The Emerald at Hogwarts

Chapter 6
It was night, and Professor McGonagall returned to Hogwarts.

Probably because the school has not yet started, Hogwarts at night seemed a bit empty. Professor McGonagall walked alone in the empty corridor, accompanied only by her own footsteps and the whisper of the portrait.

Walking in front of an extremely ugly huge stone monster, Mag stopped in his tracks, "Iced pear juice!"

After hearing these words, the monster suddenly came alive and jumped aside. The wall behind it split in two, revealing a spiral staircase.Professor McGonagall ascended the stairs, and the newly cracked wall snapped shut, and the stairs spiraled up like an escalator in a Muggle mall.

There was a wooden door at the top of the stairs. Professor McGonagall stepped forward and knocked on the door. With a creak, the door opened by itself.

Professor McGonagall walked into the room. It was a spacious circular room. There were many portraits hanging on the wall, including men and women. They were doing their own things, but they were all secretly looking at McGonagall.Sitting behind the desk was a tall, thin old man. His silver hair and beard were long enough to be tucked into his belt. His nose was long but crooked, probably broken.Behind the half-moon glasses are a pair of blue eyes, which seem to contain supreme wisdom.

"Professor McGonagall, would you like some cockroach piles?"

"No, Albus. I took that child to Diagon Alley today." Professor McGonagall first glanced at the pile of cockroaches, and then waved his hands decisively.

"How?" Albus Dumbledore stretched out his slender fingers to pick and choose among the cockroaches, "What kind of child is little Esmeralda?"

Professor McGonagall thought for a while, and then replied: "A good boy, very talented, but also very poor." Professor McGonagall then relayed Ada's story to Dumbledore.

After hearing about Ada's unfortunate childhood, Dumbledore was silent for a while, and then said: "Happy people use their childhood to heal their lives, and unfortunate people use their lives to heal their childhood... We can't choose our origins, but we can. Choose how to live. In this world, there are always people who can face the misfortune of life, without fear of the thorns along the way, and bloom bright flowers in the wind and rain..."

"Albus, I think she should be a strong child. You asked me to pay more attention to that child. I have also observed her in the past few days. She manages her life very well. What time should she do? She arranged everything well... But, today I officially met her, her performance is in line with the experience that a child of this age should have, but I can feel that she has been hiding herself, she only shows her obedient and well-behaved On the one hand..." Professor McGonagall said while recalling what happened in the past few days.

"This shows that little Esmeralda is a smart child. She knows how to please others. In front of a teacher, if she shows her obedient and sensible side, she will naturally be liked by the teacher. It seems to be a sly young fox!." Dumbledore said, he sometimes felt that he was a little too cautious?It's just a student who hasn't formally enrolled, and I still have a lot of time to observe and guide.

"Well, yes, she knows exactly what she needs." Mag recalled the scene with Ada in the second-hand bookstore today. pick.Ada buys books that are suitable for her. She can increase her understanding of the magical world through these books. She is very aware of her shortcomings and will try her best to make up for her shortcomings.

"It's just, Albus, I still don't quite understand why you are interested in her? She just... Drizzt just came out of an orphanage just like his..." Professor McGonagall was still not very clear Understand why Dumbledore pays so much attention to a child who has not yet entered school, because she has the same unfortunate childhood as the person who cannot be named?
"It's not because of him that I want to know more about Miss Drizzt." Dumbledore recalled, and then said to McGonagall, "The reason is the Book of Access."

"The Book of Access?" Professor McGonagall was even more puzzled.

"In this land, for every child who shows magical talent, there will be another name in the access book. Then we will recruit the child into Hogwarts at the right age." Dumbledore Lido said.

The Book of Access was kept in an unassuming locked tower at Hogwarts, a condition that probably would never have been discovered had Dumbledore not stumbled upon it.

One of the meanings of the existence of these two ancient magical items, the Book of Admission and the Pen of Acceptance, is to provide Hogwarts with an admissions list.Whenever a child in the British Isles first showed his magical talent, the pen of acceptance would write the child's name on the book of admission.The name appears on the book of admission, and when the child is 11 or 12 years old, he will receive a letter of admission to Hogwarts.

However, not every name of a child who has a magic riot will receive a notification letter, because some children are not capable enough to become a wizard, or they are only affected by the residual magical energy of their parents, rather than their own abilities.In this case, although the pen of acceptance will still record the child's name, the book of admission will prevent it from writing and reject the child.

"Miss Drizzt's name is on the Book of Access, what... can there be any problem?" Professor McGonagall was even more dizzy by Dumbledore's words, she really couldn't think of what the Book of Access and Ida could do What is the connection.

"Yes, Ada's name is on the admission book, and there is no doubt about her admission." Dumbledore looked at the puzzled McGonagall and explained slowly, "Esmeralda Jessie Card Drizzt, I don't know when her name first appeared on the Access Book, but I do know that two years ago, her name disappeared from the Access Book..."

"Disappeared?" Mag felt a little unbelievable. "Disappeared, but reappeared. Has this happened before? Can you do it?"

Although Professor McGonagall has been working at Hogwarts for a long time, this kind of thing has never happened.The book of access has almost never made mistakes. For the first time, she felt that she was really old and her brain was not enough.

"I can't do it, Minerva." Dumbledore said, "Actually, this is not the first time that the name on the Book of Access has disappeared. Usually it is some unfortunate news, such as the child who lost Lose his talent or die."

"But neither of these circumstances suits her!"

"Yes, the two most common situations are not suitable for her. I didn't think too much about it at the time, and I just felt sorry for her name disappearing. But a few days later, I found that Ai Si The name Melada Jane Drizzt reappeared in the Book of Access." Dumbledore also showed a puzzled look.

Professor McGonagall was also lost in thought. It is normal for a name to appear on the access book.It's normal for a name to disappear, but it's not normal for it to disappear and then reappear a few days later.

"So, is that why you asked me to keep an eye on her?"

"This is the cause of the matter, and there are other things that contributed to my decision. Minerva, do you remember that there was a big accident in London two summers ago? Connelly personally led the magic accident Staff from the Disaster Division went to the scene to deal with it."

Professor McGonagall was impressed by this incident. The scene of the accident left traces of a strong magic power explosion, and the entire half of the street was blown up. The incident was very noisy at the time.Although there was no Dark Mark left at the scene of the accident, most people still believe that the remnants of the Death Eaters did it.

There were only a few collapsed houses and two unidentifiable bodies left at the center of the accident, and the Ministry of Magic found no useful information other than that.In the end, the Ministry of Magic, which found nothing, had to disguise the accident as an accident caused by a gas leak.

However, people who have lived a peaceful life for a few years did not buy it at all. For the ineffective Ministry of Magic, the angry people sprayed Minister Millicent Barnold and Director of the Department of Accidents and Disasters Cornelius Fudge. Bloody head.Is it just that these two things are related?

"These two things seem to have nothing to do with each other, and it can even be said that they are completely irrelevant. How can a young wizard who has not yet entered school be connected with such an accident?" McGonagall asked, she was waiting for Dumbledore Explain to her.

"During that time, I was busy with the admissions process and would often look at the Admissions Book...Unfortunately, I didn't see how it worked. I was in the tower looking at the admissions list when the accident happened , After Connelly notified me of the bad news, I immediately left the tower and went to the Ministry of Magic." Dumbledore recalled, "When I came back from the Ministry of Magic, I found that Ada's name had disappeared. When the name appeared again a few days later, I was just a little curious."

Dumbledore stretched out his slender fingers, tapped his forehead gently with his fingertips, and continued: "Until one day later, I suddenly noticed that the street where the accident happened was far away from the orphanage where she lived. Very close, very close!"

"It's so far-fetched..." said Professor McGonagall.

"I know that there are almost no little wizards who can blow up half a street at the age of ten. I have also paid attention to Ada in private. She is indeed very talented, but this is not what she can do now. She also Not the type to do such a thing," said Dumbledore.

Dumbledore had observed Ada secretly many times. She could beat and bruise the children who bullied her in the orphanage, and she could also take good care of the younger children.Her talent is indeed very good, but Dumbledore doesn't think that Ada can blow up half a street at the age of ten!
"The scene of the accident left traces of black magic, which is not something little Esmeralda can do. But she is the only wizard in that block, and for any reason, I must pay more attention to her .”

"Who did you mention this to, Albus?" Professor McGonagall thought of something bad that could destroy the child.

Dumbledore stretched out his hand and pointed at himself first, and then at McGonagall, "It's just you and me, this is just my guess, not even a guess. I can't use it without evidence, even I think it's absurd speculation to destroy a child's future, Minerva."

"I'll keep an eye on her," said Professor McGonagall, looking at a tattered, crumpled wizard's hat on another table.

"I can't control the branch, Minerva. But fortunately, she's about to enroll..."

(End of this chapter)