Chapter 1032 The Secret Revealed
After returning from Hagrid, Hermione went directly to find Albert, but unfortunately she couldn't find him. She learned from the Weasley brothers who were having a snowball fight outside the castle that Albert might have gone on a date.
That night, Hermione couldn't sleep, and her mind was filled with thoughts about Hagrid and the giants.
She was really worried that Hagrid would hide the giant in the Forbidden Forest, and she was even more worried that he would get into trouble for doing so.
The next day, Hermione found Albert with dark circles under her eyes.
"You didn't seem to sleep well last night." Albert noticed Hermione's dark circles and reminded her kindly, "Insomnia is a girl's biggest enemy. If you can't sleep, you can try drinking some sleeping pills."
"Thank you, I have something to talk to you about. It's very important." Hermione ignored the curious looks from Fred, George and Lee Jordan and pulled Albert to a remote corner.
"What's the matter?" Albert asked gently, taking out the medicine bottle from his pocket and pouring a pill into Hermione's hand, "This is a medicine to refresh and restore energy."
"Thank you." Hermione said after swallowing, "I saw the letter you wrote to Hagrid."
Albert said nothing and let Hermione continue.
"Hagrid hid something in the Forbidden Forest, right? His injuries..." Hermione's shoulders trembled slightly, "You must know what he hid in the Forbidden Forest, right?"
"That's Hagrid's privacy." Albert took out his wand and cast a simple spell to ensure that no one could eavesdrop on the subsequent conversation. "If he doesn't want to tell you, I won't reveal anything to anyone else. .”
"He's a giant, right? Apart from the possibility of fighting a giant monster due to his injuries, he is a giant, and Hagrid just happened to go find the giant." Hermione looked up at Albert tremblingly, hoping to get a negative answer.
"If Hagrid doesn't want to tell anyone, as friends we'd better pretend not to know to avoid embarrassment for him." Albert was a little surprised that Hermione actually guessed the answer. It seems that it's not just Harry who is growing up rapidly. Is it because I am a butterfly flapping its wings?
"But...why did he do this? Hagrid must know how dangerous giants are?" Hermione was in a bad mood. She lowered her voice and said, "Hagrid's current situation is bad enough."
To be honest, Albert was a little doubtful whether Hagrid knew the danger of giants.
"You already knew that, didn't you? That's why you said in the letter that you couldn't help him." Hermione leaned against the wall of the corridor and repeated in a low voice, "You already knew that Hagrid would be expelled from Toad, right? "
Albert looked at Hermione who was in a bit of a breakdown and did not answer her question.
"Hagrid always takes it for granted that there is no problem." A bitter smile appeared on Hermione's face, "Is it really no problem?"
"When he is expelled and forced to leave Hogwarts, he will probably, no, Hagrid will, that's why you rejected him directly in the letter." Hermione really couldn't imagine what it would be like at that time.
The giant itself is a threat to most wizards. It may not be malicious, but with just a light touch or pinch, it can easily kill a person.
Hermione has actually seen this tendency in Hagrid a long time ago. Those giants are different from Hagrid. They don't even realize how fragile wizards are.
"That's not your fault." Albert took out his handkerchief and handed it to Hermione, saying softly.
“But why does he want to make his life so difficult?” Hermione choked in a low voice.
“Hagrid must have his own reasons,” said Albert.
“You know the reason, right?” Hermione looked at Albert.
"Those are Hagrid's private matters. I can't reveal any other information to you." Albert said calmly, "If Hagrid wants to ask you for help one day, you can refuse him directly. Even if we are good friends, There is a limit to help. If it exceeds your ability, the best choice is to refuse directly. You don’t need to feel guilty about it, just like I also refused directly.”
"But…"
"There are no buts. Everyone is responsible for their own actions. No one can help you for the rest of your life, not even your parents, let alone your friends." Albert's tone was very calm, "Just do your best to be worthy of this job." Friendship."
Actually, Albert can especially understand Hermione's broken state of mind.
Albert didn’t want to make any unnecessary comments about Hagrid bringing his half-brother back to take care of him. Anyway, a person like him would certainly not be able to do such a thing.
As for Hagrid worrying about his brother dying in the giants' camp, that's even more hilarious.
You have to know that Hagrid is probably a few years younger than the noseless monster. I estimate that he is at least about sixty-five years old. And his brother, no matter how young he is, how young can he be? A guy who has lived in the giant camp for decades. , how could he not survive?
In Albert's opinion, it is simply the biggest joke of the century.
After comforting Hermione, Albert went to the hall to eat. After ignoring Fred and George's teasing, he turned his attention to the teacher's chair. The injury on Hagrid's face was much better. However, not all students were sympathetic to him. The response to the return was enthusiastic.
At least, Umbridge looked at Hagrid with a cold look, and her fake smile was even more hypocritical. Albert knew that Toad had long wanted to find an excuse to expel Hagrid.
“The toad has an evil eye.” George lowered his voice and said, “Is Hagrid okay?”
"At least, he won't be expelled in front of Professor Trelawney." Albert said firmly.
“By the way, I almost forgot, this is for you.” George took out a note from his pocket and handed it to Albert.
“Professor Dumbledore had someone give it to you.”
Albert opened the note, glanced at the content on it, and lit it to ashes.
“It makes people feel incredible every time I see it.” Li Qiaodan muttered quietly as he looked at the parchment burned in the air.
"You can also take time to practice, maybe you can master it." Albert suggested.
“Forget it, no matter how you look at it, it’s a very difficult skill. We haven’t even mastered the silent spell.” George is very self-aware.
…
That night, Albert followed the instructions on the note and went to the appointment according to the time.
When he knocked on the door and entered, Professor Dumbledore was actually not doing anything else. He was wandering around the principal's office, not knowing what he was thinking.
“You don’t seem happy.” Albert was keenly aware that the old man seemed to be in a bad mood.
“No, it’s just that a lot of things have happened recently.” Dumbledore sat on the armchair behind his desk and raised his hand to signal Albert to find a place to sit.
"A lot of things did happen." Albert said noncommittally, "You came to me because..."
“What you want.”
With that said, Dumbledore placed a bottle of golden potion in front of Albert. The amount of this bottle of elixir was not large, it was only enough for two days.
“Get it from an old friend.”
"Mr. Slughorn?" Albert guessed who the old friend Dumbledore was talking about. "I thought he would find a place to hide based on his personality."
"Horace was indeed hiding. It took me a while to find him." Dumbledore said with a smile, not surprised that Albert guessed it.
“Hiding in an unoccupied Muggle house?” Albert asked again.
"It seems you know?" Dumbledore raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Mr. Slughorn likes to enjoy. Muggles know how to enjoy better than wizards. With how much dark wizards despise Muggles, hiding in a strange Muggle home will be relatively safe." Albert stared at the golden potion and analyzed it carefully. Said: "How many galleons do I need to pay?"
“One hundred galleons.”
"Cheaper than I expected." Albert waved his wand, conjuring a bag of Galleons out of thin air and placing it in front of Dumbledore.
"Horace asked me to tell you that he really likes the jackfruit you send every year. It would be better if you could leave him a photo of the duel champion." Dumbledore relayed the words of his old friend to Albert.
"I will, he will take up a post at Hogwarts next year." Albert deliberately revealed part of the information, "When the time comes, please help me pass it on to him. Anyway, you will definitely visit Slug then. Mr. Horn."
"This is really surprising news." Dumbledore was a little surprised by the information Albert revealed, but he quickly thought of the reason. Where could his old friend have the information he wanted to know.
“I thought you had already made up your mind.”
"No fortune teller I know can see as clearly as you." Dumbledore was surprised at Albert's level of divination: "What do you think it is? I think you should know what I am talking about."
"I remember we discussed this sensitive topic before." Albert stuffed the elixir back into his pocket and said to Dumbledore: "Besides, didn't you also have some guesses yourself? With the character of the mysterious man, you would use it Which number would make the same amount of stuff?"
“Is it really that number?” Dumbledore murmured.
"You have to take the unexpected situation into account." Albert hesitated for a moment, but reminded him to avoid Dumbledore falling into a trap.
“Accident, you mean...”
Dumbledore knew what Albert meant and did not continue to discuss the matter. Horcruxes were a sensitive topic after all.
However, Dumbledore was a little surprised that Albert was so clear. He seemed to have thought of something and said, "I found some clues."
"I'm not interested in your holiday adventure." Albert shook his head and refused, "Maybe it will be a thrilling adventure story, but... that's not suitable for me. If I were you, I would pay attention to safety."
"It seems you have guessed? Where will I die? No, you said I would..." Dumbledore still acted very calmly when talking about his own death.
“You can drink some Felixir then, and maybe your intuition will provide you with some help.” Albert suggested.
"You are right, although it may not be useful." Dumbledore agreed with Albert's point of view. Although he was not afraid of death, no one wanted to die if possible.
"Are you really not going to think about teaching Harry any more?" Dumbledore suddenly changed the subject.
"No, I don't want to be stared at by the mysterious man. I know what you are worried about, but it is not a pleasant thing to be noticed by that guy." Albert refused directly, although he had previously received the invitation to teach Harry Brain The task of Occlumency, but as far as he knew, Potter failed to learn Occlumency until the end, which showed that he had no talent in this area.
Maybe it's Snape...
"Of course, there is another reason. I doubt that Potter can learn Occlumency." Albert said without hesitation: "I have taught other people and I know something very well. Potter is a very emotional person." People, he never suppresses his emotions, but faces them very honestly. Such wizards usually cannot suppress their memories, and it will be more difficult for ordinary people to master Occlumency than ordinary people."
As long as you can complete the task, forget it. If you can't, you will not only waste a lot of time and energy, but you may also be targeted by Voldemort, and you will be extremely depressed, and you will lose your blood.
So Albert would rather give up this task with a good reward than try it easily.
Even though Harry is able to control his emotions very well, they are all superficial and are forcibly suppressed by sedatives. Harry Potter always carries a medicine bottle with him now.
At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door of the principal's office. Professor McGonagall opened the door and walked in. After his eyes fell on Albert, a look of surprise appeared on his face. Apparently he did not expect to see Albert here. special.
"Minerva, what's wrong?" Dumbledore asked gently.
"Our senior investigator has come up with a new education order." Professor McGonagall didn't even want to mention Umbridge's name. "She banned Harry and the Weasley brothers for life, and also confiscated their broomsticks."
"I see."
Dumbledore said it lightly, as if it were a trivial matter.
"There are some things that I can't help, and I heard from Nick that she seems to be planning to fire a professor in the near future." Professor McGonagall said with a bit of reproach in her tone, "Maybe you shouldn't let Hagrid come back at this time. , you know she has never liked Hagrid."
Dumbledore turned to look at Albert, as if asking him who had been expelled.
"Obviously it's our Divination Professor. As for Hagrid, whether he can survive the current difficulties depends on himself." Albert was not surprised by this.
"In just a few months, she has made the whole school a mess. Maybe she wants to kick you out of the school." Professor McGonagall said through gritted teeth.
"I know. In fact, I heard that I actually have an army at school." Dumbledore said with a mischievous wink: "This news really shocked me."
Professor McGonagall didn't intend to stay any longer, so she turned around and left. At least Albert was here, and there were some things she couldn't say much.
"It seems that you don't care too much about what happens in school." Albert said softly.
"Some things are more important," Dumbledore said calmly.
"Defeat the mysterious man?" Albert looked at Dumbledore and continued without waiting for his answer, "I know that the things you care about are different from others, but everyone cares more about things that are closely related to themselves, such as exams. , for example... Firenze is a good candidate, but that's not good news for other centaurs, which means "human slaves", if you plan to hire Firenze..."
Albert did not finish his words. He believed that Dumbledore should be able to guess what he wanted to say.
However, compared to these things, he felt that Dumbledore actually didn't care too much. Defeating Voldemort was the most important thing.
As for Umbridge and Fudge's tricks, Dumbledore never cared about it, because he knew very well that everything would return to its original state after Voldemort was completely exposed. There is no point in having an unnecessary conflict with Fudge now except to waste a lot of time and energy. If he wanted to become the Minister of Magic, this would be a good choice. Unfortunately, Dumbledore never thought of becoming the Minister of Magic himself. Therefore, it is better to let the students of Hogwarts see clearly what kind of people Fudge and Umbridge are.
Albert doesn’t actually see anything wrong with this, but for many people it means they’re going to have a bad semester.
This old man who has lived for a century is sometimes more ruthless than anyone else, and he is even ready to make sacrifices in order to win.
As members of the Order of the Phoenix always like to say: some things are worth dying for.
This is actually one of the reasons why Albert did not join the Order of the Phoenix in the end.
Isn’t it good to be alive?
(End of this chapter)