Minerva had rushed back from France.
Yes, the sudden breakthrough of the German-French border on the second battlefield this time is indeed a huge event, which makes European countries, big and small, no longer able to sit still;
Then, yes, Minerva McGonagall, as the current principal of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the UK, has both a sense of responsibility and philanthropy in her heart. She is very concerned about this crisis that started in the UK and almost plunged the entire European human race into purgatory. I have been paying attention to the catastrophic disasters and thinking about what I can do for people.
It's just that this time she rushed to France at this juncture... To be honest, it was a rare occasion for her to go to France for a private matter.
To be precise, she went to France to meet two people.
But this morning, the news Aberforth sent from Italy was too urgent. This forced Minerva, who originally planned to stay in France for a few more days to get a closer look at the battle situation on the front line while meeting people, to apparate back to the community from a long distance.
Of course, along the way, she used her entourage to reveal herself and bring the two people she saw with her.
"Don't worry, everyone living here is not a bad person. After all, they are all just like you, they are just refugees... We have something to discuss later, so you can just sit down and have a rest. Abufu Si is the owner there, who was originally a bar owner. He has wine and some simple snacks there. I will ask him to get you some later... "
It was already dawn, and Professor McGonagall, who had just appeared at the intersection with someone, was now leading two people walking down the street. As she walked, her steps seemed a little hurried, but her words were gentle and patient, as if she was chatting with her neighbors.
To be honest, if the little wizards at Hogwarts saw it, they would probably think that Professor Minerva McGonagall was a fake - they had never seen McGonagall who was always decisive and fierce. Professors actually have such an "ordinary and simple" side.
If I had to make an analogy... Well, it's like just an ordinary Muggle peasant woman in the countryside!
"...here we are, this is it."
Suddenly, Minerva, who was chattering away, stopped in front of Aberforth's house. She did not rush to open the door, but took another look at the expressions on the faces of the two people next to her, as if taking care of their still somewhat uneasy emotions. After confirming that they were okay, she reached out and pushed the door open.
Just the moment you step in.
The usually capable and stern and decisive Professor Minerva McGonagall is back!
…
"Crack, squeak—"
The door was opened from the outside, causing so many pairs of eyes in the room to look over together - it was Professor McGonagall who was back. But behind the other party, there seemed to be two unfamiliar faces.
Those were two women.
One of them looks a little old, with few brown hairs in his pale hair, and his figure is also a bit bloated. The wrinkles on the face show the ruthlessness of the years, and the rough hands tell the hardships of life.
The other one should be much younger. Although there were wrinkles on her forehead, the unknown sadness and the sudden discovery that many people were looking at her made her more conspicuous, but she was still a woman with delicate features.
Judging from their appearance, they might be a mother and daughter.
"Minerva," the curious Slughorn spoke first. After smiling at the two gentlemen, he looked at Professor McGonagall again, "Who are these two?"
He had discovered from the beginning that these two women seemed to be Muggles.
"My old acquaintance."
Mag obviously had no intention of giving a detailed introduction to everyone here. After saying such a simple sentence, she led the people to settle down temporarily at the unoccupied small round table in front of the window.
"Aberforth, please bring some delicious snacks and drinks! We just came back in a hurry, and they haven't had breakfast yet!" After watching the two of them sit down nervously, she turned around and said .
In the simple bar, Aberforth glanced at a few people, turned around and went to the kitchen behind without saying anything. Soon, several plates of cookies, pastries and two cups of milk floated out from inside, over the heads of everyone in the room, and finally caught the anxious, but somehow complicated eyes of the two Muggle ladies brought by McGonagall. It landed firmly on the tabletop of the small round table.
"Eat! Aberforth's craftsmanship is actually quite good. Although the things he makes are always simple and unpretentious, the taste is quite pleasing - we only learned about it recently!"
A gentle smile appeared on Professor McGonagall's face again. As she said this, she reached out and picked up a cookie from a plate and took a bite. After seeing both of them nodding and calming down to taste it, he turned around again and came to the people gathered near the bar.
Then, her eyes finally fell on Snape, who had not made any move since she entered.
"Severus, you-"
"I saw McClain."
Professor McGonagall was about to ask about Snape's trip to the disaster area alone that Aberforth mentioned in the brief summons, but unexpectedly Snape immediately gave the answer first.
As for this answer, not only McGonagall, but also the other professors and others present immediately became very excited about it.
In fact, at first, when no one else came, Snape just sat there in a daze as he said to Mrs. Hooch until now, without giving any explanation to anyone in advance.
Although everyone was very anxious, after hearing from Aberforth and Mrs. Hooch that Snape had gone to what is now England, everyone wanted to know if he had met Harry and Hermione who had not returned yet. Waiting for others, and whether there are any significant gains. But everyone here basically knows Snape, and knows that if the other person doesn't want to talk, he probably won't be able to get the words out of his mouth, so they can only wait patiently.
Because everyone knew that when Professor McGonagall came back, Snape would definitely speak - even though he claimed to wait for everyone to come together, the person Snape wanted to wait for was probably just McGonagall.
And looking at Snape's cold and silent expression, it was obvious that the news he brought back this time was anything but simple.
However, even though everyone has been thinking and conjecturing in a serious direction, they still did not expect that the news that Snape brought to everyone today was so...
"McLean gave up his human body, took over the body of a demon, and followed an unknown witch named 'Kern'."
"What!"
For a moment, almost everyone cried out.