Study Days at Hogwarts

  Chapter 1215 Meet the Riddler

   "This weather...what the hell!"

Albert came out from the corner of the street, looked up at the gray sky above his head, and suddenly turned his head to look in a certain direction. His gaze penetrated the thick fog and landed on the roof not far from the street. Employees of the Ministry of Magic are holding up their wands, rolling up wind and snow to obscure the sight of passers-by.

  In the sky above the city of London, Aurors on brooms are using the cover of the wind and snow to summon their respective patron saints to expel the dementors entrenched in the sky above London.

  Albert took a breath of hot air into his palm, rubbed it vigorously, then tightened his windbreaker, walked along the dark street, and finally turned into a steaming coffee shop.

  As soon as the glass door was opened, a gust of hot wind filled with a strong aroma of coffee came oncoming. Probably because of the bad weather, there were no customers in the store.

  His gaze swept across the store and landed on a customer in the corner. It was a red-haired middle-aged man who was drinking coffee and flipping through the newspaper.

   "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long!" Albert walked over to greet the other party.

   "No, just arrived!"

   Scrimgeour put down the newspaper, smiled and beckoned Albert to sit down, "What do you want to drink? I'm treating you today."

   "A cappuccino." Albert said to the waitress.

   After the waitress left, Scrimgeour lowered his voice and said, "I heard Kingsley say something about Snape."

  They didn't use magic to cover their voices, because that would have been more suspicious.

   "Oh, it seems that Kingsley is very upset about this!"

   Albert understood what the other party meant, and this man was obviously very concerned about whether Snape would backstab Dumbledore.

  Although Scrimgeour looks more and more like a politician now, he has never forgotten Albert's death warning. In fact, as long as you have a normal mind, you will realize the importance of Dumbledore. Although it is not enough to prevent the mysterious man and the Death Eaters from acting rashly, the deterrent power lies there.

   "Is this true?"

  Scremgeour risked his life to meet with Albert. He needed an answer to judge the future situation.

   “It is, but it may change.”

  Albert nodded slightly to the waitress, and took a sip from his coffee cup, "You know, it's hard to say anything about the future."

   "Can you rescue it?" Scrimgeour asked directly.

   "You mean Snape?"

   Albert was very surprised by Scrimgeour's decision, this is the rhythm of preparing to kill Snape!

   However, this is not surprising, who made Snape a Death Eater, and Albert predicted that he might be bad for Dumbledore.

  The combination of the two does not mean that he is still a Death Eater, and the Ministry of Magic's policy on Death Eaters is generally to kill them directly.

   If killing Snape would save Dumbledore, Scrimgeour wouldn't mind doing that.

  Just a Death Eater, if you die, you die, which is good for everyone.

"I don't know. It's hard to say about this kind of thing. I think the future will depend on Dumbledore. You know, the older you get, the more stubborn you become, and it's hard for others to convince him." Albert shook his head slightly, expressing Not optimistic about Scrimgeour's plan, "Maybe, you can go to his place sometime, and then you can talk slowly."

   "Talked, he doesn't think it's Snape's problem."

   Scrimgeour actually didn't understand why Dumbledore wanted to protect Snape, especially when Albert predicted that Snape would kill him, it was obviously suspicious to do so.

   As for the reason, Scrimgeour didn't think about it for the time being, but he always felt that Albert should know something. The guy in front of him knew a lot of secrets.

   "You have to ask him yourself."

   Albert put down the coffee cup with a smile, shrugged and said, "I don't like Snape anyway, and I support you in wanting to kill him. As for Dumbledore, there must be some reason for doing that."

   "Kingsley thinks so too."

   Scrimgeour still felt that Albert must know something, he just didn't want to tell him, and Dumbledore hadn't planned to tell him these secrets from the beginning.

In fact, as long as you are not blind, you can see that Dumbledore was running around during this time, and he must be targeting the mysterious man, but he never planned to tell anyone that he was exactly the same as the guy in front of him, which annoyed Scrimgeour. And helpless, is he so untrustworthy as a dignified Minister of Magic?

"Mr. Principal is probably preparing some secret weapon." Albert seemed to see through Scrimgeour's mind, and suggested with a smile, "The less people know about some things, the higher the probability of success, and I don't think he Let you know it's right."

Not paying attention to Scrimgeour's gloomy expression, Albert continued, "Don't blame me for speaking harshly, you yourself are his target, and you don't plan to hide it. If something goes wrong sooner or later, how dare you let him tell you , isn’t this a leak?”

   Scrimgeour's face became even more gloomy, but what Albert said was true.

  Besides, what happened to the Minister of Magic, it was the same in the eyes of those powerful wizards.

  Especially in someone's eyes, he could die in the line of duty at any moment.

   Dumbledore never took the Minister of Magic seriously, not even the position. Voldemort also didn't take the Minister of Magic seriously. If necessary, he would just kill him and replace him with another one. But what about Albert Anderson?

   It seems to be another Dumbledore.

   It's just that the old man is not as gentle as he is, but he is even more terrifying.

  How those dark wizards and Death Eaters died, he knows better than anyone else.

   "Secret weapon? How sure is he, you know..."

   "The guy who almost didn't have a nose." Albert added.

"Well, almost noseless guy." Scrimgeour continued, ignoring Albert's nickname for Voldemort, "I mean...wait, and should he... I still don't think it's a risk, We are getting older, and it is more important to be stable.”

"You have to talk to him about this yourself, but I think your chances of success are not high." Albert actually sympathized with Scrimgeour, at least with this one in front of him. To a certain extent, Scrimgeour also sympathized. Being implicated, if Dumbledore died suddenly, he would be a target of Voldemort very quickly.

  It's a pity that there are no ifs in this world. When he chose to become the Minister of Magic and planned to confront Voldemort head-on, many things were already doomed.

   "Actually, you already knew it, right!" Scrimgeour exhaled, and suddenly asked, "You never thought of changing from the beginning, so what you are thinking is really confusing."

   "For the final victory."

   "Can you really win?"

   "You have to ask him." Albert shrugged, and when he picked up the coffee cup, he found that it was empty.

   "I hate Riddler!" Scrimgeour sighed.

   "You still have a chance." Albert said, "It depends on how you choose."

"Forget it, anyway, I already knew my end!" Scrimgeour became more and more convinced that these two guys were planning something secretly, and how it was worth Dumbledore's own life, which made Magic Ministers are a little skeptical of life.

  However, the answer is actually not difficult to guess. It is definitely aimed at Voldemort. It is estimated that only the famous Dark Lord is eligible to enjoy such treatment, and the person in front of him may be an insider or...executor.

   "There is still time, you can think slowly, don't rush to make a decision." Albert put down the empty coffee cup and asked, "Is there anything else?"

"That hotel has been completed, and I would like to invite you to go and have a look, and help a little by the way." Scrimgeour sent an invitation to Albert, which was what they had discussed before, and Albert kept the shelter a secret people.

   Looking for other people is not reassuring.

   Albert was a little surprised. He thought it would take longer to complete, but he didn't expect the Ministry of Magic to be so efficient.

   "Well, everyone is working overtime during this time."

   Scrimgeour folded the newspaper and put it in the briefcase, and went to the counter to pay.

   As soon as the two of them walked out of the coffee shop, there was a gust of cold air blowing in front of them. Albert stretched out his hand and tightened his windbreaker, and followed Scrimgeour to a nearby public toilet.

   "Let's go."

  He pointed to the briefcase in his hand.

   Albert recognized it as a portkey at a glance, put his hand on it, and was pulled away by a force.

   When he regained his footing, he found himself in an abandoned place, with a tall dilapidated hotel in front of him.

   That’s right, it’s a hotel.

   Scrimgeour converted an abandoned hotel into a shelter for the families of Ministry of Magic employees.

   "Shelter No. 1." Scrimgeour introduced, and he led Albert through the peripheral defensive magic.

   "Hmm." Albert was stunned when he heard the name, and asked back, "Are you still building other shelters?"

"According to the original plan, there are shelters No. 2 and No. 3, but I'm not sure if there is enough time." Scrimgeour stopped, turned to Albert and said, "Okay, I've given everyone Transfer away, and I will trouble you next."

   "It seems that you invited Dumbledore."

  Albert understood the meaning of Scrimgeour's words, obviously intending to let Dumbledore use the Fidelity Curse, and let him act as a secret keeper.

   "Yes, he should be here soon." Scrimgeour took out his pocket watch and checked the time.

   After a while, Dumbledore appeared out of thin air, nodded slightly towards the two people here, greeted and smiled, "It seems that I came at a very good time!"

   "I hope we can talk later." Scrimgeour said suddenly.

   "Of course there is no problem, but I still insist on my opinion." Dumbledore had already guessed what Scrimgeour wanted to talk to himself, and changed the subject, "Let's start now."

  He didn’t find it strange. Albert was enough to cast the Loyalty Curse. At this time, he obviously wanted to talk to him, but there were some things he couldn’t tell Scrimgeour.

"here we go!"

Dumbledore raised his wand and pointed at the hotel in front of him, chanted a spell softly, and then waved his wand. The hotel in front of him became blurred, as if his eyes were covered with a layer of fog, and then the hotel disappeared out of thin air. It should be said that he was hidden.

  Dumbledore pointed his wand at Albert. The latter seemed to feel something, and his body trembled slightly. Some memories about Shelter No. 1 became clear again, and Shelter No. 1 ahead appeared together.

   "Okay, it's done!"

   Dumbledore looked at the hotel that had completely disappeared in front of him, nodded in satisfaction and looked at Albert.

   "No problem." Albert said softly, "Welcome to Shelter No. 1, which is located in the suburb of Bidford in Devonshire!"

  When Albert told Dumbledore and Scrimgeour the specific location of Shelter No. 1, Shelter No. 1 reappeared in front of Dumbledore and Scrimgeour.

   "Oh yes, this is for you."

  Albert seemed to think of something, waved his wand lightly, conjured parchment and quill out of thin air, wrote something on it and handed it to Scrimgeour.

   "What are you giving me this for?"

   Scrimgeour glanced at the content on the parchment, it was the passage Albert said just now.

   "With this thing, you can use it to transfer residents here without my presence." Albert explained.

   "Don't you need to come here in person?"

   Scrimgeour was a little stunned, of course he knew the Loyalty Curse, but what was going on with the parchment.

"No, it's fine with my permission, that is, the parchment must be kept well. This thing is equivalent to telling them the exact location of Shelter No. 1. It is recommended to destroy it with fire after use." Albert said kindly reminded.

   "It is indeed possible, this is a relatively clever usage." Dumbledore explained to Scrimgeour, he is actually familiar with this usage, and it is not surprising that Albert would use it.

   "Since the matter has been completed, I'll go first. See you two, another day." Albert nodded slightly towards the two, and immediately Apparated and left.

   "Wait..." Scrimgeour originally wanted to drag Albert to chat with Dumbledore, but Albert slipped away first.

   There was a brief silence around.

   "Have you talked?" Dumbledore asked suddenly.

   "Well, we've talked, I suspect you are brewing some kind of plan." Scrimgeour and Dumbledore walked into Shelter No. 1 and chatted about some very sensitive issues.

  He actually didn't expect to get some useful information from Dumbledore, but he was still a little unwilling, so he asked directly. As for Dumbledore's answer, that was his business.

   "Some things are not suitable for too many people to know." Dumbledore said after a moment.

   "Where's Anderson?" Scrimgeour asked.

   "Mr. Anderson guessed it himself." Dumbledore shook his head and said, "Besides, it's okay for him to know, because he was also involved, and he can keep it completely secret, so I'm not worried."

"What about Snape, do you just trust him that much, or do you think letting Snape kill you is an essential part of the whole plan?" Scrimgeour couldn't help but sneered, he still couldn't help Angry because his own life was at stake.

   "You can think of it as part of the plan, Severus has always been my man."

   "He's a Death Eater and a double agent. Don't you think it's absurd that you trust him and put your life in his hands?"

   "No, I believe he has reformed himself."

   "It's incomprehensible!" muttered Scrimgeour. "You're almost insane."

   "There's got to be a price to pay."

"Enough, I've had enough, you're like that Anderson, you always like to be mysterious." Scrimgeour left angrily, he knew very well that the other party would not tell him anything, he hated this group of riddlers .

  (end of this chapter)