Chapter 1402: A Major Incident
Chapter 1402: A Major Incident
The misfortune that befell Mundungus Fletcher was largely his own doing and his penchant for courting death.
As a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Mundungus was well aware of the deep-seated grudge between the Order and the Death Eaters. Yet, after his identity as an Order member was exposed by Snape, instead of lying low, he boldly broke into someone else's home to steal without a care in the world.
It was like dancing in a pit of manure—asking for trouble.
If the Death Eaters wanted to cause trouble for the Order of the Phoenix, they would undoubtedly target the easiest prey first. After Albert sent Voldemort that Christmas gift, Mr. Sneak Thief was the first to suffer the consequences. It was his own fault for not hiding and for being so easy to catch.
Albert felt no guilt about this.
If he were to feel guilty about this, there would be countless other things he should feel guilty about.
After all, quite a few witches and wizards had lost their lives because of his presence, and as the situation became increasingly chaotic, more innocent Muggles would inevitably be caught in the crossfire.
Albert sympathized with them, but that was the extent of it.
The question he should be pondering now was how the situation in Britain would change now that Mundungus had fallen into Voldemort's hands.
Although Mr. Sneak Thief might not know much, Voldemort would undoubtedly squeeze every bit of information out of him before he died.
This was troublesome.
Who knew how much valuable intelligence Mundungus would give Voldemort before his demise?
This was a big problem.
After meticulously recording all the possible issues he could think of in his notebook, Albert retrieved the crystal ball used for divination from the bookshelf and prepared to perform a detailed divination regarding Mundungus' capture.
He would not allow himself to be caught off guard.
Of course, another reason was that Albert felt that this incident was likely to trigger a new task.
With his hands gently placed on either side of the crystal ball, the mist on its surface began to swirl rapidly, and the image gradually became clear. It was...
Albert paused, his eyes widening as he beheld a vast expanse of sickly green—the Dark Mark.
This was definitely not a good omen.
As if the perspective shifted downward, a new scene appeared in the crystal ball—a village covered in snowy whiteness, yet it seemed familiar to Albert.
"Could it be... But how is that possible?"
Albert's gaze turned solemn, his brain working furiously as he tried to interpret the meaning behind the images in the prophecy.
The door to the study was pushed open, and Isabelle walked in.
Noticing the change in Albert's expression, she quickly composed herself and asked, "Has something happened?"
"Yeah, I've encountered a pig teammate," Albert sighed.
"Pig teammate?" Isabelle paused for a moment, then understood what he meant and asked curiously, "Has something bad happened in Britain again?"
"Not yet, but it probably will soon."
Putting the divination crystal ball back on the bookshelf, Albert said helplessly, "I've realized that there are quite a few people who like to court death. When they die, they leave a mess for others to clean up."
"It seems you've divined the reason."
Instead of feeling worried, Isabelle was relieved. As long as they were aware of the danger in advance, it ceased to be a danger. Usually, it was the unknown threats that were the most terrifying.
"Sort of. It's a bunch of troublesome stuff."
"Would you like something to drink?" Isabelle asked as she kissed Albert's cheek.
"A hot cup of milk, please. I'll head to bed after I'm done here," Albert replied.
Albert decided to send a warning to the Order of the Phoenix and the Defense Association about Mundungus' predicament, alerting them to potential dangers so that they wouldn't be caught off guard.
As for the content of the prophecy, Albert intended to carefully consider how to handle it. He didn't think that, with his foreknowledge, a similar situation would occur. So, it was most likely something he had overlooked, but he hadn't yet figured out why he would have done that.
And so, after drinking his milk and resolving the issue, he hugged his wife and went to sleep.
However, the members of the Order of the Phoenix were in for a sleepless night. After receiving the message, they were destined to spend the night worrying.
"I just received an urgent message from Anderson. Mundungus Fletcher has been captured by the Death Eaters!"
Bill and Lotus, who were on night watch, explained the reason for rousing everyone from their sleep.
Mundungus' capture wasn't necessarily a big deal, but he knew a lot of the Order's secrets. If Voldemort probed their minds for information, the Order could be in deep trouble. Otherwise, Albert wouldn't have used the urgent communication method to notify them.
"That idiot got caught by the Death Eaters while stealing!"
Moody, roused from his sleep, was in a foul mood. Hearing Bill's words, he couldn't help but curse loudly.
There was no helping it. Mundungus Fletcher was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and he knew quite a few secrets. Moreover, he was a soft-boned man who would readily compromise under pressure and divulge everything he knew. Who knew how much trouble he would cause for the Order?
"Aren't we going to rescue him?" Ron asked groggily, sounding a bit confused. "I mean..."
"Don't be ridiculous, Ron," Arthur interrupted his youngest son before he could finish, explaining, "According to Anderson's intelligence, the mysterious person has returned to Britain. The situation may be worse than we imagined."
"But why would the mysterious person target Mundungus?" Hermione asked, perplexed.
"The noseless freak probably wants to deal with us. He started by capturing someone to gather information. It's difficult for them to get their hands on anyone from the Defense Association, so they went after the Order of the Phoenix instead. And Mundungus was the easiest target," Harry explained calmly, unconcerned about the astonished looks he was getting from the others.
"Mundungus Fletcher is as good as dead," Sirius said, certain that Voldemort wouldn't let him live.
"But he knows a lot of our secrets. That could implicate others," Lupin pointed out.
"I think we should move Mrs. Figg to a new location. I'm worried that Mundungus knows where she lives," Hestia Jones suddenly said.
Mrs. Figg was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
"Or we could convince Mrs. Figg to move to headquarters," Mrs. Weasley suggested.
Mundungus' capture served as a wake-up call for everyone.
It was dangerous out there.
Especially now that Voldemort had returned to Britain, no one knew what the Death Eaters would do.
Death Eaters with Voldemort backing them were a completely different matter.
Kingsley, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked, "Did Anderson say how we should handle this situation?"
"No, he probably doesn't have a good solution either. It's difficult to rescue someone from the mysterious person's clutches unless we're prepared to go to war with Voldemort!"
That was obviously out of the question. Mundungus wasn't worth the risk.
After a brief discussion, the members of the Order decided to focus on relocating Mrs. Figg to avoid any potential problems.
To that end, almost all members of the Order were mobilized to ensure a smooth operation without any unforeseen complications.
(End of Chapter)
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