Chapter 1263: Being cruel to yourself
The main door to Hogwarts.
Hagrid was holding his pocket watch and staring at the time on it.
Not long ago, Hagrid received a letter from Albert, saying that he was coming to Hogwarts and stopped by to visit him.
This incident really shocked Hagrid, but he came to pick up his old friend very happily.
After hearing the crackling sound of the Apparition, Hagrid immediately stretched his neck and looked around, but still did not see Albert.
“Good afternoon Hagrid!”
A gentle voice suddenly sounded from his side. Hagrid turned his head suddenly and saw Albert appearing beside him without warning, smiling and waving to greet him.
"You scare people so easily." Hagrid couldn't help complaining, but he still smiled and gave Albert a hug.
"Sorry, I need to make sure no one ambushes me." Albert explained helplessly, "You should know that the mysterious man and the Death Eaters want to get rid of me now, so I have to be careful."
Even though he said this, Albert didn't actually take this matter seriously, he just kept vigilance subconsciously.
In this terrible environment, it is still necessary to keep yourself alert at all times.
“Don’t worry, Hogwarts is safe.”
Hagrid subconsciously wanted to slap his chest to reassure him. He quickly realized something and changed his words: "At least it's safe now."
After losing Dumbledore, Hogwarts, like the rest of Britain, became unsafe.
“You seem to be having a bad time these past few days.”
Albert glanced at the renovated iron gate and the winged warthog statues on both sides, and followed Hagrid into the school side by side.
If it were this time in the past, Hogwarts would still be in class now, and it would never be as desolate as it is now.
“How do you know?” Hagrid asked in surprise.
“We have known each other for several years, and you can’t hide your thoughts on your face.” Albert said with a smile.
“Aragog died, and I buried him in the pumpkin patch.” Speaking of this incident, Hagrid became very depressed.
"According to the life cycle of the Acromantula, Aragog has lived a very long life." Albert comforted, "You can't ask for it according to human standards."
"You're right." Hagrid readjusted his mood and asked Albert why he came to school. "By the way, why did you think of coming to Hogwarts?"
"I came to see Professor McGonagall and brought a document for her to keep." Albert had no intention of hiding it from Hagrid. It wasn't an important matter anyway, at least not to him. "What document?" Hagrid asked curiously.
“Records of Muggle wizarding births between 1985 and 1997,” said Albert.
“What’s the use of this thing?”
Hagrid was even more confused, not understanding what Albert wanted to do.
"Give those children a hand. If there are no additional backups, these things will definitely be destroyed after the mysterious person takes control of the Ministry of Magic. By then, it will be very troublesome for Muggle students born during this period to enroll in school, and they may even miss out because of this. Opportunities for admission.”
“For those children, missing Hogwarts will be a great regret in life.”
“The mysterious man controls the Ministry of Magic?” Hagrid's voice couldn't help but rise a little higher.
"This is normal, isn't it? The mysterious man and the Death Eaters have always wanted to do that, but the time has not come yet. However, it is not far away." Albert seemed to be just telling a matter of course, with a calm tone. It has to be incredible.
“They will succeed in the end. Scrimgeour is not Dumbledore, and it is impossible to stop the mysterious man. Not to mention that the entire Ministry of Magic is full of contradictions, and its collapse will be a matter of time.”
“Speaking of which, have you not attended a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix for a long time?” Albert seemed very sure of this matter.
"Even if I go there, I won't be able to help you much. If you really need me, Professor McGonagall will tell me."
Hagrid reached out and scratched his head. It really couldn't help with many things, so he usually wouldn't go to the Order of the Phoenix headquarters to cause trouble. After all, Hagrid was too good at tracking, and he didn't know how to counter-track, so it was easy for him to reveal the location of the Order's headquarters.
“By the way, Hagrid...” Albert said suddenly.
"What's up?"
"It's almost time for you to accept the facts." Albert looked at Hagrid with a serious tone.
“Accept what?” Hagrid asked confused.
“The problem with the Acromantula.” Albert reminded, “After Aragog’s death, those big spiders no longer welcome you, right?”
"After Aragog died, the other spiders really refused to let me near their webs." Hagrid was silent for a moment, feeling very sad about this.
“Hagrid, you’ve made a big mistake yourself.”
"What?"
"You take it for granted. Those big spiders didn't hurt you only because of Aragog's orders!" Albert turned his head and looked at Hagrid, who was slowing down. "They are not the Aragog who has been with you for more than fifty years. , there is no affection between you."
“But they are Aragog’s children.”
"Times have changed Hagrid, and it is no longer the era of Aragog." Albert paused and warned, "Unless you know the new leader of the group of big spiders and form a deep friendship with him, otherwise you For those giant spiders, it’s a big load of food delivered to your doorstep.”
“I dare say you don’t know the new leader of those big spiders, and you don’t even take those big spiders seriously!”
Hagrid opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
He really didn’t know the new leader of the group of big spiders.
No, it should be said that Hagrid did not know any other spiders except Aragog and his wife.
Aragog's descendants were simply too numerous.
“Those big spiders will soon be recruited by Death Eaters.” Albert glanced at Hagrid and continued: “They will threaten the lives of Hogwarts students in the future.”
“But they live in the Forbidden Forest.” Hagrid defended dryly.
"Sooner or later we will have a decisive battle with the mysterious man, and those big spiders will be like the giants and will definitely be dragged into this war by the Death Eaters." Albert's tone couldn't help but become a little more serious, "Hagrid, I hope you Be able to recognize reality, if you don’t want to see your best friends die because of those giant spiders.”
“No, this, this is impossible.” Hagrid’s face turned pale.
"I hope you can understand that war kills people, but if people really die, it is better for the enemy to die, not our friends, unless you want your friends to die."
Albert ignored Hagrid who was frozen in place. He walked directly through the oak door and walked towards Professor McGonagall's office.
Professor McGonagall has not moved into the principal's office, and is still on the second floor of the castle.
Due to the chaos caused by Dumbledore's death, the governors of Hogwarts are still hesitant to close the school.
In such bad times, Hogwarts without Dumbledore's protection is not considered safe, and those parents may not take the risk of sending people to Hogwarts.
Therefore, they are not in a hurry to appoint Professor McGonagall as the new principal. Although she is indeed the most suitable candidate at present, this matter still needs to wait and see if the environment in the magical world can change for the better.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Anderson.”
“Good afternoon, Professor.” Albert gave Professor McGonagall a warm smile.
"What do you want from me? I heard they said you left the UK."
Professor McGonagall took a step back and invited Albert into his office.
At first, when he heard that Albert was being hunted by a mysterious man and Death Eaters, Professor McGonagall was still worried about Albert's situation.
However, it now seems that the original worries were somewhat unnecessary.
“Well, I came back today because I have something to do, and I brought this to you by the way.” Albert took out his wand and waved it lightly, summoning a folder out of thin air.
"What's this?"
Professor McGonagall took the folder from Albert and asked casually while flipping through it. "Muggle wizarding birth records from 1985 to 1997."
Albert sat on the sofa opposite Professor McGonagall, waved his wand again, and once again conjured two cups of black tea out of thin air. He explained to Professor McGonagall who was flipping through the folder, "This is the copy I asked for from Scrimgeour." Book."
“Why did you give me this information?”
Professor McGonagall raised her head and looked at Albert, somewhat curious about the other person's intention.
"I think with this information, even if the mysterious person or the Death Eater takes control of the Ministry of Magic and erases the records of Muggle wizards born during this period, those children will not miss the opportunity to enter the magical world." Albert Te smiled and explained, "Professor, you will become the principal of Hogwarts in the future. I think it is the best choice to leave it to you for safekeeping."
"It seems that this chaos is unavoidable." Professor McGonagall didn't pay attention to Albert's statement that he would become the principal, and his face was a little gloomy. According to Albert's prophecy, Snape will become the new headmaster after Voldemort takes control of the Ministry of Magic.
"The false illusion of peace will be broken one day, so let it break naturally," Albert put down the tea cup and said calmly: "I can understand your thoughts, but even if you force it to be maintained, there won't be much benefit. If you force it Suppression will allow it to continue to accumulate, and one day it will explode like a bomb, which will be of no benefit to anyone, and the results will only be more tragic."
“But Dumbledore didn’t mean that Harry…”
"This is not a problem that Harry can solve." Albert didn't seem to want to talk about it, so he changed the subject and asked, "How is Professor Bubaji doing now?"
“Are you talking about Professor Boubaji?” Professor McGonagall frowned, recalling Albert’s original warning.
"It seems that she didn't take my advice seriously!" Albert sighed and shook his head: "Forget it, I have already advised her anyway. Professor Bubbaji is not a child, so he must be able to bear it. …It’s the result of your own choice.”
After saying that, Albert suddenly looked towards the window.
"Professor Boubaji just doesn't know where to go. I will persuade her to leave the UK and live abroad for a few years." Professor McGonagall has realized that the situation is not good and is going to talk to Caridi later. She was advised to leave the UK as soon as possible.
At this moment, a silver ball of light broke into Professor McGonagall's office, and a middle-aged man's voice rang out from the ball: "Minerva, Bubbaji is missing."
The office suddenly became eerily quiet.
"Oh, it seems it's too late." Albert said softly, "That's right. How could the mysterious man and the Death Eaters tolerate the existence of a person who preaches the equality of purebred wizards and Muggle-born wizards? She will probably become As a sacrifice."
“Wait, where are you going?”
Professor McGonagall quickly stopped Albert who was turning to leave.
"Oh, don't worry, I didn't want to save Bubbaji." Albert said softly, knowing that Professor McGonagall had misunderstood.
Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, a little confused. She didn't expect to hear such words.
"If I go to save her, the mysterious man and the Death Eaters will think that is my weakness, and I'm afraid more people will be unlucky because of it." Albert seemed to see through what Professor McGonagall was thinking, and he was very pretentious. Wei shrugged helplessly and said: "They will try to catch more people and try to lure me out. You know, they want to kill me."
"Of course, if you want to save her, I can help you with divination, and you should be able to get some useful information, but I'm afraid you have to pay a price." Albert has no particular intention of saving Professor Bubbaji, even if this is Something has triggered the task.
At the beginning, he was willing to remind the other party because Professor Bubaji had been trying to eliminate the racial discrimination between pure-blood wizards and Muggle wizards, and he was a person worthy of respect.
This is also the reason why Albert was willing to ask Professor McGonagall just now.
However, after Professor Bubaji did not take Albert's words seriously and paid the price for it, it was not easy to reverse her fate.
The future has never been so easy to change.
This is also one of the reasons why Albert did not save Bubaji. If he wanted to forcefully reverse the future, he would probably have to pay a heavy price for it.
Professor Bubaji was just a stranger to him after all.
At this moment, the door to the office was suddenly knocked open. Hagrid hurriedly rushed into the office and put Professor Flitwick on his shoulders with a loud breath, "Something happened..."
"Well, we already know that Professor Bubbaji was captured by Death Eaters." Albert took his hand away from the crystal ball, turned to look at Hagrid and said.
"What should we do now?" Flitwick frowned and looked at Albert, "She should have followed your advice and left England."
"Yes, but Professor Bubbaji didn't, so she may have lost her life." Albert's tone was very calm. He turned to Professor McGonagall and said, "I suggest that you can ask the Ministry of Magic to help through Kingsley. Finally, It's better not to conflict with the Death Eaters yourself, after all, you will still need to stay in Hogwarts to protect the students."
“As for whether Professor Bubaji lives or dies, it all depends on her luck.”
“It depends on her luck?” Hagrid couldn’t believe that Albert would say this.
“I reminded Professor Boubaji to leave the UK for refuge, but if she didn’t leave and stayed to die, what else could I do.” Albert said calmly, “Everyone needs to be responsible for their own choices.”
“The same goes for you Hagrid, mark my words, don’t let stupid things affect your normal judgment.”
Albert did not forget that in the final battle of Hogwarts in the novel, the Acromantula also participated in the attack on Hogwarts Castle.
It is unknown how many students died as a result.
Hagrid may not be entirely to blame, but he can't even think of picking himself out.
At that time, Hagrid's performance was extremely bad, and he was so stupid that he was caught by a spider, which was really hard to tolerate.
Albert hoped that Hagrid would wake up and stop trapping his own people.
Lupine is the most typical case. In the novel, he was killed by Antonin Dolohov. Harry had a chance to prevent it, but the savior used his own personal experience to tell everyone What does it mean to be kind to your enemies is to be cruel to yourself.
So, Lupine is dead.
He might have survived.
(End of this chapter)