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Chapter 1029: Plan
🕑 Added 2024-02-26 09:18:52 +0000 UTCIt was hard to change the mindset of house-elves, much like the inherent servitude ingrained in their bones.
Looking at the grinning Bellatrix in the photo, Evan felt a strong sense of uneasiness. This Christmas holiday was too quiet, just like the moment of tranquility before the storm. The depression was gradually increasing, and something terrible was about to happen.
To be on the safe side, he felt the need to instruct Kreacher not to tell anything about what was going on here, especially not to Narcissa and Bellatrix.
This had nothing to do with trust; it was the nature of house-elves.
Or maybe, he could take a different approach, and use this matter for something...
“I think I’ll just leave his present here,” said Hermione, laying the package neatly in the middle of the depression in the rags and blankets and closing the door quietly. “He’ll find it later, that’ll be fine..."
"What are you doing?" asked Sirius, emerging from the pantry carrying a large turkey.
"Doing what you should do, give Kreacher a Christmas present," said Hermione, dissatisfied. "Where is he?"
"I don't know, I’ll look for him later. He should come to help. There are a lot of people coming tonight, and we need to prepare more food," said Sirius. "If it wasn't for circumstances, I'd even like to have a carnival party. Come on, Hermione, Kreacher doesn't need a Christmas present. You won't give him clothes, will you?"
Hermione didn't answer. She was very dissatisfied with Sirius's attitude towards Kreacher.
When everyone went upstairs for breakfast, Evan found an opportunity to talk to Sirius alone, expressing his concerns and reminding him to pay attention to Kreacher.
They had had this kind of conversation many times since their return from Norway.
Sirius was also worried, not only about Norway and the situation here, but also about Harry himself.
"I'll keep an eye on Kreacher, but you have to know, Evan, things are not over. In addition to the troubles with the evil god and the vampires, Voldemort also wants to get something, and that thing is in London," Sirius hesitated for a moment, considering whether to tell Evan about this, as it involved confidential matters of the Order of the Phoenix. He looked around, and then lowered his voice and said, "Alright, listen, but don't spread it around. That thing is a prophecy orb, kept in..."
"… the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic, I know," said Evan."The prophecy orb stored there can only be taken off the shelf by the subjects of the individual prophecy. That prophecy involves Harry and Voldemort. Of course Voldemort is not willing to go to the Ministry of Magic with the risk of being exposed, so he hopes to lure Harry there."
“How do you know this?"
"I've done some investigation!" Evan simply said.
"Well, you know more than I thought. I thought this was an Order of the Phoenix secret," said Sirius seriously. "Since you know, I’ll be straightforward. I hope you keep an eye on Harry at school. No matter what happens, don't let him leave Hogwarts. Similar to this incident, Dumbledore believes that Voldemort might show him some visions through their connection to lure him out of the school and go to the Ministry to get that prophecy orb."
"Alright, what’s the Order of the Phoenix currently doing?" Evan asked.
“Certainly, it goes without saying. We have someone keeping an eye on that place," said Sirius. "We can't let Voldemort get hold of that prophecy orb. The incident in Norway angered him, and he won't willingly accept failure. He might resort to any means next."
“If so, why don't we take the initiative?!" Evan noticed Sirius's gaze and continued to explain, "I mean … why do we have to passively wait for Voldemort to go to the Ministry of Magic to take away the prophecy orb, instead of setting things up in advance?!"
"Only Harry and Voldemort can touch that prophecy orb..."
“I know … the situation is that Voldemort needs the prophecy orb, but he himself doesn't want to go, he just wants Harry to bring it to him," said Evan. "So he hopes to lure Harry over, but this is also an opportunity for us. We can turn the tables, set a trap there, severely weaken Voldemort, and change the current situation."
“Voldemort won’t be fooled so easily."
“Of course, but we can provide him with some false information, using Kreacher, for example," said Evan, looking at Kreacher's bedroom door. "I just saw photos of Narcissa and Bellatrix in his room. He seems to admire your two cousins very much."
"Humph, he would kneel down and kiss their robes if he could. In the eyes of the house-elf, he probably thinks that the two of them are the real heirs of the Black family, and I am just a traitor."
"That's not surprising. He's been taught this way for decades, loyal to the ancient and noble Black family. But now he opposes Voldemort and follows your orders; that's a good change," said Evan. "But we all know he still can't forget Narcissa and Bellatrix. Their commands still have an effect on him, and he can't even distinguish the impact of what he's doing. What I mean is, we can use this to our advantage, feed him some false information, then lead him to Malfoy, have Kreacher accidentally leak the information, making Voldemort believe there's an opportunity to lure Harry to the Ministry. In reality, all the members of the Order of the Phoenix will be lying in wait there..."
"A crazy idea," said Sirius, gradually understanding Evan's plan. "And dangerous!"
"But we can take the initiative to break the current stalemate," Evan continued. "Think about it, Sirius, it’s simply unrealistic to have no danger at all. Just like this time, we cannot control the connection between Voldemort and Harry. , but we can turn passivity into initiative. Defense is never the best way to solve a problem."
"Alright, I'll talk to Dumbledore, and I'll inform you immediately if there are any results," Sirius looked at Evan, ultimately conceding. "I personally agree with your suggestion, but before that, you have to watch over Harry. He’s been too abnormal lately, and I'm afraid he might do something foolish."
Having Voldemort drilling around in his head and merging with the evil God, not acting unusually would be abnormal.
Eventually, Sirius found Kreacher in the attic. He was covered in dust, no doubt looking for more relics of the Black family to hide in his cupboard.
The joyful times always passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the Christmas holidays were coming to an end.
Evan still hadn't seen Dumbledore and didn't know if Sirius had told him about his plan.
He didn't even have time to be alone with Hermione. Evan was fully expecting something to happen with Hermione during this Christmas holiday, but nothing occurred.
It was mainly because of Elaine, who became more and more looking forward to it as the days of school at Hogwarts approached.
Now she was either following Evan or Hermione, asking this and that. Evan had no chance at all.
Even at night or when Evan transformed into a cat, it didn't work. Sometimes Elaine would sleep with Hermione, and her nose was sharp enough to smell the scent of Evan's blood. This meant that no matter what animal Evan transformed into, Elaine could immediately recognize him. It was probably a racial talent of vampires.
Although Evan didn't mind Elaine watching when something happy happened between him and Hermione, Hermione minded a lot.
Therefore, Evan finally had no chance to do something with Hermione. It had to be said that this was his biggest regret this Christmas.
Hermione, on the other hand, took the initiative to kiss Evan, as he had been well-behaved recently.
