Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 504 Small Favors (Medium Chapter of 4,000 Words)

Do you think it's possible that Tiera might betray the magical world?

Harry was jolted awake by this conversation, groggily lifting his eyelids and slowly looking around—

The surrounding light was much dimmer than when he fell asleep. Looking out from the old window on the third floor of No. 12 Grimmauld Place, he could see the deep blue London sky and the streetlights that lit up one after another, casting dim light through the hazy mist.

Harry wearily rubbed his temples; a lingering sorrow hung over the sixteen-year-old's face.

"Sigh," Harry found himself sighing more and more lately. No wonder Ginny, who came to help the Order of the Phoenix, kept saying that she was living like an old man.

He shook his head, then reached out and took off the earphone in his right ear, carefully putting it into the left breast pocket of his shirt.

The moment I took off my headphones, the incessant chatter that had been filling my ears vanished instantly.

This headset is the latest prank product invented by George and Fred Weasley, and its name is very straightforward: eavesdropping headset.

After Dumbledore and Tyrell introduced the Hogwarts students to Muggle history, technology, and political systems last semester, the Weasley twins, like their father, developed a strong interest in the Muggle world.

Back at the Burrow last Christmas, they went straight to their father's garage, Mr. Weasley's secret stash of Muggle items, which was enshrined with a simple spell to prevent Mrs. Weasley from entering and throwing away Mr. Weasley's Muggle possessions as junk.

However, the little spell set up by Mr. Weasley could not stop the Weasley twins, who were already naturally gifted and had undergone a semester of intensive math and science training in Tyella.

During Mr. Weasley's hospitalization, they broke the spell he had set in just two days and, like mantises stumbling into a cockroach nest, embarked on a holiday treasure hunt in Mr. Weasley's little "treasure trove".

The pair of headphones tucked in Harry's left breast pocket were an early masterpiece by George and Fred Weasley—

The right earpiece was in Harry's pocket; the left earpiece was kept in the kitchen at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, where the Order of the Phoenix often discussed important matters or chatted.

There was no physical wire connecting the left and right earpieces. According to George and Fred Weasley, the connection between the two earpieces was through eavesdropping in a spiritual dimension, a simple experiment based on what Tierra had taught them.

The results were surprisingly good; the eavesdropping distance was farther than the pair of ear-shaped bugs they had made before, and because there were no physical wires, it was also easier to hide.

The only drawback is that the eavesdropping effect is delayed by five to ten minutes.

However, they were not going to continue improving this, because after verifying the correctness of Tiera's three-dimensional magical theory of matter-spirit-mind through this pair of headphones, in their words, "We have at least a hundred better ideas than this one, and we are not going to waste our time on this kind of thing."

So the headphones ended up in Harry's hands.

Harry, on the other hand, placed his left earpiece in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, keeping a close eye on the adults' conversations.

Although this behavior made Harry feel somewhat ungrateful and ungrateful.

After all, at the start of summer vacation, the adults had granted him the freedom he'd always dreamed of—to play wherever he wanted and the right not to live with the Dursleys. But he had defied their expectations, hiding in his messy room and eavesdropping on their conversations through shady means—

I had no choice!
I need to know what happened to Tierra.

The adults wouldn't tell me anything, even though I had already fought face-to-face with Death Eaters and Voldemort, they still treated me like a child.

Harry thought to himself, scratching his already messy hair in frustration, then rummaging through his ears before plugging the earphone back into his right ear—

The conversation downstairs seemed to have moved past Tyella's topic. Mrs. Weasley began to instruct everyone to clear away the cutlery and dishes. She said she needed to prepare several extra sets of cutlery for the evening, and she also needed to hurry up and cook one more dish. Kingsley Shacklel, who had been forced to take a leave of absence by Cornelius Fudge, the newly hired Auror Andromeda Tonks, and the retired legend Moody were all coming to dine here. It seemed they were leaving from here tomorrow to enter the Ministry of Magic to attend Cornelius Fudge's inaugural speech as the Grand Secretary of the Magical Union.

From their conversation, Harry learned that Cornelius Fudge's inauguration ceremony the following day would be attended by officials from the Ministry of Magic, wealthy and respectable figures from the British wizarding world, reporters from various newspapers, special envoys from the International Federation of Magical Societies, and several high-ranking officials from Gringotts. In addition, the inaugural address would also be given through the Quibbler, founded by Luna's father, who would specially invite werewolf wizards, vampires, orc wizards, centaurs, goblins exiled from their communities, and other humanoid magical races not accepted by mainstream wizarding society who were hiding in Knockturn Alley without criminal records or prior convictions.

Most importantly, according to their intelligence, quite a few wizards from Knockturn Alley were also preparing to participate!
No matter how Sirius, Lupin, Kingsley, Moody, or anyone else guessed or thought about it, they couldn't figure out what Connelly Fudge or Tyella wanted to do.

They also wrote to Dumbledore to inquire, but Dumbledore only told them not to overthink it or worry, and that they could go and see if they wanted to, but to be careful.

Sirius Black, who was already restless, immediately suggested going to the inauguration ceremony.

After some consideration, the others agreed to Sirius Black's decision. Even Moody, the strictest member of the Order of the Phoenix, agreed to let Sirius follow in his Animagus form.

Although Cornelius Fudge was not officially appointed as the Grand Secretary of the Magical Union, and legally did not have the final say in the interpretation of the law, nor did he hold the overall command of the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic, pardoning a criminal was not a problem for him.

Cornelius Fudge used his power to withdraw the arrest warrant for Sirius Black and overturn his trial, ordering the Department of Justice to retry the case. Because of this, the members of the Order of the Phoenix no longer harbored any resentment towards Tierra and Cornelius Fudge, especially Sirius Black. Although he still disliked Tierra, his words seemed to have lost their previous hostility.

Therefore, their speculations about Tiera remained just that—speculations. They didn't take any action. Their trip to Cornelius Fudge's inauguration ceremony tomorrow wasn't to cause trouble or spy on anyone; it was simply a visit to see what Tiera was really up to.

“So you see,” Tyella said with a smile as she played wizarding cards with Dumbledore, “people are so easily ensnared by these little favors. I only used the scraps of power to give them a little taste of sweetness, and they ignored my true nature. They selectively ignored all the cruel things I have done.”

“Their understanding is limited by the times and by themselves.” Dumbledore sighed, then played a card. “Also, I suggest you stop focusing on my Order of the Phoenix. They are of no value or use to you. Please look elsewhere.”

"For example?" Tierra asked knowingly, raising an eyebrow and leaning back in her chair.

“A rebellion within the Ministry of Magic,” Dumbledore said, stroking his beard. “You couldn’t possibly be unaware of this, could you? Even I’ve heard rumors. Though you may not admit it, pure-blood families make up a large proportion of the Ministry, especially among the Aurors. At least half of the Aurors are from pure-blood families or their collateral branches. Although they fear the Muggle army, which they’ve never mentioned, a week has passed, and they’ve already realized what’s going on. If they plan properly, it’s not impossible for them to take down the Muggle army and instigate a rebellion at Cornelius Fudge’s inauguration ceremony.”

“Oh, Headmaster Dumbledore, I don’t need to know if someone is plotting a rebellion; I’m looking forward to someone plotting a rebellion,” Tyella said with a smile. “As I said before, the power dynamics within the Ministry of Magic are far too complex. I desperately need a rebellion to expose all those intricate interests to the light of day. Otherwise, why do you think I invited the Muggle army to garrison the Ministry of Magic? Otherwise, why do you think I waited seven days after the Muggle army entered the Ministry before having Cornelius Fudge deliver his inaugural address?”

“I’m giving them time, I’m giving them time to make connections and ask for favors everywhere,” Tierra said with a laugh. “I desperately need a complete rebellion.”

"How many people are you planning to kill this time?" Dumbledore asked seriously. "How many more lives do you want to take?"

“I’m not going to kill any of them,” Tiera said with a smile. “I have never killed anyone, I have never killed any intelligent life, I have never, I don’t, and I don’t plan to.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Dumbledore countered. “I remember you helping Hathaway Romanoff—”

"What do the three Ministry of Magic officials killed by Umbridge have to do with me, Tiera?" Tiera retorted. "What do the Death Eaters killed by Hathaway Romanoff's pillar have to do with me, Tiera? As for Hathaway Romanoff—"

“This involves the ethical issues of artificial life forms. If you really want to ramble on about this, then we have a lot to talk about.” Tiera picked up the black tea on the table, took a small sip, and then said with a smile, “I have learned something from the long history of humankind.”

"It is far better to capture an army alive than to destroy them."

"We can gain more under the rule of peace than from war."

"Because war means death, death means waste, and life should not be wasted if it can be controlled and used for a higher purpose."

"Gellert," Dumbledore was stunned. "Gellert shares your view too?"

“That’s normal,” Tierra said with a smile. “You’ve been fighting Voldemort for so long that you seem to have forgotten what a true Dark Lord should be like.”

Many miles away, the mist that once lingered outside Harry's window now floated on a filthy river. The river meandered, its banks overgrown with weeds and littered with garbage. A huge chimney, a remnant of an abandoned mill, stood tall, eerie and ominous. There was no sound except for the sobbing of the dark river, and no sign of life, except for a lean fox that stealthily slipped down to the bank, hopingfully sniffing at the wrappers of fried fish and potato chips hidden among the tall weeds.

At that moment, with a soft "plop," a slender figure wearing a hood appeared out of thin air on the riverbank.

The fox seemed startled, its wary eyes fixed on the strange new figure. The figure seemed to be figuring out its location, and after a moment, it strode forward with light, quick steps, its long cloak rustling through the grass.

The slender figure paid no attention to the fox, but quickly crossed a narrow alley between the houses and turned into another almost identical street. Several streetlights were broken, and the two running women were sometimes illuminated by the light and sometimes shrouded in darkness.

Finally, the slender figure strode quickly onto a street called Spider's End Alley, where the tall mill chimney stood against the sky like a giant, raised finger as a warning.

She walked past dilapidated windows boarded up with wooden planks, her footsteps echoing on the cobblestones.

She arrived at the last house, where a dim light shone through the curtains of a room downstairs.

A slender figure gently knocked on the door, then stood outside quietly waiting, breathing heavily and inhaling the scent of the polluted river carried by the evening breeze.

A few seconds later, she heard a noise behind the door, and then the door was opened a crack. A man peered at them, his long, black hair draped like a curtain on both sides, with a sallow face and a pair of dark eyes in the middle.

Her slender figure had pulled her hood up behind her head, revealing her extremely pale face, which seemed to glow white in the night. Her long golden hair was draped over her back, making her look like someone who had drowned.

“Narcissa!” the man said, opening the door a crack wider. “It’s both surprising and delightful!”

“Severus,” Narcissa said nervously in a low voice, “can I talk to you? It’s urgent.”

"of course."

(End of this chapter)