isn't worth it. It's better to master a few practical spells; you'll find that they're more reliable than those lengthy incantations."
Albert raised his hand to silence those who wanted to interject, then turned to Fred and said, "Have the Order members go and reassure those frightened witches and wizards. See how many are willing to join, and if they're still reluctant, continue to offer them the option to leave the country. It's better than having them all huddled up in that miserable place."
As for convincing them to buy Dark Magic defense artifacts and willingly spend their money—well, that was a tough sell.
Most Muggle-born wizards were poor, a sad reality.
It was a consequence of their lack of background and low social status, which made it difficult for them to find decent jobs.
That was just the way society tended to work.
"By the way, there's something else," George hesitated for a moment. "Remember the Hufflepuff girl we rescued yesterday?"
"She was captured by Death Eaters again?" Albert was unsurprised. After her refusal, he had expected as much.
"Yes, according to Hagrid, a bunch of Dark Wizards arrived just as the Hogwarts train pulled into Hogsmeade. Hagrid tried to stop them, but he couldn't. Kingsley told me that the entire Hopkins family has been captured," George said.
"Hopkins?" Albert didn't recognize the name.
"Remember the sanctuary Scrimgeour set up?" George looked at Shana, who handed Albert a piece of parchment.
"I remember telling them to destroy it after they were done," Albert said, knowing why the Hopkins family had been taken.
"No, Scrimgeour gave it to old man Hopkins for safekeeping. He used to be Moody's colleague. They captured his family to force him to hand over the pass," George explained with a bitter smile. "If they had destroyed the pass as instructed, this wouldn't be a problem."
After all, Albert was the Secret-Keeper for that sanctuary.
Even with the Hopkins family in their custody, the Death Eaters wouldn't gain anything.
"The Order is worried that the Death Eaters will take complete control of the sanctuary. You know, many relatives of Ministry officials are hiding there. If it falls, the entire Ministry will be in the Death Eaters' hands," Fred and George exchanged glances as they voiced the Order's concern.
"There's nothing we can do about it," Albert remained indifferent.
To be honest, in Albert's opinion, it didn't make much difference whether the sanctuary fell or not, especially after the Aurors had betrayed Scrimgeour. He had no intention of helping them anymore.
Any excuse they had was nullified the moment they refused to contact Kingsley. The mark of betrayal had been branded upon them.
Sometimes Albert felt that Scrimgeour's loyalty was wasted on them.
"You're really not going to do anything?" George asked again.
In fact, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan weren't surprised by this outcome, especially since this crisis had been brought about by their own recklessness. There was no reason to risk their lives to save them.
"We can't help them. The only one who could, Scrimgeour, is already dead," Albert shook his head.
"But aren't you the Secret-Keeper for that place?" Cedric asked, concerned as his own family was also hiding in that sanctuary.
"We can only provide limited help. It's arrogant to think we can change everything," Albert said, shaking his head at Cedric's bewildered expression.
"But if we just destroy the pass..."
"I already told them to destroy it, but they didn't. And now, it's too late," Albert interrupted.
"Too late?"
"The Hopkins family has been captured. What would you do if you were in their shoes?" Albert countered.
"..."
Cedric's expression turned bitter as he understood Albert's point.
What would he do? He would hand over the pass to protect his family, of course.
As for the other wizards in the sanctuary?
Well, he could only apologize to them.
Old man Hopkins might feel ashamed, but he would prioritize his family's safety.
As for betrayal, so be it.
Suddenly, Cedric understood why Pettigrew had betrayed the Potters.
"They won't be harmed, will they?" Cedric asked, his lips trembling.
"I can't think of a reason for the Death Eaters to kill pure-bloods en masse," Albert reassured him.
"You're right, the Death Eaters believe in pure-blood supremacy," Cedric mumbled, almost as if he were trying to convince himself.
"It's not that I don't want to help, but it's too late now. And when you make a decision, you have to be prepared to face the consequences. Don't expect anyone to clean up your mess," Albert continued, addressing the whole group. "Just like I've reminded you time and again not to bring your spoils directly back to headquarters. If any of you bring back items with Tracking Charms, leading the Death Eaters right to our doorstep, think about the terrible consequences. Relying on the enemy's mercy is incredibly foolish."
Of course, Albert didn't tell them that he had cast a powerful shielding charm around the village, making it extremely difficult for the Death Eaters to locate them even if they used Tracking Magic.
But even he couldn't account for all possible accidents, and these rambunctious youths needed a stern reminder to keep them focused on their training.
(End of Chapter)
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