Chapter 53

He wanted to ask Dumbledore where he should sit, but Dumbledore had already disappeared in the crowd. He didn't even come and sit at the table.

Seeing the people sitting around him one after another, Hoffa began to retreat. The sense of separation in the crowd made him feel worse than the cold wind of herheim.

However, unexpected rescuers suddenly appeared.

Agraia accidentally passed him, coughed a little, pointed to a position and said.

"Sit there."

Then she left.

Hoffa sat down in silence. Ten minutes after sitting down, aglia and another senior girl came over and sat down next to him with a sky blue Pleated Dress.

She didn't show any familiarity with Hoffa. In fact, most of the time, agraia pretends that he doesn't exist. He never showed signs of easing his relationship in front of anyone.

She has been chatting with the people next to her. Children's social interaction in this era is almost instinctive, just like children playing with mobile phones in later generations.

The conversation was about a man named Albert bout.

He's the director of international affairs at the Ministry of magic. He's Slughorn's Christmas guest. It is said that the two were classmates in the period of Hogwarts.

"I can't believe Professor Slughorn even invited Albert bout."

A tall boy said, "my uncle asked him several times, but he didn't come. He was too busy."

Miranda across the table said with a smile, "Bute? I've heard of him. He's a good politician and a famous pacifist. "

"Yes." Agraia replied with a smile.

"I heard that he is preparing to sign a peace agreement with Germany. I don't know if it is true."

"I think the Ministry of magic is a bit rash..."

"I don't quite agree with..."

people around expressed their views on the current affairs of the Ministry of magic.

Hoffa didn't believe in the politics of slapstick and didn't have much interest in the topics around him.

He sat down by aglea's side, without saying a word, picking at the tablecloth under the table with his fingers.

After a while, I saw everyone around me chatting.

Agraia suddenly bowed his head and said, "Bute is a weak waste. His policy is nothing but compromise and protest."

Hoffa looked up in surprise, and agraia began to talk to others again. The speed of state switching made Hoffa not sure whether that sentence was his own illusion.

Suddenly, there was warm applause from the door.

The chubby Slughorn came in with a middle-aged wizard who was slightly bald.

The wizard looked a little cramped, but he was quite happy.

Slugholla opened a chair and said in a loud voice, "Albert, sit here. I've got a special party for you tonight."

"Oh, you're so sweet. I'm tired of coming from the Ministry..." Said the middle-aged wizard.

They have been holding hands, shoulder to shoulder. Many people around them are warmly greeting.

Albert bout, director of international affairs, Ministry of magic?

Hoffa took one more look at the man and felt sorry for him.

It's really not a good job to be director of the Department of international affairs in this era. During the war, these high-ranking officials may become the targets of public opinion at any time. What's more, it's normal for them to lose their lives.

During the Voldemort war, two successive ministers of the Ministry of magic did not come to a good end. One of them was tortured to death, not to mention these ordinary directors.

Not long after he sat down, the table was full.

But Dumbledore still didn't show up.

Hoffa can see Miranda sitting next to Albert, director of the Department of international affairs, chatting with him all the time, with the expression of a little fan.

There are several boys coming to aglea's side. They all seem to want to sit closer to this beautiful girl. For this reason, they also looked at Hoffa with jealousy and discontent.

In their eyes, Hoffa must be a courtier who arrived here ahead of time and quickly occupied the favorable terrain.

Before dinner, people began to pray.

Hoffa didn't know what to pray for. He followed the others with his hands together and his lips open and close.

As soon as Slughorn finished his prayer, someone questioned Hoffa's identity.

"This is .？”

Asked a third grader with a big arm and a round waist, his face full of discontent.

It's like Hoffa took his place.

Hoffa hasn't spoken, and even agraia hasn't come to speak.

"His name is Hoffa Bach. Haven't you heard of a deformation master? "

Unexpectedly, it was Tom Riddell who helped him speak. He leaned lazily in his chair and said very gracefully, "you've never heard of him. You're just ignorant."Everyone around looked at each other.

Hoffa was embarrassed. To be honest, he would rather be forgotten than remembered by Voldemort.

Of course, no matter what Tom says, he's not Voldemort in the future. Now he's just a small role that nobody cares about, just like Hoffa.

At this time, the protagonists on the table are Slughorn and Albert.

Hoffa doesn't care what people around him are talking about or what they think of him. All he can do is eat in silence.

In the beginning, Hoffa focused on food. On the one hand, he was really hungry, and on the other hand, he was not interested in the news.

But after three rounds of drinking, the director of the Department of international affairs drank a little too much, because of the effect of alcohol. His words are more and more, and the topic is more and more inclined to some sensitive areas.

Albert: "Horace, burp... I work in the International Affairs Department of the Ministry of magic, and I know some more advanced information. I heard that Hogwarts caught two foreign wizards and locked them in school. Is this... Burp... True?"

Albert's words caused a quiet exclamation, Hoffa cut steak hand meal.

Two foreign witches, of course he knows. It must be the two Schmidt lutrov's men Dumbledore has captured. Does the ministry already know about this?

"Ah? There's this... "Slughorn grinned. I haven't heard of it.

"It's not right, old friend," Albert took a sip and looked straight at the fat Dean.

"Maybe those foreign witches are a little vulgar and not polite. But in this case, it's better to submit it to the Ministry of magic as soon as possible. "

"For this kind of thing, Abe, you should go to headmaster dipper. He... "

When Slughorn talked about this, Albert was a little annoyed.

"Armando is very busy. He has been very busy every day since he became headmaster of Hogwarts in 1793! It's hard for the welfare minister to see him. "

"I understand, Abe."

Slughorn poured him a glass of wine in peace.

Albert looked up and poured the wine down, his face flushed with a hiccup.

"All in all, Hogwarts' attitude and position are not in line with the tone of the Ministry. In the last Hogsmeade incident, the welfare minister hoped to solve it through negotiation. "

As soon as Slughorn heard that the topic was a little sensitive, he immediately got round.

"That's natural, President dipert and our four colleges. He has always been very supportive of the work of the Ministry of magic. You know, whether Hector Foley or rocan mclard, we are all... "

"Is it?" Albert asked suspiciously:

"but I heard that you have a transmission array at the observatory, which is dedicated to transporting young witches to some very sensitive areas. Like Polynesia, Martinique, the black Golan. "

He shook his glass.

"This will affect the peace of the witch world of all countries, Slughorn. You have to give more advice to headmaster dipert."

"Ha ha, of course - belch."

Slughorn was a little absent-minded, and his attention turned to Tom Riddle, who handed riddle a plate with his coarse fingers.

"More caviar, Tom, will do you good."

Albert is still nagging.

But Hoffa began to feel uneasy.

He sat in the corner, drawing circles on the ice cream with his fork.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong.

Finally, Hoffa slowly lowered his fork. He knew where the uneasiness came from.

Astronomical tower.

In his letter to himself, ENDOR clearly told himself that the new transmission array of Hogwarts was placed in the astronomical tower.

Now Albert mentioned the tower.

He knew what the masked man was looking for.

In the snow, it blew up in the wrong place.

Now, it's looking for the correct location of the array.

Look around, in Albert's boring political manifesto. The rest of the crowd listened absentmindedly. Slughorn was embarrassed. Miranda had her hands on her cheeks, and agraia had her mouth curled, with a look of disdain.

Tom Riddle was playing with his fork on the table, listening to Albert with great interest.

Hoffa lowered his head, and he began to struggle.

The tangle of pain.

He didn't know whether he should be involved in these things, which had nothing to do with himself. But the murders in the forbidden forest came to his mind again, and he thought of the insider in Dumbledore's mouth.

He wanted to tell others all this, but found that the guy couldn't see Dumbledore. No one could see it except himself.

Damn it!

Gritting his teeth, Hoffa slowly stood up and said to agraia in a low voice:"I'll go to the bathroom."

Agraia murmured.

Hoffa nodded apologetically and turned away from the table.

As soon as he went out, he took out his wand from his waist and knocked it on his arm.

"Dessler Falcon gate."

With the whisper of the spell, Hoffa's body disappeared in Slughorn's office. He quietly slipped out of the office and strode in the castle.

He's going to the tower.