"Damn it, can't you keep it down? This isn't a train station."
In the back room of the Hog's Head Pub, Abforth, who had just finished a day's business and was preparing to rest, was startled by a group of people who had suddenly appeared.
What annoyed Abforth most was that there were far more uninvited guests than the few standing before him. A large number of young people were still emerging from the room Albert had enchanted, their wands raised warily.
Abforth's instincts told him that this group was up to no good. Something major was probably going to happen tonight.
"Sorry, Abforth. We didn't want to bring so many people all at once, but something happened at Hogwarts, so we had no choice but to come," Lee Jordan hurried forward to explain, trying to placate the hot-tempered old man. They had, after all, disrupted his life.
"What happened?" Abforth asked curiously. "I thought you'd mobilized such a large force to retake Hogwarts."
"Old Bat Snape captured the families of a group of students who resisted him, intending to use them to force the other students into submission."
As Cedric studied Hogwarts Castle with the map in hand, his face showed undisguised disgust when he mentioned it.
"They really are getting worse with age."
Abforth's reaction was rather calm. Kidnapping relatives to threaten others had always been a favorite Death Eater tactic. They were simply using it against them now.
"Neville's already here. We need to go. Best not keep the others waiting too long," George said, cutting short their brief exchange as he walked over to Ariana's portrait.
"Why are there only you lot? Where's Anderson?" Abforth asked with a frown when he failed to spot the familiar figure among the crowd.
"Of course it's not just us.