"Perhaps, we should hurry up, I suspect we're going to be late."
"The agreed time is twelve noon."
Walking to Hogsmeade in the wind and snow was not a pleasant experience. They had to bend over and walk slowly in the cold wind, rain and snow. Even if they had wrapped themselves in thick scarves, their exposed skin was still painfully cold.
Even Harry himself admitted that it would be more comfortable to stay in the warm common room in this kind of weather. Unfortunately, they had no choice now, and turning back to school was obviously not a good option.
"It would be great if we could Apparate directly to Hogsmeade." Ron pulled the scarf around his neck and looked at the Hogwarts students who were walking against the wind in front of him. He complained softly, "I feel like my cheeks have been frozen and numb now."
"Don't complain, we can start learning Apparition this semester." Hermione seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly turned to the person next to her and said, "Harry, I remember you are not old enough."
"My birthday is at the end of July," Harry said a little depressed, "I might have to wait until next semester to take the Apparition exam."
"I think you should learn Apparition first, just in case." Hermione suggested seriously, "And Ron, the same goes for you. It's best to pass it in one go."
"Hermione, do you know something?" Harry suddenly asked, "Did Albert tell you anything?"
"No." Hermione shook her head. "But do you remember? He once predicted it."
"Prophecy? What prophecy?" Ron asked loudly.
"The real turbulent times... are coming." Hermione glanced at Ron and reminded him in a low voice, "According to Albert's prediction, now is not a turbulent period. So what do you think is the real turbulence?"
"The situation will be worse than it is now." Harry really couldn't imagine what the scene would be like.
"He also reminded other Muggle wizards that they'd better learn something useful before the turbulent times come. That's why the Self-Defense Guide was born." Hermione told her two companions about what she had figured out. "I think he wanted to tell us that when the real turbulent times come, Muggle wizards will be in big trouble. I suspect that the You-Know-Who will completely control the Ministry of Magic and persecute Muggle wizards."
"But, as long as Dumbledore is still around, it is almost impossible for Voldemort to control the Ministry of Magic." Harry felt that this possibility was not high. He had confidence in Dumbledore, but even a spineless person like Fudge did not succumb to Voldemort, let alone Scrimgeour.
"Yes, I thought so too." Hermione lowered her voice so low that only the people around her could barely hear it clearly: "Remember the injury on Dumbledore's hand? It was probably caused by some very terrible spell. I suspect Dumbledore will..."
For a moment, all three of them were silent.
This is undoubtedly a very serious topic.
Perhaps, if it weren't for Albert's prophecy, they would not have thought about it in this direction, but everything at the moment pointed to one thing, Dumbledore might gradually lose the power to control the mysterious man, or leave them forever.
Without Dumbledore's deterrence, no matter what the mysterious man does, it will not be surprising. Perhaps at that time, the real turbulent period will arrive.
Harry actually had similar thoughts, but he quickly suppressed them. At least, he didn't think the situation would be that bad. After all, Dumbledore was omnipotent in Harry's mind.
"I remember that Fred and George seemed to be taught Apparition by Albert." Ron seemed to sense the depressing atmosphere around him and picked up a random topic. "They both passed the Apparition test easily, and now they are being taught by Albert to make a lot of money. Dad said they are becoming the richest people in the family."
Ron envied the twins' good luck. Even though Fred and George were in hiding now, they were still doing owl mail order and continuing to make a lot of money.
Feeling that the atmosphere around him was still very tense, Ron changed the subject again: "Those two bastards even told me that if I couldn't find a job in the future, I would go to the store to help out. What are you going to do in the future?"
"I entered the Ministry of Magic to help the house-elves change their current predicament." Hermione said without hesitation, "Wizards shouldn't treat house-elves like that."
"I think that's probably difficult to do. The probability of Percy becoming the Minister of Magic is higher than this." Ron ignored Hermione's dissatisfied look and continued to ask, "Harry, what about you? Are you still planning to become an Auror?"
Talking to each other was indeed a good distraction, making the walk to Hogsmeade less arduous.
"Well, if possible, I do want to become an Auror, but it seems to be more difficult than I expected, and..."
After learning from Dumbledore about the prophecy between himself and the mysterious man at the end of last semester, Harry let go of a lot of things and no longer cared about his future employment.
The first thing he should consider now is how to defeat the mysterious man, or be defeated by the mysterious man. If he fails, it will be meaningless to consider the future.
"I always feel like you all have something on your mind." Ron couldn't help but complain. He changed the subject and talked about another thing: "By the way, I heard that Fred and George turned Zuo Ke's joke shop into their branch? Maybe we can go there later to see it. They seem to be having a large-scale discount today."
Looking at the two people in silence, Ron couldn't help but sigh and comforted them, "Actually, you don't need to worry too much. Even if something really happens, don't we still have Dumbledore? Don't we still have Albert? I don't believe they haven't made any preparations. Those things are not ours to worry about."
After they arrived at Hogsmeade Village, they were shocked by the changes in Zuo Ke's joke shop. This shop, which was very popular among Hogwarts students, had not only been renovated, but also had a funny statue placed at the door.
It was actually an upgraded version of the pink toad statue.
Umbridge, who was sitting on the toad, not only had rough skin, but also had bumps on it. She looked like she had taken a compound potion with toad skin fragments added. There was also a pink toad on her head. What amazed everyone the most was that the three toads were neatly arranged and made croaking sounds.
"I knew it was them who created the statue." Hermione looked at the toad statue in front of her and spoke in a low voice to Harry and Ron beside her.
The statue of Umbridge undoubtedly helped Zuo Ke's joke shop attract a lot of Hogwarts students. Everyone pointed at the toad statue, and some people even took photos with the statue. The person who took their photos was Lee Jordan.
"What the hell are you doing!"
The three walked over and asked Lee Jordan, who was posing for photos with other students.
"Group photo, one for two Galleons, or free with a purchase of ten Galleons worth of merchandise in the store." Lee Jordan smiled and pointed at the statue in front and asked, "How about a photo?"
“So expensive?”
Ron couldn't help but complain: "You are robbing me!"
"Why don't you just take a group photo? Then you can share the cost. It won't cost much. It's not easy to find someone to take photos for you now, and the film itself is more expensive than you think. If it's not a promotion, don't expect it to be so cheap." Lee Jordan said to the three people, "If you want to take photos, go line up over there!"
"I think we should just forget it!"
Ron pulled Harry's shoulder, motioned him to look at the crowded crowd in the joke shop and said, "Let's go to the Three Broomsticks for a drink and warm up, and then come back when there are fewer people here."
Harry saw the crowded crowd inside through the French window, nodded and agreed with Ron's suggestion, and decided to do the business first, and then asked, "Are Fred and George here too?"
"They are helping in the store. Well, you should go in and take a look. We have a new batch of good stuff recently. I'm sure you will like it." After saying this, Lee Jordan went about his own business.
The three of them looked at each other and went straight to the Three Broomsticks Bar, where they met Cedric and Qiu Zhang, who were chatting and laughing.
When Harry turned his gaze away from the two of them and was about to find another table, he was stopped by Hermione.
"What's wrong?"
Harry followed Hermione's finger and saw Cedric waving at them. He hesitated for a moment, but still walked over.
Ron and Hermione looked at each other, and could see the worry in each other's eyes. They both knew that Harry was secretly in love with Cho Chang.
"I'll get the Butterbeer."
Ron walked towards the bar as he spoke. Hermione glanced at the charming and attractive Madam Rosmerta, then looked at Ron's slightly hurried back. She couldn't help but curl her lips and walked towards Cedric's table with Harry.
"I heard you were in trouble a while ago?"
When Harry faced Cedric now, he no longer felt the jealousy he had before, and when he looked at Qiu Zhang, he no longer felt the same excitement as before.
"We encountered a group of dark wizards and suffered a bit." Cedric said lightly.
"You should be careful about your safety, and this matter and Fu..."
“Ahem!”
Hermione quickly interrupted Harry's words with a burst of rapid coughing and helped her to continue the conversation, "Is it related to the You-Know-Who?"
"About that, according to Albert's prediction, turbulent times are coming, and he thinks it's best for us to stick together to get through the most difficult years." Cedric explained in a low voice.
"But this is different from..."
"We reorganized the Defense Association. When I was helping to recruit people, I ran into trouble. Maybe you have heard that the Death Eaters were using the Imperius Curse on wizards everywhere, and I happened to encounter them. They seemed to want to find Albert's whereabouts, so they captured me and tried to force some information out of me." Cedric briefly explained the main reason why he got into trouble.
"So, you quit your job at the Ministry?"
Ron appeared at the wooden table with three glasses of butterbeer. He distributed the warm butterbeer to Harry and Hermione, and sat down next to Harry.
"Albert saved me, so I am not suitable to stay in the Ministry of Magic now, otherwise I will get into more trouble." Cedric shrugged helplessly and explained, "In short, the situation is worse than you think, even worse than the last wizard war."
"What kind of organization is the Defense Society?" Hermione was a little curious about this. "Is it the same as the DA gatherings in school?"
"It is indeed similar to the previous DA. It will teach everyone the knowledge of Defense Against the Dark Arts so that they will not be helpless when they encounter danger."
"But isn't the Ministry of Magic also trying to popularize the knowledge of Defense Against the Dark Arts among everyone?" Hermione felt that the "Defense Association" organized by Albert was not just for the purpose of teaching everyone the knowledge of Defense Against the Dark Arts, there must be other more important reasons.
"That's different. The Defense Against the Dark Arts knowledge that Hogwarts students learn now is actually very general. The Defense Association will teach everyone more advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts knowledge." Cedric explained, "Also, the members of the organization will keep in touch with each other and help each other. When encountering troubles, at least they will not be helpless. If they are targeted by the Death Eaters, we will also help hide them. You can also think of this as a mutual aid organization against the You-Know-Who."
"After all, the Ministry of Magic is now occupied by heavy tasks. If we want to protect our lives in the upcoming turbulent period, we need to unite everyone."
"So, this is the main reason why you are willing to go to Hogwarts to teach everyone Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Hermione stared at Cedric and asked, "You want Hogwarts students to join you."
"Yes, all the graduates of Hogwarts are our targets, if they are willing to join us." Cedric admitted it directly. "However, the current students' defense against the dark arts is relatively average. Albert thinks that their level should be improved so that they have enough strength to cope with the upcoming changes and protect the lives and safety of themselves and their families."
"I think what Albert said makes sense. The entire wizarding world is in a panic right now, and I don't know how long Scrimgeour can hold on." Cedric reminded him bluntly, "Albert thinks Scrimgeour has become a thorn in the side of the You-Know-Who. Who knows if the You-Know-Who finds an opportunity one day, and Scrimgeour will die in the line of duty."
Harry, Ron and Hermione all widened their eyes.
"Don't look at me like that. These are Albert's exact words. Scrimgeour has killed so many people, so there must be many people who want to kill him." Cedric looked around and said in a low voice: "I suspect that Scrimgeour actually knew that he might be killed in the end, so he was so cruel to those dark wizards."
"You mean Albert told Scrimgeour about it, but why did he ..."
"Why not hide?" Cedric shook his head. "Do you think he can drop everything and hide himself?"
All three were silent.
At this moment, a shrill scream suddenly came from outside, attracting the attention of all the customers in the bar.