The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 567 I Hate Guessing Riddles
As the door of the Hog's Head Bar was pushed open, the cold October wind blew in, causing the candlelight in the shop to shake and flicker.

With the cold wind, Ada appeared in everyone's sight. She first glanced at the busy Aberforth, and then walked towards her friend by the fireplace.

They were the only customers at the Hog's Head today. It was unclear whether Voldemort's return had made the bad business even worse, or whether Aberforth's bad temper had scared away the customers.

After taking off her heavy cloak, Ada sat in the vacant seat. Her eyes moved around the store, as if she was on guard against eavesdroppers, or as if she was waiting for Aberforth.

After a while, Ada focused her attention on her friend.

The twins often met Ada, and the two brothers did not show any abnormality; Cedric also occasionally saw Ada in the Ministry. He entered the Ministry of Magic through Ada's introduction, and he also did not make a fuss about Ada's appearance.

Angelina and Alia looked Ada up and down. They prepared themselves for a long time and convinced themselves that it was not Ada who was wrong, but this fucked up world.

Now that they met, Angelina and Alia realized that all their previous psychological preparation was in vain. Ada was still the same Ada, but she showed a side of her that they were not familiar with.

On the other hand, Lee Jordan, who usually didn't care about anything, seemed a little restrained. I don't know what was going on.

Ada didn't even bother to tease Lee Jordan. The other people looked at her like a hungry chick. Ada didn't hesitate and said straight to the point: "The person who gave the opal necklace to Katie was Draco Malfoy. We have found out."

After he finished speaking, the table suddenly became quiet, with only the slight crackling of the candlelight as the sound.

No one would have thought that Draco Malfoy would do this. This unfortunate kid has always given people the impression that he acts according to his heart.

He is always the first to pick a fight, but when a fight breaks out, he immediately hides behind the crowd. Draco Malfoy is either on his way to pick a fight or being beaten.

Toads don't grow hair, this thing just follows its roots.

It was such an unlucky child who suddenly became strong one day and wanted to do something big, and almost killed Katie Bell.

Malfoy's target could not be Katie, he obviously had a bigger plan. This sudden and earth-shaking change was really hard to accept all at once.

The silence didn't last long, and soon someone spoke.

Cedric asked first: "Why? What is that boy's purpose, and why did he choose Katie?"

Ada shook her head. Perhaps only by catching Malfoy could she know what he wanted to do. Ada felt that Malfoy's target was not Harry. If he really wanted to deal with Harry, it was unlikely that he would involve Katie.

Compared to Katie Bell, who was in the first year of high school, Ron and Hermione who were by Harry's side were better choices. Even if these two were difficult to deal with, the explosive genius Seamus Finnigan, or even Dean Thomas were better choices than Katie.

Unless Malfoy's target wasn't Harry, but someone Katie could get in touch with.

But who around Katie is worth Malfoy's efforts? The necklace costs thousands of Galleons, and even if the Malfoy family is a wealthy family, they don't spend gold Galleons like this.

In short, no matter what Malfoy thought in his heart and who his ultimate target was, the innocent Katie was cursed by the opal necklace because of him, and this matter could not be let go.

Today, members of Dawn gathered together from all over the country, just to seek an explanation. Katie should not suffer in vain.

Seeing that Ada could not give any more answers, the friends stopped asking. They drank the butterbeer in their cups silently and started to pack their clothes, obviously planning to go to Hogwarts. Just as everyone was about to leave, Aberforth suddenly came over and stopped Ada and the twins.

Everyone stopped as well. Angelina, Alia, Lee Jordan, and Cedric didn't know Aberforth's identity. They just thought he was the waiter at the Hog's Head Bar, so they all looked at him strangely.

"We've paid for the beer, sir." Cedric said with a slightly unhappy look. He thought Aberforth's behavior was because he discovered Ada's identity and wanted to verify it and then report it to the Ministry of Magic.

Aberforth ignored Cedric. He looked at Ada and said in an unquestionable tone: "Let's talk alone." Then he looked at the twins and continued: "Just the two of us."

Ada nodded and walked aside with Aberforth, leaving Fred and George to explain Aberforth's identity.

After learning that this sloppy male waiter was actually the headmaster's younger brother, the students were shocked. It was really unimaginable, and both Draco and Aberforth brought a great shock to everyone.

Ada, who was standing in the corner, said bluntly: "Are you here to be a lobbyist? To convince us not to go to Hogwarts, let alone cause trouble for Draco Malfoy, right?"

"Someone did ask me to do that, but I refused," said Aberforth, his long grey beard twitching as he spoke, his eyes fixed towards Hogwarts.

People say that when brothers work together, they can achieve great things. But the Dumbledore brothers turned against each other and became enemies.

Especially Aberforth, Ada hardly ever heard the headmaster's name from him. Fred and George were also at odds with Percy, they usually called Percy "big fool" or "big idiot", but they would not use "he" or "that person" like Aberforth.

Ada became more interested in the love-hate relationship between the two Dumbledore brothers. If the scene was not inappropriate, she could even imagine a 70-episode TV series.

"I am not keeping you here to stop you," Aberforth continued, "but I want to ask you, are you mentally prepared?"

"Mental preparation?" Ada repeated. She did not understand what Aberforth meant for a moment.

In Ada's expectation, the benevolent Dumbledore should protect Draco Malfoy and give Malfoy a chance to reform. If Aberforth meant this kind of mental preparation, then Ada was ready.

A vicious old witch like Umbridge could live well under Dumbledore's nose, not to mention Draco Malfoy who had not yet left the school.

"It seems that you are not prepared." Aberforth said, "That's right. If you really knew my brother well enough, you would not show up in Hogsmeade today."

"What do you mean?" Ada was a smart person, but she didn't like this kind of riddle-like way of talking.

If you want to chat, just chat properly. If you want to talk, just talk properly. Is it fun to always say half of what you want to say and leave the other half unsaid? If you want to say something, just say it openly. If you don't want to say anything, just don't even open your mouth.

"It's meaningless to say it directly." Aberforth guessed Ada's thoughts, "What I want to say is that you may be disappointed today. You will meet a very different Dumbledore, a somewhat unfamiliar Albus Dumbledore."

Then, Aberforth waved his hand impatiently and said, "Let's go, hurry up. Because of you, I haven't done any business today."

Aberforth "kindly and enthusiastically" pushed the confused crowd out of the bar and exposed them to the muddy streets of Hogsmeade. And Ada seemed to gradually understand what Aberforth said.

(End of this chapter)