The rain has not stopped since the morning and has continued until now. It is even getting heavier and heavier. There are signs that the streets outside are flooded by rainwater.
Hermione sat alone in the room next to the entrance, flipping through the newspaper in her hand by the burning candlelight, and looking outside from time to time, as if expecting to see someone outside the street.
“Is this the price of exposing falsehoods?”
Looking through the latest issue of the Daily Prophet, there is no news about yesterday's public executions. Instead, a bunch of wizards were ruthlessly arrested.
Since what happened yesterday, the Death Eaters have been raiding the homes of members of the Order of the Phoenix overnight, as if they were on dynamite, preparing to make them pay the price.
Fortunately, Fred brought the warning in time, allowing some members of the Order who did not live in the headquarters to escape.
The Death Eaters, who had gained nothing to gain, violently burned down Kingsley's house to vent their anger.
However, neither Voldemort nor Yaxley would give up because of this. Several wizarding families associated with the Order of the Phoenix were raided by Death Eaters.
They really can't find anyone from the Order of the Phoenix, so they will arrest people related to them and use this as a threat to drive a wedge between them. They will see who else dares to have contact with the Order of the Phoenix.
Everyone who had just rescued Hagrid had no time to celebrate when they received a lot of bad news.
I was at a loss for a moment. The Death Eaters' violent reaction was obviously beyond everyone's expectations.
No one expected that the Death Eaters would go crazy and affect other people around them.
After everyone racked their brains and couldn't come up with a good solution, they pinned their hopes on Albert, who was about to visit Hagrid, hoping that the magical Anderson could provide a solution.
So, Hermione took the initiative to take over the task of keeping an eye on the surroundings of the Order of the Phoenix headquarters in the surveillance room to prevent them from being ambushed by Death Eaters when they came over.
“Ginny, how is Hagrid doing?”
Hearing the sound of someone approaching, Hermione put down the newspaper and looked sideways at the person.
"Still the same as before, locking himself in a room without eating or drinking. Grawp's death dealt a big blow to Hagrid."
Ginny handed the oil paper bag containing the beef pie to Hermione and looked sideways at the rain curtain outside. She could see nothing but a gray patch.
“Hagrid must be very sorry.”
Hermione could understand Hagrid's current mood. Even though everything could be changed, he still led to the worst outcome because of his stubbornness.
“It has happened, there is no point in regretting it anymore!”
Ginny looked gloomy. She thought of Charlie's death. The Weasleys had regretted it from beginning to end, but what was the use?
There is no regret medicine in this world.
"Didn't Mr. Anderson say when he would come over?" Ginny asked, changing the subject.
“He only said he would come to visit Hagrid in the afternoon, but he didn’t say when he would arrive.” Hermione took a bite of the steaming pie. It was freshly baked and tasted quite good.
“Perhaps Anderson really has some magical method. After all, his brain is indeed smarter than everyone else, and he also has foresight.”
When Hermione talked about Albert, her face was full of admiration, especially this plan to save Hagrid. They saved Hagrid from Voldemort's eyes at almost no cost. That was simply incredible. It is unimaginable.
Even the reactions of the mysterious man and the Death Eaters were something he had anticipated, but sometimes anticipation might not necessarily lead to avoidance.
“You like him very much!” Ginny said suddenly.
Hermione coughed dryly and corrected, "I just kind of admire him."
“I used to admire Harry too.”
Ginny knew very well what situation Hermione was in. She actually wanted to remind her friend to clear his head, but she couldn't break the last little hope of her friend, and Hermione probably didn't expect anything.
Although he no longer has to worry about someone trying to steal Harry from him, Ron probably has no chance.
"What are you talking about?"
A familiar voice suddenly sounded from outside the door, and Ron appeared outside the surveillance room holding two glasses of butterbeer.
“Hagrid’s thing.”
Hermione lied, "I'm a little worried about his condition."
“Sirius suggested giving Hagrid a large glass of sedative.” Ron handed the butterbeer to Hermione, looked sideways at the rain outside and asked, “Did Anderson say when he will come over?”
“It should be soon.”
Hermione didn't pay attention to Ron's gaze and suddenly said, "You help me here for a while, and I'll go see how Hagrid is doing."
“Why does someone have to be here to greet them?”
Looking at Hermione's leaving back, Ron muttered and looked at his sister.
“You really look like a big fool.”
Ginny rolled her eyes at Ron and left with Hermione, leaving Ron with a puzzled expression.
“What’s wrong with me?”
Ron picked up the newspaper placed on the armchair and looked at the report about today, his mood suddenly became a little heavy.
“While slapping their faces with swelling is certainly a pleasant thing, the consequences are also serious,” he murmured.
Ron didn't think there was a problem in saving Hagrid. It was only a matter of time before he started an all-out war with the mysterious man, but the problem was difficult to solve.
While Ron was flipping through the newspaper, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from outside, and three figures were walking across the street towards this side.
“You are here to greet us.”
Fred raised his eyebrows slightly after seeing Ron standing at the gate to greet them.
“Why, are you so excited to see Albert?” George joked with a smile.
“How is Hagrid?”
Albert waved his wand to remove the water stains on his body.
“It’s not good, Hagrid was hit hard.” Ron led the way, “Everyone is waiting for you.”
“What, are you holding a celebration party?” Fred asked with raised eyebrows.
"There isn't one at the celebration party, but if you want to have a cup of butterbeer, there's still one." Ron said angrily.
What time of day it is now, who still has the heart to do those things.
"Who drinks butterbeer now?" Fred put his arm around Ron's neck and asked sideways, "You, George?"
"Definitely not." George also hugged Ron's neck from the other side, "Probably only the little Ronnie would like that thing."
The twins each put their arms around Ron's neck and successfully diverted the topic.
Of course they are aware of the situation in the magical world, but now that things have happened, what can Albert do?
They do have similar plans, but they must not fall into passivity, because that may put all participants in danger.
Ron pushed the Weasley twins away angrily, stopped and turned to Albert and said, "Hermione has been waiting for you in the control room. She is worried that you will be ambushed."
“Don’t worry, no one is so short-sighted.”
"However, she just went in to see Hagrid." Ron ignored Fred and continued, "Hagrid locked himself in his room after waking up this morning and refused to eat or drink."
"He needs to vent, and he should be fine after venting." Albert was not surprised. If Hagrid didn't respond, it would be abnormal.
"that…"
Ron hesitated for a moment before mentioning the Death Eaters' revenge yesterday.
"You should have read today's newspaper. The Death Eaters did not arrest members of the Order of the Phoenix, but they arrested many wizards related to the Order of the Phoenix."
"This is a conspiracy, and there is no good solution." Albert looked at Fred, who shrugged and said, "I have warned everyone, but you can't expect them to be willing to hide."
"There's none?"
Ron was very disappointed, and even his tone became less enthusiastic.
"Yesterday's incident completely ruined the face of the mysterious man and the Death Eaters. They had to use other more extreme methods to consolidate their rule." After Albert saw Sirius coming towards him, he deliberately raised his voice. Some, "It would be unwise to fight the Death Eaters now, because those guys are eager for you to do that."
“What about the others?” Ron couldn’t help but ask.
"This is war, and they need to be responsible for their own choices. Since they are unwilling to hide, they should think of this instead of counting on the kindness of the enemy." Albert said softly.
Sirius, who originally wanted to say something, suddenly fell silent.
"This matter is not over yet." Albert glanced at the people who appeared in the corridor and reminded kindly, "If you don't want to surrender or escape, but choose to continue to confront the mysterious man, you should be mentally prepared. Don’t leave anything to chance.”
“This is war, a life-and-death wizard war.”
Everyone's expressions were awkward, but luckily Furong broke the embarrassment at the right time.
“Would you like some beef pies? We baked a lot just now, and I heard they said you like freshly baked pies.” She enthusiastically stuffed the still-warm beef pies into the hands of the three of them.
“Oh, thank you.” Albert said with a smile.
“Don’t crowd around here, go inside and say anything you want.”
Mrs. Weasley enthusiastically pulled Albert into the living room and poured him a glass of butterbeer.
“Mom, where are we?” Fred asked.
“Pour it yourself.”
“Didn’t you say you don’t drink butterbeer?”
Ron glared at the twin brothers who were eating pie and drinking butterbeer.
“Little Ronnie, how can you take that seriously?” George smiled and took a big sip of butterbeer.
“I want to meet Hagrid.”
Albert said to Sirius who came over to clink glasses with him.
"Hagrid's condition is very bad. We have prepared a large pot of sedatives for him." Sirius said, pointing to the cauldron next to him.
"No, this thing is more effective." Albert took out a bottle of Firewhiskey from his pocket like a magic trick, "It's not good to suppress your emotions all the time. It's better to vent them directly."
“Hagrid drank so much that he almost buried his head in a barrel.” Mrs. Weasley obviously did not support Hagrid’s drinking to relieve his sorrows.
“I mixed some water of life and death into it, which should give him a good sleep.” Albert explained.
"Perhaps, your method is more reliable." Sirius smiled and greeted: "Follow me, Harry is accompanying Hagrid."
Sirius ignored Mrs. Weasley's gaze and led Albert from the front. They walked through the stairs to the third floor. Harry and Hermione were talking outside the corridor and turned their heads after hearing footsteps.
“Albert!” Hermione stepped forward and gave Albert a brief hug, “When did you arrive?”
"Just now." Albert looked at the closed room filled with the smell of alcohol and asked, "How is Hagrid?"
"I just knocked Hagrid down with the coma spell, and he is sleeping now." Harry felt a little embarrassed and added, "I think he should take a rest."
“Well, next time you give him this bottle of wine, just tell him that I brought it to him when I came to visit him. It contains water of life and death, so you don’t have to use the coma spell.”
"This is a really good idea." Harry muttered, taking the bottle of hot whiskey from Albert, and suddenly said, "By the way, thank you for saving Hagrid. If it weren't for you, I don't know what terrible things would have happened. matter."
"Hagrid is also my friend." Albert said calmly, "I hope he can get out of his trough as soon as possible."
"If Hagrid feels guilty for Grawp's death, then tell him that it was a Death Eater who killed Grawp and it was not his fault." Albert warned Harry before leaving.
“Are you ready to leave?” Hermione asked suddenly.
“Yes, I have other things to do.”
"Fred and George always complain that you like to be lazy." Hermione said with a wink.
“They always think I’m very idle.”
“By the way, there’s something…”
When Hermione and Albert went downstairs, they talked about Hagrid killing the two dark wizards.
"If you die, you will die. Anyone whose brother is killed will go crazy." Albert looked at Hermione and said, "You still can't accept killing the enemy?"
“Don’t you like killing people too?” Hermione asked.
“Honestly, I’m a little surprised.”
“What’s unexpected?”
"You are more immature than I expected." Albert stopped at the door and turned to Hermione. "I originally thought Ron would be the most immature of the three of you. It seems that Charlie's Death gave him a big blow.”
"Remember Hermione." Albert's tone was so calm that it made Hermione feel uneasy. "You can hate killing and hate doing that, but you can't lose the courage to kill the enemy, because you who are involved in the war may need to be arrested. Forced to kill your enemies."
“This is the wizard war, and war is bound to be accompanied by death.”
Hermione opened her mouth slightly, but no words came out.
"Also, just because I really don't like killing people with my own hands, it doesn't mean that I won't find ways to kill them." Albert held up an umbrella and walked into the rain. "Remember, kindness to the enemy is the greatest cruelty to oneself."
"I think he is right, war is like that, either you die or I live." Harry suddenly appeared at some point, patted Hermione on the shoulder and said, "No one likes killing, but if necessary, I will Will do that.”
Yes, he will.
“Albert left?”
Ron asked as he walked down the stairs and looked at the two people standing in the hall.
“Well, I just left.” Hermione asked doubtfully, “What’s the matter?”
“Mom wants to keep him for dinner at the headquarters,” Ron said.
"I think he would rather go back to spend time with his family." Hermione said, looking at the rain ahead.
“You know eating is not the point.” Ron sighed, “Everyone hopes to get some advice from Albert.”