Chapter 1234: Being targeted
After careful consideration, Snape decided to tell Dumbledore the news that Narcissa planned to sneak into Hogwarts to steal the Elixir. Since the old man was willing to reach out to Draco, he would definitely be able to handle it. Good thing. He also didn't want Narcissa's actions to cause trouble for Dumbledore's plan.
Although Snape himself has never used Felixir, as a pharmacist, he is very aware of the magic of this potion. Once Draco uses Felixir, he may be able to repair the damaged Vanishing Cabinet in advance.
After the Vanishing Cabinet is completely repaired, the plan to invade Hogwarts will be advanced and become uncontrollable, which is likely to disrupt Dumbledore's original plan. This is not good news.
“Your news is timely, Severus.”
After learning from Snape that Bella had obtained the Felixir and that Narcissa planned to invade Hogwarts, Dumbledore's reaction was calmer than Snape expected, as if it was just a trivial matter.
"Narcissa didn't tell me the specific time, and..." Snape paused and looked up at Dumbledore, "How are you going to handle this?"
"There are only a few ways to sneak into Hogwarts quietly. With Aurors patrolling, the probability of her succeeding is not high."
Dumbledore seemed to be thinking about other things. After a moment of silence, the old man suddenly murmured, "This is actually a good opportunity."
“What’s a good opportunity?”
Snape looked stunned for a moment, suspecting that Dumbledore was talking nonsense.
"It would be better if you could figure out the time when Narcissa invaded Hogwarts. I hope all changes are within control."
Dumbledore remembered Albert's reminder and knew that his previous arrangements might not be able to keep up with the changes in the situation, and he needed to revise his original plan.
“I hope everything goes as you imagined.”
Snape looked deeply at Dumbledore and said nothing more. He knew very well that the old man in front of him did not intend to tell him much, and even if he continued to ask, it would obviously be a waste of effort.
"I'll try my best. If you have any arrangements, it's best to tell me in advance." Snape gave Dumbledore a deep look, turned and left.
After Snape left the principal's office, Dumbledore intertwined his fingers on the table and began to think about how to deal with this incident. He still hoped that Harry could get that part of the memory from his old friend.
“I’m running out of time!”
Dumbledore took out the double-sided mirror from the drawer of his desk and tried to get in touch with Albert. Some things must be discussed with the other party in advance to avoid making a mess.
"What's up?"
It took some time, but there was finally a reaction in the double-sided mirror. Albert's face appeared on the other side of the mirror. He seemed to be dissatisfied with the old man disturbing him at this time, but he also knew that Dumbledore must have something to find him, so he didn't do it because of it. Complaining about being disturbed.
"As you might expect, our plans may be ahead of schedule." Dumbledore said calmly.
After about thirty seconds of silence, the other side asked directly: "How many blessed elixirs did they get?"
"One bottle, about twelve hours' worth," Dumbledore said.
“Did they return to England to find Snape?” Albert seemed to know this very well.
In fact, it was he who asked Bard to secretly spread the news and force Bella and Narcissa back to England.
The reward for them was also secretly released by Bard. Anyway, there is no need to worry about someone killing the two of them to take away the high reward. At the same time, it can also give Narcissa Malfoy a taste of being wanted. .
“It seems you know about this.”
“If you want to find someone to chat with, we can take time to have afternoon tea together.” Albert asked Dumbledore to get to the point.
"The development of things is indeed beyond my expectation. Once I have no time to do some things, I'm afraid I can only ask you."
If the original plan was followed, Dumbledore would still have a few months to deal with his funeral affairs, but now it seems that time is very tight.
Without Albert, Dumbledore would never have allowed Narcissa to break into Hogwarts, let alone allow the situation to get out of control.
Although he will also try to stop the opponent, it is obviously necessary to be prepared, especially after Albert has made an appointment in advance.
"If I were you, I would think carefully about my last words. I know you have arranged everything, but this incident may disrupt some of your plans." Albert also felt that his words It was redundant, and he added: "I will help you with divination, but don't expect to get too accurate information."
“Perhaps, we can sit down and have afternoon tea and talk about these things slowly.”
Dumbledore was quite satisfied with this. After turning off the two-way mirror to communicate with Albert, he began to organize his thoughts. Some things really needed to be advanced. This was not good news, but there was nothing that could be done.
On the other side, Albert, who had turned off the double-sided mirror, was sitting in the study thinking about this matter. There was a question that still confused him a little: would Bella really give the Elixir of Fortune to Draco Malfoy? ?
The possibility is not high!
The mad woman would definitely prefer to use the Felixir in the operation to surround and kill Dumbledore. That thing can allow multiple Death Eaters to perform abnormally and increase the success rate of killing Dumbledore.
However, without the Felixir, it was obviously impossible for Malfoy to repair the disappearing cabinet in advance.
In other words, the prophesied Malfoy used the elixir to repair the vanishing cabinet in advance.
If Malfoy received the Elixir, it could only have come from his mother, Narcissa. The probability that he stole the Felixir from Slughorn was really low.
Bella and Narcissa got two bottles of Felixir?
Possible, but not very likely.
The white mist on the crystal ball quickly rotated, and a clear picture appeared in front of Albert's eyes: a young girl in school uniform was pointing a wand at Professor Slughorn.
This is... Narcissa Malfoy?
The woman is not planning to sneak into the school secretly and steal Slughorn's reserve of elixir, is she?
Albert immediately figured out what was going on.
The question now is: does Dumbledore know about this?
If he knew about it and acquiesced in it happening, then why?
What was there about Professor Slughorn that he should be concerned about?
Albert's fingers tapped lightly on the parchment: "So, is it for the memory that Professor Slughorn doesn't want to mention?"
"Is it because of me?" Albert murmured, "What a scam. This mistake should be corrected."
After he found out the reason why the plan was advanced, he didn't mind correcting the mistake at all.
Leave more time for Dumbledore to prepare, and the less trouble he will have when the time comes. And once Slughorn's reserve of Felixir is looted, God knows how much damage the Death Eaters who obtained the Felixir will do. destroy.
Since things are already difficult to avoid, why not make the whole situation controllable?
Albert waved his wand and unfolded the large map of Hogwarts on the desk. Looking at the densely packed student names on the map, he took out his wand and tapped it lightly, preparing to highlight Malfoy's name.
…
At the same time, Draco Malfoy, who was far away in Hogwarts, seemed to feel something and couldn't help but tremble.
"what happened."
He muttered and looked at the chipped apple in the broken cabinet. After picking it up and looking at it carefully, he threw it angrily towards the garbage mountain next to it.
Failed again.
Malfoy scratched his hair frantically. Similar things had happened countless times since he came into contact with this broken cabinet. Failure after failure was making him lose patience.
what to do?
Ask Snape for help?
No, this broken cabinet should have been repaired long ago if asking Snape for help was useful.
Malfoy took out the double-sided mirror from his pocket, but did not use it after all. Instead, he put the mirror back into his pocket, took out the notebook for repairing the vanishing cabinet, and continued to flip through it, trying to find a way to repair the vanishing cabinet.
At this time, the voice of his mother Narcissa suddenly came from the double-sided mirror, startling Draco who was carefully flipping through his notes. He quickly reached for the mirror, but accidentally dropped the mirror to the ground. It broke into several pieces.
"Mom, what do you want from me?" Draco couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the cracked double-sided mirror was still usable.
"I remember you took potions lessons." Narcissa asked, which confused Draco.
“What’s wrong?” Malfoy asked.
"I need you to help us get some hair from other Potions students with you, preferably girls," Narcissa said.
“What do you want your hair to do?”
Draco was even more confused, completely confused as to what his mother wanted to do with her hair.
"Your Aunt Bella and I got some Felixir in Europe, but the quantity was not enough. Your Aunt Bella plans to use the Felixir to sneak into Hogwarts quietly and get more from Slughorn. Blessing Elixir.”
Narcissa did not say that she was the one who wanted to break into Hogwarts, but Bella, because she knew very well that once she said that she wanted to sneak into Hogwarts, Draco would never help him.
In fact, Draco was indeed taken aback by the news. After he reacted, he quickly said: "No, absolutely not, not even if Aunt Bella can get the Felixir from Slughorn. Once this matter is exposed, our next plan will be completely ruined."
This is also the main reason why Malfoy never used Slughorn's elixirs. It was not that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't afford the price of failure.
"Don't worry, Bella knows the importance and won't cause any trouble to your plan." Narcissa comforted her softly, but the effect was not very good. Draco knew very well what kind of person his Aunt Bella was.
“We need more Felixir, but we won’t be stupid enough to mess it up.”
Seeing that Draco didn't let go, Narcissa added, "Severus also knows about this. We have convinced him to help us hold Slughorn down, so you don't have to worry. Bella just needs to get the elixir." She will leave Hogwarts immediately, and she will take a small amount of Felixir before taking action to ensure that the entire plan goes smoothly."
Narcissa was not lying at all, Snape did promise to provide them with convenience.
As for the hair problem, it is obviously more appropriate to leave it to Draco.
Because she needs someone to help create opportunities to avoid the embarrassment of an accidental encounter between the two.
Malfoy's eyes widened in surprise, not knowing what to do.
That night, he went to find Snape overnight, intending to talk to him about the matter.
Even Malfoy didn't know why he still trusted Snape, knowing that Snape was probably using him. Maybe it was because they were both on the same ship now, or maybe he just wanted to survive with his family.
Once the plan to assassinate Dumbledore fails, everyone will die, including Snape himself.
So, Malfoy hoped that Snape would succeed.
"How did you come?"
Snape opened the door and saw Malfoy standing outside. He frowned slightly, but still stepped aside to let Malfoy enter the room.
"Mum said Aunt Bella planned to sneak into Hogwarts and steal the Felixir from Slughorn." Malfoy said straight to the point.
In this matter, he can hardly help, so it is necessary to find out Snape's attitude on this matter.
“I know that,” Snape said calmly.
"Why…"
“Why not stop them?”
"Yes, I don't think we should take the risk." Malfoy frowned.
"I think you may have made a mistake." Snape looked at Draco and asked, "What makes you think I can stop them?"
Malfoy suddenly fell silent.
“What if she fails?”
"If she messes up even though she's using Felixir, I'll report her to Dumbledore," Snape said dryly.
"Use Aunt Bella to win Dumbledore's trust?" Malfoy opened his mouth slightly, not knowing what to say.
“Yes.” Snape admitted simply.
"However, as far as I know, it is not Bella who wants to come to Hogwarts to steal the Felixir, but your mother Narcissa."
Snape's words made Malfoy's eyes widen.
"You mean..." Malfoy couldn't believe his ears.
"I think she is willing to take this risk because of you." Snape said calmly, "If it were Bella, I would definitely not agree to help."
"But, how could it be? You should stop her." Malfoy said loudly.
"Narcissa is an adult and has her own judgment. Do you really think you can convince her to give up?" Snape sarcastically said, "Why don't you look at yourself?"
"I?"
Malfoy was silent, he understood what Snape meant.
"The success rate of Narcissa's plan is not low." Snape said coldly, "And even if we are not willing to help her, she will still do it, it will just be more troublesome. As for the failure of the plan, I think She should know the consequences and be mentally prepared."
(End of this chapter)