"Ron and Hermione will explain everything to you, my dear, I really need to get over there," Mrs. Weasley whispered distraughtly, "It's ......"

They came to the second landing of the staircase.

"The second door on the right-hand side will be opened, and I'll call you."

With that, she hurried downstairs again.

Harry walked across the bright and polished landing and placed his hand on the snake-shaped bedroom doorknob, ready to turn the handle to pull the door open.

"Click—"

Harry couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this, it was undoubtedly the sound of the door opening, but he hadn't turned the doorknob yet?

No, the sound is coming from the left.

Harry subconsciously turned his head to look, only to see a door slam shut again. A second before the door slammed shut, he seemed to see a familiar figure.

"Ahh

The white-washed T-shirt and jeans, and the long hair with a shawl—although not tied up this time, look at the rich and pure black, which is very familiar at the moment.

It's the cowardly woman who came to him to ask for directions before!

"Why is she here?" Harry muttered confusedly.

Although he wanted to know the reason very much now, and even had a bit of an itch in his heart—it was purely out of curiosity, but it didn't seem like a good time to ask.

Since the other party is here now, it seems that he is still staying, so it should be no problem to find an opportunity to ask in the future.

Thinking of this, Harry shook his head and opened the bedroom door in front of him.

He only had time to glance at the room, illuminated by magic lamps, with its high ceilings and two single beds side by side.

The next moment, Harry heard a series of shrill squeaks, followed by an even sharper scream, followed by a messy pile of shaggy hair in his sight.

It was Hermione, and she slammed into Harry, startling him back several steps. Ron's little owl and piggy circled around their heads excitedly.

"Harry! Ron, lo and behold, he's coming—Harry is coming! ”

"Oh - how are you doing? Is everything okay? Are you mad at us? Must be—I know the letter we've sent you is all useless nonsense......"

"But ah! But! We can't really tell you anything, they make us swear, we can't say anything...... But we've got so much to say to you, and you're sure there's a lot to tell us—"

"That's right, Dementors! We've heard that! You met Dementors on the street...... That's terrible, but luckily Maca sent Kingsley to protect you in secret...... Ah...... And today, they received word that there were another Dementor ......"

"Let Harry catch his breath, Hermione." Ron said as he happily closed the door behind Harry.

Ron seems to have been growing very fast lately, and he seems to have grown a few inches taller during the time they've been apart, which makes him look a little taller and thinner before.

But the fleshy nose, the fiery red hair, and the freckles on the cheeks were still exactly the same as before.

Hermione was interrupted by Ron, but her face was still full of joy.

But before she could say anything more, she heard a light whirring sound behind her, and a white shadow flew down from the top of the black wardrobe and landed on Harry's shoulder.

"Hedwig!"

Harry stroked the snow-white feather, its beak rattling and rubbing intimately against Harry's ear.

"It's been restless," Ron said, "and it nearly pecked us half to death when it brought your last two letters, look at this—"

He held up his right hand to show Harry, and saw a wound on his index finger that was almost healing, but apparently not shallow.

"Oh," Harry said ashamedly, "really...... I'm sorry, but I'd like an answer, you know-"

To be honest, he's actually in a much better mood now.

If it had been a few days ago, when Mrs. Weasley had to push him up, he would have argued a few more words. But although he didn't feel comfortable just now, he didn't say much.

Because even Maca tried to speak for him, but after the previous encounter with the five Dementors, he once again understood his lack of strength.

Maca was able to cast magic outside without fear because he had enough of it - he could even cast the Patronus Charm without a wand.

This gap was no longer enough to make Harry unwilling, except for being motivated, there were no other unnecessary feelings.

But in fact, compared to Harry's awakening, Hermione and Ron have been stimulated even more recently.

You know, now in this Order of the Phoenix, Maca is the only commander! And what was the basis by which he was able to get so many adult wizards into action?

He relied not only on his magical prowess, but also on his intelligence and leadership.

Recently, most of Maca's command operations have not been hidden from Hermione and Ron, and in such a tight mission schedule, he even has room to explain some of the purpose of the mission to Hermione and Ron.

Not to mention Ron, at least in the process, Hermione did have a lot to gain.

However, there was one thing that Hermione was very dissatisfied with - the last time she mustered up the courage to make a declaration of love, but Maca decisively refused when they met for the second time.

Although the refusal was very simple, it made her feel quite depressed! But she thought about it carefully, if Maca didn't say anything, she would be even more itchy, right?

Of course, does this mean that Miss Ben wants to retreat? I, Hermione Jane Granger, am not a girl who would back down so easily!

Hermione...... Hermione? ”

"Huh?"

She snapped back to her senses, only to find Harry staring at her worriedly!

"Oh-I'm fine! It's okay—" Hermione said with a little embarrassment, "where did you just go?" ”

Of course, she won't tell Ron about the fact that she took the initiative to confess to Maca, even if this matter is actually instigated by Ron, but it is still a little shy for her to say it.

At this point, Ron didn't care about anything, he picked up Harry's words and continued.

“…… Actually, we want to talk to you well, buddy," Ron said, "Hermione worries you to death...... She kept babbling that if you were stuck there and didn't get any news, you would do something stupid. But they forced us to ......"

"-swear not to tell me," Harry shrugged, "yes, Hermione already said it." ”

In the end, being left out by myself is really a little depressed.

There was a dull silence as Harry gently stroked Hedwig, a little lost in thought.

"They seem to think it's best to do this," Hermione couldn't help but explain again when she saw her best friend, "I mean Ron's parents—"

Ron nodded helplessly, to be honest, he was a little suspicious of who the Weasleys were the children of the Weasleys - the Weasleys seemed to be a little overprotective of Harry.

"yes......" Harry noticed that Hermione also had a scar on her hand that had been pecked by Hedwig, and another wave of apology welled up in his heart, "Forget it! It's okay, I was just a little ...... before"

But as he was talking, he was suddenly stunned, and frowned as if he remembered something.

"Wait!" Harry suddenly said, "Hermione, did you just say that...... Maka sent someone to protect me secretly? ”

"Yes! His name is Kingsley, a dark-skinned Auror, and I heard that he is still an elite! Hermione nodded, "At first, Sirius wanted to arrange for another person to go, but Maca replaced him. ”

"No wonder it was ...... that day"

Harry immediately recalled the first encounter with the Dementors.

Although the Dementor didn't actually appear that night, he did sense a familiar warmth - it must have been the Patronus Charm that Kingsley had cast!

"Why, then, did they have to keep me in the dark?" Harry shook off his frustration at being followed, and said in confusion, "You guys...... Well...... Have you asked them? ”

As soon as he looked up, he caught a glimpse of the two of them exchanging glances, as if there was something indescribable, which made him wonder even more.

Eventually, they nodded, and then Hermione spoke.

"It was Maca's decision, he ......," Hermione said hesitantly, "and he said, 'Harry isn't in good shape right now, he needs to get out of the shadow of the Final Three or he won't be able to participate.'" ’”

“…… ...... in the Final Three Shadow ......"

Harry immediately understood what Maca meant.

Yes, he understands! And unfortunately, he has not been able to get out of it until now.

Harry condemned himself in the depths of his heart when he was seriously injured - he couldn't help it!

If the Gryffindor Sword had been stuck on the floor in front of him right now, he would have even fled from this bedroom immediately, without hesitation.

The Gryffindor Sword wasn't something that could be picked up by just someone, and he could use it to slay the dragon, but now he didn't even have the courage to look at it.

A Gryffindor who has lost his courage, is it still a Gryffindor?

"Maca is right...... Harry said dejectedly, "I'm not as smart as you are Hermione, and if I want to be useful, I can only rely on magic and the Sword of Gryffindor...... But now ......"

"Don't say that," Ron scratched his head, his face full of complexity, "at least you're better than me...... I'm the one who should work hard......"

"No!" Harry blinked, pondered for a moment before saying, "You're so much better at chess than I am!" ”

"Hey! Don't comfort me! Ron covered his face and sighed, "What's the matter with being good at chess?" Can I still smash the mystery man with a chess piece! ”