The Return to Hogwarts

"I found it by chance yesterday while I was taking a walk in the yard."

"Oh, thank goodness!"

Professor McGonagall immediately said happily,

"I tried to persuade Longbottom for a long time, even offering to write him a letter to Augusta, but he just wouldn't go back. Now, Mr. Longbottom can finally go home for Christmas. Well, as for childcare during the holidays, since you have plans..."

Professor McGonagall hesitated for a moment. "I'll go ask Remus. He probably doesn't have any additional travel plans either."

Black, feeling guilty because of Harry's situation, suffered another emotional blow.

Amosta ate lunch in his office and, during the break before class, planned to go to the Gryffindor common room to return Mr. Longbottom's wand to him and retrieve his own spare wand.

'Adorable' little Lennie clearly wanted to go along, but was refused without hesitation.

"Keep an eye on little Lennie and make sure he doesn't cause any trouble, Crookshanks."

After giving this instruction, Amosta locked the door with a click and disappeared from the sight of the two rather unhappy cats.

Chapter 243 A Rich Festive Atmosphere

This is the second-to-last week before the end of the semester.

Unlike the tense atmosphere of the second half of the academic year, which requires exams, the atmosphere before the end of the first half of the academic year is always warm and pleasant. Even the most notoriously strict professors will be less demanding of students during this period.

During the midday break, the Gryffindor common room was much noisier than usual.

Of Harry's roommates, Dean and Seamus have already begun excitedly packing their bags to go home, while Ron, the eldest of the Weasleys, is using this time to persuade him to go home for Christmas.

"Fred, George, and Ginny will all be going back, even Charlie will be rushing back from Romania to spend Christmas with Mom and Dad, but you, Ron!"

Upon learning that Ron had signed Professor McGonagall's form, Percy immediately approached Ron and said unhappily.

“Bill is also in Egypt, and he can’t go back either.”

“Bill isn’t going back because he hasn’t gotten rid of the goblins at Gringotts,” Percy said smugly, but after Ron gestured to Harry, who was pretending not to hear, Percy frowned and walked away reluctantly.

“You don’t really need to do this, Ron—” Harry said sincerely. “This is a time for family reunion. You should go back and spend time with Mrs. Weasley.”

"Oh, you don't know, Harry!"

Ron shook his head, pretending to be annoyed. "There are already so many people crammed into the house. If I go back, I'll only be a burden to Mom and Dad!"

Hey, Harry!

Harry knew Ron did this for him, and he was about to say something touching when Colin, a second-year student, suddenly walked over with Ginny, holding a camera and looking expectant.

"Could I take a close-up picture of you at Christmas? My brother Dennis will be of school age next year, but he's unsure if he's qualified for Hogwarts. I'd like to give him your photo; maybe it will give him some confidence!"

"Oh, okay, if you insist--"

Harry didn't understand why Colin thought his photos had the power to bring good luck, but he couldn't find any reason to refuse.

Harry was dragged by Colin to the Christmas tree in the common room, which was decorated with mistletoe, holly, and many fairy lights flying around. Harry let Colin fiddle with it for most of the day before finally taking a photo that Colin liked.

"Could I have one, Colin?"

Ginny's soft plea came from a few steps away, and Harry's ears turned bright red amidst Ron's ambiguous chuckle.

"Where's Hermione? I haven't seen her. Did she go to the library again?"

To avoid Ron bringing up Ginny's adoration for him again, Harry quickly changed the subject.

"They are trying to persuade Neville to overcome his fear of his grandmother and come home for Christmas."

Ron shrugged and pointed in another direction from the noisy lounge.

"She always loves to take on these impossible tasks."

Harry grinned, the noisy common room dispelling his gloom, both about Christmas and about what had happened in Professor Blaine's office the night before.

"Speaking of -"

Seeing that Harry's spirits had finally lifted, Ron breathed a sigh of relief and casually asked,

"Have you figured out anything about Lupin's reaction yesterday?"

“I don’t know,” Harry sighed. “I don’t understand why he cares so much about that secret passage under the Whomping Willow, but he’s my dad’s friend, and I think he’s just like Professor Blaine, and doesn’t want me to use those secret passages to run away from Hogwarts again.”

The portrait of the Fat Lady was frequently opened for the young wizard to enter and exit, but this time, the person who walked in quickly quieted the noisy common room.

Amostella gently observed the young wizards who all showed surprised expressions, and then found Longbottom in the corner.

"It's good news, Mr. Longbottom—"

Without any pretense, Amostella simply pulled a wand from his pocket and handed it to Neville.

"Your wand has been found, Mr. Longbottom, so you don't have to worry about your grandmother kicking you out of the house anymore."

"Where did you find that, Professor!"

Neville's mournful face, which had been filled with worry that he might never be able to go home again, immediately relaxed. He was so excited that he didn't know how to express his gratitude, so Hermione asked the question on his behalf.

"I saw it by chance when I passed by the yard last night, by the way."

Amosta smiled, thought for a moment, then lowered his voice and said to Hermione,

“Last night, well, I found Crook Hill in Hogsmeade. Considering the recent cold weather, I brought it back with me. If you’d like, you can come with me to my office and take it back to my dorm.”

After glancing at Harry and Ron, who were peeking in their direction, Hermione's still-childish face showed a hint of sadness.

“It seems Crookshan doesn’t like staying in Hagrid. Professor, could you please look after Crookshan for a while?”

Fearing that Professor Blaine might think she was just trying to save trouble, Hermione quickly added, "I'll visit it often!"

“It’s no problem, Hermione,”

Amosta nodded.

"Krookshan found himself a playmate in the wild, a black cat. I brought them both back, so you don't have to worry too much about it being lonely."

"You're such a kind person, Professor!"

Hermes was so moved he was almost in tears, while Neville nodded frantically beside him.

Amosta was quite embarrassed by these words, but luckily Harry and Ron rushed over at that moment, as if they had something to say.

"Let's talk outside, Harry."

Amosta knew what Harry wanted to ask, but this topic was clearly not suitable for discussion in public. After giving a brief instruction, he turned and walked out of the common room first, and Harry and the others followed without hesitation.

After walking through the corridor, Amosta stopped at the corner of the stairs.

"Any discoveries, Professor?"

Harry's eyes were burning, and unsurprisingly he asked the question. After receiving the answer, he predictably showed obvious disappointment.

"Still thinking about killing Sirius Black to avenge his parents?"

"Harry wouldn't think that way, would he?"

Fearing that Harry would stubbornly persist again, Hermione quickly said.

“I didn’t think that way, Professor,” Harry said frankly. “I just hope you can get that criminal back where he belongs as soon as possible.”

This is truly a mess.

Looking at Harry, who was trying his best to hide his hatred, Amosta shook his head inwardly.

"Don't worry, Harry, I'll find a way to make the real culprit pay the price as soon as possible."

"The real murderer?"

After Professor Blaine left, Hermione immediately frowned, her eyelashes fluttering in confusion. "What was Professor Blaine trying to say?"

"What's so hard to understand?"

Ron crossed his arms and said confidently, "The wizards in the magical world all know that it was the Man from Nowhere who killed Harry's parents, but few people know that their sacrifice was caused by Black. That's why Professor Blaine said he would make the 'real killer' pay. By the way, I wonder if Professor Blaine will stay at the school for the holidays. Maybe I should write to my mother and ask her to knit him a sweater. I bet she won't refuse; she'll be very grateful to him."

I don't think so.

Harry, equally perplexed by Professor Blaine, couldn't help but blurt out, "

"Normally, he would go back to the orphanage every year to spend Christmas with the children."

"Where did you hear that, Harry?"

Hermione suddenly craned her head, staring at Harry suspiciously. This made Harry realize that he might have said something he shouldn't have. His heart skipped a beat, but he pretended to be nonchalant.

“Oh, as you all know, I spent a month alone with Professor Blaine during the summer vacation, and he told me some things about his past.”

"Oh, you're keeping this a secret from us, bro!"

Ron also became interested, grabbing Harry's collar and pressing him for answers.

"Tell me, what do you know about Professor Blaine?"

"If you wish me to die at Professor Blaine's hands, not at Blake's,"

Harry said, 'with tears streaming down his face,' 'Then go ahead and force me!'

Chapter 244 is decent enough.