After dinner, the parents talked to their children.

"They want us to be obedient, you know, stay in school and deal with boring textbooks," Ron described Mr. Weasley's mentality, "It seems that the war is over in a blink of an eye, and we didn't even react."

Back on the third floor, they exchanged information.

Harry was depressed, and he said puzzledly: "Why don't they understand? Of course I won't sneak out of school, but the necessary preparations must be made, right? The next time Voldemort comes to me."

He touched the scar on his forehead. Although he was reluctant, he seemed to be connected with Voldemort in the dark, not just the scar, but more emotionally... They hated each other and wished that the other would disappear in the next second.

"It's to find us. I don't think I will live well under his rule," Hermione said, sitting on another bed, "That's the problem. It's obvious that they want to exclude us from the war and stay away from Voldemort." She stuttered.

"He always takes the initiative to find me!" Harry said loudly.

Pah, pah, two sharp explosions echoed in the old room, and Ron's two brothers Fred and George suddenly appeared on the bed where Harry was sitting, rolling around with Harry.

"Ouch,"

Harry sat up, holding his forehead. His scar hurt badly, but he was sure it was not because of Voldemort this time. "Why are you here?" He said with a grin.

"Come to see you, poor people wandering in misery," George said in an aria voice.

Fred did the same thing as Harry, holding his forehead and groaning in pain. Unfortunately, he bumped into Harry.

Fred muttered, "George and I made a bet, guessing which lucky guy would pounce... I should have taken some precautions earlier. Harry, help me see, there are no strange marks on my head, right?"

"If you mean a lightning-shaped scar, there is indeed none." Harry said without thinking, "Except for a swelling lump, I can't see anything."

"I have to trouble Tonks again." Fred sighed.

"Why?" Ron, who had just come to his senses, asked.

"She has a cheerful personality"

"Confused"

"She can get along with anyone"

"The key is that she has a special medicine, which is only for Aurors." Fred and George said in unison.

Harry stared at them blankly, and for a moment he seemed to have forgotten the serious topic before, but Fred and George became serious.

"Don't blame Ginny, Harry," said Fred, "You are training too crazy, even we are a little shocked, and in fact, we stay in Diagon Alley most of the day. Ginny sees it every day, and she is very worried about you."

"I don't blame her." Harry shook his head and said.

"That's good." Fred and George breathed a sigh of relief. They looked at each other, and Fred handed a long flesh-colored string to Harry, Ron and Hermione from his pocket.

"What is this?" Harry asked, fiddling with the string in his hand.

"Wow, I've wanted this for a long time." Ron said, taking it impatiently. "This thing is a retractable ear. It can help you eavesdrop on other people's conversations without attracting much attention... I especially want to know what Snape is doing, he's so secretive, coming and going in a hurry..."

Harry was very excited after hearing this.

Hermione hesitated whether to take it or not. At this time, Ron began to demonstrate the effect. He put one end of the retractable ear into his ear, and the other end squirmed like a worm, twisting and turning to get out from under the door.

"Well, I heard some noises... There's a corridor outside, there won't be any movement now, unless we get lucky..."

He suddenly screamed, and Harry heard a very distinctive cat howl from Ron's ear and outside the door.

Hermione jumped up and opened the door, letting Crookshanks in, with the other end of the retractable ear in his mouth. "Let go, Crookshanks, that's not for eating." At the same time, he took the retractable ear from George's hand, "I think it will be useful at the right time." She said with a smile.

...

"I'm worried that the experience a month ago is still affecting them." Sirius frowned.

"We can't pretend that nothing happened," Felix said calmly, "They were besieged by hundreds of Death Eaters. Not everyone can bear that scene, not to mention witnessing their companions being tortured... I don't think they want to experience this feeling of powerlessness a second time."

"I didn't even dare to ask what it felt like to be under the Cruciatus Curse. I can only pretend that nothing happened," Mrs. Weasley covered her mouth with tears in her eyes, "I had nightmares for several days... I always dreamed of Gideon and Fabian, and their faces turned into Ron and Harry..."

Mr. Weasley hugged his wife and patted her shoulders comfortingly.

Sirius and Felix looked at each other and tacitly did not discuss the bait plan on this occasion.

In a blink of an eye, it was the last day of July.

"Happy birthday."

When Harry opened the door and saw Neville standing at the door holding a gift box, he said.

"Thanks, Neville," Harry yawned, pulling Neville into the house, where Ron was dazedly pulling a sleeve up his leg.

"Why did they schedule the investiture ceremony today?" Neville said regretfully.

"It's a good thing, actually," Harry said. He felt strange watching everyone busy preparing for his birthday, and he didn't know how to react.

They got dressed and started opening their presents.

"A wand sheath, great, Neville," Harry said happily.

"I'm glad you like it," Neville said, "I like your gift too," and then said nervously, "You're not trying to comfort me, are you?"

"Of course not," Harry assured him.

Yesterday was Neville's birthday, and Neville had been worried that the plan for the dueling study group would be cancelled in the new semester, so Harry made an invitation card for the dueling study group based on the style of the Hogwarts freshman acceptance letter. Hermione was also very interested in this, and she cast a spell on it so that

when someone opened it, they would hear a very majestic voice speaking.

"You are the chosen one, are you ready for the challenge?"

Neville thought it was very cool.

Sirius gave a three-dimensional book about Quidditch. Every time a page was turned, a three-dimensional Quidditch field would be formed, with a dozen imaginary little people flying in the air, recreating some classic game scenes.

"From this perspective, Lynch is no match for Krum." Ron said, staring at the scene on one of the pages. It was a scene from the Quidditch World Cup final last year, when Krum used the Wronsky feint twice to deceive his opponent.

Lupin hadn't arrived yet, and Harry guessed that he was now staying in a new werewolf community, but he still asked Tonks to send him a birthday present, which was a handmade bone bracelet. Harry prayed in his heart that the bracelet was not made of local materials and werewolf teeth.

The gift from Hermione was a piece of enchanted parchment, on which flashed the names of various spells that Harry had already mastered. Looking at the full page of lists, a sense of accomplishment arose spontaneously.

At this moment, the door was pushed open from the outside, and Bill poked his head out from the crack in the door.

"Breakfast is ready. We have to hurry. The investiture ceremony starts at ten o'clock. It's best to get to the Ministry of Magic early..."

They followed Bill downstairs. Harry saw two strangers at the dining table. One was a witch with black hair and rosy cheeks, and the other was a short man wearing a violet top hat, the same color as Tonks' hair today.

"Heste Jones and Dedalus Diggle." Mr. Weasley introduced them at the dining table.

The two looked at Harry curiously. Dedalus Diggle exaggeratedly took off his hat in a non-standard way. "Hello, nice to meet you again."

Harry looked at him in confusion, without any impression in his mind.

"Before you entered school, you were with Hagrid in the Leaky Cauldron," Dedalus further reminded, "and I shook your hand."

So that's it, Harry thought. He remembered that there was indeed a wizard who was as excited as Quirrell at that time.

"Hello, Harry," said the witch named Heste Jones, "We are your guards today."

"Guard?" Harry spat out the bread in his mouth.

"Don't worry, this is normal procedure." The witch said with a smile.

Hermione was talking to Tonks on the side. "No, I don't plan to let them know. I'll wait for a chance later."

Breakfast was smoked meat, baked potatoes, bread slices and vegetable soup. After breakfast, everyone went out from the main entrance of No. 12 Grimmauld Place in batches. "You can't use the fireplace. It's too conspicuous." Felix said, "Stand with me, Harry."

Harry felt that the atmosphere was getting weirder and weirder.

"Professor?"

"Wait until the ceremony is over." Felix shook his head.

When the group entered the Ministry of Magic through the red telephone booth, many staff members saluted them silently. But soon a team of Aurors came towards them and escorted them in the middle, all the way to a large conference room.

Harry felt like a prisoner in strict custody, being transferred from one place to another. Judging from the uncomfortable expressions of Ron and Hermione, they seemed to have the same feeling.

The room was dark and full of people. The atmosphere was solemn and solemn, which reminded Harry of the scene he saw in the Pensieve. There were almost the same number of people when Crouch Jr. was tried. His heart was pounding.

He heard Ron and Hermione gasp.

"We're going to sit in the front," Felix said, his hand on Harry's shoulder, and he led them to the row of seats on the podium.

In the corner, dense flashes of light came on. Harry squinted and saw the figure of Rita Skeeter, who was dressed strangely, from the audience. She was biting a conspicuous feather pen in her mouth and staring at them intently.

"Take a picture! This will be on the headlines," she said.

There was a lot of discussion in the conference room, and Harry felt like a monkey in a zoo, surrounded by an inexplicable crowd.

"They are members of the Wizengamot." Felix whispered aside.

"Okay, let's get started." Ms. Bones said loudly, "Dear guests, we will experience a special awarding ceremony today. In the current situation, unity and faith are more important than ever..."

Ms. Bones became wordy after becoming a minister... This was Felix's idea. He stared at Ms. Bones who was talking nonstop, and had to admit that this approach was necessary, at least it could stabilize people's hearts.

"...establish confidence and courage...we already have a role model...show a strong will...no need to be afraid or daunted...the seeds of victory..."

The flashes in the audience seemed to be connected, making people dizzy. It was not until noon that the whole ceremony was declared over.

"I got the Order of Merlin?" Ron said in disbelief, looking at the medal in his hand again and again.

Felix also looked at his gold medal. It was similar to the last time, but the purple ribbon was replaced by green, indicating that the medal in his hand was first-class.

Then Ms. Bones took them to the Minister of Magic's office and closed the curtains.

Dumbledore also came in. Harry couldn't wait to ask clearly, but Bones stopped him, "Wait until everyone is here." They waited anxiously, and one minute seemed to be stretched ten times longer. Harry even suspected that he was in the professor's thinking room. Finally, Kingsley and Sirius walked in carefully from the side door of the office.

Sirius made a smooth gesture, "No one noticed."

At this time, Ms. Bones spoke and described the entire action plan

. "Bait?" The three shouted in unison.

"Yes, the Death Eaters have been silent. I think it is necessary to test them once. This award ceremony is a good opportunity for them. They can't catch anyone at ordinary times, and it will be even more difficult when you start school." Ms. Bones said.

"What do you need us to do?" Harry asked.

Sirius made way. Three cups of bubbling Polyjuice Potion were placed on the table.

"It's simple. We will go out for a walk in front of your faces."

"What about us?" Harry asked. Ron and Hermione also stared at the adults.

"Stay here until it's over." Sirius said expressionlessly.

It took some time to convince Harry, but fortunately it succeeded. Kingsley, Sirius and Bones took the Polyjuice Potion mixed with their hair and hid in a small cubicle. After a while, suppressed groans of pain came from inside. When all the sounds died down, they stumbled out of the cubicle.

Harry, Ron and Hermione stared at their "selves" across from them, moving their hands and feet, adapting to their new bodies with amazement. The weird feeling in their hearts was indescribable, a hundred times weirder than the time they disguised themselves as Crabbe and Goyle in their second year.

"Harry" kept taking off his glasses and putting them on again, muttering, "How weird."

"Stop playing around, Sirius." 'Hermione' said, she turned to the real Harry, Ron and Hermione and said, "Your family members have also been replaced, they are all pretended by Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix."

Sirius, who was disguised as Harry, said, "A group of us pretended to go to the Burrow to celebrate his birthday. Mr. Weasley wanted to try the Muggle mode of transportation, so he rented two cars..."

The freckled 'Ron' was silent. He was pretending to be Kingsley.

"Then what about Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Happ..." Harry blinked and asked slowly.

"Ah, I will show up in Diagon Alley and pretend to use the public fireplace to return to school... Actually, I will come back quietly and hide." Dumbledore said with interest, "I haven't experienced this for a long time."

The real Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at Felix again.

Felix shrugged, "I'll stay here and not go anywhere. Someone has to watch you." He pointed to the blazing fireplace, "If a fight breaks out, I'll leave through the fireplace and rush to the battlefield."

"Well, we've been delayed for a while. If we stay any longer, the Death Eaters might get suspicious." 'Hermione' said majestically. "Let's go. The most dangerous part of this plan is that we have to rely on ourselves to block the first wave of attacks from the You-Know-Who. Fortunately, we have made preparations in advance."

The real Hermione looked at the other 'self' giving orders and couldn't help but be dazed for a while. Soon, they left the room separately. Harry heard Dumbledore standing at the door of the office and said gently: "Ms. Burns, I'll go back to school first. There are still a lot of things waiting to be dealt with."

He paused for a few seconds, nodded slightly, pretended that there was someone inside, and closed the door from the outside.

"Sit down for a while." Felix said to the three of them. He sat on the sofa and fiddled with a coin on his fingertips.

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other and hesitated to sit opposite Felix.

"Professor," Hermione asked softly, "will the plan succeed?"

"That depends on how you define it. It's like playing chess, we place a piece and wait for the other side's reaction." Felix said, "But this is indeed an opportunity. With such a high-profile move on our side, the Death Eaters will surely get the news, and you" he glanced at Harry, "or you guys" his eyes swept over Ron and Hermione again, "have embarrassed Voldemort and messed up the return ceremony. He will definitely be happy to get rid of you."

"On the contrary, if the Death Eaters had never shown up, it would be troublesome."

"Why do you say that?" Hermione asked.

"It means that Voldemort has his own secret plan, and none of us knows about it, including the Death Eaters." Felix said softly.