The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 190: A Journey to an Unknown Destination
Dumbledore's appearance brought an end to the farce in the morning. The students dispersed under the leadership of their respective college prefects. Snape disappeared at the end of the stairs with Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall hugged Ada's shoulders tightly, giving her warmth and strength.

In the Gryffindor common room, the little lions were divided into three groups. They stood or sat in different corners, clearly separated from each other, but they were all discussing the same thing, guessing what would happen to Esmeralda Drizzt.

She intended to attack her classmates and refused to listen to the professor's advice. Many people believed that Drizzt would be expelled by the furious principal. Soon everyone would see her coming back to pack her luggage with her wand broken.

Fred and George sat in the armchairs, their hands clenched into fists, their knuckles turning pale from the force they were holding. On the coffee table was a breakfast provided by the house elves, but no one around the coffee table took any food.

The twins stood up and started to go to the dormitory, but Angelina quickly stopped them and asked, "What do you two want to do?"

"Write to Dad. This can't be all Ida's fault," George said. Ida really shouldn't have intended to attack students. This was her biggest mistake, but the cause of this incident was not her. If Ida was really expelled, and those culprits were only locked up for a month, it would be too unfair.

"Wake up, do you think Mr. Weasley alone can influence Dumbledore's decision?" Angelina asked.

"What should we do? Watch Ada get expelled, or go to the headmaster's office to beg Dumbledore for forgiveness?" said Fred.

"Perhaps, things are not that bad." Alicia Spinnet said, "Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall have always liked Ada. Maybe they will only criticize Ada harshly, but not..."

Fred waved his hand to interrupt Alia's words. He sneered and said, "Don't be so naive, Alia, Dumbledore? He's eager to kick Ada out of the door now to make room for his beloved apprentice!"

"No, grandma said that Professor McGonagall treats Ada as her own child, and she won't let this happen." Neville, who had been keeping his head down, whispered. Neville remembered the scene when he met Ada at St. Mungo's that day, and also remembered his grandma's evaluation of Ada.

Harry and Hermione, who were sitting nearby, were also very worried about Ada, but they were confused by the twins' words, which were very different from what Ron had said. In Ron's words, Ada was Dumbledore's favorite student, and he even went to the Burrow to find her during the summer vacation.

"What are you talking about kicking her out and making room for her favorite disciple? Isn't Ada Dumbledore's favorite student?" Harry asked the doubts in his heart, but when he asked the question, the twins didn't even want to look at him.

George didn't say anything, but Fred said directly: "It's all because of you! Because you..."

Fred didn't say anything more, George stopped him. Although George also believed that it was Harry's appearance that caused Dumbledore to no longer care about Ada, it was not Harry's fault, and Harry could not control what Dumbledore thought.

Everyone around the coffee table fell silent, and everyone was thinking about the sentence "It's all because of you." Angelina and Alia had already understood the meaning of this sentence, but Katie Bell was still a little confused. Lee Jordan calmed Fred and George down, asking them not to get too excited and to calm down before they could come up with a way to help Ada.

Hermione also understood the meaning of this sentence. Because of Harry's appearance, a rift appeared in the relationship between Dumbledore and Ada, but she didn't know the specific reason for the rift.

Today's scene happened just because Ada took the blame for Harry, which led to her being surrounded and scolded, and that's why she behaved so radically.

Only Harry still didn't understand why it happened because of himself. It wasn't because he was stupid, but he hadn't yet fully realized how high his status was and what kind of impact it would have on the people around him.

The entrance to the common room opened and Professor McGonagall walked in. All the students in the common room turned their eyes to her. Professor McGonagall walked towards the girls' dormitory, and it seemed that she was here to pack Ada's luggage.

The twins blocked Professor McGonagall's way, and Fred asked, "Is Dumbledore really going to expel Ada?"

"It's not entirely Ada's fault. Dumbledore's behavior is unfair!" George lost his composure. Professor McGonagall's appearance made him panic. It seemed that Ada's expulsion was a foregone conclusion. Angelina, Alia, and Lee Jordan also came over. They begged Professor McGonagall together. They hoped to see Dumbledore and ask him to withdraw the order to expel Ada.

"Mr. Weasley, please watch your words. This is Professor Dumbledore." Professor McGonagall put her hands down to signal everyone to calm down. She continued, "I'm just here to pack Ada's luggage."

When Fred and George heard about packing, their heads buzzed. Fred, who was out of control, said loudly, "Just because Ada comes from an orphanage and is not someone else, does she have to suffer this kind of injustice? Is there something she hasn't done well enough?"

After meeting Ada, Fred and George knew about Ada's calculations. In this magical world, Ada was like a rootless weed, a drifting duckweed. If she didn't care about herself, who would?
But now what she got in return was "I just came to pack Ada's luggage", which made the twins feel that she was not worth it. If she had known this, she would have lived a more carefree life. Even if she followed Grover Cecil to study black magic, it would have been better than being expelled today.

Looking at the twins who were out of control, Professor McGonagall felt relieved that these two reckless boys really cared about Ada. Angelina, Alia, Lee Jordan, and Katie Bell who wanted to speak but didn't dare to, all cared about her.

How could Professor McGonagall not feel gratified by this?

"First of all, as the deputy headmaster and the head of Gryffindor, I have not received any news of students being expelled." Professor McGonagall said, "Secondly, I am only here to pack for Ada. She is going on a long journey, and I can't let her go out in her school robes."

"That's still dismissal..." Lee Jordan muttered.

"That's not the case. This long journey is Professor Dumbledore's punishment for Ada, but I promise that you will see the day when Ada returns to school." Professor McGonagall said, "Now, who of you can tell me what book Ada is reading recently?"

On the path of Hogsmeade, Ada, wearing a sky blue robe, followed Dumbledore. From the moment she entered the headmaster's office, she and Dumbledore had not spoken a word.

Dumbledore was only talking to Professor McGonagall and Snape. He asked Professor McGonagall to prepare Ada's luggage for the long journey and asked Snape to continue to keep an eye on Quirrell and Harry Potter.

The handbag in Ada's hand, which was cast with a traceless extension spell, was the bag that Professor McGonagall prepared for her. In addition to clothes, there were also several books that she had not finished reading.

Ada didn't know where Dumbledore was going to take her, but it definitely wouldn't be Azkaban because she wouldn't need to prepare those clothes there, and her wand wouldn't remain in her hands.

However, Ada was ready to run away at any time. If anything went wrong, she would immediately Apparate away from Dumbledore. No matter if she could run away or not, she would always try.

After passing the Hogsmeade post office, Dumbledore and Ada turned into a small alley and walked into the dirty and dark Hog's Head Inn.

Maybe it was because it was still early, and there were no customers in the bar. The bar owner, holding the increasingly dirty wine glass, raised his head and looked at Dumbledore with disgust.

"Can you prepare something to eat?" Dumbledore said, "Our beautiful young lady has not had breakfast yet. It would be cruel for her to travel such a long distance without breakfast."

The owner of the Hog's Head Inn shifted his gaze to Ada and looked at her for a full minute before he put down the cup in his hand to prepare food. Dumbledore took Ada into a hidden hut as if he was familiar with the place.

The hut was very clean, quite unlike the dirty and messy style of the Hog's Head Pub.

(End of this chapter)