Hogwarts: Don't call me the Staff Maker

Chapter 647 Truth Potion

Chapter 647 Truth Potion

The Dark Mark hung high above Hogsmeade, and the once lively atmosphere on the streets instantly turned into panic and fear. People rushed out of the shops and ran towards the school like madmen.

Professor Flitwick, who was accompanying them, immediately used magic to amplify his voice, telling everyone that the Death Eaters had been captured by the Aurors and that there was no danger here. However, his short stature, similar to that of a goblin, made it difficult for him to attract attention in the chaos, and his shouts were quickly drowned out by the pushing and shoving crowd.

Having no other option, Professor Flitwick had to abandon his plan to calm people down and instead joined the crowd in preventing a stampede.

The shopkeepers, who were already on edge, closed their doors immediately. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Hogsmeade became quiet—except for the three brooms.

Ms. Rosmerta wanted to close the door, but she couldn't; Mad-Eye Moody was still there, along with those controlled Death Eaters.

The Aurors seemed to be using her shop as a makeshift interrogation place, which angered Ms. Rosmerta, but she dared not show it.

Several times she considered kicking the Aurors and Death Eaters out, but when she looked up and saw Mad-Eye Moody's cold, demonic eye and scarred face, her courage deflated like a punctured balloon.

After waiting a few minutes, Dumbledore walked in with three brooms, and Lady Rosmerta finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurried over.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Rosmerta."

Before she could speak, Dumbledore said, "Could I have a cup of black tea, with extra sugar? I need to sort out my messy mind."

"I don't have any black tea here," Mrs. Rosmerta said after a moment of silence. "But Mrs. Padif has some. Would you like me to buy you a cup?"

"If we could, that would be wonderful," Dumbledore said.

Lady Rosmerta understood Dumbledore's meaning, nodded, and stepped forward with three brooms.

"The rest is up to you, Severus," said Dumbledore.

Snape strode in from behind, waved his wand, and the five Death Eaters floated into the narrow bathroom next door with him.

"Dumbledore, we need to know what these people are after," Mad-Eye Moody said. "If this operation is on the orders of the Mystic, perhaps these people even know where he is."

"Leave it to Severus; he knows what to do," Dumbledore said, a glint in his eyes.

To be honest, he didn't think this operation was Voldemort's order; it was too crude, and the fact that only five people were involved was completely different from his usual style.

Soon, Snape came out.

"Five self-important fools want to do something big, to prove their worth to the Dark Lord," Snape said coldly. "They want to kill our One—the Savior."

Snape glanced toward the corner.

Harry and his friends didn't go back to the castle with the others; they were sitting with Sheron at the table on the other side of the Three Brooms.

"So, this has nothing to do with the mysterious man?" Mad-Eye frowned. "What else did they say?"

"Someone told them the time of Hogsmeade Day in advance," Snape said, turning his gaze away. "And Nymphadora Tonks' identity was also told to them by that same person."

"who's that person?"

"I don't know," Snape said. "They never saw each other's faces, but based on the descriptions, I'd guess it was Barty Crouch Jr.

On the other side of the three brooms, Harry and Ron were straining to eavesdrop on Snape's words.

Unfortunately, the distance was a bit far, so they could only hear the gist of it.

"I really should have bought a pair of retractable ears from Fred and George during the holidays," Ron sighed.

"Do you think Dumbledore wouldn't have discovered such a gadget?" Hermione said.

"Maybe he doesn't care at all, just like he is now," Ron said thoughtfully. "But how did Snape manage to do that? He's only been in there for a few minutes, and he's already gotten so much information out of me."

"Truth serum."

"What is it?"

“I said he used Truth Potion,” Hermione said. “If someone drinks that potion, they can only tell the truth. Slughorn showed us in the first Potions class. Have you forgotten already?”

"I, of course I haven't forgotten, I just can't remember for a moment," Ron argued, sticking his neck out.

"I bet Harry still remembers, doesn't he? After all, he's a potions genius," Hermione suddenly said.

Harry gave an awkward twitch of his lips. He sensed Hermione was about to bring up that book again, so he quickly changed the subject.

"Sirlen, what do you think is the purpose of these Death Eaters?"

No one answered him.

"Sirlen?" Harry called again, raising his voice.

Xilun then realized what was happening.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"So, are those Death Eaters here to kill us?" Harry asked again. "You seem a little distracted. Are you thinking about something?"

"I am indeed thinking about some things." Celen glanced down at the wand in his hand.

At this moment, Silvermane seemed to have eaten and drunk its fill. Even with Dumbledore, the walking magic powerhouse, right next to it, it remained quietly motionless in Siron's pocket.

"What are you thinking about?" Hermione asked. "Maybe we can give you some ideas."

"I can't say for sure—it's just a guess right now," Siron said after thinking for a moment, then turned to look at Harry.

"On the surface, they did come to kill us. A few dark wizards who had just joined the Death Eaters wanted to kill me, or you, the savior, to curry favor with Voldemort. But they were all caught and killed by the Aurors who were waiting in Hogsmeade beforehand."

"Wait, you mean openly?" Harry blinked and asked, "What does that mean? Do they have some other intention?"

“I think so,” Celen said. “Otherwise, it would be too illogical. If they wanted to find you, they should have gone to Honeydukes. Why would they send three brooms?”

"Maybe he was afraid of Mad-Eye Moody," Hermione said. "He was right next to Honeyduke, and I saw him."

"Maybe it's aimed at you," Ron said.

"But I was sitting right by the window," Celan said. "They could have easily broken the glass, why would they have gone through the front door?"

The three of them were slightly taken aback.

Yes, would Death Eaters care if they broke the store's windows?

"And most importantly, I'm sitting right here, so why would they go after the Aurors first?" Siren continued.

Although Tonks explained that they wanted to deal with the most threatening Aurors first, Siron didn't think so.

After all, Mad-Eye Moody and Professor Flitwick are also here, and when it comes to threats, they are far more powerful than Tonks.