Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 327 Unexpected Visitor

One of the Weasley family's Christmas traditions is that Mrs. Weasley knits a traditional sweater for everyone in the family. I hadn't noticed this before when we were at Hogwarts, but I saw it at lunch and realized there was a reason why Ron was so averse to it.

However, two people weren't wearing them. One was Fleur; Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to have accepted her yet and hadn't knitted one for her, although Harry thought Fleur wouldn't wear it even if she were given one. The other was Mrs. Weasley herself; she was unusually wearing a new witch's hat, a deep blue hat covered in sparkling diamonds, and a brand-new gold necklace.

"It's a gift from Fred and George, isn't it beautiful?" Mrs. Weasley said with great delight, generously showing the gift to Harry.

"Very beautiful," Harry complimented immediately, bringing a satisfied smile to Mrs. Weasley's face.

The same people had lunch; Lupin and Sirius had arrived in the morning. The food was about the same as last night, and everyone was happy.

"Ah, that's wonderful..." said Mrs. Weasley. "It's just a pity Tonks isn't here. I invited her, but she wouldn't come... Remus, have you spoken to her recently?"

"No." Lupin shook his head. "I haven't been in contact with anyone, and Tonks is probably going home."

"Perhaps, but I think she might prefer to spend Christmas alone." Mrs. Weasley gave Lupin a deep look, but Lupin's expression remained unchanged.

"Oh my God, Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed suddenly as she turned around. Clutching her chest in disbelief, she exclaimed, "Arthur, it's Percy!"

"What?"

Mr. Weasley looked out the window in surprise, and everyone else craned their necks to look out as well. Sure enough, it was Percy, striding towards them through the snow.

However, he was not alone.

"Arthur, he came with the minister!"

Before anyone could speak, the door opened. Percy stood in the doorway, completely devoid of his previous high spirits, giving off a very oppressive feeling.

Harry knew a little about Percy. After the battle with the Department of Mysteries, Percy briefly returned to the Burrow, but after only a few days, he left again because he couldn't stand the twins' teasing and lived alone in London.

As one of former Secretary Fudge's confidants, Percy initially did not gain Scrimgeour's trust. However, setting aside his unexpected obsession with power, Percy's abilities were perfectly adequate. Therefore, not long ago, he was promoted by the current Secretary Scrimgeour.

The position remains the same as before, still Assistant Minister.

However, because of all that had happened before, his relationship with his family remained strained.

After standing silently in the doorway for a moment, Percy said stiffly, "Merry Christmas, Mom."

"Oh, Percy!" Mrs. Weasley rushed over excitedly. In this family, Mrs. Weasley had always been the one who hoped for Percy's return; after all, he was her son, and she deeply loved all her children.

Mr. Weasley and the twins were just still angry with Percy.

Percy knew this, so after greeting Mrs. Weasley, he stood straight to the side and didn't speak to anyone else.

"Excuse me for disturbing you," Scrimgeour said. "Percy and I were running some errands nearby, you know, and he couldn't resist coming to see you."

"Oh, please come in, Minister." Mrs. Weasley sounded a little flustered. "You haven't eaten yet, have you? Have some chicken, or pudding..."

"No need for that," Scrimgeour said with a smile. "I didn't want to bother you, but Percy wanted to see you."

"I'm going for a walk in the yard. You two chat with Percy a bit longer... Hmm, if anyone would be willing to show me around your garden, that would be wonderful..."

He then looked at Harry and asked, "Young man, would you like to take a walk with me?"

The atmosphere in the restaurant suddenly changed, and everyone looked at Harry.

Harry paused for a moment, then nodded.

"OK."

"Great!" Scrimgeour stepped back to make way for Harry, then turned to the silent crowd and said, "We'll just stroll around the garden, and then we'll leave with Percy."

Everyone knew perfectly well that Percy was just an excuse for Scrimgeour; his real purpose was to speak with Harry alone. Harry was well aware of this as well.

He and Scrimgeour arrived at the snow-covered garden, but stopped after walking only a few steps.

"I've been wanting to meet you for a long time, Harry," Scrimgeour said. "You know that?"

"I don't know," Harry replied.

"Oh, I've been thinking about it for a while, but Dumbledore has always been very protective of you," Scrimgeour said. "That's only natural, given everything that's happened, all those rumors, all those big talk... prophecies, and the savior..."

"I've been wanting to talk to you ever since I took office, but Dumbledore stopped me... I think Dumbledore has spoken to you about these things, hasn't he?"

Harry hesitated upon hearing this, unsure whether he should lie. But in the end, he decided to tell the truth, or at least part of the truth.

"We talked about it," Harry replied.

"Oh, I see..." Scrimgeour looked down at the fence completely covered in snow, as if his attention was completely drawn to it, and said casually, "What did you talk about, Harry?"

"I'm sorry, that's between us," Harry refused.

Upon hearing this, Scrimgeour did not react much, and his tone remained relaxed and friendly.

"Of course, I'm not asking you to reveal secrets, and... do those things really matter?"

"I don't quite understand what you mean, Minister."

"Ha..." Scrimgeour laughed loudly, "Don't understand? Actually, it's very easy to understand."

"Prophecy, savior, are these really important? In fact, what matters most to the wizarding world right now is what they believe in."

"People believe you are a savior, they think you are a hero. Whether you are or not, after facing so many mysterious figures, you have become that symbol in people's minds."

"You don't know, Harry, how important it is for the people to know that there is someone who can, and is even destined to, destroy that nameless person!"

"So... I don't understand, Minister," Harry said hesitantly.

"Am I being too cryptic?" Skrein chuckled and said, "My point is simple: you can cooperate with the Ministry of Magic..."

"cooperate?"

“Yes, cooperation. I assure you, it won’t be troublesome at all,” Scrimgeour said. “It’s all very simple. For example, you can come and go to the Ministry of Magic from time to time, which will give people a good impression. And in the process, you can also communicate with Gadwin Robards, who is succeeding me as the head of my Oorro office.”

"You want to become an Ao Luo, don't you?"

Harry pondered for a moment, then said, "So, you want to create the impression that I work for the Ministry of Magic?"

“Yes, that’s it. It will inspire everyone and give people hope…” Scrimgeour said, looking at Harry. “Or do you have different ideas… like your hero Dumbledore, leaving the Ministry of Magic?”

For some reason, Harry felt a surge of anger rising within him. He said, "I don't want to be used! Besides, last year when I stood up and said Voldemort was back, neither Fudge nor you, nor anyone in the entire Ministry of Magic, stood up for me. Now, you expect me to stand with the Ministry, Minister?"

Scrimgeour's expression suddenly changed, resembling that of an enraged lion. Just as he was about to speak, a figure suddenly appeared in the distance, appearing as if by teleportation.

He looked disheveled, and upon seeing Scrimgeour, he immediately ran while shouting, "Minister! Minister! He...they..."

"What's wrong?"

"They...they attacked...yes...Diagon Alley!"

(End of this chapter)