They followed Professor McGonagall out of the dormitory, down the spiral staircase to the common room, through the portrait hole, and down the moonlit hallway of the fat lady. On the way, it met Lady Loris, who turned its bulb-like eyes at them and hissed faintly, and Professor McGonagall said "Shhhh A few minutes later, they came to the stone beast at the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

Loris was Animagus, and the thought popped into Harry's mind.

"Honey bee candy. Professor McGonagall said.

The stone beast came alive and jumped to the side, and the wall behind it split in half, revealing a rising stone staircase that resembled a spiral escalator. They stepped up the stairs, the walls clattering behind them. They ascended in a small circle to the gleaming oak door, which had a bronze knocker in the shape of a sphin-headed embogriff.

Even though it was already past midnight, there was a loud noise in the room, as if Dumbledore was entertaining at least a dozen people.

Professor McGonagall tapped the beast-shaped knocker three times, and her voice suddenly stopped, as if it had been turned off. The door opened automatically, and Neville stepped in first.

The room was half-lit and half-dark, and the strange silver instruments on the table sat silently, instead of buzzing and spitting out puffs of smoke as usual. Portraits of past principals on the walls snore in frames.

Andrew Lee, and a diminutive elf were sitting across from Headmaster Albus, both of whom turned to look at the crowd. Behind the headmaster's high-backed chair, heads like swans, with golden and red feathers, and large birds of extraordinary beauty dozing off on their perches, their heads hidden under their wings.

"It happened, Professor. Professor McGonagall said as soon as she entered.

Dumbledore sat in a high-backed chair behind his desk, leaning in front of the candlelight to read the papers. He was dressed in snow-white pajamas and a plain robe with gold on a purple background, but he looked energetic, and his piercing blue eyes were fixed on the intruder.

"Happened?" Professor Dumbledore said, "What?"

"Harry dreamed—" Professor McGonagall began.

"Not a nightmare. Harry immediately said, "That's not a dream, it's... That's true, I can assure you".

"I know," Professor Dumbledore said gently, his eyes bursting with a breathtaking light, "Harry, how did this happen?"

"I-well, I'm sleeping-" Harry said, "but it's no ordinary dream-it's real-I've seen it happen-" he took a deep breath, "Ron's father—Mr. Weasley—was bitten by a large snake. ”

Dumbledore leaned back and glanced at Andrew.

"How did you see that?" Dumbledore asked softly, still looking into Andrew's eyes.

"Well—I don't know," Harry said with a bit of annoyance, "in my head—"

"You misunderstood," Dumbledore said in a calm tone, "I mean—do you remember—ah—where were you at the time of the attack? were you standing next to the victim, or were you looking down from above?"

"I'm the snake," Harry said, "and I've seen it from the snake's point of view—"

Dumbledore changed his tone to a stronger tone and said, "Is Arthur seriously injured?"

"I don't know, I was bitten on the arm. But the snake, the snake was injured by a lot of people who came out of nowhere. It ran away and was angry. Harry said,

Dumbledore jerked to his feet and said to an old portrait very close to the ceiling, "Evra?" he snapped, "And you, Dalyse!"

A yellow-faced wizard with short black bangs and an old witch with long silver hair hanging down from the spit next to him immediately opened their eyes, both of whom seemed to have slept soundly just now.

"Did you hear that?" asked Dumbledore.

The wizard nodded, and the witch said, "Of course." ”

"The man was red-haired and wore glasses. Dumbledore said, "Evra, you need to raise the alarm to make sure he's found by his own people-"

The two wizards nodded and exited the frame from the side, but instead of appearing in the frame next to it (as often happens at Hogwarts), they vanished. Only a dark curtain remained in one frame, and a beautiful leather chair in the other.

"Please sit down for a moment," said Dumbledore, "Evra and Talis won't be back until a few minutes later - Professor McGonagall, could you pull two more chairs." ”

Professor McGonagall pulled her wand out of her pocket and waved it, conjuring up four chairs, wooden with straight backs.

Dumbledore stroked the golden feathers on Fawkes's head with one finger, and the phoenix immediately woke up, raised its beautiful head and neck, and looked at him with bright dark eyes.

"We need a little alarm. Dumbledore said softly to it.

With a flash of fire, the phoenix was gone.

Dumbledore sat back in his chair, "Andrew, it looks like we've succeeded. ”

"Almost," Andrew said, "a little better than I expected." ”

"What?" asked Harry.

Before Andrew could reply, there was a shout on the wall on the right, and the wizard named Evra had returned to the frame, a little out of breath.

"Dumbledore!"

"What's the news?" Dumbledore asked immediately.

"I saw it," said the wizard, wiping his forehead with a curtain, "not in danger of his life, but just about to be bitten." ”

"Good," Dumbledore said, and Ron breathed a sigh of relief, "I think Dalyse will see him go in, and—"

After a while, the witch with the silver curls of hair also returned to the frame, she coughed and sat down in the leather chair and said, "They've sent him to St. Mungo, Dumbledore—they've walked under my portrait—he looks healthy—"

"Thank you. Dumbledore said, turning to look at Professor McGonagall.

"Minerva, I need you to wake up the rest of the Weasley family. ”

"Of course—"

Professor McGonagall stood up and walked briskly to the door.

"Dumbledore—and Molly?" Professor McGonagall said from the doorway.

"Let Fawkes go after she's finished," Dumbledore said, "but she probably already knew—her marvelous wall clock—"

Dumbledore walked over to another portrait, a wizard with a goatee and an intelligent appearance. He was dressed in a silver and green Slytherin costume and seemed to be sleeping soundly, not even hearing Dumbledore call him.

"Phineas, Phineas!"

Now the people on the walls are no longer pretending to be asleep, they are walking around in the frames, so that they can see more clearly. While the wise-looking wizard continued to pretend to be asleep, some of them began to call him as well.

"Phineas, Phineas, Phineas!"

He couldn't pretend anymore, so he moved exaggeratedly, his eyes wide.

"Did anyone call me?"

"I need you to run through another of your portraits, Phineas," Dumbledore said, "and I've got another message. ”

"Which of my portraits to run?" Phineas said sharply, letting out a long yawn (his gaze swept around the room and fell on Harry), "Oh no, Dumbledore, I'm so tired tonight-"

"Disobedience, sir!" roared a big, fat wizard with a red nose waving his fist, "disobedience!"

"We have an obligation to serve the current Headmaster of Hogwarts!" shouted an old wizard who looked frail, "Shame on you, Phineas!"

"Do you want me to convince him, Dumbledore?" a shrewd-eyed witch raised a wand that was as thick as a birch strip.

"Oh, well," Phineas said, glancing at the wand a little frightened, "though he may have ruined my portrait by now, he's ruined most of the house—"

"Sirius won't spoil your portrait. Dumbledore said, "You have to tell him that Arthur Weasley is wounded and that his wife, his children, and Harry Potter will soon be at his house." Got it?"

"Arthur Weasley is injured, wife and children and Harry Potter are coming. Phineas said lazily, "Okay, okay—okay—"

He slipped out of the frame, and the door to the study opened again, and Fred, George, and Ginny were ushered in by Professor McGonagall, all still in their nightgowns, with disheveled hair and looked terrified.

"Harry—what's going on?" asked Ginny, scared, "Professor McGonagall said you saw Daddy hurt—"

"He's fine," Andrew began, "he's been taken to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Injuries. Just bitten. ”

"Are you really alright?" Fred asked worriedly, "how are we going to go?"

"It's really not life-threatening, don't you believe me?" Andrew said, "I think you need to go over and have a look."

"But Floo fans are not safe at the moment, and the network is being monitored. Use ye the key of the door. Andrew gestured to the innocent-looking old teapot on the table.

"Now just wait for Phineas Nigelus to come back - I want to make sure there's no danger to send you there again-"

A flash of fire flashed in the center of the room, leaving behind a golden feather that floated lightly to the ground.

"It's Fox's alarm. Dumbledore grabbed the feather and said, "Professor Umbridge must know you're not in bed—Minerva, go and get her away—whatever the pretext—"

With the rustle of tartan, Professor McGonagall left.

"He said welcome," said a lazy voice behind Dumbledore, the wizard named Phineas reappeared in front of the Slytherin banner.

"My great-grandson has a quirk of keeping people to stay—"

"Come on," Dumbledore said to Harry, "quick, before anyone comes-"

"Andrew, aren't you going?" Neville saw that Andrew hadn't moved.

"I have more important things to do. Andrew laughed and said, "Meet at Christmas." ”

So they all gathered around the table

"You've all used the portkey, haven't you?" asked Dumbledore, and everyone nodded, each putting their hands on the black teapot.

"Good. I counted to three, one-two-"

It was just a moment's work: in the brief pause before Dumbledel's majority reached "three", Harry and the others vanished, leaving only Professor Dumbledore and Elder Andrew and Dora in the huge office.

Andrew sat down in his chair, but he immediately stood up again, and he tapped the chair with his wand, and the wooden chair with its straight back became a sponge sofa.

"Nice Transfiguration, Andrew. Dumbledore said, "What do you think of tonight's action?"

"What do you think?" said Andrew, his eyes drooping, "this time the plan was not ideal, the time was too rushed, and Tom seemed to have understood that an incomplete soul would limit him to the next level. As the Wizard Army and the Tang Organization approached step by step, Riddle already felt a little frightened, and he had to take action. ”

So Tom was desperate to find out what was wrong. He needed to know the full content of the prophecy, he needed to figure out what had gone wrong!" Dumbledore continued.

"Yes, that prophecy made Tom a big deal. Riddle had understood that there were not many opportunities left for him. I have to be cautious, if I act rashly now, the biggest possibility is to become someone else's puppet. "Whether it's Gatler Grindelwald, who has almost completed his domination of Europe at this time, or the demigods who are gradually coming to the surface, the Dark Lord is at a disadvantage. ”

"Yes, Andrew, Tom is at a disadvantage, and we're no better!" Dumbledore said in a low voice, his half-moon-shaped glasses bursting with an astonishing glow, and Andrew was almost certain that Albus Dumbledore must have regained the power of magic by using some forbidden magic.

"No, Professor. It's not us, it's the Ministry of Magic. Andrew closed his eyes and said, "I, or Elder Dora, and the Ministry of Magic are only working together, and we are far from being 'we'. ”

"At least we're in the same boat now, aren't we?" Dumbledore whispered, "Although we have done a good job, the situation of wizarding Britain is still precarious, and the wizarding army and the forces in the shadows could swallow the entire Ministry of Magic at any time, and I can't stop it alone." ”

"Professor. Andrew suddenly opened his eyes and saw Dumbledore looking at him with a serious expression, "Did you know that the Far East is the only ancient civilization that has maintained a complete historical record? A great Far Eastern master once said that there are two words written in the history books of the Far East, do you know what they are?"

"No, I don't know, Andy. Dumbledore crossed his hands, slightly blocking the glint in his eyes.

"Cannibalism!" Andrew whispered, "I don't care what happens to the so-called wizarding Britain, and I don't care if the wizards who have nothing to do with me live or die. Even the whole wizarding world is nothing more than a meaningless passerby to me. ”

Andrew's eyes also burst into flames, and his gaze seemed to scorch through the air, "The only things that can make me care are those that deserve my attention." Elder Dora has helped me a lot, so I'm willing to run for the cause of freeing the elves. So don't tell me that Wizarding Britain is in danger, I don't care. ”

"If you want my support, you need to commit yourself enough. ”

The light in Albus Dumbledore's eyes dimmed slightly, eventually retreating into a slender flame. The headmaster leaned back on the quilt and suddenly returned to his old appearance.

"Albus, although Andy said something ruthless, it is the truth. You don't have to hide anything, we all know the situation at the Ministry of Magic right now. You should know better than us what Fudge, Umbridge, Malfoy, and Lestrange are doing right now. The elves have been imprisoned and oppressed by wizards for centuries, and if that wasn't enough, then the country simply doesn't deserve mercy. Elder Dora said firmly.