The Return to Hogwarts

Professor Blaine, sitting down casually, smiled and spoke words that stunned Harry. He stared blankly at the powerful, seemingly unapproachable young professor before him, not understanding why he would say such a thing. Professor Blaine wanted to teach him a lesson, and he had succeeded.

"I bet you're probably resenting yourself for being a cowardly little wizard, not even having the guts to kill a matchstick dummy."

Amosta's sharp gaze pierced through Potter's heart.

"But actually, I misled you. Killing someone, taking someone's life, is never about guts, Harry."

Upon hearing this, Harry's blue eyes flickered, regaining some of their vitality.

Amostella's gaze swept over the three young wizards, who seemed somewhat dazed, her voice calm and utterly unwavering.

"The reason you stopped killing that dummy wasn't out of cowardice, but out of kindness, Harry, Hermione, and Ron. All three of you are very kind little wizards. You don't want to take away the lives of all living things. I bet even a vicious wizard like Black, who has a blood feud with you, deep down you just want him to go back to Azkaban to continue serving his sentence."

"But what's wrong with that, Professor Blaine?"

Hermione's thin body swayed, her cheeks equally pale.

"The followers of the Mystic. Those wizards known as Death Eaters, each of them harmed many people, but the Ministry of Magic only imprisoned them in Azkaban for execution."

Hermione felt a lump in her throat and almost couldn't continue, but she still persisted.

"If the law doesn't allow the death penalty for professors, then it would have been abolished long ago."

"law?"

Amosta chuckled coldly, about to say something, but considering that Harry and his friends were just underage children, their world limited to this fairytale castle, Amosta shook his head.

"As a young wizard who has not yet graduated, Potter, you must understand that the gap between you and a highly skilled adult wizard is insurmountable."

I remember sharing my perspective with the three of you before—strength is strength, it's a pure thing. Neither love nor hate, nor even courage, can instantly increase your strength. Therefore, your attempt to seek revenge on Blake will only render all the efforts of so many people who worried about your life and health futile, including the sacrifice of your parents.”

The long silence that followed was incredibly agonizing for Harry, but Ron, having caught his breath, sincerely comforted him.

“I’ve always felt that you don’t need to become a murderer for that kind of scum, Harry.”

"Harry certainly won't be a murderer, right!"

Hermione said nervously, afraid that the stubborn Harry would say something that would enrage Professor Blaine. So she leaned over and grabbed Harry's sweaty but cold hand tightly.

“I will be careful, Professor Blaine.”

Finally, Ha, with his lips tightly pursed, spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Then, may I assume?"

Professor Blaine's voice suddenly became cheerful.

"Will I ever see you again, wearing that magical invisibility cloak, sneaking off to the Three Broomsticks Bar to steal drinks?"

"You saw it, Professor Blaine!"

Hermione glared at Ron, her words expressing surprise, but her tone betrayed a different story. Clearly, the three of them had already made their own speculations.

"Oh, it wasn't stealing, Professor—"

Ron, avoiding Hermione's eyes, weakly said, "I paid for Harry's Butterbeer."

Harry was also a little embarrassed, because when the three of them discussed this issue in private before, Harry's opinion was the same as Ron's. They both thought that the Three Broomsticks pub was so noisy that day that Professor Blaine, who was wearing the Invisibility Cloak, probably didn't even notice Hermione and Ron.

"Headmaster Dumbledore seems to have already told you—"

Just to be on the safe side, Amosta added one more thing,

"Invisibility spells and invisibility cloaks won't work against Dementors. You've probably noticed that there are Dementors guarding the school gate again. However, based on my discussions with the Ministry of Magic, the Ministry has reduced the number of Dementors they're sending. So, you're absolutely not allowed to use the invisibility cloak to sneak out of the school gate again!"

Upon hearing Professor Blaine's words, Harry, Hermione, and the others all showed subtle changes in their expressions, especially Hermione, whose face suddenly tightened, as if she was trying her best to hide something.

Because Hermione and Ron both knew that Harry hadn't actually run out of the school gates, but rather had gotten his way from Fred and George's magical map.

"you."

Even without mind-reading magic, the three little ones' subtle changes in expression didn't escape the experienced Amosta's notice. He narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice.

"It seems they're hiding something important?"

They were still just a group of third-grade kids, and their way of dealing with pressure was too immature. They just looked at each other for a moment, and then Ron and Harry lowered their heads, staring at the ground and refusing to look away. Only Hermione hesitated, as if she wanted to say something.

"professor--"

Under the relentless pressure emanating from Professor Blaine's gaze, Hermione, after hesitating for a long while, finally took a deep breath.

"Harry. He isn't."

Harry and Ron immediately looked up nervously at Hermione.

Don't mention that map!

Hermione knew what Harry and Ron wanted to shout from their eyes.

This is for your own good, Harry--

Hermione responded to Harry with a resolute look in her eyes.

"Actually, Harry... well, he stumbled upon a secret passage while taking a walk in the castle. Curious, he went inside, and when he came out, he unexpectedly found himself in Hogsmeade."

Hermione's evasive answers and concealment of the truth were not to protect the magical map, but to prevent Fred and George from being implicated.

Hermione didn't reveal everything, which relieved Harry and Ron, but their expressions didn't improve much. This was because there was only one secret passage left to escape Hogwarts, and since Hermione had revealed it, Professor Blaine would definitely seal it off to prevent Black from getting out.

"Secret passages?"

Amosta's expression immediately turned serious.

"Secret passages. But Argus told me that he had sealed off all four secret passages in the school?"

"I think--"

Under the intense gaze of Professor Blaine, who had just displayed his formidable power, Harry couldn't remain silent. He went along with Hermione's lie and forced himself to speak.

"I think I accidentally discovered a secret passage that Filch didn't know about."

Chapter 229 How to find out

The moment Harry said he might have discovered a secret passage that Filch didn't know about, Amosta knew that he, Dumbledore, and everyone in the school who was trying to prevent Black from breaking in had made a huge mistake!

On the night they returned to Hogwarts this semester, Amostella clearly told Filch that all the secret passages leading from the castle to the outside world needed to be sealed off. Filch also confidently told them that he and the professors had completely blocked the four secret passages leading from the castle to the outside world, making it impossible for anyone to enter.

Such an answer would obviously lead to a misunderstanding, making people mistakenly believe that there are only four secret passages leading out of the school. In reality, Hogwarts has been around for thousands of years, and who knows how many passages have been built in the castle by so many busybodies.

Perhaps Blake himself had dug secret tunnels with his friends when he was in school.

Oh, probably not. Otherwise, Remus would definitely know that he is the only one of Blake's best friends from school who is still alive. Unless Blake was planning this scene back then, it is unlikely that he would keep it from Remus.

"professor--"

Harry and Ron were both glaring angrily at Hermione, but Hermione didn't think she had done anything wrong. She met their stares defiantly and spoke to Professor Blaine, who was lost in thought like a statue.

"You also believe that Black sneaked into Hogwarts through those secret passages, right?"

"That's impossible, Hermione!"

Since he already knew he couldn't protect that precious passage, Ron simply decided to go all in.

"When Black sneaked into Hogwarts, Hogsmeade was full of Dementors. He couldn't have sneaked into Bee Duke's underground storeroom, could he?"

Amosta, lost in thought, briefly glanced at Ron. These little guys just couldn't shake their bad habit of making assumptions.

Admittedly, Black might not have taken the secret passage Harry did, but Amosta is almost certain that he possessed some unknown secret passage. That's why he was able to sneak into Hogwarts undetected on Halloween night, and then quickly leave after discovering he couldn't enter the Gryffindor common room.

Thinking about this, it's both infuriating and hilarious. So many people are racking their brains over Blake's whereabouts, but these three little guys inexplicably have grasped an important clue.

"Besides this secret passage, Harry..."

Amostella could almost hear the pleasant clinking of 5 Galleons as he stared intently at Harry and spoke with righteous indignation.

"You also have information about those secret passages, and I hope you can tell me the truth, Harry. After all, it concerns whether I can bring Black to justice as soon as possible!"

"As far as I know—"

Harry had given up on resisting. His only thought now was to prevent Professor Blaine from discovering the mysterious map. It wasn't just because Harry wanted to keep it; if Professor Blaine found it, he would investigate the map's origins, which would implicate Fred and George, and ultimately expose how they got their hands on the map!

There are seven in total.

Harry said honestly, which relieved Hermione, who had been tense, because she had just been thinking to herself whether she should call him out again if he lied again.

"But only one is usable, because four have been sealed off by Mr. Filch, and of the other two, one has collapsed, and the entrance to the last one is at the Willow Tree. No one can walk past that tree alive."

"That's just what you think, Harry."

Amosta said, after thinking for a moment, he confirmed again.

"This is all the secret passages you know, right? You didn't try to hide any of them. You were trying to leave yourself an escape route?"

Harry can answer this question with an open and honest heart.

"I can't believe it, Hermione!"

Harry and the others knew that Professor Blaine's 'eyes' were everywhere in Hogwarts Castle, so the three of them didn't exchange a single word on their way back to the Gryffindor Tower from the third-floor office.

Ron, still harboring resentment, immediately exploded upon stepping into the lounge. He glared at Hermione, who had expected this but still wore an defiant expression, and huffed, "..."

"You betrayed us!"

“Oh, stop yelling, Ron!”