Ever since Kreacher and Dobby left, Harry had become a little agitated, and he had been walking around the house all morning with great expectations.

However, Kreacher and Dobby did not return in the morning, not even in the afternoon, until dusk, when Harry was a little discouraged and worried. In front of him was a chunk of rancid bread that Hermione had tried in every possible way to deform it, and of course it didn't help.

Van Lin, on the other hand, was trying to recover, but according to Madam Pomfrey's conclusion, it would take at least half a month, and the four of them seemed to be trapped in the house.

By the second day, Kreacher and Dobby still hadn't returned, and the same was true on the third day.

However, two cloaked men appeared outside the door of Grimmauld Place Twelve, and they stayed until the evening, staring at the house they couldn't even see.

"Death Eaters for sure. Ron said as Harry looked out of the window of the lounge.

"Do they know we're here?"

"I don't think so. Hermione said, though she looked a little frightened, "Or they would have reported Snape a long time ago, wouldn't they?"

"Didn't you think they were being put under a locktongue spell by Moody while they were standing there?" Ron asked.

"Yes," said Hermione, "besides, they must know a lot of ways to get in, don't they?" but they want to see if we show up, after all, they know that the house belongs to Harry. ”

"How do they know——?" Harry began.

"Wizards' wills are inspected by the government, remember, and Sirius made his will very early, so they will know that Sirius left this house to you. "Don't worry too much, though, if they were going to come in, we wouldn't be able to stay here like we are now." ”

However, the presence of the Death Eaters caused an ominous premonition at 12 Grimmauld Place, and after Mr. Weasley's Patronus, they did not hear from anyone outside of Grimmauld Place, and the nervousness began to show.

Lack of rest and irritability made Ron develop an annoying habit...... Playing with the light extinguisher in his pocket.

This clearly annoyed Hermione, who was reading the story of Bard Bieber, who didn't like the flickering lights on and off.

"Can't you stop?" she finally erupted on the third night of Kreacher's absence, and all the lights in the living room were turned on and off again and again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Ron said he pressed the switch controller and all the lights were restored. "I don't know what I'm doing. ”

"Well, can't you just find something meaningful for yourself to do?"

"What? Like reading jokes?"

"Dumbledore left me this book, Ron......"

“...... And he left me this light extinguisher, maybe telling me I should use it!" Before they could start arguing, Harry walked out first, and neither of them noticed.

He walked towards the kitchen where he had been countless times, for he was sure that it was the place where Kreacher was most likely to reappear. As he walked up the stairs to the foyer, he heard a slight knock on the front door, followed by the clanging of metal and the grinding of chains. All the nerves in him tensed: he drew his wand and slowly moved to the shadows next to the row of severed house-elf heads, waiting.

"Wait a minute...... Van Lin pressed Harry's shoulders and strapped his cloak around him.

The door opened: he caught a glimpse of the brightly lit square outside, and a cloak-like figure moved in and closed the door behind him. The intruder took a step forward as Moody's voice rang out, "Severus Snape?"

The smoky body moved towards him from the end of the hallway, eagerly raising its lifeless hand.

"I wasn't the one who killed you, Albus. A quiet voice said. Something unfortunate happened, the soot body exploded again, and the newcomer couldn't get through the thick white smoke it left behind, and Van Lin pointed his wand at the middle of the smoke.

"Don't move!" But Van Lin forgot the portrait of Mrs. Black, and at his shout the curtain was lifted to cover the portrait, and she began to scream: "Mudbloods and sluts have defiled my father's house......"

Ron and Hermione ran down from the stairs and stood behind Van Lin and Harry, wands in hand, just like him.

The unknown man stood in the foyer, hands raised.

"Calm down, it's me, Remus!"

"Oh, thank goodness. Ron said weakly, turning and pointing his wand at Mrs. Black, and with a thud, the curtain slammed shut, and the house fell silent again.

"Prove yourself!" Van Lin threatened, and the wand's glow began to glow.

Lupin stepped out into the light, his hands still in a gesture of surrender. "I'm Remus John Lupin, a werewolf, sometimes called Moonface, one of the four makers of the Living Point map, and Nymphadora...... Commonly referred to as Tonks...... Married, I taught you how to summon a Patronus, Harry, in the shape of an elk, and, Van Lin, I used to be your butler. ”

"Oh, indeed. Harry said, and he lowered his wand.

"I'm sorry, Remus, but I had to check, didn't I?" said Van Lin, putting away his wand as well, followed by Hermione.

"Don't lower your guard against your former Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and I'm very much in favor of you verifying. Of course, Ron, you shouldn't let your guard down so quickly. ”

They walked over to him.

Remus looked tired in a thick black cloak, but he was glad to see them.

"Haven't heard from Severus yet?" Remus asked.

"Not yet. Van Lin shook his head, "Snape wouldn't be stupid to come here. ”

"Is everything going well? How are you doing?"

"It's ok. Lupin said. "But we were all watched, and there were a couple of Death Eaters in the square outside......"

"We know ......"

"I had to apparition very accurately onto the top steps outside the front door to make sure they wouldn't see me. They must not know you're here, or I'm sure they'll send more people outside. They're spying on everything that has anything to do with you, Harry. Let's go downstairs, I have a lot to tell you, and I want to know what happened to you after you left the Burrow. ”

As they entered the kitchen, Hermione pointed her wand at the fireplace, and the flames immediately ignited, making the hard stone walls feel cozy, and the long wooden table shimmered.

Lupin took out a couple of bottles of Butterbeer from under his traveling cloak, and they sat down.

"I was here three days ago, but I had to find a way to get rid of the Death Eaters who were following me. Lupin said.

"So, you've been here since the wedding?"

"No, after we met a couple of Death Eaters in a café on Court Road in Totham. Lupin sprayed almost all of his butterbeer on the placket of his clothes.

"What?" and they began to recount what had happened, and when they finished, Lupin looked stunned. "But how could they find you so quickly? It's impossible to track the apparitions unless you catch them the moment they disappear. ”

"And they don't happen to be parading the Court Road in Totham, are they?" said Harry.

"We want to know," Hermione asked tentatively, "is there that connection between Harry and him?"

"Impossible!" Lupin asserted, reassuring Hermione.

So, Lupin wasn't in the know?

Van Lin frowned, the mess Dumbledore had left him was a bit terrible.

"If Harry had been in contact with him, they would have known that Harry was here. But I don't know how they followed you to Totham Court Road, which is worrying, very worrying. Lupin went on to say that he looked a little confused, but the issue could be put aside for a moment compared to Harry's concerns.

"Remus, you told us what happened after we left, we haven't heard anything since Ron's dad told us the family was safe. "I tried to send a message, but no one ......."

"Oh, Kingsley saved us. "Thankfully, he warned most of the wedding guests, most of whom were apparitions before they arrived." ”

"Is it the Death Eaters or the Ministry?" Hermione interjected suddenly.

"Yes, but actually, they're all the same thing now. "There are about two dozen of them, but they don't know you're here, Harry. Arthur says he's heard they've tortured you before killing Scrimgeour, and if that's true, then it doesn't look like he's betrayed you. ”

Inexplicably, Harry was a little moved, he had never liked Scrimgeour as much as he did now, but if what Lupin said was true, then this man's last action was to desperately protect Harry.

"The Death Eaters have searched the Burrow. Lupin continued. "They found ghouls, but they didn't want to go near them...... Then they interrogated those of us who had not had time to escape for hours. They want to try to get information about you, Harry, but of course no one but the rest of the society knows you're here. ”

At the same time, they completely ruined the wedding feast, and more Death Eaters tried to forcibly break into every house in the suburbs that had ties to the Order of the Phoenix. But no one died," he added, hastily filling their question, "but they were rude, and they burned Dedalo Digo's house to the ground, but you know he wasn't at home. They cast a curse on the Tonks, and they also want to know where you went after you were a guest at their house. They're okay...... Frightened, obviously, but in other ways, fine. ”

"So, did those Death Eaters pass all the protective spells?" Van Lin asked, frowning, "It's hard for me to understand, there are some ancient magic that isn't very common. ”

"You should recognize, Van Lin, that the Death Eaters now have all the extra power of the Ministry of Magic. Lupin said. "They don't have to fear identification or arrest, they have been given the power to cast those cruel spells. They're trying to break every defensive spell we've put at them, and they're completely open about why they're here. ”

"I'm afraid, there's still Voldemort's means in it, otherwise it wouldn't have been broken so easily, at least not a few days ago, only those vampires. ”

"They're unscrupulous!" Lupin sighed.

"Didn't they give an explanation for the torture of Harry's whereabouts?" Hermione asked, her voice rather high-pitched.

"Oh," Lupin said, hesitating, then pulling out a folded copy of the Daily Prophet. "Here," he said, pushing it over the table to Harry, "you'll find out sooner or later...... In any case, that's their excuse for chasing you. ”

Harry flattened the newspaper, and a huge photograph of himself took up the first page of the entire paper, and he read the title of the news: About Albus Dumbledore's death - we need to question!

In an instant, Ron shouted angrily, but Harry didn't say anything.

He pushed the newspaper aside, he didn't want to read it at all: he knew what they were going to say, and no one knew who had killed him except the people who had witnessed Dumbledore's death on the tower at the time, however, Rita Skeeter had told the wizarding world that Harry had been seen running away from the place where Dumbledore had fallen.

"I'm sorry, Harry. Lupin said.

"So, we've lost control of Rita?"

Lupin nodded.

"The runes were in my hands before, but the night of Dumbledore's fierce battle was broken, and they had a premeditated ......"

"But do people really know what's going to happen?" Hermione asked.

"In fact, they have quietly taken power. Lupin said. Officials have explained Scrimgeour's death, saying that he died of natural causes, and that his position has been replaced by Beus Deknis, who has been caught under the Imperius Curse!"

"Why didn't Voldemort declare himself Minister of Magic?" asked Ron. Lupin smiled.

"Because he doesn't need to, Ron. Authority, he was indeed a minister, so why did he have to sit behind his desk in the ministry? His puppet Deeknis was taking care of his day-to-day affairs, leaving him free to expand his influence far from the Ministry of Magic. ”

"Of course, a lot of people have already speculated about what happened. The policy of the Ministry of Magic has changed so dramatically in recent times, many people are secretly talking about Voldemort must be behind it, however, this is the point, they are secretly arguing, they dare not trust each other, they do not know who is trustworthy, they are too scared to say it loudly, afraid that their speculation is true, and their families have become targets. Yes, Voldemort was playing a very clever trick by declaring that he himself might have inspired a rebellion, and that maintaining a disguise had already created chaos, distrust, and fear. ”

"This dramatic change in the policy of the Ministry of Magic," Harry asked, "includes warning the entire wizarding world to come against me and no longer Voldemort?"

"Of course it's part of it," said Lupin, "and it's a brilliant move, now that Dumbledore is dead, and you're ...... The boy who never died...... A sign of the long war against Voldemort, of course, but by suggesting that you had a hand in the death of your old leader, Voldemort not only puts a label on your head, but also sows fear and suspicion among those who have defended you in the past. ”

"In the meantime, the Minister has taken action against Muggle-borns. Lupin pointed to the Daily Prophet. "Look at the second edition. ”

Hermione flipped through the second edition with the same look of disgust she had when she had held the secret of the dark arts in her hands.

"The Muggle-born register," she read aloud, "the Ministry of Magic is promising to take action to investigate the so-called Muggle-born population to better understand the magical secrets they hold. "Recently, an investigation by the Department of Mysteries revealed that magic can only be passed on through the reproduction of wizards, and that people who have not been proven to be of wizarding blood, the so-called Muggle-borns, may have obtained their magic through stealing or force. "The Ministry of Magic is determined to find the usurper of the magic, and will send out invitations to everyone of Muggle origin to attend a meeting organized by the newly formed Muggle Origin Registration Committee. ”

"People don't let that happen. Ron said.

"But it happened, Ron," Lupin said, "that Muggle-born people were being rounded up as we spoke. ”

"But how can they say it's 'stealing' magic?" said Ron, "that's mental and intellectual, and if you could steal magic, there wouldn't be so many squibs, would you?"

"I know," said Lupin, "but unless you can prove that you have at least one close relative of a wizard, your magic will be considered illegally obtained and will be subject to the law." ”

"It's something he's been striving for. Van Lin said in disgust, one hand clenched Hermione tightly, "He's killing himself!"

"I mean, if something really goes wrong, you can go by the Weasleys!"

"Thank you, Ron, but it's a joke!" Van Lin stabbed with his wand, and all the articles about Muggles disappeared.

"What does Voldemort plan to do with Hogwarts compared to that?" Van Lin asked, which was his concern.

"Every young witch and wizard was forced to attend. He replied. "It was announced yesterday and this is a change that was never mandatory before. Of course, almost all wizards and wizards in England are Hogwarts graduates, but parents have the right to choose to teach their children at home or send them abroad if they feel it would be better. And as it is now, the entire wizarding population will grow under Voldemort's nose, from small to large. This is also another way to purge Muggle-born people, as they must show their ancestry before they can enroll, which means they have to go to the Ministry of Magic to prove their wizarding ancestry. ”

Harry was disgusted and angry at the thought that some of the first-year students might be staring at a list of new spell books to buy, not knowing that they might never see Hogwarts again, or their families again.

"It's just ...... It's ......," he muttered, trying to find a word to express the horrific imagination he had just had.

But Lupin just said quietly, "I understand. ”

Lupin hesitated.

"I know you're not going to approve of that, Harry, but the Order of the Phoenix feels like Dumbledore seems to have left you with a mission. ”

"Yes," Harry replied, "to me and Van Lin, and Hermione and Ron are also involved, and they will be with us." ”

"So, do you trust me enough to tell me what that mission is?"

Van Lin looked up at the prematurely aged wrinkled face, his hair thick but gray, and he really wished he could answer otherwise. "I can't, Remus, I'm sorry, if Dumbledore didn't tell you, then I don't think I can either. ”