94 hp Diagon Alley

Come, be there in 5 minutes. "

"Hold on to your wands," Harry said to both of them. "Don't let your guard down."

A few minutes later the lock on the Diggory house clicked, and Cedric and Lupine appeared at the door.

Harry and Hermione pointed their wands at Lupine, and Ron pointed at Cedric.

"Prove it!" Harry yelled.

"I am Remus John Lupine, a werewolf, sometimes called Moonface, one of the four authors of the Marauder's Map, and my wife is Nymphadora, usually called Tonks. I taught you how to Call out the Patronus, Harry, it's a stag."

Harry didn't speak or move, but gave Hermione a look.She immediately asked Cedric for proof too.

"Hmm...why is the back of the chair in front of the dining table burnt?"

"It was burned out during my first magic riot, and my dad decided to keep it as a souvenir." Cedric smiled shyly.

"Oh, yes," said Harry, lowering his wand, "but I have to check, don't I?"

"As your former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, I completely agree with the need to check," Lupine said lightly, too.

"I have to go first, the Order of the Phoenix has an urgent mission." Cedric said after taking Lupine into the house. "Be careful, Harry. We met a Death Eater on the way, let's hope he didn't go to this place." From the direction..."

After Cedric had left, they ran towards Lupine.He was wearing a thick black traveling cloak and looked tired but happy to see them.

Harry said, "How's it going? How's everyone doing?"

"All right!" said Lupine, "but we're all under surveillance. I was supposed to come three days ago, but I had to get rid of the Death Eaters who were following you." here?"

"No," said Harry, "we went to Grimmauld Place after encountering two Death Eaters in the cafe in Tottenham Palace Road, and Cedric saw two other Death Eaters outside the square, so Provided us with a safe place to stay temporarily."

Lupine spilled most of the Butterbeer on his chest.

"what?"

When they finished telling what had happened, Lupine looked horrified.

"But how did they find you so quickly? It's impossible to track the Apparated man unless you catch him when he disappears!"

"It's unlikely they were walking in Tottenham Palace Road at that very moment, is it?" said Harry.

"We wondered," said Hermione tentatively, "does Harry still have traces?"

"Impossible!" said Lupine, to Ron's smug look, and Harry heaved a sigh of relief. "First of all, if he still had traces, they'd be sure he was here, wouldn't they? But I can't figure them out." How it came to Tottenham Palace Road is worrying, really worrying. No, not just there, Grimmauld Place, even on the road just now."

He looked worried, but from Harry's point of view the question could be put aside.

"Tell me what happened after we left. Since Ron's father said that the whole family is safe, we have had no news."

"Oh, Kingsley saved us," said Lupine. "Thanks to him, many of the guests were Apparated before the gang arrived."

"Are those people Death Eaters or the Ministry?" Hermione interjected.

"Both. They're practically the same thing now," said Lupine. "There were a dozen of them, but they didn't know you were there, Harry. Arthur heard rumors that they killed Scrimgeour before they killed Scrimgeour." , I once tortured him about your whereabouts, if this happened, he didn't say anything about you."

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, whose expressions reflected the shock and gratitude he felt.He had never liked Scrimgeour much, but if Lupine was telling the truth, Scrimgeour's last act was to try to protect Harry.

"The Death Eaters scoured the Burrow," Lupine went on. "They found the ghouls, but they wouldn't go near them—then interrogated those of us who didn't leave for hours. They wanted your News, Harry, but of course, no one except the Order of the Phoenix knows you've been there."

"While disrupting the wedding, more Death Eaters broke into every family in the country with ties to the Order. No one died," he said without waiting for them to ask. Dropped Dedalus Diggle's house, but you know he's not there. They also cast the Cruciatus Curse on the Tonks family, also trying to find out what happened to you after you'd been to their house. They're all right - obviously weak , but everything else is fine.”

"Death Eaters breaking through all those protective spells?" Harry asked, remembering how effective they had been the night he crashed in the garden of Tonks' parents' house.

"You have to understand, Harry, that the Death Eaters now have the entire Ministry of Magic behind them," said Lupine, "and they can use brutal magic without fear of being discovered and arrested. Afterwards, they made no secret of their intentions.”

"Did they come up with any excuse for torturing Harry's whereabouts?" Hermione asked, her voice shrill.

"Well," Lupine hesitated, and produced a folded copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Look," he said, shoving the newspaper off the table to Harry, "you'll find out sooner or later anyway. That's their excuse for hunting you down."

Harry unfolded the newspaper, and a large photograph of him filled the front page.Several large characters stand out on the photo:

Wanted for Albus Dumbledore's death

Ron and Hermione howled angrily, but Harry said nothing.He pushed the newspaper aside, not wanting to read any more.He knew what the inside would say.No one knows who killed Dumbledore except those who were at the top of the tower at the time, and Rita Skeeter has told the wizarding world that Harry was seen fleeing shortly after Dumbledore fell on site.

"I'm sorry, Harry," said Lupine.

"So the Death Eaters also control the Daily Prophet?" Hermione asked angrily.

Lupine nodded.

"But people must know what's going on?"

"The coup was smooth, almost silent," Lupine said. "The official version of Scrimgeour's death is that he resigned and was replaced by Piers Thicknesse, who had the Imperius Curse."

"Why didn't Voldemort call himself Minister for Magic?" Ron asked.

Lupine smiled.

"He doesn't need it, Ron. He's actually a Minister, so why sit behind a desk in the Ministry? His puppet Thicknesse runs the day-to-day business, allowing Voldemort to extend his power beyond the Ministry."

"Many people naturally speculated about what happened: the policy of the Ministry of Magic has changed too much in the past few days. They privately said that Voldemort must be behind the scenes. But here is the problem. They just said in private, and they dare not talk to each other. Don't know who to believe. They are afraid to speak out, fearing persecution of the family if the suspicions are true. Voldemort's move is very clever. Announcing usurpation may invite open rebellion, hiding behind the scenes can cause confusion, Suspicion and fear."

"Significant changes in Ministry policy," said Harry, "involving making the wizarding world wary of me instead of Voldemort?"

"That's really part of it," said Lupine. "It's a masterstroke. After Dumbledore's death, you—the Boy Who Lived—must become a symbol and a rallying cry against Voldemort. And by suggesting that you and The death of an old hero had something to do with it, and Voldemort not only put a reward on you, but sowed doubt and fear among many who might have defended you."

"At the same time, the Ministry of Magic began to investigate the descendants of Muggles."

Lupine pointed to the Daily Prophet.

"See version 2."

Hermione flipped open the newspaper with the same disgusted look on her face as she had read The Dark Arts Revealed.

"'Muggle-born registration,'" she read. "'The Ministry of Magic is conducting an investigation into so-called 'Muggle-borns' to see how they come to possess magical secrets.'"

"'The latest research from the Department of Mysteries shows that magic can only be inherited through wizarding birth. So, without proven wizarding blood, so-called Muggle-borns may acquire magical abilities through theft or violence.' "

"'The Ministry of Magic is determined to eradicate these appropriators of magical powers, and to this end invites every so-called Muggle-born to be interviewed by the newly appointed Muggle-Born Registration Commission.'"

"People won't let that happen," said Ron.

"It's already happened, Ron," said Lupine, "and Muggle-borns have been caught as we speak."

"But how can they 'steal' magic?" asked Ron. "What a madman. If they could steal magic, there wouldn't be any Squibs, would there?"

"I understand," Lupine said, "but you have to prove that you have at least one close relative of wizard blood, otherwise you will be considered to have acquired magical abilities illegally and will be punished."

Ron looked at Hermione and said, "What if pure-blood and half-blood wizards swear that some Muggle-born is their kin? I can tell everyone that Hermione is my cousin—"

Hermione took Ron's hand in both and held it tightly.

"Thank you, Ron, but I can't let you—"

"You have no choice," said Ron excitedly, also squeezing her hand. "I'm going to teach you my family tree so you won't be afraid to ask questions."

Hermione gave a quavering laugh.

"Ron, I don't think it matters anymore because we're following the