"Who's outside?"
Hearing a knock on the door downstairs, Katrina subconsciously stuck her head out of the window to see who was knocking. Normally, few people came to the house, but there was no one at the door.
Katrina seemed to have thought of something, and she felt cold all over. She regretted her reckless behavior just now. She quickly grabbed the wand on the table, breathed a sigh of relief, and pricked up her ears to listen to the noises around her.
Is there anyone downstairs
"Who could it be?"
The red-haired girl was extremely alert. Ever since Isobel ran off with Albert, she was alone in the huge house most of the time.
Suddenly a stranger came to the door, and it was impossible for Katrina not to panic, because Isobel had told her that Albert had eliminated a Death Eater in the maze of the third project, which might cause revenge from the minions of the "Mysterious Man".
Logically speaking, even if the mysterious man wanted to take revenge on Albert Anderson, what did it have to do with his family
Since the Anderson family immigrated overseas, even Voldemort would find it difficult to find Albert's family across continents. The only person related to Albert was Isobel MacDougal.
Although the two parties are currently just boyfriend and girlfriend, who knows if they will be implicated
It is hard to say how low the bottom line of the mysterious man and his minions is.
It was eerily quiet at the foot of the stairs. Katrina was hesitating whether to retreat temporarily. She was currently occupying an advantageous position (stairs) and could use Apparition to retreat at any time.
While Katrina was hesitating, there were suddenly some noises in the hall, which aroused Katrina's vigilance.
However, what puzzled her was that the intruder did not go upstairs, but went to the hall.
"Not an enemy?"
If it wasn't the mysterious man's minion, who could it be
Katrina couldn't imagine who would come to their house at this time. If it was her mother, she would definitely not knock on the door.
The other party doesn't seem to be hostile. Could it be that Isobel has returned
After hesitating for a long time, Katrina finally secretly used the Disillusionment Charm on herself, intending to sneak downstairs to see what was going on.
She gripped her wand tightly, tiptoed down the stairs, and quietly walked towards the hall.
Then, Katrina froze.
A strangely dressed house-elf stood at the entrance of the hall, holding a piece of parchment in its left hand and a wand in the other. A familiar-looking suitcase was placed beside it, but for some reason, it always gave people the illusion that the house-elf in front of them was ready to run away with the suitcase at any time.
The house elf in front of him seemed to be confirming something. He stared at the parchment in his hand, stuffed it back into the pocket of the cloak, and said to the corridor outside the hall: "Please don't be nervous, Miss Katrina."
Yes, the house-elf seemed quite certain that he was around.
After saying that, the house-elf raised his wand and waved it gently in the direction of the window, and the originally open window suddenly closed.
"Who are you?"
As soon as Katrina opened her mouth, she saw the curtains in the hall closing one after another, and the hall, which was already dim, fell into complete darkness.
Not long after, the lights in the hall came on again, but two familiar figures appeared in the field of vision.
"What the hell are you doing?" Katrina couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief after seeing the two people. She lowered the wand in her hand and glared at the two people in front of her angrily.
"Being careful is never a bad thing."
Albert glanced at his wrist quickly, as if to confirm something.
"Kara, dinner is for you," Isobel said to the house-elf.
"Okay, hostess, dinner will be left to Kara." The house-elf opened the suitcase and happily went to do his favorite job.
"hostess?"
Katrina noticed the house-elf's address just now, and her expression became strange, and her eyes moved back and forth between the two of them.
The house-elves were very efficient and dinner was ready in no time.
For safety reasons, Albert insisted on having dinner in the box and waiting for Mrs. McDougal to come back. Although Isobel had informed her mother in advance, she didn't know when she would be home.
“Why are you hiding in a box?”
Katrina looked around at the door and was surprised to find that the place had changed a lot. It was like a small manor.
Even more surprising was that Katrina actually saw steaming hot springs, which she hadn't seen the last time she came in.
"Of course it's for safety reasons." Albert reminded seriously, "Last night, a Death Eater appeared near my house. You should be able to guess the reason without me telling you!"
"How do you know?" Katrina was stunned. "Didn't you hide?"
"They triggered the alarm. Those guys don't know about it yet, but I already know about it." Albert's tone was very calm, as if being visited by a dark wizard was a trivial matter.
Perhaps he had expected this to happen from the beginning!
"You came to see me because..." Katrina asked puzzledly.
"Let's find a safe place for you." Albert said directly.
Hearing Albert's proposal, Katrina shook her head and said, "Are you kidding? Mom won't agree."
“It’s not safe here anymore.”
"You should know your mother's character better than I do."
Katrina looked at Isobel, wanting her to come out and stop Albert's nonsense.
"You have to try everything, and what you did just now was wrong. In this situation, you shouldn't come down to check, but hide. Even if you want to find out who is down there, your method is wrong." Albert looked at Tom who was taking a nap after dinner, and corrected several mistakes made by Katrina.
"What method?" Katrina raised her eyebrows.
"Human Traces Curse."
"What is that?" Katrina asked confusedly, she had no idea what spell it was.
"A spell that can mark people on a map." Isobel explained gently, "You can tell who is around by looking at the map."
"Is this why the house-elf is looking at the parchment?" Katrina took out the parchment and saw the ink dots on the map marking the names of the house-elf Kara and the three of them.
"Yes." Albert reminded, "Even if you use spells or potions to disguise yourself, you can't hide from the human trace spell, unless you use a very strong shielding spell on yourself, but only a highly skilled wizard can do it. Believe me, the unsuspecting You-Know-Who and his minions will definitely not be on guard."
“Well, this method is indeed very practical.”
Katrina felt that the fake Moody's defeat was not unfair at all, and no wonder Albert was able to defeat the fake Moody and his helpers. It turned out that the other party had been ambushing Albert right under his nose.
Despite giving advance notice, Mrs. MacDougal was still busy at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries until late when she returned home, and she looked very tired.
However, when he saw Albert and his daughters emerging from the suitcase, he was not too surprised. Instead, he was more interested in the house-elf's dinner.
"So, you want me to find a place to hide like your family?" Mrs. McGonagall asked after eating paella and listening to Albert's story.
"right."
Albert admitted it, even though he knew it was rude to say so.
"Did you predict that the mysterious man would attack me?" Mrs. McGonagall had just finished speaking when the atmosphere in the hall became very depressing.
"I haven't tried to predict the future, but I think we shouldn't trust the moral integrity of mysterious people. I won't be surprised no matter what they do." Although Albert knew that the chances of success were slim, he still had to try.
"I have my own job and I won't hide it." Mrs. McGonagall shook her head.
"Perhaps, you can change jobs temporarily, such as writing a book to teach people how to treat magical injuries." Albert suggested sincerely: "I know it's rude to say this, but I think you have also experienced the first wizard war and know very well what the situation was at that time. This time will be worse."
"Worse?"
"The Ministry of Magic will collapse and be controlled by You-Know-Who. I'm worried that they will implicate you because of me." Albert did not hide the fact that "the Death Eaters came to my hometown yesterday."
"Death Eater, are you sure?"
"I'm sure that even if I can strengthen the defenses around the house, it's still not safe. Powerful wizards can easily break them." Albert paused for a moment and continued, "Even if you move to another place, it's actually not safe. If the Death Eaters want to catch you, they will rush into St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries to catch you."
"Has the situation become so bad?" Mrs. McGonagall frowned deeply.
"Not yet, but it's hard to say after a while," Albert reminded.
"Why don't you and Isobel leave England?" Mrs. MacDougal never worried about her safety.
"We are safe. Others don't even know the exact location of the town where we live. Even if they did, there's nothing they can do. The Fidelius Charm can ensure that no one can find us," Isobel comforted.
Mrs. McDougal looked at Albert and said, "It seems that you have been prepared for this."
"Yes." Albert admitted directly: "If the situation is not good, I will take Isobel away from England. The retreat is ready."
"Then I'm relieved." Mrs. McDougal knew that Albert's arrangement was entirely out of consideration for her safety, but... she had no intention of giving up her current job.
"I won't hide." She looked at her daughter and said, "But you can arrange a safe place for Katrina. What I am most worried about are the sisters."
"Mom!" Katrina frowned in dissatisfaction. She would not abandon her mother and hide away.
"Albert is right. If the You-Know-Who comes back, you'd better find a place to hide." Mrs. McDougal looked at Katrina and said, "Anyway, it's boring for you to stay at home, and it's not safe. Don't blame Albert. I experienced the First Wizarding War and know what it was like. Many of your relatives died because of it. Hiding and staying away from trouble may be the best choice."
"What about you?"
"Death Eaters rarely kill neutral pure-blood wizards." Mrs. MacDougal was very precise. Albert seemed to reveal everything, but he actually revealed nothing. Even if he was caught, he couldn't extract any useful information from him."
Mrs. MacDougal could favor pure-bloods when necessary, but as for her daughter's upcoming marriage to a Muggle wizard
Mrs. MacDougal would tell everyone that Albert was actually the heir to a famous surname, but the two sides had a bad relationship and changed their surnames.
Is there anything wrong with this
That’s exactly right.
"How about three meals a day?" Katrina was still making her last struggle.
"I can do it myself," said Mrs. McDougal. "Don't forget, I was the one who brought you up."
"I can ask the house elves to help solve it," Albert took out the prepared backup plan, "but I still suggest that you move to another place temporarily. If someone invades here, we will know it at the first time and make a response plan. As for the house, I'm ready."
Katrina glared at Albert fiercely. She knew that the man in front of her had thought of all the problems.
"Katrina, go pack your things and leave with Isobel tonight!" Mrs. McDougal turned her head to Isobel and said, "Take good care of your sister."
"I will," Isobel said seriously.
It wasn't long before the house-elf apparated away with the suitcase in hand.
Looking at the empty hall, Mrs. McDougal sighed softly, her eyes fell on the photo in the frame, she listened to the music on the radio, closed the Wizard Weekly in her hand, and slowly closed her eyes.
"Are we there yet?"
Coming out of the box, Katrina found herself in a dilapidated house.
"Apparating is prohibited here. Only house-elves can come here directly, so there is no need to worry about being tracked."
After Albert checked that there was no one else around, he called for a few people to follow.
“So careful.”
Katrina knows that Apparition can be tracked.
But... Apparating directly into a forbidden area is a bummer.
God knows what will happen.
When Katrina followed him out, she found herself in some remote place. No wonder Albert said no one knew the location.
“Follow me!”
Albert raised his wand and introduced it to Katrina: "This place is completely deserted. No Muggles will come to disturb us."
"Of course, as long as no one knows we're here, no one can find us, and..."
Albert took out a silver card and handed it to Katrina, saying: Without the secret, you can't find where we live.
As he spoke, he raised his glowing wand and came closer, allowing Katrina to see the words on the silver card clearly: "Remember what is above, don't read it out loud, think about the words you see in your heart."
“The Rose Manor is located in the small town of Quimper.”
Just as Katrina was thinking about the contents on the silver card, a not-small house suddenly appeared in front of her. It looked like it had just been renovated, but it was still obvious that the house was quite old.
"If you have anything to say, let's go inside." Albert opened the door and walked in first.
"But, can this also be considered a manor?" Katrina's eyes fell on the doorplate of Rose Manor, and she was pulled into the house by Isobel. The house-elf closed the door at the end, and the room disappeared again, as if it had never appeared.