Chapter 1217: No Evidence Needed
Chapter 1217: No Evidence Needed
"Bang, bang, bang!"
The rapid knocking on the door startled the Weasley brothers, who had been sleeping soundly. They bolted upright in their beds, their wands at the ready, eyes darting warily towards the wooden door. "What is it?" they asked in hushed tones.
"Time to get up," came Shan's voice from outside. "Albert sent his Patronus with a message saying he'll be here for a meeting soon."
Fred and George relaxed, relieved that it wasn't an emergency, and settled back into their beds.
"What time is it?" Fred asked, his eyes still closed.
"Almost ten o'clock!" George yawned and glanced at his pocket watch.
"You two, when do you plan on getting up?" Lee Jordan stood at the door, looking at the twins still huddled in their blankets.
"Just a few more minutes," Fred mumbled.
"Unbelievable," Lee Jordan muttered, finishing off a pumpkin pie in a few bites before striding into the room. He reached out and yanked the blanket off the bed.
"It's cold!" The twins scrambled out of bed, sneezing, and quickly wrapped themselves in the blanket, glaring at Lee Jordan.
"All right, we're up. You can leave now; we need to change," Fred said irritably.
Lee Jordan was promptly pushed out of the bedroom, and the door was shut with a thud.
"They're just too shy," Lee Jordan shrugged at Shan in the corridor.
Before long, Fred and George emerged from their room, yawning and bleary-eyed. It was clear they had stayed up late the night before.
"When's the meeting?" Fred flopped onto a soft sofa and asked with his eyes closed.
"Ten o'clock," Shan reminded him. "It's almost time."
"Why didn't he schedule it for the afternoon or evening? I need to talk to him about that," Fred complained.
It was indeed hard on people to be called to a meeting so early in the winter.
"Come on, have something to eat and wake up properly." Cedric pushed a plate of steaming pumpkin pies towards the twins and asked the house-elves to bring them some strong tea.
"You two should go to bed earlier," Lee Jordan began, but George cut him off.
"Then help us out if you're so concerned. I'd love to get some rest myself." George took a pie and handed one to Fred. He took a bite; the freshly baked treat was delicious.
"Look at today's newspaper headline," Lee Jordan said stiffly, trying to change the subject. He certainly couldn't help with magic items.
"What's the news?" George asked, yawning again.
"The Ministry of Magic's first shelter is complete, and several high-ranking officials have already moved in," Diggory summarized the headline and passed the Prophet to George.
"Has the Ministry gone mad, or has the Prophet? How could they publish this? Don't they know the consequences?" George frowned as he read the latest front-page news.
"What's the problem?" Shan asked, confused.
"Is it because there aren't enough shelters?" Cedric guessed the reason.
"Exactly. What about the other employees? How do you think they feel?" George pointed out.
"The paper says the Ministry is building Shelters Two and Three, doesn't it?" Lee Jordan prompted them to read the article.
"There's no way they'll finish in time," Fred said through a mouthful of hot pie. "But I do think the Ministry's shelter is a good idea. I think we should suggest it to Albert."
"Don't be silly. We don't have the time for that," George shook his head. "It's unrealistic to expect everyone from the Defense Association to gather in one place."
"At least it's safe," Fred countered without hesitation.
"We can't possibly convince them to give up their jobs and hide in some shelter, unless they're in my situation," Cedric said, feeling it was impractical. No one would want to hide if they had a choice.
"We can't provide free food for everyone either. Just the daily food expenses would be enormous, and do you want to work Dobby to death?" Lee Jordan agreed that it was unrealistic.
"I was just throwing the idea out there!" Fred took a sip of the strong tea the house-elf had brought and nearly scowled at the bitterness.
"I think Albert might have had a similar plan initially but dropped it or decided against it," Cedric checked his pocket watch and glanced towards the entrance hall.
Soon, the sound of the front door opening was heard.
"You're as punctual as ever!"
"Let's start the meeting!"
Albert ignored Lee Jordan's teasing and clapped his hands to signal the start of the meeting.
As they sat around the circular table, Cedric frowned and asked, "What's happened?"
"I recently received news that the mysterious person is targeting us."
"Albert got straight to the point.
"Isn't the mysterious person already targeting us?" The group didn't find this strange; they all knew that the mysterious person hated Albert and had tried to kill him more than once, though none of those plans had succeeded.
"They already know about me forming the Defense Association," Albert tapped his fingers lightly on the table, signaling for everyone to pay attention. "The mysterious person will likely target our members, trying to use them against me since they've had success with Peter Pettigrew before."
"Have you prophesied something?" George asked curiously.
"We'll have to temporarily give up on the Zoco lead," Albert said, looking at Fred and George. "I suspect he's been watched for a while now, and it's no longer worth the risk. Let's use him as bait to divert their attention."
"What about Zoco then?" Cedric frowned.
"He's safe; I'll inform the Ministry of Magic about him," Albert assured.
"What about our owl mail-order business?" Fred and George asked in unison, "Do we have to temporarily stop the joke shop's operations?"
"Orders from the joke shop mostly come from Hogwarts. We can ask Ron to help out; he can temporarily be employed to distribute our goods. I think Ron will be willing to help with the deliveries, considering the amount of galleons involved," Albert suggested.
"Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem. We'll write to Ron," Fred agreed, knowing that continuing the mail-order business meant they could keep making money. Moreover, their most profitable sales were the Dark Magic Defense artifacts supplied to the Ministry.
"Next, we need to address the safety of the Defense Association members," Albert stated, getting to the main purpose of today's meeting.
"Do you think the Death Eaters will go after them?"
"As long as they have their wits about them, they'll definitely come after my friends first. After all, all of you are my friends, and the others are more likely to become targets of the mysterious person," Albert said without hesitation.
"But..." Shan hesitated, "Don't you find that strange?"
"What's strange about it?" Albert asked in return.
"Why would they go after your friends? They don't have any evidence, just suspicions that they're associated with you and may have joined the Defense Association," Shan pointed out.
"Sometimes, evidence isn't necessary, especially not for the mysterious person. If he suspects something, he'll act on it. He'll have his people capture them and use Legilimency to search their memories. Never underestimate the depths a Dark wizard will sink to," Albert said calmly.
"Then, why don't we set up a similar shelter?" Fred suggested, pointing to the newspaper headline, "We can have everyone move there; it would be safer, and we'd have more time for training."
"That's not realistic," Albert shook his head. "While we do have several safe houses prepared, we can't provide everyone with a normal living guarantee. What I mean is, we can't offer the kind of comprehensive facilities that the Ministry has; those shelters are basically just empty shells with a few days' worth of food and water."
"So, what do you plan to do?" Lee Jordan asked.
"I'll find them a temporary hideout to shake off their pursuers," Albert said without hesitation. "I've already selected a location."
"You mean the place you're using to pretend to be headquarters?" Diggory asked suddenly.
"Yes, that place was originally intended to be a prototype of the Ministry's shelter, but I don't have the manpower or resources to complete it, so it's been left to waste," Albert explained his plan. He intended to have the others use the Disapparition spell to escape to a region protected by the Fidelius Charm if they were in danger.
Of course, many people hadn't considered this option, as appearing uninvited in someone's home through Disapparition was extremely rude. However, it was a highly feasible plan, and even Voldemort wouldn't have an easy countermeasure.
"You're also planning to use that place as bait to attract the Death Eaters' attention and divert them from here, aren't you?"
Cedric understood.
If the Death Eaters knew the location of the Defense Association's headquarters, they would definitely keep a close eye on it and, in turn, neglect this place.
Cedric remembered how he had shared the location of the Defense Association's headquarters with those Dark wizards before.
As long as Albert acknowledged that place as the headquarters, he wouldn't be lying.
"I'll take them there when I have time, and I'll distribute the communication bookmarks at the next gathering," Albert said.
"These are communication bookmarks; they can receive messages from me," Albert explained as he took out a wooden box and handed it to Fred. He then turned to Lee Jordan and said, "I think all wizards in the magical world need a channel to receive information."
"We've been working on that," Lee Jordan said.
"I'm talking about a dedicated channel for the Defense Association, sending out messages daily, and using the communication bookmarks for the password," Albert elaborated.
"This is getting more and more troublesome. Why don't you get a version of the communication quill Sirius uses? That way, everyone can communicate more easily," Lee Jordan suggested.
"That won't work; if someone is captured, it would be too easy for them to be all caught at once," Albert shook his head.
(End of Chapter)
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