Harriet Potter

I was stunned for a moment, vaguely remembering that Dumbledore had mentioned before, Aberforth——"Are you Dumbledore's younger brother?"

"Yes," it sounded almost like an overly loud snort, "of course I'm 'Dumbledore's' brother."

It dawned on me that his surname must also be Dumbledore, and Aberforth reminded me of Ron when he was called "Bill Weasley's brother" or "Harry Potter's friend". "Feel sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about," said Aberforth. "I'm used to people thinking there's only one Dumbledore, 'that' Dumbledore. Call me Aberforth, and don't let that bother you."

"No, I'm very—"

"Never mind it. Drink this before it burns out," said Aberforth impatiently, touching the cup to my hand. "I wish you well, Potter."

I stare suspiciously at the glass in my hand. Aberforth is famous for his eccentricity of casting spells on goats, and drinking Firewhiskey to underage injuries seems like something he would do.

Aberforth downed his whiskey and gave me a look, "Don't be a - dawdling coward, I run a damn bar, but I don't pay for drinks every day out of my own pocket."

The absurdity was still swirling in my head, but I had just narrowly escaped death, and the pain was making my hands shake again, so I poured the burning cup into my mouth like he had just done.The taste is so spicy that I thought I would choke, but it burns smoothly from the tip of my tongue all the way to my stomach.Immediately, I felt warmth rushing through my body, my limbs were filled with strength, and the pain from my wound eased.

"What did you put in there?" I asked.

"Goat dung." Aberforth said angrily, and took a look at my expression. "Of course it's a potion. Wine can speed up its effect. My bar is almost turned into a medicine shop by a fool like you."

"You're also a member of the Order of the Phoenix," I pointed out.

"But I don't believe my brother has sunlight shining from every pore." Aberforth gave me a sharp look. "You fell from behind the... portrait on my mantelpiece and made my bar look like it happened. A low-level murder. I lost a day's worth of business dragging this old bone around and listening to you keep saying 'Malfoy's going to kill you, sir' - unless you don't mind yourself Called 'Sir'."

I was speechless, so I had to ask him, "How long have I been unconscious?"

"Just one hour, just enough for him to write me back."

"Deng—what did your brother say?"

"Tell me to inform Snape, and leave you here to wait for news."

I didn't know how to react, even now Dumbledore didn't think I should know more, Snape was more worthy of his trust.But having said that, Malfoy's words also prove that Dumbledore is not wrong so far, but this time I almost lost my life, at least part of it must be blamed on Snape, and he will probably be furious when he finds out.

Aberforth looked at me for a while, then snorted, "You resigned yourself so quickly."

"You have no idea how many times Dumbledore has done that to me," I replied.

"You don't want to know, trust me." Aberforth snorted. "He got used to it a century ago."

I can see that's not an exaggeration, and I'm a little surprised, because I rarely think about Dumbledore being that old, or that there were times when he wasn't.Dumbledore seemed to have been there from the beginning, with a silver beard to his waist, piercing eyes, and respect.

"He also suggested that I inform Madam Pomfrey." Aberforth snorted again, "No need, I was injured much worse than you in any random street fight when I was your age."

I should have been annoyed that Aberforth had teased me about my vulnerability, but the way he talked about the pain and Dumbledore was endearing to me, and it didn't seem so bad waiting for the news at the Hog's Head.I gave Aberforth a brief account of what had happened, and he seemed indifferent to the fact that the Room of Requirement had given me access to his bar.We chatted for a while, and I suddenly thought of Ron and Hermione.

"Can you send another letter to my friend?" I asked.

"I'm not an owl," said Aberforth gruffly.

"They'll be worried if I don't show up for too long, and there might be a commotion in the castle if they start looking for me. Since your brother keeps me here, he certainly doesn't want that," I begged, " Just send a word to Professor Minerva McGonagall, their Headmaster and member of the Order of the Phoenix."

"I know who Minerva McGonagall is," said Aberforth petulantly, but he stood up anyway. "What do you want to bring?"

"Tell Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger," I thought for a moment, "that I'm safe now and they don't have to worry."

Aberforth cast a Patronus Charm in front of me, but with a more complicated wrist shake.A gigantic silver goat sprang from the tip of his staff, leaped into the air and disappeared.

"Okay?" I was a little surprised.

"Yes, the contact information of the Order of the Phoenix, I guess he hasn't taught you yet."

Before I could answer, a silver cat jumped down from the air. It was exactly the same as Professor McGonagall's Animagus, and spoke with her voice. "Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger have been notified. Don't do that again while I'm in class. Say hello to Harry for me."

Then the silver cat also disappeared, and I stared at the place where it was just now, "When you sent Snape the letter just now...?"

"The Order of the Phoenix has more than one method of contact." Aberforth walked towards the door. "If you have no other questions, Potter, I suggest you go to bed first—"

"Yes," I said, "can you teach me how to make a talking Patronus?"

Aberforth was irritable and impatient, but that was no problem for me after being trained by a teacher like Snape.Conjuring a talking Patronus is not as difficult as I imagined, the hardest step is actually learning the Patronus Charm, which I did in third grade.The rest is to convey what I want to say and cooperate with the movements of the wrist when summoning the Patronus. I practiced for a long time, and I have seen some improvement. I can't help but think that if Hermione is here, it must be successful within three times.

My stag Patronus was saying "Good afternoon" when Dumbledore entered the room, and he startled me by calmly saying "Good afternoon to you too, Harriet".

"Glad to see you're all right now," said Dumbledore, not a trace of mess on his body, but I just felt like he'd just finished a long run.

"Yes, sir." Whatever Aberforth did to me seemed to be working.I'm fine with normal activities, I'm probably going to have to wait a few more days to play Quidditch. "Well, how are things at the castle, sir?"

"Miss Granger thought of some excuses to cover up your disappearance. Everyone thought you were injured during the flight. You can check the details with Miss Granger after returning to the castle."

"Can I go back soon?" Somehow I was desperate to see Ron and Hermione.

"I suppose so, after we've discussed what happened this morning," Dumbledore replied.

I told the story again, and Dumbledore listened, as attentive as ever.He asked a lot of questions about the details of what I saw in the Room of Requirement, and seemed a little surprised that he never knew there was such a place in the castle.I kept talking until I asked my last question and fell down that passage into the Hog's Head.

"I thought it would take me to the kitchen," I said, "or conjure up something to eat on the spot."

"I don't think it can. Food is one of the five exceptions to Gump's basic Law of Transfiguration," said Dumbledore. "Perhaps that room judges that you need more than food."

Dumbledore paused for a moment, noticing that I was twirling my wand anxiously between my fingers. "Ah, sorry, Harriet. I'm always amazed at how many secrets this castle still holds."

"It's all right, sir." I couldn't wait to ask, "How's Malfoy?"

"I believe Professor Snape has clarified the stakes with him. He will then return to his normal study life."

"What?" I couldn't believe it, "He's going to kill you! You don't believe it..."

"I trust you completely, Harriet," said Dumbledore calmly, "but I also have every reason to believe that I will not be killed by young Mr. Malfoy. After that, Professor Snape will pay close attention to Mr. Malfoy's life." movement to ensure that he does not commit another murder attempt."

"But... but what about Katie? And Ron, he put the poison in the wine, right? Slughorn planned to give it to you as a Christmas present!" Ron's poisoned appearance was in front of my eyes Emerging, I yelled, "He almost killed Ron! He almost killed two people and you let him get away with it?"

"He will get what he deserves, but the first priority is his life and his family's life," said Dumbledore in a tone that would quiet anyone, "I believe Voldemort threatened his family's life. If he realizes that Mr. Malfoy has failed, it's likely to make that threat a reality - in fact, I think that's why he gave Mr. Malfoy this task. So we have to convince him of Mr. Malfoy Still covertly working on his mission."

I can't argue with that, I don't want to see anyone die at Voldemort's hands, but the idea of ​​letting someone who nearly killed Ron get away with trying to hand me over to Voldemort just now is too much for me to bear.I don't know what I would do if I met Malfoy again in the castle.

"But," I said at last, "since it is impossible for him to complete the task, Voldemort will not let them go anyway."

Dumbledore perhaps paused before answering, "The Order of the Phoenix arranged for them."

"Okay." I nodded, thought about it and said, "Malfoy said it was Snape—the professor's hint made him suspect that I already knew what he was doing."

"I'm afraid this is an oversight on Professor Snape's part," said Dumbledore. "I believe he hoped that Mr. Malfoy would retreat and turn to him for help. But Mr. Malfoy was in despair." Taking you as another target in an attempt to beg his master's forgiveness. Although he was aware of Mr. Malfoy's intentions after that feigned quarrel, he still failed to prevent this accident from happening."

"I was too careless," I whispered. "I was in a hurry to collect books, and I didn't even think to check it. I walked straight into Malfoy's trap."

In retrospect, both Crabbe and Goyle's no longer standing guard outside the house, and his quarrel with Snape, could not have marked more clearly than a trap was set.The watcher I felt in the corridor was Malfoy, who had figured out the pattern of my going to Snape's place, and deliberately revealed to me his purpose of going to the Room of Requirement.

"This can be said to be a mistake. Mr. Malfoy doesn't know your original purpose of entering that room—your bravery and tenacity are far beyond his imagination."

I got hot on my face, "About that book, sir..."

"I don't think it will do you any harm," said Dumbledore, "but I would not advise you to go to the Room of Requirement to retrieve it, especially since it has probably been destroyed in your battle by now."

"So you know the Half-Blood Prince?" I asked eagerly.

"Yes, I think I do. But I can't tell you who the prince is."

"Why?" I was a little disappointed, "He...is he a good person?"

"The prince is on our side."

"Then... is he still alive?"

"You can say that." Dumbledore said "that's it." "I'm afraid that's all I can tell you, Harriet."

I didn't ask again and accepted this answer.The prince is a good guy, and Hermione was wrong about him all along, which made me feel like a boulder had been removed from my chest.

"Now," said Dumbledore, "it's time for you to go back to the castle. Both Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley are very worried about you."