The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 481 Crucial Memory

The walls of Hogwarts might have been papered, and word spread quickly that Ada had been arguing with Umbridge in class.

Even by Hogwarts standards, the news spread incredibly quickly, and students could be seen discussing the matter in the corridors and classrooms.

While admiring Umbridge's courage, the students analyzed Ada's words sentence by sentence, trying to find out which of them were true and which were exaggerated.

At the end of the last school year, Dumbledore announced in front of all the students that Voldemort had returned, a fact that was difficult for the students to accept and believe. Even if Dumbledore announced all the details, it would be difficult to change this situation.

During the summer vacation, the Daily Prophet, with the Ministry of Magic's instructions, smeared Dumbledore, whitewashed the truth, and promoted Dumbledore's conspiracy theory. The weakness in public opinion also put Dumbledore in an unfavorable situation, and he was attacked from all sides.

Everyone may not have understood Umbridge's remarks last night, but after a night of fermentation, everyone knew that the Ministry of Magic wanted to interfere in the management of Hogwarts and wanted to control the school.

Most students accept that the Ministry of Magic wants to interfere in the school, which is no easier than accepting the return of Voldemort.

To put it bluntly, no matter how the Ministry of Magic targets Dumbledore, suppresses him, or discredits him, that is a matter between the top leaders and has nothing to do with the students.

It was not the students' turn to express their opinions, nor was it their turn to make comments. All the students could do was to watch and wait for the two sides to decide the winner.

But when the debate between Ada and Umbridge came out, and the students read their remarks, they were surprised to find that they could no longer stand by and watch. They were affected by the Ministry of Magic's mindless and large-scale damage.

No one wants to read or copy texts silently in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Everyone wants to learn real things and real skills.

People say that when the city gate catches fire, the fish in the pond will be affected. However, the series of operations by the Ministry of Magic failed to do anything to Dumbledore. The Ministry of Magic failed to catch fire at the city gate, but it succeeded in causing harm to the fish in the pond.

At lunch, as soon as Ada entered the auditorium, she attracted the attention of the students.

Ada's remarks in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class may have been selfish and exaggerated, but she was indeed speaking from the students' perspective and protecting their rights.

This is also where Ada is smart. She did not mention Voldemort, but refuted Umbridge from a student's perspective. Ada did what the students wanted to do but did not dare to do.

Umbridge did not appear in the hall, probably because she had not figured out how to face the students' questioning eyes. But Umbridge's escape could not solve the problem, and the Defense Against the Dark Arts class had to continue.

So in the afternoon, another piece of news came out from the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Umbridge and Harry Potter started arguing again.

But this time Umbridge learned her lesson. She didn't give Harry more opportunities to show off. She only said two or three sentences and then put Harry in detention for a week.

Harry Potter, what a poor man; Umbridge, what a poor... Never mind, I won't say more. Mr. Longbottom's Luffy should be angry.

When it was evening, Ada left the Gryffindor common room. She certainly would not go to detention with Harry, she went straight to the eighth floor of the castle and stood in front of the ugly stone statue.

After saying the password to pass the level, the stone statue jumped to the side, revealing a staircase hidden behind it.

Climbing up the stairs, before Ada could knock on the door of the headmaster's office, Dumbledore's voice came from inside.

"You arrived a little earlier than the agreed time."

Pushing open the door, Ada walked into the headmaster's office, and Dumbledore just left his chair.

The principal waved his hand, and a cabinet door opened. A meditation basin flew out of the cabinet and landed steadily on a table.

During the summer vacation, Dumbledore said that he would give Ada a detailed explanation after returning to school, so he asked a student to send a message to Ada, asking her to come over tonight.

Walking over and looking at the glowing Pensieve, Ida asked, "Professor, are we going to look at your memory again tonight?"

Watching Dumbledore's memories was an interesting experience, but Ida was not used to the fact that there was no fast-forward button. It was soulless to watch a video without being able to fast forward or rewind.

"Yes, that's right. A memory from many years ago." Dumbledore said. Of course, the headmaster didn't know what Ada was thinking about, and even if he knew, he might not understand it.

"How many years ago was that?" Ada asked for the sake of conversation.

"Fifteen or sixteen years," said Dumbledore. "That is a vital memory."

After saying this, the headmaster placed his wand against his temple, and then gently pulled out strands of silver, spider-thin memories. He then placed the memories on the wand into the Pensieve. The memories spun and floated in the Pensieve, and the ancient runes carved on the edge of the Pensieve lit up with a hazy light. Dumbledore and Ada instantly disappeared from the headmaster's office.

……

The darkness in front of her eyes dissipated, and Ada suddenly found herself standing in Hogsmeade village. It was a cold and damp night.

"Let's go. I'm going in." said Dumbledore beside him.

Following Dumbledore's gaze, Ada saw him with a shorter beard, and the headmaster in her memory was pushing open the door of the Hog's Head. Dumbledore and Ada immediately followed him into the Hog's Head, and then walked to a small room upstairs.

When passing by the owner of the Hog's Head Pub, Ada exclaimed: "Professor, I really think you look a bit like this owner."

"Of course," Dumbledore replied. "He is my brother, Aberforth. But he is not our purpose tonight."

Ada did not ask further. She looked at Dumbledore beside her, and then looked at Dumbledore in her memory. Although it was not the first time she was in such a scene, Ada still felt it was weird.

After a while, the small room was opened and Aberforth walked in with a woman.

What surprised Ada was that she knew the woman who walked in. Not only did she know her, but she had also taken a class with her! Sybill Trelawney, the professor of Divination at Hogwarts, was a charlatan who Ada thought was just a freeloader at school.

"I'm here to interview Sybil, even though I really wanted to cancel the Divination course at the time." Dumbledore explained, "But Sybil is the great-great-granddaughter of a very famous and talented prophet, and I think I should meet her out of courtesy."

As for Cassandra Trelawney, Ada knew the name of this prophet. But because Cassandra lived so long ago, Ada didn't know whether she was really so amazing or just deified by later generations.

The Pensieve didn't fast forward, rewind, or pause, so it wouldn't stop because of Ada's distraction. The memory continued to play, and Sybill Trelawney's interview was still going on.

In the memory, Trelawney performed very badly. She failed to show her gift of prophecy, and her tricks failed to fool Dumbledore.

Dumbledore, whose white beard was slightly shorter, politely rejected Trelawney. The headmaster said a few words to comfort her gentlemanly, and then left the room. Sybill Trelawney sat there, wrapping her shawl tightly with both hands, her shoulders shaking slightly because of crying.

Ada looked at Dumbledore beside her in confusion. She didn't understand. Since the headmaster had rejected Trelawney, why did Trelawney become the professor of Divination?

Dumbledore did not say anything, the headmaster just asked Ada to continue reading. With doubts, Ada looked at the memory again.

Just as Dumbledore in the memory was about to leave the room, something strange happened.

Sybill Trelawney's faint sobs suddenly stopped, and she stood up so suddenly that she knocked over the table and chairs around her.

In the memory, Dumbledore heard a strange noise behind him and turned to look at Trelawney who had stood up.

Sybill Trelawney stood there with her eyes blank and her mouth open. Then her lifeless eyes began to roll around as if she were about to have a seizure.

She said in a low, hoarse voice:

"The one who has the power to defeat the Dark Lord approaches... Born into a family that has thrice resisted him, born at the end of July... The Dark Lord will mark him as his greatest rival, but he will have powers the Dark Lord knows not of... One of them must die at the hand of the other, for both cannot live but one... The one who has the power to defeat the Dark Lord will be born at the end of July..."

Prophecy! Prophecy about Voldemort and Harry Potter!

The screen went black again, and Dumbledore and Ada returned to the headmaster's office. The portraits of past headmasters on the wall began to sleep soundly again.

Ada rested her hands on the table where the meditation basin was placed, and did not speak for a long time. The amount of information tonight was too much, and she needed to slow down and calm herself down.

After a long time, Ada asked the question in her heart. For some reason, her voice was a little light and trembling.

"Professor, there were no customers in the bar that night, and only you and Trelawney were present... No, Aberforth was also there... So how did Tom Riddle know about this prophecy?"

"There were indeed only three people who knew the prophecy at the time, but Sibyl was not among them. Even though Sibyl was the one who made the prophecy."

Dumbledore said slowly.

(End of this chapter)