Looking at what happened during the time he was away from the UK, Albert couldn't help but sigh that the mysterious man had also learned bad things and became more sinister than before.
The current changes seem to be caused by the flapping of his wings, like a butterfly.
That's right, no matter who is beaten up by others, he will be more careful as long as he is not dead.
It seems understandable that Voldemort, who had been beaten many times, became "smarter".
After all, Voldemort used to rely more on his own strength to intimidate his enemies and subordinates rather than using his brain.
While it is true that Voldemort lacks intelligence in some areas, that does not mean he is unintelligent.
"It seems that the difficulty of defeating the Dark Lord has increased a lot." Albert murmured, "However, the current situation is not too bad. Judging from the reactions of Harry and the other two, it is no longer the same as before."
As for Harry, Hermione and Ron's determination to go to Godric's Hollow, he was not surprised.
That was where Harry was born and where his family died. It was normal for Harry to want to visit and visit his family's graves. What's more, Bathilda Bagshot lived there and she knew a lot of secrets about Dumbledore.
"Missing?"
Albert put down Sirius' letter, stood up, opened the window, took out his wand and summoned the Patronus to pass the message to Sirius.
Harry and the other two were safe and not missing as Sirius had said.
Of course, Albert could understand the concerns of the Order of the Phoenix. After Harry and the other two went to Godric's Hollow, a large number of Death Eaters appeared near the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Anyone with a little bit of common sense could guess what was going on, and it was not normal for them to worry about their safety.
Voldemort, who almost killed Harry, must have been furious.
At the beginning, not letting his Death Eaters use Avada Kedavra to kill Harry directly was definitely the biggest mistake Voldemort made in his life.
The knock on the door distracted Albert's attention. He turned his head to look at the figure outside the door, seeming a little surprised that the other person was still there.
"Didn't you go out for exercise with everyone else?"
"Bathilda Bagshot is dead!"
Shanna said as she placed a new book and a piece of parchment on the desk in front of Albert.
"I know, but I don't know Bathilda Bagshot very well."
Albert turned his eyes away from The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, looked up at Shanna and asked, "Are you... angry?"
"A little bit, look at that note..."
Shanna pointed to the parchment and said, "I heard that the Order of the Phoenix found it when they went to help Bathilda Bagshot clean up her affairs."
Albert reached out and picked up the parchment, and read softly the contents of the note:
Dear Barty, thank you for your help and a new book, I hope you like it. You said everything, even if you don't remember it now.
—Rita.
"Have you guessed it a long time ago?"
Shanna noticed Albert's reaction and suddenly realized something.
"Well, I read The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore a long time ago, and I can probably guess what Rita did." Albert put the parchment into the book. "It is obviously unlikely that Bathilda Bagshot would tell Dumbledore's secret to someone like Rita Skeeter."
"Don't look at me like that. In fact, anyone with a normal brain should be able to guess that the guy must have used some illegal method."
"Are you calling me stupid?" Shanna stared at Albert.
"It's not stupid, but I don't care, or I'm not willing to think deeply about it." Albert corrected, "Many people are like this. They only care about the unknown secrets that Rita has dug up to satisfy their curiosity."
"I remember overusing Veritaserum enough to send her to Azkaban," Zannah said suddenly.
"Without evidence, it's meaningless to accuse Rita Skeeter," Albert reminded.
"Is that parchment evidence?"
Shanna felt that Rita should be taught a lesson and get the retribution she deserved. That guy was as disgusting as Gilderoy Lockhart.
"I'm afraid it's difficult. Bathilda Bagshot is dead. She was killed by the You-Know-Who." Albert tapped the book The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore with his fingers. "However, you can let Lee Jordan talk about this on the radio and mention the note left by Rita. If we defeat the You-Know-Who one day, there will always be a chance to make her deeds public. However, it is hard to say whether Rita Skeeter can be sent to prison in the end. After all, Scrimgeour's era is over, and in this chaotic era, there are too many people doing evil everywhere."
"No wonder everyone wants to be a bad guy." Sana sighed softly. She felt that instead of expecting the Ministry of Magic to punish Rita Skeeter, it would be better for her to teach the other party a lesson herself.
"What the law upholds is never justice, but order." Albert seemed to see through Sana's thoughts.
"You are like a philosopher. Don't always pry into other people's thoughts." Shanna looked away and smiled bitterly, "I was just a little angry. I never thought..."
"Just follow your own wishes." Albert said calmly: "If you are really angry and want to teach Rita Skeeter a lesson, you can also beat her up at night and put her in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for a few days. No one will pursue this matter anyway, and I bet that countless people in the British wizarding world will applaud for this."
"That's not something you would say," Shannah said in an exaggerated tone. "You're trying to tempt me to commit a crime."
"If you think so, we never take the initiative to do evil, but we don't mind doing some righteous deeds." Albert shrugged and hinted, "This is also the reason why I formed the Defense Association. We have a group of like-minded companions around us."
"I feel like you're not telling the truth."
Sana felt that Albert didn't really care about these issues, just like he didn't really care about the situation of the students in the shelter, and she also heard something else in his words.
"Oh, you actually saw through my secret. Do you think I should silence you?" Albert said jokingly.
"Thank you, I feel much better." Sana suddenly said: "What would you like to drink?"
"Black tea," said Albert.
"By the way, please take some time to deal with the problems that have accumulated during your absence." Shanna pointed to the folder on the table and turned to leave.
Albert picked up the folder and began to look through the contents of the parchment. They were all problems that the Defense Association would encounter. Some of them were not easy to solve, so Shanna would leave them for Albert to deal with himself. But there were usually not too many problems, they were just very troublesome, or they required him to finalize them personally.
Albert picked up the quill, thought for a while, and wrote the solution in the blank space below.
"What are your plans next?"
After reading the solution given by Albert, Shanna asked.
"Let's take a look around and strengthen the defensive magic around the village."
After putting down the teacup, Albert and Sana walked around the village.
“There are more and more people in the association.”
Looking at the few unattractive houses being built around him, Albert said softly, "Maybe in the future it will become a wizard village similar to Hogsmeade."
"I don't think the association can support them alone," Shanna kindly reminded, "We don't know when this war will end yet."
"Most of them have just graduated. You can't expect them to earn enough to support themselves?" Albert didn't think there was anything wrong with it. He looked at Shanna and said calmly, "Besides, if you want them to fight against the brutal dark wizards, they have to be well fed so that they have the strength to fight."
"Although this is true, can't you put it another way?"
Shanna was speechless. It sounded like she was recruiting cannon fodder.
Perhaps this is the truth behind Albert's formation of the Defense Association. But those who are willing to join the association actually just want to contribute their own strength to resist the mysterious man.
"How about another way of saying it?"
A voice came from the side, and the entrance to the village was opened. A group of people led by Fred walked in quickly, and the house-elf Dobby followed behind the team.
"How is it?" Shanna changed the subject and asked, "Did you find the Dementors?"
"It wasn't just the Dementors. We also fought a snatch party and rescued two Muggle wizards who had just been captured."
Talking about the battle with the search team, everyone looked extremely excited. It was obvious that after having power, they all enjoyed the pleasure of gaining power.
"That search team was terrible. After being frightened by us, they surrendered on their own."
Lee Jordan smiled as he pulled the spoils of their trip from his pocket.
They didn't kill the Snatchers, but took their wands.
Of course, one of the unlucky guys had his front teeth kicked out by the lucky person they rescued.
"You've surrendered their wands. What else can they do but surrender?" Angelina couldn't help but roll her eyes. "It was unlucky for the search team to run into you. Not only were they robbed, but they were also beaten up."
"I saw one of you hit his crotch, that's why he screamed so miserably."
In their eyes, the search team was just the minions of the mysterious man. They used other people's lives to exchange for Garlon's scum, so their death was not a pity. Even if they were killed directly, no one would think there was a problem. Not killing them was already very merciful.
The most important thing is that the people rescued were all peripheral members of the Defense Association. This made everyone feel a sense of accomplishment. For them, it was a great victory.
As for using the majority to bully the minority
No, no, no, as for the righteous gang fight against the villains.
"By the way, we also went to another shelter prepared for other Muggle wizards. It looked very bad there. It was hard to imagine that those Muggle wizards were more like a group of refugees than those students."
George mentioned this to Albert. They actually found it difficult to understand what those adult wizards were doing. They really couldn't understand why they let the place where they lived look like a garbage dump.
"They are probably frightened and dare not leave the shelter easily, and the help we can provide is limited." Albert stopped and said to the Weiss twins, "If they want to leave the UK, I can help them leave. Maybe they will have a better life in other European countries. At least there is no Muggle-Born Registration Committee or search team."
"However, this is not free help. We will charge fifty Galleons, and they only need to pay it back within the next ten years."
"Within ten years?"
Not only George, but everyone else around was a little confused about Albert's intention.
"We don't want their Galleons, but we don't support getting something for nothing," Albert explained. "That will develop bad habits in them."
"But don't you provide food to those students?"
"That's because those students haven't graduated yet. They can't use the Apparition, let alone get rid of the Trace and use magic in other places without being detected. We can only provide them with help. But the people in the other shelter are all adults. They are not children who need to be fed. As adults, they need to be responsible for themselves instead of expecting the kindness of others. That is undoubtedly quite ridiculous."