A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

“But he’s using this method to send messages to hide his identity!” George said.

“I know I wouldn’t do this under normal circumstances, but the situation is not optimistic now, and a prophet can give us a certain advantage.”

“We have Professor Trelawney, Minerva,” Dumbledore reminded him, “and her predictions have been remarkably accurate.”

Professor McGonagall curled her lip, unimpressed.

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, silently supporting Professor McGonagall in their hearts.

They disliked Professor Trelawney, who was always eccentric and mysterious; in contrast, the unknown classmate who helped them was much more likely to win their favor.

“I’m back.” Phineas appeared in his picture frame. “My great-grandson said welcome; he has a strange habit of letting people stay overnight.”

“You lot,” Dumbledore beckoned, “I’ll take you to Sirius’s place; it’s easier to get to St. Mungo’s Hospital from there than from the Burrow.”

"How do we get there?" Fred asked worriedly. "Floo Powder? But the Floo Net probably isn't working now!"

“Umbridge did monitor Hogwarts’ Floo Network, but she can’t monitor the Portkey,” Dumbledore reassured him, then took out a black teapot. “This is the Portkey. We need to teleport you out before Umbridge finds out you’ve left your beds.”

Harry, Ron, and the others gathered around Dumbledore and placed their hands on the teapot.

"I counted to three, one, two... three."

As soon as the word 'three' was uttered, Dumbledore activated the Portkey, and the group immediately felt dizzy.

The teapot carried them swiftly through the space, disappearing from their original spot in the blink of an eye.

Dumbledore sat down in his chair with a sigh, looking at Professor McGonagall across from him, who also had a worried expression. "Voldemort will find out soon. We can't wait any longer."

After the Christmas holidays, let Severus get ready!

“I have no objection to that, Albus.”

But are we the owners of this letter...?

“Minerva, I don’t want to involve the students, you understand what I mean.”

“I know,” Professor McGonagall said thoughtfully. “This student is clearly a Gryffindor, and as the Headmaster, I have a duty to understand his abilities.”

Besides, I'm not asking him to directly join the fight against Voldemort; I'm just letting him know when he makes a valid prophecy. He's much more reliable than Terry Launey.”

“That’s also very dangerous. Once the Black Demon King’s forces learn of this student’s existence, his life could be in danger at any time.”

“You can swear a vow of unwavering loyalty, or an unbreakable oath,” Professor McGonagall said firmly. “My concern for my student is no less than yours, and I assure you his identity will not be revealed.”

Dumbledore remained silent, still opposing the idea.

“Alright then!” Professor McGonagall took a deep breath. “I’ll find this student, and if he’s unwilling, then pretend I said nothing.”

Seeing that Dumbledore remained silent, Professor McGonagall grew increasingly anxious. "Dumbledore, I understand your predicament, but you must also consider the safety of the Order of the Phoenix!"

If this letter hadn't woken Ron in time, he might not have discovered Harry's nightmare; and if we had arrived a few minutes later, it's hard to say whether Arthur would have received timely treatment.

Dumbledore's pupils twitched slightly, as if he had been persuaded by Professor McGonagall.

"I approve of your search for him, but once you find him, don't do anything rash. Act as if nothing happened."

I will find the right time to talk to him in person.

Professor McGonagall immediately nodded with delight. It was already very difficult to persuade Dumbledore to this point; any more and it would have crossed his bottom line.

The next day, students who were preparing to go home for Christmas began packing their luggage.

Professor McGonagall arrived at Harry's dormitory early in the morning. She pointed her wand at the ground, trying to reconstruct the footprints of the students who had entered the room the previous night.

Unfortunately, apart from her and the students in that dormitory, no other person's footprints could be found.

Professor McGonagall sighed with some disappointment. Although Gryffindor had won the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup in recent years, they had always been overshadowed by Aaron Gaius of Slytherin in terms of outstanding students, and even Hermione was far inferior to him.

This resulted in her, as the head of Gryffindor, feeling somewhat inferior to Severus Snape, the head of Slytherin, in terms of teaching.

Now that she's finally managed to catch a talented wizard, one with a rare talent for prophecy, it's disheartening that she can't even find him.

"Professor McGonagall?" Hermione appeared in the doorway, looking at her with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for someone," Professor McGonagall said absentmindedly. "But I couldn't find him; he was well hidden."

"Looking for Harry?" Hermione asked tentatively. "I haven't seen him this morning, and Ron is gone too."

"Then you don't need to bother. They left last night, along with Fred, George, and Ginny."

Hermione frowned slightly, instinctively sensing that something was wrong. "What happened?"

Professor McGonagall stared at Hermione, hesitated for a long time, and then decided to tell her what had happened last night.

Hermione is, after all, a prospective member of the Order of the Phoenix, so it's not a big deal for her to know some things.

Moreover, given her relationship with Harry and the others, she would find out what happened when she returned to 12 Grimmauld Place.

Hermione was momentarily stunned after hearing this. "You mean Harry dreamt that Mr. Weasley was attacked by a giant snake, and that's exactly what happened?"

"That's right, Arthur is still lying in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Arts, but he's not in any danger."

Harry, the others, and Molly will look after him.

"So you've come here to find the person who delivered the message to Ron?"

Professor McGonagall nodded in agreement. "A Gryffindor with exceptional prophetic talent is extremely important. If possible, I would like to persuade him to join the Order of the Phoenix."

"Isn't this too hasty?" Hermione frowned slightly, feeling somewhat unconvinced.

They had wanted to join the Order of the Phoenix during the holidays but hadn't succeeded. Unexpectedly, a stranger beat them to it.

"Dumbledore also suggested that we investigate first, but without finding him, nothing can be discussed."

"Is it that hard to find?" Hermione asked in surprise. "You can't find him?"

"It's probably not going to be found anytime soon," Professor McGonagall said dejectedly. "There were no footprints, the letters were very ordinary, and even the handwriting was deliberately forged."

Hermione's lips twitched slightly. "So you mean there are absolutely no clues?"

"Almost there, but we still need to find a way to do it!"

It would be great if there were any witnesses, but it's the middle of the night, so I doubt anyone saw anything.

“Wait a minute,” Hermione suddenly said. “Professor, you just said witness?”

"Do you know who saw it?" A glimmer of hope appeared in Professor McGonagall's eyes.

“We might not have any people, but…” Hermione paused, then pointed apologetically to Harry’s birdcage, inside which a snow-white owl blinked blankly. “I wonder if it would work?”

Professor McGonagall paused for a moment, then smiled easily. "How could I not have thought of that? Hedwig is the smartest owl I've ever met; perhaps she'll find something useful."

She walked up to Hedwig with anticipation and asked softly, "Did anyone else come here last night?"

Hedwig flapped her wings and made a sweet chirping sound.

Professor McGonagall was overjoyed. "Then can you help us find him?"

Chapter 473 The owl who caused trouble just didn't want to leave someone to die.

Gryffindor common room.

Professor McGonagall sat on a sofa by the fireplace, while Hermione called out names one by one from a long list.

Since Dumbledore's request was to search secretly, they didn't make a big fuss. They simply made up a reason and asked everyone to fill out the form for going home for Christmas again.

Students whose names were called would step forward to sign, completely ignoring the owl locked in a cage.

From morning to noon, from seventh grade to first grade, every Gryffindor student in the school was checked, but Hedwig did not show any obvious reaction.

"Professor, is there some mistake?" Hermione asked dejectedly. "We've tried all the Gryffindors except for Harry and his friends."

Professor McGonagall rubbed her temples wearily. "I have the same feeling. Maybe I'm missing something."

"Could it be Gryffindor?"

“That’s impossible,” Professor McGonagall said with certainty. “The Fat Madam wouldn’t let anyone in who doesn’t know the password.”

"What if he knows the password?"

Two years ago, Sirius Black found the Gryffindor password and was able to get in.

“This…” Professor McGonagall hesitated for a moment, then walked to the entrance of the lounge. “Good morning, Madam Fat.”

"Good morning, Professor," the plump lady said with a grin.

"I'd like to ask if any students from other colleges came here last night?"

“No, absolutely not.” The fat lady shook her head seriously. “I don’t even let people into Gryffindor without a password, let alone other houses.”

“See?” Professor McGonagall said to Hermione.

"However, Professor Dumbledore did come by last night."

"Who did you say? Professor Dumbledore?"

Professor McGonagall staggered, nearly losing her composure, while Hermione stared in astonishment, her mouth agape.

“Yes, he came by around midnight,” the fat lady recalled. “He said he had something very urgent to discuss, so I let him in.”

Upon hearing this, Professor McGonagall and Hermione exchanged bewildered glances.

No wonder they couldn't find anyone in Gryffindor, because this person wasn't actually from Gryffindor.

Professor McGonagall looked dejected, muttering to herself, "How could this be? A prophetic genius has just missed out on Gryffindor?"

"Uh... Professor, should we continue searching?"

"Why don't you look for it?"

Regardless of which college he was from, the fact that he managed to deliver that letter to Ron meant he had a sense of justice and that there was still a chance to fight for him.

“But Professor…” Hermione hesitated, “Tomorrow is the holiday, and we’ve already spent the whole morning just looking at Gryffindor. At this rate, we won’t be able to find out about the other three houses.”

Moreover, Professor Dumbledore meant to conduct it covertly; investigating several houses at once would be somewhat too blatant.

Professor McGonagall's expression immediately darkened. After a long silence, she sighed reluctantly, "Never mind, let's talk about it after the Christmas holidays!"

After saying that, Professor McGonagall turned and left, leaving Hermione with a desolate silhouette.

"Wait, Professor, perhaps I have a way."

The auditorium, the night before the holiday.

Hermione was the first to arrive at the Great Hall, sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table, and openly placed the birdcage containing Hedwig on the table.