After strolling outside the castle, the two returned to the safe house in Hogsmeade. This kind of horrible weather was not suitable for a date or a walk outside. It would be more comfortable to stay at home and drink tea and chat.
Isobel always liked to talk about the progress of her potion research, sometimes she would talk about things at home, talk about the news she gained from chatting with friends using a two-way mirror, and occasionally help Albert organize the intelligence collected from the gray area.
This was all thanks to Dobby. On his job search, the house-elf got to know many wizards living in the gray area. As long as they were willing to spend a small amount of Galleons on maintenance, many wizards didn't mind helping to collect intelligence and earn some extra money.
After all, among the wizards in the gray area, who doesn’t need money
"Master, here is a message that may interest you."
The house-elf, Bit, walked into the hall with the parchment and handed it respectfully to Albert.
"Thank you, Bit, I want to eat the paella you made tonight." Albert took the parchment and said to the house-elf.
"It's my pleasure!" The house-elf walked away happily.
"What's the matter?" Isobel asked, looking up.
"Hagrid is back, seriously injured, and bought a lot of fresh dragon meat on the black market." Albert threw the note into the fireplace and watched it burn to ashes.
"Remember to come back early." Isobel gave Albert a hug, kissed his cheek and asked, "Do you want me to ask Dobby to bring you some more oysters?"
“Garlic grilled oysters.”
Although Albert instinctively rejects eating raw food, the oysters grown in the cold waters of the north are indeed delicious.
With the help of the house-elf, Albert easily appeared outside Hogwarts Castle. The originally lively Quidditch field had fallen silent again, and the students of the two punished colleges returned to their respective common rooms.
Albert took out his pocket watch, checked the time, and walked quickly towards Hagrid's hunting cabin.
"You are really well-informed. You came just after I got back."
Hagrid pushed aside the tooth that was scratching the door, opened it and looked at the person standing outside, smiling as if he saw an old friend, but the smile seemed to pull at the wound on his face, causing his skin to twitch slightly.
"It seems that you haven't been doing well recently. Do you need my help?" Albert looked up and down at Hagrid's face that was about to turn into a meat paste, bent down and scratched Yaya's head to prevent it from jumping on him.
"Don't worry, it's just a minor injury." Hagrid almost patted his chest to show that he could handle the injury on his face. "I prepared some dragon meat, it has a pain-relieving effect."
"That's for you. If ordinary people dare to do this, I dare say they will have to stay in the school hospital for ten days or half a month." Albert suppressed Yaya who was jumping around him and continued, "You look like you have just been beaten up."
"Well, this is caused by a fall." Hagrid put the dragon meat on his face, and the pain of the wound seemed to subside a little.
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Albert asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Ahem, we failed." Hagrid changed the subject, seeming reluctant to talk about his injuries. He looked a little disappointed when recalling his mission, "I failed Dumbledore's expectations."
"Like I told you before the summer vacation, Professor Dumbledore never expected you to succeed," Albert comforted.
"That's impossible." Hagrid argued loudly, "If it's really like what you said, what's the point of us spending more than a month looking for the giant?"
"Even if the chance of success is slim, it's worth trying." Albert didn't look at Hagrid, but stroked Yaya's head and said indifferently, "You may not succeed if you do it, but you will never succeed if you don't do it. What's more, even if you fail, the situation won't get worse."
This is Dumbledore.
"Briefly tell me about your experiences. I want to hear your stories." Albert led the topic.
"You knew?" Hagrid raised his eyebrows, but soon felt relieved. After all, it was Albert, and it didn't seem strange that he knew.
"Yeah, I guessed it."
"Olym and I went to find the giant camp together. It took us a long time to shake off the Ministry of Magic's pursuit." Hagrid recalled the initially pleasant experience. He got along very well with Orim.
He continued to talk about what happened after finding the giant. Dumbledore's good reputation was obviously of some use to the giant, but...
"You encountered Death Eaters, and the Death Eaters easily convinced the giant to side with them?"
"Yes." Hagrid said regretfully, "We finally managed to convince the giant leaders, but the original giant leader was killed by other giants on the second night, and all our efforts were in vain."
"You don't have to blame yourself. In my opinion, failure is inevitable. Even if you succeed in convincing the giant leader, he will still die."
Albert's words made Hagrid's eyes widen, and he couldn't help but ask, "Why?"
"Giants are inherently very aggressive and violent, and they love to fight. It's normal for them to hate the wizards who drove them there when they were driven to that hellhole, just like... people hate wizards who surrender to You-Know-Who and want to kill them all or put them in Azkaban. The proposal of You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters is more in line with the needs of the giants. As long as they surrender to You-Know-Who, they can leave that hellhole, and Professor Dumbledore can't help them leave that damn cage. Do you understand?"
"The Death Eaters easily persuaded werewolves and other dark creatures to join their team because no one wants to live in a dark and stinking ditch." Albert looked at Hagrid with his mouth wide open and brought the subject back to the point: "I came here to tell you about the situation in the school."
"What's going on in school?" Hagrid was a little confused. He didn't understand why Albert came to remind him specifically. Did something happen in school
"The Ministry of Magic has sent a deputy minister to Hogwarts to serve as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." Albert explained: "Her name is Dolores Umbridge. You can think of her as a nuisance sent by Fudge to cause trouble for Professor Dumbledore and Potter."
"Trouble Dumbledore?" Hagrid asked, frowning.
"You should also know what happened at the end of last semester. Fudge and Professor Dumbledore had a falling out, so Fudge tried his best to discredit Professor Dumbledore and Potter in the Daily Prophet. Their relationship is not good now." Albert briefly introduced the current situation to Hagrid. "Potter was attacked by Dementors during the summer vacation, but he used magic to drive away the Dementors and was formally tried by the Ministry of Magic. I participated in that trial at that time."
"Wait until I finish, then ask again." Albert stopped Hagrid's question and continued, "In order to drive out Professor Dumbledore and expel Potter and completely control Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic passed the so-called Education Order and let Umbridge, the Deputy Minister of Magic, serve as the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. She is now a senior investigator."
"Fudge has given Umbridge a lot of power through the Educational Decree, and you could say she's almost half a headmistress, except without the title."
"Not long ago, Umbridge investigated the professors in the school. Professor Trelawney has been retained for probation. By the way, the first professor Umbridge wanted to expel was you."
"Just now, the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin ended. An unpleasant conflict broke out between the two teams after the match. I estimate that Harry will be banned permanently by Umbridge. This is probably the situation."
"Harry is banned permanently?" Hagrid felt incredible. Hogwarts had changed so much in just a few months.
"Yes." Albert nodded and said, "After the game, Gryffindor and Slytherin had a quarrel and a fight, but Umbridge favored the Slytherin students, and it was normal for her to take the opportunity to cause trouble for Harry. I even suspect that this conflict was related to her."
Hagrid opened his mouth, obviously unable to understand what was going on, and asked again: "That man still wants to fire me?"
"Because you are a half-giant and someone close to Professor Dumbledore, she plans to use you as a warning to Professor Dumbledore." Albert reminded: "I think it won't be long before she comes to you and asks you to review your courses. If your Care of Magical Creatures course is terrible, she will find an excuse to expel you directly."
"It's weird. She's investigating someone else?" Hagrid said in disbelief. "How could Dumbledore allow someone like that to run wild in Hogwarts?"
"Our headmaster seemed to think there was no need to clash with Fudge, so he chose to give in." Albert continued, "But our minister went too far and spoke ill of Professor Dumbledore in the Daily Prophet, causing him to lose most of his titles and status. Now most wizards in the wizarding world believe that Professor Dumbledore suffers from Alzheimer's disease and he will soon lose his position as headmaster."
"What did you say?" Hagrid was very angry and stood up from his chair.
"Umbridge will drive Professor Dumbledore away." Albert reminded: "She has messed up the school now. I suggest you ask Potter for the details. I think Potter and his men will soon find out that you are back and come to find you."
"What should I do then?" demanded Hagrid.
"Prepare for your review well and get through this round first." Albert took out his pocket watch, checked the time and said, "I'm leaving first, Hagrid. Do you really not need my help with the treatment?"
"No need! Thank you for coming all the way to tell me this."
"I'll have the house elves bring some diffusa. When your face is less swollen, crush it and apply it on your face. The wound will heal faster." Albert stopped at the door and turned his head to add, "Umbridge will cause trouble for you sooner or later. Don't let your guard down, and don't underestimate her cruelty."
Albert does have some dill essence, which is also very effective, but it can't withstand Hagrid's use. Using fresh dill may not be as effective, but there are enough of them, and Hagrid will probably get injured often, so it doesn't hurt to have some dill on hand.