The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 667 The Curtain Rises (Part )

Ada had thought about the situations that everyone in the Order of the Phoenix mentioned, and even thought about them more.

The Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts, and even the recently established wizarding gathering area, these three places may become the site of the final battle, and the initiative is in Voldemort's hands.

However, if they cannot find out where Voldemort is hiding and want to have a decisive battle with him, they can only use this method to lure Voldemort out.

Leave the door open and let Voldemort pick a place he likes and take the initiative.

Although the initiative to attack was given up, it did not mean that Ada had to fight back. There was a lot to do to check for deficiencies and fill in the gaps, especially to ensure the smooth flow of information transmission channels.

The purpose of luring the enemy deep into our territory is to catch them in a trap, to kill Voldemort in one fell swoop, and to annihilate all of his Death Eaters and dark creatures, not to deliver them to our doorstep.

If there is any mistake or loophole in one's defense, luring the enemy deep into one's territory will turn into a situation of playing hard to get. In simple terms, it will be a waste of time.

If that were the case, Dumbledore would probably be so angry that he would jump out of the graveyard and give Ada a beating on the head.

Although there were many places that needed to be guarded, the most important ones were the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts, not to mention Snape's intelligence. With Snape's support, Ada was more confident about the defense work.

However, Ada did not intend to tell anyone about Snape. She wanted to keep this secret until the end of the war.

Feeling everyone's eager gazes, Ada withdrew her thoughts and said, "I have made arrangements. I can't say it is foolproof, but I am very confident that I can find out Voldemort's movements."

No matter where Voldemort finally chose, he would eventually gather a large number of people and prepare for battle. As long as Voldemort did this, he would inevitably be caught by Snape's eyes.

This is the benefit of having an undercover agent, which allows you to understand the enemy's dynamics and deploy combat plans in a targeted manner.

But Ada couldn't put all her hopes on Snape. She was prepared for the worst. What if something unexpected happened to Snape?

Either Voldemort discovers her undercover identity, or there is a problem with the message transmission path. Any situation may cause an accident, and Ada must be prepared to deal with it.

With Ada's response, everyone felt reassured and at ease.

Then, everyone began to discuss how to resist the attack of the Death Eaters, especially Hogwarts, whose defenses were slightly weak.

Although Hogwarts had a lot of defensive magic left over from thousands of years, and Dumbledore also strengthened the school's security measures when he was alive, it ultimately failed to stop the invasion of the Death Eaters.

Today, all the ancient secret passages leading to Hogwarts have been blocked, including the Twilight Cottage. There are also Aurors patrolling the perimeter of the school arranged by the Ministry of Magic, but these defense measures are far from enough.

A fortress is always breached from within. No matter how hard you try to defend yourself day and night, you cannot prevent a thief from within.

There are so many Slytherins in the school, and who knows, there might be a few more Theodore Notts who would betray Hogwarts to Voldemort.

"The thief-sensing charm, the howling charm, the anti-intrusion charm..." Sirius suggested, "I mean we can set up these spells within the playground. If someone tries to invade the school at night, these spells can serve as a warning to us."

Fred and George both shook their heads and said in unison, "The curfew at Hogwarts is a mere formality. Students slip out of the castle from time to time. You know this very well, Sirius."

"Not everyone is as dishonest as you two!" Mrs. Weasley appeared at the entrance of the living room, scowling and glaring.

Even though the twins were now making a lot of money, Mrs. Weasley was still a little upset about them dropping out of school.

You just want to open a joke shop, can’t you open it after you graduate from Hogwarts? You can’t even hold on for a few days!
After being scolded by their mother, Fred and George immediately fell silent, and they followed Fleur's example and huddled themselves up. However, Bill's body could block Fleur's view, but Ada's small body couldn't, let alone two people.

Fred and George hid, but it was as good as not hiding. Fortunately, Mrs. Weasley did not continue to criticize and educate them, so the discussion could continue.

"Fred and George are right. What if a student sneaks out of the castle in the middle of the night and sets off the alarm?" Kingsley said, "Once or twice is fine, but once it happens more than once, our vigilance will inevitably decrease."

It's just a Hogwarts version of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", except that the wolves in the story are replaced by Death Eaters.

These students from Slytherin House are really a cause for concern.

Ada now particularly agreed with the joke that Sirius had told her. As long as all the Slytherin students were locked up in the dungeons, the defense of Hogwarts would immediately rise by several levels.

Every one counts, and I would rather kill someone by mistake than let him go.

In this way, the school's defense was improved, but Hogwarts also lost its meaning as a school.

Ada thought for a while and came up with an idea that was not too bad, an idea that many Muggles could think of.

She said: "The reason why the curfew at Hogwarts cannot restrain students is that there are too many interesting places in the castle that attract students all the time; secondly, even if the curfew is violated, the punishment of the school is not strong enough to deter students."

"But they are students who have not left the school after all," Bill said with a serious expression, "We cannot treat them as harshly as we treat the Death Eaters."

After hearing Bill's concerns, the others nodded. There was nothing wrong with the school's strict management of students, but if the punishment was too severe, it would be an overreaction and might even backfire.

It is also easy for people with ulterior motives to take advantage of it. Students who are unaware of the truth can easily be instigated, which will only increase the problems within the school. There are also a group of ignorant parents outside the school who believe everything they hear, and public opinion will become unfavorable to Hogwarts.

Ada rubbed her temples. This was the bad thing about being a decent person. You were always restricted in what you could do and it was not enjoyable at all.

"We can start with courtesy and end with force. We can explain the punishment for violating school rules clearly in advance so that they will have a clear idea of ​​what to expect," said Ada. "We can explain the rules clearly and make them understandable. If anyone breaks the rules again, we will punish them severely and will not tolerate them."

The idea that Ada came up with was actually very simple, and the idea came from her past dormitory life.

At the curfew time set by the school, the deans of each college will close the common rooms of each college, allowing people to enter but not leave. After the common rooms are closed, teachers will be arranged to check the dormitories, and every dormitory and every student must be checked.

If there are still students who can avoid dormitory inspections and locked doors and run outside late at night to violate curfew, they may be put in solitary confinement and deduct points for the first time, and the whole dormitory will be put in solitary confinement for the second time.

If there is a third violation, the student's college will be sent to play in the dungeon.

Whether it is punishment or collective responsibility, the ultimate goal is to prevent students from violating school rules and prevent them from undermining the school's defense measures. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.

"It's a bit strict, but as long as we explain the rules clearly, I don't think they will say anything." Mr. Weasley said, "In our time, school administrators could still physically punish students!"

Mr. Weasley began dating Mrs. Weasley while studying at Hogwarts. One night, the two of them went out for a walk as usual, and Mr. Weasley was caught by the school's administrator, Apollyon Pringle, and was severely punished.

To this day, the scar from that punishment is still evident on Mr. Weasley's body.

"I will talk to Professor McGonagall when I get back. I think she will support me." Sirius said, "I can finally put those bastards from Slytherin in the dungeon!"

There was a burst of cheerful laughter in the living room.

(End of this chapter)