The gates of Hogwarts.
Hagrid was holding a pocket watch and staring at the time on it.
Not long ago, Hagrid received a letter from Albert, saying that he was coming to Hogwarts and would stop by to visit him.
This incident really surprised Hagrid, but he was also very happy to come to pick up his old friend.
After hearing the crackling sound of Apparition, Hagrid immediately stretched his neck and looked around, but still did not see Albert.
"Good afternoon Hagrid!"
A gentle voice suddenly sounded from the side. Hagrid turned his head abruptly and saw Albert appeared beside him without warning, smiling and waving to greet him.
"You're easy to scare people like that." Hagrid couldn't help complaining, but he still smiled and gave Albert a hug.
"Sorry, I need to make sure no one is ambushing me." Albert explained helplessly, "You should know that the You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters want to get rid of me now, so I have to be careful."
Although he said this, Albert didn't actually take the matter to heart, he just remained vigilant subconsciously.
In the current bad environment, it is still necessary to keep yourself vigilant at all times.
"Don't worry, Hogwarts is safe."
Hagrid subconsciously wanted to pat his chest to assure others, but he soon realized something and changed his words, "At least it's safe now."
After the loss of Dumbledore, Hogwarts, like the rest of Britain, became no longer safe.
"You seem to have been having a hard time these past few days."
Albert glanced at the restored iron gate and the winged warthog statues on both sides, then walked into the school side by side with Hagrid.
If it were this time in the past, Hogwarts would still be in class and would definitely not be as desolate as it is now.
"How did you know?" Hagrid asked in surprise.
"We have known each other for several years, and you can't hide your thoughts on your face," Albert said with a smile.
"Aragog is dead and I buried him in the pumpkin patch." Hagrid became very depressed when talking about this.
"According to the life cycle of the Acromantula, Aragog has lived a very long life," Albert said comfortingly, "You can't hold him to human standards."
"You're right." Hagrid adjusted his mood and asked Albert why he came to school. "By the way, why did you think of coming to Hogwarts?"
"I came to see Professor McGonagall and brought her a document for safekeeping." Albert didn't intend to hide it from Hagrid. It wasn't a big deal anyway, at least not to him. "What document?" Hagrid asked curiously.
"The birth records of Muggle wizards and witches between 1985 and 1997," said Albert.
"What's the use of this thing?"
Hagrid was even more confused and didn't understand what Albert wanted to do.
"Help those kids. If we don't make extra backups, once the You-Know-Who takes control of the Ministry of Magic, these things will definitely be destroyed. By then, it will be very difficult for Muggle students born during this period to enroll in school, and they may even miss the chance to enroll."
"For those children, missing out on Hogwarts would be a huge regret in their lives."
"You're not the only one controlling the Ministry of Magic?" Hagrid's voice rose a few notches.
"This is normal, isn't it? The You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters have always wanted to do that, but the time has not come yet. However, it's not far away." Albert seemed to be just stating something that was a matter of course, his tone so calm that it was unbelievable.
"They will succeed eventually. Scrimgeour is not Dumbledore. There is no way he can stop You-Know-Who. Not to mention the Ministry of Magic is full of contradictions. Its collapse is only a matter of time."
"By the way, you haven't attended a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix for a long time." Albert seemed very sure of this.
"Even if I go there, I won't be able to help you much. If you really need me, Professor McGonagall will tell me."
Hagrid stretched out his hand and scratched his head. He really couldn't help with many things, so he usually wouldn't go to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix to cause trouble. After all, Hagrid was too easy to track, and he didn't know how to counter-track, so it was easy to expose the location of the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.
"By the way, Hagrid..." Albert said suddenly.
"What's up?"
"It's about time you accepted the fact." Albert looked at Hagrid with a serious tone.
"Accept what," Hagrid asked confusedly.
"The problem is with the Acromantula." Albert reminded, "After Aragog's death, those giant spiders no longer welcome you, right?"
"After Aragog died, the other spiders really wouldn't let me get near their webs." Hagrid was silent for a moment, feeling very sad about this.
"Hagrid, you've made a huge mistake yourself."
"What?"
"You take it for granted. Those giant spiders didn't hurt you only because of Aragog's order!" Albert turned his head to look at Hagrid who was slowing down his pace. "They are not Aragog who has been with you for more than fifty years. There is no affection between you two."
"But they are Aragog's children."
"Times have changed, Hagrid. This is no longer the era of Aragog." Albert paused and warned, "Unless you know the new leader of the giant spiders and form a deep friendship with him, you will be a pile of food delivered to the doorstep of the giant spiders."
"I bet you don't know the new leader of the giant spiders, and you don't even take the giant spiders seriously!"
Hagrid opened his mouth, unsure of what to say.
He really didn't recognize the new leader of the group of giant spiders.
No, it should be said that Hagrid didn't know any other spiders except Aragog and his wife.
Aragog's offspring are simply too numerous.
"Those giant spiders will soon be won over by the Death Eaters." Albert glanced at Hagrid and continued, "They will threaten the lives of Hogwarts students in the future."
"But they live in the Forbidden Forest," Hagrid argued dryly.
"We will have a decisive battle with You-Know-Who sooner or later. Like the giants, those giant spiders will definitely be dragged into this war by the Death Eaters." Albert's tone became heavier. "Hagrid, I hope you can face the reality if you don't want to see your good friends die because of those giant spiders."
"No, this, this is impossible." Hagrid's face turned pale.
"I hope you understand that war means death, but if death is to happen, it is best that the dead are our enemies, not our friends, unless you want your friends to die."
Albert ignored Hagrid who was standing there in a daze. He walked straight through the oak door and headed towards Professor McGonagall's office.
There are some things that Hagrid needs to figure out by himself. If Hagrid himself can't figure it out, no matter how much others say, it will be a waste of words.
Professor McGonagall has not moved into the headmaster's office and is still on the second floor of the castle.
Due to the series of chaos caused by Dumbledore's death, the Hogwarts board of directors is still hesitant about whether to close the school.
In such bad times, Hogwarts is not safe without Dumbledore's protection, and those parents may not take the risk of sending their children to Hogwarts.
Therefore, they were not in a hurry to appoint Professor McGonagall as the new headmaster. Although she was indeed the most suitable candidate at present, they still needed to wait and see if the environment in the wizarding world could improve.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Anderson."
"Good afternoon, Professor." Albert gave Professor McGonagall a warm smile.
"What do you want from me? I heard they said you left England."
Professor McGonagall stepped back and invited Albert into her office.
At the beginning, when Professor McGonagall heard that Albert was being hunted by the mysterious man and the Death Eaters, she was very worried about Albert's situation.
However, it now seems that the initial worries were somewhat unnecessary.
"Well, I came back today for something, and I brought this to you." Albert took out his wand and waved it lightly, summoning a folder out of thin air.
"What's this?"
Professor McGonagall took the folder handed to her by Albert and asked casually while flipping through it. "The birth records of Muggle wizards from 1985 to 1997."
Albert sat on the sofa opposite Professor McGonagall and waved his wand again, conjuring two cups of tea out of thin air. He explained to Professor McGonagall, who was flipping through a folder, "This is the copy I asked Scrimgeour for."
“Why did you give me this information?”
Professor McGonagall looked up at Albert, somewhat curious about the other party's intention.
"I think with this information, even if the You-Know-Who or the Death Eaters take control of the Ministry of Magic and erase the records of Muggle wizards born during this period, those children will not miss the opportunity to enter the wizarding world." Albert explained with a smile, "Professor, you will become the headmaster of Hogwarts in the future. I think it is best to give it to you for safekeeping."
"It seems that this chaos is inevitable." Professor McGonagall didn't care about Albert's statement that he would become the headmaster, but her face was a little gloomy. According to Albert's prediction, after Voldemort took control of the Ministry of Magic, Snape would become the new headmaster.
"The false illusion of peace will eventually break, so let it break naturally," Albert put down his teacup and said calmly, "I understand your thoughts, but even if we maintain it by force, it won't do much good. If we suppress it by force and let it continue to accumulate, it will eventually explode like a bomb, which will benefit no one and the result will only be more tragic."
"But didn't Dumbledore say that Harry..."
"This is not a problem Harry can solve." Albert didn't seem to want to talk about it, so he changed the subject and asked, "How is Professor Bubbage now?"
"Are you talking about Professor Bubbage?" Professor McGonagall frowned, recalling Albert's original warning.
"It seems that she didn't take my advice seriously!" Albert sighed and shook his head, "Forget it, I've already advised her. Professor Bubaji is not a child. I believe she can bear the consequences of her own choice."
After saying that, Albert suddenly looked towards the window.
"Professor Bubaji just doesn't know where to go. I will advise her to leave Britain and live abroad for a few years." Professor McGonagall has realized that the situation is not good. She is going to talk to Caridi later and suggest that she leave Britain as soon as possible.
At this moment, a ball of silver light broke into Professor McGonagall's office. The voice of a middle-aged man rang out from the ball of light: "Minerva, Bubbage is missing."
The office suddenly became eerily quiet.
"Oh, it seems it's too late." Albert said softly, "That's right, how could the You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters tolerate the existence of someone who promotes the equality of pure-blood wizards and Muggle-born wizards? She will probably become a sacrifice."
"Wait, where are you going?"
Professor McGonagall quickly stopped Albert who was about to leave.
"Oh, don't worry, I didn't mean to go and save Bubbaji," Albert said softly, knowing that Professor McGonagall had misunderstood.
Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, looking a little confused, not expecting to hear such words.
"If I go to save her, the You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters will think that is my weakness, and more people will probably suffer because of it." Albert seemed to see through what Professor McGonagall was thinking, and shrugged helplessly, saying, "They will try to capture more people and try to lure me out. You know, they want to kill me."
"Of course, if you want to save her, I can help you with divination. I should be able to get some useful information, but I'm afraid it will cost a price." Albert had no particular intention of saving Professor Bubaji, even though this incident had triggered the mission.
At the beginning, he was willing to remind the other party because Professor Bubbage had been trying to eliminate racial discrimination between pure-blood wizards and Muggle wizards, and was a person worthy of respect.
This was also the reason why Albert was willing to ask Professor McGonagall just now.
However, after Professor Bubaji ignored Albert's words and paid the price for it, it was not easy to change her fate.
The future is never so easy to change.
This is also one of the reasons why Albert did not save Bubaji. If he wanted to forcibly change the future, he would probably have to pay a heavy price for it.
Professor Bubaji was, after all, just a stranger to him.
At this moment, the door of the office was suddenly pushed open, and Hagrid rushed into the office and put Professor Flitwick, who was on his shoulders, to the ground with a big breath, "Something happened..."
"Well, we already know that Professor Burbage has been captured by the Death Eaters." Albert took his hand away from the crystal ball, turned his head and looked at Hagrid.
"What should we do now?" Flitwick frowned and looked at Albert, "She should have listened to your advice and left England."
"Yes, but Professor Burbage didn't, so she may have lost her life because of this." Albert's tone was very calm. He turned his head and said to Professor McGonagall, "I suggest that you can ask the Ministry of Magic for help through Kings. It is best not to conflict with the Death Eaters yourself. After all, you will still need to stay in Hogwarts to protect the students."
"As for whether Professor Bubaji lives or dies, it all depends on her luck."
"It depends on her luck?" Hagrid couldn't believe that Albert would say that.
"I once reminded Professor Bubaji to leave the UK for asylum, but she refused to leave and stayed to die. What else could I do?" Albert said calmly, "Everyone needs to be responsible for their own choices."
"Same to you, Hagrid. Remember my words and don't let some stupid things affect your normal judgment."
Albert did not forget that in the final Battle of Hogwarts in the novel, the Acromantula also participated in the attack on Hogwarts Castle.
It is unknown how many students died as a result.
Maybe it couldn't all be blamed on Hagrid, but he couldn't exonerate himself either.
At that time, Hagrid's performance was extremely bad, and he was stupid enough to be caught by a spider. It was really hard to tolerate.
Albert hoped that Hagrid would wake up and not let his own people down.
Lupin is the most typical case. In the novel, he was killed by Antonin Dolohov. Harry had the opportunity to stop it, but this savior used his own experience to tell everyone what it means: to be kind to the enemy is to be cruel to yourself.
So, Lupin died.
He might have survived.