In a room with an open window, a radio on the table was playing the Wizard Radio News Network. However, the young man sitting on the edge of the bed seemed to have no interest in the news on the radio, and was packing the practical items he had just selected into his backpack.
"Dean, are you packing?"
The half-open door was knocked open, and a dark-skinned girl stood outside the door and looked inside. Seeing Dean packing his luggage, she asked the question in her heart, "Are you planning to leave here?"
"I don't know about Annie, but I feel like I need to prepare to leave sooner rather than later."
Dean stuffed the thick cloak into his backpack, zipped it up again, put the backpack on the desk, hugged his half-sister gently, and said helplessly: "I will explain it to my father and mother later."
"But where are you going? Not going to Hogwarts?" Anne was even more confused.
"I would, but..."
"Dean, what happened?"
Mrs. Thomas appeared outside the room and looked at her son with a worried look on her face.
Ever since Hogwarts had its summer vacation, her son Dean had looked worried. He even started paying attention to newspapers and broadcasts about the wizarding world every day, and he seemed to have been writing letters to his friends in the wizarding world in recent days.
This change gave her a bad feeling, because the man was the same at the beginning, and then he left alone and never appeared again.
At that time, Mrs. Thomas had a feeling that Dean's father might never come back.
"Sorry mom, something really bad happened. Anyway... let's talk in the living room."
Dean gave his mother a guilt-filled hug, picked up his backpack and walked outside.
The Thomas family meeting began like this.
Dean knew very well that he would probably not be able to go back to Hogwarts to go to school. He actually didn't want to tell his family too much, for fear of involving them.
But like Mrs. Thomas said, everyone has a right to know.
Dean no longer hid it and told them about the changes in the Ministry of Magic.
“So, a group of terrorists have taken control of the magical government and are demanding that everyone prove they have wizard ancestry, or they will expel you from that…” Mr. Thomas paused, as if recalling the name of Hogwarts.
"Hogwarts," Dean added.
"Yes, we are going to expel you from Hogwarts School and put you in prison?" Mr. Thomas thought this was really too ridiculous.
"Yes, the Ministry of Magic has recently set up a department called the Muggle-Born Registration Committee." Dean looked at his stepfather and smiled bitterly, "It is said that the Muggle wizards working in the Ministry of Magic were arrested and sent to Azkaban...prison that day."
"That's ridiculous."
The Thomas family thought this was too ridiculous and even TV dramas wouldn't dare to portray it like this.
"No one objects." Mr. Thomas asked puzzledly, "How could they tolerate such a thing?"
"No one dares to resist the mysterious man!" Dean said with a wry smile, "I heard that the former minister was killed in the line of duty because of this. Now everyone is afraid of death."
"It's their lot in good stead," muttered Mr. Thomas.
"We are the most unlucky ones." Dean looked helpless, "Muggle-born wizards have been abandoned."
"But, I mean your biological father is very likely..." Mrs. Thomas hesitated.
"Even if that man is a wizard, I have no way to prove that he is a wizard. After all, he is dead. He died in the last wizard war. He was probably persecuted." Dean sighed helplessly. Although he had guessed about this, he did not figure out who his biological father was.
However, Dean does not resent his biological father, and he would make the same choice if it were him.
"But even if you don't go to Hogwarts, you can stay at home." Mrs. Thomas didn't want her son to leave. She suspected that Dean would have trouble filling his stomach if he went out.
"I can't prove that I have wizard blood, and I will definitely be charged with stealing wizard magic." Dean didn't plan to stay. "The Ministry of Magic will probably send people to arrest me, and you will definitely be implicated then. You should have noticed that a series of strange things are happening in the UK now, and they are all caused by them deliberately, so I have to leave, so as not to bring disaster to everyone."
"Where are you going?" Mr. Thomas frowned and asked, "If it doesn't work, we can just move to another place temporarily. If we can't afford to offend, can't we just hide away?"
"I'm going to go to a friend."
Dean had tried to contact Hermione Granger via owl more than once, hoping to use her to join Albert Anderson's Defense Society.
Unfortunately, his owl hadn't found Granger, and he himself had no idea what to do.
Now that Snape has become the new headmaster of Hogwarts and has expelled all students from Muggle families, he must leave this home first to avoid causing trouble for his family.
"By the way, after I leave, you should stay out for a month or two, in case someone comes to arrest us." Dean expressed his uneasiness. "I'm not sure whether the people who come are employees of the Ministry of Magic or Death Eaters. However, they seem to be the same. They are all dangerous elements. It's best not to contact them, because dark wizards have the habit of killing ordinary people indiscriminately to vent their anger. People often die inexplicably in accidents on TV, and most of them are responsible."
Mr. Thomas was silent. He suddenly understood why Dean had to leave.
"Take care of yourself, and remember to keep in touch with us via owl." Mr. Thomas gave Dean a hug.
At this warm moment, an owl flew in from the open window and threw a letter on the table in front of Dean.
"Who wrote to me?"
Dean picked up the letter puzzledly, quickly read its contents, then jumped up from his seat excitedly, ran to the window and looked out, as if looking for something.
"Is there any good news in the letter?" Mrs. Thomas asked expectantly when she saw her son's reaction.
"Someone is coming to pick me up." Dean said excitedly.
The Thomas family looked at each other.
A few minutes later, the doorbell of Thomas's house rang.
Dean took his wand and carefully opened the wooden door of the entrance, and found a tall, dark-skinned wizard standing outside the door.
"It's not a good idea to stay outside for too long at this time." The middle-aged wizard shook hands with Dean and reminded him in a low voice: "I am Kingsley Shacklebolt, a member of the Order of the Phoenix."
"Oh, welcome."
"You are the assistant next to the minister."
Mr. Thomas was very surprised to see Kings coming because he had seen him on TV.
"Hello."
Kingslai smiled and nodded towards the Thomas family and said, "We are in a hurry, so I will get straight to the point."
"The Ministry of Magic is currently under the control of the You-Know-Who and his minions. I think you have heard the news from newspapers and radio. They are persecuting Muggle-borns. All students from Muggle families at Hogwarts have been expelled. I think their next step is likely to be to send people to arrest Mr. Thomas in the name of the Ministry of Magic. I suggest you leave here temporarily to avoid being targeted."
"Are you here to help us?" Mr. Thomas asked expectantly.
"It's not really help. I'm just here to give you some advice to avoid bad things from happening." Kings said simply, "This is what Mr. Anderson meant. We are currently setting up a temporary shelter for all students expelled from Hogwarts. It is protected by the Fidelius Charm."
"As you can understand, the asylum is protected by a very powerful magic. Only with the permission of the secret keeper can one enter the asylum. Otherwise, even the mysterious person will have no way to get in. The secret keeper there is Mr. Anderson."
"So, Mr. Shacklebolt, you're going to take me to the shelter built by Anderson?" Dean couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. This was much better than running around aimlessly by himself.
"I guess so. We are only providing you with an option. If you have a better place to go, no one will force you." Kingslai did not forget to remind you specially, "However, there is one thing you need to know. The shelter is the result of the Order of the Phoenix, the Defense Society and the professors of Hogwarts working overnight in recent days. Due to the tight time, the shelter is still very simple, and the help we can provide you is also very limited. At most, we can give you something to eat so that you won't starve."
"You should have a safer place, I mean the Defense Association or the Order of the Phoenix!" Mr. Thomas asked after exchanging glances with his wife.
"Sorry, I'm not here to recruit members." Kingsley shook his head and declined. "Besides, we don't recruit underage wizards. It's very dangerous to fight against You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters. Many like-minded companions have sacrificed their lives for this."
"I'm an adult now." Dean changed the subject and asked, "By the way, how is Harry?"
"Don't worry, Harry is fine." Kings came out with his pocket watch to check the time and said, "Of course, if you don't want to go to the shelter, we won't force you."
"Where will the other Muggle-borns go too?" Dean inquired.
"Probably. We're not sure if they're willing to go." Kingslai emphasized again, "All we can do is provide you with the most basic security and simple food so you don't go hungry, but that's all. You are completely free and can choose to stay or leave, but you also need to be responsible for your own safety."
Then, Kings came and took out a button-shaped object and placed it in front of Dean and said, "If you don't plan to go to the shelter, then take this."
"What is this?" Dean asked curiously.
"This is the transmitter made by Mr. Anderson. As long as you use it, someone will come to guide you to the shelter." Kings introduced it to Dean: "Of course, it may take a little longer because we need to make sure that you are okay."
After saying this, Kingslai stood up and prepared to leave.
"No, Mr. Shacklebolt, I intend to go with you," Dean said firmly.
"This is a very wise choice. No matter what, it won't hurt to go to the shelter first." Jin Silai nodded. "If we really have nowhere to go in the future, at least we can hide in the shelter. This is actually the reason why we built it."
"The last guarantee?" muttered Mr. Thomas.
"Yes."
"Do my parents need some shelter?" Dean asked again.
"We usually suggest that they stay away for a while, at least after school starts in September. After all, no one can be sure whether they will come here to arrest people." Jins took out his pocket watch and checked the time and said, "Okay, we should leave. Take your things and say goodbye to your family."
"Apparate here?" Dean asked excitedly.
"We need to be some distance away before Apparating. You are underage."
"No, I'm an adult," Dean corrected again.
This is also the reason why Dean dared to leave on his own. He has passed the Apparition test.
"That's great. If you're ready, I'll take you there right away. I'll have to notify other students from Muggle families later."
"Thank you, Mr. Shacklebolt," said Mrs. Thomas gratefully.
"You're welcome. In these terrible times, we should help each other."
Kings came and took Dean away from Thomas's house, and Apparated in a deserted alley nearby.
When Dean came to his senses, he found himself in a shabby room. He heard footsteps outside, and then he saw Lupin appear outside the door with his wand raised.
"How is it going?"
"You are the third group to come here. You should not have been targeted yet, but you'd better move quickly." Lupin tapped Dean with his wand and cast a Disillusionment Charm on him. "Come with me."
After leaving the dilapidated house, Dean was taken by Lupin to an empty street.
Then he saw Mad-Eye Moody again.
Then he looked at a silver card, and a dilapidated hotel suddenly appeared in the empty space in front of him.
"Go in!" Moody looked around cautiously and urged.
"Is this the shelter?"
Dean opened his mouth slightly, with a look of disappointment on his face. The hotel in front of him was even more shabby than he had expected.
"Unfortunately, this is the current situation. It's disappointing, but at least it's safe enough here." Cedric appeared out of nowhere and said, "Come with me. The third and fourth floors have been cleaned up briefly. It's not too bad."
"Cedric, do you live here too?" Dean asked curiously.
"No, I just came here to help." Cedric led his men upstairs.
"So I'm going to live in this kind of damn place from now on?" Dean muttered. No matter how you look at it, this place looks like a hotel that has been abandoned for a long time.
"No, you can choose to stay or leave on your own." Cedric said calmly, "But it is undoubtedly safer here than outside. Kingslai should have told you that this is the last safety guarantee prepared for you."