After returning from Hagrid, Hermione went straight to look for Albert, but unfortunately she couldn't find him. She learned from the Weasley brothers who were playing snowballs outside the castle that Albert might have gone out on a date.
That night, Hermione couldn't sleep, her mind was full of thoughts about Hagrid and the giant.
She was really worried that Hagrid might hide the giant in the Forbidden Forest, and she was even more worried that he would get into trouble because of it.
The next day, Hermione found Albert with dark circles under her eyes.
"You didn't seem to sleep well last night." Albert noticed the dark circles under Hermione's eyes and kindly reminded her, "Insomnia is a girl's biggest enemy. If you can't sleep, you can try drinking some sleeping pills."
"Thank you, I have something to talk to you about. It's very important." Hermione ignored the curious looks from Fred, George and Lee Jordan, and pulled Albert to a secluded corner.
"What's the matter?" Albert asked gently, and took out a medicine bottle from his pocket and poured a pill into Hermione's hand. "This is a potion to refresh and restore energy."
"Thank you." Hermione swallowed and took a breath. "I saw the letter you wrote to Hagrid."
Albert said nothing, letting Hermione continue.
"Hagrid hid something in the Forbidden Forest, right? His injuries..." Hermione's shoulders trembled slightly, "You must know what he hid in the Forbidden Forest, right?"
"That's Hagrid's privacy." Albert drew out his wand and cast a simple spell to ensure that no one could eavesdrop on the conversation that followed. "If he doesn't want to tell you, I won't reveal any news to anyone else."
"It's a giant, right? His injuries could have been caused by a fight with a troll, and Hagrid just happened to go looking for a giant." Hermione looked up at Albert tremblingly, hoping to get a negative answer.
"If Hagrid doesn't want to tell anyone, as his friends we'd better pretend not to know to avoid embarrassing him." Albert was a little surprised that Hermione had guessed the answer. It seemed that it was not only Harry who was growing rapidly. Was it because of the flapping of his butterfly wings
"But... why would he do that? Hagrid must know how dangerous giants are?" Hermione was in a bad mood. She lowered her voice and said, "Hagrid's situation is bad enough now."
To be honest, Albert doubted whether Hagrid knew how dangerous the giants were.
"You knew that a long time ago, right? That's why you said in your letter that you couldn't help him." Hermione leaned against the wall in the corridor and repeated in a low voice, "You knew Hagrid would be expelled by Toad a long time ago, right?"
Albert looked at Hermione, who was somewhat emotionally broken, and did not answer her question.
"Hagrid always takes it for granted that it's okay." Hermione smiled bitterly, "But is it really okay?"
"When he is expelled and forced to leave Hogwarts, he may, no, Hagrid will definitely, so you rejected him directly in the letter." Hermione really couldn't imagine what the situation would be like at that time.
For most wizards, giants are a threat in themselves. They may not have any bad intentions, but they can easily kill a person with just a slight touch or a pinch.
Hermione had actually seen this tendency in Hagrid a long time ago. Those giants were different from Hagrid. They didn't even realize how fragile wizards were.
"It's not your fault." Albert took out a handkerchief and handed it to Hermione, saying softly.
"But why does he have to make his life so difficult?" Hermione choked in a low voice.
"Hagrid must have his reasons," said Albert.
"You know the reason, right?" Hermione looked at Albert.
"Those are Hagrid's private affairs. I can't reveal other information to you." Albert said calmly, "If Hagrid wants to ask you for help one day, you can refuse him. Just refuse directly. Even good friends have a limit to helping each other. If it exceeds your ability, refusing directly is the best choice. You don't need to feel guilty about it, just like I refused directly."
"But… "
"No buts. Everyone is responsible for their own actions. No one can help you for your whole life, not even your parents, let alone your friends." Albert's tone was very calm, "Do your best to live up to this friendship."
In fact, Albert could especially understand Hermione's current state of collapse.
Albert didn't want to make any extra comments on Hagrid bringing his half brother back to take care of him. Anyway, someone like him would never do such a thing.
As for Hagrid worrying about his brother dying in the giant's camp, that's even more hilarious.
You have to know that Hagrid is probably only a few years younger than the Noseless Monster, so he must be at least sixty-five years old. And his brother, how young can he be? How could a guy who has lived in the giant camp for decades not survive
In Albert's opinion, it was the biggest joke of the century.
After comforting Hermione, Albert went to the hall to eat. After ignoring Fred and George's teasing, he turned his gaze to the teachers' seats. The injury on Hagrid's face looked much better. However, not all students reacted enthusiastically to his return.
At least, Umbridge's look towards Hagrid was cold, and her fake smile was even more hypocritical. Albert knew that Toad had been wanting to find an excuse to fire Hagrid for a long time.
"Toad's eyes are not kind," said George in a low voice. "Is Hagrid all right?"
"At least, he won't be expelled in front of Professor Trelawney." Albert said firmly.
"Oh, I almost forgot. This is for you." George took out a note from his pocket and handed it to Albert.
"Professor Dumbledore had someone pass it on to you."
Albert opened the note, glanced at the contents, and then burned it to ashes.
“It’s incredible every time I see it.” Li Jordan muttered softly as he watched the parchment burning in the air.
"You can also take some time to practice, maybe you can master it." Albert suggested.
"Forget it. No matter how you look at it, it's an extremely difficult technique. We haven't even mastered the silent spell." George is very self-aware.
…
That night, Albert went to the appointment on time according to the instructions on the note.
When he knocked on the door and went in, Professor Dumbledore was not doing anything else, but was wandering around the headmaster's office, and no one knew what he was thinking.
"You don't look happy." Albert keenly noticed that the old man seemed to be in a bad mood.
"No, it's just that a lot has happened recently." Dumbledore sat in the armchair behind the desk and raised his hand to signal Albert to find a place to sit.
"A lot of things have happened." Albert said noncommittally, "You are looking for me..."
"What you want."
As he spoke, Dumbledore placed a bottle of golden potion in front of Albert. The amount of this bottle of Felix Felicis was not much, probably only enough for two days.
"Your efficiency is faster than I expected." Albert was a little surprised. Although he was brewing the Felixir, it was necessary to store some of it before it was brewed successfully.
"I got it from an old friend."
"Mr. Slughorn?" Albert guessed who Dumbledore was talking about. "I thought he would hide somewhere given his character."
"Horace did hide, and it took me some time to find him," Dumbledore said with a smile, not surprised by Albert's guess.
"Hidden in an empty Muggle house?" Albert asked again.
"It seems you know?" Dumbledore raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Mr. Slughorn likes to enjoy himself. Muggles know how to enjoy themselves better than wizards. Given the degree to which dark wizards look down on Muggles, hiding in a strange Muggle's home will be relatively safe." Albert stared at the golden potion and analyzed it carefully: "How many Galleons do I need to pay?"
"One hundred Galleons."
"It's cheaper than I expected." Albert waved his wand and conjured up a bag of Galleons out of thin air and placed it in front of Dumbledore.
"Horace asked me to tell you that he really likes the pomelo preserves you send him every year. It would be even better if you could leave him a photo of the dueling champion." Dumbledore relayed his old friend's words to Albert.
"I will. He will be working at Hogwarts next year." Albert deliberately revealed some information. "Please pass it on to him on the way. Anyway, you will definitely visit Mr. Slughorn by then."
"This is really surprising news." Dumbledore was a little surprised by what Albert revealed, but he quickly figured out the reason. That old friend didn't have the news he wanted to know.
"I thought you had already made up your mind."
"The fortune tellers I know can't see it as clearly as you." Dumbledore was surprised at Albert's fortune telling skills: "What do you think it is? I think you should know what I'm talking about."
"I remember we discussed this sensitive topic before." Albert put the Felix Felicis back into his pocket and said to Dumbledore, "Besides, didn't you guess it yourself? Given the character of the mysterious man, what number would he use to make the same number of things?"
"Is that the right number?" muttered Dumbledore.
"You have to take unexpected situations into consideration." Albert hesitated for a moment, but still gave a reminder to prevent Dumbledore from falling into a trap.
"Accident, you mean..."
Dumbledore knew what Albert meant and did not continue discussing the matter. After all, Horcruxes were a sensitive topic.
However, Dumbledore was somewhat surprised that Albert was so clear about this. He seemed to have thought of something and said, "I found some clues."
"I'm not interested in your holiday adventure." Albert shook his head and refused. "Maybe it will be a thrilling adventure story, but... it's not suitable for me. If I were you, I would pay attention to safety."
"So you guessed it? Where will I die? No, you said I would..." Dumbledore remained very calm when talking about his own death.
"You can drink some Felicis then, and maybe your intuition will give you some help," Albert suggested.
"You are right, although it may not be useful." Dumbledore agreed with Albert's point of view. Although he was not afraid of death, no one wanted to die if possible.
"Will you really not consider teaching Harry again?" Dumbledore suddenly changed the subject.
"No, I don't want to be targeted by the You-Know-Who. I know what you are worried about, but it is not a pleasant thing to be noticed by that guy." Albert refused directly. Although he had previously received the task of teaching Harry Occlumency, as far as he knew, Potter had not been able to learn Occlumency until the end, which meant that he had no talent in this area.
Maybe it was Snape's fault...
"Of course, there is another reason. I doubt whether Potter can learn the art of brain blockage." Albert said bluntly: "I have taught other people and I know some things very well. Potter is a very emotional person. He has never suppressed his emotions, but faced them very honestly. Such wizards usually cannot suppress their memories, and it is more difficult for them to master the art of brain blockage than ordinary people."
It would be fine if the task could be completed, but if not, not only would a lot of time and energy be wasted, but Voldemort might also target him, which would make him extremely depressed. It would be a huge loss.
So Albert would rather give up this task with a good reward than try it easily.
Even though Harry is able to control his emotions very well, that is just on the surface and he is suppressing them with the help of tranquilizers. Harry Potter now always carries a bottle of medicine with him.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door of the principal's office. Professor McGonagall pushed the door open and walked in. When her eyes fell on Albert, a look of surprise appeared on her face. It was obvious that she did not expect to see Albert here.
"Minerva, what is the matter?" Dumbledore asked gently.
"Our senior investigator has issued a new Educational Order." Professor McGonagall was unwilling to even mention Umbridge's name. "She has banned Harry and the Weasley brothers from playing for life, and has confiscated their broomsticks."
"I see."
Dumbledore said it lightly, as if it were a trivial matter.
"There are some things I can't help, and I heard from Nick that she seems to be planning to fire a professor in the near future." Professor McGonagall's tone was a little reproachful, "Maybe you shouldn't let Hagrid come back at this time. You know she has never liked Hagrid."
Dumbledore turned his head and looked at Albert, as if asking him who was expelled.
"Obviously it's our Divination professor. As for Hagrid, whether he can overcome the current difficulties depends on himself." Albert was not surprised.
"In just a few months, she has messed up the whole school. Maybe she wants to kick you out of school." Professor McGonagall said gritting her teeth.
"I know. In fact, I heard that I actually have an army at school." Dumbledore winked mischievously. "The news really shocked me."
Professor McGonagall didn't plan to stay any longer, so she turned and left. At least Albert was here, so there were some things she couldn't say too much.
"It seems that you don't care much about what happens in school." Albert said softly.
"There are more important things," Dumbledore said calmly.
"Defeat the You-Know-Who?" Albert looked at Dumbledore and continued without waiting for his answer, "I know you care about different things than others, but everyone cares more about things that are closely related to themselves, such as exams, such as... Firenze is a good candidate, but this is not good news for other centaurs. It means "human slaves". If you plan to hire Firenze..."
Albert didn't finish his words. He believed that Dumbledore should be able to guess what he wanted to say.
However, compared to these things, he felt that Dumbledore didn't really care too much, and defeating Voldemort was the most important thing.
As for the tricks of Umbridge and Fudge, Dumbledore never cared about them, because he knew very well that everything would return to the original state after Voldemort was completely exposed. There was no point in having unnecessary conflicts with Fudge now, except wasting a lot of time and energy. If he wanted to become the Minister of Magic, this would be a good choice, but unfortunately Dumbledore never thought of becoming the Minister of Magic himself. Therefore, it is better to let the students of Hogwarts see clearly what kind of people Fudge and Umbridge are.
Albert doesn't really think there's anything wrong with this, but for many people it means they're going to have a bad semester.
This old man who has lived for a century is sometimes more ruthless than anyone else. He is even ready to make sacrifices in order to win.
As the Order of the Phoenix always likes to say: Some things are worth dying for.
This is actually one of the reasons why Albert did not join the Order of the Phoenix in the end.
Isn’t it good to be alive