At this moment, in Harry and Ron's dormitory, the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, a broadcast from the Wizarding Lookout was being played.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sitting side by side on the edge of the bed, listening to the radio and chatting in low voices about the "big things" that had happened recently.
At first, they were reluctant to believe that Hogwarts would expel all Muggle wizards at once, but this had already happened and had been confirmed by Professor McGonagall, so no matter how shocked they were, it was of no use.
What's more, they had expected what was happening now, from the establishment of the new Muggle-Born Registration Committee in the Ministry of Magic to the old bat Snape becoming the new headmaster of Hogwarts.
Voldemort finally got his wish and drove all the Muggle students out of Hogwarts.
"Ginny, are you planning on going to Hogwarts next term?"
Harry, who was fiddling with the Golden Snitch, seemed to remember something and turned his head to ask the red-haired girl sitting next to him.
He knew the current situation of the Weiss family. If Ginny continued to go to Hogwarts now, she would be walking into a trap. But he was just an outsider after all, so he couldn't say much on certain things.
"I haven't decided yet, but I think I'll probably take a leave of absence from school." Ginny looked at Harry casually and asked, "Do you also think it's unsafe for me to go to Hogwarts now?"
"Well, I don't recommend you to take risks. Voldemort and the Death Eaters like to take hostages to threaten others." Harry noticed Ginny's gaze, looked away and continued, "They will definitely do that."
"This is a very wise choice." Hermione agreed with Harry's words: "If Ginny went to Hogwarts, she would probably be captured by Death Eaters on the Hogwarts Express. The Death Eaters have already set their sights on your family, and they certainly wouldn't mind taking a hostage to force you to compromise."
"Why on the Hogwarts Express?" Ron asked puzzled.
"Going directly into Hogwarts to arrest people will easily cause panic in the wizarding community." Hermione said with a strange expression, "They will probably bring Dementors with them to check the train before the students enter Hogwarts to see if we are going back to school."
"That sounds stupid," Harry muttered. "Who would be stupid enough to fall for that?"
"No, it's just routine." Hermione explained, "They would do it even if they knew there would be no results. After all, Ron, you and I are all on their blacklist, and they will also use this to check whether the students on the train have proof of wizard ancestry, thereby screening out a group of Muggle wizards."
"At this time, are there really Muggle-born students who are stupid enough to go to school?" Ron was very puzzled.
"There will always be one or two. Don't forget, Mum doesn't want us to drop out of Hogwarts," Ginny reminded.
Everyone was silent. What Ginny said was indeed not a joke. Before Bill and Fleur got married, Mrs. Weasley had always insisted that they should not drop out of school and should continue to return to Hogwarts to study.
What a naive and cute idea.
However, that is undoubtedly quite ridiculous.
"She should have faced the reality by now, but the price is a bit high." Ron sighed softly.
Bill and Fleur's wedding completely shattered Mrs. Wesley's last bit of fantasy and also left very serious sequelae.
Until now, people still hate the wedding that brought them disaster. The newlyweds, who should have been blessed, have become the objects of disgust and scorn by many of the victims' families.
Harry felt guilty about this and thought that Voldemort and the Death Eaters were here because of him.
"Don't apologize, Harry. It's not your fault." Ron saw the change in Harry's expression and patted his shoulder to comfort him, "Don't forget, my family has always been the biggest pure-blood traitor family, and Fred and George are also on the Death Eaters' blacklist."
"It would have been better if everyone had listened to Albert's advice at that time." Hermione's soft sigh made everyone present fall silent.
After the incident, people chose to ignore the fact that the disaster could have been completely avoided.
Especially Albert, as a master of prophecy, has reminded them more than once that they should be careful.
However, the disaster still happened, and no matter how you look at it, it was the result of their own choices.
The people who caused all this chose to ignore it. They did not have the courage to bear the terrible consequences.
"yes!"
Bill's voice was filled with bitterness. "Unfortunately, there is no regret medicine in this world."
"Bill!"
Everyone was shocked and turned to look outside the door. Bill was standing outside with a depressed look on his face.
"It was indeed our own fault. Fred and George actually told me more than once. If we had just held a small wedding quietly, so many things wouldn't have happened." Bill still regrets it very much. They once had the opportunity to correct this mistake, but they paid a huge price for it.
Not only did Charlie die, but Fleur's parents also died, and many of her relatives were brutally murdered at the wedding. The Westleys almost became enemies of the Delacours, and it was probably difficult for the two sides to have any contact again.
This incident became Fleur's eternal pain, and Fleur's sister Gabrielle also suffered mental trauma from the loss of her parents and relatives, and was taken back to France for treatment by her cousin Louise.
"Bill, what's going on?"
Hermione noticed that the atmosphere was not right and quickly changed the subject.
"Anderson is taking the lead in building a safe zone similar to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, intending to use it to house those expelled Muggle students. We also..."
"Why isn't the Order of the Phoenix taking the lead?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It doesn't matter who takes the lead. There's no need to worry about trivial matters. We all work together and we all go over to help."
Bill didn't care about this little thing, but when he noticed Ron's inquiring look, he casually explained, "If you insist, this plan was first formulated and perfected by Anderson."
"However, no one cares about this kind of thing. We just want to provide a safe place for those students who have been temporarily expelled from Hogwarts."
"I'm just curious," Ron said with a dry cough.
"They are rushing to complete the construction, and they need help to finish the shelter as soon as possible. Everyone has gone over to help." Bill explained to Harry and the other three, "So, I will stay at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, and I will take the time to teach you."
"Defense against the Dark Arts?"
Harry was a little looking forward to it. He had never taken Bill's class and didn't know how good Bill's Defense against the Dark Arts was.
"No." Bill shook his head. "Let's talk about it later. Let's go eat first. Furong has already prepared dinner. She should be serving it to Mom and Dad."
Because of guilt and self-blame, the Weisleys have not yet come out of their inner shadows and cheered up again.
Nowadays, they often hug each other and cry. They are all poor people who have lost their loved ones, and no one will blame anyone anymore.
Dinner was ordinary, just boiled potatoes.
In fact, before Mrs. Weasley cheered up again, their food was relatively simple. Although Hermione could cook, the taste was also "very average", so she usually just helped out.
"How's the situation over there?"
Harry was eating a potato with its skin on, and he casually started a conversation to avoid making the atmosphere in the hall too tense.
"It should be almost done. It just requires some repairs to the damaged areas, sealing up the windows and holes, and simply clearing out a few floors." Bill had been there once or twice. It was much bigger than their place.
"Same as here?" Ginny asked.
"Honestly, the conditions there are much worse than here, like a refugee zone, Fred and George said so too." Bill shrugged and said, "They said they were going there to escape the disaster, and it was good to have a safe place to stay. Everyone donated some things to them, mostly flour and potatoes, so that they could barely have something to eat and not starve. I heard from George that they also planned to let the children grow some mushrooms and vegetables to improve their meals, but they probably couldn't think of eating meat."
“How miserable!”
Furong took a bite of sausage and sighed softly.
Everyone can already imagine the miserable lives of those students.
"It's good enough to have something to eat." Bill shook his head. "Of course, they can also find ways to improve the food themselves. Anyway, I didn't intend to restrict their freedom of coming and going from the beginning."
"Can't they conjure delicious food out of thin air?" Ron asked in confusion. "I remember Mum could always conjure delicious food out of thin air."
"No one can conjure food out of thin air. You probably forgot that food is the first of the five exceptions to Gamp's Basic Transfiguration Law," Hermione reminded.
"So it's impossible to conjure delicious food out of thin air?" Harry asked. "Then how does Mrs. Weasley do it?"
"If you know where the food is, you can use magic to summon it," explained Fleur, who had learned from Mrs. Weasley how to cook the food Bill liked.
"If you plan to be outside for a long time, you'd better learn how to cook so that you won't go hungry." Bill stopped Ron who was about to say something, waved his wand and a book appeared out of thin air, and handed it to Hermione across the table: "George asked me to give this to you, but I think it should be specially prepared by Albert for you."
"A Complete Collection of Wild Edible Fungi." Hermione took the book and whispered the title.
"So, we have to rely on picking mushrooms to make a living in the future?" Ron widened his eyes in disbelief.
"If you can't get food, at least you can get some mushrooms to fill your stomach. Remember to bring some seasoning."
"Maybe you can cook more food, and then we can use magic to summon the food over."
Ron felt it was unreliable to let them cook their own food, especially wild mushrooms, many of which were inedible.
Harry ate potatoes silently. He actually knew how hard it was to go out, but sometimes he didn't have much of a choice.
"Can I go over there and take a look?" Harry asked suddenly. "After the heald on me disappears, I want to go over there and take a look at the students who are fleeing."
"That's no problem. I think they will definitely welcome you." Bill lowered his voice and said, "Sirius and Kingsley plan to recruit some wizards from there into the Order of the Phoenix."
"Underage wizard?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course, we'll have to wait until they grow up. Maybe in a year or two, no one knows when this war will end." Bill shook his head and explained, "Those children will eventually grow up. If they still have the courage to fight the You-Know-Who, we'll welcome them to join us."
"Is Albert planning to do that too?" Harry suddenly asked. He felt that might be the main reason why Albert was willing to help them.
"The Defense Association does plan to recruit a group of people. As for what their plans are, Fred and George didn't say much, but I think they do have this intention."
Bill actually thought of this, but they really needed more fresh blood to join them in fighting against the mysterious man and the Death Eaters.
Moreover, they will not force those children. Everything is free. They can choose to join or not, just as they can choose to stay or leave.
"After a while, Lupin will take time to give them lessons to improve their Defense Against the Dark Arts. It's still too slow to just learn by yourself from the Self-Defense Guide."
"Why don't the Order of the Phoenix and the Defense Society directly recruit other adult wizards who are resisting You-Know-Who?" Hermione asked puzzledly, "Compared to underage wizards, those adult wizards should be the main force against You-Know-Who!"
"Anderson believes that most adult wizards, that is, those who have been working for a few years or even a long time, are not very reliable." Bill answered Hermione's question using Albert's words.
"Why does Anderson think that adult wizards are unreliable?" Ginny was also confused and didn't understand why Albert trusted the students living in Hogwarts more.
"Maybe... selfish!" Bill said with a wry smile.
Harry was suddenly silent.
Everyone worships the lightning scar on his forehead and regards him as a savior. Isn't it just because they hope that he can defeat the mysterious man
"Generally speaking, adults are more selfish. They don't really want to believe Albert. It's just a helpless choice. Otherwise, they wouldn't end up like this." Bill said self-deprecatingly, "Besides, sometimes your kindness may not be exchanged for a thank you from the other party."
There was a long silence in the hall.
"So, Anderson has been reluctant to pay attention to them and plans to conduct large-scale screening. If they really want to trust us and are willing to contribute to the fight against the mysterious man, we will be willing to lend a hand. If not, we will help them prepare a safe shelter and then leave them alone."
They couldn't say anything about it because that was the fact.
"I can only say that Anderson sees it very clearly. It is obviously unrealistic to expect everyone to fight against You-Know-Who together." Bill sighed and said to Harry, "However, it is far from enough for us to fight against You-Know-Who and his minions with just a few people. We should try our best to unite those forces that can be united."
"I know what to do."