"Harry, I'm afraid I know where Hagrid is," Ron said with a serious face.
"What?" Harry was taken aback by the news and exclaimed, drawing sharp glares from Madam Pince, the librarian, filled with warnings.
They now had to go to the library to study seriously. This semester was coming to an end, but they hadn't fully mastered all their courses. There were various reasons for this, such as the Gryffindor team's extensive training to win the Quidditch match, which took up a lot of their extracurricular time, and the few intrusions by Sirius Black that made the students panic. These were objective reasons.
The subjective reasons need not be stated explicitly. Except for a few extremely self-disciplined students, who hasn't frantically studied before a deadline, like dancing on the tip of a knife? Efficiency is always extremely high before that.
Just as Harry was desperately trying to remember the recipe for the "Shrinking Solution" he had learned this semester, Ron interrupted him and brought him news of Hagrid.
"What's wrong with him? Where is he?" Harry closed his textbook and asked quickly.
"My dad mentioned him unintentionally in a letter to me," Ron said, lowering his voice. Madam Pince next to them was staring at them angrily with her deep-set eyes, as if they had seriously disrupted the order and committed a major mistake.
"He said he saw our big friend," Ron said softly to Harry, handing over the letter he had received.
"But he doesn't know how worried we are about him," Ron sighed. Arthur Weasley only mentioned a little about Hagrid in the letter. In his opinion, it was just a trivial matter, incidental, because he didn't know what had happened at school. Ron was too embarrassed to tell him that the trouble he had caused might have involved others.
"Ron, haven't you finished reading your letter?" Harry's face suddenly changed.
"Did my dad write anything else at the end? He always lectures me at the end of every letter, telling me to learn from my older brothers or something. Of course, he won't mention George and Fred, they always worry him more than I do, so I usually don't read it."
"But maybe he just happened to say something else this time," Harry said in a chilling tone, handing the letter back.
Ron then completely read the contents of the letter, which read:
"Although Dad doesn't want to complain to you about work, I still want to tell you that if you don't want to be bossed around at work in the future, then you have to work hard now so that you won't have to live by other people's rules in the future. You may never imagine that Fudge actually pulled Lucius into the Ministry of Magic, it's unbelievable. He's reportedly on the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures and the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Heaven knows how much money he donated. Fortunately, we're not in the same department, otherwise I really don't know what would happen between us every day at work."
"This is really not a happy thing," Ron's tone dropped, and the image of that man appeared in his mind—pale golden hair, cold gray-blue eyes, and a pale, pointed face. His few meetings with him were not pleasant memories.
"Look again, Ron," Harry said urgently, pointing to the lines above.
"On the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures and the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures?" Ron read it again, and this time he finally understood.
"It's likely that he's targeting Hagrid!" Ron waved his fist and said indignantly.
"Last semester, he even wanted to impeach Dumbledore, but he didn't succeed. This time, he just seized the opportunity. We all know that Hagrid is Dumbledore's man. Not long after he cleared his name, as long as Hagrid is caught doing something wrong again, it will definitely be a blow to Dumbledore's image, and then he can make a big deal out of it again," Harry said quickly, immediately analyzing the possible situation.
"Where's Hermione? Where is she? She definitely has a way!" Ron said. Last time, it was Hermione's successful intervention that stopped Lucius's plan. Hermione is also the one who knows the Wizarding Laws best among the three. If she were here, she might be able to think of a way.
"She's not here. I haven't seen her this month except for class," Harry shook his head and said, "She seems to be even busier. I accidentally saw her schedule, and she actually had two classes scheduled at the same time. Is there magic that can create a double?"
"If I learned it, I would definitely use one to go to class and one to play. She's good, she uses both bodies to go to class."
Ron said enviously, as if he had already determined that Hermione had learned this magic.
"Anyway, we should find her to discuss a solution now," Harry said.
And the person the two were looking for was concentrating on brewing a potion in the girls' bathroom on the second floor of the castle.
"Today is the last day," Hermione thought, forcibly controlling her trembling hands to stop. This time, she had no helpers and had to rely on herself.
Well, to be precise, there were no human helpers. There might still be a ghost.
Moaning Myrtle was sitting on the toilet, watching Hermione's skillful movements intently. She had been watching Hermione brew potions here for almost a month. This girl always praised her in different ways, making her very happy, so she also decided to keep the secret for the girl in front of her. She still remembered that in the second grade, this girl had also fearlessly broken into the place she feared for her classmates.
Maybe she has encountered some problem now, Myrtle is a compassionate and kind ghost who will keep secrets for her.
"Next is to add the juice of wormwood," Hermione muttered to herself. She believed that such constant self-talk could help her make the potion more stably and avoid making mistakes in the next step.
Watching the dark cyan potion that was still boiling violently in the cauldron gradually calm down, like the raging waves had vented its emotions and were willing to return to silence. The pungent smell also subsided, and even the color slowly turned into a transparent and colorless state.
Colorless and odorless, this is a major feature of Veritaserum. It seems that the purpose of the person who invented this potion was to obtain other people's secrets silently.
For more chapters
patreon.com/Jackssparrow