Chapter 1243: High-Risk Individuals

Ever since reading Percy’s letter, Harry felt that no matter what Percy did, he wouldn’t be too surprised.

He was just a bit shocked — even Penelope, whom Percy once adored, was pushed away, so how much of the old Percy is even left now?

He suddenly felt that the Ministry of Magic was quite frightening, like another unseen Dementor, slowly devouring those who pursued him until there was nothing recognizable left.

Harry shivered at the thought.

Then he thought of Arthur Weasley, who had worked at the Ministry for years without turning into a cold-blooded political creature, showing that Percy’s transformation was just an exception.

“Sugar Quill.”

As they reached the door to the common room, while Neville was trying to remember, Ginny had already spoken the password.

The portrait muttered a yawn filled with resentment:

“Endless interruptions… can’t you kids come back together?”

The Fat Lady blinked groggily, squinted at the people standing outside, and slowly opened the door.

Harry and the others slipped inside and saw Ron and Hermione had already organized the younger students’ return.

They were sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace; Ron was resting his head on the back of the sofa, his eyes half-open and half-closed, while Hermione was reading today’s Prophet Daily with a furrowed brow.

The common room wasn’t very full; after all, everyone was tired from spending a whole day on the train and couldn’t wait to lie down on the soft beds in the dormitories.

Hearing the door open, Hermione turned around. Seeing the three of them, she waved them over.

Harry: “Haven’t you rested yet?”

Hermione: “Why are you back so late?”

Both spoke almost simultaneously, and Ron jerked awake, instinctively wiping his mouth:

“What? Ah… so you guys are finally back.”

Ginny explained first: “We talked on the way… talked about Percy.”

“Right.” Harry quickly added, seeing Hermione’s furrowed brow and tight mouth, he sat opposite her and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”

Neville and Ginny also sat down, Ron rubbed his eyes, noticing how close their seats were, he instinctively gave Neville a dangerous look.

Neville: “…?”

His friend’s innocent and bewildered expression made Ron relax, and he said with a harsh tone to his sister, “Next time, come back to the dorm earlier.”

Ginny rolled her eyes: “Do I need to remind you when it is you started sneaking out at night?”

Ron stammered, “That’s not the same.”

Ginny huffed, “How is it different?”

Hermione ignored the sibling argument next to her, raising her eyes to look at Harry, a hard-to-describe glint in them.

“I’ve been thinking about Percy’s speech just now.” She said, “Didn’t you think something was off?”

“What was off?” Harry was puzzled, “Didn’t he say he wouldn’t interfere… and besides, Dumbledore agreed.”

Hermione shook her head gently, “If I were Dumbledore, even if the Ministry of Magic sent a baboon to howl, I would say it was good — it doesn’t mean anything.”

She opened her notebook, where she had jotted down some of what Percy said untidily.

“Look at this… ‘Systematic risk should not rely on personal authority,’ logically speaking, this is correct, Fudge has proven this well enough.”

“Placing all trust in one person is dangerous. But…”

She paused, pressing her lips tighter.

Harry leaned forward, “But?”

Hermione licked her dry lips and said, “But the problem is — he said this at Hogwarts. So, who does this so-called ‘personal authority’ refer to?”

Harry’s back suddenly tensed, “Dumbledore?”

Hermione nodded lightly.

“One could say they’re learning from Ilvermorny’s lessons, but Dumbledore is not Fontana.”

“So in fact, Percy’s words are laying the groundwork for another possibility — the notion that Dumbledore, representing ‘personal authority’, himself needs to be checked, and Hogwarts’ students and teachers shouldn’t trust him unconditionally.”

“If we can’t trust Dumbledore, then what can we trust?” Harry suddenly became angry and said sharply, “That complacent Ministry of Magic?”

Hermione gave him a look, “Don’t yell at me, I didn’t bring it up.”

“Sorry.”

Harry apologized immediately, and then quickly said, “But… maybe Percy just said it casually? You know… he likes to show off his skills.”

“And they’ve all said that Minister Sinclaire isn’t that kind of… isn’t a very tough person.”

“Very possible.” Ron chimed in beside them, “Trust me, Percy that fool might not even understand what his words imply.”

Hermione glanced at him, warningly:

“Don’t underestimate your brother, Percy has been working at the Ministry of Magic for two years now, he surely understands how his words may hint to people more than you do.”

“And didn’t you notice?”

Hermione flicked through her notes irritably, her voice lower.

“His scope of duty is ‘researching student privacy protection, managing external contact’.”

“Translated, it means he has the right to inquire after every student’s external encounters, what they’ve done, and who they’ve communicated with.”

“He can openly investigate the social circle of ‘high-risk individuals’, all under the guise of ‘student safety’.”

Neville’s round face rarely showed such a grave expression; now he had furrowed brows, seemingly trying to digest something hard to swallow.

He hesitated, “Percy… he isn’t after Vid, is he?”

“Not just Vid.” Hermione gazed at Harry, saying, “Also you, Harry.”

“Me?” Harry felt he should laugh at this, but in fact, his face was only puzzled, “What danger am I? I don’t have a Poppet Legion.”

“Poppet Legion”

— Sirius described Vid’s magical poppets in the competition this way, even newspapers used similar terms.

Harry, on one hand, thought it was cool, and on the other hand, worried for Vid.

But when speaking of ‘high-risk’… who fits this term better than Vid?

Yet Hermione was looking at him with utmost seriousness, “Of course, it’s you.”

“One could even say… Harry, you are very likely the primary target, with Vid being second.”

Harry was stunned for two seconds and then let out a short laugh, “That’s ridiculous. If it’s because of the ‘Boy Who Lived’, the dangerous one should be Voldemort, not—”

“You did rise, didn’t you?”

Hermione interrupted him.

The calm voice suddenly felt like a huge rock, heavily dropping into the lake of Harry’s heart.

Harry opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Ron suddenly woke from his sleepy stupor, glanced at Hermione, then at Harry’s complexion, and muttered:

“Indeed… even the Killing Curse couldn’t kill you twice… Harry, in the Magic World, that’s an extremely, extremely peculiar thing.”

“Stranger than a few moving, talking poppets.”

The latter is something people in the Magic World can comprehend, albeit with difficulty… very difficult… But with enough research, someone other than Vid could achieve it.

But escaping the Killing Curse? That’s stranger than Merlin suddenly resurrecting.