The three of them went to the castle to look for Albert.
However, the castle in front of us, which had lost its usual vitality, looked eerie and terrifying. Even the ghosts that often walked through the castle disappeared silently.
All this made Harry and Ron, who were accustomed to the noisy castle during school days, feel uncomfortable and involuntarily reached for the wands on their belts.
"Where do you think Albert will be?" Hagrid was the first to break the silence.
"Probably, it should be in the library, or the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor!" Harry was stunned for a moment, and after thinking briefly, he continued, "Of course, it could also be in the Defense Against the Dark Arts office. Do you know where the Defense Against the Dark Arts office is?
?”
"I think Albert will most likely stay in his office, followed by the library." Ron seemed to think of something, turned his head and asked: "Harry, did you bring the Marauder's Map?"
"The Marauder's Map is with Hermione." Harry shook his head. "She seems to be planning to go back to school to finish her seventh grade, so she borrowed the map from me."
Ever since Harry became an Auror and started working for the Ministry of Magic, the Marauder's Map was of little use to him, and naturally he would not carry it with him.
Therefore, the three of them can only try to find Albert's whereabouts.
They were the first to ring the door at the Defense Against the Dark Arts office on the third floor. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no one inside, so they had no choice but to go to the library on the fifth floor to try their luck.
Fortunately, they were lucky. The door of the library was ajar, and a familiar yet unfamiliar voice came from inside.
When they pushed the door open and walked into the library, they found that Albert and Cedric stopped talking and stared at them sideways.
Cedric looked at the people at the door, turned his head and said to Albert: "I should be here to see you."
After Albert's eyes fell on Ron's face, he had already anticipated the arrival of the three people.
"Well... we have lost contact with Hermione." Harry was pushed gently from behind by Ron and was forced to stand up and asked: "Do you know what's going on with Hermione now?"
"Hermione? Isn't Hermione home?" Albert looked at Harry and Ron in confusion, seeming to think of something, and explained: "Her family is now settled in Australia, so Hermione is in Australia."
"Is Hermione planning to settle in Australia?" Ron's eyes widened and he finally couldn't help asking.
"After all, Hermione has been separated from her family for a long time, so it's normal for her to want to spend more time with her family, right?" Albert looked at Ron in confusion, as if he couldn't understand what Ron was excited about, "Besides, she's not
Did you say you would go back to Hogwarts to repeat your seventh year?"
"Look, I knew it would be like this." Hagrid reached out and patted Ron's shoulder, comforting him, "So, you don't have to worry about it."
Ron was staggered by Hagrid's big hand. As soon as he stabilized his body, he couldn't wait to ask: "Does Hermione plan to stay in England after graduation?"
When he said this, Cedric cast a look like this at Ron, and he probably guessed what was going on.
If it were him, he would probably come to Albert for information.
However, judging from Ron's reaction, they seemed... to be one-sided. Moreover, Hermione went to Australia to find her family, and it seemed that Albert and Hermione went together to find them.
Even though Albert is already married, this matter seems a bit... well, uncomfortable no matter how you look at it.
"Oh, I'll probably stay in the UK."
"Very good."
Ron almost jumped up.
Albert raised his eyebrows slightly and briefly analyzed, "After all, Hermione is not familiar with Australia. Everything in that land is unfamiliar to her except her parents, and wizards from Muggle families are not familiar with it after their children graduate from school.
, usually gradually separate from their family members."
Albert knew exactly what Ron was thinking and suggested, "Actually, you can ask Hermione yourself about this kind of thing. After all, Hermione will definitely return to Hogwarts when school starts in September."
As he said that, Albert looked sideways at Harry and asked, "Isn't Ginny going to go back to school to repeat her studies?"
"I will definitely not go back to school to continue studying."
Speaking of this incident, Harry felt very guilty. Ginny had given up too many things for him.
"Where's Hagrid?"
Albert nodded, looked at Hagrid and asked, "What do you want from me?"
"I just killed a big rooster, and when I heard that you were here, I wanted to invite you to my place for a meal and talk about the courses for next semester. My advanced course in Care of Magical Creatures was a complete mess. I want to hear what you have to say.
Good advice." Hagrid casually made an excuse for himself, and then said to Cedric: "You also come to Diggory, I remember that you seem to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor next semester."
"I'm afraid not Hagrid. I have an appointment with someone else at noon."
"who?"
Hagrid's tone was particularly resentful, and he suspected that Albert was not confident about his cooking skills.
"Kingsley."
Albert winked at Cedric and said, "You know, I still have the title of senior advisor on my head, so I can't always refuse the minister's invitation."
"It does happen." Cedric noticed Albert's gaze and cleared his throat and said, "Mr. Minister has always wanted to find an excuse to treat Albert to a meal and talk about the current situation in the wizarding world.
.You know, Albert has always been reluctant to go to the Ministry of Magic, so the Minister had to find other ways."
Hagrid's face was full of resentment when he heard this, but he couldn't say anything more and could only sulk alone.
"Then when are you free?"
"As you know, I've been very busy recently, and many things require me."
"Because of what happened to Umbridge?" Harry thought he had guessed the reason. "I heard they were suspecting Nelson Tobin was the mastermind behind it."
"This is not surprising at all. Nelson Tobin's character is very radical, and he has an indirect hatred with Umbridge. Umbridge's policies killed his whole family." Albert said what he heard from Harry.
I’m not surprised to hear such news, “I guess Kingsley doesn’t have any evidence to prove Nelson Tobin!”
"Yes, there is no evidence." Harry hesitated for a moment, then said, "Actually, Kingsley hopes to reach some kind of tacit understanding with Nelson Tobin."
"This is actually normal." Albert said that he could understand this. "Even if Kingsley really finds any evidence, he will not attack Nelson Tobin easily, especially during this time period, otherwise it will easily cause the entire
With the backlash from the wizarding world, maybe the people who once supported him will shout for him to step down and get out. After all, many people want Umbridge to die, and he will not easily go against public opinion."
"But why didn't Kingsley sentence Umbridge to death?" Ron was even more confused. This matter was obviously very simple. As long as Umbridge died, all problems would be solved.
"Because the law doesn't allow it."
Cedric answered Ron's question for Albert, "The Minister is only temporary now and has no power to change this part of the law, and even if he could do that, he would not do it. As the Minister of Magic, he needs to maintain
The credibility of the law.”
"I don't think Kingsley really cares about the law that much."
Ron hopes to reach some kind of tacit understanding with Nelson Tobin from Kingsley. It is not difficult to see that their minister does not care about legal matters at all.
Otherwise, how could it be done?
"That's because you don't understand the nature of the law!" Albert said meaningfully.
"What?" Everyone looked stunned and turned their heads to look at Albert.
"The very purpose of law, from the moment it was born, is to strengthen and maintain the ruler's rule. Maintaining order is second, and the third is helping to uphold justice."
"So, it's not surprising that sometimes we encounter things that seem ridiculous."
When everyone suspected that the attacker was not a Death Eater, Kingsley still took the initiative to suppress the incident and put the blame on the Death Eaters for this reason.
Once the investigation turns out to be done by someone who originally supported Kingsley, he may not even be able to serve as interim minister.
"Now you understand why I hate those politicians so much." Albert looked at Harry who was full of astonishment and reminded kindly: "If you want to go further as an Auror, then you definitely need to
Face these problems."
"I always thought that Cornelius Fudge was an exception, but I didn't expect that it turned out to be like this." Harry's expression was extremely complicated, and Albert's words directly smashed many filters to pieces.
"It's better for you to have a comfortable life."
To be honest, Cedric was quite envious of Albert, but envy was envy, and he was actually quite satisfied with his current life.
"Everyone has their own choice."
"By the way, do you know where Hermione lives?" Ron suddenly interrupted and asked.
"Don't worry, Hermione should be returning to England in a few days." Harry turned his head and asked Ron: "Are you planning to settle in the new village?"
"This...I haven't thought about it yet."
"Then think about it carefully."
With that said, Albert looked at Hagrid and said, "If you retire in the future, you can also consider settling down with us."
"I think I can still work at Hogwarts for another thirty years." Hagrid never thought about leaving Hogwarts and going somewhere else.
This is his home.
However, Hagrid was still very grateful to Albert for the invitation.