Hogwarts Wasteland: The Witch from the Borderlands

"They're going to rescue a group of children!"

Harry tried to keep his voice down, but he was still excited.

"Slow down, what's going on?" Hermione was completely confused.

"Ron and I sneaked into Mom's room while she was in class using the Invisibility Cloak and saw the letter she wrote to Dad!" Harry gripped the corner of the table tightly, unable to hide his inner turmoil.

"Are you two tired of living?" Hermione looked at the two of them in surprise.

"That's not the point!" Ron exclaimed, his eyes wide. "We're in Romania now, very close to the Green Flame Party's stronghold!"

"The Order of the Phoenix has discovered that a group of children who were kidnapped by Death Eaters this year have not yet met their end and are being held somewhere in Romania."

"The Order of the Phoenix is ​​short-handed, so they need the professors' help. The letter says that my mother, Professor McGonagall, and almost all the powerful professors will be involved!"

"At that time, only Quirrell, Professor Ferenczer, and a few others will be guarding the school."

"In fact, Professor McGonagall will be leaving the school tonight to meet with the Order of the Phoenix ahead of schedule."

The two of them talked back and forth, and finally Hermione understood the whole thing.

Voldemort would snatch students from Hogwarts every year, but it seems he didn't just kill them after abducting them, or rather, he didn't kill them all. Perhaps he had his own rhythm, and some lucky ones would live a few more days.

This time, under Dumbledore's orders, members of the Order of the Phoenix, who had infiltrated the Green Flame Party, sent back information and found out where the children were being held, which led to this prison break plan.

"That guy named Mundungus is a real hero!" Ron exclaimed, praising the undercover agent mentioned in the letter.

"The fact that he can blend in with a bunch of lunatics and still manage to pass messages shows he must be a powerful wizard—bold, meticulous, courageous, resourceful, and exceptionally intelligent!" Harry imagined. "At least better than my dad!"

Hermione, somewhat bewildered by their thought process, couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you worried? Your parents will probably be involved in this operation too, right?"

But the little boy's mind was filled with passion and adventure, or perhaps he had complete faith in his parents. They didn't think there was any danger in this operation; on the contrary, they believed it was an inevitable victory.

"We have the greatest white wizard in the world!"

"Act righteously! Victory over evil is inevitable!"

"It's a pity I'm still too young, otherwise I would definitely show those dark wizards the power of my wand!" Harry clenched his fist, the flail hanging behind his waist rattling loudly. He had now completely adapted to the weight of the flail, and even cast a levitation charm on it, allowing him to run and jump without any burden.

Hermione thought for a moment: "So, for a while now, the professors, at least the best ones, will be away from the school quite often."

"At least until Christmas!" Ron added. "They hope the children they bring back can have a warm Christmas holiday."

Hermione did the math and realized there were still about twenty days left, which was quite a while, and she was a little confused.

"What about Dumbledore? Will he go?"

"It wasn't mentioned in the letter, but he'll probably be keeping an eye on Voldemort, right? No one else is a match for him," Ron guessed.

Harry exclaimed excitedly, "We should really plan when to explore the forbidden area of ​​the fourth-floor corridor!"

Then Hermione slapped his thick thesis in the face.

"Use your brain, which is stuffed with cockroach milk and frog legs, this matter may not be as simple as it seems," Hermione said seriously, the paper slowly sliding down Harry's face.

"The real culprit behind the Halloween ghost riots hasn't been identified yet, and the owner of that bell is still lurking in the school. Under these circumstances, should all the capable professors be mobilized?"

"God, knowledge can't enter my brain this way." Harry rubbed his face in pain.

Ron hesitated, "Perhaps? The professors think the killer didn't know they weren't there?"

Hermione didn't speak, she just smiled and looked at the two of them.

How could someone who can walk freely around the school, possesses considerable magical skills, and can control ghosts not detect the professors' movements?

This is a school, and the professors aren't secret agents. Their daily schedules are regular and predictable, and even their patrols are scheduled. Under these circumstances, let alone an unknown infiltrator, even the students could notice the lack of activity on campus.

"I think the professors are fishing," Hermione said, offering her guess.

"Fishing? You mean, pretending to go out, but actually waiting for the lurker to take the bait?" Harry suddenly realized.

"Could it be that the plan to save the children was a hoax?" Ron asked in disappointment.

"It's not necessarily fake," Hermione shook her head. "It's just a matter of time—first we catch the mole, then we save the children!"

"But what you're saying are all just your guesses..." Harry couldn't help but retort.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him: "Whether it's a guess or not doesn't matter, but if there's any possibility, you'd better be prepared to drink your mother's rust remover in the fourth-floor restricted area."

Harry shuddered, as if he were thinking of that scene.

The two went back to sleep, looking rather dejected, but it was clear they weren't entirely convinced, as they were still whispering amongst themselves.

Hermione, meanwhile, had lost all interest in continuing her thesis. She tidied up the papers she had just messed up while pondering the situation.

As an adult, she didn't believe the professors would be foolish enough to ignore threats within the school and launch a full-scale prison break.

During the Halloween event, neither Dumbledore nor the Phoenix appeared in time, which made Hermione less convinced of the "greatest white wizard in history." She preferred to rely on her clairvoyance to obtain some useful information.

Thinking about this, Hermione couldn't help but feel a little resentful of her newly acquired ability. Hindsight might be more useful in many situations, but for things that haven't happened yet, this ability seems to be fake, and she can only passively wait for the other party to make the first move.

But clearly, this infiltrator was too patient, so patient that the professors had to bait him before dealing with other matters.

The professors acted quickly. The next day, while the students were having breakfast, Professor Sprout announced loudly that Professor McGonagall was taking leave and that she and Professor Flitwick would temporarily take over the Transfiguration class for a few periods.

This made Hermione even more certain of her guess, but in her opinion, the action seemed a bit too deliberate, as if she was afraid the other person wouldn't know that Professor McGonagall had left.

"Could they already have a guess about who the killer is?" Hermione wondered.

However, this gave her some new ideas.

She patted Harry and Ron beside her, stuffing food into her mouth as she casually said, "Let's go for a night stroll tonight."

Harry was startled for a moment, then his face lit up with surprise: "Go exploring the fourth floor?"

"Not sure yet, we'll talk about it tonight."

Hermione said, wanting to test her theory. If her guess was right, then there would be some commotion tonight.