Little Brother Roasts Big Brother: What's So Great About Him? / To Save or Not to Save, So-Called Safety

However... that Harry Granger actually struck Moody with lightning, that's really fierce.

The Quibbler also subscribed to The Aberforth Dumbledore and naturally knew that Harry had accomplished a feat that could be considered a human myth, but details like Moody being struck by lightning would not be published in the magazine.

"But what I regret most is that jug of fine Firewhisky," the Fake Moody sighed, his face full of heartache. "That was brewed by me myself, using only the finest ingredients."

"Haha, you might want to consider trying my wine," Aberforth joked with a laugh. "I guarantee the flavor will be absolutely unique."

"Never mind." Fake Moody waved his hand. "I came hoping you could lend me a room. I need to deal with this stuff. This broken crutch is too painful; I really don't want to walk back with it on."

"Okay, you can go to the innermost guest room, I'll open the door for you."

Aberforth Dumbledore understood the Fake Moody's purpose; the other party was definitely suffering from paranoia and wanted to examine the newly purchased prosthetic leg in detail.

This guy wouldn't even eat the stuff his comrade sold, and he only drank homemade liquor, using only his own flask... You can imagine that if it weren't for the discomfort of ordinary wooden crutches, he wouldn't even buy anything from Devis-Bansley.

The two arrived at the bar's guest room one after the other. After Aberforth Dumbledore opened the door for the Fake Moody, he went back to work at the bar and left the Fake Moody alone in the room.

Unbeknownst to them, Harry, concealed by the Invisibility Cloak, had already secretly sent a wisp of water elemental for surveillance into the room through the crack in the door.

"Ugh... that damn brat, Harry Potter!"

Alone in his room, the Fake Moody cursed angrily and tossed the broken wooden crutch aside.

He relaxed his slightly sore hands and feet, quickly put on the adjustable high-end prosthesis, and didn't even consider the examination process Aberforth Dumbledore had imagined.

However, after that, the Fake Moody suddenly used Apparition and vanished from the room!

"He came here... just for this?"

Seeing this, Harry quickly and quietly opened the door and entered the room. After a moment's thought, he had basically determined the Fake Moody's motive.

The captured Moody may not actually be at Hogwarts right now, and the Fake Moody's departure may very well be to go to the place where Moody was imprisoned, wanting to pull out another batch of Moody's hair!

The reason he sought an excuse to come to the Hog's Head Inn was simply to have Aberforth Dumbledore, a fellow member of the Order of the Phoenix, vouch for him so that others would believe he hadn't gone anywhere during this time!

Therefore, it now seems that the most likely place for Moody to be imprisoned is perhaps his own home!

"Hmm... that's... that's great!"

As Harry looked around the room, he suddenly spotted some scattered skin flakes and hairs on the floor, and was overjoyed.

He quickly summoned a water sphere, carefully wrapped up the items, and then quietly left the room.

After that, the Fake Moody returned to the room in Apparition. He carefully examined the floor and, finding no trace of anything amiss, left the room as if nothing had happened.

"Oh, is the checkup done? Actually, I think you should relax a bit more."

Back at the front desk, Aberforth Dumbledore caught a glimpse of Moody's new prosthetic leg and, as expected, had no suspicions.

"That won't do. Now is the time when we need to be most vigilant, whether it's the You-Know-Who or anyone else! Alright, I'll take my leave now, Aberforth Dumbledore."

The Fake Moody said goodbye in a hoarse voice and left the bar with a lighter step than he had when he arrived.

"The one we need to be most wary of... indeed, otherwise he wouldn't have invited you to Hogwarts."

After the Fake Moody left, Aberforth Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully.

"Mr. Dumbledore, I'm quite curious... what exactly was your brother's purpose in inviting Moody to Hogwarts?"

"Who?!"

Upon hearing the sudden sound beside him, Aberforth Dumbledore immediately bristled, but when he raised his wand to look over, he saw Harry had just taken off his Invisibility Cloak.

"It's you?" Aberforth Dumbledore asked in surprise. "How long have you been here?"

"I've been following Professor Moody the whole time. Now that he's lost his Magic Eye, his ability to detect invisibility isn't as good as it used to be," Harry explained softly. "Mr. Dumbledore, would you be willing to answer my question?"

It should be said that Harry's exposure was somewhat impromptu, because he was genuinely quite curious.

Albus Dumbledore could guess to some extent why Harry had brought Moody to be the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, but he was curious to know... how much of the reason Dumbledore told the others in the Order of the Phoenix had in common with the reason Harry had guessed?

As for why he approached Aberforth Dumbledore, it's probably because Harry felt that Aberforth was a rather special figure within the Order of the Phoenix.

After all, he was a ruthless man who had broken Albus Dumbledore's nose more than once.

Chapter 600 Brother's Rant About His Brother, How Great Is It?

"Alright, since you're curious, let's sit down and chat. I haven't had a proper conversation with anyone in ages anyway."

Aberforth Dumbledore gave in without much resistance; he now understood Harry quite well... especially Harry's fighting prowess.

In the current Britain Wizarding World, this kid is basically the most powerful fighter besides Albus and You-Know-Who. Even if he doesn't want to talk, he'll have to after being subdued by him Legilimency and Veritaserum. So he might as well cooperate.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Aberforth Dumbledore led Harry to a table in the corner, while pouring himself a Butterbeer.

"Would you like some? The food here is just as good as Three Broomsticks '."

"No, just a glass of regular juice will do," Harry shook his head and refused. "I don't drink anything alcoholic."

"Alright." Aberforth Dumbledore shrugged and changed Harry's juice. "If my brother were as disciplined as you with his sweets, he wouldn't need to use magic to fix his teeth so often."

After the two sat down, Aberforth Dumbledore wore a wry smile and complained, "Speaking of Alastor Moody, I really have to say something to you first. You went too far. Even if you harbor resentment towards Albus, you didn't have to take it out on Mad-Eye Moody. Everything he did was, in the end, just following my older brother's orders."

"So he can just come to Hogwarts and openly disrupt my experiments at a crucial moment?" Harry scoffed dismissively. "Mr. Dumbledore, I'm a man who strictly distinguishes between motives and actions. There are plenty of people in this world who want to kill me, but I'll only eliminate those who actually lay a hand on me. Moody, or the rest of your Order of the Phoenix, whatever you think is fine, but you'd better not actually mess with me!"

"Well, all I can say is... what my brother did was a bit unethical." Aberforth Dumbledore readily betrayed his elder brother, adding at the end, "Of course, most of the Order of the Phoenix members know that the current situation is quite complicated, so Auror like Mad-Eye Moody is needed to protect you, but he probably also intends to have Alastor Moody secretly cause you trouble and restrict you... that's just my own guess."

Then the experienced Auror he had painstakingly found was imprisoned and replaced... Harry really didn't know what to say about this.

"Headmaster... he should pay more attention to others than me." Harry shook his head and sighed helplessly. "If he just didn't think so much, the situation wouldn't be complicated at all, and even if Voldemort were to rise from the dead, I certainly wouldn't be the most dangerous person."

Honestly, after the Fake Moody incident, Harry really felt that Albus Dumbledore should pay more attention to the current situation of his Order of the Order of the Phoenix members.

Just imagine, if even Moody, the number two figure in the Order of the Phoenix, could be easily beaten down, then if Voldemort were to actually attack a member of the Order of the Phoenix, none of them would be able to escape.

"Unfortunately, he wouldn't think that way." Aberforth Dumbledore downed his beer in one gulp, and his previously tightly sealed mouth seemed to have finally opened up.

"My Albus many things, and people are often hurt as he carries out his grand plans. But for him, those hurts, though sad, are unavoidable."

"He was good at assigning tasks to others, but he never told anyone everything, because he always felt that the more people who knew, the higher the risk of leaks. I know this about him very well. He learned about secrecy, secrets, and lies when he was still in my mother's arms. That's how we grew up. And Albus... he was born that way."

"So now you understand, kid," Aberforth Dumbledore scrutinized Harry with the same blue eyes as someone else, "You are the most crucial link in his whole plan, so he absolutely cannot allow you to make any mistakes, and even less can he allow you to become out of his control!"

"The reason he firmly believes in that Prophecy about you, and why he appears so pessimistic to many, is not because he can't find a way to defeat the You-Know-Who, but because only by following his original plan can the final future be controlled by him and become what he envisions!"

"So... the future the headmaster envisions is that under his brilliant leadership I will barely defeat Voldemort, and eventually lose my aura and become an ordinary wizard, is that right?"

Harry's lips trembled slightly, his expression ambiguous, and the light in his eyes grew even sharper and colder.

"If that's the case, then I'll really disappoint him! Because what I can't accept most is using the excuse of prioritizing the greater good to condone or even drive others to sacrifice themselves!!"

Without a doubt, Albus Dumbledore was a great man, and Harry could certainly agree on that.

But Harry had absolutely no chance of cooperating with his plan.

Because Harry, who possesses the spirit of the China, clearly understands that while planning is up to man, success is up to fate, and fate... often has unpredictable events.

How could the villains obediently follow your script? If you blindly pursue your so-called plan, the only result will be a constant stream of unexpected situations, and you'll be scrambling to patch up all the problems.

Thinking back to Kongming of our Great Celestial Empire, his strategy of "possessing Jing and Yi provinces and securing their strategic passes" was so brilliant that it is even worthy of being memorized and studied by later generations. Yet, didn't he still fail in the end?

Are you, Dumbledore brilliant than Kongming Liang? Does that mean your strategies are guaranteed to succeed?

Hehe~

Ultimately, advantages in war are accumulated little by little, and strategy is merely a way to rapidly expand those advantages, not the sole pursuit of ending the war.

So, how can we accumulate advantages?

Enhance your own strength, weaken the enemy's power, and most importantly... preserve your own manpower as much as possible, and stop making those pain-inducing 'great' sacrifices!

Especially those sacrifices that do absolutely nothing to improve one's own strength!!

Therefore, Harry disliked Dumbledore's plans and looked down on his inaction over the past decade.

Voldemort was defeated by Harry's mother, Lily, in 1981, and for a full ten years until the plot of Sorcerer's Stone began, the entire Britain Wizarding World seemed to come to a complete standstill.

No truly outstanding figures emerged, and those hidden enemies continued to live carefree lives. Voldemort's potential allies— Werewolf, vampires, Dementor, and so on—also failed to receive the attention they deserved.

Wizards throughout the entire Wizarding World have been doing only two things: first, cheering the name 'Harry Potter' every day; and second...

The You-Know-Who's name must never be mentioned.

During this time, Dumbledore, who knew perfectly well that Voldemort would eventually return, did nothing because of that Prophecy...

So Dumbledore was indeed a great man, so great that Aberforth Dumbledore described him as, "Many people think that every pore of my brother radiates sunshine," but so what?

Harry and he were on different paths...

We will not conspire together!

Chapter 601 To Save or Not to Save, the So-Called Safety

Upon returning to Hogwarts, Harry immediately did two things.

The first order was to command Greengrass's ghost to continue closely monitoring the Fake Moody's every move, in order to help them identify an opportunity to take action and eliminate him.

The second task was to have Nicolas Flamel's House-elf, Eliezer, go to 12 Grimmauld Place and inform Sirius to arrange for helpers to immediately search Moody's house to see if the retired Auror was indeed imprisoned there.

He himself went straight to the Headmaster's Office after the Fake Moody's hair had changed its appearance.

"Password... uh, please come in."

At the end of the third-floor corridor, the gargoyle stone beast, sensing someone approaching, habitually asked for the password. However, upon discovering that the visitor was Harry, it hurriedly stepped aside.

"Is the Headmaster inside?" Harry asked as he was about to step onto the spiral staircase.

"Here I am."

"Thanks."

After saying thank you, Harry went up the stairs to the Seventh Floor.

The crisp sound of the door knocker immediately drew the attention of all the creatures inside, from the portraits of past principals to the phoenix perched on a branch; they all turned to look at the doorway.

"Haha, Albus, you have guests!"

Phineas, who had been dozing off, suddenly perked up and put on a look of amusement.

Lately, whenever Harry comes to the Headmaster's Office to talk to Dumbledore, the conversation always ends badly, which has given Phineas, who loves to see Albus Dumbledore get his comeuppance, a lot of amusement.

The other principals, on the other hand, all wore expressions of either confusion or worry, wondering what kind of trouble would arise between the old man and the young man.

"Harry?" Dumbledore asked, conjuring a chair in front of his desk. "Is there something you need? Please sit down and we can talk."

"Headmaster, look at this." Harry placed the strand of hair he had found in front of Dumbledore. "This is Professor Moody's hair."

"This... Harry, I think this definitely isn't Alastor Moody's hair; it must belong to some young man." Dumbledore examined the strand of hair carefully, his expression gradually becoming serious. "Are you sure... you got this from Professor Moody?"

"Absolutely true." Harry nodded firmly. "Two hours ago, it was the soft, old-age hair type, but now it has completely reverted to its original state. It's a pity that hair that has undergone a transformation can no longer be used in Polyjuice Potion, otherwise we would have been able to find out its owner."

"Polyjuice Potion... Harry, you should be careful lately. This guy pretending to be Mad-Eye Moody is probably the one who rescued Voldemort in the Albanian Forest. And his purpose in infiltrating the school is clearly for you!"

After a moment of contemplation, Dumbledore's expression turned extremely serious. "That's right... I think he definitely intends to use the Triwizard Tournament. Perhaps he'll find a way to make you a participant, which would force you to temporarily disappear from everyone's sight."

"Uh... Headmaster, are you thinking a little off track?" Harry asked, frowning. "I came to you to discuss how we can catch this guy and get Mr. Moody out."

"No, I don't recommend doing that, Harry." Dumbledore shook his head indifferently. "Exposing this imposter's identity now will do us no good at all; on the contrary, it will cut off our only lead. Therefore, it's better to keep him under surveillance, which will also make it easier to find out their final plan."

"The final plan?" Harry frowned even more. "Headmaster, do you think Voldemort and his gang have any other plans besides killing me?"

"I can't be sure about this, Harry ..." A barely perceptible flicker appeared in Dumbledore's eyes, "So we'd better wait and see to avoid making the situation more complicated."

"Is that so..."

Harry was slightly skeptical of Dumbledore's words because he felt a sharp pain in his head... Rowena seemed to have discovered something.

But regardless of whether Dumbledore told him the truth or not, Harry had no intention of 'waiting and seeing'.

Because Moody's situation is absolutely terrible.

"Headmaster, do you know what Mr. Moody is going through right now as you say these things to me?" Harry asked in a deep voice after a long sigh.

"I can certainly imagine it, but I believe Alastor Moody is a strong Champion, and he will surely overcome those hardships." Dumbledore's tone seemed to have become worried, but he still insisted on his original idea, "And as long as that imposter isn't exposed, Mad-Eye Moody will remain safe until their final plan is carried out..."

"Headmaster, does your so-called 'safety' simply mean not dying?" Harry, finally unable to contain himself any longer, jumped up from his chair. "You know perfectly well what kind of torture Mr. Moody might suffer, yet you still disregard it all just to find out what his so-called plan is? So, even if Mr. Moody is rescued looking just like Bertha Jorkins, you don't care?!"

"Harry, I just..."