Chapter 463: The Voice of the Abandoned Pawn

Around the afternoon, when Harry returned to school, everything seemed as usual. However, when he called out the portrait of the Fat Lady and entered the Gryffindor common room, he heard some very unexpected news from Jin Ni.

"We have no Seeker anymore," she said the moment she saw Harry. "Edith and Nikola have dropped out."

"What?" Harry was stunned. "What did they do?"

"It doesn't seem like they did anything wrong. You should go over there and take a look."

Following Jin Ni's finger, Harry could see a chubby boy gesturing wildly and speaking with great excitement to his classmates. Clearly, that was Nikola's roommate, Quinn Kowalski.

"... Inside, there was a blue iron dome, and all around it were golden pillars," Quinn gestured. "There was also a staircase on the side, and underneath it were several levels; it was as big as a castle!"

Harry walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, Mr. Potter." Quinn shifted to face Harry. "Was Nikola involved in your secret plan? People from the Order of the Phoenix came to pick him up today, and Edith left with him too. My god, I entered the TARDIS!"

"What? Did this happen today?" Harry was completely confused.

"Yeah, just a little while ago. They took Nikola and Edith away, straight into the dormitory! I asked him when he was coming back, and then that pink-haired one said they weren't coming back. They're transferring schools, going to a place where no one can find them, it's a secret! My god, I was already suspecting he had special talents or a secret identity. Oh, can you tell me?"

"I don't know yet, but I can go ask." Harry extracted the keyword "pink-haired" from his words, then patted him on the shoulder and strode downstairs.

"How are you going to go?" Luo En asked. "That place is much further than Paris."

Harry calmed down all at once. He sat back on the sofa and began to write a letter to Sirius. He didn't write any extra words in the letter, only saying that he wanted to take a trip to Gilneas soon. He had a vague suspicion, because Hogwarts was almost the safest place in the Wizarding World; if there was anyone who could threaten Hogwarts, it could only be the KGB.

After finishing the letter, Harry walked out of the common room and, with a tentative feeling, knocked on the door of the Headmaster's office. Unfortunately, the Headmaster was not in.

After he walked down the stairs with a complicated mood, what he saw was Zhang Qiu pacing in the corridor.

"Something happened, Harry." She said hurriedly. "The Raio Cavalry raided the Magical Congress; they knew about it long ago!"

"Knew what?" Harry was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted. "Oh no, if Tang Nade is Evolt, then his defeat here means the Magical Congress has no knight power, but why?"

"It's hard to say. It might be a form of deterrence, because they didn't kill anyone; they just made a big scene and left."

"Or, did they also detect the dissipation of fate, so they started testing?" Harry analyzed. "But the knight system has nothing to do with the Statute of Secrecy; restricting wizard power was done by Antioch... Oh, that's right, Yanayev might not know about this."

"That's not what I'm worried about; perhaps it's just another Cuban Missile Crisis. What I'm really worried about is that Ailina fought those knights with all her might and is currently in a coma from severe injuries. I'm afraid her mental state is in trouble!"

"Mental state?" Harry was stunned. "Shouldn't we be worried about her injuries first?"

"No, Harry, you have to know that she didn't look right at the farewell party that day. She was covered in flags—I mean, she gave people the feeling that she might sacrifice herself at any moment. I didn't take it to heart at the time because our plan was still ahead, and I even said that if she went to observe an experiment, she shouldn't encounter any danger—"

"Wait, you said she might sacrifice herself at any moment? How did you judge that? Was it divination or signs of fate or something? Is there still such a saying now?"

"It's not divination, it's psychology. It's that she had a mental state of having seen all her friends for the last time and being ready to die at any moment." Zhang Qiu said distressingly. "So this time, when facing the enemy, she must have fought with a heart seeking death. If it weren't for the fact that Su Fang didn't intend to escalate the situation, I'm afraid she really would have sacrificed herself!"

"Before that, I felt she had this tendency. Sigh, we have to find a way to counsel her." Zhang Qiu grabbed Harry's arm. "Even if she did some willful and wrong things before, we can't just watch her be like this!"

Harry recalled Ailina's state; she indeed had a bit of a negative attitude, but it shouldn't have been that negative.

"I think she wouldn't go as far as seeking death, right?"

"She would." Zhang Qiu sighed. "First of all, she was originally an independent and self-reliant person; she had pride in her bones. But the Herrscher project almost shattered her pride. After enduring so much pain, and even having her life controlled by others, she still couldn't obtain enough power to break fate."

"Think about it, who would be the person controlling the Herrscher insurance measures? It couldn't be anyone other than Tang Nade."

Harry felt that this was still quite reasonable; he believed that others in the Magical Congress wouldn't want to be enemies with Tang Nade for no reason.

"But Tang Nade's ambition is obvious, and his character is clear to all. If he does something to hurt Hermione in the future," Zhang Qiu revealed a complicated expression, "watching the person who controls your own life hurt the person you love deeply, I think this is something she cannot accept."

"And it is precisely because of this that she would rather sacrifice herself in some battle, so she could repay Tang Nade's kindness." Harry began to worry; he found that Zhang Qiu's reasoning was completely correct. "But what should we do? Should we let Hermione know? How much should we tell her?"

"How about we just confess for her?" Harry continued to ponder impractical plans. "If she isn't even afraid of death, why would she be afraid of this? If she could just speak openly with Hermione, then, then at least she wouldn't have any regrets if she died, right?"

The sound of the stone statue turning suddenly came from behind them. Harry and Zhang Qiu were startled and both closed their mouths directly. They widened their eyes, watching the wall slowly reveal a doorway; Snape seemed to have been standing there for a long time.

"I heard it; I'll handle this matter." Snape said blandly. "Holding someone's life in your hands... it's really too classless."

Harry stared blankly at Snape; his nostrils seemed to be wet.

"Miss Granger also possesses that kind of armor, doesn't she?" Snape's tone was still bland, but there were very complicated subtle fluctuations. "But we won't need those armors for long. Let her put more energy into her studies."

Snape didn't say another word, but strode toward the stairs, leaving them only with his back.

Harry and Zhang Qiu looked at each other; they couldn't figure out what had happened. A moment later, Zhang Qiu asked in a low voice: "How much do you think he heard?"

"He might have known some of it already." Harry scratched his head. "I knocked on the door earlier and he didn't open it; I thought he wasn't there."

"Alright, we can just wait and see for now." Zhang Qiu breathed a sigh of relief. "If we have Snape exerting pressure from Tang Nade's side, it should be no problem."

"I suddenly feel, is it useful for him to go?" Harry was a bit unsure. "Even if Tang Nade's Build Driver was broken, he should still have Evolt's power to use, right? And Snape is, after all, just..."

"Wait, is Snape really just an ordinary wizard?" Harry suddenly stared at Zhang Qiu. "You said the nemesis that Moon Knight must defeat to unlock the final form is the Vampire Queen. The Moon Knight we saw has already unlocked the final form, and the only one who has killed the Vampire Queen is—"

"That's right, and as a nemesis, there is also a hidden condition." Zhang Qiu said cautiously. "The Vampire Queen loved him."

After confirming that Snape was the Moon Knight, Harry suddenly understood the question he had never thought about in detail before: why did the Moon Knight always appear when Snape was away? Before, he had always thought that the Moon Knight was afraid of Snape, and even seriously concluded that "Snape is the person on our side most skilled at the Killing Curse." Now that he thought about it, it was full of loopholes.

After Harry returned to the dormitory, he didn't mention Ailina's matter again, but once again focused his attention on Gilneas and Nikola. He vaguely felt that he had grasped some clues, but he didn't dare to make inferences rashly.

The next day at noon, with Sirius's help, Harry once again experienced Apparition from Hogsmeade to Gilneas. He felt that next time he might be able to try it himself.

On their way to the Presidential Palace, Harry saw many dejected figures sitting on the side of the street or sleeping in small tents. Logically speaking, most of Gilneas's residents were positive and upward-looking; Harry initially felt a bit strange, until he saw a familiar face at a corner. He had seen him at a meeting at the Ministry of Magic.

"You are, that, vampire researcher," Harry greeted him. "What is your name?"

A werewolf upstairs opened a window and spat at him.

"Louis." The vampire numbly raised his hand to wipe off the saliva.

"Why are you... here?" Harry hesitated and glanced upstairs; the werewolf's face was full of unwelcoming expressions.

"There's nowhere else to go." Louis sighed.

Sirius grabbed Harry's hand and walked toward the Presidential Palace. He didn't seem to know the situation either, but he knew this wasn't the place to talk. "Let's go, ask Moony and we'll be clear."

When the two of them walked into the reception hall, Lupin was holding Nikola, lifting him up so he could hang the purple lamp flower on the wall.

Harry walked up, preparing to help them nail the nameplate, and then he discovered that there were words on both the front and back of the nameplate. On the other side, it was written:

"Astrea"

"Containing the intention to help others, healing the exhausted souls of companions, and praying for the safe return of companions." ===== CHAPTER 464 =====