The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 524 We are different

The battle that night in the abandoned manor could not be covered up, and the Ministry of Magic's heavy losses could not be hidden from those who were interested. What's more, there were people who were fanning the flames behind the scenes, spreading the word about the Ministry of Magic's incompetence and weakness and undermining its credibility.

It can be said that what Ada has done in recent days has provided great help to Voldemort.

Ada not only weakened the power of the Ministry of Magic, allowing Voldemort to see how vulnerable the Ministry of Magic was; at the same time, Ada also reduced the influence of the Ministry of Magic, making them a laughing stock in the wizarding world.

Just for weakening the Ministry of Magic, Voldemort deserves a big meal from Ada.

It seemed that Ada turned into a bad teammate and did more harm than good, but in fact, she once again highlighted Dumbledore's greatness.

Tom Riddle and Esmeralda Drizzt are both students of Dumbledore, and both of them can call the shots in the wizarding world. The difference is that one is not favored by Dumbledore, while the other is his direct disciple; the same thing is that neither of them is Dumbledore's opponent.

This made people in the British wizarding world generally reach a consensus that as long as Albus Dumbledore was around, the sky would not fall!

Ada has also secured the title of the new generation Dark Lord. After all, no ordinary dark wizard would dare to challenge the Ministry of Magic alone and beat the Ministry of Magic to the point where they can’t even raise their heads.

Nowadays, when people call Ada "the devil", there is less joking and more fear.

However, Ada was very incompetent as the Dark Lord, because she only targeted the British Ministry of Magic. She neither spread terror in the wizarding world nor caused more killings.

Compared to Grindelwald and Voldemort, Ada is more like a second-rate gang.

As a result, the general public's perception of Ada only remains at the level of a thug, not to the level of Voldemort.

Most of those who hated Ada and wished she would be brought to justice had family members working in the Ministry of Magic. They had a very bad impression of Ada and thought she was a bloody executioner.

In addition to the families of the Ministry of Magic employees who were looking forward to Ada's early demise, there was another group of people who were also eagerly looking forward to Ada recruiting troops and expanding massively.

However, these idle dark wizards looked forward to it day and night, but they could not get any news about Ada's expansion.

Most of these idle dark wizards are the ones left over by Voldemort. They are only suitable to be cannon fodder, not suitable to join Ada's circle. They are hard-handed and evil-hearted, and Ada herself has a bad impression of dark wizards.

Even if Ada really wanted to recruit troops, she would choose to recruit in Europe, not in England. If Ada is willing to raise the banner of Grindelwald, she should be able to raise a team quickly.

Of course, there is a price to pay for this. Ada will be hated by all the ministries of magic. After all, Grindelwald even offended the Magical Congress of the United States.

After leaving Hogsmeade, Ada has been hiding in London. The Ministry of Magic has not withdrawn its wanted warrant for her, nor is it possible to do so.

The reason why she was still here was because Professor McGonagall had not recovered yet. As long as Minerva McGonagall was not discharged from the hospital, Ada would be worried.

Although she was hiding as a wanted criminal, Ada did not have the hard life like Sirius. She just could not show up in public.

For example, Ada had to disguise herself carefully every time she went to St. Mungo's, and she had to disguise herself every time she went to Diagon Alley. In short, it was a lot of trouble. Although life was less fun, it was not all bad news.

Professor McGonagall's health is getting better day by day, and I believe she will be discharged from the hospital soon.

On this day, Ada did not report to St. Mungo's, but appeared in a small church. She was wearing a navy blue dress, holding a sun hat in her hand, and sat in the last row of the church benches.

The youth choir was rehearsing in the church, wearing uniform white clothes. The song "Messiah" was played with the accompaniment of piano.

When the last note faded into the air, someone sat down next to Ada, only one person away from her.

"I didn't expect you would be interested in these things," said Voldemort. "These Muggle things."

He was wearing a black robe, and no one except Ada noticed him, just as no one except Voldemort could see Ada. The two of them were sitting here, but in the eyes of these Muggles, they seemed to be non-existent.

Ada tilted her head slightly and could see Voldemort's pale, flat, snake-like face and scarlet eyes. Ada smiled and said, "Don't you think this is interesting? Two Dark Lords, in a Muggle church, what an interesting scene!" Voldemort uttered a "huh", not knowing whether he was refuting that meeting in a church was interesting or despising Ada for calling herself a Dark Lord. After all, by the Dark Lord's standards, Ada really failed.

A year ago, Ada and Voldemort fought to the death in Little Hangleton, and a fire almost burned down the entire village. A year later, the two sat together calmly in a Muggle church, only one person away from each other.

Today's meeting was proposed by Voldemort, and someone left a mark on Ada's way to St. Mungo's. Ada agreed and chose this church as the meeting place.

The church choir sang again, and Ada continued, "From the first moment I saw the Dark Mark, I felt that your taste was terrible. I didn't expect you to appreciate this mood."

"Oh! Don't talk about artistic conception when you are hiding from XZ." Voldemort was neither anxious nor annoyed, and he spoke with a hissing sound.

"Same here," Ida said. "You've been hiding longer than I have. If we count the time in the Albanian jungle, it must be fifteen or sixteen years, right?"

"Yes, it was a long and difficult time," said Voldemort. "We have waited for so many years, and one or two days won't make a difference."

Ada looked at Voldemort with a playful look, and said, "Should I thank you for not taking advantage of this opportunity to fish in troubled waters and throw more dirty water on me?"

Those scarlet eyes could not read any emotions, nor could they feel any warmth.

If eyes are windows to human beings, then Voldemort's eyes are sealed windows.

"I am somewhat curious about you," said Voldemort. "I am curious about why you dare to be an enemy of Lord Voldemort, and how you escaped the Killing Curse. Now I am more curious. I am beginning to wonder where the road under your feet leads to."

"The road is long. I have just started. How can I know where the end of the road is?" Ada said, "Why, do you want to show me the way?"

The reason why Ada agreed to meet Voldemort was that she wanted to test his bottom line. I think Voldemort should have the same idea. Ada's strong rise should have left the second generation Dark Lord with many questions.

"I am not Dumbledore, and I am not in the habit of mentoring young people." Voldemort said, "You and I have similarities, so I have decided to provide you with an option, a completely new option."

Ada knew very well what option Voldemort was talking about, and that option was to join forces to kill Dumbledore.

At the same time, Ida was also very clear that Voldemort did not really want to join forces, but was just testing her attitude and position. Even if Ida was deceived and agreed to join forces with Voldemort, after defeating Dumbledore, would Voldemort let her go?
There is no room for two tigers in one mountain. Even if Voldemort has the so-called immortality, can he just sit back and watch those younger than him continue to become more powerful? Immortality is not immortality!
As the weakest of the three, Ada's cooperation with Voldemort would be a tactic that would lead to her own death. Ada might as well go back to help Dumbledore, because at least Dumbledore and Harry Potter would not abandon her.

"Unlike you," Ida said, "at least I can go home." Her tone was sincere and genuine, as if she really intended to return to France.

"Home, where is your home? Hogwarts or Versailles?" Voldemort said disdainfully.

As if to emphasize his disdain for Ida's naivety, he added: "You don't have a choice."

After the night of the abandoned manor, the French Ministry of Magic had already come to the Rose Manor to ask Vida about her whereabouts. Ada is the granddaughter of Vida Rosier, a follower of Grindelwald. Her behavior in England made the French Ministry of Magic feel uneasy, recalling the horrible memory many years ago.

And can Ada really go back to Hogwarts? This is difficult, as difficult as asking Ada to strangle Voldemort right now.

"I am different from you," Ida repeated again, "It is precisely because you don't understand the differences between us that...you hide in the dark and try your best to get something."

Originally, Ada was going to say, "That's why you can't compare to Dumbledore," but in the end she changed her words to a more tactful one.

Voldemort stood up and said as he walked: "It's the same trick of fooling people again. I take back what I said just now. You are not worthy of being appreciated by the great Lord Voldemort. The magic wand is not suitable for you. You should play with dolls."

Accompanied by the singing of the choir, Voldemort, who got the answer, walked out of the church. Ada still sat on the bench, her thoughts drifting far away.

Killing Umbridge and fighting the Ministry of Magic were satisfying, but now Ada was in a difficult situation. The dragon-slayer became the dragon. Ada needed to take a different path from her predecessors.

(End of this chapter)