The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 631 Memory and the Order of the Phoenix
The funeral was over and the wizards who came to mourn Dumbledore left the school.

An hour later, the Hogwarts Express, loaded with students, pulled out of Hogsmeade, and the summer vacation began.

It was unclear how many students would return when school reopened in September, and parents worried about the danger would keep their children at home rather than return to Hogwarts, where the headmaster could be murdered.

But as long as there are students who want to go to school, the school will continue to operate, even if only one student chooses to return to school when school starts.

Ada did not leave the school. She was in the principal's office. On the table beside her was a Pensieve and scattered crystal bottles. Ada had just watched the memory fragment left by Dumbledore, which Dumbledore lost to her.

First, I watched the memories of Bob Ogden, the captain of the Ministry of Magic's law enforcement team in the 20s. After watching it, Ida felt that the Gaunt family was really stupid.

Apart from being descendants of Slytherin, the Gaunt family has no power or influence, and their own strength is not that high. However, even so, the Gaunt father and son still dared to contemptuously call the officials of the Ministry of Magic "Mudbloods" and attacked Ogden.

Voldemort's mother, Merope, had such terrible magical skills that she was insulted by her own father as a "dirty Squib".

And to be honest, it was normal for old Tom Riddle to look down on Merope. Who would like a witch with plain looks, a sad expression, and a pair of eyes staring in two opposite directions?

The second memory is Dumbledore's own.

One summer day in 1938, Dumbledore came to an orphanage in London and told the young Voldemort that he was a wizard and would go to Hogwarts to study and master magic.

The young Tom Riddle at that time showed the characteristics of Voldemort in the future. Even though he had never learned magic, he could still use magic to achieve his goals and make everyone in the orphanage fear him.

As a fellow orphan, Ada could understand Tom a little, but she still felt that his actions were a bit excessive.

You can tell a child's future from the age of three, and you can tell a child's future from the age of seven. Ida didn't really believe in this proverb, but after seeing Tom Riddle's misdeeds in the orphanage, and the fact that he released the basilisk while studying, causing Myrtle's death, and then put the blame on the innocent Hagrid, it was no surprise that he would later become a demon who treated human life as worthless.

Tom Riddle is like... like, born bad.

The next two memories were deduced by Ada a long time ago. One was that Tom Riddle killed his biological father and put the blame on his uncle Morfin; the other was his past with Hepzibah Smith while he worked at Borgin and Burke's.

These two memories reveal how Tom Riddle got Slytherin's ring, locket, and Hufflepuff's gold cup. The same method, killing people to steal treasures, and then framing them.

The next memory is that Voldemort applied to Dumbledore for a job as the school's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. If he succeeds, it is not certain whether he will teach Defense Against the Dark Arts or Dark Magic.

Dumbledore rejected the disfigured Voldemort, and the position was cursed, and no one could teach for more than one school year. What a deep grudge!
Ada believed that Voldemort's long journey to Hogwarts in the wind and snow was definitely not just for an impossible position. Voldemort should know very well that Dumbledore would not let him instill those dangerous ideas into students.

On that snowy night, Voldemort left his Horcruxes at Hogwarts, a place he once treated as his home.

The last memory, and the most important one, comes from Horace Slughorn, former Head of Slytherin House and now Acting Head of House.

When he was a student, Voldemort asked Slughorn about Horcruxes and suggested whether the soul could be divided into more pieces, such as the most magical "seven".

This meant that the situation that Ada did not want to see had occurred. In addition to the Ravenclaw diadem and the locket taken away by RAB, Voldemort had at least one Horcrux missing.

Unlike the relics of the Big Four, which have traces to follow, this Horcrux is more difficult to find. It may be as inconspicuous as the diary, or it may be a treasure he stole from another wizard. How can we find it if there is no trace?
Dumbledore passed away, but left behind the mess of Horcruxes. Ada even wanted to go to the headmaster's grave to dance to relieve her boredom.

After putting away the crystal bottle containing memories and returning the meditation basin to its original place, Ada shook her head and left the principal's office.

That evening, Ada appeared at 12 Grimmauld Place. This was the first time she had entered the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix since she left during the Christmas holidays in 1995.

The kitchen in the basement is still dark and deep, like a cave.

A fire was burning in the great grate, and soon the kitchen was filled with as much smoke as if a dozen chain smokers were puffing away at the same time, though in reality few were in the house.

Lupin sat with Tonks, and he was mercilessly complaining about his old friend, hoping that Sirius could deal with the fireplace. But Sirius was like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water, and no matter how hard Lupin talked, he just said three words: "I can't do it."

In the corner of the room, Mr. Weasley was chatting with Ada, whispering about the latest developments in the Ministry of Magic.

Dumbledore was killed by Voldemort's Death Eaters, and the Minister of Magic was also killed. These two events had extremely bad consequences.

Not to mention how panicked the public was, a large number of people resigned from the Ministry of Magic in the past few days. These people were afraid that the Death Eaters would launch another surprise attack and carry out another indiscriminate massacre, so in order to save their lives, they dared not continue to work in the Ministry of Magic.

In addition to the wave of employee resignations, internal screening work is also difficult.

Given the size of the Ministry of Magic, it is difficult to prevent the infiltration of Death Eaters, and identifying the Imperius Curse is not an easy task.

At the same time, we must guard against pure-blood wizards with ulterior motives, prevent them from gaining access to the core secrets of the ministry, and prevent them from inciting internal rebellion again and bringing in wolves.

Although Mr. Weasley had been sworn in as the new Minister for Magic, the only thing he truly held in his hands and could trust was the Department of Law Enforcement, which was the result of nearly a year of cleansing and reorganization.

As they were talking, Fred and George walked into the kitchen, their dragon leather jackets changing to a different color. After the twins, Alastor Moody arrived, his rapidly moving magic eyes resting on Ada for a moment.

Members of the Order of the Phoenix arrived one after another, including Professor McGonagall, Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Doge, Hestia Jones, Kingsley Shacklebolt, etc. Many of them cast their eyes on Ada when they walked into the room.

This was the first time the Order of the Phoenix convened a meeting in the post-Dumbledore era. They had many things that needed to be discussed and resolved urgently, but Ada was no longer a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

As more and more people came into the room, the kitchen became quiet. Even Sirius and the twins stopped joking. Everyone had a serious expression and the atmosphere was heavy.

Mundungus Fletcher was the last member to arrive. He walked into the house very carefully and sat in the corner of the kitchen, trying to make his presence as minimal as possible.

Perhaps feeling that the atmosphere was too depressing, Sirius took out some whiskey and butter beer for everyone. Then, everyone raised their glasses and drank in silence.

When the sound of wine glasses hitting the table stopped, Alastor Moody coughed heavily, and the meeting of the Order of the Phoenix began.

(End of this chapter)