"I'm right, everyone is happy that the DA meeting can continue."
As Harry and the other two left the hall, Ron excitedly told Harry the main reason for everyone's enthusiasm for the party.
"Bill said that the Ministry of Magic's Defense Against the Dark Arts training is very popular. In such turbulent times, everyone hopes to learn something useful to protect their lives."
"Although Snape knows more about the Dark Arts than most Defense Against the Dark Arts professors, there are only a few things he can really teach us..."
"Ron..."
Hermione interrupted him, feeling that Ron's assessment was rather biased.
"At least, it's meaningless before you actually practice it." Ron shrugged and said, "You can't expect to become a great defense against the dark arts master by memorizing a bunch of spells."
"I've heard similar things many times. Sometimes I don't understand their enthusiasm." Harry noticed the expression on Hermione's face and asked in confusion: "What's wrong, Hermione?"
"Oh, Harry, I believe you should realize it." Hermione said with a strange expression, "In fact, you have become popular. However, this should be considered a good thing."
"A good thing?" Harry really couldn't understand what Hermione meant. "I don't think this is a good thing."
"At least there are many people who support you and are willing to attend DA meetings." Ron raised his eyebrows slightly, obviously not liking what Harry said.
"Without the help of Fred, George and Cedric, we wouldn't be able to handle the workload and teach so many people." Harry felt that Hermione and Ron were overthinking it. He himself was not interested in the so-called popularity. "Don't forget what happened last year. Many people regarded me as a mentally ill idiot because of a newspaper. And they regarded me as a so-called savior because of a newspaper?"
"Harry..."
Hermione seemed surprised that Harry would say such a thing.
"I don't need the so-called fame at all. Believe me, if Voldemort controls the Ministry of Magic, I will soon become the most notorious wanted criminal in Britain and be despised by everyone."
After his last experience, Harry was not impressed by the so-called popularity and even thought those people were idiots.
After all, who but an idiot would believe that stuff so easily
In fact, Harry was already preparing for the worst.
Both Dumbledore's injury and Albert's prophecy made him feel uneasy.
The real turbulent times are yet to come.
That's why Harry decided to teach everyone how to keep themselves safe while on the run. He suspected that he might need this knowledge in the future.
Of course, Harry was no fool, he understood what Hermione meant, that when he was popular, he should win over more people, but there were some things Harry really couldn't do, so he could only do his best.
When they were passing the corner of the corridor, Harry felt someone hit his shoulder hard and he almost lost his balance and fell to the ground.
When he steadied himself, he saw Malfoy and his gang. Goyle and Crabbe were glaring at Harry, Ron and Hermione fiercely. It was obvious that they were the ones who deliberately bumped him with their shoulders.
"Let's go, before they find some Death Eaters to kill us." Harry reached out and held down Ron, who had already pulled out his wand, with a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth.
"You're right, it's scary."
Ron looked at Malfoy and the other two and said sarcastically.
"Perhaps, they can't wait to join the Death Eaters."
"Perhaps, they can be reunited with their families in Azkaban one day."
Looking at the two furious men, Harry was a little surprised at Draco Malfoy's calmness, which made him think that Malfoy was weird, so he sneered: "There is no future in being a Death Eater. Don't forget Scrimgeour's attitude towards Death Eaters. I dare say Scrimgeour must have guessed that Voldemort would break into the prison, and he might execute all the Death Eaters in prison one day to prevent them from coming out and continuing to harm others."
"Leave."
Draco Malfoy put his hands on Crabbe and Goyle's shoulders and ignored the provocation from Potter and Weiss.
"Harry..." Hermione called softly.
"This guy is really patient," Harry muttered.
After walking a distance, Crabbe said angrily: "Why did you stop me? This is not like you..."
"Okay, Crabbe," Malfoy stopped and looked back at Crabbe and said, "I can understand your anger, but I really don't have time to do those boring things now."
"Boring things."
Goyle and Crabbe were both stunned by Malfoy's words.
"Yes, I have my own things to do, very important things that must be done."
Malfoy reached out and grabbed his left arm, then looked up at his two companions and reminded them, "Also, the situation in school is not favorable to us right now. Everyone is watching us, so don't cause any trouble for me."
He was now more concerned about how he could complete the Dark Lord's mission. Before that, he needed to hide himself as much as possible to avoid attracting other people's attention.
"Well, we should get going before we're late."
After saying that, Malfoy turned and left.
Although Malfoy already had two plans in mind, these plans did not seem very safe, especially Snape's opposition, which made him feel inexplicably irritated.
As for Snape's suggestion to wait until Dumbledore became weak and then give him a fatal blow unexpectedly
Malfoy felt very unreliable.
Snape could naturally wait slowly, but the Malfoy family could not afford to wait any longer. Voldemort required him to complete the task of killing Dumbledore within this semester.
Who knows when Dumbledore will become weakened by the injury on his palm
Even if Dumbledore was weakened by his injuries, Malfoy was not sure he could defeat Dumbledore head-on. In fact, he suspected that the Dark Lord was not sure either, otherwise he would not have sent him to assassinate Dumbledore.
Draco's original determination to restore the glory of the Malfoy family was greatly shaken after the fire at Malfoy Manor. His mother told him the truth: the Dark Lord gave him the task just to send him to death, and hoped that he could cooperate with Snape to save his father Lucius and his own life.
The cruel truth completely shattered Draco's confidence and made him fall into panic and anxiety. Although his mother Narcissa said that Snape would help him complete this almost impossible task, Draco was unwilling to believe that man.
Snape was a double agent.
A spy who is good at deceiving people and successfully hides from Dumbledore.
Malfoy was concerned that Snape would deceive his mother and use him to further his own ends.
In fact, Snape did replace Lucius and became Voldemort's right-hand man.
"Draco, Professor Snape asked me to give this to you."
Shortly after the Transfiguration class ended, Pansy handed a piece of parchment to her boyfriend.
"Oh, I see." Malfoy took the note and responded.
"What does Professor Snape want you to do?" Pansy asked worriedly, "You seem to be very tired lately."
"You know, a lot of things happened at home and I was exhausted." Malfoy opened the note, glanced at the contents on it, and explained helplessly.
At eight o'clock that evening, Draco Malfoy knocked on Snape's office door on time and found the Slytherin headmaster marking students' homework at his desk.
"Professor, what do you want from me?"
Malfoy dropped his eyes, not making eye contact with Snape. Aunt Bellatrix had taught him how to prevent others from reading his thoughts and seeing what was going on in his brain.
"Sit down for a moment. I'll be done soon."
Snape quickened the pace of marking the homework, and about a quarter of an hour later, he put down his quill and looked up at Draco.
"I think you've heard about Bellatrix."
"Yes, I heard that," Malfoy deadpanned.
"The Dark Lord is not happy about this."
Snape was silent for a moment, then continued, "Not long ago, your mother contacted me, she..."
"I can do it myself..."
"No, you haven't figured it out yet." Snape interrupted Malfoy directly, "This matter has little to do with you anymore."
"What do you mean?" Malfoy looked up at Snape suddenly.
"Your father Lucius needs Dumbledore to die to relieve the Dark Lord's blame for him. Bellatrix needs it too. You are not so naive as to think that I have taken away Lucius's position, are you?" Snape looked at Malfoy who lowered his eyes again, "I have already told you that this matter was originally my mission."
"But the Dark Lord gave me the task." Malfoy argued: "I am confident that I can complete this task."
"What if you fail?" Snape asked rhetorically.
"What's the meaning."
"You don't really think your ridiculous plans can succeed?" Snape hit Malfoy's confidence without mercy. "A skilled wizard can see through the cursed necklace at a glance. If it falls into the hands of others and kills a student at Hogwarts, do you really think you won't be exposed? Don't treat Dumbledore as a fool. And poisoning, if that trick worked, I would have done it long ago."
Malfoy's mouth opened slightly.
"Give up your ridiculous plans. I doubt you're doing them at all." Snape looked at Malfoy sternly. "You don't take the Dark Lord's orders seriously at all."
"Of course I did!" said Malfoy enthusiastically.
"If your plan disturbs Dumbledore and makes him alert, it is very likely to directly destroy my next plan." Snape stared at Malfoy and said in a tone that could not be refuted. "However, I know that you will not give up easily without experiencing failure. I will give you a chance. If your ridiculous plans fail, follow my plan."
"What do you mean?" Draco clenched his fists.
"This is an impossible task for you. I have only prepared a simpler way for you to gain the Dark Lord's forgiveness." Snape asked expressionlessly, "Do you want to fail and pay the price for it? Don't tell me you don't know the price of failure."
"What are you going to do?" Draco's lips trembled. He certainly knew what the price of failure was, and that fear made him restless day and night.
"Let Bellatrix gather a reliable team. I will try to get them into Hogwarts and have them surround and kill Dumbledore." Snape said expressionlessly, "Dumbledore is injured now and his strength is not as good as before. If they are lucky enough, they will have a chance to kill him."
"Of course, if possible, it would be better to continue waiting for a while, but there are not many options we can do now."
"What if it fails?"
"If they fail, I will attack Dumbledore from behind," Snape said grimly.
"You were planning to use Aunt Bellatrix and the others as bait from the very beginning." Draco couldn't help but widen his eyes. He felt that he had seen through Snape's conspiracy.
"If there is still time, I will continue to wait until the opportunity is ripe, but now the time has been advanced by you. Fortunately, we still have one semester." Snape said expressionlessly, "You must prepare Bellatrix and his people to invade Hogwarts. As for the sneak attack, it is only the last resort."
"How do you plan to get them into school?" Draco asked with a frown. "Hogwarts' defenses are very strong. It's impossible to enter the school quietly."
"This is my business. You don't need to worry. I will tell you when the time comes." Snape looked at Draco and said, "And now you need to wait patiently, not for a quarter of an hour, but for a longer time, and make more adequate preparations."
"You've been using me from the beginning to the end." Draco seemed to have thought everything through. "You want to take the credit for my work?"
"You speak like a child," Snape said coldly.
"You just want to complete the task and gain the Dark Lord's trust." Malfoy sneered, "and we are all tools to achieve your goal."
"I'm saving your family," Snape reminded expressionlessly.
"Do you take me for a fool?" Malfoy sneered.
"If it weren't for my friendship with Lucius and your mother's pleading, I wouldn't have taken the risk. Or do you think your mother is a fool?" Snape reminded coldly, "If you mess up everything, I believe the Dark Lord will definitely not be very happy, even if you can eventually go back alive. No, I believe Dumbledore probably won't kill you, but I think you definitely don't want to face the Dark Lord's wrath. By then, both your whole family and Bellatrix will have to die."
"You are threatening me!" Draco Malfoy was trembling slightly.
"Threat, no, I'm just stating the facts. If I fail, we'll all die together." Snape looked at Malfoy and sneered, "You don't think I can survive if I fail, do you?"