Chapter 1058 Truth and Lies
It was raining heavily outside. Albert held up the umbrella handed by Isobel and walked into the rain-washed street.
Hogsmeade looked deserted under the rain. There was no Valentine's Day atmosphere at all. Pedestrians on the street were coming and going in a hurry, and there were not a few students at all.
Albert paused for a moment in front of the Death Eater's wanted poster. The price of the reward on the wanted poster was the same as Sirius's previous wanted poster. Anyone who could provide clues to apprehend the fugitive could also receive a reward of one thousand galleons.
Just how credible is this wanted order?
The credibility of the Ministry of Magic is horribly low right now.
However, it seems to be a good idea to dig out Voldemort's lair and ask people from the Ministry of Magic to help with the mines.
The cold raindrops hit the umbrella and splashed on Albert's boots. He no longer stopped and pattered towards the Three Broomsticks Bar.
Because it was raining outside, the Three Broomsticks bar was busier than before. When Albert's eyes swept across the bar, he saw Lee Jordan waving to him.
“You came much faster than I expected!” Lee Jordan moved aside to make a place for Albert to sit down.
“Where were you talking?” Albert asked straight to the point.
"Basically, it's almost done." Li Jordan looked at the reporter in front of him, indicating that if he had any questions, he could ask them directly.
“Ahem!”
Rita Skeeter coughed lightly and put down the parchment in her hand.
“Speak directly.” Albert didn’t intend to beat around the bush, that would be boring.
"You can't expect me to write for nothing, at least pay this price." Rita Skeeter opened her palms towards Albert. She knew that the guy in front of her was not short of money at all, "Also, this thing cannot be used. My signature."
"You are actually afraid. I thought you were not afraid of this. After all, you have caused trouble to the Ministry of Magic in the past." Albert looked at Rita Skeeter, who was no longer glamorous, and chuckled. He turned his head. He looked at Luna and asked, "It shouldn't be a problem if it's not signed!"
"No problem." Luna fiddled with the small paper umbrella on the cup and hummed Weasley is our king: "However, many people are willing to contribute to "The Quibbler" just to have their articles published in In the magazine.”
"I can only give you this price." Albert held out two fingers: "I can give you half of the payment first."
Speaking, Lee Jordan took out a small bag of Galleons from his pocket and placed it in front of Rita Skeeter.
"Honestly, there's no market for this kind of article. It's even published in The Quibbler. Do you think people will take it seriously? I think you know better than anyone." Rita Skeeter actually didn't want to get involved. Regarding the matter related to the mysterious man, even if you don't use your brain, you know that this is a very dangerous matter.
“Or do you plan to publish it in…” Rita Skeeter was interrupted before she could finish her words.
“This is not something you should care about.” Albert took a sip of butterbeer unhurriedly.
Mainly, of course, on "The Quibbler", and "Defense Express" was used to attract the attention of the Ministry of Magic. Otherwise, after this shocking article was published, no one would be shocked, even if it was "The Quibbler". "Singing the opposite tune" will also be finished.
"Okay, deal. They are so unlucky." Rita muttered, picked up the purse and stuffed it into her purse. She knew that if she didn't agree, her memory would probably be erased.
“Tell me your thoughts.” Albert made a gesture of invitation.
Rita Skeeter took out her notebook and told Albert about her writing ideas. Start describing the whole thing from last year's Triwizard Tournament, adding parts of Harry's last report and Fudge's report, plus what Umbridge did at Hogwarts. , linked to the Azkaban Prison Break.
Of course, there are also Albert’s predictions for the future.
With Rita Skeeter's ability, it is not difficult to put together an article. She has done this often before, and now she can write in more detail.
"You missed one thing, the Spanish incident last summer." Albert reminded, "At that time, Fudge insisted that Goyle and Crabbe were not Death Eaters."
For some reason, after Rita Skeeter carefully analyzed it, she actually gave him the feeling that Fudge might really be connected to the Death Eaters.
"You don't need to directly affirm something, but use the tone of analysis and speculation, put the evidence in front of everyone, and let everyone make their own judgments." Albert added what Rita Skeeter missed thing.
He knows very well that they may not believe what others say, but they will most likely believe what they see, analyze, and believe.
"I dare say that if this article is published, the entire Ministry of Magic will explode." Rita Skeeter asked in a low voice, "Do you have a grudge against Fudge?"
"You don't know very well? Fudge has caused me some trouble before. You can think of this as a small counterattack on my part. Of course, you don't need to write this on it." Albert took a sip of butterbeer and said lightly.
“Are you sure it’s just a little?”
Rita Skeeter suspected that if this article were to be published, Fudge might actually be ousted from office this summer.
Rita Skeeter has naturally heard the predictions about Fudge’s imminent resignation.
Hmm, I don’t know how she would feel if she knew that the culprit of the prophecy was sitting in front of her.
The two chatted for about half an hour, and after thoroughly improving the structure and content of this article, Rita Skeeter stood up and prepared to leave. Before leaving, she did not forget to remind: "Absolutely, never use my name. Famous."
There was no other way, she was also worried that Albert would dig a hole for herself, and she would really be doomed by then. Just look at the unlucky Fudge and you will know that you really can't mess with that kind of guy with a dark heart.
After Rita Skeeter left, Albert turned his attention to Luna.
“How prepared are you now?”
“What is it like?” Luna was a little confused, obviously not understanding the meaning of Albert’s words for a while.
“It’s about the Wizard Card Club.” Albert explained.
“It’s okay.” Luna said suddenly.
"There is not enough time. We will graduate at the end of June this year. At that time, you can only rely on yourself. If you feel that you cannot inherit the Wizarding Club, I can only temporarily hand it over to Hermione Granger. ." After Albert finished speaking, he looked at Lee Jordan and said, "You have to hurry up. I have a hunch that Fred and George will leave Hogwarts early, and the time may not be far away."
"Didn't you expect that?" Albert looked at Luna again and said, "Do you have any other questions? If you have any, you can ask them now and we will answer them for you. If not, I will leave first. "
"This..." Luna took out a notebook from her pocket and said, "I have a few questions."
…
After Valentine's Day, Albert's mood improved significantly. Maybe it was because he had just spent Valentine's Day with Isobel, or maybe it was because the elixir he had been waiting for for half a year was finally finished, or maybe However, the predicted future did not deviate much. Fred and George still left on their broomsticks, and Dumbledore was also driven away from the position of principal of Hogwarts.
The known future may be boring, but at least it is safer, has traces to follow, and is under control.
Before the mysterious man is defeated by Harry Potter, it is definitely not a good choice to completely deviate from the plot and let the situation completely escape Albert's control.
Albert has never wanted to be a savior, hates being a savior, and doesn't want to be the one to clean up the mess in the end. If possible, he didn't want to fight Voldemort at all. Even if he could defeat Voldemort in the end and gain a lot of experience from it, it would be a loss-making deal.
In the past, there was really no choice. If you didn't work hard, you could only be a salted fish. What's more, cheats are right in front of you. If you work harder, you will be the winner in life. Why not work hard?
It's different now. He has money, a family, a job, a wife, a successful career, and is a sure winner in life. Why would he take such great risks to fight against a big devil like Voldemort, even if he wins? Losing money.
In this regard, Albert admired Dumbledore from the bottom of his heart, although they occasionally disagreed on certain things.
Shortly after Valentine's Day, Hermione came to see him several times, but she hesitated every time.
She obviously noticed the problem with the prophecy.
Actually, anyone who has some brains and believes in prophecies can find the answer from the prophecies, and Hermione is undoubtedly one of the best.
“In the near future, Dumbledore may die.”
Looking at the trio of saviors who finally came to ask about him, Albert calmly told this cruel fact.
"Who did it?" Harry asked with a trembling voice after a moment of silence. It was really hard for him to accept this answer.
“I saw the Dark Mark.” Albert said calmly.
“How is this possible!” Ron obviously didn’t want to believe this cruel fact.
"This matter must be different from what we thought. I don't believe that Dumbledore will die at the hands of Death Eaters. Even the mysterious man can't do anything to Dumbledore." Hermione analyzed calmly, "Among them There may be something going on that we don’t know about.”
"Don't worry, the future is just the future. It hasn't happened yet. It's just been predicted, but it can still be forcibly reversed." Albert spoke to appease the three of them. "I have already told Dumbledore the result of the prophecy. I think if Dumbledore didn’t want to die, there would definitely be a way to avoid possible fatal dangers in the future and reverse his own destiny, so you don’t need to worry about this.”
“Is this really possible?” Hermione asked in surprise. Not only her, but even Harry and Ron, who were stunned by the news of Dumbledore's death, were a little dumbfounded.
“What did I lie to you for?” Albert asked.
"But…"
"As one of the few most powerful wizards in the world, Dumbledore is fully capable. As long as he is willing and knows the danger in advance, it is not difficult to avoid danger and reverse his future." Albert explained, "Even if The Time-Turner, at great cost, may still be able to reverse future outcomes to some extent, let alone something as uncertain as divination.”
“But your predictions are accurate every time.” Ron stammered.
"That's because I never interfered intentionally, and those things are not worth my time to interfere." Albert guessed what they were thinking.
"Can a time turner really do that?" Hermione was also confused because these were different from the knowledge she had learned.
"It can, but there are risks." Albert said to Hermione, "Professor McGonagall said that because he doesn't want anyone to do it. Most people will only make things worse, and..."
"Let me give you an example. Potter killed Weasley in a duel. Then, Hermione, you went back in time and used a stun spell to sneak attack Potter and Weasley, putting them in a coma and successfully preventing the duel. In the future, it could turn into someone sneaking up on Harry and Weasley, rather than Potter killing Weasley in a duel, and only you know about it."
“Can’t you change your name?” Harry couldn’t help complaining, but he couldn’t help but breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, it scared him a lot when he learned that Dumbledore might die in the future.
However, when Albert said that Dumbledore also knew about this and had a way to change the future, he couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.
The future has not happened yet.
can be changed.
Actually, Albert is also curious, where will the future be led in the story that Dumbledore is not dead?
In fact, he didn’t really want Dumbledore to die like this. After all, if the sky fell, there would be a tall man to hold it up, so there was no need for him to step in personally.
It's a pity that although he comforted Harry and the three of them like that, who knows what will happen in the future?
"By the way, there's one more thing. I still don't understand what Umbridge wants to do?" After putting aside Dumbledore's matters, Harry asked the previous question.
“What does Umbridge want to do?” Albert repeated.
“Yes, what does she want to do?” Harry continued to ask.
“Fire you, get rid of Dumbledore, and become the new Headmaster of Hogwarts.”
"But what excuse is she going to use? The Defense Association?" Hermione asked in confusion.
"You must remember that they are the makers of the rules. Whatever they say is what they say. If they say you violate the laws of the Ministry of Magic, you will violate the laws of the Ministry of Magic. You must understand that within the rules they set, you can never be theirs. opponent."
The three of them all opened their mouths slightly. Albert's words had a great impact on them. Is this really the case?
"Your opponent has never been a rule-abiding person, otherwise Umbridge and Fudge would not have come up with a bunch of education orders to try to deprive Dumbledore of his rights. As the makers of the law, they are always aloof and use these frameworks To restrain and restrict other people, perhaps the original intention of the law has a good side. When the judiciary is corrupted and used for evil, the harm caused is greater than anything else."
Albert looked at the silent three people and continued: "In the Muggle world, the collapse of a country usually begins with the decay of law and justice, and other aspects will soon be infected and become a mess. "
"Even if I don't say it, you can see their harm. When the government has a credit crisis, it is not far from the end, and the Ministry of Magic has already had such a problem, so I said that Fudge's next successor is a Unlucky guy, because he can't clean up the mess at all, and even Dumbledore can't solve the problem."
If you have any questions, you can directly ask Lazy Mao in the group. Generally, VIP articles will not be able to be modified after a while.
(End of this chapter)