The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 615 The storm is coming
Generally speaking, wands have feelings for their chosen masters and a certain degree of loyalty.

Even in a duel or war, if the owner of the wand is defeated (or hit by a disarming spell), the wand will not immediately abandon its owner, but will continue to serve the owner, unless the wand is forcibly taken away or damaged.

The Elder Wand has no emotions, and loyalty is a joke to it. It only follows power. It is calm and cruel, like a killing machine, and the Elder Wand only serves the stronger.

Wizards were prepared to murder or be killed in order to obtain the Elder Wand, and its power made killing almost inevitable. "Safe" changes of ownership, such as those of Dumbledore and Ada, have rarely occurred since Antioch.

In the duel for the ownership of the Elder Wand, Ada did not win gloriously. She was suppressed by Dumbledore in both the water dungeon and the Obscurus. But because of her successful disarmament in the end, Ada became the winner and won the favor of the Elder Wand.

In any case, Ada is now the owner of the Elder Wand.

When she held the Elder Wand in both hands, she could feel the terrifying power contained in the Deathly Hallows, a power that had been passed down for nearly a thousand years.

Putting the old wand back on the table, Ada closed her eyes and wondered why Dumbledore did this and why he wanted to continue the duel after he had already won.

It is not difficult to guess the purpose of Dumbledore's proposing a duel, which was nothing more than a preparation for both situations.

If she wins, Ada will return to school to protect Hogwarts without Dumbledore; if she loses, she will hand over the Elder Wand to prevent this powerful weapon from falling into Voldemort's hands.

Gregorovitch had been kidnapped by Voldemort a long time ago, and he might have known the whereabouts of the Elder Wand. Voldemort, who was pursuing power and immortality, could hardly help but be attracted by the Elder Wand.

Ada's slender white fingers tapped the table unconsciously, and she suddenly laughed, a clear laughter like wind chimes echoing in the spacious office.

Putting Dumbledore's actions over the past year together, Ada had glimpsed part of the headmaster's plan.

It is foreseeable that once Dumbledore dies, the lack of high-end combat power will put the Order of the Phoenix in a completely passive position. If they want to continue to resist Voldemort, they can only rely on the anti-Voldemort treasure Harry Potter.

But Harry is only a sixth grade student after all, and his ability is considered outstanding among the students, but that is only within the school. If it weren't for the halo of the protagonist, Harry would be celebrating his anniversary by now.

If Voldemort suddenly came to his senses and stopped being obsessed with Harry Potter, and instead took advantage of Dumbledore's death to wipe out the Order of the Phoenix, could the isolated and helpless Harry still become the savior?
Many hands make light work. Without the help of the Order of the Phoenix, it would be almost impossible for Harry to defeat Voldemort alone.

To put it bluntly, a few powerful Death Eaters would be enough to crush Harry to ashes, without Voldemort having to do it himself.

In order to ensure the safety of everyone in the Order of the Phoenix and to enable Harry to use his magic against the Noble Phantasm, Dumbledore included Ada in the plan, hoping that she could return to the Order of the Phoenix instead of continuing to stay in the Ministry of Magic.

Far water cannot quench near thirst, and the Ministry of Magic cannot revolve around the Order of the Phoenix all day long.

If this was Dumbledore's plan, then winning the duel and getting Ada to come back would be the most important thing for him at the moment.

In fact, Dumbledore did win the first stage of the duel, and his plan could be carried out smoothly. However, he let the duel continue and eventually lost the Elder Wand.

What made Dumbledore suddenly abandon his original plan? What made Dumbledore think that Ada didn't have to return to the Order of the Phoenix according to the bet?

Ada also thought of this answer, so she laughed.

The reason why Dumbledore didn't let Ada return to the Order of the Phoenix according to the bet was because he didn't want to force her, he wanted her to make her own choice. If Ada chose to return, it was her own decision, not Dumbledore's decision for her. Being forced to fulfill the bet and voluntarily protecting the Order of the Phoenix may seem to be the same, but in fact, there is a world of difference. This may be Dumbledore's unique kindness to Ada, and he gave the decision to Ada herself.

From this point of view, Harry, the son of prophecy, was outshined by Ada, because everything about Harry was arranged clearly from beginning to end.

Thinking of this, there was no need to think further. Whether to give up everything now and return to the Order of the Phoenix, or to stay in the Ministry of Magic despite Dumbledore's feelings, this was not a decision that could be made immediately. Ada still needed to think carefully.

It would be best to come up with a compromise that would both fulfill the agreement with Dumbledore and act according to one's own wishes.

Ada opened the drawer of her desk and took out a letter from Ginny, one of the "spies" Ada had planted in Hogwarts.

Ginny is a grown-up girl now, no longer the little girl who follows her mother and waits to be fed.

She is now the recognized beauty in Gryffindor, a frequent guest of Slughorn, and the dream lover of some boys.

After all, it is hard for young boys who are just beginning to fall in love to resist a passionate, lively and outspoken girl. Compared to Ada's poor love history, Ginny can be regarded as a master in the field of love.

But Ada knew that there was only one person in the little girl's heart from beginning to end, and that was the Hogwarts's most handsome guy - Harry Potter.

In the letter, Ginny talked about some recent events in the school. For example, the school was very peaceful recently, and no one was hospitalized for unknown reasons; Hagrid's pet Aragog died, and Harry and Slughorn went to mourn together; Katie Bell finally came back, the annoying McLaggen was kicked out of the school team, and training finally returned to normal, etc.

Of course there were some personal matters, such as Ron breaking up with Lavender Girl Lavender Brown, and Ginny breaking up with Dean Thomas.

Wait, isn't Ginny's boyfriend Michael Corner from Ravenclaw? The two were seen on a date by the brothers. When was Dean Thomas? Did I miss something?
This is what the Hogwarts spectators thought.

At the end of the letter, Ginny generously admitted that she was now Harry's girlfriend. Her dream had come true! Although it was just a letter, Ada could imagine Ginny's proud and happy expression when she wrote this sentence.

After putting down Ginny's letter, Ada put away the aunt-like smile on her face.

Based on the recent news about Hogwarts, Ada smelled a conspiracy. Voldemort and the Death Eaters must have made some big moves recently, which is why they kept a low profile.

Since June, the Death Eaters seemed to have taken a collective holiday due to the high temperature. Not only was nothing happening in Hogwarts, but even the Ministry of Magic was much more relaxed.

If it weren't for the occasional Dementors causing trouble, people would almost forget that there is still a group of dark wizards at large!
It would be a bit hasty to conclude that the Death Eaters had a conspiracy simply because they did not cause any sabotage. However, if we consider the fact that the assassination plan had not made any progress, Ada's suspicion would be reasonable.

The 96-97 school year at Hogwarts was coming to an end, and the plan to assassinate Dumbledore had been delayed for too long. According to Voldemort's previous style, he would not let Theodore Nott slack off, and he would definitely force poor Nott to take action as soon as possible.

In other words, Voldemort's big move should be directed against Hogwarts and Albus Dumbledore, and Snape must fulfill his oath.

Ada stood up and looked out the window. Sending Aurors to Hogwarts at this time would definitely yield a lot of rewards, as the empty cells in Azkaban could be partially filled.

But Ada was still a little hesitant. She was wondering whether she should go too. She never liked parting.

(End of this chapter)