Chapter 859: Stubborn Fellows
Chapter 859: Stubborn Fellows
The days of waiting were long and tedious, and the Triwizard Tournament became the main topic of conversation. Many students believed that Albert would become the champion of Hogwarts. He had a good reputation in the school. Apart from a handful of envious and jealous individuals, most people thought that only Albert was qualified to represent Hogwarts in the Tournament and that he was the only one capable of crushing Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to bring home the Triwizard Cup.
This turn of events put Moody in a foul mood. As soon as he infiltrated Hogwarts, he realized that Albert was incredibly popular. The first class of the semester, which was meant to be a test for the students, only served to push Moody's spirits further into the dumps. He discovered that Albert Anderson was an exceptionally skilled wizard with powerful magical abilities, completely unlike what one would expect from a Muggle-born. He suddenly understood why Wormtail had been so wary of him; he truly was someone who could pose a significant threat to the Dark Lord's plans.
Wandless magic and non-verbal spells were not techniques that students could easily master. Coupled with the extraordinary abilities demonstrated in class, it didn't matter how talented the champions from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were, as they were simply not on the same level anymore. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was like an adult fighting a child.
How could he possibly lose with this advantage?
If they were to continue with the original plan of making Harry the fourth champion and secretly providing him with assistance, even if Moody knew the content of the tasks beforehand, it would still be challenging to ensure Harry secured the Triwizard Cup first.
The best course of action was to prevent Albert from participating in the selection process. As long as he couldn't enter the Tournament, there was a chance for Harry to win with Moody's help, and the original plan could proceed. However, this would undoubtedly arouse suspicion. Even Dumbledore would realize that something was amiss, as he also believed that Albert would be the likely champion for Hogwarts, and Albert himself had expressed his intention to participate in the selection. The worst part was that no one could compete with Albert for the position of the Hogwarts champion. If he were to be passed over, it would lead to a series of problems. Dumbledore was a very perceptive person. If another student from Hogwarts were chosen, it would imply that Albert had likely been controlled by the Imperius Curse or had his memory altered, causing him to miss the opportunity to register. However, the Memory Charm was ineffective on powerful wizards, and Moody couldn't afford to expose his true identity by meddling too much.
Could he really only modify the original plan?
Professor Moody felt a bit reluctant, as he had racked his brains to come up with ways to help Harry achieve high scores and had already started paving the way for him.
If he abandoned the original plan and instead tried to abduct Harry during the third task, his identity would undoubtedly be exposed, and the chances of success were uncertain. After all, it was challenging to get Harry away from Dumbledore's watchful eye without resorting to surprise tactics, and this would undoubtedly alert the headmaster. The Dark Lord's resurrection would require time, and Moody couldn't be sure how long it would take for Dumbledore to locate Harry. The consequences of the headmaster interfering were simply unimaginable.
Damn Anderson! It would be so much easier if he could just be disposed of.
After a few days, Moody finally agreed with Wormtail's initial suggestion. The best opportunity to get rid of Albert had been during the chaos caused by Malfoy at the Quidditch World Cup camp, and they had already missed that chance.
As Moody pondered how to deal with Albert Anderson, he was completely unaware that he himself had already been targeted.
Through Sirius and Harry, Albert influenced Dumbledore, causing the headmaster to develop some suspicions about the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Once doubt took root, Dumbledore would inevitably pay closer attention to Moody, which would undoubtedly bring trouble to the wizard.
Yes, Albert had no intention of letting Moody fixate on him, so he took the rather unsportsmanlike approach of throwing Dumbledore, quite literally, at his problem.
As long as Dumbledore had even the slightest suspicion, he would interpret Moody's actions differently. Once Moody realized he was under the headmaster's scrutiny, he wouldn't dare to act recklessly, or he would risk exposing his true intentions. A single misstep could cause the Dark Lord's plan to fall apart, and Moody wouldn't risk the plan failing just to target Albert.
He had no choice but to think of another approach, and this situation made Moody feel inexplicably irritable.
Especially after just leaving Dumbledore's office, where they had discussed the Triwizard Tournament. This was one of the reasons Dumbledore had invited Moody to teach at the school, hoping that he would keep an eye on Harry and the events transpiring within the school, thus preventing any issues during the Tournament.
Upon returning to his office, Moody glanced at the broken Sneakoscope on his desk, his gaze moving away from the buzzing device to rest once again on the enchanted mirror that could reveal his enemies. The closer the enemy was, the clearer their reflection would be in the mirror.
Usually, Moody would use this mirror to identify any enemies approaching his office so that he could resume his true form at night without being discovered.
Standing by the window, gazing at the view outside, Moody frowned as he pondered his next steps. He still believed that Albert should be eliminated, but this was something he couldn't do himself. He needed to come up with a new plan.
Moody's first idea was to have the students from Slytherin House attack Albert on the day of the champion selection, ensuring that he missed the opportunity to be chosen.
The excuse was simple: they had a grudge against each other, and he didn't want Albert to become a champion. As for those disposable pawns, what became of them afterward was none of his concern.
However, Moody considered the strength of both sides and suddenly felt that this plan was unreliable. Even if he had those people ambush Albert, there was no guarantee they could knock him out and hide him, let alone ensure the smooth execution of the plan. The flaw in this plan was the significant gap in strength between the two sides. And while many students from Slytherin didn't like Albert, their conflict hadn't escalated to that level; otherwise, they would have fought by now.
Plan B was to find someone to detain Albert and preferably drug him so that he would miss the Triwizard Tournament. But this was no easy task, either. Albert was an extremely vigilant guy, a master at Potions himself, and even a champion of the Potions Competition. Drugging him was not going to be easy, and an ordinary person wouldn't be up to the task. The person for this job had to be reliable, someone with a connection to Albert who wouldn't easily arouse suspicion.
Additionally, he couldn't perform the Imperius Curse himself; he had to distance himself from the situation. It would be best if the two of them rarely interacted.
Lastly, he had to decide on the potion to use and a plausible reason for doing so, leaving no loopholes that Dumbledore could exploit to grow suspicious.
This was troublesome, and Moody couldn't think of a good solution for the time being. His understanding of Albert was very limited, and he needed to gather more intelligence. He would also have to ask Wormtail about it, as the execution of this task would likely fall into his hands.
"What a troublesome guy," Moody muttered as he watched the figure walking towards Hagrid's hut. He had noticed that Albert had stopped in his tracks, seemingly sensing something, and was looking in his direction. They were quite a distance apart, and with Moody standing behind the window, he wasn't worried about being spotted.
Indeed, Albert had felt like he was being watched, and stopping and turning back was merely a reflex. But Moody had guessed wrong about one thing: Albert hadn't seen who was spying on him, but he already had a hunch about the culprit. Nevertheless, Albert wasn't too concerned. He believed that Moody wouldn't cause him much trouble going forward and wouldn't act rashly. He had already decided to make time for a divination session to see if Moody would pull any tricks during the champion selection.
Knocking on the door and entering Hagrid's hut, Albert found Hermione already there, seemingly chatting with Hagrid.
Upon seeing Albert, Hagrid's face fell, clearly unhappy that Albert had not signed up for his Advanced Magical Creatures class.
"What were you two talking about?" Albert asked Hermione, his eyes falling on the box on the table with several badges inside, each bearing the letters S.P.E.W.
"Vomiting?"
Albert shifted his gaze from the badges and turned to Hagrid. "Don't be angry, Hagrid. In my sixth year, I have to drop a few classes to make room for other courses in my schedule."
"So, you gave up on my Care of Magical Creatures class?" Hagrid huffed.
"Yes, because I don't particularly enjoy dealing with magical creatures, and I don't plan to pursue that path in the future, so it's normal to drop it," Albert said matter-of-factly. "Besides, I'm very busy. Every week, I have a ton of parties to attend, letters to reply to, essays to write, and homework to complete. Now I also have to help Black with the magazine issues, and Isabelle wants to publish a book, so I have to keep an eye on that, too. It's already quite an accomplishment to find time to drop by for a cup of tea with you."
"Hmph!" Hagrid grunted in dissatisfaction, feeling that Albert was making excuses. Of course, he knew Albert was busy, but the fact that he had given up on his class still left him a little moody. The number of students signing up for the Advanced Care of Magical Creatures class was... dismal.
"Okay, I know you're busy, and the whole school is talking about how you're likely to become Hogwarts' champion," Hagrid said, steering the conversation away from the unpleasant topic.
"I do intend to participate in the champion announcement," Albert said as he sipped his tea. "The Triwizard Tournament is an interesting competition, and it would be a shame to miss it. As for whether or not I can become Hogwarts' champion, we'll only know for sure on the day of the selection." Albert turned to Hermione and asked, "What's the story with your 'vomiting' badge?"
"It's not vomiting, it's S-P-E-W!" Hermione explained irritably. "It stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."
"So, you're not giving up on this after all?" Albert raised an eyebrow.
"I agree with your point of view, but I think establishing an association is still necessary," Hermione asserted.
"Hermione, I think what you're doing is wrong," Albert said sternly. "Caring for humans is in the nature of house-elves, and if they don't have work, they will feel sad. Paying them wages is an insult to house-elves." Hagrid reminded her solemnly, not understanding why Hermione was so stubborn about this issue. He glanced at Albert, silently pleading for him to persuade Hermione to drop this foolish idea.
"But Harry freed Dobby, and Dobby was thrilled. And didn't Albert also hire a house-elf?" Hermione turned to Albert with eager eyes.
"Really?" Hagrid looked at Albert in surprise, but given Albert's personality, doing something like this wasn't strange at all.
"No, he's not employed," Albert shook his head.
"He's nothing like a house-elf. I saw him wearing clean and tidy clothes." Hermione bluntly pointed this out, as regular house-elves wouldn't wear clothes at all.
"That's not clothing, it's just a piece of cloth with three holes in it. At least, that's what it is to a house-elf," Albert shrugged. "My promise still stands. If you really want to write a novel advocating for the treatment of house-elves, I can help you with that."
"Hermione, I think you should take Albert's suggestion. You'll never be able to convince most house-elves to seek freedom—it's just not going to happen." Hagrid agreed with Albert, feeling that this was the best way to help house-elves.
"It's difficult," Hermione said sadly. "Most of the families that own house-elves are pure-blood wizarding families, and their attitudes towards house-elves... you haven't seen how the Blacks treat Kitchie. Trying to change their minds with a novel is simply impossible. There are hardly any wizards as enlightened as you who are willing to treat house-elves as family."
"Perhaps you're right, but you're too eager. Some things can't be solved with just passion." Albert sighed softly. "I suddenly understand why the Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor."
"I chose Gryffindor myself," Hermione said.
"These things take time and gradual change. House-elves have been enslaved for a thousand years, so what's a few more decades? If you don't slowly shift the way wizards think about house-elves and get them to sympathize with house-elves, seeing them as reliable friends and helpers, then one day, even if you become the Minister of Magic and try to enact laws to help house-elves, it will be difficult to implement them. By then, people will oppose you, and some might even demand your resignation, turning you into a public enemy."
"I think Albert's words make sense, and his approach is more likely to succeed. Obviously, if you want your plan to work, you should trust him. Albert's suggestions often come true, just like how I listened to his advice and successfully saved Buckbeak." Hagrid raised his hands in agreement with Albert's view, though he didn't think Hermione could become the Minister of Magic. If anyone could, it would be Albert, who had a high chance of achieving that position. As for Hermione, the probability was just too low.
"Okay, you're right. We should get the wizarding world to sympathize with house-elves. I'll make time to brainstorm the novel's content." Hermione mumbled.
Hagrid grinned, his mouth splitting open wide, and glanced at Albert with an expression that said, 'Just as I expected from you.' At that moment, a strange clattering noise came from a box in the corner of the room, and Albert turned to see that it was coming from a box in the corner.
"I got a box that works similarly to your briefcase." Hagrid smiled as he explained. "Inside is the result of my recent experiment—the Blast-Ended Skrewt. I bred it using a Manticore and sixty Fire Crabs. Do you want to take a look?"
"Get one out for me to see." Albert said.
"Just a moment."
As Hagrid opened the box, a strong stench of rotten fish and shrimp wafted out, causing Albert to feel nauseous.
Soon, Hagrid pulled out a Blast-Ended Skrewt. The stench grew stronger, and it looked like a shelled lobster, but its appearance was terrible. What was worse was that the Skrewt's tail shot out sparks, and while Hagrid's thick skin might not be affected, other students would be in for a world of hurt.
"Hagrid, I have to remind you that if you continue breeding Blast-Ended Skrewts, you will definitely be violating the 'Animal Breeding Experimentation Prohibition' statute. Be careful, or the Magical Creature Management and Control Department will come after you. Manticores are already XXXXX-level dangerous creatures, and Fire Crabs are XXX-level dangerous creatures, which means that Blast-Ended Skrewts are at least XXX-level dangerous creatures and could very well become XXXXX-level dangerous creatures as they mature." Albert picked up a spoon and tapped the Skrewt's shell. "Fire Crabs have hard shells, which means that Blast-Ended Skrewts are likely to have tough shells as well. This thing will definitely become more dangerous. Trust me, if you let students breed these things in class, Care of Magical Creatures will undoubtedly become the most hated subject. There's no competition because these things are just too dangerous."
As he spoke, Albert pointed to the Skrewt's tail, "Even at this small size, the tail's attack is not negligible. Just imagine how dangerous they'll be when they're fully grown."
As the two left Hagrid's hut, Hermione said to Albert, "We should persuade Hagrid to stop breeding Blast-Ended Skrewts. During the last Care of Magical Creatures class, many students were injured by their tails. Once Hagrid figures out what they eat, I bet they'll grow to six feet in no time. If the Ministry of Magic finds out we're breeding XXXXX-level dangerous creatures, Hagrid will be in big trouble."
"It's difficult, just like how you won't give up on 'SPEW'," Albert shook his head.
"It's the 'Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare'," Hermione corrected weakly.
(End of Chapter)
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