Hogwarts: Don't call me the Staff Maker

Chapter 792 The Eighth Secret Passage

"What did you say?"

When Ron heard that Harry wanted to go to Hogwarts, he almost jumped off his chair.

"Are you crazy? There are over a hundred Death Eaters here!"

"Don't be foolish, child," Aberforth advised. "I don't know what you're thinking. It might have something to do with my brother, but what I'm trying to say is that he often hurts other people when he's carrying out his grand plans, and he never considers those things."

"So forget about my brother's ingenious plans, you should focus on living your life well."

"What I'm going to do does have to do with Headmaster Dumbledore, but that's not the whole reason," Harry said.

"Oh, really?" Aberforth raised an eyebrow.

"The more important reason is—we seem to have nowhere else to go," Harry said, his mind a little sluggish from exhaustion and a hearty meal, and he spoke slowly. "Our goal was to find the Horcrux called Nagini—we found it, but there's nothing we can do about it."

The name Aberforth Dumbledore seemed trustworthy enough in itself, and Harry didn't hide anything, telling them everything that had happened to them.

"The mysterious man knows what we're thinking, especially after this incident. He'll definitely be more cautious. There's no way we can kill that snake."

At this point, Hermione finally understood what he meant—they had completed the initial plan, but were stuck on the next step.

Since we can't kill Nagini, there's no point in continuing. We might as well go back and help the others.

"Why is it so important to go to Hogwarts?" Aberforth asked.

"I just think we should tell Professor McGonagall and the others about this," Harry said.

"Also, when we're outside, we need to be constantly on guard against the Death Eaters around us, but we can't help them at all. But I think the Mysterios and the Death Eaters would never guess that we're back at the school, where we'll actually be safer."

Aberforth's eyes flickered.

Harry's statement is actually perfectly correct.

According to the information he had gathered, one of the threats to Hogwarts, the Death Eater named Alecto Carlo, had likely already been dealt with by Celeste.

He didn't know the specific method used, but it shouldn't pose any threat.

In other words, at this point, Hogwarts only had Severus Snape as the only Death Eater on the surface.

There might actually be a safer place with only one Death Eater inside the huge castle than outside.

Aberforth seemed to want to say something more, but he quickly realized that Harry had already made up his mind to go back to school, so he stopped talking.

"I hope you're right." He sighed. "Do you have any plans, how do you intend to get back to school?"

""

"The front door is definitely out of the question." Harry looked out the window. Hogsmeade had over a dozen Death Eaters; if they tried to get to the school through the normal channels, they would definitely be discovered.

"We can go through the Forbidden Forest." He jumped up.

"The Forbidden Forest is so big, there can't possibly be Death Eaters inside, right? We can totally get through it."

How do you get from the Forbidden Forest to Hogwarts on the other side?

Aberforth couldn't help but rub his forehead, thinking he had misheard.

You have to understand that this is the Forbidden Forest, where there are more magical creatures than they've ever seen in books. Not to mention the poisonous insects and wild beasts, there are countless magical creatures that the Ministry of Magic has designated as the most dangerous and deadliest.

Even Hagrid could only do this with the help of his pure-blooded giant brother, so how could they even imagine it?

Aberforth glanced at the three newly-adult wizards again and suddenly felt that Siron Ollivander was far too composed.

“I have a safer way in,” Aberforth said, interrupting the three men who were planning their route.

Before Harry and the others could say anything, Aberforth looked at the portrait of Ariana on the wall.

"You know what to do."

The girl smiled slightly, turned and walked away. She didn't disappear, but instead walked along a long tunnel drawn behind her, her slender figure growing smaller and smaller until she was completely swallowed by the darkness.

"Hmm—what's going on?" Ron blinked, puzzled.

Aberforth remained silent, simply standing quietly before the portrait, lost in thought.

Seeing this, the three could only suppress their doubts for the time being.

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long.

Soon, a small white dot appeared at the end of the tunnel in the painting. Ariana, who had just left, walked back towards them, followed by another person.

"Sirlen?" Harry exclaimed, "It's you!"

Before seeing Harry and his two companions, Siron was no less surprised than they were—just five minutes earlier, he had been sleeping in the Room of Requirement.

For some reason, he was suddenly woken up and saw the painting that had appeared in the room, along with Ariana in the painting.

Then he was brought here.

"Don't just stand there, come and take them away!"

The mysterious man's urging also brought Xiren fully awake. He tried to jump out of the picture frame and landed steadily on the ground.

"Sirlen—oh—" Hermione covered her mouth, "Don't tell me you're from Hogwarts."

"Where else could I get it from, Honeydukes Candy Store?" Siren walked up to the three of them and gave them a warm hug.

"I had no idea there was a secret passage in the Hog's Head," Harry said. "Fred told me there were only seven secret passages leading to Hogsmeade, but they were all sealed off before school started."

"It's simple, because they don't know about this place either—I guess no one but Dumbledore knows."

"According to my brother, this is a necessary preparation," Aberforth said. "This secret passage was originally intended to help students in the school who were unwilling to submit to the Mystic, and it could only be opened at the most crucial moment."

"Now is the perfect time."

Aberforth snorted coldly, which was taken as tacit agreement.

"You'd better hurry up," he said menacingly, "otherwise, it won't be so easy for you to do anything after daybreak."

"That's true." Celen waved his wand, turning a few bread crumbs on the ground into stone steps that were placed in front of the fireplace, making it easier for the group to return to the portrait.

"I don't know how to thank you enough," Harry said to Aberforth last. "You saved us twice."

"No need," Aberforth said gruffly. "Be careful next time. Hopefully, I won't have to save you a third time."

"Thank you too, Ariana," Xiren said to the girl beside her, standing in the picture frame. "If possible, I hope you can wake me up more gently next time, instead of pouring a bucket of water on my bed at five in the morning."