Chapter 53: Chapter 53

He wanted to ask Dumbledore where he should sit, but Dumbledore had already disappeared into the crowd without a trace. He didn't even come and sit at the table.

Seeing the people around him sitting down one after another, Hoffa began to retreat a little. The sense of separation among the crowd made him more uncomfortable than the cold wind in Helheim.

However, an unexpected rescuer suddenly appeared.

Aglaia passed by him inadvertently, coughed a little, pointed to a location and said.

"Sit there."

She left after speaking.

Hoffa sat down silently, and ten minutes after he sat down, Aglaia and another senior girl came over talking and laughing, and sat beside her with a sky blue pleated dress.

She didn't appear to know Hoffa well. In fact, most of the time, Aglaia pretends that he doesn't exist. He never showed any signs of easing the relationship with him in front of anyone.

She has been chatting with the person next to her. Children in this era socialize just like children in later generations play with mobile phones, it is almost instinctive.

The subject of crowd chatter was a man named Albert Bute.

He was the Director of International Affairs at the Ministry of Magic, and Slughorn had invited him for Christmas. According to legend, the two were classmates at Hogwarts.

"I can't believe that Professor Slughorn can even invite Albert Boot."

A tall boy said: "My uncle invited him several times but failed. He is too busy."

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

"Yes." Aglaia 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 acting a bit recklessly."

"I don't quite agree."

People around expressed their opinions on the current affairs of the Ministry of Magic.

Hoffa doesn't believe in lip service politics, nor is he interested in the topics debated by the students around him.

He sat obediently next to Aglaia, without saying a word, digging at the tablecloth under the table with his fingers.

After a while, everyone around me started chatting.

Aglaia suddenly lowered his head and said in disdain: "Bout is a weak waste. His policies are nothing but compromises and protests."

Hoffa looked up in surprise, and Aglaia chatted with someone else again. The state switched so quickly that Hoffa was not sure if that sentence was his hallucination.

Suddenly, there was warm applause at the door.

The chubby Slughorn walked in leading a middle-aged wizard who was slightly bald.

The wizard looked a little embarrassed, but quite happy.

Slughorn pulled out a chair and said loudly, "Albert, sit here, I have prepared a small banquet for you tonight."

"Oh, you're so sweet, I'm exhausted coming from the Ministry..." said the middle-aged wizard.

The two kept holding hands, shoulder to shoulder. Many people around them greeted enthusiastically.

Albert Bout, Director of International Affairs, Ministry of Magic?

Hoffado glanced at the man, feeling a little sympathetic to him.

It is really not a good job to be the director of the Department of International Affairs in this era. During the war, these high-ranking officials may become the target of attack by public opinion at any time, what's more, it is normal for their lives to be lost.

During the Voldemort War in the later generations, two consecutive Ministers of Magic did not end well, and one of them was tortured to death, let alone these ordinary directors.

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

But Dumbledore still didn't show up.

Hoffa could see Miranda sitting next to Albert, the director of the International Affairs Department, chatting with him all the time, with the expression of a little girl.

Several boys approached Aglaia, and they all seemed to want to sit closer to this beautiful little girl. For this reason, they also looked at Hoffa with jealous and dissatisfied eyes.

In their eyes, Hoffa must be a servant who arrived here in advance and quickly occupied the favorable terrain.

Before eating, everyone began to pray.

Hoffa didn't know what to pray for at all. He followed the others with clasped hands and lips parted, making up the words.

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

"Who is this…….?"

A third-year boy with a big waist and a round waist asked, his face was full of dissatisfaction.

It was as if Hoffa had taken his place.

Hoffa hadn't spoken yet, not even Aglaia had time to speak.

"His name is Hoffa Bach. He is a master of transformation, haven't you heard of it?"

Unexpectedly, it was Tom Riddle who spoke for him. He leaned lazily on the chair, and said very gracefully: "If you haven't heard of him, you can only be regarded as ignorant."

Everyone around looked at each other in blank dismay.

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

Of course, no matter what Tom says, he's not yet the future Voldemort, he's just a minor character, like Hoffa.

At this time, the protagonists at the dinner table were Slughorn and Albert.

Hoffa didn't care what the people around him were talking about or what they thought of him, all he could do was eat in silence.

At first, Hoffa's focus was on food. On the one hand, he was really hungry, and on the other hand, the gossip others said had nothing to do with him, nor was he interested.

But after three rounds of drinking, the director of the International Affairs Department drank a little too much, under the influence of alcohol. He also talked more and more, and the topic became more and more sensitive to some sensitive areas.

Albert: "Horace, belch I work in the Department of International Affairs of the Ministry of Magic, and I know some more advanced information. I heard that Hogwarts captured two foreign wizards and locked them in the school. , Is this hiccup real?"

Albert's words aroused soft exclamations from the crowd, and Hoffa gave his hand a pause when he cut the steak.

Two foreign wizards, of course he knew. Those must be the two Schmidt Rutrov men captured by Dumbledore. Does the Ministry of Magic already know about this?

"Ah? There is such a thing." Slughorn laughed dryly, why hadn't I heard of it.

"Old friend, this is wrong," Albert took a sip of his wine and looked straight at the fat dean.

"Perhaps those foreign wizards are really vulgar and impolite. But when encountering such a thing, it is better to submit it to the Ministry of Magic as soon as possible."

"For this kind of thing, Abe, you should go to Principal Dippet. He..."

When Slughorn mentioned this, Albert was a little annoyed.

"Armando is very busy. Since he became the headmaster of Hogwarts in 1793, he has been busy every day! It is difficult for the Minister of Welfare to see him."

"I can understand, Albert."

Slughorn calmly poured him a drink.

Albert raised his head and downed the wine, hiccupped with a reddish face.

"All in all, the attitude and position of Hogwarts are not consistent with the current tone of the Ministry. Last time the Hogsmeade incident, the Minister of Welfare hoped to resolve it through negotiations."

When Slughorn heard that the topic was a little sensitive, he immediately smoothed things over.

"That's natural, President Dippet and our four colleges have always been very supportive of the work of the Ministry of Magic. You know, whether it's Hector Foley, or the former Lokan McClair, We are all……"

"Really?" Albert asked suspiciously:

"I heard that you have a teleportation array at the observatory, which is dedicated to transporting young wizards to some very sensitive areas. Such as Polynesia, Martinique, and Black Goland."

He swirled his glass.

"This will affect the peace of the wizarding world in all countries, Slughorn, you should advise Headmaster Dippet more."

"Haha, of course—hiccup."

Slughorn, distracted, turned his attention to Tom Riddle, who handed Riddle a plate with his rough fingers.

"A little more caviar, Tom, it's good for you."

Albert was still nagging.

But Hoffa began to feel a little uneasy.

He sits in the corner, scribbling circles on the ice cream with a fork expressionless.

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

Finally, Hoffa slowly put down the fork, and he knew where the uneasiness came from.

astronomy tower.

In Indo's letter to himself, he clearly told himself that the new teleportation array at Hogwarts was placed in the Astronomy Tower.

Now Albert mentioned the Astronomy Tower again.

He knew what the masked man was looking for.

In the snow, it blasted in the wrong place.

Now, it is looking for the correct location of the teleportation array.

Looking back, in Albert's boring political manifesto. The others around were listening absentmindedly, Slughorn was a little embarrassed, Miranda rested her cheeks on her palms, and Aglaia pursed her lips with a secretly disdainful expression.

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

Hoffa looked down, he began to struggle.

Painful tangle.

He didn't know if he should get involved in these things, it had nothing to do with him. But the murderous intent against him in the Forbidden Forest came to his mind again, and he thought of the internal response that Dumbledore said.

He wanted to tell all this to someone else, only to find that the guy couldn't even see Dumbledore, no one could see it except himself.

Damn it!

Gritting his teeth, Hoffa stood up slowly, and said softly to Aglaia:

"I'm going to the toilet."

Aglaia snorted.

Hoffa nodded apologetically to those around him, turned and left the table.

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

"Diesler Falconment."

With a soft spell, Hoffa's body disappeared into Slughorn's office, he slipped out of the office without a sound, and strode into the castle.

He is going to take a look at the Astronomy Tower.