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Chapter 1102: Harry in the Fireplace
🕑 Added 2024-05-06 14:04:29 +0000 UTCUnlike the brief peace of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, the atmosphere in the Wizarding World had been unusually eerie lately.
Since the announcement of Dumbledore's defection from Hogwarts, there had been no latest news about him from the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet.
Fudge seemed to have lost his sense of purpose all at once and didn't know what to do.
There hadn't been any decisive victories as anticipated, and the dire situation remained unchanged, with nothing but trouble left.
Umbridge was missing, Hogwarts education reform was at a complete standstill, the escaped Death Eaters were still at large, protests occurred daily, the voices of distrust and dissatisfaction were getting louder, and many controlled Dark creatures were starting to make moves.
Werewolves were becoming more and more active. Not long ago, on a full moon night, they appeared and attacked a small village.
Many people swore they had seen vampires near their homes, even claiming to have been bitten by them while sleeping.
There were also Dementors; these dreadful creatures no longer seemed to be fully confined to Azkaban.
Some people even said that they had seen dragons and giants near the coast...
In short, it was a mess, and the Wizarding World seemed to have suddenly returned to the chaotic and dark Middle Ages.
Of course, none of this combined made people feel as ridiculous and unbelievable as the fact that the Ministry of Magic wanted to go to war with the Centaurs.
When Rita Skeeter reported this news, people became outraged.
They couldn't believe that with so many troubles unresolved, Fudge actually wanted to fight the Centaurs!
Was he out of his mind?
In such an atmosphere, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place welcomed an unexpected visitor.
That night, Evan and Hermione were sitting around the kitchen table reading as usual, and Harry's head suddenly appeared in green flames.
"Thank goodness you two are here," said Harry, visibly relieved.
He was looking up out of the kitchen fireplace at the long, wooden table outside and saw Evan and Hermione sitting together.
"Harry!" Hermione stood up from the chair immediately, looking very surprised. "Is everything alright? What's the matter?"
"I'm fine! How are you?" said Harry, but he didn't look too good. “I just wondered — I mean, I just fancied a — a chat with Sirius..."
"He's upstairs, with Kreacher!" said Evan, looking at Harry again. "I’ll call him down."
Evan left the kitchen and Hermione knelt down in front of the fire.
"Well, where's Elaine?" Harry asked in a deliberately relaxed tone. "I don’t see her?"
"She's sleeping upstairs," said Hermione.
"Oh, so you've been here since you left school?" said Harry, looking around.
He felt rather sick, using the Floo Network in this way, and after the world was spinning, it was as though he was wearing an exceptionally hot muffler around his head.
Moreover, his knees were already objecting painfully to their prolonged contact with the hard stone floor.
"Yeah, we've been staying here these past few days, haven't gone anywhere!" said Hermione. "Harry, how's the school been lately?"
"Not good. After you two left, Hogwarts turned into a mess. The only good news is that Fudge can't find Umbridge, but he’s set up a Special Reform Group to station in the school," said Harry. "You probably wouldn't believe..."
"We've read the newspapers," Hermione quickly interjected. "We know about this."
"Yeah, but you probably wouldn't expect Malfoy's dad to be in this group too. He showed up in Hogwarts Great Hall yesterday morning," said Harry sarcastically. "You and Evan should really have seen Malfoy's expression, he was so proud!"
"In this case, you should abide by the school rules," said Hermione. "Don't give them a reason to trouble you."
"Forget it, Hermione, even if I don't do anything, they'll still come after me," said Harry. "I don't want to stay at Hogwarts. Since Dumbledore and you left, Fudge and the Ministry have started to go all out and interfere in the teaching and management of the school, you have no idea how many special Educational Decrees the Special Reform Group issued in a day. They’re not much better than Umbridge, and they even asked Slytherin students to maintain order in the school and gave them a name: The Inquisitorial Squad.”
"The Inquisitorial Squad?"
“It’s said to be an idea left by Umbridge. She mentioned this in her letter to Fudge. This Inquisitorial Squad is a select group of students who are supportive of the Ministry of Magic. The group is supposed to ensure order among students and even has the power to dock points from prefects. "
"This is ridiculous. The prefect system..."
"… is practically nonexistent now. This is the current state of Hogwarts. Everything is in chaos," said Harry with an eager expression on his face. "I don't want to stay here. If I go over now, I can..."
"No, Harry!" Hermione interrupted him hastily. "You can't leave Hogwarts."
“Harry, I can understand how you feel right now, but you need to stay there," Sirius followed Evan quickly into the kitchen, and when he heard this, he also knelt down like Hermione in front of the fireplace, and said in a soothing tone, "I know it's hard, I'm not telling you to blindly follow the rules, but you must learn to be patient."
"Patient?!" Harry's tone was a little strange, as if he was on the verge of breaking out. "How long do I have to endure?"
"It's almost over," said Evan.
"You all left Hogwarts to join the Order of the Phoenix, leaving me here alone..." Harry raised his voice.
"We had no choice but to leave. Besides, we didn't leave you alone, there’s still Ron."
"I had a row with him last night," said Harry, and then fell silent.
"Why?" Hermione looked at him worriedly.
"Because of the D.A. activities, after you two left, I wanted to reorganize it," Harry sighed. "But the current situation is that some people are willing to continue, and some want to quit. The Ministry's evidence against Dumbledore includes the formation of an army, and everyone is worried..."
"Ron wants to quit?" said Hermione in surprise. "He won't do that!
"He didn't say that explicitly, but it was almost the same. Lavender’s very worried, don’t know what she said to him, so he came over and told me that we’d better not do any activities recently. He didn't come to the meeting the night before yesterday," said Harry. "There’s also Cho’s friend, that girl named Marietta. She seems terrified. If it weren't for the fear of the magic left by Evan, she would definitely have snitched. When Cho saw me this time, she kept talking about her. All in all, nothing goes well."
"Are there still people going to the D.A. meetings?"
"Fred, George, Jordan, the Creevey brothers, Neville, Ginny, they’re all still in, as well as Angelina and a few others. But those who are close to Lavender didn't show up, and all the lower-year students and those whose family members work at the Ministry have all quit," Harry sighed again. "From Ravenclaw, there’s still Luna, and Ginny's boyfriend, who was probably forced to come here by her, and that first-year girl from Hufflepuff, the one who's really good at Quidditch..."
