It didn't take the four of them long to arrive outside Professor Slughorn's office, where they were greeted by a noisy and bustling atmosphere.
This place is larger than other professors' offices. The ceiling and walls are hung with emerald green, crimson and gold curtains, giving people the illusion of walking into a tent.
As soon as Harry entered the office, he was caught by Professor Slughorn and dragged to meet other guests. Although all this made Harry feel annoyed, he did not show much emotional change.
Looking at Harry's departing back, Luna turned to Hermione and said, "Harry doesn't seem to like this?"
"I think Harry has his reasons for doing that. He has really changed a lot recently." Hermione also looked at Harry's back and said to herself, "Of course, I have changed a lot too. We are all preparing for possible changes in the future and are ready to face the challenges head-on."
As she spoke, Hermione turned her head to look at Ron who was still looking around.
"What's wrong?"
Ron, who was originally observing the Christmas ball curiously, felt a little uncomfortable being stared at by Hermione, so he turned his head and asked.
"nothing."
Hermione retracted her gaze and changed the subject, "Let's find a place to sit down and eat something. Harry will probably have to wait a while."
After the three of them had something to eat from the dining table, they squeezed towards the empty seat in the corner of the office.
"What did you want to say?" Ron asked while eating.
Hermione glanced at Luna beside her and said in a low voice, "You don't seem to be ready yet."
"Be prepared?"
Ron looked stunned, and the food in his mouth almost fell out. He obviously didn't understand what was meant.
"The awareness of participating in this wizard war."
Hermione frowned at Ron who was putting the pie back into his mouth. "I suggest you finish your food before we talk."
"Oh, sorry." Ron finished his food quickly. "Go on."
"The last time I went home, I realized that this war is no joke. Harry and I are ready. What about you, Ron?"
"I?"
Ron's expression froze again, and he didn't even think about how to answer Hermione's question.
Of course he wanted to help Harry, but he had never really thought about Hermione's so-called awareness.
"Hi, Ginny!" Luna greeted her friend happily.
"What are you talking about?" Ginny walked over here.
"nothing!"
Hermione turned her head to look at Ginny and asked, "Why are you alone?"
"Dean went to get the drinks." Ginny waved to the boy on the other side.
"Ron."
Dean was a little surprised to see Ron here, but when he saw Hermione, he knew why Ron was here.
"Give!"
After Andy handed the butterbeer to Ginny, he took the initiative to find a topic to avoid embarrassment: "I heard that there is a vampire at the Christmas ball today."
"Rufus Scrimgeour?" Luna asked, looking up.
"The Minister of Magic is a vampire?" Several people looked at Luna in surprise, feeling that this was a bit absurd.
"Yes, he is a vampire." Luna said with certainty, "My father once wrote a long article trying to expose this matter, but the Ministry would not let him publish it. They obviously did not want the truth to be leaked!"
"Scrimgeour is not a vampire, but I did see a real vampire just now. Mr. Bloody over there is a vampire?" Harry appeared out of nowhere, interrupted Luna's ridiculous speech, pointed at the man with dark circles under his eyes and a bored look not far away, and introduced him to everyone.
"Is that a vampire? He seems...hungry to me."
Hermione looked at the guy who was getting close to the girls and always felt that he had bad intentions. It was obviously not wise for Professor Slughorn to invite a vampire to the Christmas party.
"We'd better stay away from him, in case he gets too hungry and loses control."
"What are vampires like? Do they really live by sucking blood?"
"Definitely not, I just saw that vampire eating a pie."
Suddenly, a familiar voice was heard from the side. Fred and George appeared from nowhere and were greeting everyone with a smile.
"I think he might need a bloody lollipop." George looked at the vampire and said regretfully, "It's a pity that I didn't bring that thing."
"Does that thing really work?"
Of course it works. It is said that bloody lollipops are candies specially developed by Honeydukes Candy Store for vampires.
"By the way, you also received an invitation from Professor Slughorn?" Harry looked at the Weiss twins and asked his doubts.
"No, we're just here to attend the dance on behalf of Albert." Fred shrugged and explained to everyone why the two of them were here.
"Albert doesn't really like parties," George added, "so he asked us to come. He said we are famous now and will definitely be welcomed by Professor Slughorn."
"What did Albert ask you to do?" Hermione asked.
"Hermione is worthy of it!" George gave Hermione a thumbs up and said, "Albert asked us to invite Professor Slughorn to join us and become our potions consultant."
"Potions consultant?" Everyone looked stunned, obviously not understanding what they wanted to do.
"As you all know, many of our products contain potions. Although Albert has a high level of attainment in potions, he has been very busy and thinks we need a potion consultant to help solve our potion-related problems." George did not intend to hide the purpose of their appearance here.
"Like the Potions Consultant in the radio column?" Andy asked curiously.
"Similar." Fred nodded.
"However, it would be easier to be a consultant for us, because it mainly provides us with information consultation, which is not a lot of work, with many benefits and a good salary." George introduced to the others: "It is a job that is very suitable for retirement and suitable for those experienced experts."
"Professor Slughorn agreed?" Ron also hoped to get such a job.
"He said he needed to think about it."
Fred and George both cast idiotic looks at Ron. "Albert said that we can let Professor Slughorn think about it slowly. He will be working in the school for too long anyway. He can consider signing a position with us after he retires."
Of course, Fred and George both knew that what Albert valued was actually Professor Slughorn's connections. If they spent some money to keep him, it would definitely come in handy in the future, and it would not be a loss after all. After all, Professor Slughorn himself was a great potion expert and could save Albert a lot of trouble.
The Christmas ball was still going on, and Harry was harassed many times by Professor Slughorn during the party. He was taken to meet a large number of guests under the pretext of meeting some celebrities.
Harry had no interest in this at all, he was a celebrity himself. He was now chatting with Fred and George in a corner, talking about the Defense Society and their next plans.
Harry felt that Albert would definitely make reasonable arrangements for the subsequent changes in the situation, but Fred and George seemed to know very little.
"Harry, it's useless even if you ask us. Albert never tells us too much." George put the butter beer in front of Harry and kindly reminded him, "If I were you, I wouldn't let myself get drunk."
"Also, don't tell our useless brother some things. I saw him drink several glasses of whiskey tonight." Fred reminded slowly while eating pastries.
"Little Ronnie is not very reliable and is prone to leaking secrets," George added.
"I'm your brother!"
Ron glared at Fred and George and made rude gestures at them.
"Of course we know." Fred took a sip of butterbeer and patted Ron's shoulder unceremoniously. "We said that for your own good."
"Don't touch me."
"Look, you can't even control your emotions, you're just like a cute little fool, look at Hermione and Harry, they just drank some butterbeer tonight, worried that they would say nonsense when they were drunk."
Ron looked at Harry and Hermione, and was instantly speechless, not knowing what to say.
"Ron just hasn't realized the seriousness of the problem yet." Harry argued calmly on Ron's behalf.
"Is it a serious problem?" Ron asked stupidly. "I mean..."
"This isn't a good place to talk," Hermione interrupted. "I think we really need to talk about this. Let's go to the Room of Requirement."
"Then let's go first."
Harry stood up and led the way outside. He didn't like the Christmas party tonight because it was too noisy. Besides, Harry had no intention of dancing on the stage. It was actually very boring to sit here.
"Wait for me."
Ron drank the whiskey in his glass in one gulp and quickly stood up to follow.
The three of them went directly to the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor. They also went to the bathroom so that Ron could wash his face thoroughly and clear his mind completely.
"There seems to be someone in the Room of Requirement?"
Harry frowned at the tightly closed entrance to the Room of Requirement and moved aside to let Hermione try again, but it still couldn't be opened. Obviously someone was using the Room of Requirement.
"what to do?"
"Let's go to the prefects' bathroom." Hermione gave up decisively and used the backup plan. "No one usually uses that place, and Harry has the Marauder's Map. If we're careful, we shouldn't have to worry about being overheard."
Harry agreed with Hermione's suggestion that when talking about important things, it is best to find a safe place to avoid being overheard, especially information about Horcruxes needs to be kept confidential.
"Harry, let's go."
“Here I come.”
Harry frowned at the entrance to the Room of Requirement, then turned and went to the Prefects' Bathroom with Hermione.
After confirming through the Marauder's Map that no one was in the prefect's bathroom, Ron couldn't wait to ask, "What exactly is going on? What did you just say was serious?"
"The situation will be very bad in the future. You should have heard Albert's predictions about the future. It should be next year." Hermione cast several protective spells on the door of the prefect's bathroom and continued, "We can't stay in school and wait for the war to end, especially after Dumbledore teaches Harry. Harry may need to be tested next, and I..."
"What on earth are you talking about?" Ron still had no idea.
"Dumbledore is probably dying."
Harry said the terrifying words calmly.
"Although I don't want to speak ill of Dumbledore, his injuries are more serious than expected. That's why he decided to tell me about the Horcrux and let me take on the task of destroying it."
"Can… "
"We have made similar guesses before, but now we think this possibility is very high, very high." Hermione motioned for Ron to listen quietly. "Once Dumbledore's deterrence is lost, the situation in the British wizarding world will soon deteriorate. Even Scrimgeour will be helpless. This is the deterrent power of absolute strength. By then, Albert's prophecy will probably come true."
"I certainly wouldn't let Harry go on his own," said Ron loudly.
"But you're not ready yet, Ron." Hermione said softly.
"What kind of psychological preparation is this!" Ron felt inexplicably irritated.
"Be prepared to die. You may suffer a lot, or even fail and lose your life." Harry said this in a calm tone. "I don't know what the future will be like, but I have put everything aside and put my life on the line."
"Me too, Ron. We are now making defeating You-Know-Who our top priority and are preparing for it." Hermione nodded and said, "You should have noticed that Fred and George are also mentally prepared, but you are not. We shouldn't have told you these things, but..."
Ron's mouth slowly opened.
"If you feel too much pressure, I can understand. Everyone has their own choices." Harry reached out and patted Ron's shoulder without forcing anything.
"Hermione, what about you?"
Ron looked at Hermione in confusion. He couldn't understand why Hermione could do this.
"My family almost lost their lives because of the mysterious man. When I sent them away, I realized that I didn't have many choices."
Hermione looked up at Ron and said calmly, "Also, don't forget, we are all Harry's good friends. The Death Eaters must know this and will not let us go easily. We can only leave Britain and find a place to hide and live in fear, or help Harry kill the You-Know-Who and restore peace to the wizarding world."
"Now, my family has left England, and I don't have any worries anymore." Hermione said softly, "I believe in Harry, I believe in Albert, I believe they can completely end this damn nightmare. I don't want to spend my life in fear Ron. The You-Know-Who hates Muggle wizards. Harry and I have no choice, but you still can."
"I will never bow down to Voldemort." When Ron mentioned Voldemort, his face turned slightly pale, but he said in a very affirmative tone, "Except for the traitor Percy, everyone in our family is bravely fighting the mysterious man. I will not back down, never. Tell me, what should I do."