Chapter 738 Adding fuel
After Albert handed over the prepared Christmas gifts to the house elves for delivery, the Christmas holidays were approaching quietly.
The Christmas atmosphere in Hogwarts Castle is even stronger. Twelve Christmas trees are placed in the auditorium as in previous years. The stair railings are wrapped with holly and tinsel, and large bouquets are hung at every other section of the corridor. Mistletoe, girls like to gather under the mistletoe, looking forward to a romantic kiss from the prince charming in their dreams.
By the fireside in the Gryffindor common room, Fred and George were equally excited about the holidays. The two of them were discussing how to secretly prepare an unexpected surprise for Filch on the day they boarded the Hogwarts Express to leave school.
“Where are you going for Christmas vacation?” Lee Jordan reached out and poked Tom who was lying by the fireplace. “Are you going to go on vacation abroad again?”
“I don’t plan to go anywhere, I plan to stay at home throughout the holiday.”
Herb has been traveling a lot recently, so the Anderson family has no plans to go on vacation this year for Christmas vacation, and is preparing to stay at home for the winter.
“Oh, by the way, I asked my father to help investigate the last incident, and I just received a reply not long ago.”
“Which thing?”
Fred and George had obviously forgotten which incident it was.
"After investigating the rent of the shops in Diagon Alley, we found that the rent is higher than expected, and we can no longer find a suitable rental shop." Lee Jordan took out the letter from his pocket and handed it to Albert, and said to Fred and George, "Unless you are willing to open a store in a rather bad location. Of course, there are many shops waiting to be rented in Knockturn Alley, and the prices are quite cheap, but you also know that the security there is not very good."
“What do you think should be done?”
After Fred and George looked at each other, they both looked at Albert to see if the other had any good solutions to the problem.
"After waiting for two years, I believe I can find a suitable location. The house prices at that time will not be too expensive. Then I can choose a good location and buy it directly. So you should just finish the seventh grade obediently and don't always think about it in advance. Take a break from school.
“What will happen in two years’ time.”
All three of them understood the hint in Albert's words. It was obvious that something bad would happen in two years.
In fact, this is not the first time Albert has hinted at this.
"A while ago, when I went to Hogsmeade, I heard Professor McGonagall talking to other professors about Sirius Black in the Three Broomsticks pub." Albert changed the subject.
“What about Blake?”
The three of them were all very interested in this matter, but considering that they were in the common room and there were many people talking around, they did not specifically ask Albert about the follow-up to this matter.
When they return to the dormitory to rest, Albert will naturally share Blake's story with the three of them.
“Harry’s father is actually good friends with Black, and Sirius Black is actually Harry’s godfather?”
The three of them listened with their mouths open and their faces filled with shock as they listened to the whole story.
“Harry would be very angry if he knew about this,” George murmured.
“He knows.” Albert dropped another bombshell.
“Harry knew, how could he know?”
None of the three people could understand it, and looked at Albert eagerly, waiting for the other party to explain to them.
"Potter was also present at the time. He was hiding under the invisibility cloak and happened to hear the conversation between Professor McGonagall and others." Albert looked at the three people who gradually opened their mouths, and it seemed that it was such a coincidence.
“Some things really shouldn’t be said around,” Lee Jordan muttered.
“I also discovered a secret.”
“What secret?”
"About the identity of the maker of the Marauder's Map." Albert motioned for several people to stay quiet and slowly spoke out his guess about the identity of the robbers.
Fred, George and Li Jordan were all shocked after hearing this, especially after learning that Professor Lupine was actually a werewolf. They kept mumbling something like "no wonder".
“No wonder, Professor Lupine calls in sick every once in a while.”
"Professor Dumbledore must be crazy. How could he hire a werewolf?" Li Jordan looked at Albert in disbelief, "Don't you know how dangerous werewolves are? Moreover, he is not worried that Professor Luping will help Black invades Hogwarts Castle?”
"I don't think Black needs to do this." Fred pointed out this clearly. "If Black was involved in the creation of the Marauder's Map, he could easily enter and leave Hogwarts."
"The Shrieking Hut, do you remember the Shrieking Hut? I dare say that the werewolf hiding in it at that time must have been Professor Lupin." George speculated, "It matches perfectly in time."
"Since they are friends, Blake must also know about the situation in the Screaming Shack. Do you think he will be hiding in the Screaming Shack now?" Fred jumped up from the bed excitedly. He felt that he might have discovered Blake's "Perhaps, we should tell the Ministry of Magic about this and earn a reward."
"It's impossible for the dementors not to check the Shrieking Shack." George shook his head. "The dementors must have carefully checked the places around Hogwarts where people can hide. As long as Black is hiding nearby, there is no way he can hide from the camera." The hunt for ghosts."
“I know when Blake will show up.” Albert said suddenly.
“What?” George asked excitedly, “Did you get the fortune telling?”
"Yes, on the day that Hagrid's hippogriff is executed, we will ambush and capture Black, but the dementors will come out to disrupt the situation, and there will be a lot of trouble..."
“We caught Blake?”
“If you want to catch Black with me and get that rich reward, you’d better take the time to train yourself.
"We will face the Dementors directly?" Lee Jordan's face was a little ugly. He somewhat understood why Albert urged them to practice the Patronus Charm.
Originally, they had similar thoughts, but now it has been completely confirmed. Although they were mentally prepared, the pressure was still great. The three weak patron saints could not resist the dementors at all.
"Although the prophecy implies that we have captured Black and driven away the Dementors, it does not mean the result. If you don't work hard, it is difficult to say whether the result will come true."
Albert knew very well that money could make all the difference, and he could also use money to unleash the unlimited potential of the three of them.
He needs other helpers to prevent any accidents.
"With this money, our store opening plan will definitely be OK." Fred said excitedly, that was ten thousand Galleons, even if each of them only received one thousand Galleons in the end, it would be enough.
Albert was very satisfied with the performance of the three people, and the stimulation of interests could really arouse the enthusiasm of the three people.
That night, Fred, George and Lee Jordan were all working **** practicing their Patronus Charms.
The three of them worked hard all night, but the result was that their spirits were a little sluggish the next day. Moreover, there is nothing gained yet, which is really a bit of a shock to people’s confidence.
However, after Albert linked the summoning of the Patronus to a lot of galleons, Fred and George showed an unprecedented enthusiasm, and even Lee Jordan was extremely shocked by this.
After repeated efforts and corrections, Fred and George's patron saint was still a silvery mist, but the mist was more solid than before, and Albert had to sigh again at the charm of golden galleons.
“I have to work harder, otherwise I will become a drag.” When Lee Jordan saw Fred and George practicing the Patronus Charm so hard, he also practiced together, not wanting to be a drag.
In fact, they have been talking about this topic for several days in a row recently, almost like an obsession.
Albert never doubted the potential of the three of them. As long as they continued to practice, they might be able to master the Patronus Charm earlier than Harry Potter.
After entering Hogsmeade Village, the carriage began to slow down and finally stopped at the train station in Hogsmeade.
After people got off the train, they took their luggage and rushed towards the open train door.
Most students chose to go home for Christmas, perhaps as the Blake incident frightened them as it did last year's attack.
“Mum originally wanted to invite Harry to her house for Christmas, but then she seemed to think it would be safer for him to stay at school,” muttered Fred.
“This is the price of being a savior!” Albert tightened the towel around his body and raised his wand to direct the luggage to be unloaded from the carriage.
“Let’s go quickly. If you have anything to do, we’ll get on the train. I don’t want the cold wind blowing here.” Lee Jordan shivered, pulling his luggage and squeezing forward.
The three of them grabbed their luggage and rushed toward the carriage door. Several train station staff were helping everyone move their luggage onto the train.
When it was almost Albert's turn, he suddenly felt that the air around him was getting colder, white mist came out of his mouth, and the surrounding temperature seemed to drop several degrees at once.
“Look over there, there are dementors, they seem to be coming this way.”
I don’t know who was screaming, and the noise on the entire platform suddenly stopped.
The next moment, the platform suddenly became noisy, and the crowd crowded into the carriage, as if only the carriage could keep them away from those evil monsters.
Even the platform staff who helped carry the luggage were a little panicked. For wizards who did not master the Patronus, dementors were almost impossible to fight against.
People are instinctively afraid of this monster that **** up happy emotions and brings them depression and despair.
Crowding, pushing and shoving, chaos in front of the carriage door.
Damn it!
Albert felt someone stepped on his foot, a baggage touched him, and someone pushed him from behind, almost causing him to fall.
Tom in the cage seemed to feel the restless atmosphere around him and became irritable and restless.
Are all people at the Ministry of Magic idiots?
Don’t they know the consequences of causing chaos in a place like this?
He recalled what Fudge said in The Three Broomsticks, that guy actually advocated letting dementors enter Hogwarts Castle to "help".
Oh my God!
What are dementors? Doesn’t he know?
To say that Fudge is an idiot is really not wrong at all.
“Quiet, stay where you are, everyone stay where you are.”
Albert cast an ear-blocking spell on Tom, put his fingers on his throat, and the extremely loud voice echoed throughout the train station.
Albert didn’t expect to be able to stop everyone, but he could make his voice loud enough to make all the students’ eardrums hurt and they had to raise their hands to cover their ears.
There is no doubt that this method is very effective.
The original chaos was suppressed all of a sudden, and everyone covered their ears in pain, wishing that someone would stop the mouth of the guy who shouted.
Albert removed his hand from his throat, stretched out his hand to pick up a fallen girl from the crowd, and at the same time drew out his wand and fired a silver light at the dementors floating around.
As if sensing Albert's emotions, the griffon directly hit the dementors and drove them away from the students.
The dementors roared angrily, seeming annoyed that someone was hindering their official duties, but they still had no intention of leaving here.
Albert's Patronus seems a bit lonely and not as powerful as expected. This is actually more because the place of summoning was too hasty.
Fred, George and Lee Jordan also raised their wands and tried to summon the Patronus, but they could only summon a wisp of silver mist, which was of no use at all.
At this moment, a silvery white fox flew into the air in the carriage, and the two patron saints immediately kept the surrounding dementors away from the train.
“What the **** are you doing?”
Two Aurors hurriedly walked towards this side, obviously noticing what was happening here.
They never thought that someone would interfere with the dementors' routine inspections. Under normal circumstances, no one would dare to do so.
After all, there are very few wizards who master the Patronus Charm.
"I also want to ask what the **** are you doing." Albert handed the luggage to Fred next to him, and handed the Tom cat cage to George. When he tried to get rid of the crowd, the students around him took the initiative to give way to him. There is a way out.
Albert walked up to the young Auror and asked in a colder tone than the other person: "What on earth are you doing? Why do you want the dementors to come here? Do you plan to use us as food for the dementors?" ?”
"These dementors are just doing routine business." The young Auror said in a standard tone, "You are obstructing the official business of the Ministry of Magic."
"Allowing the dementors to **** the happiness of the students led to chaos, crowding, pushing, and trampling on each other. Don't tell me, this is how the Ministry of Magic uses to protect the safety of Hogwarts students." Ai Bert's tone couldn't help but rise a bit, making people clearly feel his dissatisfaction, and also stirring up the emotions of others very well.
Sometimes, what is needed is a leader.
The young Auror seemed to want to say something, but was stopped by another Auror because he found that all the students were glaring at them.
“Get away, we don’t need the protection of dementors.”
I don’t know who took the lead in shouting, and then someone threw something at the two Aurors, and a big dung egg directly hit the young Auror.
“Fuck you for obstructing official business!”
“What a bunch of losers, they haven’t caught Blake for so long.”
…
The young Auror's face was ashen, and he raised his hand to block the object thrown at him.
Seeing that the other party had no intention of leaving, and even pulled out his wand, he didn't know who was hiding in the crowd and throwing magic at the two Aurors.
In the commotion just now, many people were knocked or bruised, and there was nowhere to vent their anger. It was good this time, because everyone's dissatisfaction was suddenly detonated.
Before the young Auror could react, the other one quickly grabbed his arm and Apparated away before more magic could be thrown at them.
(End of this chapter)