The School's Defenses Are Finally Being Put in Place / Every Secret Passage Must Be Sealed

The sharp claws pierced through his chest, and the immense momentum carried the bat's body through the air, ultimately pinning him to the top of the statue in the center of the church.

Peter Pettigrew's body convulsed and returned to human form, blood gushing down his body, quickly staining the entire statue crimson...

"Hehe..." Just then, Peter Pettigrew, who was already nearing the end of his life, suddenly laughed.

"You can still laugh?!" Harry's eyes widened in anger.

"Of course I can laugh," Peter Pettigrew's voice trailed off, but a satisfied, wicked grin lingered on his weak face. "What good will it do you to kill me? That Loony's father is dead, and he died by your hand! Heh heh, Harley Potter, do you think torturing me like this will make me repent? Let me tell you, it's useless! My master and I have spent our lives hoping to make you suffer! Now we have done it. Not only Lovegood, but you will surely lose many more, and even more important people, in the future!"

"Asshole..."

"Harley Potter... you'll be in pain forever, you bastard, you'll be in pain forever! Hahahaha... uh!"

The shrill laughter abruptly stopped, and Peter Pettigrew's life came to an end. His head drooped involuntarily, but the resentment on his face remained until his death.

"Damn it... drink it!!"

Seeing the other person's face, a face that wouldn't let him have any peace even in death, Harry could no longer control his emotions and roared like a madman in the already dilapidated church.

The Obscurus dispersing, hovered around, wreaking havoc on everything around it, while Harry was tormented by the spreading grief and eventually lost consciousness.

"Xenophilius Lovegood?! Hmm... Whew~ Whew~"

As if suddenly snapping back to reality, Harry instinctively opened his eyes, then gasped for breath, his forehead beaded with cold sweat.

"Young master... are you alright?"

"Eliezer? How come you... wait, where is this?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Harry instinctively turned his head and, sure enough, saw the House-elf.

But what stood before him was the half-open door of the Witanhurst mansion... as if he had never stepped inside!

Could it be that... everything that just happened was just a dream?

Chapter 482 The school's defensive setup has finally been deployed.

In the afternoon at Hogwarts, even the sweltering heat seemed exceptionally bright because the exams were over.

However, the atmosphere in the office of the Vice-Headmaster and Head of Gryffindor was extremely oppressive.

Shortly after Harry left, Hermione found Professor McGonagall and told her everything that had happened.

Dumbledore will be ambushed at the Ministry of Magic, Harry has already single-handedly gone to rescue Luna Lovegood's father, and Hogwarts is about to face a crisis...

However, after hearing all this, Professor McGonagall did not immediately express her opinion; instead, she hesitated.

"Miss Granger, I know that Miss Lovegood may have indeed seen something; and you are certainly very worried about Albus and the safety of the entire school, but... what you just said is truly unbelievable."

Professor McGonagall's brows were furrowed into a deep frown, and her lips trembled slightly. She paced back and forth in the room, clearly deep in thought and struggling with her problem.

It's understandable that she would have doubts; what Hermione brought up was simply too shocking!

The Ministry of Magic has caught an imposter, and that guy has already taken control of the Ministry of Magic, waiting for Dumbledore to fall into his trap.

However, the real Peter Pettigrew Peter has captured Luna Lovegood's father, forcing Harry to go to his rescue alone.

But despite her doubts, Professor McGonagall dared not deny it at all, because it was Hermione Granger who had said these words, her most valued student, and one who would never misbehave!

That's why Professor McGonagall was so conflicted and couldn't make up her mind for so long.

"Professor, please make a decision quickly! We're really running out of time!" Seeing that Professor McGonagall remained silent, Hermione could only plead anxiously, "You should know about what happened in Divination last year. Professor Trelawney's Prophecy about Harry were all wrong. Now she's made two Prophecy about Harry, and this Prophecy Professor Dumbledore to the Ministry of Magic. This is definitely going to cause a huge problem!"

"A second Prophecy?" Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "Why a second Prophecy?"

"You didn't know?" Hermione was taken aback. "Professor Trelawney Prophecy in 1980 that either Harry or Neville might defeat Voldemort!"

"I see," Professor McGonagall nodded in realization. "Now I understand why Sibyl Trelawney got the job as the Divination Professor."

"This... Professor, you don't mean to say that Professor Dumbledore... didn't tell you about this back then, do you?!"

To be honest, Hermione couldn't even believe what she had just said.

Because she always felt that Dumbledore trusted Professor McGonagall so much that he absolutely shouldn't have kept such an important matter from her!

But... Professor McGonagall clearly doesn't know!

"I truly don't know, but if this Prophecy exists, it certainly explains why the You-Know-Who was so determined to hunt down the Potters." Professor McGonagall nodded calmly, seemingly unconcerned. "I believe Albus didn't tell me simply because he felt the time wasn't right. Besides, secrets like that are best kept to a minimum."

In fact, Professor McGonagall was unaware of the Prophecy, because after Dumbledore discovered the Prophecy had been leaked, he had already protected Trelawney and created Prophecy Orb, which was placed in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic.

In Professor McGonagall's view, the Potters were hunted by Voldemort because they were both young and promising wizards who had thwarted Voldemort's plans several times, thus incurring his wrath.

But after hearing Hermione's words today, the astute Professor McGonagall immediately connected the dots.

It is clear that this Prophecy played a significant role in Sibyl Trelawney Trelawney's attainment of the position of Professor of Divination, despite her eccentricities.

Professor McGonagall's nonchalant attitude, however, was something Hermione couldn't understand.

"Why?" Hermione pressed, frowning. "You're right, the fewer people who know about this, the better, but even so, Professor Dumbledore should have told you! If it were Harry, he would have told me everything... at least everything he could think of!"

"Miss Granger, it's different." Faced with Hermione's questioning, Professor McGonagall shook her head. "Albus and I are old friends and his staunchest supporters, but our relationship is limited to that. We need to maintain our independence and privacy. But you and Mr. Granger are different; you are family who can share all secrets and will never be separated."

"Albus chose to conceal the Prophecy from me out of protection for me, Sibyl Trelawney, and Harry; while Mr. Granger chose to be completely open with you because he cherished you dearly. So... please don't criticize Albus's actions for this; he and Mr. Granger simply made different choices when facing different people."

"This..."

The office, which had just been filled with arguments, gradually quieted down.

Hermione Granger, Harry's most talented witch, and Minerva McGonagall, Dumbledore's most talented witch, stood facing each other, holding firm to their own views, but neither of them spoke.

"Screech!" Just then, some shards of glass suddenly fell from the window, and the two of them heard a clear bird's cry at the same time.

"Is that Fawkes?" Hermione recognized the firebird as Dumbledore's phoenix immediately, watching it circle once in the sky before quickly flying away into the distance.

"That direction... not the Ministry of Magic, but Hogsmeade Village? Looks like something really happened." After seeing where the phoenix was headed, Professor McGonagall quickly guessed its intentions.

Fawkes flew to the Hog's Head Inn, presumably to help Dumbledore gather members of the Order of the Phoenix!

"Miss Granger, I'm now certain the situation is extremely critical. Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout will be heading to the Ministry of Magic immediately!" Professor McGonagall waved her hand, wrote two notes, and handed them to the kittens that were begging for food at her place, instructing them to immediately inform the other two professors.

After that, she looked at Hermione seriously. "Next, we need to determine exactly what Miss Lovegood meant by the Hogwarts crisis."

"I'm not entirely sure either. Before she lost consciousness, she only mentioned cemeteries and corpses," Hermione replied in a low voice, seemingly exhausted by the conversation...

And that is indeed the case.

So all that talking she did was for nothing, and in the end, she was no match for Dumbledore, that silent firebird?

And the one who made this choice was Professor McGonagall —his most respected mentor and former roommate...

(P. S. Regarding whether Professor McGonagall knew about the Prophecy, Sanmiao didn't investigate it in detail in the original book. However, at the point in the Prisoner of the Orphans, the assumption that she didn't know doesn't really raise any questions. Sanmiao didn't intend to use this to criticize Albus Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall; it's just that Hermione and Professor McGonagall have very similar roles in Harry and Albus Dumbledore's respective camps, so I brought them out to corroborate each other.)

Furthermore, if you look up Professor McGonagall's highlights in the original books, they almost all appear in the fifth book and later, or rather, after Albus Dumbledore left. This particular incident...

Sanmiao I can say is that Professor McGonagall is indeed worthy of respect and is very capable. However, when Albus Dumbledore was still around, she, like most of the teachers at Hogwarts, lacked initiative.

Of course, this is just a personal opinion. After all, when Albus Dumbledore was around, they didn't need to be so subjective. That's all.

Chapter 483 The secret passage needs to be completely blocked.

Objectively speaking, Hermione had no complaints about Professor McGonagall.

People tend to believe those who are more important to them, such as Harry to Hermione, or Dumbledore to Professor McGonagall.

Therefore, Hermione felt that Professor McGonagall's choice was perfectly reasonable.

She was just very anxious, wondering if Harry and Dumbledore's relationship could ever be repaired.

A person's views and emotions can subtly influence those around them. If Dumbledore and Harry's relationship had continued in this way, the other teachers at the school might have gradually withdrawn their favor towards Harry as well.

If this stalemate continues, one day everyone will eventually have to make a choice.

Hermione was very reluctant to see this scene, but... she didn't know what to do.

"A cemetery, corpses... could they be related to zombies or Inferi?"

However, Professor McGonagall had no time to consider Hermione's feelings at the moment. She turned her head to look at the setting sun outside the window and felt more and more that the crisis at Hogwarts was very likely to come after dark.

"From this moment forward, Hogwarts is under full lockdown! All students must return to... no, we should gather everyone in the Great Hall before nightfall, and set up defensive spells around the Great Hall!"

Professor McGonagall initially planned to send all the students back to their respective college's common room, but then she reconsidered and felt it would be safer to manage everyone together in one place.

After all, there are always some reckless kids in this school who like to take risks at inopportune times and often ignore the professors' advice... especially in her own college.

"That's all for now. I have other things to attend to, so I'll take my leave."

Seeing that Professor McGonagall had already made the arrangements, Hermione also chose to leave.

The overall arrangement of the school can be left to Professor McGonagall; as for myself, I should immediately mobilize the resources left behind by Harry!

While quickly calculating in her mind, Hermione rushed to the Room of Requirement on the Seventh Floor.

Harry's suitcase has been kept here for the past few months to help Lupin conceal his Werewolf identity.

The suitcase houses Zouwu and Norberta, as well as another Hermione has never met but knows can definitely be of help.

"That's roughly the situation. I need you to come with me to the Forbidden Forest to contact the other Fantastic Beasts and have the spiders and Centaur immediately assist Hogwarts in its defenses." Hermione said to the wolf girl with a serious expression from inside the suitcase.

"No problem, we can set off right now!" The wolf girl agreed readily. As a member of the Forbidden Forest, she knew all too well what Hermione meant to Harry.

You should know that the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts belongs to the Granger family, and this is Hermione Granger's Granger!

Carrying her suitcase, Hermione rushed to the Forbidden Forest. She asked the wolf girl to gather her pack to help spread the word, and then contacted other Fantastic Beasts such as Centaur, Acromantula Nundu Occamy, carefully assigning them their respective defense zones.

As she made the arrangements, Hermione kept cursing inwardly, thinking to herself that the Ministry of Magic was indeed a bunch of bastards who were completely unreliable.

The Dementor of Azkaban caused the school a whole school year of trouble, yet they couldn't catch a single mouse. Now that something has happened to the school, they've been evacuated ahead of schedule.

What a load of rubbish!

After arranging everything, Hermione hid Norberta in the Forbidden Forest and then hurried back to the castle.

She originally intended to leave the Zouwu in the forest as well, but the Zouwu insisted that its origins were innocent and it wasn't afraid of being exposed, so it could stay close to Hermione and Luna Lovegood to ensure their safety.

Thus, a rapid and meticulous deployment of defenses began on campus, and all the students, unaware of what was happening, were gathered in the Great Hall, including Lupin, who was extremely weak and hospitalized.

However, just as Professor McGonagall had guessed, there were always some incredibly resourceful students who could find out all sorts of inside information and quickly figure out the crisis the school was facing.

Soon after, the caretaker Filch, along with the Weasley Twins, went to see Professor McGonagall.

"You're worried about the secret passages in the school?! Indeed... that is a big problem." Professor McGonagall was taken aback after the twins explained their purpose.

She had heard that Hogwarts had at least seven secret passages leading to the outside world, but she had inadvertently overlooked this issue when setting up the defenses.

If the attacking enemy is indeed the Inferi as she previously suspected, then Professor McGonagall must prepare for the worst... If the one manipulating these dark Magical Creatures behind the scenes also knows the location of these secret passages, then the Inferi could very well find them by following instructions!

"Mr. Filch, what is the current status of these secret passages?" Professor McGonagall asked the administrator anxiously, thinking of this.

"Most of it is already blocked. The only thing left to block is the secret passage behind the one-eyed old woman statue on the fourth floor." Filch glared at the twins as he spoke. "These two brats just mentioned this place, and I haven't had a chance to block it yet."

"Then go and seal it up now!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed anxiously. "After that, I'll have Snape guard that spot. Oh, and that big hole under the Whomping Willow —seal it up too. I'll personally guard outside the Great Hall afterward!"

"Understood." Filch acknowledged the order and left, gathering tools to plug the hole.

"There's one more problem, Professor!" Fred suddenly called out anxiously after Filch left, "What about the villagers of Hogsmeade Village?"

"Villagers?"

"That's right. If those enemies really do break in through the secret passage, the villagers of Hogsmeade will be in great danger, such as the Honeydukes!" George suggested with a serious expression. "I think we should notify them and tell them to find a way to take refuge as soon as possible."

"Indeed, this is the safest approach." Professor McGonagall nodded approvingly, agreeing that the twins' idea was absolutely correct.

"Let us go!" Fred quickly requested, seeing the situation. "The two of us, and the entire Gryffindor Quidditch Team, we can all help!"

"Yes! We can ride Flying Broomstick out and gather a central warning signal above Hogsmeade Village. Even if we have to call people from house to house, it won't take much time," George assured him confidently.

"Alright, I'll have Rolanda Hooch go with you. All four house Quidditch teams will set off at the same time! Before sunset, you must evacuate all the villagers, or even bring them to the school for a centralized evacuation!"

"Understood!" *2

With Professor McGonagall's approval, the two brothers quickly agreed in unison.

So all the Quidditch players at Hogwarts set off, including Slytherin.

They repeatedly warned the Hogsmeade Village with Amplifying Charm while explaining the situation to each of the puzzled villagers. Finally, they managed to evacuate most of the villagers before evening.