Chapter 1073 The Trap Revealed

 “You are finally willing to show up.”

 “Why do you always like to play missing?”

As soon as Albert returned to the common room, he saw Fred, George and Lee Jordan all turning to cast resentful glances at him. The Weasley brothers surrounded him and reached out to hold down Albert's shoulders. Jordan nudged Albert from behind and finally pushed him into an armchair.

"What made you so excited?" Albert asked with a smile. He felt that something probably happened.

"Bill wrote a letter, saying that he helped us visit Diagon Alley and found some merchants who were willing to rent or sell their stores." Fred took out an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Albert. Inside was Bill's extra time Collect and organize information.

Albert pulled out the parchment inside the envelope and found that there was a simple map of Diagon Alley stuffed inside the bulging envelope. It simply marked the location of the store he was willing to sell, the size of the store, the sales price, and the name and contact address of the store owner. .

 It seems that giving Bill some Galleons and asking the other party to help is the right choice.

Of course, Albert could ask the house elf Dobby to help collect intelligence, but the information obtained would never be so detailed, and Dobby might expose his relationship with him.

Of course, there are other reasons.

 Dobby has been quite busy recently. If he leaves school to help Albert, a terrible disaster will happen in Gryffindor Tower.

This matter is actually related to Hermione.

Since Hermione still did not intend to give up the idea of ​​liberating the house elves and put it into action, the house elves all hated Gryffindor Tower and were unwilling to come here to help clean it, so Gryffindor Tower Everything depends on Dobby for his hygiene.

 “The price they charge is a bit expensive!”

After Albert read it carefully, he stuffed the parchment back into the envelope and returned it to Fred: "Well, now you can talk to each other first and show your willingness to buy, but be hesitant. After all, we have There are many options, and it will be cheaper to buy a store after the summer vacation, so we don’t have to rush to buy a store.”

Fred and George looked at each other with expressions that showed they were sure of this.

They took out another notebook, which was full of new store design drawings. This was the store decoration they composed after inspecting Zuko’s Joke Shop and other stores. It looked very trendy and incredible.

 “Doesn’t it look great?” Lee Jordan asked with a smile.

“It’s really great!” Albert looked at the design drawings in his notebook and nodded. “I’m sure our joke shop will be popular with everyone, so it’s best to buy a larger store.”

During the following period, Fred and George continued to be busy studying publicity and sales. The joke props they made were very popular at Hogwarts, especially the skipping candy, which was sold out of stock, which greatly enhanced the boosted their confidence.

 A rather surprising thing happened during the following period.

 The Quidditch match is cancelled.

Although Umbridge was temporarily unable to interfere in the next game, the three Quidditch captains decided to cancel the next Quidditch game after discussion.

Both the House Cup and the Quidditch Trophy were ruined by Umbridge. They are no longer worthy of everyone's efforts to compete for them. Instead of taking advantage of the Slytherin team in the end, it is better to cancel this year's Quidditch Cup directly. Let the Slytherin team play on their own so that more time can be spent on DA's training.

 The process of gradually getting stronger is always extremely fascinating, sometimes even more exciting than sleeping with a girl.

Especially for those students who have made rapid progress in DA gatherings, gatherings always make them feel that they are changing and growing.

As the DA party became more popular, many Hogwarts students were very interested in Albert's "Guide to Self-Defense", and some even went to Albert to protest, complaining that he actually planned to wait until after graduation to publish the book. .

 As for whether DA gatherings are illegal?

This topic is actually not important anymore.

Until Umbridge recovers and returns to Hogwarts, DA gatherings are not illegal. Even Filch is not afraid of anyone. The only one who regrets this is probably Peeves.

After losing Umbridge as a fun toy, Peeves focused most of his attention on his old rival Filch. He would battle wits with him every day, leaving Filch in a state of embarrassment.

This administrator no longer has the time and energy to go around looking for trouble for the students with a whip.

Before Umbridge came back to suffer, Filch, the scapegoat, needed to spend a lot of time and energy on Peeves.

 As we entered late March, the atmosphere in the school suddenly became tense.

 The approaching Easter holidays have finally created a sense of urgency for fifth- and seventh-grade students, because they will all face the most important exams in their lives.

 The library was so full every day that Albert was too lazy to go to the library to compete with others for a seat.

As for the original Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Professor McGonagall originally asked Albert to teach it, but this proposal was directly rejected by Albert. He really didn't want to touch this unlucky position, especially since he planned to marry Isobel this year. God knew whether the curse would be contagious.

Albert certainly knew that the curse would not be without reason, but he was not interested in teaching as a substitute, he just wanted to eat enough to last. In the end, this good thing fell to Snape. The Potions Professor was happy to take over and teach everyone the Defense Against the Dark Arts. As we all know, Snape has been spying on the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Students don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

 But for Harry, it was definitely not a good thing. He had just fallen out with Snape recently.

"You're right, I really don't have the talent to learn Occlumency." Harry said to Albert with a depressed look on his face. He had been learning Occlumency from Snape for months and was still a mess.

 “Have you annoyed Snape?” Albert asked curiously.

"Some unpleasant things happened." Harry said depressedly, "I was surprised...forget it, anyway, Snape messed up my mind. Not only did those dreams not disappear, but they became more and more obvious and frequent. , causing me to use potions recently."

"Even if you say this, I can't teach you. Sometimes it still depends on talent, or you work hard. Maybe you can succeed in a year or two if you persist, but there is not enough time."

Albert felt that Harry was definitely not coming to complain to him. He probably hoped that he could continue to teach him Occlumency, but Albert had no intention of agreeing. It was a troublesome task and there was no reward in sight.

Sometimes people are just stubborn, and Harry himself had a very bad relationship with Snape, so it was normal to suspect that the other person was secretly up to something.

Perhaps if someone else teaches him, he will learn it quickly?

"I can't help you." Albert shook his head, changed the subject and asked, "Potter, have you ever thought about why you have recurring dreams?"

"What do you know?" Harry asked in a low voice, looking around.

 “What did they say?” Albert did not answer, but asked.

"What?"

Harry was confused, not only him, but Hermione and Ron were also confused.

"You have to understand that there are not so many accidents in the world, and the dreams you have are definitely not accidental." Albert guided, "Why do you think you have the same dreams frequently."

"Snape, no, sometimes I suspect that I am Voldemort." Harry's face turned slightly pale, "Maybe, I am possessed, so..."

Not only Harry, but also Hermione and Ron looked ugly.

"I think you are not possessed. This should only be an influence on your thinking. The connection between you and the mysterious man is very deep, and he is very good at this, so he left some traces." Albert glanced at Harry , continued, "If you want to know the truth, go to Principal Dumbledore. He should know better what's going on."

Harry's lips trembled slightly, but he said nothing.

To be honest, he doubted that Dumbledore would tell him.

“You mean the mysterious man made Harry have recurring dreams?” Hermione had already realized what Albert wanted to say.

"I think so." Albert nodded to guide the conversation, "What do you think the mysterious man did for this purpose, or purpose?"

 “The purpose of the mysterious man?”

The three of them looked at each other, and after exchanging glances, Harry said, "It makes me curious about that corridor. In fact, I am really curious about what is at the end of that corridor."

"You mean the mysterious man is trying to lure Harry to find that corridor?" After Hermione finished speaking, she felt that there was something wrong with her words.

 “Your thinking is wrong.” Albert said softly.

"What?"

"No matter what the purpose is, what purpose it has, it is a trap, a trap prepared for you." Albert said calmly, "Otherwise the mysterious man would not waste extra time and energy on you."

 “What about you?” Albert didn’t say whether he was right or wrong, but looked at the others.

"If this is really a trap, how can the mysterious man... let Harry take the bait?" Ron, who had remained silent, suddenly asked.

"Everyone has their own weaknesses." Albert looked at Harry and asked directly, "Potter, what is your weakness?"

"this…"

Harry was a little embarrassed. To be honest, he didn't actually know what his weakness was.

"You guys said." Albert looked at Hermione and Ron, "If you don't know, think carefully. Those weaknesses may be exploited."

 “Is this related to weakness?” Ron asked puzzledly.

"Relevant, just think about the characteristics that most Gryffindors have." Albert glanced at Ron and continued, "Now that you know this is a trap, what should you do?"

"Avoid?" Harry was even more confused. He felt that his brain was a little weak and he couldn't understand the meaning of Albert's words at all. He took out the intelligence-enhancing candy from his pocket, threw it into his mouth and swallowed it, then shook his head and said, "The mysterious man obviously won't give up easily."

 “But, you are not fighting alone.” Albert reminded.

"You mean asking Sirius for help?" Harry shook his head again and denied, "He felt that even Sirius couldn't help him.

"Why don't you tell Harry directly." Ron looked at Harry who was thinking hard and frowned at Albert.

"If you can't think for yourself, then you will never grow up." Albert explained, "You can also help think together. Flexible thinking can solve a lot of troubles."

"If it were me, if I knew there was a trap ahead and I couldn't avoid it, I should be prepared in advance to avoid being injured by the trap." Hermione said after thinking carefully.

 “I know.” Harry said suddenly.

"Know what?" Hermione and Ron both looked at Harry.

"Since it is a trap, why don't we use the trap?" Harry said excitedly, "If we know the trap, we can also use it to deal with those people."

Ron opened his mouth, suddenly not knowing what to say, but Harry continued.

"I know what to do. As long as I step on the trap, someone from the other side will definitely jump out, and then we can figure out what the other side's purpose is. So why don't we find someone to deal with them?" Harry felt that he It is necessary to talk to Sirius, it is best to drag the entire Order of the Phoenix into trouble.

 The most important thing is to reveal the fact that Voldemort is still alive and reverse the current terrible situation.

 Ron and Hermione were both a little confused.

As the three were about to leave, Albert suddenly said, "By the way, Hermione, those things you hid caused trouble for the house elves."

 “What?” Hermione was even more confused.

"Dobby told me that you hid woolen hats and woolen socks everywhere, which made the house elves in Hogwarts feel insulted and refused to clean Gryffindor Tower." Albert looked at To Hermione, reminded, "You will cause a lot of trouble for everyone if you do this."

 Hermione was silent for a short time, and then said after a long time: "So, my woolen hats and woolen socks..."

“…Dobby took it all away,” Albert originally thought that Hermione would change, but he didn’t expect that it would turn out like this in the end.

A stubborn person like her would probably wake up only after being beaten to death.

Albert didn't intend to continue persuading, but just gave the other party a reminder. After all, the house elf Dobby would also leave the school together after he graduated. If the house elf was no longer willing to step into Gryffindor by then, Then the students here will probably be in bad luck.

Hermione opened her mouth, suddenly not knowing what to say.

"Dobby will leave Hogwarts with me after this summer. If you can't change your ways, maybe there will be no one in Gryffindor College to help pack clothes." Albert suggested, " Take the time to apologize to the house elves and they will forgive you."

Hermione's face was slightly pale and she looked lost.

"Are you okay?" Harry and Ron exchanged glances, looking at Hermione uneasily.

"It's okay!" Hermione looked very disappointed. Albert's words obviously hit her hard. Once she apologized, it would mean denying all her previous efforts.

 Are you really wrong?

 (End of this chapter)