Chapter 878: A Casual Mention
Chapter 878: A Casual Mention
"Harry mentioned in his letter that you were attacked." Sirius Black didn't continue on that topic but instead brought up something else that had been on his mind.
Albert turned to Harry, who scratched his cheek awkwardly, apparently not expecting Sirius to bring up the incident directly with Albert.
"Yes, I suspect it was Peter Pettigrew," Albert said, turning away from Harry to address Sirius in the two-way mirror. "I even made a prophecy about it. Although there were no explicit signs, the evidence does point to him, and I have reason to believe he was the culprit."
Hermione looked up at Albert, her eyes filled with worry. She knew that Peter Pettigrew had been sent to Azkaban because of Albert, and if he sought revenge and tried to harm Albert, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Sirius stood there with his mouth agape, lost in thought. After a long silence, his voice came through the two-way mirror again. "Can you do a divination for Harry? I want to know who put his name in the Goblet of Fire."
Albert raised an eyebrow. "You want me to do a divination?"
"Yes," Sirius nodded. It was his responsibility as Harry's godfather. He couldn't just stand by, knowing that Harry might be in danger, and do nothing while Harry faced the impending peril alone.
"Actually, you don't need divination to guess that it was one of Voldemort's followers who put Harry's name in the Goblet," Albert said as he picked up Crookshanks to prevent him from knocking over the mirror with his paws. "Consider that a free service."
"How can you be so sure?"
Although Albert had mentioned that Voldemort might try to harm him during the Triwizard Tournament, Harry still couldn't understand why Voldemort would do such a thing. Albert gave Harry a look that clearly said he thought Harry was being daft.
"What's wrong?" Harry became even more confused.
"Harry, if Peter Pettigrew attacked Albert, then it's obvious who put your name in the Goblet of Fire," Hermione said, exasperated as she looked at Harry. She wasn't sure if he truly didn't understand or was just pretending.
After hearing Albert's words, Hermione became even more convinced that this was Voldemort's plot. Moreover, Albert's guesses had always been accurate, compelling her to consider his speculation seriously.
"There's a high possibility that Voldemort will try something during the Triwizard Tournament. You should be cautious," Sirius said, his eyes filled with concern for Harry. "The outcome of the Tournament isn't as important as your safety. Always put your well-being first."
"But..."
"If Peter Pettigrew wanted to prevent Albert from participating in the Tournament, it's likely because he knew that your chances of winning would be slim if Albert joined," Sirius interrupted. "Undoubtedly, Albert's presence could mess up Voldemort's plans, and I believe they have alternative schemes in place. I know what you're suspecting, but I don't think Albert has any reason to deceive you."
At the other end of the two-way mirror, Sirius sighed softly. Even if he didn't believe Albert, he wouldn't show it in front of him, especially since Albert had no motive to lie.
In Sirius' opinion, Harry had nothing to offer that would make Albert want to deceive him.
More importantly, many of the things Albert had said initially had come true, like Harry being drawn into the Triwizard Tournament.
Sirius had sought out Albert because he hoped that he would be able to keep an eye on Harry in his spare time, but he also realized that he had no right to ask such a favor. Unless, of course, he was willing to offer a substantial amount of galleons to hire Albert's services, and perhaps then he might agree to help look after Harry for the sake of the money.
That had been Sirius' initial plan, but with Harry present, he decided to postpone the discussion for later.
"But why would Voldemort do that?" Harry asked, perplexed.
Sirius fell silent as well, pondering the same question. Why would Voldemort do such a thing? If Voldemort truly intended to murder Harry during the Tournament, it would make sense, but there was no need to involve Albert. In Sirius' opinion, Albert was an extremely dangerous individual, and those who had caught his attention didn't fare well—just look at Peter and Ludo Bagman, who was still in hiding.
To be honest, Sirius was skeptical that Peter had the capability to ambush Albert.
He suspected that Peter might have tried something, only to be discovered by Albert, who then set up a scheme to test someone, like Mad-Eye Moody. Although Sirius had interacted with Moody a long time ago, they were not familiar with each other.
Therefore, instead of trusting Mad-Eye, Sirius found himself placing more faith in Albert, the young man with the ability to predict the future.
In Sirius' eyes, Albert's intuition and observational skills were uncanny. He had been caught in Albert's scheme and exchanged for gold, and poor Peter had ended up in Azkaban because of it. From that moment on, Sirius no longer considered Albert a student.
Under the watchful eyes of Harry, Hermione, and Sirius, Albert calmly stated his "speculation." "It's simple. After Voldemort's resurrection, he intends to use you, the savior, as a sacrificial lamb. You and your friends here don't think it's a good idea, as it was because of you that Voldemort ended up in his current miserable state. Killing you himself would be a way for Voldemort to wash away his humiliation, and it would instill fear in his followers. Perhaps, Voldemort might even pretend to duel with you and then kill you in front of the Death Eaters. That would not only satisfy his revenge but also prove that you, the so-called savior, are nothing but a joke. It would help him regain the loyalty of his scattered followers in one fell swoop."
"Voldemort will be resurrected?" Hermione exclaimed in shock, her voice thankfully muffled by the silencing spell Albert had cast earlier.
"All signs point to something terrible brewing," Albert said as he placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder, signaling for her to calm down. "I believe it's entirely reasonable to expect the worst. Even without a prophecy, I can guess that much. You probably don't know that the centaurs have a similar prophecy as well."
"What prophecy?" the three asked in unison.
"The centaurs believe that the wizarding world is merely experiencing a brief period of peace between two wars," Albert said, giving Harry a look that clearly conveyed his exasperation with Harry's confusion. "If you just use your brain a little, you'll realize that another wizarding war is looming, perhaps within the next few years. As for what will trigger this war, I think you can guess even without me spelling it out."
"So, Voldemort's resurrection will lead to the second wizarding war?"
Sirius muttered under his breath. He found Albert's speculation reasonable.
"But it's just a guess?" Harry said, perplexed.
"Harry, I think it's best if you believe it. It won't hurt you to be cautious," Hermione whispered. "In fact, you didn't even notice that Albert's prophecies have mostly come true, and I remember you mentioning that Trelawney made a similar prophecy for you, I think it was..."
Hermione pulled out a notebook from somewhere and read out loud: "'The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, forsaken by his followers, twelve years a slave. The servant shall break free of his chains and set forth to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord shall rise again, more powerful and terrible than ever before.'"
"Hermione, I thought you didn't believe in prophecies," Harry mumbled.
"I just don't believe in Professor Trelawney. She's absolutely a fraud during her classes," Hermione said, clearly holding a poor impression of the professor.
"Oh, by the way, the man you saw in the crystal ball when you were scrying for Peter was Barty Crouch Jr.," Sirius said to Albert. "The son of old Bartemius Crouch, who supposedly died in Azkaban a long time ago."
"He died in Azkaban a long time ago?" Harry repeated, confused. "But from what you're saying, young Barty is still alive?"
"If Peter could fake his death and escape, why not young Barty?" Sirius thought young Barty's survival might have something to do with his father.
"Is young Barty a Death Eater?" Harry asked suddenly.
"Yes, he was a Death Eater, but Moody captured him and sent him to Azkaban," Sirius replied.
"Maybe you can control Moody and force him to drink the Truth Serum to see if he's an imposter, or you can go check out the Crouch residence," Albert suggested irresponsibly. "You might be in for an unexpected surprise."
"But, didn't you say it was Professor Moody who..." Hermione trailed off, but soon realized the reason and looked up at Albert in astonishment.
"Actually, I think your suggestion is not bad," Sirius interrupted. "But... Dumbledore probably won't do that. Moody is his old friend, and he won't use the Truth Serum or Legilimency on Moody unless he finds something suspicious about him. It would be disrespectful to an old friend."
Albert shrugged and said irresponsibly, "I'm just throwing it out there. You don't have to take it seriously."
"You're not just throwing it out there," Sirius said, his mouth twitching. "As for whether there's something unusual about Barty Crouch, I'll give Dumbledore a suggestion. He should pay special attention to the Crouch situation."
"Well, is there anything else? If not, I'm going back to bed," Albert said, covering a yawn.
"I hope you can help take care of Harry. I mean, I hope you can make a prophecy about the contents of the three tasks and let us know. Of course, I'll pay the appropriate fee. After all, you also want to know what the first task is, don't you?" Sirius hesitated for a moment, then continued speaking to Albert in front of Harry.
"Sirius, you really don't need to..." Harry didn't want Sirius to waste his galleons on him.
"I already told Harry some of my guesses for free," Albert yawned again and continued, "Based on the past competition tasks and the hints given by Barty Crouch, the first task will likely involve some sort of magical creature classified as XXXXX."
"A magical creature classified as XXXXX," Sirius frowned, as the number of such creatures was not large.
"I'll discuss this with Dumbledore and see if we can get Moody to... Never mind, Lupin and I will come over to help you with crash training. We will definitely not let you go into the task unprepared, Albert. Do you need our help?"
"No, I'm good," Albert shook his head.
"That's right, with your abilities, you probably wouldn't even be afraid if you faced a dragon alone," Sirius acknowledged Albert's strength.
"I suggest you take Potter into the forest to gain some experience. There are quite a few interesting little creatures in there," Albert offered a suggestion. "The Acromantula is a good choice, just be careful not to be ambushed by those beasts. You can also collect Acromantula venom to sell, I recall it fetches a high price of a hundred galleons per pint. Let Harry take out a few Acromantulas himself, and he won't be afraid when he encounters fierce magical beasts. Also, remember not to tell Hagrid it was my idea. Those spiders are descendants of the ones Hagrid released."
"Oh my, Hagrid bred a whole nest of Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest," Hermione exclaimed, finding the situation absurd.
"To be precise, that group of Acromantulas aren't exactly Hagrid's pets," Albert corrected. "He only released two Acromantulas, and then a whole nest appeared. Many wizards suspect that there's an Acromantula breeding ground in the forest."
"An Acromantula breeding ground?" Harry thought it would be a good idea to bring Ron along as well, to give him a chance to calm down.
"If there's nothing else, I'm heading back to bed," Albert yawned, getting up to leave.
"Has he killed Acromantulas before?" Sirius asked curiously.
"I heard Fred and George boast about how Albert ventured into the Forbidden Forest in his first year and single-handedly took down a whole swarm of Acromantulas with the help of a Protean Charm and a single tree," Hermione recalled.
Sirius stood there with his mouth agape, shocked. He had always considered himself mischievous, but the young man before him was even more daring.
"I think his idea is good," Sirius nodded. "I'll discuss this with Lupin later. It's necessary for you to gain some experience, though I think you might not be afraid anyway, considering your past encounter with the Basilisk. But when it comes to experience, the more the better."
"Oh my, what do they think Acromantulas are?" Harry complained to Hermione, looking at the restored two-way mirror. "Sheep? They can just shear the wool and do it again next year?"
(End of Chapter)
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