Chapter 355: The Headmaster's Bonus Question

When Harry left the exam hall, the bright sunshine shone on his face, giving him a feeling of youthful beauty. But soon, he saw Snape standing in the shadows, and that feeling vanished in an instant.

"Now? Professor?" Harry asked somewhat reluctantly.

"Find me in my office after dinner." The corners of Snape's mouth moved, and then he turned and disappeared around the corner.

"What does the old bat want with you?" Neville came up and asked.

Harry was just about to answer when he was suddenly interrupted by Luo En, who rushed up and shouted excitedly: "I knew they would test the International Confederation of Wizards and Liechtenstein! I knew it!"

"Yes, I do remember you saying that." Harry glanced at him, then at Neville, revealing a somewhat forced smile.

"I can't really say which matter it is; I'll tell you after I finish talking tonight." Harry patted Neville's arm.

"You have to know I didn't have that much time to memorize books at all; I picked Wand Legislation and the Giant Wars, and I bet on them all!" Luo En was still saying excitedly. Neville smiled slightly, and then didn't walk with them anymore.

Luo En spent the entire dinner time settling his emotions, and he began to suggest going to ride a broom the next day, enjoying the freedom of being rid of review to the fullest.

When they returned to the dormitory and Harry noticed Neville was also there, he took a deep breath and grabbed Luo En's shoulder.

"Hey, mate, you have to know my business isn't over yet." Harry said. "The Death Eaters are preparing to elect a new Dark Lord at the end of June, and we still need to come up with a countermeasure."

"My suggestion is that all of you take the TARDIS and rush into the venue, then swarm in and arrest everyone on the spot." Luo En was still immersed in excitement, and he said happily in a nonchalant tone.

"The Death Eaters won't be unprepared; if they have any moves against the TARDIS, we're done for." Harry spread his hands. "And, if we take out the Death Eater leadership without any preparation, the remaining Dark Wizards will only cause greater chaos."

"Yeah, oh, right..." Luo En gradually calmed down. "Snape just wanted to call you to talk about this?"

"Mm." Harry nodded seriously.

"I have a... request." Neville suddenly said. "I want to join the fight."

"Why?" Harry was stunned for a moment. "No, I mean, we don't necessarily have to go to war yet."

"Do you remember that painting? The Fall of Hogwarts; you also know that's the scene I saw in the Mirror of Erised." Neville looked at the bed curtains somewhat unnaturally. "I can be sure now that the snake in the painting, in the mirror, or in other words, the one destined by fate, is Nagini."

"Now that you mention it, that's true." Harry recalled those scenes, as well as his meeting with Nagini.

"More importantly, this pin." Neville pulled open his robe, revealing the beetle pin on his shirt underneath. "When I passed by that black door, it was just white mist churning. But when I stood in front of Nagini, I felt its wings vibrating. Perhaps this is the second meaning Deng Buliduo left it for; he hopes I will go and destroy the Horcrux."

Harry took the pin; in the hands of this human Horcrux, this little golden thing didn't move at all. This might be another feint by Deng Buliduo; he wanted to cover up the secret between Harry and Voldemort, deceiving even his own people.

"I've hesitated many times; I might only have one chance. Either I break into that room with many glass orbs to obtain that weapon or something else; or I should take the sword and go to quietly assassinate Nagini." Neville looked into Harry's eyes and said very seriously, "When you went to find it that day, I was actually scouting the location."

"Horcruxes aren't that easy to destroy." Harry said softly. "A sword alone cannot kill Nagini; Voldemort's magic will protect it."

"I'll go see Snape first." Harry glanced at his watch. "I will try my best to persuade him."

When Harry walked out of the portrait, he couldn't think of anything; a period of review had filled his head with knowledge points that had no use other than for exams. He now only hoped to get enough information from Snape to understand the full picture, and then try casting an Inspiration Charm.

"Potter." After Snape saw Harry, he waved his wand to close the door. "Both sides have almost laid their cards on the table."

"Uh, really?"

"Sirius went to find Tang Tang Nade; he and William belong to different factions, and Tang Tang Nade is very willing to provide us with help," Snape said slowly. "He will take the cup."

"That's good." Harry remembered that the point where they found it difficult to deal with the cup was that they dared not let the Soviets discover they didn't actually want the cup, nor were they willing to truly take it back.

If they destroyed the cup, it might weaken Voldemort, which increased the possibility of Yanayev coming to try his luck. But if the Order of the Phoenix kept the cup, Bellatrix would always find a way to steal it, causing a lot of trouble; it would be better to just leave the cup in Bellatrix's hands.

But, if the cup fell into Tang Tang Nade's hands, then on the surface, it would look like he wanted to intervene in the British situation, and the Soviets wouldn't be able to pick out any faults—Tang Tang Nade wouldn't easily destroy the cup, and Bellatrix wouldn't come to find trouble with the Order of the Phoenix.

"But now there is another problem that needs to be solved: Rodolphus has brought all the Saints willing to follow him to the edge of the strait."

Harry shuddered instantly; he had forgotten that the Lestrange family still controlled such a group of lunatics.

"Nominally, they say they are having a beach party there, but in reality, he is doing this to support Bellatrix." Snape said, tapping the table. "I think he is a bit sensitive."

"The Lestrange family are all crazy." Harry shook his head. "We indeed cannot act rashly."

"Not only that, I think we also need to issue a security statement." Snape said slowly. "The election date is tentatively set for June 30th; it's best for the Order of the Phoenix and the Aurors to do something else together around this time to make them feel at ease."

"That's not necessary..." Harry instinctively felt a bit stifled, but he soon realized that he hadn't counted on the Order of the Phoenix and the Aurors anyway; these people were meant to be a feint.

"Then, the question now is, who will kill Nagini?" Snape said in a tone that didn't sound like a question, and Harry suspected he already had an idea in mind.

"We can pick a day, some day before the election, and launch simultaneously." Snape said slowly. "I will find an excuse to stay at the Ministry of Magic, and then we need to simultaneously raid Ma Erfu Manor, the Lestrange house, Gringotts, and the Department of Mysteries. And this time should be when the Aurors and the Order of the Phoenix are out together; of course, this will also make raiding the Department of Mysteries much simpler."

"This isn't realistic." Harry counted on his fingers. "Setting aside the Order of the Phoenix, we only have, oh no, the werewolves won't be left either, because Lupin needs to participate in the Order of the Phoenix's activities."

"It is known that Tang Tang Nade will handle Gringotts, and I will be waiting at the Ministry of Magic to control Nagini. For the remaining problems, let me see how you plan to solve them?" Snape said with a half-smile. "I hope you can come up with a feasible plan tomorrow."

Harry felt like he was taking an exam; this subject should perhaps be called Magical Military Theory. After he walked out of the office, he didn't return to the dormitory, but leaned against the railing on the eighth floor, silently calculating the power in his hands and considering the problems to be solved.

First, he needed to get the Order of the Phoenix and the Aurors to concentrate on doing something that seemed completely unrelated, thereby paralyzing Rodolphus, who was massing troops at the border. And this matter must be able to be stopped at any time, because the Order of the Phoenix and the Aurors needed to have the ability to rush back at any time; this was to prevent the worst-case scenario, as they had to have the ability to stop it.

Secondly, what must be handled are Nagini and the cup. If Tang Tang Nade promised to handle the cup, Harry had to handle Nagini, and it was best not to trust Tang Tang Nade too much. Harry suddenly noticed that Snape would be at the Ministry of Magic, which meant that on this most important matter, they had already played their biggest card, and Snape had helped him solve the most critical problem.

After figuring this out, Harry decided without hesitation to let Neville lead a team to sneak into the Ministry of Magic. With Snape there, this was the least dangerous thing, and it also happened to take care of Neville's own wishes. Moreover, this seemed to be a matter that followed fate, and it should be relatively smooth.

The number of people sneaking into the Ministry of Magic didn't need to be many; Neville could take at most five people, and the remaining Deng Buliduo's Army could still be utilized. Harry thought, but after all, they were students; they couldn't attack Ma Erfu Manor, nor could they attack the Lestrange house.

Immediately after, Harry had an idea. He didn't need to actually attack Ma Erfu Manor; he just needed to find a way to divert Lu Xiusi's attention. Then the Slytherins, who definitely couldn't be used originally, came in handy: he could suggest Draco hold a dance party at home, which could also attract Lu Xiusi's attention, and doing so could make him even more relaxed.

However, the Lestrange house was more troublesome. Harry didn't understand for a moment: what was the purpose of attacking the Lestrange house? Besides provoking Rodolphus, this didn't seem to have any practical significance.

If he wanted to divert Rodolphus's attention, there was clearly a more suitable direction for attack: Durmstrang. As long as he wrote a letter asking Krum to organize a student movement there, any movement, even if it was protesting that there was hair in the cafeteria food, would be enough to keep him busy for a good while.

Or perhaps, the key to this question lay in the Lestrange house; as long as Harry figured out Snape's intention in attacking the Lestrange house, he could get more than half the points. ===== CHAPTER 356 =====