Chapter 365: Chapter 364 Little Devil
Regarding Cedric, Dumbledore hadn't said exactly how he was going to use his presence in Hogwarts Castle to his advantage last night.
But there was one thing Jon was sure of.
That was he would prefer Cedric to play no role at all than to have anything happen to the boy who had abandoned the dark side.
It was certainly not just out of the goodness of Dumbledore's heart, but more so because Cedric's own presence was an example.
It meant that even with Voldemort's oppressive administration, there were still wizards like Cedric in Britain today who still had an open mind.
Even if the number is small, even if it is in the single digits, it is still a very encouraging sign.
Because compared to him being some kind of undercover spy in the castle, letting him keep his life safe and then waiting for the right moment to openly renounce Voldemort's crimes would be the greatest blow that could be dealt to the British Ministry of Magic.
Of course, before preparing to do that, Dumbledore would most certainly also find a way to protect Cedric's family members who were still working in the Ministry of Magic at present.
Once he had met up with Jon in the secret passage, Cedric recounted to him some of the voices that were now circulating in the castle.
"The students hate you with a passion, and the Professors are preaching that you induced those dragons to attack Hogwarts Castle, trying to burn it to the ground along with everyone inside. The vast majority of them believed it, and they privately call you the little devil and said you are a murderous villain."
When he heard the name "Little Devil", Jon couldn't help but laugh in dumb surprise.
He didn't know if this was something that had been spontaneously tossed out between the students, or if Voldemort was behind it.
But Voldemort himself should know better than anyone else who the real devil was, and wasn't it a bit insulting that such a title be bestowed on his enemy?
It was only logical that such a title should belong to Draco, who now represented Hogwarts Castle in the tournament.
"Have you noticed any Professors missing from the school today?"
Jon was interested in just how much damage had been done after that attack yesterday.
Cedric had obviously observed it specifically as well, and he answered without thinking.
"Almost every one of the few Professors I met today was wounded, and some of them are still lying in the hospital wing in a more serious condition, from what I heard. Then there's Professor Pierre of the Half-Blood House, he's believed to be dead, but it doesn't seem to be at the hands of the dragons, rumours are going around among the students that he was killed by Barty Crouch due to cowardice."
"There was also an Auror dead, I heard it from a seventh-year student, he was lying by the window last night and saw an Auror being bitten to death by a dragon with two long fangs, blood ran over most of the castle's walls and when he got up in the morning, someone else saw uncleared and shredded intestines on the grass."
Two dead, that was more than what Jon had mentally expected.
It wasn't that he had no confidence in the dragons, but Voldemort would be back very quickly.
If he were to have returned three minutes later, the casualties of the Professors in the Astronomy Tower would not have been so slight, at least half of them would have died.
But obviously, Voldemort himself knew that Hogwarts Castle could not withstand such a severe loss of life, the death of the men in the castle would have a lesser effect on his power, but it would give the outside world the impression that Voldemort and his forces were on the verge of collapse.
Such an event would be fatal and would cause those Ministries of Magic, which had been largely in Voldemort's favour at the previous Champions' Selection Banquet, to begin to re-examine the situation, severely undermining Voldemort's intentions to rule all of Europe.
After learning about the situation at Hogwarts Castle from Cedric, Jon got down to business.
"I need to borrow the arrowhead you used earlier to avoid the magic around the Forbidden Forest, we are working on a plan to get the Centaurs out of the Forbidden Forest and want to use that arrowhead to study a way to safely enter the Forbidden Forest."
Hearing Jon's request, Cedric didn't hesitate and on the spot took off the stone arrowhead that had been hanging around his neck and handed it to Jon.
"This was originally given to me by the Centaurs, and now if this can be of any help to them then that would be great."
Jon nodded solemnly, not intending to delay Cedric too much to prevent him from disappearing for too long and thus arousing the suspicions of the others.
But before he was ready to leave, Cedric still looked at Jon with a hopeful gaze.
"Is there anything I can do to help at the castle?"
Jon said seriously, looking back at him.
"First and foremost, you must keep yourself safe, Cedric, that is your most important priority from now on. It's best that you don't behave strangely or enter the secret passages in private anymore during this period of time; the Dark Lord is sure to have his men tighten their grip on this castle even more, a certain unease has developed in him."
Even if Cedric wasn't the reckless type, there were still some things Jon wanted to make clear to him.
He knew of the boy's tragic experiences in the original and so was keen to see a good ending for such an excellent Hufflepuff.
After finishing this conversation, Jon left Hogwarts Castle and instead of returning to the wagon, he went straight down this secret passage into Hogsmeade and proceeded to find Kingsley and the others who had taken temporary lodgings at the Hog's Head Inn.
After getting the arrowhead, Kingsley called in two of the male wizards in the group who were knowledgeable in alchemy, and after just a few brief glances, they judged that it would not be too difficult to replicate the magic contained within it.
It was not an advanced magic that would resolve the warning spell, but a disguise that would closely mirror nature, something that the Centaurs are blessed with, and while it would be difficult for a wizard to pull off such a natural spell, it would not be much of a problem to replicate what was readily available.
It would only take a night at most to imitate and make a sufficient quantity, meaning that tomorrow they could go into the Forbidden Forest to find the group of Centaurs led by Firenze.
Jon didn't leave the Hog's Head Inn that night and had Aberforth arrange a guest room for him directly here.
To be honest, the Hog's Head Inn was really filthy, and Jon spent quite a bit of time using his wand to clean the grease spots and stains with a disgusted look on his face before it felt barely habitable.
The night was uneventful.
By early the next morning, Kingsley and the others, who had stayed overnight in the Hog's Head Inn, had left Hogsmeade early under the cover of the newly dawned light and sneaked into the Forbidden Forest.
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