Harry Is Caught

"I've heard that Black's target is Harry. So I felt it was necessary to tell you this immediately."

Noticing Fudge looking over, Percy became even more excited, his whole body trembling slightly as he tried his best to impress.

"You mean Potter?"

Upon hearing this, Professor McGonagall looked in the direction Percy was pointing, shocked.

She drew her Wand and moved the table aside. Then, everyone could clearly see that Harry, Harry, and his friends were indeed huddled together, looking in their direction.

However, the three of them had different expressions in their eyes at that moment.

Neville looked at Professor McGonagall in terror, feeling certain he was going to die! His grandmother was sure to kill him!

Although strictly speaking, it seems he didn't do anything...

Ron glared angrily at Percy, wishing he could curse Percy!

How could Percy do something so heinous? Are they even family anymore? Why are all his Gege so treacherous?

Harry, on the other hand, had eyes filled with pain and hatred. His gaze was vacant, and the conversation he had just overheard kept replaying in his mind.

His father was betrayed by his most trusted best friend!?

And that guy, that bastard named Black, is now trying to kill Voldemort in order to resurrect his master.

Then give it a try!

Hatred and murderous intent filled Harry's heart, leaving him no energy to pay attention to anything else.

"Potter! What are you doing here? How did you escape from Hogwarts?"

Professor McGonagall stared incredulously at Harry was crouching on the ground.

She knew the other person possessed an Invisibility Cloak, given to them by Albus. But even Invisibility Cloak shouldn't be able to fool the Dementor guarding the entrance to Hogwarts.

However, Harry did not respond to Professor McGonagall's question. He simply squatted there quietly, motionless, as if he had not heard Professor McGonagall's words.

Professor McGonagall then realized that Harry had likely overheard the earlier conversation and learned the cause of his parents' deaths.

The old professor glanced at Harry with concern, then turned his gaze to Neville, the most 'cowardly' one.

"Longbottom, you tell us."

Unfortunately, although Professor McGonagall was very worried about Harry's current condition, she had to find out immediately how Harry had managed to sneak away from the Dementor and get to Hogsmeade.

This means that there's a vulnerability in Hogwarts ' defenses that even she's unaware of. And it's highly likely that Black was able to sneak into Hogwarts Castle undetected by exploiting this vulnerability!

Neville was nearly brought to tears by Professor McGonagall's stern questioning.

He turned to his two good friends for help.

So, is he saying... or... saying...?

"Harry accidentally discovered a Secret Passage that leads directly to Hogsmeade."

Having stopped using his eyes to condemn Percy (whose attention was entirely focused on Percy and hadn't even glanced at Ron Fudge), Ron bravely stepped forward.

As the saying goes, when faced with two evils, choose the lesser. Compared to a "magical tool" like the Marauder's Map, a Secret Passage is obviously much less valuable.

It has to be said that Ron always manages to be incredibly clever when he shouldn't be.

"Secret Passage?! Why didn't you report it immediately after discovering Secret Passage! Do you know how serious this is? Do you know...?"

Professor McGonagall was so angry her hair was practically standing on end.

How come students these days don't even have a basic sense of the bigger picture?

Have they forgotten so quickly that Sirius Black sneaked into the Gryffindor Common Room on Halloween night?

"Alright, Minerva. We can talk about this later. Right now, the most important thing is to investigate that Secret Passage as soon as possible."

Filius Flitwick interrupted Professor McGonagall's reprimand.

He could understand Professor McGonagall's feelings, but right now, there were more important things waiting for them to do.

"You're right, Filius, I was a bit confused with anger."

Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

"Now, all three of you, come back with me right now!"

With that, the old professor grabbed Harry and quickly walked out of the bar.

"I'm sorry, Minister Fudge, I must go back immediately and tell Professor Dumbledore about this."

And you, Percy Weasley, you did a great job! I'll give Gryffindor an extra 20 points when I get back.

Professor McGonagall greeted Fudge first, and then, as she passed Percy, she patted Percy on the shoulder encouragingly.

"It's alright, Professor McGonagall, go ahead."

Fudge quickly waved his hand, indicating that he didn't care.

After the Merpeople out, Fudge decided not to stay any longer.

"Madam Rosmerta, I have to go too. I have a lot of things to take care of. The Black affair has already given me a huge headache, and then a lot of Dementor died unexpectedly a few days ago. It's a real disaster."

Fudge sighed wearily, never expecting that even going out for a drink to relax would lead to such a frustrating experience.

"Take care, Mr. Minister, and get some rest."

He didn't look at Percy again until Fudge walked out of the bar.

This left Percy somewhat disappointed.

However, the thought that he had finally made a name for himself in front of Minister Fudge made Percy proudly puff out his chest again.

He strode back with an arrogant, pigeon-toed gait, head held high and chest puffed out.

"Penelope, did you see that? I was just chatting and laughing with Minister Fudge of the Ministry of Magic. Do you know Minister Fudge? Minister Fudge is..."

Percy first glanced at Bell with disdain, then proudly boasted to Penelope.

As for some of the content of his words, it seems to differ somewhat from reality.

What a joke! Didn't you see the eye contact between him and Minister Fudge? That's called telepathy! That's called perfect understanding!

Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand!

However, Percy's boasting was interrupted impatiently by Penelope halfway through.

"Alright, I know who Fudge is."

Having been influenced by Bell in her daily life, Penelope also didn't particularly like Fudge.

"Is that so? That's good."

Penelope's cold response caught Percy off guard.

The script shouldn't be like this!

Shouldn't Penelope look up to him with admiration, fully recognize the huge gap between him and Bell, then quit that lousy job, stay away from Bell, and join him in the Ministry of Magic?

Clearly, Percy was dreaming. Putting everything else aside, the Ministry of Magic isn't a place anyone can just walk into. Penelope, Muggle-born, didn't have Percy's natural advantages.

At this moment, Bell stood up with a smile, coming to Percy's rescue.

"It's getting late, Hermione and I will head back now. You two enjoy your drinks."

Regardless, Percy had at least solved a problem for Hermione, so Bell should express his gratitude.