Not a very strong smell of low-quality alcohol.

Mixed with the stench of rotten food, decaying soil, and even goat dung and sheep odor.

"The secret passage ends at the sheepfold?" Snape sneered.

Harry realized where he was and without saying anything, he raised his hand and poked Dumbledore, motioning him to turn around.

Dumbledore looked.

Behind them, what was pushed open was not a door or a window, but a painting that was shaking slightly. On it was a girl with a faint smile.

"Ariana." He whispered the name of the girl in the portrait.

Snape's expression changed slightly and he pursed his lips tightly.

He had heard of the name.

"The end of the secret passage to the Room of Requirement is actually the Hog's Head?" Dumbledore could hardly take his eyes off the portrait. He walked to the portrait, raised his hand, and carefully placed it on the frame. "Harry, you should have been gentler just now."

"Sorry." Harry said obediently.

"Aberforth shouldn't have put her here." Dumbledore touched the frame hard. "It's too dangerous here."

The remaining two people remained silent, listening to Dumbledore's complaints.

The people in the room were finally woken up.

He came out holding a dim oil lamp.

"Thief? Mundungus?" The voice was a little hoarse after he just woke up, and his footsteps sounded heavy and hurried.

Aberforth walked out and saw the only thing he cared about, the painting, with three people standing next to it. His voice became furious: "Get away from that painting, you three dirty..."

He didn't finish his words.

The conversation stopped abruptly when he realized who these three people were.

Harry Potter, who I met once and occasionally came to the Hog's Head for a drink.

That nasty Severus Snape.

as well as……

Albus Dumbledore, my brother, whom I haven't seen or even written to for decades.

"Rare guests." Aberforth looked at them for a long time before opening his mouth with difficulty. "I am really honored that three famous people did not go to the Three Broomsticks but came to my place."

"But I'm sorry..."

"It's not our store's business hours now."

"You are not welcome here."

Dumbledore lowered his head and said nothing.

Snape frowned slightly.

Harry answered him, "We're not here to drink."

"In fact, we just found a secret passage in Hogwarts. It just so happens that the exit of the secret passage is at the Hog's Head."

Aberforth nodded: "I see."

"I was just wondering how the greatest White Wizard, Chief Wizard of the Wizengamot, and the busy Headmaster of Hogwarts, could find the time to come and see me? Even though the timing is very inopportune."

Dumbledore turned his head away and said nothing.

"Has anyone come out of this secret passage in the past few days?" Harry asked him.

Aberforth shook his head: "You are the first group I have seen. In fact, it was the first time I knew there was a secret passage here."

"I've never seen anyone come out of here before."

Harry said nothing, waved his wand, carefully took down the portrait and placed it on the bar counter beside him.

Behind the portrait is a mirror.

"This mirror has been there since I bought this shop," Aberforth explained. "It seems to have been cast with a permanent sticky spell, so it can't be removed. I'm too lazy to redecorate it, and the view is good, so I hung Ariana's portrait there."

Harry pointed at the mirror and chanted the spell.

"Show yourself quickly!"

But the mirror did not respond and just hung quietly on the wall.

Dumbledore and Snape also came over and examined the mirror in their own way.

Harry even walked back and forth in front of the mirror three times with the thought, "I need a secret passage to Hogwarts" - after all, the secret passage was part of the "Room of Requirement", and the mirror, as an exit, should also be an extension of the Room of Requirement, but still nothing happened.

Neither spells nor thoughts can serve as keys to open the secret passage.

No matter how they tested the mirror, they couldn't find any clues to open the secret passage.

Aberforth did not participate in the decryption. He kept complaining about the three of them ruining his good dream, but he still prepared water for them.

"It seems that we have to temporarily conclude that there is no way to open the secret passage to Hogwarts from the outside." Harry held the cup and watched Snape open the door. A fresh breeze blew in, and the dull air lingering in his head was blown away. "This is good news. We don't have to worry about him coming in through this secret passage."

Dumbledore took a small sip. The bland water made him feel uncomfortable. Just as he was about to take out his wand and add sticky honey to it, he turned his head to look at Aberforth and stopped himself from thinking: "After I go back, I will block the remaining secret passages."

"Will Crouch's accomplice return to Hogwarts?" Snape shook the glass, and the ice cubes hit the wall of the glass, making a tinkling sound.

Harry shook his head. "Not sure, but very likely."

He paused and summarized the information he had obtained during this period.

"Crouch said Voldemort still has two Horcruxes. This is unbelievable. Maybe he has more."

"The Ravenclaw diadem is in the hands of the Wild Hunt, and we can't trust it completely."

"But there is no doubt that... Voldemort will be resurrected once more."

"And I'm afraid Voldemort this time won't be as easy to deal with as before."

Voldemort was very powerful, undoubtedly very powerful. At his peak, his most powerful period, his magical abilities were even slightly stronger than Dumbledore's.

At least not weaker than Dumbledore at that time.

Harry never faced Voldemort at his most powerful.

The first year was a remnant soul, the second year was a Horcrux that had not yet been fully resurrected, and the fourth year was even a weak soul. When Voldemort was resurrected last year, he was not in his full state. He had just been resurrected, with a smart brain that had just graduated from Hogwarts, but without the combat experience, magical knowledge, and magical power of his victorious period.

That time at Malfoy Manor.

Voldemort merely supplemented his combat experience and magical knowledge.

Magic power is also crucial when wizards fight.

But this time it's completely different.

Voldemort and the Wild Hunts are in cahoots with each other. Their combat experience, magical knowledge, and magic power...all of these can be replenished, and they may even become stronger.

Dumbledore was also aware of this and nodded slightly: "So we have to find Crouch's accomplice as soon as possible."

"Albus, I know." Snape clenched the cup. "I will try my best to make Crouch believe me."

Fluttering for a while——

Harry raised his head and looked in the direction of the sound. It was two owls flying in from outside the bar on the cold wind. They landed at the door, shook off the snow on their bodies, then approached obediently and stretched out their claws.

It’s faith.

Two letters from the Ministry of Magic.