A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 656 What are we going there to do?

On Sunday morning, the sky suddenly cleared up, and the ceiling of the cafeteria, which was in sync with the sky, turned a bright blue.

The students, enjoying the beautiful weather, sat scattered around the long table, savoring the unique relaxation of the weekend. Their whispers and the crisp clinking of cutlery created a pleasant background sound.

At the Gryffindor table, Ron was wolfing down a sizzling, oily roasted chicken leg, his greasy fingers casually flipping through today's Daily Prophet.

Suddenly, he froze in his chewing motion, his gaze fixed on a small paragraph of text in the corner of the newspaper.

He frowned, nudged Hermione, who was drinking pumpkin juice beside him, with his elbow, and whispered, "Hey, look at this."

Hermione put down her cup and looked in the direction he was pointing.

The article was pitifully short, like a fried egg buried at the bottom of a plate, utterly inconspicuous, yet its title was "Illegal Intrusion into the Ministry of Magic."

She quickly scanned the contents.

"Stoj Podmore, 38 years old... was tried yesterday afternoon in Wizengamor, charged with illegally entering the Ministry of Magic yesterday morning and attempting to rob it... was caught red-handed by Ministry of Magic guard Eric Munch... attempted to force his way through a First-Class Secret door... refused to defend himself... was found guilty on two counts and will be imprisoned in Azkaban for six months."

“Stoj Podmore?” Ron pronounced the name slowly, his brow furrowing as he searched his memory. “That guy with the hair like a tangled mess of straw, he’s from the Order of the Phoenix—”

“Ron!” Hermione interrupted him sharply, her voice shrill with tension.

She looked around in alarm, and after making sure no one was paying attention, she lowered her voice and said, "Don't say that word here!"

This is not the place to talk about the Order of the Phoenix.

Ron thought to himself that when young people think of the Order of the Phoenix these days, the first thing that comes to mind is probably "the Ruby Feeding Society".

“He’s going to be locked up in Azkaban for six months!” Ron’s face turned pale, his voice barely audible and filled with disbelief. “Just to try and get through a door? This is ridiculous!”

During the summer holidays, Harry went to Azkaban and came back talking about what he saw there, which made the young people even more afraid.

“Think it over, Ron,” Hermione replied in a breathy, urgent voice. “Things can’t be that simple.”

"The Ministry of Magic is almost deserted on weekends. Why did he choose that time? Where is he trying to break in?"

The doubts that arose in her mind were the same as Harry's, except that Harry was focused on eating breakfast and acted as if he hadn't heard anything.

"Do you think he might be on a mission for the Order of the Phoenix?" Ron guessed.

He turned to Harry, who had been silent all along, and the latter was tilting his head back, gulping down a bowl of oatmeal.

"By the way, Harry! Weren't you at the Ministry of Magic yesterday? Did you hear anything?" Ron asked curiously.

Harry slowly turned his head, cautiously scanning the noisy surroundings before turning his gaze to his two friends.

“Not now,” he said in a low voice. “It’s not convenient here.”

Ron and Hermione quickly exchanged a serious look, tacitly ending the conversation and talking about when Hagrid would return.

After breakfast, Harry and Ron changed into their Quidditch training robes and went to the empty pitch.

Scotland enjoys a rare clear and crisp autumn day, with wisps of cotton-like white clouds dotting the azure sky, and the air filled with the fresh scent of grass and earth.

Ron guarded the goal, while Harry mounted the Firebolt and repeatedly accelerated his dive, trying to shoot the Quaffle into the golden ring.

Ron was in superb form today, moving nimbly between the goalposts and accurately predicting the trajectory of the Quaffle, saving three-quarters of Harry's attack.

After two hours of intense training, both of them were drenched in sweat, exhausted, and their stomachs were rumbling.

They carried their flying brooms to Hagrid's hut for lunch and also visited Tooth.

The hunting lodge stood alone on the edge of the forbidden forest, its chimney not emitting smoke as usual.

Since Hagrid left home on Dumbledore's secret mission, he bought dog food packages from Dobby and was fed by working elves every day. Harry and his friends also came to visit him every weekend.

Pushing open the wooden door covered with mushrooms, Toothpick immediately pounced enthusiastically, his huge tail whipping the air like a lash, his wet tongue trying to lick their cheeks. Hermione had been there a quarter of an hour earlier; lunch was already laid out on the wooden table.

Ya Ya had chicken, and the three of them had a platter of various sandwiches. Today, they even had a few exquisite desserts—a golden and crisp raspberry pie, a lemon cake sprinkled with icing sugar, and a plate of gummy candies that shimmered with a honey-colored luster.

Hermione's gaze lingered on the dessert for a moment, a glint of longing in her eyes.

After the start of the school year, Charles began to strictly limit her intake of sweets for various reasons, preventing her from fully enjoying these comforting treats for a long time.

Ron keenly noticed the fluctuation in her emotions. Her ears turned slightly red, and she explained with a wandering gaze, "Um... I've been craving sweets lately, so I asked Dobby... to prepare some specially."

His voice sounded uneasy.

Hermione glanced at him in surprise, a blush creeping across her face, and whispered, "Thank you, Ron."

Lunch was served in a slightly cozy atmosphere.

Until Ya Ya had eaten and drunk her fill and dozed off on the rug by the fireplace, the only sound in the cabin was the soft rustling of their chewing.

At this moment, Harry put down the half-eaten pumpkin sandwich, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and his expression became serious again.

“I’m telling you,” he lowered his voice, “I witnessed the whole thing yesterday regarding Stogyi Podmore.”

He took a deep breath and began to recount that disturbing experience.

“The fountain in the room is strange,” Harry added finally, his brow furrowed. “The liquid glitters like mother-of-pearl, it’s steaming, and there’s a… weird, sweet smell in the air.”

Hermione gasped, covered her mouth with her hand, and widened her eyes in fear.

“Harry!” her voice trembled. “How dare you follow me in!”

"That's the Department of Mysteries, the most dangerous place in the Ministry of Magic! What if you get caught..."

She dared not continue speaking, her face turning pale.

In stark contrast to Hermione's terror, Ron's eyes widened like saucers, flashing with shock and excitement as he exclaimed, "You infiltrated the Department of Mysteries with someone under the Imperius Curse!"

"This is just...so cool!"

"It's said that the most crucial secret of the magical world is hidden there. Have you checked out the other rooms? Maybe there's something magical inside."

“Ron!” Hermione glared at him sternly. “This isn’t cool at all, it’s extremely dangerous!”

"If Harry were discovered, he'd be in Azkaban right now!"

“Okay, okay,” Ron shrank back, turning to Harry with undiminished interest, “but, guys, what do you think Podmore went to do?”

"He was cursed with a soul-stealing curse, and he must have been sent to find something that the wizard who cast the curse desperately wanted."

Harry remained silent, his eyes swirling with thoughts.

He raised his head, his gaze slowly sweeping across the faces of his two close friends, and said in a very low voice, "I suspect that Voldemort might have sent Death Eaters, or even that he himself used the Imperius Curse to control Podmor?"

The appearance of that name was like a powerful freezing spell, instantly freezing the air in the cabin, and Ron couldn't help but shiver.

“I think it’s possible,” he said gravely. “Do you remember which door he was going to go through?”

"Ron!" Hermione was furious at this moment, and roared, scaring Tooth out of the cabin with a "howl" and running into the Forbidden Forest, as if it were safer there.

Hermione's anger was justified. She glared at Ron and asked, "Do you also want to sneak into the Department of Mysteries and see what's behind that door?"

Clearly, her question was not unfounded.

Ron paused for a moment, his eyes darting around, before finally picking up a piece of lemon cake and saying, "This cake tastes really good, you should eat more."

(End of this chapter)