"Okay, this meeting is over. Do you have any questions?"
In the training room of the Defense Association, Albert, who had just put away his wand and finished the tutorial, looked around at everyone who was still a little excited, and nodded with satisfaction.
Only when we are excited and passionate can we have the motivation to make progress.
Having said that, the Defense Association had grown unnoticed, and the number of members was greater than he had expected, now exceeding forty.
"When do we start fighting back?" someone raised his hand and asked.
Albert looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the person asking the question was Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff.
This girl has been helping to manage the students at the shelter recently, and she has done a good job. After repeated consideration, Cedric felt that she should receive more formal training in Defense Against the Dark Arts, so he recommended to Albert that she come and practice Defense Against the Dark Arts with everyone. Anyway, Hannah is already an adult, she is not troubled by the trace, and she has passed the Apparition test.
"Many people think that someone should step forward and lead the fight against the mysterious man."
Many members followed suit and the meaning was very clear.
Victory after victory has filled most members of the defense association with confidence, and they can't wait to show their skills.
"Then what?"
Albert asked expressionlessly, "Were you targeted by the Death Eaters and betrayed?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the scene suddenly fell into silence, and then completely exploded.
There was a lot of whispering around, and everyone looked at Albert in surprise, obviously not understanding why he said that.
"I have to tell you something very cruel."
Albert raised his hand and made a quiet gesture. After the voices around him gradually quieted down, he continued, "Don't look at everyone expecting someone to stand up and lead everyone to resist the mysterious man, but those words are just some false lies. I never deny that people yearn for peace, but most people do not have the courage to stand up and fight for this peace for themselves. They are more hoping that there will be a savior who can save them from suffering."
"I can understand that you want to lead everyone to fight against the mysterious man, but most people actually just need a savior, a savior who can bring them peace, but they may not be eager to fight for that peace personally because it is too dangerous."
"Don't forget, this is a brutal wizard war, not a school game. War always requires casualties, and everyone has only one life. I don't want you to lose your life inexplicably in this brutal war just because you are fooled by someone."
Looking at the stunned members, Albert kindly reminded them, "Everyone, don't forget how the wizards in the entire British wizarding world treated Harry Potter, the savior, a few years ago. Don't get carried away and let others fool you."
"I never deny that there are still many people in the British wizarding world who continue to support us, but please don't forget that most people can only provide verbal support." Albert asked everyone present: "Do you know what verbal support is?"
Everyone looked at each other, and no one answered for a moment.
"Let me give you an example." Albert suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Lee Jordan, and said to Fred beside him, "This guy actually wanted to kidnap your girlfriend. Beat him up!"
Everyone looked stunned.
"Yes, I support Fred beating Lee Jordan." Albert spread his hands and said, "It's ridiculous like this."
"Can't you give another example?" Lee Jordan couldn't help rolling his eyes at Albert.
Joyful laughter immediately rang out all around.
"In fact, I never expected to get more support from others from the beginning, because I am very clear about the situation in the British wizarding world." Albert raised his hand to suppress his laughter, "Human nature cannot stand the test. If the Death Eaters want someone to betray us, they just need to capture his family and threaten him with their lives. For the safety of their family, most people will choose to betray and stab us from behind.
However, the most ridiculous thing is that even if he did that, he couldn't get his family back, because the words of the dark wizards could not be trusted at all, they would still hold his family as ropes and continue to use them as dogs. "
Many people couldn't help but frown when they heard this, as if they were trying to judge whether Albert's words were credible.
"I think you all know the famous savior Harry Potter." Albert gave another acquaintance as an example: "Harry's father, James Potter, trusted his good friend Peter Pettigrew too much and declined Dumbledore's proposal to be the secret keeper. However, he never expected that Peter Pettigrew had been threatened by a mysterious man and forced to become a Death Eater spy for the Order of the Phoenix. As a result, you all know that the Potters made Peter Pettigrew their secret keeper, and they were betrayed and lost their lives for this."
As a good friend of the Potters, Peter Pettigrew didn't care about his friendship with the Potters at all. He betrayed his friends without any scruples. Do you think other people would not betray him if they were in that situation?"
"No, believe me, they are not as reliable as you think."
"If we can't trust that, who can we trust?" someone asked.
"Everyone in the Defense Association is trustworthy," Albert explained. "If you haven't forgotten, you should be aware of the list you just signed here. I cast a very strong contract magic on it. If anyone betrays us, everyone will notice it at the first time."
"Can't it be cracked?"
"Of course, but I won't give them the chance."
Many people began to wonder why Albert told everyone this. Obviously something had happened, or something bad was about to happen, so he wanted to prepare everyone mentally.
Because they all knew that Albert was never a nagging person.
"Okay, maybe this doesn't convince you, but I never intended to convince you. I believe that you are all adults and have your own judgment. Now I want to talk about another shelter, which is another temporary shelter prepared for other persecuted wizards."
Albert actually hated nagging about these things, but he found that the members of the Defense Association had become a little impetuous because of their successive victories. He needed to calm them down and make them recognize the current situation before some people or a group of people did something stupid.
"Did something really happen?"
Cedric exchanged glances with the others and continued to listen quietly to Albert finish his words.
"Harry went there not long ago and tried to persuade them to cheer up," Albert said with a sarcastic smile. "Like many of you said, people hope someone will stand up and lead everyone to resist the mysterious man. Harry Potter did that. He was the brightest banner, but there were very few people who responded. It should be said that there were none at all."
"This is impossible!"
Many people widened their eyes in surprise, and suddenly understood why Albert had gone to such great lengths to say all those words to them.
As persecuted Muggle wizards, most people do not have the courage to stand up against the You-Know-Who. Do you still expect those who are still safe and sound to bravely stand up and risk the destruction of their families
Maybe, but they are definitely in the minority.
"This is a war, a cruel war, so I hope you can face the reality. Right now, in the entire British wizarding world, only we who are standing here, the Order of the Phoenix, and even a very small number of wizards have the courage to stand up and resist." Albert raised his voice and said.
"I never lied to you. It would be meaningless to do so. If you don't believe me, look at what happened to Scrimgeour. He once took the initiative to duel with You-Know-Who in order to protect the Aurors, hoping to save the Aurors and make them an important force against You-Know-Who. But look at what those Aurors did. They betrayed Scrimgeour's expectations and became You-Know-Who's lackeys and minions.
There is no doubt that the Aurors recently followed Umbridge to Hogwarts to bully the professors there, forcing Professor McGonagall to drink Veritaserum in an attempt to get the home addresses of the expelled students from her."
Everyone was stunned by Albert's words, but they had indeed heard similar news from the Wizard Lookout Station radio not long ago.
At the time, none of them thought much about it, but they didn't expect it to be like that.
"Even the Aurors have joined You-Know-Who?" Many people widened their eyes in disbelief. "Didn't they say that many Death Eaters died at their hands?"
"Yes, but that was an order from Scrimgeour, and he is dead. He took away all the hatred before his death and saved most people." Albert said coldly, "So, don't hold too many unrealistic fantasies."
"What we need to do now is to unite everyone we can and prepare for the upcoming decisive battle." Albert looked at the confused people and said loudly, "Although in my prophecy, the balance of victory has already tilted towards us, we still cannot relax before defeating the mysterious man and winning, because our enemy is equally powerful."
"Then from now on, will we just practice spells and train combat skills?" Dean asked doubtfully.
"Yes, that is what you need to do most right now." Albert nodded and said, "As for those 'supporters' outside, we will lend a hand if we can. If you are asked to risk your own life, then I think it is unnecessary. We are never stingy in helping others, but you need to put your own safety first."
Warm applause suddenly broke out.
Many people even came over to give Albert a big hug.
No one would think that was bullshit.
The members who can stand here are all adults and have their own judgment. They know very well why Albert, who usually doesn't like to talk nonsense, would take the time to tell them so many things.
They all knew that Albert was teaching them important self-protection skills, just as he said: We are never reluctant to lend a helping hand to others, but we will not endanger our own lives in advance.
"It's hard for you to say so much." Fred smiled and patted Albert's shoulder lightly.
"I just hope they can stay calm and not do something stupid and lose their lives in vain." Albert warned, "The Defense Association has been targeted by the Death Eaters. If they are not careful, sooner or later someone will get into trouble. If something like that really happens, it will seriously affect everyone's morale."
In the near future, morale is important as people fight against You-Know-Who and his minions.
"Then should we stop our recent practice?" George asked with a raised eyebrow. In recent days, they have been practicing the Patronus Charm in groups with Dementors.
"How is the effect?" Albert asked instead of answering.
"good."
"good?"
"Like you said, not everyone can summon their Patronus when facing a Dementor." George nodded.
"About how many people succeeded?" Albert asked directly.
"About one third." Fred had a slightly embarrassed look on his face.
In fact, even they find it difficult to successfully summon their own Patronus when facing Dementors.
"As long as we are given a little more time, we will definitely be able to summon a Patronus when facing the Dementors."
"Time? I don't have time for you to mess around."
"How come, we just...
"What have you done recently? Don't you have any idea?" Albert interrupted unhappily, "The frequency of the people in the Order of the Phoenix causing trouble is not as high as yours. If the Death Eaters don't target you, who else can they focus on?"
"That Slytherin kid took the initiative to cooperate, so we can't refuse him!" Fred tried to defend himself, "You know, his whole family was killed by a dark wizard, and that kid wants revenge on the dark wizard."
"That's no reason for you to use underage wizards to trap the snatch party."
Everyone present was a little embarrassed, but it was undeniable that their rapid growth in combat experience was largely due to the dark wizards in the search team.
"You didn't let him kill people!"
"No." George shook his head and said, "We just let him beat the other person up to vent his anger. The hatred in his heart has decreased a lot recently. He is now working hard to practice spells. I think he will be a good helper for us in the future."
"Calm down for a while. It's time to stop training with Dementors. Don't be stupid and step into other people's traps."
"We are not fools. How could we fall into an ambush so easily?" Lee Jordan felt that Albert's worries were completely unnecessary. Every time they went out to find Dementors to practice the Patronus Charm, they would choose a lone Dementor to attack. They would not give the dark wizards any time to react. Even if there were dark wizards, they could not be their opponents. From the wands in the cabinet, it can be seen that their achievements are remarkable. The prices of wands on the market may increase because of this!
"What if they can't find you and choose to attack Muggles indiscriminately? Will you help them or not?" Albert reminded: "Remember, they are dark wizards and they can do anything unscrupulous, so don't push them to the limit, lest they go crazy and take other measures to force you out. Also, we have an action next."
"What action?"
"Hogwarts is about to start school. It is estimated that Death Eaters and Dementors will go back to search the train. When the time comes, we will go over and teach them a lesson. By the way, we will give confidence to those members who are going to the Defense Society, and then guide them to re-form Dumbledore's Army."
"So, you plan to lead us to do it yourself?" The Weiss brothers couldn't help but widen their eyes with an expression of disbelief.