Harry and Hermione descended the stairs with the rest of the Gryffindors. It was time for lunch, and many young wizards were emerging from the classrooms on all floors of the castle, striding briskly toward the Great Hall. After a hurried lunch, they would return to their dormitories to change textbooks before beginning their afternoon classes.
This haste always makes one seem a bit disheveled, but Harry, who had been isolated for several days, felt a joyful sense of fulfillment.
But at the same time, this contrast was becoming increasingly prominent in his heart.
He expected the situation to turn quickly and everyone to take immediate action to resist Voldemort, but the current situation was very different from what he imagined. Even if Professor Dumbledore had already issued a warning to all students and staff in the Great Hall, look at these young wizards in front of him.
Many people, upon seeing Harry, instinctively stepped back as if he were carrying some kind of plague.
This quickly dispersed the joy in Harry's heart, his face turned cold as he knew what it meant. He had experienced this kind of distrust before, when everyone thought he was a Death Eater and believed he had opened the Chamber of Secrets when he was in second grade.
"We will all stand by you, Harry."
Neville and Fred were going to the Great Hall for lunch, while Harry and Hermione intended to visit Hagrid. As they parted in the hallway, Neville said solemnly,
"The imposter who pretended to be Professor Moody's Black Witch, her words cannot be trusted. But since you say that the mysterious person has returned, Professor Dumbledore and Professor Bracken have both confirmed your statement. This must be the truth."
Clearly, Neville had also noticed the behavior of many people towards Harry during the walk.
"I never thought I'd see the day when Neville would be so reliable."
As Harry rushed towards Hagrid's hut, he shook his head with a smile on his lips.
Ron was running on the playground by himself, and Hermione shouted his name several times before smiling at Harry and saying,
"I never thought I'd see the day when you and Ron would become so diligent."
Harry shrugged and smiled, they all knew the cause of the changes.
The bright sunlight shone down on the earth, the lawn and the black lake were full of light, even the forest behind the wooden house was no longer dark.
As soon as they approached, a small creature with a screech shot out from the shadows inside, tears streaming towards Hermione.
"Ginny, master!"
Hermione was already completely an adult-sized house-elf when she saw Hermione, she cried out in despair. She was ashamed of not fulfilling her duty and failing to protect Hermione, letting her face danger. However, after the first Triwizard Tournament, Hagrid had warned her severely that if she dared to intervene in any competition project again, Hermione could be dismissed from the tournament or even expelled.
Hermione sighed and comforted Dumble, explaining that she had heard from Harry that Shimmer had grown into a free-thinking house-elf who could ignore her master's commands, but Dumble had 'made no progress' in the same way. She felt guilty towards him, just as he did towards her.
Harry and Ron exchanged a look, they both knew that this scene wouldn't end so soon, so they walked towards Hagrid who was smiling and standing by the door to welcome them.
"It's good to see you again, young ones!"
As they stepped inside, Hagrid happily hugged Harry and Ron tightly before turning them to lead them into the house.
"I just heard that you were released!"
Hagrid walked to the cupboard and took out a few cups. He brewed tea and brought some rock cake to share. Harry glanced at the cake, which was obviously made by Hagrid himself rather than Dumble, so he decided not to touch the food.
"How are you feeling?"
Hagrid sat at his bedside, growling.
Ron's lips moved, but he didn't say anything. He himself felt that he was not normal. He personally witnessed the resurrection ceremony of the Dark Lord, and with Harry and Hermione's cooperation, they put down the arrogant air of the Death Eater Crouch before the Dark Lord personally attacked them. Such wonderful experience, he would certainly boast about it, but now?
These past few days in the school hospital, he would always think about the killing curse that struck him in the chest, his seemingly real experience of death, and all his resentment and reluctance before his consciousness faded. These emotions left him with no mood to boast about anything.
Harry instinctively wanted to tell Hagrid that he was okay, but as soon as he was about to say so, he found that he couldn't make a sound.
All the events that happened that day were like dreams and vividly present in front of him.
Despicable Karkaroff, brave old Bartemius, shameless young Barty, fiercely loyal Shimmer, and the evil Voldemort who had become so malevolent that he had almost transcended the word 'man.'
Noble, despicable, evil, death, war. These words became vivid and lifelike in his heart.
During his third year, Professor Bracken took him to visit the underground world of Diagon Alley, where the chaotic scenes he saw helped him realize something: Hogwarts was not all of the magical world, and the real magical world was not as perfect or as cruel as it seemed; it was real. And everything he experienced that morning reinforced this realization.
Hermione led Dumble into the house, she stood by the door frame with a pale face, lips tightly pressed together without uttering a word.
"Feel unwell, right?"
Hagrid's smile was sorrowful, his thumbs twisting in a vain attempt to comfort himself.
"I knew he would come back."
Harry, Hermione, and Ron all looked surprised at Hagrid.
"-- I've always known, I knew he was hiding in the shadows, waiting for his chance. This was bound to happen. Well, it's happened now, and we must face the reality. We have to fight; we can't let him gain power and rule the world. Dumbledore is determined to do this, Dumbledore, he really is an amazing man. As long as he's around, I'm not too worried, and besides, we now have Professor Bracken. To be honest, I think either of them would be able to withstand Voldemort's advances, but right now, we have both of them."
"But the Ministry of Magic--"
Hermione said with concern,
"If the Ministry of Magic persists in their beliefs, then many people who are unaware of the truth won't realize that Voldemort is back. That would obviously give him the opportunity to grow his power."
Harry and Ron turned their shocked gazes towards Hermione, something she had never said during their conversations in the past few days.
"Oh, I can't help but praise your clever mind again, Hermione--"
Hagrid blinked in surprise, his eyes like those of a black beetle.
"Yes, that's true, Connie Fudge the worthless man will probably be terrified of losing his position and regret his decision.”
"That means--"
Harry furrowed his brow.
"Does that mean Voldemort won't take action right now? He needs to secretly build his power. But doesn't he already have Death Eaters?"
"This isn't a team duel you practice during PE, Harry. Voldemort can't just rely on a few Death Eaters to attack the magical world; he needs an army."
Hagrid said.
"But who would join him?" Ron wondered.
"The Dark Lord is more capable than you think, Ron. He will always find a group of bad guys who are looking for power and wealth. He'll tell them that by following him, they can gain both power and riches. Hmph, there are never a shortage of gullible wizards."
Hagrid said gravely,
"The main concern of Professor Dumbledore now is to prevent him from gaining more support."
"Did Dumbledore also assign you such a task?"
Harry's forehead furrowed slightly, and he spoke out without thinking,
"I heard him telling Professor McGonagall to give you a message at the hospital the other day. He said there was something for you to do. What was it, Hagrid?"
"That can't be told to you, Harry. Dumbledore doesn't allow me to say too much to you."
Hagrid shook his head and said, and upon hearing this, Harry was initially shocked for a moment, but then his face darkened visibly.
(The end of this chapter)
