Harry Potter: The Golden Viper

Mr. Parker, the Muggle contractor responsible for the construction of the orphanage, was known for his integrity and honesty. It was these very qualities that had earned him Bryan's trust and the right of overseeing the building project. The orphanage's building was simple, but the construction quality was undoubtedly outstanding.

Despite the building's sturdy structure, on bitterly cold nights like this one, even the thickest walls struggled to keep out the bone-chilling cold that seemed to seep in from every direction. With so many rooms housing the orphaned children, it was simply not feasible to have a fireplace in each one to ward off the cold air.

Hermione, accustomed to the continuously cozy and warm environment of the Hogwarts dormitories, found the transition to the orphanage quite hard to adapt. As soon as she took a seat on one of the simple wooden chairs, her body began to shudder involuntarily as the cold assaulted her from all sides. Her teeth chattered and a sudden, violent sneeze escaped her, echoing off the bare walls of the room.

"Achoo!"

Whoosh-

Sirius quickly came to help her. He waved his wand fiercely and a purple flame burst forth from its tip. The flickering fire swirled, rapidly combining into a sphere the size of a large washbasin that hovered between the beds, radiating heat in all directions.

The transformation of the space was instantaneous. The frigid, uncomfortable air gave way to a delightfully toasty warmth that enveloped them like a comforting embrace, perhaps even bordering on stuffiness.

Harry and Ron, unable to bear the increasing heat under their thick quilts any longer, hastily threw off the covers. Color gradually returned to their pale faces in the form of a noticeable flush.

"Oh Sirius, thank you so much. This is infinitely more pleasant," Hermione said gratefully, her previously hunched shoulders relaxing as the tension left her body. She gave an appreciative nod, but almost immediately, a look of concern darkened her face once more.

"What's going on, Remus?" Hermione asked nervously, "I thought the orphanage was protected by Professor Watson's magic. Surely the Fidelius Charm should be more than sufficient to keep everyone safe..."

"It's a pipe dream for Voldemort to try to break through a spell as advanced and powerful as the Fidelius Charm. If that wasn't the case, Dumbledore never would have used it to try to protect James and Lily all those years ago," Sirius said in a smooth, reassuring tone.

"But the problem is-" Remus nodded in agreement but continued somberly. "The charm only works if everyone stays put, remaining within the protected coverage of the orphanage. The moment even one person steps outside those boundaries... Well, I'm sure you realize that aside from Dumbledore, Bryan is one of the biggest threats to Voldemort's power. He'll stop at nothing to eliminate him as an obstacle. And if he can't get to Bryan directly, he'll target the people he cares about instead."

"You mean, Voldemort will kidnap those children-" Thinking of those innocent and pure smiling faces, Hermione turned pale and her heart wrenched.

Sirius' eyes flashed with hatred and disgust. "Absolutely, without a second thought. He'll dig into Bryan's life, identify anyone he has a connection to, and snatch them up to use as leverage against him. Back when Voldemort was at the height of his power, that was his go-to tactic for dealing with any witches or wizards who dared to confront him!"

"Then we have to warn Professor Watson!" Hermione bit her lip, looking both nervous and sad.

Remus gave a forced smile, "Bryan is an exceptionally shrewd and perceptive man. Anything we've managed to piece together, I'm certain he's already ten steps ahead on. The real question is, what's to be done about it?"

"Keeping all of the children here, within the protective bubble of the Fidelius Charm, is clearly the safest option," Sirius said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "However, getting that many Muggles to agree to stay cooped up indefinitely won't be easy. We're talking about over a hundred people, Hermione. It's not as if we can just come out and tell them the truth - that a deranged, murderous dark wizard has painted a target on their backs.

Doing so would be a blatant violation of the International Statute of Secrecy. But except for that, how can we realistically demand they put their lives on hold? Not to mention, the sudden, unexplained disappearance of so many Muggles would undoubtedly raise suspicions and spread panic in their community."

As Remus and Sirius spoke, their voices grew more hushed, their heads bent together in intense discussion as they dealt with the complexities of the situation. The three younger wizards looked on, feeling suddenly unnecessary - this was clearly a conversation for the adults in the room.

"Maintaining absolute secrecy is simply unrealistic at this point," Remus sighed, running a hand through his graying hair. "As you said, we found this place, which means there are bound to be others at the Ministry who are aware of its existence too.

The only way to guarantee the children's safety is to either convince them to stay voluntarily within the protective boundaries, which would require revealing more than the International Statute allows, or assign a group to guard the boundary and tail the children's every move. The Ministry doesn't have the manpower for an operation of that scale."

The International Statute of Secrecy-

Harry knew about this. He also deeply understood the necessity of this law's existence. Just look at the Dursleys' attitude towards magic and you'll know. If Muggles suddenly learned that there was still a group of people in this world who could do magic, it would undoubtedly cause a great deal of unrest.

And yet, if Voldemort had no worries about exposing their world, surely Dumbledore and Watson would rise above such petty authorities in order to protect the innocent.

If they were certain that these innocent children would be targeted by Voldemort, they might as well take them to Hogwarts. That place was absolutely safe.

"What are you talking about?"

Creak-

The door was pushed open with a creaking sound, and a somewhat fatigued-looking Bryan slowly walked in.

Working at an orphanage was like this. The children living here ranged from infants who couldn't even turn over to teenagers who had already entered high school. Working here was not like a normal job where you could get off work and go home after dark. You had to keep looking after these children until everyone had washed up and gone to bed before you could breathe a sigh of relief.

Perhaps it was the weariness between Bryan's eyebrows that moved Remus and Sirius. They didn't want to add to his troubles, so the two of them tacitly didn't tell the truth.

"Just talking about those kids-" Remus said with a smile. "They seem to have even more energy than the students at Hogwarts, Bryan. They are very well looked after."

"Indeed-" Bryan shook his head, his bottoms resting on the edge of a desk. "These little ones have simply too much energy... Let's not talk about that-"

Bryan pinched the bridge of his nose, then, his gaze returning to clarity swept over everyone's faces, finally focusing on Sirius' face, his tone calm. "By the way, what exactly did you run here for... Don't tell me it was just a whim, for fun?"

Silence fell for a moment. Sirius, Remus, Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances, hesitating over who should ask the question.

"It's like this, Bryan-" Finally, Remus' hoarse voice sounded out. "Sirius went to Hogwarts yesterday to take Harry, Ron, and Hermione to Grimmauld Place for the Christmas holiday. Then, the few of us talked about some things... about the Dark Mark that appeared at the stadium on the night of the Quidditch final this summer, and about Hermione becoming a champion. Harry and the others have some clues, and at the same time, they also have some guesses-"

Then, Remus told all the things they had talked about, one by one, item by item. Hermione's gaze as she watched Professor Watson was a bit nervous, because Professor Watson had almost indicated to them not to pay too much attention to the matter of Barty Crouch, yet they had treated his order as empty words.

And all along, Bryan's expression remained calm, including when he heard that Hermione and the others had already guessed that the empty seat beside Ludo Bagman that night might have been concealing a Death Eater, and that there might be Death Eaters infiltrating Hogwarts now. His expression never changed.

Finally, Remus had said all the information they had. Everyone's gaze was locked tightly on Bryan. Harry, who was sleeping on the upper bunk above Ron, had half his body sticking out of the railing, hoping to discover some clues from Professor Watson's expression.

"Bryan, what exactly is going on with Barty Crouch-"

As Remus' voice fell, Bryan, who had been expressionless, showed a faint smile. But the first person he looked at was the apprehensive Hermione, because he knew that most of the information Remus had just said came from this clever girl's speculations.

"The only thing I can tell you is-" When Bryan began to speak, everyone subconsciously held their breath. His gentle voice seemed to have a strange magic that soothed the fear and unease in their hearts about the future that was gradually being shrouded in shadows.

"Everything is as expected, everything is going according to plan..."

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