The Return to Hogwarts

"Who do you think caused this trouble, Mr. Black? Whether it was after Voldemort's downfall or when you were just out of Azkaban for a stroll, Dumbledore had plenty of ways to clear your name and send Peter to Azkaban for the rest of his life."

But now, we need to find a mouse, and this mouse could be anywhere in the world. Mr. Black, maybe your brain is rusty, maybe you don't have a brain at all, but I'd like to ask you, what are you planning to do? Spend the rest of your life chasing a mouse all over the world? Just a friendly reminder, according to statistics from Muggle scientists, there are approximately 20 billion mice in the entire world.

I bet you're really happy to hear that number, right? Because you've finally found something to do with your overflowing energy!

A decade or so ago, Sirius Black would have drawn his wand and challenged Amostella to a duel in the face of such an insult. Even now, hearing Amostella's words, the thought crossed his mind. But the reality was harsh: he had no wand, and he needed to keep his life until Peter died.

“I know Peter,”

Sirius's face turned bright red, and he huffed as he explained.

“I bet he’s still at Hogwarts. He doesn’t dare leave because doing so would mean giving up the protection of the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore.”

"so what?"

Amosta still didn't look pleased.

"To tear Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to pieces and dig up the ground?"

Sirius Black fell silent, but Amosta then raised another finger.

"Secondly, what makes you think I'd help you, Black? You've brought this trouble upon yourself, and you've even cost me a whole 50,000 Galleons in bounty."

I could easily pretend I didn't hear those things from you tonight and just kill you. No one would blame me—Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, Harry, Cornelius Fudge. He might even be grateful to me and personally award me a Merlin First Class medal, just because I helped the Ministry of Magic solve a major problem!

Of course, I'm not that heartless as to knowingly sell your corpse for money when I know you're innocent. But why should I help you get into Gryffindor and capture Peter? You should thank me for my mercy for not killing you!

If he could, Sirius would love to swear.

He never intended to reveal the truth about James and Lily's sacrifice, nor did he expect anyone else to help him. Otherwise, he would have approached Remus long ago. It was only because he was careless and was captured by Amosta Blaine, who was about to hand him over to Snotty for humiliation, that he finally relented.

But he couldn't say these things, because he could see that Amostrath Blaine was undoubtedly a Slytherin wizard who wouldn't pity him just because he was innocent, or help him in the name of justice.

"Come back to Hogwarts with me to see Dumbledore."

After a long silence, Amosta, who had already lost his temper, spoke indifferently.

“For Harry and Remus’s sake, I won’t let the murderer of the Potters go unpunished. But you, Dumbledore, and Remus can discuss how to catch Peter. I have many things to attend to myself. Now that I’ve confirmed you won’t harm Harry, I’ll be leaving Hogwarts soon.”

"No!"

Upon hearing Amosta's suggestion that he explain everything to Dumbledore, Sirius Black stubbornly refused.

"I will not tell the truth to anyone again, and I do not want to see them before I kill Peter!"

"how?"

Amosta scoffed.

"Now you know you're ashamed of your stupidity, Mr. Black. Unfortunately, I can neither ignore what I've heard nor play your boring revenge game. Get to work! I haven't slept a wink tonight. Hopefully, after dealing with your troubles, I can at least make it to Hogwarts for breakfast!"

Chapter 239 New Deal

"I don't want to see either Dumbledore or Remus right now!"

Sirius jumped back a step, dodging Amostella's hand that reached out to pull his shoulder.

“I won’t ask you for help, Blaine. Just don’t tell them my secret. I’ll figure out how to catch Peter myself!”

"Save your breath, Blake."

Amosta sternly

"Regardless, I am still the head of the student safety office, Black. Don't expect me to let you run wild in the castle. Whether it's Dumbledore or Remus, you need someone to monitor your actions."

Amosta had seen through Sirius Black's character. He might be loyal to his friends, but he was definitely a paranoid megalomaniac. If he was left to run rampant in the castle, sooner or later he would get into big trouble. If the trouble only involved himself, it wouldn't matter, but the most likely outcome would be that he would harm the young wizards in the castle.

"Don't make me use magic to force you to do it, Black."

Amosta spoke impatiently, waving his wand threateningly.

Sirius clenched his fists tightly, glaring fiercely at Amosta.

He had lost his wand and could no longer Apparate. Moreover, he knew that even if he had his wand, he couldn't put up any decent resistance. The only way he could express his anger was to suddenly turn into a dog and bite Amostall when he wasn't looking!

How can I possibly convince Amostra Blaine not to hand herself over to Dumbledore?

Sirius was racking his brains over the problem when suddenly, a spark from the crackling fireplace gave him an idea. He blurted out,

"Wait, Blaine, I want to make a deal with you!"

transaction?

Amosta raised an eyebrow, something flashing in his eyes.

Sirius, noticing the change in his expression, was secretly delighted. He now knew how to deal with this young wizard who was a little too powerful.

“Don’t hand me over to Dumbledore and Remus. Help me get into Hogwarts and find Peter, if you can promise that,” Sirius Black said breathlessly.

“You want the bounty the Ministry of Magic has on me, right, Blaine? How much is it again? Fifty thousand Galleons. No problem, I can pay you that money!”

Amosta pursed her lips, her expression showing intense 'struggle'.

“No, Mr. Blake--”

Amosta shook his head and said

“I cannot abandon my principles for money. I have said that letting you run wild at Hogwarts could harm those innocent and lovely young wizards. I cannot pretend to be blind to this possibility, Mr. Black. My conscience will be troubled!”

Conscience, do you really have that thing, Amosta Blaine?

"I only want to kill Peter, Blaine."

Sirius's sallow face turned ashen. "Unless I've lost my mind, I would never hurt those children. Okay, I'll pay double the price for my freedom of movement, just like before!"

"These rich kids are so annoying!" Amosta thought indignantly.

"That glib, ungrateful young master is lying again. He doesn't have a single penny in his pocket, yet he dares to lie to a powerful wizard—"

Suddenly, Kreacher, who had been lying on the stairs eavesdropping for a long time, slowly crawled out, and the sound he made made Amosta and Sirius both change color.

Needless to say, Amosta immediately scrutinized Sirius with a suspicious look in his eyes.

Sirius Black, upon discovering Kreacher was still alive, looked surprised, but a fleeting look of relief crossed his eyes. However, regaining his composure, he immediately questioned him in a sinister tone.

"You've been playing dead, haven't you, Kreacher? When did you become so smart? Putting that aside, what did you mean by saying I didn't have a single penny in my pocket? If I remember correctly, the Black family's underground vault should have mountains of gold coins and a huge pile of gold artifacts, accumulated over centuries, worth at least hundreds of thousands?"

Amosta's lips tightened even more; he really wanted to rob Gringotts.

After being beaten up, Kreacher was noticeably more respectful. It walked down the stairs, stopped in front of Amosta, and pressed its fleshy nose to the ground.

"Kreacher apologizes for his previous rudeness, esteemed and powerful wizard. Therefore, Kreacher must tell the truth: my noble mistress dislikes the young master. He is a spendthrift who no longer cares about family honor. She was unwilling to leave him any inheritance. So, before her death, my noble mistress left a will, dividing everything in the vault among Miss Bellatrix and Miss Narcissa. Kreacher prefers the two ladies; they are far more noble than the young master—"

Sirius's face visibly turned ugly, even though his face was already quite pale to begin with.

As Kreacher said, he was not interested in the so-called glory of the Black family, nor did he care about the trivial gold. However, the fact that his mother would rather give all the wealth to outsiders than leave it to him still hurt his feelings.

"It's like something my mother would do—"

Sirius gave a dry, cold laugh, but then he noticed something strange in Blaine's gaze. His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly said...

“I have my own vault, Blaine. My uncle Alphard left me a sum of gold in Gringotts’ underground vault. I can give it all to you!”

As he spoke, Sirius rummaged through his tattered shirt and quickly pulled out a small piece of parchment from the crevice, which was stamped with Gringotts' seal.

"what is this?"

Amosta, who had never deposited money in Gringotts, asked.

"I ordered a Firebolt for Harry using an owl, which came from my own savings. During his last competition, those Dementors turned his broom into a pile of sawdust. This is the Gringotts receipt; it says I have over 30,000 in my vault."

“I’m sorry, Mr. Blake.”

It's a bit surprising that Sirius is so concerned about Harry.

But Amosta remained unmoved, and he calmly said

“I’ve thought about it carefully, but I still can’t rest easy with you running around Hogwarts. In my opinion, we should go see Dumbledore. He’ll definitely have a way to help you find Peter.”

A greedy and shameless scoundrel, a despicable wretch from Slytherin!

Sirius was so angry his hands were trembling as he thought furiously.

"That's all I have left, Blaine!"

Sirius Black gritted his teeth and said, "If you're not satisfied, there might be some valuable old things in this house that you can take!"

Upon hearing this, Kreacher immediately widened his bloodshot eyes and was about to scream, but when he was about to do so, he found that he could not make a sound at all, because Amosta had already blocked his sound and movement!

"Don't think too badly of me,"

Amosta shook his head and defended himself.

“I’m not after your wealth, Mr. Black. I just want the reward I’m entitled to—I mean, the Ministry of Magic’s 50,000 Galleons bounty on you. But since you’ve lost your family fortune and don’t have enough money, well, I have an idea—”

Sirius, oblivious to Kreacher's odd behavior, glared at Amostella and said angrily,

"Tell me your plan, Blaine. I want to know what it will take for you to agree not to hand me over to Dumbledore and Remus!"

"Is such that!"

Amosta's expression changed; he looked around the kitchen with great interest, and his tone became more friendly.

"Since you don't have enough gold coins to compensate for my losses, I think you should temporarily mortgage the right to use this house to me for a period of one year. If you raise enough gold coins after one year, I will return the house to you. If you can't do that by then, you will need to give me the right to use the house for two years, including interest. If you still can't repay the loan after three years, the mortgage period will be four years."