Chapter 1353: Turning Them into Mice
Chapter 1353: Turning Them into Mice
Bang, bang, bang! Rapid knocks sounded from outside the office.
"What is it?"
Parkinson opened the door and stepped aside to let Crabbe in when he saw who it was.
"Professor, Michael Corner has gone missing?"
Crabbe noticed Professor Carol inside the office and paused briefly.
"Gone missing?" Parkinson's voice was soft, his tone unreadable.
"Yes, he's disappeared," Crabbe reported. "Filch discovered it during his routine check of the dungeons."
"I understand. You've done well. I'll handle this matter." Parkinson signaled for Crabbe to leave, but then seemed to remember something. "Oh, right, since Mr. Corner is missing, I'm afraid we'll have to cancel the previous gathering. Please inform the others about this."
Crabbe left, displeased. These gatherings were one of his few pleasures in life.
The door to the Dark Arts office closed once more, and Parkinson turned to look at Alektor Carol, who was wiping her wand with a handkerchief.
"Dumbledore's Army must have rescued that boy from the dungeons," Alektor said, using her wand to ignite the handkerchief.
"According to my latest information, Longbottom is the organizer of Dumbledore's Army. He has already been secretly sent out of Hogwarts," Parkinson said suddenly.
"Where did you get this latest information?" Alektor asked, fixing her colleague with a stare.
"From Snape," Parkinson replied, surprising her. "He's been undercover in the Order of the Phoenix for over a decade. The lines of communication aren't completely cut off yet, and he still manages to get some intelligence. That Dumbledore's Army was created by members of the Order. They also need fresh blood to join them."
"Our Headmaster seems to think it's just a minor issue and that we can handle it without him having to get involved," Alektor said, a hint of displeasure in her tone.
"If Dumbledore's Army has been disbanded, who do you think rescued Michael Corner?" Parkinson steered the conversation back to the original topic.
"Are you suspecting the other professors at the school?"
Alektor understood the implication, but she didn't agree with involving the other professors, at least not at this point.
"That old lady, McGonagall, seems to only dare to protest and do nothing else, but she's one of Dumbledore's people. I don't believe she's that weak," Parkinson said, secretly observing Alektor's reaction.
"Let Snape deal with those troubles himself. We just need to focus on our own tasks," Alektor said as she pushed the door to leave. "I know you have your own ideas, but... the Dark Lord's mission comes first."
Parkinson watched Alektor's departing figure expressionlessly. He took some Floo powder from a box above the fireplace and threw it into the roaring flames.
"Severus."
The next moment, Snape stepped out of the swirling emerald flames.
Parkinson relayed the conversation he'd just had with Alektor.
"Alektor Carol should be fine," Snape concluded. "She's probably here to keep an eye on me on the Dark Lord's orders."
"You knew already?" Parkinson was surprised by Snape's calmness.
"The Dark Lord has never truly trusted anyone. He only trusts himself," Snape said, grabbing a handful of Floo powder and turning to Parkinson. "We just need to do our own jobs well. And do you really think Alektor is here to watch me, rather than the other way around?"
"What are we going to do about Michael Corner's disappearance?"
"We don't need to do anything. For now, maintaining stability at Hogwarts is the priority. The Dark Lord does not want any problems here," Snape said, tossing the Floo powder into the fireplace. Before stepping into the emerald flames, he added, "Transforming this school was never going to happen overnight. By the way, keep an eye on the other professors for me. I'm curious what they're really up to as well."
...
"How are you feeling?"
Ernie looked at Michael worriedly as he lay on the sofa.
"The pain relief potion doesn't seem to be very effective," Michael said through gritted teeth.
"That thing only slightly reduces the pain." Syme shook his head.
"You shouldn't have taken such a risk on your own." Ernie rebuked.
"If we hadn't gone to rescue him, he might not have been able to hold out under interrogation and could have revealed our secrets."
Michael didn't regret his actions; he was just puzzled as to how his Polyjuice Potion disguise had been seen through.
"Maybe you should have discussed it with us first. We could have..." Ernie trailed off under Michael's gaze, knowing he couldn't shoulder the responsibility of leading Dumbledore's Army.
"You can't expect everyone to be as brave as you." Pettil applied some essence of dittany to Michael's wounds.
"A lot of people are scared by the Death Eaters' cruelty." Lavender muttered.
Ever since Neville and Luna had left Hogwarts, everyone realized that Dumbledore's Army was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.
Even Ernie, who had taken over the organization from Luna, wanted to keep it going, but the task was proving more challenging than expected. That Death Eater, Parkinson, was rigorously tracking their traces, causing many members to retreat in fear.
"Dumbledore's Army won't disband easily. At the very least, we can have a place to gather and practice magic." Syme seemed to see through Ernie's thoughts and patted him on the shoulder in comfort. "Besides, doesn't Neville come back every week to organize meetings?"
"To be honest, I really don't get it." Ernie trembled his lips. "Even if we can't drive the Death Eaters away, why don't we use the Imperius Curse to control them?"
Everyone was startled by Ernie's bold suggestion.
"If the professors aren't willing to take action, then let the members of the Order of the Phoenix do it. Didn't they use the Imperius Curse to control Death Eaters before?" Ernie shared his daring plan with the group. "As long as we control the Death Eaters, we can pretend that Hogwarts is still under the control of the Death Eaters. Even if we can't turn this place into a base of resistance against them, at least we can continue our studies as normal."
"That..."
Many students exchanged uncertain glances, as they were indeed reluctant to use Unforgivable Curses.
"Maybe we can discuss this with Neville when he comes back and see what he thinks." Anthony frowned slightly, feeling that the chances of success for such a plan were slim.
If Albert really wanted to do that, he would have done it already. Why would he need Ernie to bring it up?
"I think that's a bad idea. Why don't we turn the Death Eaters into mice and pretend they mysteriously disappeared?" Syme proposed, recalling that Ron's old pet mouse, Scabbers, had actually been a wizard in disguise.
"I think that's even more unreliable!" Terry muttered.
"We'll just turn them into mice and keep them locked up." Syme sought support from Ernie and Michael. "Anyway, Parkinson is the Dark Arts professor, so it wouldn't be unusual for the occupant of that cursed position to go missing, right?"
"Do we have anyone skilled in Transfiguration among us?" Michael liked the idea but pointed out the challenge of turning people into mice, which required advanced Transfiguration skills. "I doubt Professor McGonagall would help us."
"I remember Cedric was really good at Transfiguration. If he's willing to help, I'm sure he can pull it off." Ernie agreed with Syme's proposal; they needed to strike back instead of enduring the Death Eaters' oppression.
"But if we do that, and Snape finds out the Death Eaters are missing, he'll definitely..."
"Do you want to end up like me?" Michael interrupted, gesturing to the whip marks on his body. "Worst-case scenario, we drop out and join the Defense Association. I can't take this place anymore."
"Why not the Order of the Phoenix? Didn't Harry, Hermione, and Ron join them?" Lavender asked in confusion.
"You learn more practical things in the Defense Association. I bet Neville has become much more skilled after his time there." Ernie explained, confident in their belief that Harry was the chosen one.
They were all willing to put their faith in Harry as the savior.
However, compared to Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix, Albert's Defense Association seemed more reliable and suitable for them, as it truly taught them how to fight against Dark Wizards.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
