Chapter 217: Harry: I Hope They're Okay
That evening, Harry and Wade returned to Hogwarts via the Vanishing Cabinet.
Most of their other classmates would just spend an hour or two in Hogsmeade during the Hogsmeade Weekend, then return to school before the other students came back.
Michael and the others were sometimes recognized by students in their third year and above, who were eligible to go to Hogsmeade. Everyone assumed they'd found a secret passage Filch hadn't discovered—
Considering their relationship with the Weasley Twins, this wasn't surprising at all.
Those brothers had dared to sneak into the Forbidden Forest in their first year and had also wandered around Hogsmeade before they were old enough.
Most of the older students would smile tolerantly, or good-naturedly tease them a bit, sometimes even advising them not to go to the Three Broomsticks for a while, as some professors were inside drinking and chatting.
But there were also some students they didn't get along with, who would secretly report them to Filch—everyone assumed it was Slytherin's doing.
The last Hogsmeade Weekend, Michael and Padma were on a date at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop and were almost caught by Filch—
The caretaker had actually gone to Hogsmeade on the weekend!
He usually wouldn't go anywhere near the wizarding village, but to catch a few sneaking students, Filch went searching from shop to shop.
Luckily, Michael was well-liked; a student spotted Filch and quickly ran to tell them. The group hurriedly returned to school, narrowly escaping punishment.
Filch was furious but helpless.
It was well-known that at Hogwarts, if you broke a school rule but weren't caught, it didn't count as breaking the rule.
However, from then on, they started returning to school an hour earlier.
Today, only Wade and Harry were late because they were studying magic.
When there were no classes, the main building of the castle always seemed more desolate. As curfew approached, the corridors became completely empty.
Even Filch and Mrs. Norris wouldn't come this way, because on weekend evenings, they were either timing which students hadn't returned to their Common Room on time, or watching students in the Entrance Hall to make sure they didn't track mud into the castle.
Coming out of the Room of Requirement, Wade instinctively glanced at Barnaby's portrait, then heard Harry say:
"Sirius should tell us after the decoy operation yields results, right?"
The young Savior said sincerely, "I hope those missing children are okay."
Wade, however, shook his head. "This kind of operation won't yield results quickly... it might even be completely ineffective."
"Why?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Because wizards disguising themselves as Muggles, especially Muggle children, are like Huskies trying to blend into a pack of wolves. No matter how similar they look, a slightly careful person can tell the difference."
Wade continued, "Do they know the local slang and dialects? Do they know the latest video games? Do they take buses and subways?"
Harry was speechless, thinking of Mr. Weasley, who had asked him about plugs.
Then he countered, "But they could choose Muggle-born wizards... or wizards married to Muggles. They definitely wouldn't make those basic mistakes."
"They might be able to disguise themselves as Muggles, but it's hard to play the part of a Muggle child well."
Wade said, "The ones truly suitable for the decoy plan should be children like you and me, who still maintain close ties with Muggle society."
Hearing this, Harry felt a stir of emotion, and a sense of eagerness.
"You're saying, if we suggest to Professor Dumbledore..."
"No way, forget about it! It won't be a twelve-year-old's turn unless all adult wizards are dead." Wade said decisively.
If Dumbledore were solely in charge of this, Harry's idea might have a chance. But when the composition of the key players becomes more complex, risky strategies are less likely to be accepted.
Harry immediately looked a bit dejected.
The two walked to a corner of the corridor and stopped simultaneously.
Although Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were both in towers, the two towers were far apart. Apart from the courtyard, there was only a connecting corridor on the third floor.
So they had to part ways at the end of the corridor.
Harry tried to lift his spirits.
"Dumbledore and the others must have considered the problems you mentioned, and they'll definitely refine the plan... so there's still a chance the decoy plan could work, right?"
Wade hesitated, then nodded.
Harry smiled.
"Let's be optimistic, Wade. Maybe we'll hear good news when we wake up tomorrow morning!"
He waved his hand, pushed open a door, and stepped onto a staircase. The moving staircase slowly rotated once, sending Harry in another direction.
Behind him, Wade walked onto the balcony, raised his wand, and summoned his broom with Accio.
The old broom shot through the Ravenclaw tower and stopped with a whoosh in front of Wade—with extended use, this broom had become increasingly intelligent.
Wade swung onto the broom. Instead of returning directly to his dormitory, he first flew two circles above Hogwarts.
The castle looked even more magnificent in the night, and the spire where the Headmaster's Office was located resembled a tiny strawberry decorating a cake.
The Headmaster's Office still emitted a soft glow tonight—magical candles never had to worry about electricity bills, but Dumbledore himself was certainly not in his office at the moment.
Wade thought of Harry's optimism just now and secretly dismissed it again in his mind.
When the number of participants and stakeholders increases, not only does the reaction speed become slower, and the procedures for doing things become more cumbersome, but even the executors usually don't choose the most suitable one.
It wasn't that Dumbledore couldn't see the problem... it was just that the Headmaster never seized power, which meant he often had to endure fools shouting at him and then doing even stupider things.
So, in Wade's opinion, it was for the best that the bait plan yielded no results.
If it had, he would only suspect that it represented a plan to hunt Wizards.
The broom cut through the night wind and landed on the Ravenclaw Tower rooftop. Wade smoothed his wind-blown hair, carried his broom, answered the Eagle Door Knocker's question, and returned to the Common Room.
Michael was sitting in the Common Room reading a book. When he saw Wade enter, he immediately waved.
"How's the learning coming along?"
He winked, not wanting to say the name of the Patronus Charm while others were still in the Common Room.
"Very smoothly," Wade said.
"How long did it take you to succeed?" Michael asked with great interest.
Wade didn't hide it and simply said, "One try."
"Cool!" Michael said excitedly. "If I didn't know how difficult it was, I'd probably think it was as simple as the Scouring Charm! They really should give you an Order of Merlin!"
He was as happy as if he had learned it himself.
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