Hogwarts Raven's Claw

Chapter 248 Christmas
After finishing the matter of inviting the Weasley brothers, Mike left the Gryffindor common room.

Mike was not surprised by the reaction of the Weasley brothers. After spending the past few years together, he knew the two brothers' personalities very well. Faced with something like this with huge benefits and small risks, there was no way they would not agree.

On the other side, Mike expected Soraka to succeed as well, because the Freemasons had what she needed most.

Gold Galleon.

According to the loan usage report submitted by Penelope later, the 100 gold galleons that Soraka borrowed were turned into various corpses for dissection in just one month, including some rare species, such as the Scottish leprechaun.

This shows how obsessed Soraka is with disemboweling creatures.

For such a person, it was impossible for her to refuse such an invitation.

Of course, Mike couldn't provide her with unlimited gold galleons without reason. If she wanted to get it, she had to pay for it.

All she had to give was her superb medical skills and potion preparation techniques.

It must be said that after several consecutive personal experiments, Mike found that Soraka's medical skills were truly top-notch, and her technology in configuring medical potions was also very good. Such a talent was exactly what they urgently needed now.

After sorting out these things in his mind, Mike called Beta, who had recovered, and asked him to use Apparition to take him back to the Dolphin Factory.

Tomorrow is Christmas, and he is very busy today.

Not only does he need to go to the Dolphin Magic Drink Factory to host the opening of the Christmas dinner, but he also needs to return to Hogwarts before the dinner starts.

Fortunately, Mike didn't need to prepare everyone's Christmas gifts himself. The two house-elves, Shuke and Beta, had already prepared everything according to Mike's instructions.

Otherwise, given the number of friends Mike currently has, it would take several days just to prepare the gifts.

It is called a Christmas dinner, but in essence it is just a large group of people getting together to have a big meal.

This was true whether it was the dinner at the Dolphin Magic Drink Factory or the dinner at Hogwarts. The only difference between the two was that Mike gave gifts to every employee at the dinner at the Dolphin Magic Drink Factory.

Ten gold Galleons.

This amount was not much for those employees who had been working in the factory for a long time, but it still made them very happy. After all, there was no concept of year-end bonus in the wizarding world, so they regarded these ten Galleons as a real Christmas gift.

Thinking of this, the group of people became much happier, and they all relaxed a lot even in front of Mike.

Speaking of gifts, after this wonderful night, our Harry also received his gift.

In the early morning, the golden sunlight shines through the icy glass windows and makes people feel warm.

Harry yawned, scratched his hair sleepily, making it even more messy, and came to the restaurant with a messy hair.

He and George, Fred and the others played until very late last night. For some reason, Ron's two older brothers didn't even come home for Christmas.

While thinking, Harry had already arrived at the restaurant and sat down.

As soon as I sat down, two steaming sausages appeared on the empty plate in front of me, and a full basket of bread appeared in the basket next to me.

Harry grabbed a piece of bread, tore it open, wrapped it around a sausage and started chewing it.

He planned to go to Hagrid's hut after breakfast. Harry noticed that he had been secretly wiping away tears at the Christmas dinner yesterday, and he didn't know what had happened.

Every day at breakfast time, owl messengers deliver letters. It’s so pitiful that these hardworking little animals can’t even stop on Christmas.

Harry mourned for the owl and moved his plate to the side to avoid a feces bomb thrown by an owl. He also ate faster.

According to past experience, more 'bombs' will soon fall here, and he must end the battle quickly.

Just as he was wolfing down his food, two owls came up to him, holding a long package.

Harry was a little surprised, his social circle was not large, basically consisting of classmates and teachers from Hogwarts.

If these people wanted to give him Christmas presents, they would secretly put them in his dormitory last night via the house-elves.

'So... who could it be? Uncle Vernon and the others?'

Harry shook his head quickly when he thought of this, denying this guess.

His uncle's family hated him so much, how could they possibly give him a gift?

Harry, who really couldn't guess the answer, took the package and was stunned after opening the tightly wrapped package.

I saw a broom lying quietly in a huge long paper box.

Harry was very familiar with this broom. He and Ron once stared at it for a whole afternoon in Diagon Alley!
Firebolt!
Harry still remembered its name.

The brooms used in the English Quidditch League are custom-made!

Harry couldn't believe his eyes.

At this time, the students next to him also noticed the situation on Harry's side and gathered around him.

Suddenly the restaurant became bustling with activity. The Firebolt was a flying broom that could make all the boys excited. Its performance far exceeded the mass-produced Nimbus 2001, so its price was quite touching. No one in the entire Hogwarts owned one.

Everyone gathered around Harry, wanting to take a closer look at this legendary flying broom. Of course, it would be even better if they could touch it.

At this moment, Harry suddenly noticed that Fudge, the Minister of Magic, whom he had met before school started, appeared in the restaurant, and beside him stood Snape and several Aurors.

The two of them sat in a seat in the corner, chatting and laughing. Snape warmly invited the Minister to taste the Hogwarts breakfast, and the Minister unceremoniously picked up a sausage and started to evaluate it.

The breakfast at Hogwarts was not delicious at all, but the Minister enjoyed the meal very much and gave Snape a thumbs up repeatedly.

The two of them ate and talked and laughed, while the attention of the rest of the people in the restaurant was on Harry's Firebolt.

Harry didn't take it to heart. Perhaps the Minister just came to Hogwarts on a whim to check the students' meals?

Anyway, that's how the primary school he attends does it, and the food will be better every time a leader comes to inspect.

But when Harry was about to leave the restaurant with the Firebolt, he discovered something strange: there were many more Aurors in uniform in Hogwarts!
……

It was already afternoon when Mike received the news. There was nothing he could do about it as he had been with Professor Flitwick and the others until midnight last night.

As soon as he got the news, he thought of Blake and contacted Shuke who was staying with Blake. After receiving no reply, Mike's heart sank. Beta was sent to the factory by him to deal with the workers' holiday, and he couldn't take Mike to the Screaming Shack at the moment.

In desperation, Mike came to Lupin's office.

"Professor Lupin, what's going on with the Minister and those Aurors?"

"Oh, they are here to search for Sirius Black." Lupin looked a little depressed at the moment, but when he saw Mike coming in, he still managed a smile and said, "By the way, I received your Christmas present, I like it very much!"

After saying that, he took out the fizzy bee candy that Mike gave him from the drawer, took one and put it in his mouth.

Mike had no interest in discussing Christmas gifts with him. His eyebrows were completely furrowed, and he asked:

"Black is not in Hogwarts, why would they come to Hogwarts to look for Black?"

"I heard that Fudge thought that the reason Black was able to break into Hogwarts without being discovered by the Dementors was because he knew some unknown secret passages. So he planned to send people to thoroughly investigate those secret passages."

Hearing this, Mike roughly understood what was going on.

The topic of Blake in the Daily Prophet these days has not only not disappeared, but has become even more heated.

The people were very angry that the Ministry of Magic had not caught Black yet, and the previous incident of the Dementors being expelled by Dumbledore had become proof of Fudge's incompetence. Now many tabloids made a living by scolding Fudge every day.

In order to resolve this matter, Blake must be caught. Only by catching Blake can this incident be settled.

So, taking advantage of the fact that most students went home for the holidays, Fudge came with a group of Aurors.

It has to be said that Mike still underestimated Fudge's wisdom. He could actually guess that Black came in through the secret passage in Hogwarts.

But if you think about it carefully, it’s not surprising.

Those secret passages in Hogwarts have existed for who knows how long.

Most of them are older than both Michael generations combined.

Theoretically, a tunnel that has existed for such a long time should not be known by only a few of them.

At least, the professors who have lived in Hogwarts for so many years may not know the locations of all the secret passages in Hogwarts, but they definitely know some of them.

If Fudge and the Aurors want to find the tunnel, they must find a professor to cooperate with them. Judging from the current situation, Snape is likely to be the external aid they have found.

Thinking of this, Mike frowned even more tightly.

Professor Lupin, who was standing opposite, looked at Mike's sad face and couldn't help asking:

"What's wrong with you?"

Mike was awakened by Lupin's voice. Looking at Lupin's haggard face, Mike thought for a while and then asked tentatively:

"Professor Lupin, I remember that you and Black were very good friends, right?"

"Of course, but that was a long time ago. My friendship with him is over since he betrayed James and Lily and killed Peter."

It can be seen that the incident involving Harry's parents was a huge blow to Lupin, and his face turned red when he talked about it.

"What if I say that Blake is innocent?"

"What did you say?"

Lupin thought he must have heard it wrong and a puzzled expression appeared on his face, but this expression froze when Mike took out the Marauder's Map.

After half an hour.

After explaining the whole story clearly, Mike looked at the silent Lupin quietly. Mike knew that this incident was a big blow to Lupin, and he now needed to sort out his thoughts.

"You mean, Peter is locked up by you now," Lupin said in a hoarse voice after a long while, "and... Black is in the Shrieking Shack?"

"Right, so we have to act quickly. Where is Professor Dumbledore? I looked around but couldn't find him."

Hearing this, Lupin's expression became even more bitter, and he said with a wry smile:

"He has been invited to attend the Christmas party of Sir Merlin's group at the Ministry of Magic. He will probably be back in two days."

"That's it. The Aurors will find him sooner or later. We must act quickly and move Black away!"

"It shouldn't be that serious, right? Only James and I know how to get into the secret passage. Even though they have the help of Snotlout, Snotlout doesn't know the specific method to open the secret passage..."

"Professor Lupin!" Mike interrupted Lupin before he could finish his words, "I hope you can understand one thing, Professor Snape is no longer the snotty guy he used to be, he is now a famous potion master, are you so sure that he hasn't figured out how to open the secret passage after all these years?
Moreover, even if he really doesn't know, they have a lot of Aurors here, they can just use the Whomping Willow to eliminate him and then enter the secret passage!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Lupin's expression froze and his eyes gradually became firm.

While Michael and Lupin were talking, Snape and Fudge were standing in front of the Whomping Willow, listening to an Auror's report.

"…We have thoroughly checked all the known secret passages leading to the outside world in Hogwarts, and found no trace of Black." The Auror paused and said, "But in the secret passage leading to the Duke of Bee's cellar, we found signs of recent use. However, our preliminary estimate is that the user was not Black, but a student in Hogwarts."

"I see."

Fudge waved his hand, signaling the Auror to leave.

"Don't hesitate any longer, Minister. Let's get started."

Snape said anxiously.

Fudge stared at the Whomping Willow, whose branches stretched freely in the breeze. After a while, he sighed and said:
"Professor Snape, are you sure there is a secret passage underneath? You know, the Whomping Willow is a protected species clearly marked in international law, and there are only five of them in the whole of Europe..."

"I swear on my life!"

Fudge was not angry when his words were interrupted. He stared at Snape's lifeless eyes for a while, and then instructed the row of Aurors standing behind him:

"The second team will go up and explore first. This time, the main focus is on finding the switch of the secret passage. Try not to damage the Whomping Willow!"

(End of this chapter)