“…… So, where did Maca go? ”

In the halls of St. Mungo, Ron was looking at Ginny in front of him with a puzzled face. Although he had only heard Ginny's explanation just now, he still didn't seem to fully understand.

But it didn't matter, because Ron quickly nodded to himself again.

"Alright! In fact, Maca secretly left and listened to the normal ...... Didn't we often find him where he was? He waved his hand lightly, "It doesn't matter, because every time it comes to the most critical moment, he will reappear in front of us on time." ”

Regarding Hermione's analysis of Maca's departure, as well as the "trap" statement, Ginny naturally didn't mention it to anyone else. According to Hermione, it could have taken its course.

Otherwise, if Helbo sees the flaw, he may not be able to make him "fooled".

However, it is a pity that Hermione did not completely guess Maca's plan this time - at the moment, that guy is indeed far away in France, and what he wants is to make Helbo "not fooled".

"Oh no, uh-huh...... I heard Maca say that the place he was going to this time seemed to be a bit far away, and he might not be able to come back for a while. ”

Following Hermione's train of thought, Ginny deliberately added something that Maca hadn't said at all, trying to create a feeling that "in case of emergency, Maca may not be able to return in time".

As the saying goes, "the speaker is intentional and the listener is unintentional", so if Helpo is indeed lurking in St. Mungo, then he must feel that this is undoubtedly a "good opportunity to do it".

At least that's what Ginny thinks.

"Really?" Ron exchanged glances with Harry, who was sorting through the roster, and then he said, "Then we should do some preparations?" You see, although this St. Mungory is safe, it may not be safe forever...... Now that Maca isn't here, we'll have to take his place to protect the wounded here! ”

"Huh? Belch...... Oh, yes! ”

Ginny was still thinking about Helbo, and she almost didn't react at once. Instead, Harry nodded briskly and agreed:

"Ron, you're right - thanks to Hermione, we're now in a position to protect everyone. Since Maca has something to do temporarily, of course we can't do it! ”

"Okay," Ron immediately shook his fist at Harry, "and after we've given the medicine to the patients on the roster in a moment, we'll go to the sixth floor to practice...... Have you put your roster in order? ”

"Okay, okay, let's go......"

Ginny was stunned as she watched Ron lift the basket containing the potions bottle and walk to the other end of the hall with Harry with the name book.

She had wanted to continue to "inadvertently" mention the news about Maca's departure! How do you know that this pair of buddies said everything to me, and they said it so righteously and awe-inspiringly that she didn't even find a gap to interject.

"Ginny, come on! There are still three female patients who need to change their dressings in a while, and we two men can't do that job! ”

Hearing Harry call out to herself, Ginny had to put aside her thoughts for a moment and hurried in the direction of the two men.

"It's coming!"

……

Around the same time, Hermione was in the hospital room on the fifth floor, quietly talking to Sirius and Kingsley.

Anyway, if Ginny remembered correctly, Maca did leave with only a few words. I'm not sure yet, but Maca thought—"

"Ahem."

Kingsley interrupted Hermione's narrative with a cough.

"Maka is very busy, and this sudden departure is a testament to that," he said in a deep voice, "I'm sure he'll be back soon, and until then, let's be careful!" As for his departure......"

"Just do as Maca says," Sirius, who sat at the end of the bed, said, "If no one asks, don't take the initiative." ”

"Well, that's good." Kingsley agreed.

Hermione saw that both of them seemed to have a similar meaning to her from Maca's words, and couldn't help but nod their heads in response.

With the approval of these two, Hermione suddenly felt a little more relaxed. She paused, then said "I'll see you later" to Kingsley and Sirius, then turned and headed back to the door.

"Good morning, Hermione!"

"Oh, good morning...... Neville, are you awake? ”

As she passed Old Lady Longbottom's hospital bed, Hermione stopped again with a good morning. Neville was still dozing off the edge of his grandmother's bed when he came in, but he didn't expect that after just a few words of conversation with Kingsley, Neville had already woken up.

"Well, I just woke up."

After the last mention of Maca and the precipitation after that, he seemed to have a kind of firmness and confidence that is unique to Gryffindor, and even his expression became more energetic than before.

As a child, Neville was short and stocky, and often gave people a cringe-inducing feeling. But in the development period of recent years, he unconsciously surpassed most of his classmates.

Perhaps it was only because of the cowardice in his bones that even his tall body could not change his impression in the minds of everyone.

But now, when he finally grasped the courage that only belonged to him under the impetus of his grandmother, it seemed that everything had changed.

"I think I heard you talk about maca just now? What happened to him? Is something big happening again? ”

If it were in the past, Neville would have said so much, but he would have said it intermittently, and how could he ask three questions in one breath?

Hermione thought it was fresh.

"No, it's not a big deal."

She casually answered Neville's question, then took a good look at the other person.

"Seriously, Neville...... You've changed so much from before. ”

"Hmm...... Actually, I don't think it's that big. Neville subconsciously glanced at Grandma on the hospital bed, "And, even though it's changed a lot, everyone seems to think I'm stronger now—even Maca complimented me!" I wouldn't have believed it before that......"

As he spoke, he suddenly raised his hand and rubbed his face, and said in a deep voice:

"But if all these compliments are to be paid for grandma's serious injuries, so many injuries and even deaths...... I'd rather not have these damn changes! ”

This is undoubtedly the first time since Neville was born to speak with the rude word "damn". One can imagine how much his mood has changed after experiencing this upheaval.

Hermione even noticed that Neville's hands suddenly trembled slightly as she said this.

"Hermione, you know what?" He pressed his trembling right hand with his left hand and said softly, "Later, when Sirius took me out to save people, I did save a lot of innocent Muggle residents...... But I also missed many opportunities to save more people! ”

"When I watched them get killed by those monsters, I felt ...... I felt like the whole world was darkened. ”

"And only then did I know that the so-called 'courage' can actually appear at the same time as 'fear'. I was really scared at the time...... No, I'm probably still scared by now! ”

With that, Neville fell silent for a moment.

Hermione, who was standing in front of him, didn't know what to say for a while—in fact, she could understand Neville's feelings, after all, who would really not be afraid of the disaster at that time?

It wasn't long before Neville finally spoke again:

"So, I don't think I've changed much...... I'm still the timid Neville Longbottom. So, I've been hoping that my grandmother will wake up sooner, and only she can tell me...... Am I really worthy of being my mom's son now? ”

These words had been holding on to Neville's heart for days. Maybe if it weren't for Maca's awakening last time, he wouldn't have been able to say it by now, right?

As for Hermione, as Neville's best friend, she just happened to bump into the other party's moment to confide in her.

"Don't worry! Your grandma will wake up," Hermione reassured, "and Maca said there was hope...... What's more, we can think of a way ourselves! If you are good at herbalism, you might as well think about whether there are any herbal ingredients that can help. ”

"All in all, we can't just sit idle and find something for ourselves—"

"Bang!"

She was trying to cheer up Nevedo, but before she could finish, she heard the door open behind her.

"Sirius? Oh! You're here—"

Hermione didn't even have to look back to know that it was Harry who had suddenly come running. Listening to the sound of that talking, there was still gasping for breath, and I am afraid that this climb of the stairs took him a lot of physical strength.

"Sirius, you're at a high level of spells, go down and see if you can figure out a ......"

Probably seeing that Harry was talking anxiously, Sirius, who was sitting on Kingsley's side, got up and walked to the door without saying a word, and after a while rushed downstairs with Harry.

That's because St. Mungory is so messy, if you can use the illusion to transform it will be much faster!

After a moment's hesitation, Hermione heard Harry explain what was going on for Sirius as he went downstairs.

Although it was only a rough beginning, and the rest was too far away to be heard, Hermione still somewhat caught a series of dangerous-sounding words such as "out of control", "explosion", "injury", and so on.

What the hell is going on? Could it be ...... Helbo couldn't hold back so quickly?

While Hermione was secretly pondering, her movements were actually not slow, and she also ran out wildly while thinking. Seeing this, Neville, who was next to him, first hesitated and looked at his grandmother on the hospital bed, and then gritted his teeth and ran out of the room.

Kingsley looked at the door, clutching his shoulders with a look of helplessness.