Scrimgeour's painstakingly prepared shelter had fallen—or rather, the shelter Albert had prepared for Ministry of Magic employees had fallen.
After the Aurors collectively chose to sit on the fence following Scrimgeour's death, and after George mentioned that the entire Hopkins family had been captured, Albert had expected this. Kidnapping children to force their relatives into submission had always been an old Death Eater trick. It had merely happened much later than he had predicted.
The Death Eaters' efficiency was rather lacking!
Still, that was actually good news for them.
"Do you think they took me for an idiot, or are they idiots themselves?"
Albert shared the matter with Isobel. He felt that looking at the problem from someone else's perspective might reveal something he had overlooked.
"They probably... thought they had to try, whether they could get your help or not. What if it worked?" Isobel's words left Albert silent. The people in the Order of the Phoenix really might have thought that way.
"That's possible."
After considering it, Albert truly felt that was likely the case.
After losing Dumbledore, the Order of the Phoenix's overall standard had plummeted. Just look at the disastrous move they made in trying to get the "truth" from Harry, and it was clear how poor their actual abilities were.
"What are you planning to do about Hagrid?"
Isobel glanced at the message on the Communication Bookmark. This was what she truly cared about. She knew Hagrid was Albert's good friend, and whenever possible, Albert would be willing to lend him a hand.
That was right. Hagrid had been captured by the Death Eaters, the day after they took control of the Ministry shelter.
The new Minister of Magic, Pius Thicknesse, had found some random excuse to send the Aurors to Hogwarts to arrest Hagrid.