The Return to Hogwarts

"Regardless, we must acknowledge that Lucius Malfoy is a very important figure in the wizarding world. He has close ties with many Ministry of Magic officials, including the Minister of Magic. Now that the Malfoy family is in trouble, he has not sought help from the Ministry of Magic, nor has there been any related news in the newspapers. Instead, Malfoy has come to Professor Snape!"

"So what, Hermione,"

Ron puffed out his cheeks and said, somewhat displeased,

"Fudge and his gang are all greedy politicians. They're only friends with Malfoy's father for the Malfoy family's money. I bet if they really mess with someone powerful, Fudge and his gang will just stand by and do nothing!"

"The problem is,"

Provoked, Hermione's bright yellow eyes gleamed, and she crossed her arms, retorting,

"What kind of wizard do you think could make the Minister of Magic wary, Ron? Do you two really think that Professor Dumbledore is the one threatening Lucius Malfoy?"

"Many powerful wizards are not well-known,"

Ron pulled the silver coin out of his pocket and waved it in front of Hermione's eyes.

“If Malfoy’s father had offended a wizard of Professor Blaine’s caliber, I think the Ministry of Magic could only play a very limited role.”

Ron was so eager for Malfoy to suffer that he didn't care who threatened Malfoy's parents or what their purpose was. Hermione, realizing this, wisely shut her mouth and quietly pondered why Malfoy would secretly approach Snape.

"Maybe--"

After a moment of contemplation, Harry's emerald eyes began to light up, and he spoke in a hopeful tone,

"Could it be Blake?"

Harry's idea was so far-fetched that Hermione and Ron exchanged bewildered glances, unsure how to respond.

“Think about it, Ron, Hermione,”

But Harry clearly thought he had a guess that was close to the truth, and he said with great interest,

"Black escaped from that prison called Azkaban to avenge Voldemort. To achieve this goal, he suffered for twelve years, trying every means to slip away from the Dementors. He wanted to kill me, no doubt about it. But when he discovered that his former colleagues—you know who I'm talking about—had lied to the world, pretending they had never followed Voldemort and were living a glamorous life outside, I guess he couldn't swallow that insult!"

Harry took a breath and, while pondering, spoke to Ron and Hermione, who remained silent.

"Black probably wanted to come find me first, but didn't get the chance. During the summer, I spent time with Professor Blaine. After entering Hogwarts, he discovered he couldn't overcome the Dementors."

So he turned to Lucius Malfoy and asked him to order Draco Malfoy to find a way to get me out of school.

But Lucius, expelled from the Board of Governors by Dumbledore, clearly didn't have the guts to do so, so Black threatened to kill their entire family if they didn't comply. Today's newspaper report made Malfoy realize that the Ministry of Magic couldn't do anything about Black, so he secretly sought Snape's help—"

Dude, I just realized—

As Harry narrated, Ron's mouth gradually widened, and he stared at Harry with an expression that looked as ridiculous as could be.

"You've truly mastered the art of that big liar Lockhart; your storytelling skills far surpass his!"

puff!

Ron's statement amused Hermione at the same time, making her feel both embarrassed and angry. She glared at Ron resentfully, then turned her gaze to Harry, who was still insisting on speaking, and said sympathetically,

“Black is putting too much pressure on you, Harry. I think you should go back to your dorm and get some rest.”

Theoretically speaking, Harry's guess is not impossible, but it is something that cannot be proven or disproven by guessing alone, unless the three of them are planning to go to Myrtle's bathroom again to brew another pot of Polyjuice Potion!

"By the way,"

The young wizards in the Gryffindor common room had mostly dispersed. Ron, yawning and heading towards his dormitory, suddenly remembered something. He stopped at the corner of the spiral staircase, frowning in confusion as he looked towards the girls' dormitory staircase across the way.

"I feel like we forgot to ask Hermione a question."

As the sun rises and sets, and the clouds drift and disperse, time slips away quietly in weariness, and the years are etched with eternity in the mundane.

The bright, complete moon of the previous night was now missing a corner when it hung on the branches today, but the stars that were embedded in the endless abyss and exuded mysterious magic were still dazzling. On the high slope, taking advantage of the bright moon and stars, dozens of rat families were moving away from the high slope overnight, fearing that if they were a step too late, they would be 'wiped out' by the madman who stayed in that dilapidated house all day.

Countless parchment sheets filled with equations and diagrams became the new floors of the Screaming Shack's living room and kitchen. In the foyer, a trash can almost as tall as a first-year wizard was overflowing with slime formed from the corpses of rats, frogs, spiders, and some vixens.

The once dusty room is now filled with an overwhelming, lingering stench of blood. The scattered souls and evil magic of countless gruesomely killed creatures are making this house, 'Screaming Shed,' truly live up to its name.

A fleeting, eerie light swept across the living room, accompanied by a faint, menacing screech in the air, signaling the start of a new attempt. In the kitchen, a rat, its limbs roughly pinned to the stone counter, its gleaming black eyes filled with primal fear, stared in terror at the terrifying tentacles formed from gathering black smoke approaching it, letting out a piercing, mournful cry—

boom!

Just like the hundreds and thousands of previous attempts, the experiment failed again!

Clang!

With a livid face, Amosta threw his wand on the table and kicked open the cabinet door.

Compared to a month ago, Amosta, who hadn't slept for almost forty hours, looked much worse. His once soft and clean gray hair was now matted and sticky, as if glued together. His pale purple eyes were crisscrossed with blood vessels, his eye circles were dark, his lips were dry, and his wizard robe was stained with dried blood. He looked like a homeless person.

"Where exactly did things go wrong?!"

Amosta scratched his itchy hair angrily, his tone filled with resentment.

Amosta had disassembled and repeatedly studied and verified every detail of the calculation principles and practices, but he could not find a single problem. However, he just could not imprint the curse into the soul of the creature. Since he started to innovate in magic on his own, including the time he studied the magic of storing magic power in the eyes, he had never encountered such a difficult situation!

Chapter 180 The Cat and the Old Dog

In his more than ten years on the path of magic, Amosta had never encountered such an insurmountable obstacle. More than a month of research with no progress even made him doubt his magical talent!

Amosta's gaze fell once more on the stack of manuscripts he had memorized perfectly, and he sighed deeply, a hint of helplessness in his voice.

If it were just ordinary black magic, and he hadn't made a breakthrough after studying it to this point, Amosta might have given up already. But this black magic was different. Ever since he figured out what was recorded in the manuscript and learned that it could, in a wondrous and irresistible way, insert a cursed soul into another person's soul, Amosta knew that he had to master this magic.

Amosta's rumbling stomach made him realize that he desperately needed to eat and rest. He stood silently in the kitchen for a while, dispelling the sense of dejection that lingered in his mind, before starting to deal with the slime and bloodstains on the stone counter.

A dazzling galaxy emerged from the trembling tip of his staff. Amostah once again used illusion magic to restore the house to its state as if it were deserted. He scratched his itchy hair, his eyes darting around to make sure he hadn't left any clues before preparing to return to the village. But as he took a step, a commotion outside made Amostah's eyes suddenly narrow.

"come out!"

With a sharp shout, Amosta suddenly stretched out his right hand towards the door. A small creature, startled and screaming, left afterimages in the air before landing in Amosta's hand.

Located on the northeastern foothills of the high slope where the Screaming Shack is situated, the ground here has lost the protection of vegetation. Large and small, oddly shaped stones are scattered along both sides of a winding and steep path. This path extends from the main road of Hogsmeade Village, crossing several large vegetable gardens and small wooden houses in the wilderness. The path ends at a craggy rock mountain.

Beneath a rock face, back from the moonlight, a ginger cat cautiously surveyed its surroundings. After confirming there were no living creatures, it nimbly leaped onto a rock and disappeared into the dark shadows.

Squeak!

The cool, dry cave was almost entirely bathed in deep darkness. Crookshan looked around, whimpered a few times, and then opened its mouth.

The plump rat lay motionless on the ground for a long time, not pretending to be dead, but rather realizing that it had been lucky enough to escape the cat's jaws. It wasn't until a dozen seconds later that the rat came to its senses and began to squeak with glee. It spread its limbs and desperately tried to squeeze into the nearest crevice in the rock.

call--

Suddenly, a gust of evil wind appeared in the air, and a huge figure pounced down from a rocky platform protruding from the cliff. It easily pinned down the fat rat that was about to escape with its front paws, and without any hesitation, opened its foul-smelling mouth and swallowed it whole.

Squeak, squeak, squeak--

The sound of sharp canine teeth chewing bone fragments and dripping blood was extremely clear in the silent cave. Crookshan lay prostrate on the ground, squinting at the beast feasting with its strange persimmon-shaped face, and licked its paw with satisfaction.

It was a large, thin dog whose ribs were clearly visible. Its size was roughly the same as that of a young black bear. Its black fur was covered with grime that was difficult to clean. As it licked the flesh and blood on the ground, its gray eyes gleamed not only with longing but also with a kind of human-like madness!

Woohoo——

The large dog, unable to smell even a trace of blood from the ground, stuck out its tongue and whimpered a few times at Crookshan as a sign of gratitude.

As the night deepened, the crescent moon, with its waning crescent, climbed overhead like a millstone. The gradually chilling mountain wind caused the black dog crouching on a large rock to curl up, its mournful whimpers carrying a heart-wrenching loneliness.

From the outside, the Screaming Shack on the other peak looked as dark and eerie as ever, but the black dog knew that the house was not empty. A madman obsessed with magical research was occupying the house day and night, cutting off his safest and most reliable route back to Hogwarts.

Meow---

Crookshan let out two lazy barks and offered his advice.

After hesitating for a moment, the big black dog shook its head and rejected the suggestion.

Taking a detour through the Forbidden Forest is unsafe, as it is home to a large number of intelligent magical creatures, who serve as Hagrid's eyes and ears. If he were to sneak into the school through that area, the chances of being exposed would be extremely high. Besides that method, the big black dog also knows of some secret passages that can be used to sneak into the school, but the entrances to those passages are mostly inside the village. Now, the village is patrolled by Aurors everywhere, and Dementors are also waiting nearby. Unless it is desperate, it does not want to take the risk.

While the man was resting at home, she secretly sneaked in.

Crookshan stared at the Screaming Shack with a thoughtful expression. After a long while, he offered his advice again.

The man in the house was Harry and his friends' teacher, a very powerful wizard. Because they couldn't communicate without barriers, the big black dog could only get this information from Crook Hill.

Ugh--

After a long silence, the big black dog once again rejected Crookshan's proposal.

A powerful wizard conducting secret magical experiments in a hidden location—it's easy to imagine that these experiments must have many taboos. This means that the current screaming shed is likely to be set up with some traps or warning spells. Since I don't have a wand at hand, I can't guarantee that I won't trigger these spells.

The big black dog kept whimpering, struggling to express its thoughts to Crookshan.

Steal that fake mouse from the school.

This is Crookshan's third suggestion.

This method is somewhat feasible, but the big black dog doesn't have high hopes. It knows just how cunning and cowardly that despicable traitor really is. Although Crookshanks is very smart, it is unlikely that it can deal with that guy, especially since the traitor is disguised as a little wizard's pet.

Regardless, this is currently the least likely to be exposed and the most worthwhile option to try. Crookshank, having gained approval, stood up, and its face, which looked like a persimmon that had been run over by a wheel, no longer appeared so gloomy. It faced the direction of the Screaming Shack and let out a few soft calls.

I also wanted to see what the wizard in the house was doing, and also to check if there were any traps.

The big black dog hesitated again. It wasn't particularly curious about what the wizard was doing hiding in the house, but if Crookshanks could help check if there were any traps in the Screaming Shack, and since the wizard was Harry's female friend's teacher and had seen Crookshanks before, then if he did find Crookshanks, there shouldn't be much danger.

Meow--

Before the big black dog could figure out whether it was worth the risk, the impatient Crookshan had already stood up and was running towards the green hill. The big black dog squatted on the rock and watched Crookshan fly away, his gray eyes filled with deep worry.

This very clever yellow cat has been of great help to him during this time and can be considered his friend. In this time of great turmoil, if he loses Crookshan's help, then revenge will probably become even more difficult.

After hesitating for a moment, the big black dog made up its mind and let out a loud howl. Bathed in the bright moonlight, it also ran wildly towards the screaming shed!